Resolutions... sort of

I'm not normally a New Years resolution maker, and yet, this year, it would seem that I might be.  2012 was a good year for us and we are ready to start 2013 strong.

Now that Lucy is 4, we think she can start helping more with chores.  She does some already but we want to be more strategic about that.

Matt & I both want to lose some weight, so we have started calorie counting and working out.  We want this  change to be sustainable, so we are trying to go slow and steady.  We will see how that goes...

Lastly, we are hoping for another baby in the house this year, so we are planning some home projects including changing some bedrooms around and making our basement a warmer, less cluttered place to spend time.

This year, I'd also like to blog a little more, so maybe by blogging my experiences, I can keep the other resolutions going.

I'll keep cooking bulk meals too, so look for more food posts coming up too!

Being a pig farmer, I could post more about that too.  Would that be interesting?

Here's to 2013!

Lucy's first tap dance recital in December

Sunny Sunday

Two Sundays ago, we had beautiful weather and a wonderful reason to celebrate: my mom's birthday!

Since she is normally the host of Sunday family dinner, we decided she shouldn't have to worry about that on her birthday. 

Matt had the great idea last year to put in a patio in the backyard, so we decided to eat outside.

We played a little croquet (hammer game as Lucy calls it, or baseball as Hudson calls it.)

Matt grilled kabobs on our brand new grill.

(Which we assembled the night before in the dark.  And then it ran out of gas while cooking.  Ugh!)

For the first time, we successfully grilled sweet potatoes.  The secret is to boil them until they are fork tender before grilling.  Otherwise they turn into burnt disks.

We also grilled peaches for the first time which turned out to be really tasty!

(The recipes are below.  They are delicious!)

Lucy and Matt picked some flowers from our yard to decorate.  It was a great afternoon.

Kabobs (Recipe from my mom, Lorrie Dykhuis.  A family favorite)

1 Pork or Beef Roast (normally pork over here.  I used a half of a 7.5 lb centercut pork loin roast this time)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups water

Cut pork into one inch strips or cubes
Mix together the bottom four ingredients
Pour over meat
Let set 6 hours or more in the fridge
Put meat on skewers (I did this before marinading to save time on Sunday)
Grill

***

Honey Pork Tenderloin Kabobs from the Pork Be Inspired website
(http://www.porkbeinspired.com/recipedetail/915/honey_pork_tenderloin_kabobs.aspx)


source

Non-athletes...

It is looking like Lucy has gotten the coordination of her mother: the woman who played bench-warmer/right fielder in high school softball, with a season ending ball to the face during warm ups.  (Why did my parents sign me up for softball in the first place??)

I don't think we will encourage Lucy to play softball.

However, hitting a ball with a mallet is a whole different ball game. 

Last Sunday, while Matt was napping, Lucy and I played croquet in the front yard!

Her favorite parts of the game may have been taking the mallets apart and reassembling in various color patterns and pulling all the wickets up, but oh well!

We've been out golfing some this summer too, which has promise.  It's about the only sport that I can play, so maybe Lucy can master it too.  We will see!



Early December 2011

Trying to nap...

This year, we broke down and bought a new fake Christmas tree.  Last year, a day or so after bringing our newly cut tree into the house, we came home from church to find a hundred baby spiders on our new ceiling.  GROSS!!!

Ta-da!

"That was exhausting!"-Dilbert

I bought new end tables, which Lucy thinks are tables for her.

Star Wars tree!

This year, Lucy participated in the Lighthouse Early Learning Academy Christmas program.  So much fun!

Waiting with the other kids to perform.  We were amazed at how well they sat!

Lucy is in the second row, second kid from the right.  She fell out of her spot 2 times from making motions so big.

Enthusiastic yelling by Lucy.

Afterward there were cookies.  Here is Lucy with her bff Emily.

Lucy loves to play with Grandma!

November 2011

See that "veil"?  That is curtain scrap.  Call us the VonTrapps!

One of Lucy's favorite things is to run on our new patio.  Running in the wind is even better!

Please ignore the yellow sweatpants.

Halloween 2011

That is me, making a crown as we walk out the door!

Cousin Hudson!!

Lucy, Grammie, Hudson

Fall Happenings

Since I'm behind on posting, I will post a whirlwind of pictures with minimal words.  Enjoy!

We love forts!

Ergo carrier is amazing.  She weighed 35lbs at this point.  My "baby".

Unfortunately, Lucy lost her first tooth in October... face planting on the pavement while walking to the car at Daycare.  It wasn't a great week for us.

Lucy took this picture.  Our future photographer!

Playing in the leaves with Uncle Michael