Friday Letters & Food Friday-Pesto Tortellini Salad

Dear Friday, I always seem to start out with Friday on these letters. It's a great day, because the weekend is almost here! We have a lot planned (as usual-I'm a planner), but it's nice to have a to-do list or I would seriously do nothing. On the list for the weekend: set up David's Moms' new Ipad they got her for mother's day, cars oil changed, get and put down pine straw, finish my embroidery projects, sort papers/old mail in the office, meal planning/grocery shopping, graduation party, pool party, drawing out plans for fence for HOA and of course playing with buddy. Dear David, Yay! Glad you are back in town, you were gone too long this week. Can't wait to see you.  Dear Max and Mom, I am jealous of your day you have planned. Kinsley is hanging with family today so Mom and Max are heading to play in the fountains, maybe the mall and lunch. Dear Blurb Blog Book, I am still working on you for my pregnancy book. It seems easy enough, but when they take 1 post and make it 10 pages, that isn't cool so now I have to go through and spend 30 mins per post and that is not fun, but it's necessary. I have got to get on this.

I had a lot of requests for me to put up this recipe after people saw it on instagram (follow me at Jens871). This recipe is a great main meal dish or would be great for a pot luck side.  They said to eat it cold, but who has time for that so we ate it warm and it was great. This recipe comes from Katies Cucina.

Ingredients
    1 package of refrigerated whole wheat tortellini (I used 2 and doubled recipe for leftovers for lunch)
    ½ bag of spinach (I used kale pieces)
    ¼ cup pesto from sauce aisle
    ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes
    ¼ cup artichoke hearts, drained and cut (get the non marinated kind)
    3 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
    ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions
    In a large pot boil water and cook tortellini according to directions. During the last 30 seconds of cooking add the spinach and wilt. Drain the pasta and spinach and place in a large bowl.
    In a small saute pan toast the pine nuts until they are golden brown then set to the side. This step is a must, I know it's easier if you don't do it, but it doesn't take long and really does make a difference taste wise.
    In the large bowl with the tortellini and spinach add the pesto, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, toasted pine nuts, and grated parmesan cheese. Mix well until incorporated. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and serve cold. Remember, if you are pressed for time, this is really a simple weeknight meal that can be eaten warm and was delicious! One thing that is also great about this, it's meatless and filling!

Nautical Themed Embroidery- Finished Product

One of my first projects with our new embroidery machine was for Jen's baby shower. I wanted to keep it simple and I know she has a nautical theme going for baby Michael so I took out to find a design I liked.  I went with an anchor. No gift is complete without a few things to go with it so we choose to do a onesie and 2 burp cloths. You might recognize the fabric, I got it on our trip to premier prints. Wait until you see some of the new patriotic shirts I am doing for the upcoming Memorial day, July 4th and Labor day holidays with appliques. So cute!

Here is the happy mom-to-be opening her gift.  We can't wait for baby Michael to arrive in a few short months!

Enjoying the Little Things

I promised an after shot of the new bushes David planted and here it is!

I wanted to capture some pictures to enjoy the little things that happen on a daily basis as normal as they are, they are special to us. Max helping with the watering. To say he loved the hose is an understatement, he was ecstatic about it.

Auntie Michelle with the babes.

He was soaked after we were done.  He still loves watering the plants with us. We brought him outside last night to help and he threw a HUGE fit when we had to come in.

Mmmm Tasty

He is such an outdoorsy boy, can't get enough of being outside. We do have a rather steep hill on the side of the house that he is always trying to throw himself down so that is a challenge to keep up with, but the weather has been gorgeous lately.  We are going to take him to the kiddie area of our pool this weekend so that should be fun to see if he likes the water more than last year.

David had to go out of town so Max tried to hitch a ride on the suitcase.  We love our weekends hanging out all day together!

Precious Mother's Day Gifts

 My precious boy was a good little boy for his teachers at daycare aka my mom and sister last week.  He sat down at his table and drew mommy a picture for Mother's day!

  

And my sister took a picture, you can't get much better than that!

  

What a fine job he did :) I love it. They even put the date and Happy Mother's day on the front. It's a keeper! My sister also treated me to a much needed pedicure on Sunday and the boys made us yummy pancakes. 

 

 David's been working on a project for me and I had no clue what he was making. He ended up taking an old cabinet that was left in the basement and turning it into a sauce cabinet! It needs to be hung but it's awesome. The saying is an inside joke that I'll let you in on.  My grandma thinks that whenever anyone has a drink (glass of wine, beer, anything) that you are sauced. She has said that Chrissy is sauced on a few occasions (my brother is Chrissy boy). I love that David used that saying for the cabinet.

 

 He also lined the inside of the shelves with pretty paper! The inside doors are painted in chalkboard paint so we can label when the jars of sauce were made. I have a bunch to put in there (I like to conserve sauce, man I don't think Max has even had it yet! I better get on it). Canning time is in few months so we can stock up again! I am excited we have a basement to properly store the jars now, just like Grandma has.

