More Beach Fun

Please ignore my picture. Ladybug was not afraid of the water at all she would walk in all by herself.

I'm going to guess that these white birds were cranes of some sort. They were all over the beach and very unbothered by humans - even the little ones. Ladybug had fun chasing one and almost caught it before it flew away.

Beach Trip

So we got back from vacation about a month ago, I figured it was time to get some pictures up and things seem to have slowed down enough to be able to do something. (Ha Ha)

Ladybug loved the beach but was ready to come home by Friday. This worked out well for us since she didn't ride well and leaving early enabled us to drive in spurts.


This was on the beach in front of where we stayed (Fort Myers Beach). The water and weather was wonderful!

Ladybug had a lot of fun climbing all over the furniture and spending lots of time with daddy. She has also discovered what a camera is and will start saying cheese when she sees one.

Captiva island was so pretty, we didn't stay very long and didn't find many shells but the water was great.

We stopped in Daytona Beach on the way down to visit our friends Ronnie and Kelly. We usually go down in April so Chris can go fishing but just tacked the fishing trip to the beginning of our vacation. They had a fun day on the water and caught quite a few dolphin fish (mahi mahi). We really enjoyed this fish later in the week.

Recipe Time - Lasagna

Lasagna

3 pounds ground beef (I use venison)
1 large onion, diced
½ large head of garlic, diced
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

32 oz Cottage Cheese
32 oz Ricotta Cheese
5 large eggs
1 tbsp Parsley
¼ tsp Italian Seasoning

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 (14 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
¼ tsp anchovy paste
½ tsp garlic powder

2 boxes lasagna noodles

In large skillet cook onion 5 minutes, add garlic cook another 3 minutes. Add meat (if using beef, remove onion and garlic before adding meat) and brown. Drain if using beef and add onion and garlic back in. Add seasoning. Set mixture aside.

In large bowl combine cheeses, egg and seasoning. Mix well, set aside.

In large bowl combine tomatoes, pastes and seasoning.

Place ½ cup tomato sauce in bottom of pans. Layer noodles, beef mixture, and tomato sauce. Place another layer of noodles then add a layer of the cheese mixture. Continue alternating between beef layer and cheese layer, finishing with noodles on top. Cover with tomato sauce.

At this point the lasagna can be frozen until ready to use.

If baking immediately bake at 375 for 45 minutes, add shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes before cutting.

If frozen either thaw completely and bake as above or place covered, frozen lasagna in 375 oven for 2 hours. Remove cover and bake at 400 for another 30 – 45 minutes. Add shredded mozzarella cheese and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes before cutting.

Strawberries

This past weekend we took a trip down to South Hill, Virginia for some strawberry picking and boat riding. After convincing Ladybug that there were plenty of strawberries to eat she stopped eating them whole. She didn't want to admit defeat and stop eating either after she was full she would ask for more and just hold the strawberry!

Earlier this week our defiant and genius child wanted to go outside while I was making dinner. It had been raining earlier and I could not go out with her so I told her no (big shocker, I know). Well I turned around and this is what I found:

She decided that she was going without me! We keep the step stool in the kitchen so she can help me cook, she pushed it over to the front door and was opening the door! We just locked the door and took a picture, how can you fuss at her for such great problem solving skills?

Toys!

The toys have taken over our living room. Even keeping only 10-15 toys at a time out hasn't kept them from taking over and being all over the floor. It seems that each toy has 20 pieces to it. The toy chest that we have wasn't working because if all the toys made it into the chest Ladybug wouldn't dig through and find one. She would whine and play with one toy (probably because she was tired and bored with playing with the same toy over and over). So the chest has been moved to her bedroom and filled with the stuffed animals that seem to be taking over that room. We got one of the cube organizers with canvas drawers. Not to be left out of the process Ladybug helped Chris put it together.

It works great everything fits and has its own place. As you can see below toys do not belong in the drawers!

Ladybug fits perfectly. Now that she's more used to it she will tell me she has to clean up before we go to bed each night. And she knows where all her toys go!

Concert Update

Chris got me tickets to see Reba and George Strait for my birthday. The whole state was under about a foot of snow the day of the concert so they rescheduled it for Easter weekend so Chris ended up with concert tickets for his birthday too!

Let me just say it was worth the wait! I also have the best husband in the world these tickets were awesome!

The concert was from 7 to midnight and George Strait sang 30 (you read that right) songs! Reba came out for her encore in a Taxi!

Then I unexpectedly got a ticket to see Carrie Underwood, let me say that the radio does her voice an injustice, she has the most amazing voice!

She put on an amazing show (I think she might be the next Reba) and she is not afraid of heights I think she spent as much time towering above the stage as she did on it. She also changed outfits about 20 times.

April was quite a month of excitement.

Easter

I know Easter was two weeks ago but I've finally gotten around to getting everything uploaded. It was a full and fun day. First church, then to Chris' family for an Easter Egg Hunt and Aunt Holly and Uncle Guy's house. She seems to be getting the hang of it.

Then it was off to see my family for lunch. Look what I made:

It's supposed to be a baby chick inside the cake (didn't turn out that great). Tasted great though!

Then more egg hunting in Maamaa and Poppa's yard. I think we "hid" eggs five or six times.

We have some video too and I'll load that as soon as I can figure out how. You can hear her talking!

Hope everyone had a great Easter and remembered the real reason for the day.

I also am working on some special pictures from an awesome night out with Chris (our birthday presents). I'll get them up soon!