Caterpillar Craft Time

I found this really cute craft on this blog. It's such a great blog with so many great ideas for little ones.

I didn't take as many pics I would have liked. I learned just how difficult craft time with a toddler can be. Especially when there are scissors and markers involved.

Here is how we started. A large piece of posterboard that she colored on.





In the meantime, I cut out circles for the different segments of the caterpillars body. I used a sippy cup as my pattern.



This is where I stopped taking pics. I had a circle for each letter of her name. Spelt it out and glued them on. Then I used a bigger circle for the head. Used pipe cleaner to make some cute antennae and added some goggly eyes.



Jacq thought it was really cute but kept trying to tear the eyes off. We hung it up in her room!

Ahh Saturday

By far my favorite day of the week. I can stay up late the night before, not have to worry about being tired at work all the next day. Most importantly I can spend the whole day with Jacq. This morning we did some painting. Here's how it went....

It started out well. I knew the paintbrushes wouldn't last long.



The artist at work.



I used recycled plastic applesauce and fruit cup containers to hold the paint. I also use these as little bowls to serve Jacq food in.



She was having so much fun Dad wanted to join in.



This is where it started to get messy.





This is when I knew she would need a bath.





The first stage of clean up.



After the hose down she went straight into the bath. We had to do this early in the morning before it got too hot outside. I have another project in mind for this afternoon and I'll post it when we are done.

Recipe of the week

I am going to have a featured recipe each week. Usually this would be accompanied with pictures. However, I made this meal on tuesday and at that time had not yet thought to do a weekly recipe. So, no pics this week.

Most recipes will be easy to prepare. I love to cook but after working all day sometimes I would rather just boil up a box of mac & cheese. My ol' stand by. The recipes I feature will be easy and with normal ingredients that you are likely to already have on hand.
However, sometimes I like to put a little more thought and time into my meals. So there will be the occasional 'special' dish. There will also be featured crock pot recipes. I love to cook in my crock pot. Especially when it's so hot out like right now here in AZ.

CREAMY SHRIMP LINGUINE!

I found this recipe here.

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces uncooked linguine

half a chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced * I used 6 cloves 

a few shakes of dried oregano

3 tbs butter

3/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup shredded swiss cheese *I used asiago

3/4 cup shredded parm cheese 

1 lb small cooked shrimp, peeled, deveined

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook linguine according to directions on package.

2. In a saucepan, saute the onion, garlic and oregano in butter until onion is crisp-tender.

3. Gradually add the cream and cheeses. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

4. Add the shrimp, heat through.

5. Drain linguine and top with shrimp mixture.

This recipes was so easy, had few ingredients and TONS of flavor. It also reheated nicely the next day. I brought it work and one of my co-workers asked me if it was from The Olive Garden!

Tallarini Night

Last night my whole family got together for dinner. We had tallarini. I'm not even sure if that is a real word or somehow the Zachary family made up there very own italian meal. My grandfather use to make it and now my dad is carrying on the tradition. We all got together to celebrate my dad's new job. I am so proud of him. He is now a field engineer for general electric. The only downside is that he has to go to New York for 4 months. It was nice to have everyone together. When I say everyone I mean, me, Jacq, Marc, Dad, Yvonne, Mom, Ronnie, Cassie and Kyle. Lets not forget Sophia and Layla, the dogs. Here are a few pics from the night.

Uncle Kyle and Jacqueline.


One of my favorite pics from the night.




She had her first taste of Ginger Ale and LOVED it!


Attach of Grandma Shari