The next stage

Tonight while we were eating dinner, we let Danica play on the floor with her toys. All of a sudden she does this:

Yep, she is to the next stage. She is getting big and doesn't she look guilty?

Nicoll Beans

For anyone who is interested in DC's (and later Casper's) beans--the secret is in the spices. And no they did not measure their spices in tablespoons and teaspoons--they knew by sight how much they needed. They put the spices in the spoon and then stirred the spoon into beans. Below is a picture of what the spoon should look like.

Before:

After:

My cousin Jen made an excellent point--I failed to identify the spices. It is garlic, chili powder, pepper and salt. :)

To help answer my cousin Andrea's questions--even though she did not come to the family reunion--The beans are pinto beans. We used 2 cups. Clean them, wash them, soak them overnight. The next day drain the soaking water, cover them with water and put a smoked ham hock and some chopped onion. DC and my grandpa had done it with salt pork as well--but you would need to soak that overnight to get some of the saltiness out of it. Cook on a medium low heat for about 4-5 hours--the longer you cook them the softer they will get. Beans are always better the second day.

Good luck and let me know if you have questions.

She's My Brown Eyed Girl

I wanted to tell everyone that Danica's eyes have changed colors and so I believe that she will be a beautiful brown eyed girl.

Here is a picture--but Danica still is stubborn about letting me get a picture of her cute little smile.

Grandma would have been laughing at me...

Anyone who knew my grandma knew that she had this thing about being early for everything. To be on time was to be late and to be late...well lets just say I did not do that.

And this philosophy also applied to taxes--get them done early and get them turned in early.

And usually that is what I do, but this year that did not happen. This year we had trouble getting Corey's W2 forms so we had to wait. We did not get them until April 10 so we did not get our taxes done until April 15.

But I thought no problem--the post office is always open until midnight on April 15. And that is where my plan went horribly wrong. The budget cuts meant that in the valley there were only 3 places open after hours--Peoria Sports Complex, Phoenix Muncipal Stadium, and the main post office in Phoenix. Dad agreed to take me down to the post office in Phoenix--but he forgot his cell phone. We get there and the line of cars are at least a block away in each direction. There are people parking any where they can find along the side of the road to walk their taxes in to the post office (there goes the theory that everyone does them online). After trying to figure out how to get around to where we need to be, we decide that I am going to get out and walk and Dad is going to drive in a set path so I can find him once I get them dropped off.

So I had to walk a little over a block--did I mention that it was chilly for Arizona and I also forgot my jacket or sweater. And by the time I walked back the traffic was so bad that Dad had moved about 5-8 car lengths from the time I left. It was insane.

So yes I have to admit that I have learned my lesson and Grandma won't be able to laugh at me next year because I am going to get my taxes done early.

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny brought Danica her first Easter basket today--and I have to say that the Easter Bunny had Danica pegged pretty good. Here are two T-Shirts that Danica got.

The last week or so have been a little crazy for Danica--she has been sick so she has not been sleeping very well. So this T-Shirt will pretty much give you all an idea of how well I have been sleeping lately: But in general this shirt gives you a good idea of what the Easter Bunny thinks of Danica--that she is quite a cutie!!
Here is a picture of Danica with her Easter Basket. We had quite a busy morning so we did not get the picture taken until we got home from Aunt Shirley's--as you can see she was pretty tired.

The outfit I got her came with a hat--I thought it was so cute but Corey kept laughing hysterically. I still think she looks adorable with her hat on:
Overall it was a wonderful Easter. We went to Aunt Shirley's for lunch. We had yummy ham with the prickly pear syrup I made for Christmas as a glaze, twice baked potatoes (favorite), and roasted leek and potato soup that I saw on Barefoot Contessa. Personally I loved the soup--but I was a little biased since I made it. hehe.

Then we had strawberries, homemade ice cream, and whipped cream. It was awesome!

And Danica is starting to eat real food. It has been a struggle because she hates baby food. But we are starting to find that she likes soft adult food. I bought some no sugar added apple sauce--and she loved it. She eats it like a little birdie--coming after the spoon with her mouth wide open. She also tried some of my soup--she had great taste and loved it, crab and lobster dip, Aunt Shirley's home grown beets, the inside of the twice baked potato, and ice cream. She loved it all.

She also started crawling--well really it was scooting--all over Aunt Shirley's floor. She was very entertaining.

Where Have I Been?

My aunt Shirley stopped by today and reminded me that I have not blogged in a little while--okay it has been a couple of weeks. Here is a small run down of what has been going on:

Danica got over her first cold--which included a trip to a doctor office. Maybe I should have blogged a little sooner because I think she is in the process of catching number 2. There is a cough going through her sitter's house.

Corey got over pneumonia--walking pneumonia but still he got to spend a few hours at the urgent care.

I started another class in my masters program and I am thoroughly convinced that this teacher is crazy. She seems to think that three or four assignments all due in the same week--and most of them are a group project with different groups for each. Oh--and if that isn't bad enough she is not very good at explaining exactly what she wants--just really good and saying what she doesn't want. Oh it is going to be a long 8 weeks.

Danica is pretty much out of her 3 month outfits--she is getting bigger much faster than I expected. She is also starting to eat solid foods--so far she has had rice cereal, carrots (not a favorite), pears (favorite), bananas (not a favorite), and green beans (favorite)--oh and sweet potatoes which seems to be a favorite as well.

So as you can see we have been busy over here, but I am hoping to be able to tell you more a little more often. Oh and my walking to Sweden is going well for me--the rest of my team is not so well.