Our weekend with Grandpa and Grandma Grant

Esther helped Grandpa dig a hole for our new tree.

(She named Grandpa "Bunka" this weekend.)Esther telling us her hand got dirty.On Saturday we went blueberry picking. Esther got her very own bucket. I think you can guess how many berries were in her bucket at the end of our time. Esther loved giving Bunka his morning vitamins.

Doing Yard WorkEsther and her many silly faces.

Esther loves...

...Rabbits. We went to the fair this past week and Esther thought the little bunnies were so cute.
...Coloring. If she sees any pen or pencil within her reach, she's got it in her hands and is looking for something to write on. I've come to love color-wonder markers (they only mark on the special paper).

Texting and Driving at this age we think it's probably okay.

Last week Esther was so tender with her baby-doll. She sat it in the chair and kissed it and gave it "water" from a cup. So sweet.

Cutting our tree down

Here's Mike in the tiptop of our tree. He was using a rope system to secure himself as he climbed around up in the tree and had a small chainsaw that hung from his waist from a carabiner. It sounds (and was) dangerous, but he made it look surprisingly easy.

Almost done. After they had chopped all the branches off, they used a larger chainsaw and felled the remaining three bare trunks.
Esther demonstrating the sound a chainsaw makes.

A Grant Family Poll

Which of these is your favorite?
(I posted them full size so you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

1.

2.

3.

4.
Bonus points on #4: Who's had enough of the picture taking?

So, today a nice salesman came by the house and offered to set up an appointment to shampoo the carpets of two rooms of our house for free. Free? Yes. Absolutely free. He said they would only set up an appointment when my husband could be home (because they are two guys) and they don't work on Sundays (because they go to church that day). Great.

So this evening we were at the church and mentioned this to a couple of our friends, and our friend Craig told a big long story about his experience when a salesman came to his house and offered to "clean a spot" on his carpet. When I got home I saw that the guy was indeed from the same company that had visited Craig. His experience sounds a lot like the experience described here. I think when you check it out for yourself you'll understand why I'm going to cancel our appointment.

Mother's Day at The Flower Farm - my favorite local greenhouse.

Here are a couple of cute ones from the past couple of months. Top: "I'm definitely getting away with something."
Bottom: Helping her baby-doll to walk.

It's time for another recipe.

Today's easy and delicious dinner...

Violet's Crock-pot Lasagna

8 lasagna noodles, uncooked

1 lb ground beef

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce

1/8 c. water

4 oz. can sliced mushrooms

15 oz. ricotta cheese

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

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1. Break noodles. Place half in bottom of greased slow cooker.

2. Brown ground beef in saucepan. Drain. Stir in Italian seasoning. Spread half over noodles in slow cooker.

3. Layer half of sauce and water, half of mushrooms, and half of ricotta cheese over beef. Repeat layers.

4. Cover. Cook on low 5 hours.

Here are a few pictures of our Easter "EGG". Once Esther figured out how to open the plastic eggs, there was no stopping her. She had a great time with everything in her "basket" (which was actually a wrapping paper covered box).
I just barely got her sweater finished in time. I knit it from a free pattern off the internet that I found and used a yarn from Knit Picks called "Comfy". The whole time I was knitting the sweater I kept on thinking, "Wow, this yarn is so comfy." I just couldn't help myself. The name is perfect.

What a snuggle-bug. She just loved her little Easter lamb.

Esther's ladybug cake. The birthday girl... in a little bit of a sugar daze.

Mom made this adorable matching outfit for Esther and her new baby-doll. We got a couple of pictures before heading off for church.

This is her flirtatious look. She had just been looking at the camera and then quickly tucked her chin into her shoulder with that little smirk... "I'm so cute and funny..."Some big smiles for Daddy.

I thoroughly enjoy recipes that are both very delicious and very easy. So today I'm going to share one of the recipes that has been given a "star" for both categories by all in our household. Today's recipe is for

Cuban Bread
5-6 cups flour (2 c whole & 3 c white works great)
2 T. yeast
2 T. sugar
1 T. salt

Mix ingredients together. Pour 2 cups of warm water over dry ingredients.
Mix in your mixer for 5 minutes.
Let rest 5 minutes.
Form into a loaf. Place loaf on greased cookie sheet.
On bottom rack, place 9x13 pan half-full of boiling water.
Put bread into the cold oven. Turn oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 40-50 min.

The result is a terrific tasting bread with a great crust - it's a little like french bread. One of the things I really love about this recipe - besides the fact that it's super fast - is that it's also super versatile. I halved this recipe and made two soup bowls for dinner last week. Yum. Last night for the super bowl I made half the recipe to go with our hot spinach dip. Super yum. The possibilities are limitless.

A pretty frost pattern from the other day.

Combing her own hair after a bath.
A special Saturday morning breakfast - pancakes her very own size.

Esther has started snuggling her "baby". I knit this doll for her before Thanksgiving, and just recently she's started picking it up and hugging it and patting its back. It is unbelievably cute. Eating out of her own spoon.