paper, but....

Had to post this funny little Sienna story while I remember it.  The other day she was trying to color on something that she wasn't suppose to (like my work documents...) and I said, "Sienna, you can't color on that PAPER, BUT you can color on this coloring book..."  She started laughing so hard, and kept repeating "You said paper butt!  You said paper butt!"  It was so funny. I have no idea where she learned that butt was a funny/naughty word or why that phrase would even be funny to a 2-year-old, but it was hilarious.  And she was laughing so hard, a total belly laugh.  She couldn't stop giggling.   

Bye Bye, Binky!

It is now day number 10 without the binky. Sienna's done pretty well, way better than we expected. I might miss it more than she does, since it's such a convenient "plug" particularly when she's tired and grumpy and melting down in public.  Occasionally she still asks for it, but typically only once.  What we have discovered is that bedtime was much more fun for us with a binky.  Sienna now fights bedtime and cries when she goes down and just can't self-soothe as easily without the binky.  We've always been spoiled with Sien, since she's just a really good sleeper, always has been, for the most part.  I don't know how much of it is the new binky-less routine, or if it's just the fun of having a 2-year-old, or maybe a little of both?  Well, it's been fun to hear all the excuses she comes up with when it's time to go to sleep.  She'll say "Mom, I want to cuddle." Sienna has never been much of a cuddler, so she knows this will get to us! Or we'll get the usual "I'm hungry" or "I'm thirsty" (which she probably is, since she's a horrible eater). She'll also run to her room and close the door.  She'll even say "I'm going to go close my door" and run and close it and come back.  Not sure what she's thinking there....will we forget where her room is?  Will we not be able to get into her room if the door is shut?  She's so funny.  Last night was my particular favorite.  She yelled, "Daddy, I want to watch the game with you!"  What dad can resist a little girl who wants to watch the game with him? She's a sly little one, I tell you! Already figuring out how to wrap mom and dad around her tiny little finger!

My Little Pumpkin

Every once in awhile I actually take a picture or two of myself and Dan. This was NOT one of those times. :)  Actually, I did take a couple, I just don't love them. Sienna's way cuter. Sorry, Dan.

Dan and I took Sienna over to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point last week. She had so much fun.  She loved bouncing on the giant pillows, playing dress-up in Princessland, going down the huge slides, sitting around the campfire listening to Halloween stories and of course eating french fries and chocolate cake.  It was such a fun night with our little family. 

Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto

I have a ton of vegetables, so I was wanting to make a soup for dinner tonight.  I finally found this recipe that sounded good, and made a few changes to add more veggies to it.  It turned out great! I even used canned chicken, so it was pretty easy. 

Have I mentioned that I LOVE soup weather??

Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto
Adapted from http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_spinach_pesto_soup.html

5 servings, about 1 1/2 cups each
Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 can stewed tomatoes or 1 tomato, diced
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8 ounces), cut into quarters (or 1 can)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram (I didn't have any...I used rosemary and basil)
• 6 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans or great northern beans, rinsed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup plain or herbed multigrain croutons for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato, onion and chicken; cook, turning the chicken and stirring frequently, until the chicken begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Stir in broth and marjoram; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
2. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken pieces to a clean cutting board to cool. Add spinach, tomatoes and beans to the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.
3. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, Parmesan and basil in a food processor (or use prepared pesto) . Process until a coarse paste forms, adding a little water and scraping down the sides as necessary.
4. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Stir the chicken and pesto into the pot. Season with pepper. Heat until hot. Garnish with croutons, if desired.

Lake Powell October 2010

Here's my favorite picture from our Lake Powell trip.   My mom and I were talking about how October is Lake Powell's best kept secret.  Seriously, it is the best time of the year to go.  We had the most amazing weather--not too hot during the day, not too cool at night. It was perfect.  We went with my parents, their friends and our good friend's, the VanDyke's.  I have a million pictures to edit, so when I get a chance to edit them, I'll post some favorites.  For now, this one picture of my little cutie will have to do. Ok, fine, here's one more.

P.S. Sien started saying her last name and today kept saying "I'm Sienna Dixon".  It is THE cutest thing.

Happy Birfday Aunt Nally!

Happy Birthday, to my favorite (and only!) sister Janelle.  She turned 27 on Oct 7th, 2010.  We decided to take advantage of the great fall weather and head up the canyon with the fam for some dutch oven birthday fun.  We had yummy dutch-oven enchiladas, corn bread and chocolate cherry cake. Everything was soooo good. Why is it that anything you dutch oven or cook over the fire tastes so great?!  It was great weather and we had a fun time with the fam.  Sienna is so spoiled to have an aunt and 2 uncles who aren't married (and don't have kids of their own) so she just gets super spoiled and lots of TLC.

Janelle is 5 1/2 years younger than me, so when we were younger, she was the annoying little sister who followed me around and wanted to wear my clothes.  Let's just say I wasn't always the kindest older sister.  I love that now that we're older, we are super close.  She's not only a great sister, but a great friend and the best aunt in the world.  There's no one quite like Janelle--she's beautiful, driven and ambitious, spiritual, a little (lot) high-maintenance and has a whole lot of sass.  She keeps things lively in the Hanson household.  We love you, Nelly!

 

 

Betty Crocker....

Or is it Martha Stewart? I forget. Basically, I'm super domestic.  So, I did a little canning last night. I've only done it once, we did salsa with some friends last year(I think?).  (So I'm totally kidding when I say I'm super domestic, I'm a complete amateur).  It was a ton of work, but there were lots of helping hands and the salsa was great.  Somehow I forgot the work involved and slaved away (by myself...Dan chopped 1/2 an onion) all night long and ended up with 6 little pints of salsa and 4 little containers of strawberry-peach jam.  I'm just trying to remind myself that it's 4 jars of salsa that I don't have to buy! (Since most of the ingredients were free from family members). It better taste good! :)  I think it's a keeper, if so I'll post the recipe so I don't forget it!  It's definitely got lots of kick!