Spring Planting Weekend!

Up north we have so many farm markets with fresh flowers on every corner that I was looking around here so that Mom wouldn't be disappointed with the selection. She has been itching to do a little planting. A lady at work told me about this place that has amazing prices and selection on flowers and plants.

 

 If you live in the Atlanta area you need to check out Growers Outlet in Loganville. It is worth the drive. They have hanging baskets for $3-$5, $1 vegetable plants and $8-$10 flats of petunias, impatiens, begonias (just to name a few).

 

Check out the availability on their page where they list each type of flower/plant and you can click to get information on each item. The prices are superb, but it is hard to find someone there to talk to so do your research before you go (for shade vs. sun plants, etc.).

 Max had fun looking at all the flowers. Such a good helper.

 We went a little nuts. This was David's full truck bed with all our goodies. We bought ferns, dalias, petunias, Howard's Ligustrum bushes, blueberry bushes, and a fun tropical plant I forgot the name to.

 

We wanted to get some bushes for our electrical box area... remember when David tore out the pampass grass in the area between our house and neighbors?

This was our plan for the new bushes. They have pretty little white flowers that bloom from spring to summer.  I read that they can get quite tall so we might have to do some pruning in a few years. They were only $9 per bush. Doesn't our neighbors yard look so pretty?!

Mom was planting away in the front garden beds.

 We are leaving most the existing plants as they look really nice in the space just adding the hanging ferns to the porch. Mom also weeded all the garden beds by hand. What a fantastic helper, as I do not do much in that area.  Up next is pine straw.

I love knock out roses and we have a few bushes down in the backyard/side area.

We also have pretty dual color hostas lining the back before the woods. I am missing a few photos of my blueberry plants and some after shots so I'll show you those later.

My sister had surprised James by having his best friend and his family come in town from Charleston (actually I think it was Missy's original idea) to stay the weekend at our house.  It is mid way between their houses.  They have the cutest little boy that Max loved playing with.  Here you can see Max photo bombing their photo.  As you can see we had a busy, fun weekend and I'm glad we started some updating to our house.

Mother's Day Broccoli & Grape Pasta Salad

This recipe would be a great addition to any Mother's day menu. It's perfect for the main course or for a side.  I made this for Max's 1st Birthday party and it is jam packed with goodies to eat.  There is not enough time to post recipes all the time anymore so when I post one I seriously mean it's that good so get to work (better yet, have your husbands make it for you for mother's day). 

This recipe comes from My Recipes.

Ingredients-

    1 cup chopped pecans
    1/2 (16-oz.) package farfalle (bow-tie) pasta (I used almost the whole pound)
    1 pound fresh broccoli
    1 cup mayonnaise
    1/3 cup sugar
    1/3 cup diced red onion (optional)
    1/3 cup red wine vinegar
    1 teaspoon salt
    2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
    8 cooked bacon slices, crumbled (I used the pre-done ones)

 

 Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, cut broccoli florets from stems, and separate florets into small pieces using tip of a paring knife. Peel away tough outer layer of stems, and finely chop stems.

Whisk together mayonnaise and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl

Add broccoli, hot cooked pasta, and grapes, and stir to coat. Cover and chill 3 hours. Stir bacon and pecans into salad just before serving.

 

Happy Mother's day to all the moms and those who step up as moms of fur babies or real babies. I am so thankful for my original baby (Molly) and for Max. Have a great weekend.

NY Part 2- Family Time

We went to Jen's baby shower on Saturday morning. Here's a few pics I stole. This is all of us High School gals and our babies and babies to be. Amanda did such a fabulous job with all of her decorations and food. Check out her blog for all the party details.  It was a great time. 

 We had a Cinco De Mayo party with my moms side of the family on Sunday where Max got to see more of his cousins.

Hadley got passed around and loved on by everyone. This is Hadley and Kailea sitting in the shade.

Delilah came over earlier to play with Max. She was giving us her best pose. She was so great at trying to get Max involved and play with her.

We tried to get a group pic, but Delilah did not want Max on her lap or anywhere near her and then he just walked off.  By the way, that wagon is awesome.  You can strap them in and push them around and it also can be set up like a sitting bench (as pictured). Best of all, there is a cooler underneath  and on the sides for beverages.  Check out that umbrella, too.  I think I will have to invest in one of these at some point. Wouldn't this be great even for parents at a kids sporting event?

Max loved playing outside.  Once more people started arriving he became a shy boy though and clinging to me.  The only way we could get him to nap was his stroller so we took turns walking him around.

Delilah also brought this mini watering cans to help water the flowers. Max couldn't really get the hang of it, but enjoyed the water that came out once he flipped it over.

She was such a good helper and kept trying to get Max to come play. She definitely wore him out.

Our little princess in her adorable dress we got at the Yellow Daisy Festival last year.