Ruthie turns 1

I have a big girl on my lap as I type, and as I muttered aloud, "Ruthie turns one," she repeated in a sing-song voice "Ruthie turns one, and you turn thirty, and I turn *pause* three . . ."  Can't get anything by that one!  (I  also think it's time for a new blog header, especially since one particular word is becoming less true by the day!)

Ruthie's birthday was the day after Christmas, but we had her party on Saturday, which was also my birthday!  I'm going to have to figure out how to plan well in advance for Christmas and her birthday as she gets older, so she doesn't feel glossed over in the wake of the other holidays.  Still, for throwing it together at the last minute, I was very happy with how her party turned out!  We put up balloons and reused garlands, made cupcakes and ordered pizza, and John's best man even express-mailed the birthday outfit and baby book to us in New York so we could have them for the big day!

We did carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for Gemma's first birthday (also here), and I think that will be our tradition for firsts!  

Ruthie got her own baby (it was actually a Christmas gift, but babies are pretty slow with opening gifts!)

She loves it, truly!

Big sister wasn't on her feet yet at this age!  Gemma was just getting up on her knees to crawl around her first birthday.

(I got a new camera for Christmas, can you tell?! It is SOOO exciting and I have soo much to learn still!)

She finally cut her first two teeth!

Time to open some more gifts . . .

It's a homemade sweater from Grammy, and mittens, too!

It even matches her new headband from Aunt Abby.  :)

Happy birthday, singing, stair-climbing, darling, cuddly little girl!  We love you more every day!

New ear pretties

This is kind of a random post, seeing as I've kind of passed over the holidays and you haven't seen any photos of my little darlings lately! But I actually (finally!) remembered to capture this photo, albeit on my phone, and thought I'd share the story of my new earrings.

I don't have many earrings anymore since they were all stolen when our house was burglarized two years ago, but it almost doesn't matter because my ears have become so sensitive! Usually I wear my favorite little posts which John bought me for Christmas last year and just keep them in all the time. Still, back in the fall, I remembered loving these earrings by Lisa Leonard:

http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/cream-freshwater-pearl-earrings-P132C124.aspx

I had a partial strand of freshwater pearls from a Michaels purchase a while ago and figured I could make some myself! So, I went back to Michaels and picked up some earring hooks and head pins. 

That evening I attempted to put them together, and, would you believe it, the pearls would not fit on those head pins! Aargh! So, I found a few crystals leftover from making my bridesmaid gifts and made up the pair of purple and gold earrings in the picture above. They are very amateur! I haven't made any jewelry in at least four years, and at the time of our wedding I was borrowing the tools from a teacher-friend. This time, I was using my husband's tiny needle-nose pliers and another pair of big pliers to hold them still...my wrapped loops aren't very pretty and one earring is longer than the other by a little bit! But they are fun because they are new.

After a day of pondering, I had an "aha!" moment when I thought to try some ordinary pins from my sewing basket in place of the pins that were too big for my pearls. It worked! The wire is kind of flimsy and snapped off as I attempted a wrapped loop on the first one, but it still worked. I am loving them (just can't wear them for too long, or my ears get irritated!)

Can-less Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice

Was your lunch this yummy today? Mine was, but then I'm a leftovers-lady. :) I  mentioned that we'd be eating turkey, broccoli and rice casserole on Monday and thought maybe you'd like to inspect my version of the recipe! 

The old stand-by uses a can or two of cream-of-something soup, as so many of the casseroles of our mothers and grandmothers did. Of course, canned soup is not the healthiest or most natural thing you can put in your body, but it is such a yummy winter meal! Inspired by a few recipes I saw on Pinterest, I decided to try making my own cream base and adding cream cheese for the richness factor. I included some fresh lime juice for added dimension and, of course, lots of freshly ground black pepper! I suppose the original dish was quicker to make, but if you're used to making your own roux base for macaroni and cheese, this won't seem so bad. :) 

Can-less Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice Casserole

1 head of broccoli

Approx. 1 pound of chicken, cooked

Approx. 2 cups rice, cooked (1 cup uncooked, and I usually use brown)

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

2 cups milk

Juice of half a lime

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 box (8 oz) cream cheese (easier if softener!)

Approx. 1 cup cheddar, shredded

1) Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces and steam. Cook rice and chicken, if necessary. Cut/pull chicken into bite-size pieces as well.

2) In a heavy saucepan (I prefer a Dutcj oven), melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly for 1-2 minutes until nice and fragrant.

3) Stir in milk all at once and cook several minutes, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and boils.

4) Reduce heat and season with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cream cheese until smooth.

5) Remove from hear and stir in chicken, broccoli and rice! Pour into a greased casserole and top with shredded cheese.

6) Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes, until heated through and bubbling a little bit.

I hope you like dairy, because there's a lot of it in this dish! It might be fun to substitute chicken stock for some or all of the milk. Thankfully, my version is heavy on the broccoli, too. :)

Blue plate and sweet potato casserole optional but recommended. :) 

Ruthie's Coat

"My mommy made me this coat!  It's really warm!"

"My grandma found Mommy six skeins of Shetland Chunky at Salvation Army!  She was so excited to try this pattern that she dutifully checked the gauge and carefully made adjustments for the chunkiness of the yarn.  She just couldn't understand why the pattern would call for such short sleeves . . . so she lengthened them to match a size 18 month jacket's sleeves."

"They're so big on me!"

"I guess my sister can wear it for now."

 "The collar needs a little blocking, too.  Ahem, Mom . . . "

Supper this week

It's been a long time, but I decided to share my meal plans for this week!

Monday: Clam chowder

Tuesday: Turkey, broccoli and rice casserole (I made up my own version with no canned soup and it is YUMMY if I do say so myself!)

Wednesday: {Thai}

Thursday: Roast chicken breast and sweet potato casserole (maybe some baked potatoes, too?)

Friday: Refried bean enchiladas 

Saturday: ??

Sunday: Honey-baked chicken and rice

I haven't figured out Saturday yet, but something very exciting is happening this week! A friend from church is bringing us some venison on Wednesday! I'm hoping a long-term agreement will work out, since he's an avid hunter and I would just flip for a venison source! Maybe we will try something with deer meat on Saturday. :)