Goings On . . .

Shortly after our Lagoon trip last month, Isaac celebrated his third birthday. When I asked what he wanted to do to commemorate his birthday he decided on eating cake at the splash park (where "it's okay we get wet, that's fine") with one of his favorite buddies. Unfortunately his little wish got rained out & is still needing to be rescheduled. We did however eat plenty of cake throughout the month of June, & we had a special dining out experience, so his birthday didn't turn out a total disappointment.

Also at the beginning of June, we went to Lost Creek Reservoir with my family for free fishing day. All the kids had fun chasing around the potguts, but Isaac was the only one privileged enough to go swimming . . . or, rather fall out of the duck boat. There was a period of protestation from Aaron for not going out on the boat, but he came around quickly and enjoyed running around with my sisters little neighbor girl. It was a beautiful day to spend outside even if the fish weren't biting (which considering the middle-of-the-afternoon time, was hardly surprising).

During our bout with the stomach flu, Isaac started requesting to nap in Aaron's room. Then, he wanted to sleep with Aaron at night. Finally, he asked us to move his bed in to Aaron's room. Since I'm ecstatic about having a permanent, usable space for my sewing machine, I'm trying to overlook the added work of getting the kids to fall asleep at the designated sleeping times. Eventually, they'll stop giggling and playing (and pestering) and just fall asleep, right? Right!?!

Last weekend, my mom & sister and I took my nephew up to Washington to meet his Grandpa & Grandma 'Great'. My boys stayed home in the loving care of their paternal grandparents and father. They got to play with cousins on Friday and go to/ride in the Woods Cross parade on Saturday. While I was a little nervous to leave Aaron for his first extended away-from-mom stint, I was excited to have my first solo excursion in 4 years. It was an insanely short trip, but fun all the same. While we experienced our share of tears throughout the weekend, we had plenty of laughs as well. I was once again reminded of how deeply I love Washington . . . my heart is tied to the country in a way it will never be anywhere else. It was really nice to spend that time with my family.

To wrap-up, our dinner last night was such a hit with the boys that I thought I'd share. We made our own incarnation of the Johnsen classic - Chicken Rolls. My kids aren't what I'd call overly picky eaters, but they're not real big eaters, either. Last night, however the each ate an entire Chicken Roll (given in half roll increments) and were still digging it so split a second one. It was craziness, I tell you. Anywho, the recipe:

Spinach Chicken Rolls
3 oz cream cheese
2 T butter
2 C cooked chicken, shredded
1/8 t pepper
2 T milk
3 C fresh spinach, cooked & chopped
1/2 t onion powder
Dash* garlic powder

Also needed: 2 cartons refrigerator crescent rolls.

Soften the cream cheese and butter together then mix in milk and spices. Add chicken and spinach. Place filling in refrigerator crescent rolls. Seal and bake according to package directions.

Makes 6 large rolls

*Our original recipe included 1/8 t garlic powder and 1/4 t salt. We found the garlic to be a bit too strong (and we like garlic) and the salt was just unnecessary. But feel free to experiment. I cooked the chicken in the crockpot (which really helped this meal come together quickly) and steamed the spinach in the microwave. You can make small rolls with the triangular crescent rolls, however, I prefer to seal the seams of two to make big rectangular pockets. I rolled up some chocolate chips in the remaining four crescents and we each had a bite-size serving of Pain de Chocolat. Also, the package directions instruct to bake for 11-13 minutes . . . I missed the timer and left ours in for an extra 7-8 and really liked the result.