Exploring Arizona--Part III

I've been away far too long! I'm finally getting around to posting about our most recent Arizona Adventure to Usery Park. Spring has sprung in the desert & with the GORGEOUS weather we've been having lately, we decided to enjoy the desert in bloom while we had the chance. We hiked the Merkle & Vista Trails at Usery Park with no mishaps and a good time had by all...even little B who fell asleep in the carrier...arms flailing & head bobbing. AND I took a zillion pictures as usual...

The Lovely Trail...

The kids...blazin' the trail....they were HARD to keep up with!

Our method of water storage/transportation...

The flowers were absolutely GLORIOUS!!!

Me & B...before she conked out...

L & I loved this COOL "green" rock...

Another awesome discovery...

My pretty Z, giving 2 seconds to the camera before she's off & running again...

We made it to the top! I was a little leery of balancing my fourth child (my camera) on the edge of a mountain cliff...so no family shot this time. Now get out there & enjoy the sunshine Arizonans...before it gets TOOOOOOOOOOO HOT!!!

Me, You & a Whole Lotta Poo

"Ahh, the joys of motherhood. At times I find it absolutely unbelievable that I have been changing diapers for nearly 6 years straight. Since we are on "the 2 year plan" we have always had a new baby before the older child gets fully potty trained. (happily at the present time I am only changing ONE behind). Most days I don't even notice it, most days it is just part of the routine...so much a habit that it becomes almost like breathing...ok maybe not THAT routine.

But today has been one of those messy, crazy diapers days that remind me of how many 100s of diapers I have changed over the years. Poor little B has had a bit of the stomach flu since yesterday. Luckily she seems to be on the mend today...but not without a few, ahem, minor mishaps. We went through the first outfit by about 9 am...bye bye cute pink pants, hello jeans & off to L's allergist appointment. Since she IS getting better, we had no more problems until I went to grab her from her crib after nap time. We needed to be at the bus stop pretty much at that moment to pick up Z, but HELLO, we weren't going anywhere. Thankfully Aunt H who lives only minutes away was able to pick up Z before the bus driver got too nervous....(they don't let the little Pre-K kids off the bus until a family member is there to pick them up.)

So being the good little mommy I am, I allowed little B to roam around in her birthday suit for awhile. (There is nothing better than air for those poor little red bottoms don't ya know). Yipes, that lasted all of 15 minutes...and then she was into the tub & I was pulling out the steam cleaner. Oh, B I'm sooooo glad you are feeling better. For both our sakes.

Tag I'm It--Part III

Betcha thought I forgot all about this, right? Nope, I actually don't forget very many things (my husband will likely disagree with me), they just fester in the back of my mind, driving me crazy until I get them done--probably one of the reasons why my resolution for the year is to BE A FINISHER....but I digress.

So here is recipe #3...Lemon Chicken. Not something I make all that often, not because we don't love it, we REALLY do (it happens to be one of Rob's all time favorites), but because, frankly it is a pain in the you know what to make. Just too many ingredients. I'm not usually one for a fancy recipe with difficult to pronounce ingredients & long lists of instructions to follow...I leave that to other more talented chefs in my family....you know who you are. Anyways, truly the ingredients are not obscure, it is not HARD, it just has tiny little bits of LOTS of different things & simply takes a little more time than I usually spend on dinner. But it is actually worth it cuz it is soooooooo yummy.

Marinade

1 T. oil

2 T. cornstarch

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. white pepper

Batter

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. water

2 T. cornstarch

2 T. oil

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Sauce (I usually double this cuz we like LOTS of sauce)

1/4 c. chicken broth

1/4 c. honey

3 T. lemon juice

2 T. corn syrup

2 T. vinegar

1 T. oil

1 T. ketchup

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

dash white pepper

So here's what you do....I recommend doing the prep early & just frying the chicken close to dinner time to speed up the process. Marinade 1-2 pounds chicken in above marinade recipe while you prepare the batter & sauce. I like to trim the chicken well & tenderize it, making it nice & thin so that it will cook quickly. Next prepare the batter in a shallow dish. Third, throw all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan & bring it to a boil. Then thicken the sauce with cornstarch & water and turn it down to low until you are ready to serve. Right before dinner, remove the chicken from the marinade, dip in the batter & fry in canola oil. Drain chicken on a paper towel, cut it up & serve over rice with the lemon sauce drizzled over the top. MMMMMmmmmmmmmmm!

How I Spent My Extra Day

More time! Isn't that what we all long for? Extra hours in each day....well this year we get 24! Gotta love leap year.

So I took the opportunity to spend part of this extra day with my baby girl. We did her one year portraits which I've been procrastinating a bit, but promising myself I'd get done this month...you see I'm a bit of a perfectionist (surprise, surprise) & I want them to turn out just right. But I did it! Yeah! We had so much fun & I took WAY to many pictures, but I was really pleased with the results. Here are a few of my favorites...I had a hard time narrowing down which ones to post. I am VERY biased after all. She's just so darn cute!

This is classic B...total cheeseball!

Can you say..."I'm DONE!" LOL! Thanks for putting up with me sweet little B. Now I just have to figure out which one to print & hang....any votes?

Arizona Adventures...Part II

Okay, okay...I'm FINALLY posting about our fabulous trip to Payson! Yep, in this neck o' the woods we actually have to travel to get to see snow. Rob took President's Day off work & since Z was out of school we jumped at the opportunity to head up to the snow. We went about an hour outside Payson & WOWZERS did we find it! Snow thigh deep! It was the pefect consistency for snowballs....here is probably my favorite pic of the day...the kids are planning an attack on Daddy. (notice the snowball whizzing overhead...he was already attacking them!) We spent all afternoon having snowball fights, sledding, digging & just plain tromping around in the snow. (Who can resist eating a little too?)

It was soooo much fun, but I'm SO very glad I don't have to bundle my kids up like this every time we leave the house! You snowbound folk have my SINCERE admiration!

Little B was NOT a happy camper at first...(here's big sister trying to cheer her up). After about an hour or so she finally "warmed up" to the snow. :)

There's that silly smile!

Tasting the snow....mmmmmmmmmm!

And here is Mr. L...who gave us the scare of the day...never would guess it from that sweet little face, but L thought it might be fun to sled right off a cliff (practically). He was pushing his sled with his feet (while lying on his stomach). Rob & I are watching..."Ok L that is far enough." He keeps going. "Stop L." He keeps going. "L STOP!" He keeps going. "STOP!!!!" Rob runs & dives through the air, grabbing L by the foot just in time. (And all this on a sprained ankle! Wow! You go babe!) And so L is still with us...although lets just say he got the hint that he should NOT ignore Mom & Dad again.

And....through the magic of self timers...behold THE WHOLE FAMILY! (see I really am there!)

And to sum up the day....sheer, joyful exhaustion...or is that just "Seriously Mom, PUT THE CAMERA AWAY!!!"

Snow Bunny

Here's What We Did Today....

Road Trip!

Sorry, but this is a teaser post...I've got LOTS of fun pictures about our 2nd Arizona Adventure, but unfortunately Mt. St. Laundry is calling & I must heed the call. So until then...here's a hint at where we went....