...BUSY in Mommyland!

WOW! That's about all I can say! We have been so busy where to start?? I feel like I almost have to peruse all the pictures that I have taken that my WONDERFUL husband so kindly uploaded for me this morning!
  So, lets see here; we got a new puppy and her names is "Avery" and yes we now have FOUR women in this house and two men ( that would be Chris and our Guinea Pig "Spike")! We all love her so much its nuts. Now, if only she would stop using my house for the bathroom it would be great but we will be patient as she is ONLY 9 weeks old! Oh I probably should also include her breed huh? Well she is something of a mix which includes American Bulldog. What mother couldn't love that face??

We have also made our FIRST batch of homemade jam. The back story on this is I had been thinking about doing it for awhile and kept putting it off AND if you know my daughter AT ALL you know she LOVES her PB&J sandwiches and wouldn't ya know we ran out of jam. Lucky her me, I had some frozen berries in my freezer so I threw those in a pot, turned on the heat to med-high and brought them to a boil. Then I threw in a bit of sugar so sweeten the pot and some tapioca to thicken it; which I just might leave out next time. Anyhow and there ya go its a BIG winner at my house and I think I may just freeze some next time I make it so that I'll have it on hand.  

At the same time we needed the jam I also needed something for my little one to snack on in her highchair while I was making meals or just to munch on. So I took a page from my friend Carey's book and made homemade crackers and added some cinnamon and sugar just for the heck of it and they were yummy added to that homemade jam! Alyssa, my five year old asks for them too!

We have spent A LOT of time in our newly fenced backyard lately and one of those times we ran into a HOBO of all things sleeping in our yard..Funny thing is she looked an awful lot like my daughter!

Michaela wasn't very sure about what was going on with that or how her sister had suddenly turned into a hobo,

but she loves her anyway!

Speaking of our wonderful backyard; which my wonderful husband (I apparently am loving the word wonderful!) spent his weekend fencing in so we wouldn't loose Avery..Not to mention our children! We have pictures of our wonderful garden! We have had a bit of a tough time getting everything to come up and apparently we are just not meant to have garden fresh green beans this year, but I think we just might of a few things to enjoy, if Avery will stop walking on my fresh transplants! Since these were taken I have also added fresh basil, corn, cucumber starts and seeds; I had 5 cucumber starts but SOMETHING keeps coming by at night and eating the leaves, jalapenos, bell peppers, red onions, and more lettuce. Hopefully the weather will work with us so we can start EATING some of the yummy things we are growing?!?!

The Smiths do Portland!

  A few months ago our family made a trip to Oregon to enjoy the zoo and all that it had to offer.

For those of you who don't know my husband is originally from Portland and I grew up in Centralia an itty bitty town. Basically, Chris HATES public transportation because he had to use it growing up, now me, I have only used public transportation a few times in my life and for this reason it holds a certain interest for me. Anyway, I thought it would be FUN to take the kidlets on the MAX to get to the zoo. The husband was not quite so enthusiastic about it but we did in fact take the MAX and finally arrived at the zoo after getting on the wrong train and then transferring to the correct train with a very impatient five year old. Alyssa LOVED the trip to and from the zoo on the train! We got to see lots of very interesting people and parts of Portland and the surrounding cities we had never seen before.

  We enjoyed taking in the sights at the zoo, Alyssa especially loved the Bald Eagles, she still talks about them to this day! Michaela slept through most of the zoo but I know she will love it when she gets older. We also got to see polar bears, baboons, turtles, hippos and tons of other awesome animals.

After the zoo we went back to our car and ventured to this really sweet local restaurant called "Montage" after a 45 minute wait with two little kids we got a table and let me tell you it was worth the wait! If you like Cajun cuisine that is fresh and made from scratch you should venture on over to this place! Its located under the Morrison bridge and they don't take reservations so either get there early or be prepared to wait.

Here comes summer??

  As this is my first post I'm a little unsure what I should say so I will give whomever finds themselves reading this a rundown as to what my fab family and I have been up to.

 I have recently taken up sewing, knitting, yogurt making, and basically anything else I can possibly make homemade. I have found that my children and husband tend to enjoy things more when they are homemade and I enjoy providing the things we need myself. I am currently working on a blanket for my youngest daughter and should have plenty of other projects in the works soon enough in preparation for upcoming Christmas and Birthdays. I recently made my first homemade diaper which I am super proud of not to mention 3 pairs of babylegs for Michaela. Anyhow my interests lie basically in creating wonderfully cute and useful things for my family while at the sametime conserving what money my husband makes being a diesel mechanic.