Yummy Goodness!

Tonight Tara and Taylor came over for round 2 of cooking dinner together : )  We decided to roast a chicken in my new baker:

 

I've never roasted a chicken before so I was impressed with how juicy it was.  We put potatoes, onions, carrots and mushrooms down in the chicken and around it and I rubbed the chicken with a chili lime rub.  We had some veggies left over so I roasted those on a pan with some olive oil and salt and pepper . . . and we discovered that those veggies tasted AWESOME!  So we learned for next time . . . I plan to just put the chicken in the baker and roast the veggies separate.  We all inhaled the veggies on the pan.  The chicken was so juicy and yummy.  Tara made some keylime cupcakes that were delish!

Because the chicken was going to take so long to cook, Tara made these appetizers that were yummy goodness:

 

 Enjoyed the company ladies!!!!!

 

In other news, we got our monthly church newsletter today and Emily made the cover!!!!

 

Go Emily!!!!!

Weekend Travel

This weekend we went to Birmingham for my nephew - Sawyer's birthday party.  They had inflatables outside and it was GORGEOUS weather for an outside party.  We even ate dinner on their deck that night.  Here is the Birthday boy!

 

All the kids had fun on the big inflatable jump zone but my parents also brought their smaller one and Abigail enjoyed getting in there.  She laughed and bounced while Emily and Sarah jumped around her:

 

 I had not seen my sister and her family since January and it's amazing to me how big Sarah and Sam have gotten in just a few months:

 

On Sunday we visited Joe's sister and husband.  Joe's mom is there visiting her this week.  Emily found Leslie's glasses and tried them on:

And Abigail tried on Uncle Vann's Auburn hat:

 

 . . . and on the way home we passed this cute dog riding in style on the back of a motorcycle!  He even has his own pair of goggles!!!!

Strawberry Farm

We went to pick strawberries today at a local farm with some friends.  We had an enjoyable time . . . I much prefer the late April weather for strawberry picking over the July heat when picking blueberries.  The girls had a good time.  I had to keep a close eye on Abigail because she kept trying to eat the strawberries which they said not to do until we washed them:

 

 

They also had chickens and bees to check out:

A fun day!  Now I'm off to put some strawberries in the freezer and keep some out for eating : )

The Plague

Well a nasty ol' stomach bug hit our house again and this one knocked you out for several days.  Abigail got it first and was back to normal on Monday.  After getting sick on Thursday night, she mainly ran a high fever and didn't want to eat.  Then Emily woke us up EARLY on Monday morning very sick.  We got her all cleaned up and moved her to the couch and she basically didn't move from that position until late Wednesday.  Here she is starting to come to life on Wednesday:

 And then she actually sat up for a little while and colored:

Joe was puny for about a day and thankfully I came thru it o.k.  When he called to tell me he got sick, my heart started beating really fast and I broke out in a sweat for fear that I was going to come down with it too!  We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

In other news, last week I had a P@mpered Chef party at my house.  I love their products and recently met someone at our church that is a consultant.  I had the party in April because this was the host special for the month, and I must confess that I coveted this just a little bit:

 

My goal was to get enough in sales to get the host special and get this baker for free:

Did I reach my goal???  Why yes I did . . . and then some!  I was so excited!  The party was fun, I got to get to know my neighbors better, and I got some of my favorite products for free or at a deep discount. . . . a win-win people.   I got $267 worth of products for $73 . . yea!.  Here is my loot:

 

And it was fun sorting thru everyone's orders last night to see what they got.  Since Emily had a burst of energy last night after sitting on the couch for 3 days, she helped me bag each person's gift and then walked thru the neighborhood with me to deliver bags.

Dentist

Last week Emily needed to go to the dentist to get some small cavities filled.  I knew it was going to be a struggle for her because she has a fear of laying back in a dentist chair. . . and her recent visit to the ENT to dig the earring back out of her ear didn't quite help with those fears.  Plus, this was going to be the first time she went back without me  . . . so I promised her a special treat if she was a big girl for me.  She gave them all some trouble at the beginning but they finally convinced her to let them get their work done.  The first thing she said to me when she came out was "are we going to get my treat now?"  I took her to the dollar store and she picked out paint and a picture:

Abigail also got to try fruit snacks for the first time and has deemed them "good".

She has watched her sister eat these so many times and practically drooled all over her . . . so I finally let her give them a try : )

Easter

We hope everyone had a happy Easter Sunday!  Abigail has been sick the last couple of days so Joe stayed home with her today.  Here we are before Emily and I left for church this morning:

 

Emily loved the dress Dee Dee made her.  She told everyone about it this morning!

After church some friends came over for lunch and an Easter egg hunt.  We ate a delicious meal!!

 

After that we got the eggs ready for the kids:

 On your mark . . . get set . . .

  . . . . Go!

Then everyone had fun playing in the back yard:

 

 . . . and you can't forget the yummy cupcakes!!!

The fellowship with friends was really nice today!!!  Pray that Abigail is fully on the mend by tomorrow . . . she was still a little "puny" today.