Family getaway

We took a trip to Brown County State Park this past weekend. Our church was having a retreat for families with young children. We had 15 families attend. Ryan wanted to get some mountain biking in as the park has some awesome trails.

When we got there we had a nice picnic lunch and found a playground for the boys to play on.

Brooks didn't like the slide, he said it was too hot.

Hudson is into climbing.

All my boys on the swings.

Brooks' buddy Maggie arrived on Saturday and they had a great time playing together (and Hudson too). They loved being out in the fresh air with plenty of room to run around.

Brooks really enjoyed staying in the cabin. He thought it was pretty cool. Thankfully the boys both slept really well in a strange place. It was fun all waking up together in the same room. Hudson's quite a little chatterbox when he wakes up. Brooks takes a little longer to wake up (like me!).

We all had a fun time and might have to go back when they open their indoor waterpark.

Recipes of the week

Sorry I didn't get any posted last week, so here are a few recipes. The Tomato Soup has been a long time favorite. I just made the Spinach & Bacon Pasta for dinner tonight and it was well received by the whole family. The Corn Muffins are really good, they should be with a stick of butter in them, right?

Tomato Soup

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes w/garlic and basil
1 15 oz can chicken broth
2 TB butter
2 TB sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 can evaporated milk

1. In a large stock pot mix tomatoes, chicken broth, butter, sugar, and baking soda. Simmer for 1 hour.
2. Add the evaporated milk. Cook until heated.

Jen's notes: I like to puree part of the soup using my stick blender.

Spinach & Garlic Pasta

1 box penne pasta
1 lb fresh spinach, washed
8 slices bacon, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 TB olive oil
Fresh Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta as directed on box.
2. Cook bacon until crispy in large frying skillet over medium high heat. Remove bacon to drain when finished.
3. Saute garlic in bacon grease until aromatic.
4. Add the spinach and olive oil, stirring until cooked.
5. Add the pasta and stir until blended.
6. To serve, sprinkle bacon and Parmesan cheese over pasta.

Jen's notes: The original recipe said to chop the spinach. I skipped this step and left the leaves as is. I also used a bag of fresh spinach instead. It may look like you have too much spinach at first, but it as it cooks it really shrinks down.

Delicious Corn Muffins

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup frozen corn

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix butter, sugar, honey, eggs, and salt into a large bowl.
3. Add flour, cornmeal, and baking powder and blend thoroughly.
4. Add milk while mixing.
5. Add corn to mixture and work into mixture.
6. Do not mash corn, the whole kernel is baked into the muffin.
7. Fill a muffin pan with 12 paper/foil muffin cups and fill 2/3 full with batter.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until muffins are light brown.
   

Adventures in mountain biking

Ryan has been enjoying the nicer weather by biking, both road trips and some mountain biking. Brooks has decided that he is a mountain biker now too.

He rode around the back yard for awhile and then we went on a "road" ride to our neighbor Pam's house where he proceeded to check out all her flowers and smell them.

This week is Brooks' last week of preschool for the semester. Today was their year end party. I was able to attend. The kids did a cute little act to Miss Spider's Tea Party. They were all dressed up as bugs. I wish I had brought my camera! The teachers made each of the parents a little scrapbook of the past semester. It's filled with fun pictures of Brooks at school. It is the most thoughtful present. They really put a lot of love into them. I know Brooks will miss all of his friends and teachers over the summer.

Hudson seems to be having a language explosion. He has so many words and can repeat back just about anything. He is loving the nice weather and would stay outside playing basketball all day if we let him. His new favorite food is applesauce. He does a great job eating with a spoon.

From the artist

Brooks learned about birds at preschool a couple weeks ago, and this picture is showing a chicken and the egg...can't you see it ;)

This is a fun one, they used cars to paint.

Brooks only has 1 week of preschool left for the semester. He gets to go on his first field trip tomorrow, they are walking down to Pizza Hut to watch them make pizza. I think he's going to miss his friends and teachers. Today he actually told me "Bye Mommy, go to work now." That was a first! We are glad he is enjoying preschool and learning so much.

Mission trip update

One of the ways you can help to support the mission trip I'm going on is to purchase a backpack for $15 here. The backpacks are filled with school supplies and we will be distributing them on our trip to Guatemala. The inability to afford school supplies holds back many Guatemalan children from attending school. Your $15 can make it possible for a child to attend school for a year. Thanks for your help!

Wordless Wednesday

Recipe of the week

I made this for dinner last night. Can you ask for any easier? We ate it with some rice, salad and rolls.

Honey Mustard Chicken

1 lb frozen chicken tenders (could also use breasts)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard

Mix the honey and mustard together.
Place the frozen chicken tenders in your crockpot.
Pour the honey mustard mixture on top.
Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Yeah for nicer weather!

The weather was soooo nice this weekend. We all enjoyed getting outside. Ryan went for a 2 hour bike ride Saturday (almost to Brookston). The boys had fun playing basketball in the backyard and we went for a walk after dinner. Today we dined al fresco at Scotty's and played at a park with friends.

The boys are doing well. Brooks enjoyed learning about birds at preschool this past week. His favorite bird is the cardinal. He likes to point them out in our backyard. Hudson loves "The Foot Book" by Dr Seuss. His favorite page is Slow feet, quick feet. He laughs hysterically when we get to that page.

Hudson's first time enjoying his soy yogurt. The next day I watered it down with soy milk and put it in his straw cup...much less mess!

Hudson and Maggie getting ready to race down the slide.

The bathtub had a nice layer of sand in it after tonight's bath time!