Beautiful Day!

Today was a gorgeous day in MN. Jake and I woke up ate breakfast and headed over to my Sister's house. I live right out side of Minneapolis but grew up in White Bear Lake. My Sister still lives in WBL and I love to go there and walk with her a couple times a week. Whenever I'm in WBL I get the feeling of nostalgia. I have the best memories of living there. When we were looking for houses we searched high and low for a house there but couldn't find one in our budget. We decided our second home will be in WBL. No matter what.

When we got to my Sisters house her husbands cousin cut Jake's bangs. I wanted him to not look so shaggy when we head out to Michigan Friday. I couldn't bring myself to cut the rest of his hair just the bangs this time. After Jake's little hair trim we headed out for a walk. We walked uptown and let Jake out of the stroller to run around a little.

  I ended up chasing Jake around. He had a blast exploring. After that we got Jake back in the stroller and walked down to the lake. Along the way Auntie Tracy had to stop at Grandma's Bakery and get Jake a cookie.

Normally when I ask for a bite he is more than happy to share but he wasn't about to let me have any of his cookie.


I look some pictures along the way trying to get some shots for May's Photohunt Challenge. I'm hoping to complete two challenges in a row but if I keep going at this rate I won't get enough pictures.

 On our way back we stopped and had lunch and then walked back to my Sister's house just in time to get Jake home for a nap. After nap and dinner we all spent the evening hanging out on the deck. Jake had a great time playing with Gizmo and exploring the yard. That is until he took his shoes off and then he wouldn't walk on the grass. 

Hi, Mama!!

Gizmo trying to get a break from Jake

Didn't last long.

After playing for a couple hours we brought Jake in for a tub and a book and then to bed. I thought for sure he would crash the minute he hit the pillow because of all the fresh air and playing but NOOOO it is 10:08 and I can still him in his crib playing. 

Can't wait for another beautiful day tomorrow. I need to start working on my yard. 

Back to Work

Mr.B goes back to work tomorrow. For those of you that don't know Mr.B was diagnosed with cancer last August and has been off of work since then. He has been through a lot radiation, chemo, surgeries, lots of trips to the ER, stays in the hospital, etc. He is finally feeling better and is going back to the grind. It has been 9 months since he has worked full time. 9 months of him and I spending every waking moment together. I'm all for spending time with Mr.B but I have to say that I am overjoyed that he is going back to work. There are a few things that I will miss because I think I've been some what spoiled.

Mr. B is what some would call a clean freak. I think he is completely obsessed with having a clean house. It drives me nuts but I guess its better than the alternative. I know what you must be thinking, how can I complain about having a neat freak for a partner. Well starting tomorrow I probably won't be complaining because he goes back to work 10-12 hour days and my role as housewife resumes.

Another thing that Mr.B has been doing since he's been off of work is getting Jake up, feeding him, dressing him and taking him to therapy. So you are probably wondering what it is that I've been doing. I still do the laundry and make dinner.. I do stuff. I promise.

So starting tomorrow I will get what I've been praying to God for for months. For our lives to get back to normal. No more staying up all night and sleeping until 9 am. Tomorrow I go back to work to as a housewife and a stay at home Mom.

I am excited and ready. Wish us luck!

Friday Night Leftovers

• I babysat a little boy  the other day and he had a cold that I wasn't aware of when I agreed to watch him. Of course the next day Jake woke up sick. Snot and throw are two things that gross me out. One plus was Jake was really cuddly. I love that but hate when he is sick. 
• I feel like I've got nothing accomplished this week. I haven't even started May's Photo Hunt  yet and it's May 13th. 
• I'm excited to go shopping next week to pick out stuff for my partner for the Summer Must Haves Swap. My package will be a little hand made and a little store bought. 
• I've been thinking a lot about Jake's vision this week. Some days I think he can see so good and then the next day he runs into the wall. It's such a mystery. I can't wait until he's a little older and can tell me what he sees (for those of you that don't know my son Jake is legally blind in both eyes). 
• I'm very excited for next Friday. Jake and I were invited by a friend of mine(Casey) to a FEVR conference in Michigan. Casey  has a Daughter with the same condition as Jake and she has generously offered to let us accompany her on her family's private airplane. We are going to be able to meet the top FEVR doctors and listen to what they have to say and have a chance to ask questions. This for us is a HUGE opportunity and we couldn't be more grateful to Casey and her family for inviting us. I will blog about our trip next weekend. 
• Great news. Mr.B and I got a camper. One of our favorite things to do is go camping and with a child it is hard to camp in a tent. We've been looking for a small pop-up fixer upper. We came across a great deal and couldn't pass it up. It needs some work but it is a great starter camper. We need to clean it up, get curtains, do some patching, new tires, sheets, etc.. Here are some pictures. 

I'll post more pictures as we get it fixed up and decorated. If anyone has tips on how to hang curtains in a pop up with no existing hardware I'm open for suggestions. 

