The Good Life

My kids have the life...in the last week and a half they have been to the beach twice, three different playgrounds, the toy store, the zoo, and the botanic gardens!  I wish that I had pictures to share from our adventures but both (yes both!) of my cameras are broken at the moment.  I guess that's what happens when you let your three year old practice her photography with your cameras.  Hopefully, I will get at least one of them up and running soon as our schedule shows no signs of slowing down.  We have the tall ships coming to Navy Pier, another beach day, an outdoor kiddie concert and Suki's first ballet class all coming up...whew I am tired just writing this! 

How They Grow

I took both the munchkins to the doctor today since Suki needed a physical before she can start preschool and Max was sooo far behind on his well visits.  It was a little crazy taking both of them at the same time but with a lot of patience, a few stickers and two suckers later we were out of there.  Here are their stats...

Suki
Height: 38.25 inches  (50%)
Weight:  34.5 lbs. (60%)

Max
Height:  32.75 inches (25%)
Weight:  23 lbs. 15 oz. (10%)

Mr. and Mrs.

Five years ago we sealed our love with a kiss...

Happy Anniversary to us!

August 9th

Seven years ago today my dad passed away.


Even though the pain is less the yearning to see him, hear him, smell him is deeper.


I miss him more and more everyday. 

Blueberry Farm

Carlos had a few days off at the beginning of the month before he started his new job so we took the opportunity to do a bunch of family things that we hadn't done yet.  I have always loved loved blueberries and thought it would be fun to go picking.  So we drove to a bluberry farm in Indiana and braved the 90 plus temperatures with 60% humidity to get as many blueberries as we could.  We only ended up with four pounds...it's alot more work than you think!

Lemon Pudding Cakes

I have to share the best (and easiest) dessert...  I discovered this recipe in one of my monthly Cuisine At Home magazines that I get delievered.  It is amazing!!! Not only is it quick and easy it is delicious.  Carlos even loves this.  Now if you know Carlos you know that is saying alot because he's more of a fried chicken kind of guy rather than a dessert loving man.  I don't have a picture of the finished product but trust me it is worth a try. Oh and I almost forgot to add that they are only 206 calories per cake!!!!!!

2 eggs separated
1-2 tsp. minced lemon zest
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice ( i used bottled from time to time)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. table salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh blueberries ( i usually use a little more - enough to cover the bottom of each dish)

Beat together egg yolks, zest, lemon juice, butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium.  Combine flour and salt in separate bowl.  Add flour mixture alternativley with the milk to yolk mixture, beating well after each addition.  Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.  Fold whites into lemon batter until incorporated.  Place four 6-oz ramekins in an 8-inch square baking pan with tall sides.  Drop a few blueberries into each ramekin.  Divide batter among ramekins, pouring batter over blueberries.  Pour boiling water into bakin pan until water reaches halfwy up the sides of ramekins.  Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until tops of cakes are lightly browned.  Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Enjoy :-)

These are the ramekins I use.  I love dishes and often wish that I had a bunch of houses just so I could have different sets of dishes at each house ( I think I get that from my mom!). I do love the look of a clean white dish but I found some others that would be oh sooo cute to bake these little pieces of heaven in:

Running

Well, I guess after 7 weeks of training I can officially consider myself a runner!  I have a love-hate relationship with this new hobby of mine and don't know how long I will keep it up but it has been a challenging adventure so far.  A few months ago I promised my brother-in-law that I would run the Rock-N-Roll Chicago Half Marathon with him if he'd fly out for it.  Of course, he went and signed up for the race right away so I had to follow through with my promise.  I started out running a couple days a week and then started a twelve week training plan about 7 weeks ago.  I have days where I am excited to get up and run and days where I dread the run so much that I end up pushing it off a day or so.  This has been a huge commitment for me (both time-wise and physically) and I am pretty proud of myself for keeping it up this long.  I have never been one of those people that loves to exercise (who are those people anyway!).  The run is only a few weeks away and now that I have a couple of 10 mile runs under my belt I am feeling more confident that I can actually do it!  I will keep ya'll posted on my progress...

Garfield Park Conservatory

A few weekends ago we went to the Garfield Park Conservatory.  It was kind of a gloomy Chicago day and we weren't sure if it was going to rain or not so decided to do something indoors.  Well, we are really glad we did.  This trip to the conservatory was by far one of the coolest things we've seen since coming to Chicago.  It was this huge oasis in the middle of a big city....so amazing!  The flowers and plants and trees were so beautiful.  There's just something so peaceful about being surrounded by living plants.  Oh and I forgot to mention the best part...it's free!  Both admission and parking, which is almost unheard of in this city.  We will definitely be going back!