"Saving Snails"

Emry has a BFF and her name is Erin.  Erin and Emry are the type of friends that can play together all day long and then stay up to all hours of the night laughing, and never fight...makes my heart feel happy to see them together.  Anyway, we had Erin at our house to play and they decided to "save the snails" from the coyotes.  I didn't know they were doing this.  We were midway thru making a rainbow cake (yes they are 100% girlie), waiting for the cake to bake and cool.  The girls had been outside playing and asked me for a bucket.  I obliged and went on with my business.  Now fast forward about an hour.  I walk out our back porch doors and was greeted by this:

It looked more like a great escape than a rescue to me, but who am I to interpret for a crowd of snails.  Maybe they were extremely grateful and thankful that finally someone had noticed them and helped pull them out of dangers path....are snails even on a coyote's menu??



Emry & Erin were very proud of themselves and very sad when I made them return the snails to the wild.  During all of this we discussed why wild animals don't make great pets, in case you're wondering where their train of thought was headed.

New Batch of Baby Owls

We have a new batch of baby owls this spring.  This year our mom only had 2 and this one got out of the nest and couldn't get back in.  At about 1:30 am Trent and I woke up to something banging on our bedroom window.  I was really glad Trent was home b/c it was freaky and it's not fun waking up that way.  Anyhew...we figured out that it was one of the baby owls.  The mother was on our roof screeching at it and it was afraid to fly or something b/c it wouldn't leave our window sill and each time it tried, it's wings bashed into the window.  We were afraid it was going to hurt itself, but it jumped to the ground and that was that.

The next morning it was hanging out under Trent's truck and it ducked for cover into the bushes as Trent pulled out the driveway.  We weren't sure what to do.  We were worried about a coyote getting it, but the next night we could hear it and it's mother "talking".  The next day I took photos when I spied it in our yard.  Later that day, I spoke to our neighbor who's a bird guy (he has pigeons) and he called the local game warden who promptly came and got it.  Just another adventurous day living in the grove.

Bedtime Drama

Every night just as parents have done for centuries, we put our kids to bed.

Every night our wonderful son, Luke, comes out to complain about the girls making too much noise.

He has a new excuse  Every time.

Tonight's was a real beauty:

"The girls are laughing and talking...pause, pause, pause...and every time someone talks, my chin itches."

Mother's Day 2010

I had a very lovely mother's day this year.  I enjoyed a yummy breakfast in bed and a few gifts.  The kids were good in church...what more can a mom ask for???  It was fabulous!  ps, luke made me the hat

Dinner Tonight!

We tried out a new Italian recipe for dinner last night and it was a huge winner for our family!!  It was really fast to make.  From start to finish it took me maybe 20 minutes.   I wish I'd thought to take a photo of it, but it disappeared to fast.  Go to the store and get the ingredients today...you won't be sorry!!

Tagliolini with Asparagus

1 lb. fresh asparagus
12 oz fresh tagliolini or other egg noodles (i couldn't find tagliolini so i used dried egg noodles)
1/4 cup butter
3 scallions, finely chopped ( i used green onions)
3-4 leaves fresh mint or basil, finely chopped (i used basil)
2/3 cup heavy cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (i didn't have fresh parm on hand so i used grated parm and then some freshly grated monterey jack...it was good!)

serves 4-6

1. Peel the little leaves off the asparagus stalks (you don't have to do this, but it makes the stalks taste better).  Drop them into a large pan of rapidly boiling water, and boil until just tender 4-6 minutes.
2. Remove asparagus from the water, reserving the cooking water.  Cut the stalks into 1 1/2-inch pieces, set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a large pan.  Add the scallions and herbs, and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the cream and asparagus, and heat gently, but do not boil.  Season to taste.
4. Bring the asparagus cooking water back to the boil.  Add salt.  Drop the noodles in all at once.  Cook until just tender (should be about 3-4 minutes, just follow package directions).  Drain.
5. Turn the pasta into the pan with the sauce, raise the heat slightly and mix well.  Stir in the Parmesan or Romano.  Serve at once.