Carnitas time!

We love carnitas in this house.  9 times out of 10, if we go out for Mexican, Chris will order carnitas and polish the whole thing off without a second glance.

So, when I realized that I could utilize the large hunks of pig sitting in my deep freeze to make this delightful pork dinner, I was in.  (About that – well, Grandmom kindly had a pig butchered from a friend and local farmer for us…actually, the farmer-friend is my OB that delivered Hadleigh…they had pigs and offered one to us.  So would I call her my OB-Farmer-Friend?  Wow, I officially feel like I’ve made the jump back into rural living with those few sentences.)

I’ve made it a few times, refined it and this is the *final* product. (I reserve all rights to change it for rarely do I follow a recipe exactly and I always change things to make them a bit more to our liking).Slow Cooker Carnitas

• 5-6 pound Pork Roast/Pork Butt
• 1 t. chipotle powder
• 1 t. ground black pepper
• 1 t. garlic salt
• 1 t. oregano
• ½ t. cinnamon
• ½ t. curry
• ½ cup salsa
• 1 can green chiles
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 onion quartered
• ½ cup water/soda/broth

Combine all spices and rub on the washed and patted dry roast. Place the roast in the slow cooker with the chiles, lime, onion, water, and salsa poured on top. Cook on low for 8 hours. Turn off and cool. Shred with 2 forks and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle reserved juice from the slow cooker on top of the pork. Roast in a 400 degree oven until tips begin to get crispy (10-15 minutes). Drizzle a bit more of the juice on top of the roast.

Serve with tortillas, cilantro, sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce and LOTS OF HOMEMADE GUACAMOLE! Side of Pineapple and Mango is great with it.

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Hadleigh got in on the goodness too – she had baby “guacamole” while we feasted on the real stuff.  She didn’t care.  She liked her version.

Stunning at 7 months

Seven months old – your little life is flying by my eyes, and I’m not sure quite how to slow it down.

I DO know that you are loved, adored, desired and wanted. 

You are quite the inquisitive little lady.  You are a people watcher and we can see your big blue eyes taking in nearly everything around you and absorbing it….almost like you are filing it away in a brain cabinet marked “to remember for later”.

This month you mastered sitting and you enjoy playing on the floor with your brother and sister.  We also found that you are not fond of sippy cups, but do really like to drink from straws.  So we are working on that skill.  You like to drink water from Mommy’s cup and you think you are hot stuff.

You are quite the lover.  You give kisses (yes, we are positive now that that’s what you are doing – and sometimes now if we say “kisses” you will lean in with an open mouth :) and you love to nuzzle and hug.  You flirt with new faces but still readily give a smile.

You love your sock monkey from Anna and your adorable baby that Hudson got you for Christmas.  And your hair is long enough for a little ponytail on top of your sweet kissable head.

You are a “soothie” lover and you deftly put it back in your mouth if it happens to fall out.

All we know is that you’re quite the heart fisherlady; you’ve captured us – hook, line and sinker.

there are legends

Hudson hasn’t had front teeth for 4 years.  Actually, about 4 years and 6 months to be exact.  But right after Christmas, we realized that those front ‘toofers’ were on their way in.  Hudson had celebrated his last “All I Want for Christmas is my 2 Front Teeth” Christmas.

A few nights ago, the cutie was hungry before bed – so he wisely chose an apple, and wanted me to cut it.  I gently reminded him that he could eat it without me cutting it for him and proceeded to reteach my “baby boy” how to eat an apple.  He wanted to bite it on the side like he has been doing for the past four years.

As he’s biting, he says to me,

“Mommy, you know, there are LEGENDS about people biting apples and losing their teeth.”  (I proceed to crack up…and take this picture as he is reading…and turn to tuck the camera away.)

30 seconds later….

Yup.  His LEGEND came true.  That’s his tooth.  In the apple.  We thought it was hilarious.

Man…I love this kid.

100 days smart-er

Being 100 days smarter is a big deal.  Seriously.  I mean, 100 days of school and learning?  That’s a lot of hours when you count it up.  It definitely deserves some celebration!  So to commemorate Hudson’s centennial day, Anna helped me whip up some delish chocolate peanut butter chip cookie bars.

(Yes, I let my kids eat cookie dough.)  Licking of the batter to ensure its’ goodness is absolutely necessary.

Anna also helped me blow up balloons and string a special sign for Hudson.  This is him – doing his best “I’m a nerd” pose with his fun geeky glasses on.  (Honestly, these glasses are to a game that we got at Wendy’s that I carry in the diaper bag for us to play together.  Oddly enough, it is the.best.game.ever that we’ve gotten in a kids’ meal. It entertains all of us!)

A

And so, here’s to you Hudson, for being one hundred days smarter….you’re already a pretty smart cookie.

gymnastics r us

Hugs and Banana have the opportunity to take gymnastics together for a bit this winter – and they are loving it.  So much, in fact, that our playroom has fast become a gymnastics obstacle course.  Balance beams, sleeping bag tumbling mats, trampolines….

I even got asked how they could hang their bar from the ceiling.  They were convinced it was possible to rig some sort of trapeze-style bar to practice hanging upside-down. :-)

Forward rolls…tuck jumps…we’ve got it all.

We even have a cute cheering section for the gymnasts!  (She was excited about her peas…)

Bounce crazy

What to do with an unexpected snow day? Go bouncing, of course!  Grandmom came over to see us on her lunch break. What a blast...we'll be back again!

Outage