did I really just do that?

Okay, so I was having one of those days. Things just didn't go as planned. But, I was going to at least get some house projects out of the way. For way longer than I'd like to admit I have been looking at patches of the walls that were in major need of some touch up paint. Simple enough. Dustin painted almost the whole inside of the house the same color when he first bought this house. We talk on the phone at least five times a day, so when I brought up that I was going to do some touch up paint he said that sounded like a good idea. I found 10 different cans of paint in the garage. Two were the same brand and age so I made an assumption that they were the same color. So I went on with the painting. It looked darker, but I was sure it would dry lighter and I moved along to nearly every surface in the entire house. As I painted I was so proud of myself for turning into what could have been a crappy day into a productive one. Wyatt even got in on the action. I thought, 'what could it hurt, it's all the same color, right?' and I let him have a paint brush and go up and down the hallway. But, the funny thing was the paint never did lighten up. I called Dustin and when I explained the variation in the paint he suddenly remembered that he had gotten a few different shades of the same color. Ah hah! There was another paint can. And sure enough it was a lighter shade of the same color. But, unfortunately not light enough. After going through every paint can I have finally realized that we do not have any touch up paint. Always Always Always do a test patch. Lesson learned.

photo update

Dustin likes to "modify" everything. This trait has been passed down to Wyatt. Here he and Luke (with the help of Dustin) made the 4 wheeler pull the tractor and the tractor pull the little lawn mower. Hours of fun.

Lukie turned 4 on June 11th. We went to the beach to celebrate. (I even brought cupcakes!) The perfect place for two very busy boys!

FOUR years old!

When we got home from the beach we made flubber.


Dustin brought the tractor home to work on the back back yard some more

Wyatt was taking pictures of his favorite things outside.

sweet boy

Wyatt's camera

For Christmas Wyatt got a Fisher Price digital camera. I finally downloaded some of his pictures on to my computer. I actually get to see the world from a three year old's perspective. It's pretty funny. Wyatt is going to help me with the titles for each picture.

This is my boot. It's my favorite.

That's the white truck, and that's my dad.

That's the pickup window. And those are trees.

That's in mama's car.

That's a log truck and a bulldozer and a little dump truck and that's the lowboy trailer from Santa Claus.

That's me driving the boat with Grandpa Dan. (obviously I took this picture)

That's mama's car!

Tucker got in the house. He is being naughty.

That's me! That's Wyatt Dan.

Finally done with finals

This term was really crazy hard for me. But, I made it!!! And now I have a week and a half off until summer term. It hasn't really sunk in yet. So to keep myself busy I decided to try out all new recipes. Except Dustin and I are not that adventurous, so it's very familiar recipes with something a little different. On monday we normally have breakfast for dinner (a frequent request by Dustin) but this monday we had
Foil-Pack Chicken & Artichoke Dinner.
Makes: 6 servings, one packet each
What You Need
3 cups instant white rice, uncooked
3 cups warm water
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), 1/2 inch thick
1 can (13-3/4 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, quartered
2 cups chopped tomatoes (about 2 large)
1/2 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
1/4 cup pesto
PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix rice and water; spoon evenly onto center of each of six large sheets of heavy-duty foil. Top each with 1 chicken breast. Cover evenly with the artichokes and tomatoes, then drizzle evenly with the combined dressing and pesto.
BRING up foil sides. Double fold top and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place packets in single layer in 15x10x1-inch baking pan.
BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F). Remove packets from oven; let stand 5 min. Place one packet on each of six dinner plates. Cut slits in foil with sharp knife to release steam before opening.


It was a success. I loved it, Dustin said it was good (fairly standard) and Wyatt tried it (very unusual for him to even think about dinner)

So on Tuesdays we always have tacos I didn't want change stuff up too much, but instead of regular tacos I made
DOUBLE DECKER Tacos
Makes: 10 servings, one taco each What You Need
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg. (16.33 oz.) Soft Taco Dinner
1 can (16 oz.) Refried Beans
10 Taco Shells
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 cups shredded lettuce
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup Sour Cream
COOK meat with Taco Seasoning Mix as directed on package.
SPREAD each warmed Soft Tortilla with 2 Tbsp. of the beans; place crisp taco shell on beans, then fold soft tortilla over taco shell.
FILL taco shells with seasoned meat; top evenly with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, Salsa and sour cream.

Definately a hit.

So, on Wednesdays there is not "normal" meal. So I tried
Tuna Cakes
Makes: 6servings
What You Need!
2 cans (6 oz. each) light tuna in water, drained, flaked
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
3/4 cup water
1 carrot, shredded
1/3 cup Real Mayo Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. Sweet Pickle Relish MIX all ingredients. Refrigerate 10 min.
HEAT large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Use ice cream scoop to add 1/3-cup portions of tuna mixture, in batches, to skillet.
FLATTEN into patties with back of spatula. Cook 6 min. or until golden brown on both sides, carefully turning patties over after 3 min.

Not a winner. Taste is okay, texture is too weird for me. and both Dustin and I felt kinda funny afterward, and not in a good way. Plus now my house still smells like tuna fish. gross.

So maybe I'll have better luck with the rest of the week. :)