A favorite

I cook a lot, but I've never claimed to be a "good" cook. My cooking is more out of necessity than desire.  I want to try to control what we eat, while Jackson's interested in the financial aspect of eating in. (We both take leftovers to work every day.)  Anyway, this is one recipe that makes me feel like Martha. It's not intimidating with all those fancy ingredients, it's easy, delicious & I categorize it as Gourmet, for my kitchen!  Thought I'd share it for those that may be looking for an addition to their collection...

Raspberry Marinated Pork Chops                                 Sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine                               1/4 cup blackberry preserves
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce                 1/4 cup dry red wine
2 Tbsp sesame oil                                   1 & 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper                    1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced                             1 tsp lime juice
4 pork chops                                          1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1) Combine first 5 ingredients & pour into a heavy-duty ziplock bag; add pork & marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, turning occassionally.
2) Remove pork from marinade. Discard marinade.
3) Heat skillet over medium high & place pork in skillet; cook until no longer pink in middle.
4) Slice into 1/4 inch strips and serve with sauce.

Sauce directions: Combine all ingredients in sauce pan and heat until mixed well & warm enough to serve.

Enjoy!

Happy birthday, Daddy

Jackson turned 32 today! He said he's not sure if he's still considered a 'young adult' or just an 'adult'.  As I'm basking in the last year of my twenties, I say he's an old man. :)  But whatever the stereotype, he means the world to me & Brooklyn!  After breakfast in bed, he came out to play with us in the living room, where we hibernated for the day, after receiving a fresh snow dusting this morning. It was a pretty lax day...

We played, watched DVD's and enjoyed another groundhog day (today was the 7th consecutive day of school closings!).  After his favorite dinner came bath time, followed by some last minute playtime before Brooklyn just couldn't take it anymore. When she's tired, she starts laying on the kitchen floor:

and waving goodbye to us. She's calling it a day! Peace out, Dad:

Hope it was a good birthday for Jackson. He's such a good husband to me and daddy to Brooklyn. He makes my life a happy one. And it's obvious that his effect is the same to Brooklyn, with all the giggles he elicits from her. Thanks for all you do for us, babe! We love you.

Sledding videos!

The Great Groundhog Day Storm of 2011

I'm always skeptical of meteorological forecasts. I'm sure Oklahoma's bizarre weather patterns have a lending hand in my skepticism. But now that I'm forced to consider school closings when making plans, I'm learning to put more forethought into snow storm preparations. So as much as I didn't want to believe Monday's forecasts of 'record-breaking snowfall' on Tuesday, I followed instructions and completed my errands for the week, gathered some work to do from home, etc, etc. And boy am I glad I did. Holy cow! I couldn't believe my eyes Tuesday, as the snow piles grew and grew. The official reading I've seen was 13.2 inches, but with the high winds, some drifts exceed 2 feet. Whatever the reading, it's more snow than I can EVER recall in my 22 years as a T-town resident. Ironically occurring on Groundhog Day, I was adamant to make the best of this cabin fever situation. I got Brooklyn all dressed up for the day in her tutu and Switerland house shoes! 

(She's confused by my excitement...)

We watched movies,

played with toys,

cheered on the ducks as they ice skated on the pond in the backyard,

and did some laundry chores together

(She offers a free delivery service-straight from the laundry basket to the washing machine door, by means of her Princess Cozy Coupe!)

It was a great time! But then Wednesday came...and we'd done all of the activities that I had brainstormed. What were we to do now?! The can of silly string I bought in advance didn't provoke the laughter I had hoped for, but rather brought tears of fear to my little girl!  We did some scrap-booking, reminiscing on her birth, and her first birthday party with all the milestones in between. Brooklyn LOVES books - story books, picture books, and even photo books! So we spent lots of time looking through pictures and cards from friends and loved ones. The day came and went without much excitement.

By Thursday I felt like I'd been cast in Will Smith's movie 'I Am Legend'. I hadn't been outside the walls of our home in 68 hours. I was almost scared of what the outside world might be like! Were the roads REALLY that bad? Was it a ghost town out there?  Or had civilization resumed without us?  We bundled up and loaded in the car for a drive into town. Some stores were still closed, but we got to make a couple stops - Target & Walmart employees greeted us without smiles. Then we came home and decided to do some sledding in the backyard!



