Calvin

Happy half-birthday sweetheart.

Sophie Style

Honestly, I wish I had a half dozen little girls. They are so sweet and fun and they love to dress up - well, at least Sophie does. A lot of bloggers are doing posts lately about what they wear every week in an effort to try and encourage themselves to take more care with their appearance. Since I am writing this while hanging out in sweats and a t-shirt, I am going to skip the photos of me (yuck!) and post photos of Sophie instead (adorable!).

You should know: Sophie wears a dress or skirt 90% of the time. She still asks me to help her find clothes in the morning and could care less what shows up in her closet (hallelujah!). She is getting taller, but is still a little thing. I try and buy all of her dresses a size too large and we can usually get three years wear out of them.


This was Sophie's outfit on Valentine's day. It is hard to see, but there are little white hearts on the dress. Dress: I believe it is from Target, but I bought it at a yard sale, Sweater and shoes: Target, Shirt and necklace: garage sale, hair clips stuck on headband: I made them


Skirt: Old Navy (5T - I think this cost $2.00!), Sweater and shirt: Target, Tights and shoes: Walmart (the shoes were on clearance for $1.00), Necklace: Charlotte Russe


Enormous flower clip: I made it


Dress: Gap (on clearance for $8 - thank you Grandma E!), Sweater and headband: Target, Boots: Marshalls


Necklace: Charlotte Russe (it was buy one get one free so I think it cost about $5.00)


Skirt: Target (I think it is a size 5T), Shirt: Target, Tights: Gap, Sweater: Hanna Anderson (winter clearance $15), Necklace: garage sale, Flower clip: I made it


Sweater, skirt and tights: Gap (thank you Grandma E!), Necklace: yard sale, Headband: Target


Sophie's boots: Marshalls (if they had them in my size I would have bought a pair for me too!)


Skirt: TJMaxx, Sweater: Hanna Anderson, Headband: yard sale


She's a cutie (I love her freckles) and yes, she has an appointment in March with an Orthodontist to see what the next steps are to straighten those teeth! We have already had her frenulum removed and I think we are looking at braces soon!

Masking Trees

We are back to winter crafts as evidently it is going to hang around this year (boo hiss). This is a very easy project that does not take much time.

Give each child a piece of cardboard and let them use masking or painters tape to form the shape of a tree.


Now they just need to paint the entire surface. I set out blue, black and white paints.


Once it is dry, gently pull off the tape.


Simple.

Recipe: Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

Very simple. Very, very good.

To make, peel (I do not peel the carrots) and chop up a whole bunch of vegetables into large chunks. This particular time I used sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnip, celery, garlic cloves, red onion, carrots and butternut squash. Throw them into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, kosher salt, pepper and chopped rosemary. Toss.

Spread the vegetables out on a cookie sheet (I had to use two) and cook for 30 minutes per side at 350 degrees or until tender. Aren't they pretty? At this point, you could serve these with dinner, but today we are making soup!


When cooked, puree the vegetables in your food processor with chicken or vegetable broth until you have the consistency you desire. Pour into pot on stove to keep warm. Season to taste.


I toasted up some garlic croûtons to serve on top. So delicious on a cold winter afternoon!

Recipe: Citrus Chicken Salad with Parsely

Here is a really simple and delicious salad recipe which my friend Susan shared with me. Chop up a head of romaine, add chicken breast (mine was from Trader Joe's already cooked), chopped fresh parsley, chopped scallions, feta cheese crumbles, pistachios and fresh orange slices. I dressed mine with a light citrus dressing from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. The flavors are wonderful together and do not skip the fresh parsley - it makes the salad!

When There is No School . . .