Signs of Spring

It was 80+ degrees here today. I think we skipped spring and went right to summer! I'm not complaining though. I am happy to be able to take baby E outside and give her a change of scenery. I spent a good bit of time (for me) outside over the past few days, and I noticed all sorts of signs of life! My hydrangea is sprouting new leaves. The hostas are poking their tips out of the ground. The tulips have grown (and gone actually).

However, the most exciting things I saw were birds building in my birdhouses! I saw a tufted titmouse flying in and out of my bluebird house. Tuba noticed it too, but he didn't bother him (or her). Then today I saw that my wrens are back!! I like to think it's the same pair of wrens every year. They were very busy cleaning the old nest out of the birdhouse and replacing old stuff with new stuff. It's amazing to watch them fit long twigs into such a small hole. I look forward to watching them this season!

I also did a little bit of cooking today. I found and made this recipe for homemade granola bars a few weeks ago. They were very yummy, but got really hard after a day or so. That didn't stop me from eating the entire pan myself though! I decided to make them again, but this time I only cooked them for 23 minutes instead of 30. Oh.My.Goodness! They are extra tasty and chewy. Perfect! John liked them enough to take some to his coworkers :)

The granola bars will not be helping me get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. Neither will the peanut butter filled pretzels that I inhale all day long! I bought the economy size at Sam's a few days ago. Not good.

Speaking of pregnancy. My baby is 7 weeks old today. Where has the time gone? I only have 2 more weeks of maternity leave left :( I don't know how I will ever be able to get up and get ready for work AND get there on time! It's usually 1:00 p.m. before I can ever seem to get in the shower these days! I better start practicing soon.

What's for Dinner?

I used to make a very yummy chicken pasta salad. Everyone who ate it seemed to love it. I haven't made it in about 5 years, so I decided to make it the other night. I got the recipe from All Recipes. It is the best chicken pasta salad I've ever had! Here you go...

Best Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 3/4 cup steak sauce - I use Heinz 57
  
• 1 (12 ounce) package fusilli pasta
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1 Vidalia onion, diced - I use about 1/2 of this
  
• 2 avocados - peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup Ranch-style salad dressing - I use Naturally Fresh Lite Ranch
  

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Place breasts into a glass baking dish and marinate in steak sauce for 15 to 60 minutes.
2. Grill chicken until no longer pink and the juices run clear. Remove from grill, and chop into bite-size pieces.
3. To a large pot of boiling water, add bouillon cubes and pasta. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, and rinse under cold water.
4. In a large bowl, combine chicken, pasta, onion, avocados and tomatoes. Mix in salad dressing, cover, and refrigerate until chilled.

ENJOY!

What did you do this weekend?

Our Saturday was stormy and wet, so we didn't do much. I did attempt to make lasagna in the crockpot. Ummm...I won't be doing that again. John was oh so sweet, and didn't admit to how bad it was at first. He finally caved when I expressed my opinion about it. It wasn't horrible, but it was reminiscent of cafeteria lasagna that's been sitting under a heat lamp. For a long time.

The little wrens were working hard renovating the nest I left in the cat bird house from last Spring. They are so fun to watch and listen to. Look at all those twigs in there! How do they fit them in there?

Sunday was a much brighter, beautiful day. AK spent time playing with EG, our neighbor. They were having a blast in this. Except the one they were playing in was made for rolling in the grass I think. Anyway, I wish I had had my camera! I did have my camera handy for some cooking show action...

But the chef wasn't too cooperative for the paparazzi.

AK and I decided to get a bit crafty. I have been looking for some larger art to hang in my living room, but I can't find anything I like. So I thought, well I love AK's art! So I bought 2 large canvases at Hobby Lobby yesterday with the thought that she could paint something for me.

Not quite what I had in mind.

So I think this will hang in her room. Maybe I can get her to paint it a little more. She got tired.

I started looking around my crafty blogs that I have bookmarked, and I came across this at Simply Modern Mom! This post was the inspiration for my creation.

I still have not decided on the bird. She looks a little big. I haven't Mod Podged it yet just in case I want a smaller birdie. What do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.

To wrap up our day I made Andes Candies Brownies. All you do to make them is bake brownies as you normally would (we used a mix of course). Then when you take the brownies out of the oven, lay about 30 Andes Candies on top. Wait for them to melt a little, and swirl with a knife.

Oh.my.goodness.

These are so yummy. And definitely not on my "look decent in a bathing suit" plan.