Friday Night Leftovers

I decided to start Friday Night Leftovers. I got this idea from fellow blogger over at Sippy Cups Are Not for Starbucks

• We got a new pop-up camper. I am super excited about it. It needs a lot of work and clean up but once it's ready I can't wait to go camping with my family. 
• This week has been one hell of a week for me. I'm allowing stress to over power me. 9 months of living with someone with cancer has taken a toll on me. I'm not saying that what I deal with is worse than what Mr.B deals with but it's still hard.
• I decided to unlink my blog from my facebook account. It's not that I have anything to hide I just decided that I want people to read my blog because they want to and not because they randomly clicked on my blog post while surfing facebook.
• I received good feedback from the girls who won the comment contest. They loved their jewelry. Yippee!!!
• Mr.B was given the OK to go back to work. He goes back next week. It's been 4 months. We are all excited for our lives to start to get back to normal. He still has 4 more months of chemo but at least we are getting to the end of this nightmare. 

There's Something About Jake

Today is one of those days for me. I'm a crabby Mom and a even crabbier partner. I have a lot on my mind and I am letting stress get to me. Because of that I decided that I needed a funny post today. Something that made me laugh and I hope it will make you laugh as well. Have you seen the movie There's Something About Mary? It's one of my favorites. Check this out.

Jake was eating lunch and ran his fingers through his hair. I swear I didn't style his hair this way. This is how I

found him. 

April Photo Hunt Challenge

Animal

Bedroom

Fashion

Best of

Lawn or Garden

Lazy

Playtime

Rain or water

silhouette

Tiny

Huge

Texture

My pictures for the April PhotohuntChallenge

My photo for fashion is an achieve because for some reason I missed this theme.

Sunny Day

Today it was a nice day for the most part. The sun was shining and Jake got to play in the yard for a while. He loves it out there. We have a nice size fenced in yard and I usually just let him run around. Today I turned around and he was standing on the picnic table. I guess I need to keep a better eye on my little dare devil.

I've been taking pictures like crazy this month because I am determined to finish a photohunt challenge. I've signed up so many times and I've never had the time to finish one. This time I actually did finish it. I will post my pictures soon.

My neighbor Aleta has the most beautiful yard and garden. She works so hard on it and can't wait to see it after everything blooms. I took a lot of photos of her yard while collecting pictures for the challenge. Here is one from this morning.

Thanks for stopping by

Just Thursday

Outside my window.. A beautiful deck that we haven't been able to enjoy do to the weather

Today I feel..Hopeful

I am thankful. Jake has been sleeping good this week(now that I said this out loud he won't tonight. That always happens to me

Tomorrow I am going.. To go the gym or get some sort of exercise and put my Avon orders in. 

I am wearing..A pair of black yoga pants and a blue sweatshirt

I wish.. had the energy to make dinner

This weekend.. I have a b-day dinner to go to Saturday night and dinner up at my Dad's Sunday

I am reading.. Cookbook after cookbook(I'm obsessed) oh and lots of blogs

I am working on..my jewelry, blog, photo-hunt and Avon

Yesterday I.. I realized I need to get back to the gym but still didn't go(what is wrong with me??)

I am hoping.. Mr.B starts to feel better and our lives get back to somewhat normal

I am hearing.. Jake playing under the table with his cars

I bet you didn't know.. I stay up until about 2 am every night because my mind won't shut off

One of my favorite.. Shows is Parenthood




Link Up 

Recipe-Last Nights Meal

I had some requests for the recipe for last nights dinner 


I'm bad at recipes. I'm a concoction girl. I usually try a bunch of things until I get it right. Ask Mr.B. It's sometimes a nightmare.

For the chips:
Set oven for 425
I sliced them with my cool slicer from the fair(I knew I would use that thing).

• Cut the potatoes  and soak the slices in a bowl of water to remove some of the starch (it helps them crisp up).
• Place the slices on a paper towel to remove the excess water. 
• Returned them to the bowl and tossed them with a little olive oil(not too much because it will cause them to burn) and grated parmesan cheese. (I'm thinking these would be really good with some coarse sea salt on them but I didn't have any)
• Spray the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and lined them up flat. 

I cooked them for about 20 min but you really need to keep an eye on them at the end. If they get too brown they will have a burnt taste to them. I did flip the potatoes once in the middle of the cooking process. We dipped them in top the tater (light) Yummy!!

Panko Crusted Chicken:

I put these in the oven along side the potatoes. If you are a timer kind of girl I think it was about 20 minutes. I follow no directions that's why some of my food turns out to be a nightmare.

1lb Chicken Tenders
2 Eggs
Panko Crumbs
Seasonings (Be creative, I just throw a bunch of stuff in there)
Cookie sheet
Wire Rack

•  In one bowl I beat 2 eggs in another bowl I mixed about 1 1/2 cups of panko crumbs with a bunch of different seasonings. I think I used garlic salt, black pepper, lawyrs, salt. If you use plain panko crumbs it can turn out really bland so season well and taste the crumbs. I think you can buy flavored crumbs if you don't want to mess with the seasoning.
• I didn't have any flour but if you have some you can coat the chicken in flour before this next step. I didn't and it was fine but some people like it that way
• One at a time coat the chicken in the egg and then place in the crumbs.
• Place on a wire rack. I put a wire rack over a cookie sheet. I highly recommend this because it makes the chicken crispy on both sides. 
• Bake for about 20 min or until no longer pink. 

If you try this recipe let me know how it turns out. 

Homemade Potato Chips and Panko Crusted Chicken Tenders

Tonight I thought I would try something different so I made potato chips and panko crusted chicken tenders. Everything turned out so yummy!