Baby girl!

I was sitting here trying to decide what to post first--  and of course Ella, along with her mom, dad, Grandpa, uncle Greg and auntie Sarah was the obvious and clear choice.  I have been attempting to do some photo editing, but I get so wrapped up staring at the pictures of her that I just don't get too far!  I am so glad that summer will be here soon!

Little Ella and Grandma Debi

Anyway, we had a wonderful long weekend in Janesville.  It was so nice to leave the SNOW and get to warmth and green grass down in southern WI.  The MA decided that he could indeed spend a day or two away from the office and more specifically, there was nothing much to do outside with 8 inches of snow on the ground!  And there is that little matter of he held Ella almost as much as I did, he got to mow a lawn and dig in a garden.

Gramma and Grampa

Oddness- that's all I have to say...

What a joy that little girl is!  I understand that she was - quote- bellering- unquote a lot the previous week. BUT she was pretty happy while we were there!  It is an ongoing cycle of feeding and sleeping and changing and holding, that whole baby thing.  We even got out for a walk with everyone over to Sarah's parents' house to be..... yes it was that nice!  Sigh.

The Mad Middle son Greg and Sarah Jane also drove on over for the afternoon, and it was so nice to see them as well!  I do wish the elusive Mike would have come along, but we will see what we can do next time!

So of course you are going to find an over abundance of pictures in this post, but of course you will have to forgive me!  Gramma's are like that!

Family portrait with Manny 

Early morning with Ella

First time holding her

It was such a good weekend!  It was sad to leave them all behind.  I will be emailing a bunch of these photos to you kids!  :)

Until next time (Mother's Day, coincidentally enough) be a joy giver!

I just wanna say............

I will be posting soon- a boat load. But I need to clean some stuff on this cold and nasty day!  So that's my plan and I'm sticking with it!!

Roasted chickpeas-

 So I had talked about these chickpeas in an earlier post, and I actually had someone request this!  I am sorry it took me so long, my buddy Phil!

This is really easy and straight-forward AND you can adjust the seasonings as you wish!  Seasoned salt, chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, I am sure the possibilities are endless.  Parmesan cheese?  Cinnamon and sugar??  Oh my goodness.  Go get that can of chickpeas out of the cupboard and get roasting!!

Let the chickpeas (canned or home cooked) dry for a half hour  on the pan

Roast for 45 min. stirring every 10 min or so- the KEY is to start with a cold oven

When finished, toss with seasoning of your choice

Roasted Chickpeas

As seen on the website: theleangreenbean.com 

 1. Rinse the chickpeas and put them on a baking sheet. Pat them dry with a paper towel and then let them sit and dry some more for about half an hour.

2. Toss with olive oil and season with desired spices- I tried cayenne pepper and Spike Seasoning the first time.
3. Put the pan in the oven BEFORE you turn the oven on.
4. Turn the oven on to 425 degrees and roast them for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 min or so.
5. Shut the oven off and leave them in there for about an hour and a half*
6. Transfer to container and enjoy!  They are so nice and crispy!!

*If you leave to go somewhere they can stay in there longer than that because the oven will just keep getting colder.

Be somewhat generous with the seasonings- I found that mine started out pretty mild.

A nice handful equals ABOUT 120 calories...  and a nice kick of protein.

Something to be joyful for!  

May Day...and balance

So it is Wednesday already and I am revving up for the end of the week.  I will be going to visit my new granddaughter and I am super excited!!  It will be so nice to be able to see her and feel her and smell her baby smells and of course photos will be taken.  :)

May holds such promise in so many ways.  The more things change the more they stay the same may seem cliche, but it is true.  Things come and go from your life, but the cycle continues.  Good and bad, happy and sad, warm and cold, the opposites in life balance out and can give you great feelings of joy if you allow yourself to not be overwhelmed by the upsetting things.  Balance is key to life.

We can't balance out Mother Nature if she is determined this year to make up for the scary warm spring last year.  But the snow won't last forever and it makes us appreciate the warm days all the more intensely.  I know I will savor each warm day until the heat and humidity of the summer make me finally cave and complain.  But that will take some doing......

Of course seeing the new addition to the family is a promising event.  And we will get to see the Mad-Middle son and his lovely Sarah-Jane as well, so life will be good.  May is that transition time from spring to summer, and the kids tend to pack their bags to head north during the summer to our place a lot.  The grill will be going, the picnic table will be full of stuff and life will take place outside with the addition of sunscreen and mosquito dope.  I can just smell it now!  

I am back on a mini weight loss journey..... speaking of balance.  In spite of my best attempts, I put 4 pounds back on during the long late winter and now I have to take it off.  So as long as I am at it, I decided to go a little lower.  I know that my increase in activity outside will be the key to this loss, and I plan to be out there gardening and doing concrete and mosaic and other things that will keep me busy and occupied.  I try so hard to not let my weight be indicative of my self worth, but it is hard for me to escape that feeling.  A lot of odd things can pop up in my mind, but I know that I am still me, no matter how much I weigh, what I wear, what my tummy decides to do on any given way, and how much I exercise.  I want to be healthy, to take my fitness level up a notch yet, to get rid of that little extra around my waist that has stuck around, but I should not feel guilty and less than worth-while if I happen to take a rest day or find an alternate activity that doesn't give me quite as much calorie burn as the obsessed Mad-Art Teacher thinks she should have.  Yet, those little thoughts do occur to me, and I have to recognize them and then go on with life.  But still stick to the basic plan!  Balance.

So with this mini life post, I need to continue on with my day.  I need to get my healthy and slightly smaller lunch packed, dress for the unpredictable Wisconsin weather and ready myself for a good day.  Because if you assume you are going to have a good day, chances are you will look for the good in it and find it.  And ignore the annoying parts, and deal with the difficult parts.  Time to accept change, look for new ways to fulfill your goals and find the strength to do the hard things..... like not eat 6 or 7 pieces of dark chocolate!  Some things will always be a struggle.....  

AND I am looking forward to my daily Ella picture, because that is always a joy!  Just wait for the baby photo bombs to come!  

Until next time, be a joy giver and good good friend.

Photos from the weekend

So HOW did it get to be Wednesday already??  Anyway, I took some pix over the weekend and here is a sampling.  It was a glorious few days, the snow melting made it a little chillier than it could have been, but I embraced it!  :)  Most any snow you see here is now gone!  Monday and Tuesday's warmth took care of it, and Wednesdays rain should take care of most of the rest of it.  I can't even discuss what they are talking about for Wednesday night into Thursday.....

Favorite Tree

Runoff on the road

melting

Butternut Creek

Smith Lake

Boat landing not quite ready for boats

Loon

Smith Lake

Llama

At the sheep ranch

Swamp created from a beaver dam a few years ago

Way back field

Optimistic by nature!

My gorgeous river birch!

Old birch tree

Patterns in nature

Pussy willows

Spiral staircase

It was a picture-filled weekend!  Hope you can find some picture-perfect joy today!