a spree.

you must understand how rarely i cook these days to truly appreciate this post. my family has had lots of cheese quesadillas & cereal for dinner lately. and there is no excuse, really. just plain laziness is all. well, yesterday i went on a cooking spree!

popovers for breakfast. {they didn't turn out... but still.}
broccoli cream soup. {frozen for sean to take to work for lunches.}
lemon bars. {my very most favorite dessert!}
homemade spaghetti sauce. {half for dinner. half frozen for another night.}

yeah, i'm pretty proud of myself. just thought i would toot my own horn for a moment...

that's all.

8:20

a.m.

p.m.

{sunday is my day of indulgence...}

sean had a birthday. {shout hooray!}

thursday:
i made the shepherds pie that the birthday boy requested.
and some delicious oreo treats.
serena had fun with the balloons all day.
{and i came down with the worst cold/flu/sinus infection of all time.}

friday:
we had biaggi's for lunch.
we saw source code.
we played at the park with the girls.
we saw hanna.
that's right. two movies in one day. it was pretty awesome :)

dear sean,
i hope your 31st birthday was fun even though i got sick and complained about that a lot...
love, ariel

a trip to brigham city.

horrible weather and traffic.
serena demanding "i know it's today" on repeat.
seth's graduation dinner at maddox.
best rolls ever.
a salad dressing mishap about 2 seconds after that first photo was taken.
turkey steak. yum.
a speech from the graduate.
sean's antique rick's college sweatshirt gets replaced... thanks a lot, guys!!
strawberry pie. yum.

way to graduate, seth!

lunch.

I have had this for lunch every day this week... and I plan to make it again today.

It's that good.

hooray for:

shirtless harper.

this on the way. {time to start thinking about swimsuits...}

sickness subsiding.

margherita pizza from the pizza factory.

finally beating ludicris in wordfeud.

7.5 hours of sleep. in a row. hallelujah!

jimmy kimmel as karl malone. recycling & taxes are my faves.

steak & shrimp fondue.

2 of sean's 3 basketball leagues ending!! i have a husband again.

serena's super tight, super sweet hugs around the neck.

finishing a good book and starting another.

wixel {boggle} app.

your refined heavenly home. love this talk!

kids in jammies.

kids in bed.

quiet in the house.

sickies.

it seems this winter we are bound to catch one cold after another after another. bleh. i don't remember ever having one of those colds that makes you sneeze like crazy. i've probably sneezed 30 times today. i've been trying hard not to get harper sick {see my mask above}, but based on her irritability today, i'd say we're in for a bad 48 hours.

on a happier note, though, i've been keeping up the new year's resolution to cook 3 dinners a week. in case you're wondering what's been cookin' in my kitchen:

last week:
sweet & sour {turkey} meatballs
candy chicken
chicken parmesan + french peasant bread {so good. so easy.}

this week:
chicken pesto paninis on the geo.fo. {inspiration from here}
easy chicken cordon bleu {with a few alterations, making it into a casserole}
spaghetti with homemade sauce

paninis are tonight and i'm counting down the minutes until sean gets home and i can get cooking! yummmm.

new year's resolution.

i made good on a couple of my resolutions last year {making my bed! oh yeah!}, and i'm hoping to keep this one alive in 2011 {and for a long time after that}. my goal:

a. plan 3 dinners per week.
b. do all shopping for the meals at the beginning of the week, in one trip to the grocery store.
c. sit down at the table and eat dinner as a family.

this is HUGE for me, friends. i am terrible at meal planning. most nights i am making something for serena, something different for me, and letting sean fend for himself. {don't judge, he's the world's pickiest eater.} but i would really like to start sitting down at the dinner table as a family every night and we pretty much NEVER do that. 3 dinners per week is a good number for us. sean and i are each gone one night a week. and when you're cooking for 2 1/2, there are always leftovers {although sean won't eat them...}.

this week's menu {entirely from eat your veggies, peas}:

1. low fat broccoli cream soup + green salad
2. easy chicken cordon bleu + green beans
3. mini meatloaves + broccoli

and on a side note, these are some of my favorite food blogs to borrow recipes from:

redhead recipes
the pioneer woman cooks
eat your veggies, peas
sweet basil
zupas

blizzard.

had potato soup & rolls for dinner.
cranked up the heat.
put up 2/3 of our christmas tree. {the bottom section was too wide for the space.}
ready to cuddle up & watch a movie.

but if it doesn't snow like 5 more inches during the night, this "blizzard" has been a big disappointment.

b.l.t.

nothing tastier this time of year than a big juicy b.l.t.

with tomatoes from the garden.

i think i could eat one for every meal.

it's even possible that i made one last night at 11:30 p.m. after choir & board meeting, and another one for lunch today.