By Friday, I was ready to venture back out again and resume life as much as possible. Brooklyn & I loaded up for Grammy's house and a day at the office for Mommy. A 45-minute trip into town brought us to the intersection at 41st & Lewis, where our attempt to head east for Grammy's brought us to a slippery halt. We were stuck & spinning our foreign-made tires! After some handy maneuvering tactics by yours truly, we ended our 5 minutes of intersection fame and continued our track due north where we met the highways that would lead us back to our cozy walls of home. We made it home just in time to watch more snow flurries gather on the existing banks of snow...maybe we'll resume our daily activities next week...til then, we hope everyone is safe & warm with their loved ones!

Cousins

There's no question that Brooklyn loves her cousins! The other night I watched as she looked at Ella...then Canon...and just gazed back and forth at them with the biggest grin on her face! She was filled with excitement to just be in the same room as them. Even if they're busy doing their own thing! But that's the best part: they're never too busy to play with her! Seven years her senior, Canon has many other extracirricular activities he could be doing, but instead he chooses to get down on the floor to stack rings with her.

He gets so excited to see her growing and learning! He's always saying "Aunt Joci, look! Brooklyn just....yada, yada, yada..." and he describes some new talent he's witnessed for the first time. He's such a good kid. He loves to see others succeed. He encourages other kids (and even adults!) if he thinks that they need it. I've even heard him encourage my dad!  "It's okay, Grandpa. Maybe you'll catch a fish next time..."  :)

 Ella, of course, is happy to play with another girl! She's growing leaps and bounds herself this year: she's a reader now! She read three books to me the other night. Here she is reading to Brooklyn:

 Each of the kiddos took turns with the "Michael Jackson" hat. It makes Brooklyn giggle every time!

After reading together, Ella served as Brooklyn's chauffer for the evening, taxiing her through the house with toys, babies, and blankies.

But when it's time for bed, Brooklyn is sure to let us know. Sometimes she'll lay the kitchen towel on the tile floor and lay her head down on it. Here she is cuddling with her pig and blanket.

One night last week, she and Jackson were cuddled up enjoying a game of football on the tube when she got down from his lap, walked down the hall to her room, and sat next to the rocking chair, waiting for him to follow, as if to say, 'Daddy, it's storytime, and then bedtime. I can't do it myself, so I'm going to need you to help me out here, please.'  And so he did!



Her First Medal

I wish so badly that I would've taken pictures of Brooklyn's first gymnastic classes. She started when she was about 9 months old...she'd been crawling for just a couple weeks. She was not at all social yet; very weary of the teachers and classmates; mainly just focused on my whereabouts.

Honestly I didn't see the benefit of the class in the beginning, but we'd already paid in full, so I put forth an effort to get there each week.

She learned to walk during the semester. Each week the teachers would recognize what improvements she was making, both socially and physically.

 Before I knew it, she was running around the warm-up circle, dunking basketballs in the hoop, sharing the balls with other kids and parents, helping clean up toys after play time, and rolling around for attention from other kids!

 She grew leaps and bounds during this short semester!

She became a social, fearless, curious gymnast!

She accepted her medal of completion last week.

 

Hopefully it's just the pregnancy hormones, but just looking at her in these award ceremony pictures brings tears of pride to my eyes! I'm so proud of my big little girl!

Wheels, wheels, wheels

Between her Princess car and her fancy wagon, Brooklyn prefers to spend most of her free time hoisted above ground by four wheels nowadays. Whether she's climbing in through the passenger window of the car to plop onto a baby's head, or loading up random household items (mail, water bottles or towels) to accompany her for a wagon ride, this girl is all about goin for a ride! 

The garage is organized again, which is nice, but it's also created a new obstacle for Mommy when getting home: The first thing Brooklyn sees is the wagon at the front of the garage! And she is sucked in by a magnetic force, causing her to lose all strength and will of her own. Because the weather's been so mild this week, we've been going on daily rides around the neighhood & to the park, but I fear for the reaction I get next week, when it's wintertime outside again, and the answer is no. I think she'll yearn to feel the breeze through her hair, and the meaning of no will no longer be understood.