One big post:)

So this is going to be a monster post. Just warning you ahead of time. If you want to go have a coke or drink some coffee, feel free;)

I have been playing around with some of my Freckle Friends goodies, but in an attempt to get healthy, it seems my scrap time has diminished:( Darn exercising! And cooking at home! Oh well, I feel good, have tons more energy...well, if Aislynn would stop waking up so early:) But we are on Day 4 of naps-YAHOO! It is so nice to have a well-rested child!!

Here are my crafty things to share:

I love this card! I think I am going to use all my Basic Grey tags in this way! And if you can't tell, I am IN LOVE with my edge distresser...how did I ever live without that thing, seriously.

This is using the Crate Paper Cowgirl collection. I love this picture of Aislynn and I, we were at Maclay Gardens in Tallahassee in January 2007.

Just a quick little card using some of the Luxe Flip Flop collection. I found the little metal tag (by Making Memories) for $1 at Micheals, it came with about 12 different sayings. I love them! Perfect for cards!

Now to the pictures...

Aislynn has this cardboard house which she got for Christmas and has hardly played in unless I initiate it. Well, after this weekend playing in it with Riley (Becky, why didn't we take pictures of them???!!!) she loves it. So here are a couple shots of her peeking out.

Poor sweetie has a scratch on her face. I am not sure what it's from:( But I love this picture:) I was tickling her here. Can't you tell she has the cutest laugh just from this picture?:)
I had opened the blinds and the light was nice and bright, so I took a lot of pictures. Of course, in this picture it is a little too bright, but oh well! Aislynn puts her easter eggs on her head (she makes us do it too) for birthday hats. Then we have to sing "Happy Birthday."

Here are just some shots of her playing with her kitchen, which she loves! I love to be the annoying customer who is forever sending her food back b/c it needs more salt or more time in the oven:) And if I ever ask for dessert first, she says (in her best Mommy imitation), "You have to eat dinner first."

Her face cracks me up in this picture.
The stools. We have one upstairs, and one downstairs, and this is the seat to her easel, which she uses as a stool. She is supposed to be using them in the bathroom to wash her hands, but she uses them for many other reasons. To turn the lights off and on. To "cook." To "wash the dishes." To look out the door and play with the blinds (that is what she is doing here). To do it just because she knows it annoys me. Here she is standing on the stool by the door. I LOVE this picture, so I guess standing on the stool is okay sometimes:)Here are my recipes I promised you Hard Core girlies.

This is an Asian Chicken Salad, and it is quite delicious.

Dressing: 2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp dark sesame oil

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp honey

Whisk together in a small bowl.

Hmmm, can't figure out why it is double spacing everything. That's annoying.

For the salad, toss together:

6 cups salad greens

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 cup matchstick carrots

1 cup snow peas

2 tbsp sliced almonds

I add chopped green onions (scallions) and mandarin oranges. You can buy a lot of this stuff (including the chicken) ready to go, so this is a super easy and atcually pretty filling salad for lunch. It serves 4.

This is our yummy pork tenderloin, even though this picture looks weird. But how do you photograph food and it looks good? Maybe I will learn that in my photography class:) which started today btw. YAY!

We marinate the pork (about 2 lbs) in Carribean Jerk marinade for about 30 minutes. The first time we used a kind by Lawry's, but this time we used the KC Masterpiece kind and we liked it better, it was sweeter. We grilled the pork and made this salsa to top it:

Mango Pineapple Salsa:

1 cup chopped pineapple

2/3 cup chopped red onion

2/3 cup chopped mango

4 tsp diced jalepeno

4 tsp chopped fresh cilantro

4 tsp fresh lime juice (I used orange juice b/c I never have limes?)

We served it with rice and green beans. YUM!

Okay I'm off...