{i need more tomatoes from your garden, mom!}

indoor day.

serena's favorite, and one of two things she would eat today {the other was mac n cheese}.

toys. and laying on mama's belly.

my crochet hook came out of retirement {making a blanket for girly #2}. and a belly shot. which upon inspection doesn't really show off how big my belly really is. oh well.

today we have spent the entire day inside. serena has been sick with something {that the dr couldn't identify} and has been a huge grump. one moment i'll think she's for sure getting better, the next she will completely flip out/scream at the top of her lungs. maybe that's an improvement from yesterday, actually. yesterday she refused to eat or nap, and laid on me for most of the day, watching shows and acting very sad and pathetic. anywho... she's having plenty of ibuprofen and we'll pray that her fever comes down and she gets back to her spunky self soon.

{and that our backyard campout doesn't get rained out tomorrow!}

the living is easy.

back yard swimming.

juicy watermelon.

my first cup of mint tea this season.

i won't even let the huge pile of laundry waiting to be folded ruin this summer day.

weekend.

saturday we did lots of chores. sean cleaned out the cars, and found a nice surprise in the back of mine. a dead hummingbird. so apparently we hadn't thoroughly cleaned out our cars since before the cabin trip a few weeks ago :) serena loved playing on the wet grass while daddy weeded & watered. and threw a monster tantrum when i brought her in, stripped her down, and made her take a bath. she has been full of monster tantrums lately. and then after sean's hard day of work, i treated myself to some ice cream & berries :)




yesterday we had the most stressful day ever, made much worse by serena's tantrums. {we think she has some teeth coming in or something... we hope.} i spoke, sang, and directed the choir in sacrament meeting, sean taught elders quorum, one car died in the church parking lot, home teaching and visiting teaching, a temple recommend interview, all while dealing with an extra cranky toddler. but we ended the day with some relaxation. my parents came over for a perfect summer meal. hot dogs on the grill. cantaloupe. strawberries. crab salad. potato chips. and of course a nice berry pie for dessert {which i can't take credit for. thanks marie calendars!}.

i love summer. so glad some warm weather has finally arrived.

p.s. i took a picture of the hummingbird, but it grossed me out to post it with so many food pictures... sorry you missed it :)

num num.

{that's serenese for yuuummmmm}





watermelon + homemade pizza.

{pizza of course with extra parmesan + red pepper flakes on top.}

three food posts in a row. i blame the baby i'm growing. she loves food.

sisters night.

soup, salad & breadsticks at olive garden.
checking out all of the improvements on heather's new house.
{i wish i had an all white kitchen! jealous!}
brown cow milkshakes.
lemon meringue pie.
{wow... we ate a lot last night...}
ever after.

it was a good night :) thanks for planning, heather!

{and all i got a picture of was the pie... wow.}

not so much.

i've heard lots of good things about bruge's waffles and frites. but i wasn't a fan. maybe i just ordered the wrong thing. the waffles grossed me out. i think people like them because they are crunchy on the outside and doughy on the inside... which is exactly why i didn't like them. i don't like the doughy center. or maybe it was having waffles and fries for lunch {we had to try both while we were there} that grossed me out. or maybe it's just pregnancy. anyway. maybe i'll try again someday.

the porcelain god.

yesterday serena sacrificed my cell phone to the porcelain god. i was not happy. {don't try to text/call me until tomorrow... i hope to have a new phone by then.}

and

last night i was up until 4:30 a.m. praying to the very same porcelain god, thanks to a mean case of food poisoning. it's really a shame to throw up a $30.00 meal from rodizio.

that's been my last 24 hours.

relaxation and relief.

last night i had a burger and fries, just like i wanted.
then we went to bath & body and bought a bunch of this good stuff,
along with some lemon and coconut lotions {two of my favorite scents}.
sean got a last minute invite to the jazz game,
so i
put serena to bed,
gave myself a pedicure,
watched who do you think you are?,
had an apple with peanut butter,

AND

finally finished the custom order that has been in the works for a week. this morning i shipped it off. it was a huge relief! now i'm so very ready for a break from the etsy shop.

i had a delicious and nutritious lunch.

quinoa salad. recipe here.

and i really really want a burger and fries for dinner.

i'm pregnant. i can do that without guilt.

bleh.

fried chicken instead of a bun.

wow.

this made me dry heave when we drove past kfc today.