Days like these......

Sometimes you have days like these....

and other times you have days like these....

....when the entire day is spent smiling and giggling....

when you are doing dishes in the kitchen, and you glance in the living room and see this....

when she just HAS to eat lunch with her baby, and takes turns feeding herself and then her baby, and you think....wait-isn't SHE the baby??

when she finds a new way to "do her puzzle", and you both think it's hilarious...

when she takes out all the pots and pans and sits in them, because it's funny....

when her toy camera says "SAY CHEESE", and she does this....

and when you look into those BIG brownish, greenish, blueish eyes and think, Wow, I co-created that.  She's amazing, and I'm pretty sure that if I loved her anymore my heart would break into a million pieces....

Creamy Potato Soup

I made this for dinner last night, and for how quick it was I would say it turned out pretty good.  I forgot to take a photo......but here is the recipe!

Ingredients

*1-2 T butter

*1 small onion, chopped

* 1 clove of garlic

*2 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and chopped

*2 14oz cans of chicken broth

*1 cup of buttermilk

* 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

*S &P to taste

*bacon, cooked and chopped

Directions

1.  Over medium heat, cook onion & garlic in butter until soft.

2.  To your pot, add chicken broth and potatoes and simmer, partially covered, until tender.

3.  Once potatoes are tender, carefully spoon mixture in to a food processor.  Add the rest of your ingredients and puree.  Season to taste.  

4.  We topped the soup with extra bacon and cheese...because that's how we do.  

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet Ingrid Faces

Springtime: Part II

I feel like such a Minnesotan talking about our recent warm weather.  But when you are a stay at home mom trapped inside for the long winter months, spring time is a big deal!  I can't wait to go to the park this year and watch Ingrid run around and play with the other kids.  Yesterday, after lunch, we headed outside to walk around and explore....

Ingrid is usually an adrenalin junky, but she was very skeptical of the cars....which makes her mama happy!

I just can't get over her cuteness....she walked around with her hands up like a little princess who couldn't bare the thought of getting dirty....

I am so blessed!

Wall Paper

Have you ever tried to take down 20 year old wall paper?  For your sake, I hope not!  Here is a "work-in-progress" shot of our past week.  We were able to use my cousin's wall paper steamer, which by the way-is the ONLY way to go.  It looks like whoever put this wall paper up was trying to cover up an equally as ugly color of paint.  We have our work cut out for us!

Wordless Wednesday: Play dates with Ingrid's BFF's.

I was messing with the settings on my camera, so these top two photos of the kid's came out pixelated.

Hints of Spring...

If you're from Minnesota, then you probably agree with me that 39 degree's means springtime, rain boots, and morning/afternoon/evening walks (because we can't get outside ENOUGH).  We had a little family walk after dinner last night, and though it was short lived, it was amazing to get outside and just move!  It wasn't quite 40 degree's, so when the wind hit, it was still a little chilly for Ingrid.  Actually, I don't think she gave a rat's tushy, I just didn't want her to get too cold (since it's next to impossible to get her to leave her mittens and hat on!).  It was so cute (and sad), as soon as we turned around to go home, she just cried!  She loves being outside.  I can not wait until the snow melts and I can run around outside with her.  I've been looking everywhere for size 4 rain boots, and have yet to find any....so maybe a Sal. Army trip is in order.....Here are some photo's that my husband took of me, Ingrid, and my mama.  Now affectionately known as "Kee-Kee" (Yes, that is kitty, and she is known as Kitty to Ingrid...."you know what they say about chips..")