Brouwer Babies

Most Friday's Kristi and I spend the day together.  This Friday I pulled my camera out to snap a couple pictures of both Bowen and Annabelle together.  Again Kristi worked her Momma magic and had Annabelle sleeping and Bowen calm and cooperating.   

                   I could be a little (okay maybe a lot) bias but I think they are absolutely adorable!

Internal Clock

Max is a creature of habit! Every day he wakes Eric up a 4:00 am to go outside then he knows it is time for his medicine and then a treat.  After all the important business is done he gets back with me.   He then wakes me up at 7:00 am to get in the shower, at 8:00 am he walks downstairs and sits in front of pantry to get a treat.  After I give him his treat he runs to his cage.  Max is like clockwork, but last week Eric was out of town the first part of the week and then I was out of town the second part of the week.  Needless to say Max was not thrilled with the changes and waiting nightly for each of us to get home.  He is glad we are all back home together!

Twice the Fun

This last Saturday we attended the Strine Birthday Bash! Kinsey turned the big 6 and Addison is now 3 or in her words she is (free years old)!  It is hard to believe that they are 3 & 6 years old now.  I remember when Dathen and Lisa told me they were expecting! They shared the news on Christmas.  We were all exchanging gifts and when we were finished, Dathen found one last gift for Mom and Dad.  Mom opened the gift and it was a pair of baby slippers.  While we were all watching Mom open the gift, Dathen and Lisa slipped off their sweatshirts and they had t-shirts on that said “Mommy” & “Daddy”!  We all started screaming and jumping up and down!  We were so excited! About 2 years later we found out that they were expecting again! This time Kinsey had the honor of announcing the news! She informed the family that she was going to be a BIG SISTER! Again we were elated!

This year Kinsey will start the 1^st grade.  Kinsey has been keeping busy with t-ball, mini 4-H, and gymnastics! Addison continues to go to daycare and she will start pre-school next year, she also participates in gymnastics, and loves swimming!  Another great year on the books for the Strine girls!

Happy Birthday Girls! Uncle Eric and Aunt Heidi Love You So Much! We are blessed to be a part of your lives!

MRE

A couple months ago someone from the federal government thought it would be a good idea for my co-workers and I to learn more about the military since the military is now one of our target populations.  We were all invited to spend the weekend at Camp Atterbury  to experience the barracks, chow hall, and morning PT.  Sadly (not really) I could not attend, I already had other obligations.   One of my co-workers is in the National Guard so he gave me a MRE (meal ready to eat) so that I did not feel left out.  So I gave it my best shot and started cooking!  

                                                                      Vegetable Crackers

                                                              Cheese Spread with Jalapenos

                                                                          Toffee Cookies

                                                                          Pop Tart

                                                                         Orange Drink

                                                                           Beef Stick

                                                                

This is the pouch that you cook the food in

                                                                 All the condiments

                                                                       Now that is mini

                         Look at all those packages..tell me how this works in the middle of the desert?

                     This is the ravioli heating up in the pouch, in the directions it says to prop the pouch on a rock for 15-20 or until completely heated.  Since I did not  have a rock I used my dish stopper.

                      It is hard to see but that is steam coming from the pouch all I did was add 2 inches of  water and the water activates heat to warm the food

                            The water was boiling so you can make your coffee in the pouch also

 Even though I made it I did not eat it...sorry to say but the Government meal does not look appetizing

Thanks so all the men and women that serve our country so we can have the freedom to not MRE's

Ice Cream Cup Cakes

Ice Cream Cupcakes are a favorite of all my nieces and nephews!

They are super simple to make.

Just follow the directions on the cake mix box to prepare the batter

Then pour the batter directly into the ice cream cones

Only fill the cones with cake batter about ¾ the way

Preheat the oven to 350

Place filled cones on a baking sheet and cook for 20-25

Let them cool and pipe on icing to look like ice cream

Eat Up!

 My Dad Made Me This Box "but you can buy them  online"

Salad

A Simple Spinach Salad

Ingredients

Baby Spinach

1 lb Bacon

Fresh Mushrooms

Hard Boiled Eggs

Chopped Walnuts

Dice Peeled Apples

Feta Cheese

Balsamic Vinaigrette

 

Directions

Cut up the Bacon into bit size pieces and fry

 “I add half a yellow onion while frying the bacon, it add a sweetness to the bacon”

Drain the grease into a small sauce pan and add balsamic vinaigrette

Let the dressing simmer for a minute

Then start compiling your salad with all the yummy fresh ingredients

Spinach, bacon, mushrooms, eggs, walnuts, apples, feta cheese and top with warm dressing!

Summer Fun

Summer is in full swing! Cookouts, swimming, and lots of excitement! We didn’t want to miss out on all the fun at the Strobel household! We have been spending our evenings floating and grilling!

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Don’t be jealous of our awesome pool and grill!

Do you really need to laugh that loud?

Dan & Nan Visit

 

Friday Dan and Nancy came to visit.  We have not seen them in a couple months so we were long overdue for a visit.   Friday evening I wanted to make a special dinner to celebrate all the special occasions that have occurred over the last couple months (Dan’s Birthday, Nancy’s Birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and their Anniversary).   I was trying to figure out a way to celebrate all the special occasions with only one cake (I don’t think 4 people needed 5 different cakes).  So Eric and I came up with the idea of makeing little flags to put on the cake! 

Menu

Salad: Balsamic Bacon Spinach

Appetizer: Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp

Entrée: Chicken Cordon Blue, Season Potatoes, and Fresh Steamed Asparagus

Dessert: Carrot Cake

We had a wonderful visit.  I think we spent most of our time talking about the newest edition Benjamin James Strobel (he has brought so much joy to our family).  We are excited about his upcoming baptism!

Emma May

Emma May is One! On Friday Tabbitha asked me to take a couple pictures of her youngest daughter Emma.  This was my first time taking pictures of a one year and Emma keep me on the run.  I applaud all child and newborn photographers.  Photographing children is not easy, they are unpredictable and hard to direct.  I love to take pictures for my friends and family for free but I do not want the pressure of taking payment.  I feel like if someone pays me...I better deliver, but when I do it for free there are no obligations.  If the pictures turn out great everyone is happy and if they don't...know one lost anything. 

Brown Thumb

At the beginning of the summer Eric and I went to the Plant Center for a little landscaping help.  We walked away with a car full of plants and a little confidence.   When we got home we planted everything and watered daily.  We were so proud of our little landscaping job.  Everything looked good for a couple days and then it started to brown so I got the bright idea that we should fertilize everything so it would grow more.  The fertilizer had the opposite effect, within 2 days everything started to die.  I was so upset with myself.  I tried for 2 weeks to bring the plants back to life.  My neighbor then told me that most of the plants we planted needed more shade.  Eric and I trusted the staff at the Plant Center; we did not even question them.  So between the sun and the fertilizer the plants were burnt to a crisp!  One afternoon when I came home I found several plants on our porch.  Our sweet neighbor felt so bad for us she bought us a couple new plants! Finally Eric made me face reality that everything was dead.  So this morning we headed to Lowes and Menards to find some inexpensive replacement plants to add to what our neighbor had bought us.   Hopefully I will have better luck with these plants. 

This was out first attempt at landscaping 6 weeks ago

Here is what it looked like after to much sun and fertilizer

      
                                                                 Gifts from our sweet neighbor

                                                          
                                                       Max wanted to help Mommy and Daddy

                                                                   My new pot Eric bought me

                                   The new landscaping hopefully it makes it through the summer