Baby K Helps...& a new recipe

Above is what it looks like when Baby K helps mommy wash dishes - she sits next to me while I work and last week discovered she can reach the paper towels and if she pulls they just keep coming! She loves it - it's cute for now. ;)
Dinner:

So here is the salad I made for dinner the other night - YUMMY! and Healthy!!!
It is a bed of baby spinach topped with craisins, red onion, mushrooms, almonds, feta crumbles and salmon - the best part was the salmon! Oh and I used Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (from Kraft).

This is how I cooked the Salmon:
2/3 c apple juice
2 tsp Old Bay spice

in a non stick pan I brought the juice and spice to a simmer at med-high heat.
I placed the salmon (which I got in 4 oz servings vacuum sealed at Dillons) in the skillet and put the lid on the skillet for 4 min.

After 4 min I turned the salmon over meat down on the heat - skin side up facing the lid and cooked it for 3 more min.
It was beautifully caramelized! And SO flavorful and took less than 10 min!

I let the salmon rest then cut the skin off and cut fish into strips to place on the salad.

I will make the salmon this way again and think I may serve it with a side of salad and a potato rather than as a topping to the salad.
Enjoy!

Memories that Still make you laugh out loud

Don't you just love it when a memory from several years back can randomly come to mind and make you laugh out loud?! I do...
Today, while filling out the Facebook "25 random things about me" thing, I was reminded of a memory I share with my dear friend "Joy" and honestly I have laughed out loud several times this morning because of it.
We were out to eat one day at a local restaurant and on their menu they had an advertisement for an offer called "Make it a Platter!"
The offer was for $1.99 you could add two sides and a drink to any sandwich order.
J asked the waitress if she could "Just make it a platter" after explaining herself a few times, she had stumped the waitress. Yep, J wanted to order two sides and a drink for $1.99 no sandwich. I still laugh at the look on the waitresses face when she realized what J was asking - finally deciding she didn't know the answer and would have to ask her manager.
In the end the answer was no. No you can not JUST make it a platter!

Why this is so funny I'm not totally sure but I think it was the looks on everyones's faces, my face, J's face, the waitress and I can only imagine her manager's face.

So Funny! Honestly, usually when J tries to work something like this...it works. She gets great deals and sometimes even free stuff because of her boldness to ask. I love her (for many more reasons than just this).

Swimming..

Baby K LOVES the bathtub! I think she is ready to try swimming. I want to take her to the YMCA and try it out and then last night at Targ*t they had swimming suits! Here she is modeling...

Serving

My wonderful husband was helping me in the preschool children's church class a few Sunday's ago. We have a toy workbench and some toy tools down there and he found that our drill was broken - not only was it broken, someone must have stepped on it and we were worried that small pieces may fall out of it! After both agreeing the toy was now dangerous, I said we should throw it away - he thought he could fix it.
Ok, so my idea of "fixing" it would be take out the small electrical pieces inside, throw them away, glue the plastic thing back together again and call it good.
My husband's idea of fixing it...is seen below in the slide show - he got out the superglue, the special small screwdrivers, and the soldering iron & wire. Not only did he put it back together but he was able to repair the electrical part of the toy so it completely works again - and it is almost as loud as a real drill which I'm sure the kids will love - but the volunteers may not! HA!

The adventures of a 4month old...

Baby K is days away from being 5 months old. This past month she has had 3 more shots, started trying rice cereal and other baby foods, ROLLED OVER from tummy to back, taken a few naps (and I mean few), enjoys her excersaucer with the help of a blanket (she's so long and lean that the seat is too big w/o the blanket), watched history in the making yesterday although she won't remember it, oh and many things I'm sure I've forgotten at the moment.
We have been so busy - the basement is almost finished - all we need is carpet I can't believe it! Children's church is now planned for the next two months, my bow party is over, my house is clean w/ the exception of laundry and holiday decorations have been put away, OH And I finally mailed all 140 Happy New Year Cards yesterday - what in the world!
Here are some pictures of our sweet Baby K

Justice gets a hair cut...

So I take our dog to the same wonderful groomer every time, I always pick her up to find our cocker shaved down to look like some kind of lab puppy - that's how I ask them to cut her. Sometimes they give her a more traditional cocker shave and leave some curls on her ears but no matter how they cut her hair she always has a bandanna around her neck when I pick her up.
Today was different. Today she had no bandanna, she looked like a princess dog, she looked like this:

Kiss

My cousin, Beth, and I are good friends even though we live miles apart and are years apart in age. In a lot of ways Beth is my personality clone. We talk often on the phone. When my husband and i were dating Beth would call and he would see her name on the caller id, and then proceed to sing the Kiss song "Beth I hear you calling." When his birthday rolled around Beth and I ordered a kiss doll off the internet, then purchased a build-a-bear voice box, recorded the song and put it inside the doll. When you would push his belly he would sing. Later when it was Beth's birthday we rerecorded on the voice box, Happy birthday and had her mom put the doll in her locker to surprise her. So the plan was made...the doll must continue to be passed around as our little family inside joke...well...Beth keeps forgetting to give the doll up and it's been 2 years people! So I have decided that I will just keep pranking her until she passes the doll back.

I've put the craziest looking stuffed Troll doll in her duffel bag with a note, and twice now I have changed the header on her blog (girl needs to change her password) and this last one was pretty funny, I crack myself up! :) She posted some pictures of the troll doll on her blog several weeks back, check my favorite blogs for "Fingerprints" you can visit her there.
Here is the header I posted last night...

My favorite part is I put her photo on the screen of the cell phones, oh and the gross chest hair is pretty funny too. You'll have to see the header on her actual blog to see how well it blends in. What a hoot.

Baby K & Daddy...

This is Baby K at 4mo old...
The previous post (Guess Who) is her daddy at 5 1/2 months old...

I think they look similar only their noses are different and of course Baby K looks like a girl and not a boy. :)

Guess Who...

Look at this cute kid!