He's Two! He's Two!

On March 22, Lucas Patrick Dell turned two years old! While we were in California (see previous post) we celebrated with Craig's family and then celebrated on his birthday with my family. We HAD planned a Star Wars themed birthday party, but SOMEONE decided to get sick during the nap they were taking RIGHT BEFORE the party, so that DID NOT happen. We love him and I'm sure he would have loved the party if we had been able to have it. :)

That's right, that's ELMO on those cupcakes!

The adult cake...because Elmo was just too cool to eat...

Yay for Lucas still being a dainty eater!

Lucas is REALLY partied out, if you can't tell...

I love his hesitation...These are obviously dinosaurs, guys...I think...

And, yes, he loves Corduroy

I DON'T HAVE ANYMORE PRESENTS TO OPEN?!?!

The Lightsaber bubble wands that went un-played-with

The gift bags that were passed out at a later date with apologies

The Padawan braids that went un-worn

And finally, the Rebel Alliance cake that went uneaten by the other little padawans that were anticipated at the party.

We love Lucas, he's such an intelligent and happy boy and we're so grateful he's in our lives.

Cheesy Red Enchiladas

I've been meaning to blog more about recipes that i'm developing. These I sort of put together after asking a number of people for Cheese Enchilada recipes. So thank you all for your contribution!

Cheesy Red Enchiladas

Oil
Corn tortillas
1/2 lb. of Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1-10 oz. can of La Victoria's Mild Red Enchilada Sauce (It MUST be this kind)
Kraft's mexican blend of cheese
Olives, halved or thirded (optional)
Green onions, finely chopped (optional)

Start by having the enchildada sauce warming on the stove (not boiling...you'll burn your fingers...trust me). Then fry up however many corn tortillas you want in the oil for about ten seconds per side. Just enough that they are a little crispy but not too much that it's hard to roll them. They'll also have a HEAVENLY corny smell to them which is why this step is necessary in order to bring out the flavor. Usually about 12 corn tortillas fills a 9x9 in. pan and feeds us with leftovers to spare.

When all the corn tortillas are fried, gently dip them one at a time in the enchilada sauce so that both sides are covered. You don't have to get every inch of it covered, but try to get most of it covered.

What I'll do is dip one, set it in the pan i'm using to bake the enchiladas in, fill it with however much cheese I want, roll it, and place it. That's what I do, but you can figure out your own method if you want.

Now once you've got them all in there (you can squish them together, no worries) I spread the mexican blend cheese on top, then the olives and onions. Put in a preheated oven of 350 degrees for fifteen minutes and voila! Cheesy Red Enchiladas!

Super easy and they're seriously Lucas' favorite!

Seriously...

Spring Break 2011

So WAY back in March during our spring break we took a trip out to Manteca, CA to visit Craig's parents. We caravaned over with our good friends Donnie, Jenni and their little boy Asher who were also visiting family in Sacramento!

At about midnight while we were driving we were informed it was snowing in Donner's Pass and chains were required, so we felt it necessary to stop in Reno and grab a hotel that night. Coincidentally Circus Circus was a surprisingly cheap option so we got ourselves a room.

Definitely a Circus Circus room...

Lucas' favorite part was pushing the stroller into the bathroom...go figure...

Craig's parents took us to Vivolo's Chowder House for some good ol' fashioned Clam Chowder in a Sourdough bread bowl...mmmm....

...then we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Lucas had lots of stories about fishies after that.

Of COUSE we had to take a picture with us and the Pacific...it's been too long...

Can anyone guess what we're making?

So we realized that in all the times Craig's parents have visited us and all the times we've visited them neither party got a picture of the Grandparents and Lucas. It's a couple years late but we made it happen! He loves being tickled by his Grandma!

I Know...

So there is a new blog coming. We are alive, Craig and I finally finished a semester and have taken care of most of our to-do list. One of those things to do would be blog. S0 we're working on a new post. We promise.

3.14

That's right, Pi. Yesterday, for the late folk, was 3/14 or 3.14 or Pi Day! Well we wanted to do SOMETHING to celebrate so we did. We ate pie. I think we (and by we I mean me) made such a big deal about celebrating it this year because we didn't get to last year, so this was definitely a more conscious effort. We'll have to see how next year goes!

Happy Pi Day!

And my heart sang...

...with delight when I read an article about a stolen birthday cake. Stealing is usually frowned upon according to my moral coding but I read this article last week and could not help but squeal with delight.

So Paris Hilton (yuck) turned 30 last week and, of course, had an unnecessarily large and extravagant party. Apparently a guy named Paz crashed said extravagant festivity with only one goal in mind, to crash Paris Hilton's party. But oh how things changed. After becoming severely inebriated he made his way over to the cake table for some delicious birthday cake and oh what a birthday cake he found! She was a blood red, 3-tier, red velvet cake just begging to be eaten. When he asked a waiter when the sultry beauty of a cake would be cut, the waiter simply informed him that the cake was mostly for show and that it would most likely get thrown out at the end of the night. Despite his intoxication, even Paz could see this was an unacceptable end to such a delicious and expensive ($3212.00) cake. His new mission, to save the confection from its doomed fate. So without further consideration (perhaps the "liquid courage" helped) he walks purposefully up to the cake table, picks up the 70 lb. cake and walks purposefully out of the party.

The next morning he wakes up with not only a hang over, but a giant red birthday cake in his apartment. So what does one do with a stolen birthday cake with the name "Paris" on it? You send it to Skid Row of course! No no...not the band. The actual place. He decided the cake was "taking on a mind of it's own" so he decided the best place to take it would be to the infamously impoverished part of Los Angeles. He fed 125 homeless people cake that day.

So why does my heart sing? Because not only did he choose to feed the hungry and poor with a ridiculously expensive cake that i'm sure they will never forget, but he was able to give Paris Hilton a double middle finger. First because he stole her cake and second because he showed the public just how far her selfishness goes. Blessed be the Robin Hoods of today for tearing down the tyranny of celebrity.

Happy Funny-tines Day!

A Happy Funny-tines indeed. Since Lucas can't say Valentines, he opted for Funny-tines. It stuck. This year Craig and I went to good 'ol Red Lobster the Friday before Valentine's Day. It may not be the most romantic place (especially since we went at 4:00 which we all know means senior citizens GALORE) but it was fun to just get out and have some sea food. It had been over two months since we had gone on a date just the two of us so it was well needed.

On Monday I gave Craig a Valentine's day card that was funny but a little inappropriate so I won't share with you what it said, however, i'm sure Craig in all his inappropriateness would love to tell you so you can go ahead and ask him about it, if you dare. But along with the card I got him his favorite ginger beer (see previous blog post) and some Easter candy (because I know how much he loves it). Lucas and him went out that day and brought me back some beautiful pink roses! My boys are my favorite valentines.

Hope you all found someone to express your love to!

That's right, that's pink oatmeal

Nuband is my nickname for Craig...I don't want to explain...it's too embarrassing already...

And of course the LOVELY roses

And finally, a Valentine's Day nap. Yes, this is how we found him when we went in to check on him.