Mommy plus Five

The boys have been begging me to steam some artichokes, so today I made a deal with them.

"Take a long bike ride with me to the store, and we will have artichokes for dinner!"

It worked.  :)  And I had a great day with my boys.  I was hoping for 15 miles, but we got home in just under 14 miles.  We will ride some more tomorrow.




 Daddy and the boys.





 A stalactite with googly eyes!

 My beautiful Boise.






 Boise River.
 Artichokes!

 And some picnic snacks.  :)









 The giraffes were out when we rode by the zoo.

 My future automobile.  Gorgeous!

 Blake playing in a rainbow.




Life is good.  :)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

My 365...

Happy Saturday is Happy.  :)

I learned a very valuable lesson in the last 24 hours.  And that lesson is, that even though I have been on this planet for 51 glorious years, I still have much to learn.  I appreciate and respect that.

I have also learned that there are many people on this planet who think they know all there is to know about everything and everyone.  The truth of the matter is that they know nothing.  They know nothing not only about the planet and every human being on it, but they know even less about themselves.

Look inward...before you look outward.  :)

The boys and I are getting ready for a nice LONG bike ride.  At least 15 miles.  Yay!  Life is good.

My photos of the day...

A silly straw for a very silly boy.





Music I am listening to today...Nickelback  I <3 Nickelback


Random Link of the Day...I love you Hank Green

Until next time...
 Random cuteness...

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

For dinner tonight I made some delicious Chicken Hobo Packets.  A dear friend of mine told me about these, so I was excited to try them.  Thank you Nancy!

The magic of cooking this way, is that you can add whatever ingredients your heart desires...or that you happen to have on hand.

My ingredients:

Chicken Breast and Chicken Thighs

Celery

Carrots

Potatoes (Sweet Potatoes are good too!)

Green Onion

Yellow Onion

Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Jalapeño Pepper

Garlic

Fresh Rosemary

Butter  (Lots-o-butter)

Salt and Pepper to taste.  (Lemon Pepper would be good)

You could even add some pineapple or orange slices if you like.

Make sure your ingredients are nice and fresh.

Chop your ingredients however you like and whatever size you like.  Salt and pepper your chicken.  Lay out sheets of aluminum foil or you could use parchment paper if you prefer.

Add your ingredients to your packets.  Stack em good!

I let the kids make their own packets so they could include the ingredients they like, and omit those they don't.

Wrap your packets into sealed little gifts.

Bake in a  375° degree oven
Bake Time - 1 hour 45 minutes.  Or as the boys said..."Way too long!"
Don't forget to make one big honking package for daddy.  For daddy I added fresh jalapeños, extra onions, and sprinkled his favorite Cayenne pepper on top.
What I love about this recipe is that you can "Pre-Prepare" your packets and refrigerate.  Great idea for camping.

Note:  Be careful when you open your packets as the steam is hot!

The boys added some post cooking Soy Sauce to their packets.  Teriyaki Sauce or BBQ sauce would be tasty too.  I thought mine was perfect as is.

I also prepared some steamed white rice as a side dish.  I am feeding boys, they eat a lot of food.  :)

Dinner is served.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

My 365...

Do you count your blessings?  I count mine...at least a dozen times a day.  When I am so busy counting all the wonderful aspects of my life for which I am truly blessed, there is little time left for anything else.

My morning started with a "Rap..tap...tap" outside my bedroom window.  I am on the third floor of this house, what could it be?  I opened the shade to see a very handsome prince standing on a ladder, with beautiful blue eyes, a sweet warm smile, and his hands shaped in a heart.  "I love you mommy!"

"awwwwww!"

"I love you too Blakey!"

"Now...what on earth are you doing?  Get down off that ladder before you fall.  Wait...let me bring you a rag so you can clean this window for me."  Okay, okay, just kidding about cleaning the window part.

You know, it truly is the little magic moments in life that make life worth living.  Every single one of my days presents with magic moments abound.  It is having the eyes to notice them all.  And I thank God for my clear vision.

If I find myself in a particularly stressful or frustrating situation, I pause, think of something wonderful like my sons, my grandson, the wonderful people in my life, the dogs, riding my bike, taking pictures, anything positive...and the bad situation/thought/thing simply vanishes.  It loses its value for me, and it becomes so much less important.  Try it, it really really works!  Because the truth of the matter is, we really sincerely do have SO much more to be thankful for than we realize or appreciate.


Have an amazing weekend planet.  Be kind, lend a helping heart, and drink in the beauty of the great outdoors.  It does a body, and a spirit, good.

My photos of the day...

"Tap, tap, tap..."

"I beg to differ Miss Lilly, Blake is most certainly my little prince.  Wanna arm wrestle for him?"

Pet Photo of the Month at the PHORUM...Miss Lilly and Dozer!

Congratulations to my fearless fuzzy friends.  :)

Music I am listening to today...Sierra Hull
Random Link of the Day...It is what's for dinner  As inspired by my friend Nancy...thank you Nancy!
I will update with photos and blog post this evening.  :)

Until next time...
 Purely Random...

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,