Silly Brynnie

Brynn asked if she could take a few pictures outside with my camera and this is what she came back with. HAHAHA! I was expecting some beautiful flowers or something. She cracks me up!





And she told me that she was trying to see what her throat looked like. :)

bye bye baby

So I've heard the transition from baby-goodness to toddlerhood happens when babies take their first steps. It has been very exciting to watch Gavin slowly learn how to put one foot in front of the other. We LOVE watching him toddle along and try to balance himself on his tiny feet. (It is also very heart wrenching at the same time. He's my baby and he's growing too fast! I also can't help but ask myself and God if we will ever be able to snuggle a tiny baby of our own again. The thought of not being able to have any more babies makes my heart and my arms ache horribly.) But this post was NOT supposed to be about me...

Our BABY BOY IS WALKING!

Well, he actually still prefers crawling but he definitely gets better at walking every day. He seems to walk a TON more at Aunt Tallie's house. We think it's because there are more kids walking around but it could also be the yummy soft carpet beneath his feet that gets vacuumed 8.5 times a day ;). His little walk is hilarious at this point. I don't think there is ANYTHING CUTER than watching my kids walk for the first time. I took a few videos this morning and wanted to share... Hope you enjoy :).





He's pretty proud of himself!

Birthday Girl turns 4!

Brynners birthday was in May and it was very exciting for her because she has literally been talking about turning 4 for the past 7 months. I wish I was exaggerating about this but I'm not. Every cashier at each store we've been to in the last 7 months has been told about this impending birthday. hahaha! (SO... we are not going to even mention the fact that she'll be turning 5 in another 12 months, k everybody? thanks for your help in this matter ;))

Brynn's birthday party wish-list:
Belle Birthday
Belle hair
Red Roses
Barbeque
COUSINS & Family
balloons
& YUMMY "Lemonade" Cupcakes

I have to be honest and say I really didn't go all out on the "Belle Theme". I did get a few princess balloons along with some red and yellow (and of course RED roses)and she was perfectly happy with that. We did wake up and do "Belle hair" which turned out perdy cute (she wore her Belle dress for a few minutes). We had everybody over for a BBQ (inside because of the rain). And the "Lemonade Cupcakes" were DELICIOUS if I do say so myself ;).

Family is the best part of the party!!! (Matt and I chose to stay and live by family after we were done with school for this very reason; so that our children could have awesome memories and feel the love and closeness our family shares.) We have such awesome FAMILY! Thank you all for coming and making it SO MUCH FUN:).




We love you Brynn! We really enjoy being your mommy and daddy. We have so much fun together. You are BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL and light up each and every day. You are really energetic, happy, have such kind words, and so willing to help out! These last few years have been the VERY BEST of our lives because of you. Tks sweetheart. Enjoy being 4 and stop growing up so fast! You are our very favorite little 4 year old in the entire world ;)!

Time 4 Salad!

We LOVE to eat yummy salads this time of year so I thought I'd share some of our favorites. Along with these three we also eat a lot of pasta salad filled with tons of summer veggies, ofcourse Grandma Miller's delicious potato salad, and the broccoli salad with bacon and Craisins (Matt does NOT like that one but I make it anyway ;)).

side note: You may never want to make these salads after you see my photos of them. (This week I've found out that food is very difficult to photograph! :)

Matt's very favorite salad is the most difficult to take pictures of because it doesn't even look really appetizing to begin with. It is seriously so yummy though. You'll just have to take his word for it. ;)

Northwoods Chicken Salad
3 cups cold cooked wild rice (I use a mixture of wild rice and brown rice)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (also cold)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup snap peas, chopped in 1 inch pieces
3 med. green onions, sliced
3/4 cup cashews

Dressing (mix in blender until smooth):
1/3 cup veg. oil (I use e.v.o.o.)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tb. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper

I just found the recipe for this next salad about a year or two ago. We sat out on the back porch and ate this on the 1 day we didn't have rain in May ;). We eat both this salad and the Northwoods Chicken salad as our whole meal because they're so filling.

Oriental Chicken Salad

4 - 6 cups cooked chicken, cubed
2 pkg. oriental Ramen noodles, crumbled (save the flavor packets)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
4 green onions, chopped
2 - 16 oz. bags coleslaw (can use shredded cabbage)

Dressing (blend in blender):
3/4 cup veg. oil
1/4 cup plus 2 Tb. white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 packs of oriental seasoning (from Ramen)
3/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt

This last salad is my very favorite of all time. I haven't found anything that tops it yet. I know there are a lot of versions of this one out there but this is the best in my opinion. Make it today and enjoy every bite! :)

Strawberry Spinach Salad
5 - 10 oz. baby spinach
10 strawberries, sliced
3/4 cups sliced almonds
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbed
1/4 cup Craisins
1 cup mandarin oranges
1/2 cup pistachios (I usually put in a little more cause I love em!)


Dressing (serve on the side):
(I blend it in the blender but you can shake it in a bottle)
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I use 1/2 cup)
3 Tb. white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup whole milk (I use 2% and it works fine)
3 Tb. poppy seeds

Hope you enjoy salad season as much as we are!