around here, lately.

we celebrated our sweet boy who turned four with a chick-fil-a lunch date and a few small celebrations with friends and family. it was pretty low-key this year since life has been so buys, but it was filled with cars and planes and one very happy boy.

this boy of ours. he is so tall and filled to the brim with life. he can barely express all the emotion that  spill out of him at times and is so compassionate and sincere it makes us so proud. we are so thankful for him.

we've also been able to steal away for a few pool days and the kids love it. we all do.

also? this girl's got style all her own. ♥

love.

little bits of lately.

it feels as if we've been laying low and staying really busy all at the same time. but i think that might just be a new part of normal life with two little ones.

and, likewise, pretty much all of the snapshots i've gotten are of them, as well. :)

they are growing so quickly. coen is talking more and more (finally!) and his little personality is so funny. norah is out of control. she is huge, and is determined to be fully mobile as soon as possible (and by that, i mean soon). she loves her brother. and her daddy. and her toys. 

and her cat. he, on the other hand, is still mad that she exists. oh well.

becoming a family of four has brought its share of challenges, exhaustion, emotions and adjusting. but it has brought so much more that is good. we are reminded so often of the kindness of god when we peer into these smiling little faces. we can't help but swell with joy when we see our blessings before us--and how far he has brought us.

how grateful we are that we stand here today, and can attest to god's mercy and faithfulness in such a precious way.

love.

chicken salad (with a slow cooker).

hurray for a recipe post!

something about actually getting to share a recipe with you, makes me feel like maybe I'm getting a hang of this mother-of-two thing after all.

once the weather starts to warm, chicken salad quickly becomes a staple--for both lunch and dinner. and don't mind my odd title of this post, I just didn't want to call it a "slow cooler recipe" because sometimes I don't use it. but really, I mostly do. haha. 

also, this recipe makes a lot. but it's perfect to make the beginning of the week for a fresh, summer dinner, then having a whole week's worth of lunches. 

slow cooker chicken salad

serves a bunch

1 2.5lb bag of frozen chicken tenderloins, rinsed

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder, divided

1 tsp onion powder, divided

splash of olive oil, or other non-stick spray (such as coconut)

1/3 cup water

2-3 handfuls of red grapes, halved

3/4 cup mayonnaise, plus a bit more

2 tsp lemon juice

salt & pepper generously, to taste

directions

spray crockpot with non-stick spray (or swirl some olive oil around the bottom and sides). dump frozen chicken in, and season with about half of the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. pour water on top, and cook on medium/high for 5 hours.

once chicken is cooked, remove from liquid. chop/shred chicken and place in large mixing bowl. add grapes, remaining spices and lemon juice. then, add mayonnaise and mix well. at this point, you might need to add additional mayo and mix it again, just to make sure all the chicken is wet and sticking together well.

serve chilled on toasted bread, a bed of spinach, salad or just eat it. :)

love.

an explanation.

i have a good reason for being so quiet over here.

meet baby schlax. coming sometime around (& hopefully not much later than) february 16, 2013.

it's been a difficult few months. i had a pretty bad case of morning all-the-time sickness, and didn't see much besides the couch most days. and i seriously had no words, so i pretty much just pretended this blog didn't exist. sorry about that.

but yesterday, i hit twelve weeks. and for the past few days, i've been feeling pretty good. for this, i am so thankful.

well, really, i'm thankful for the sickness and what it means for the baby. it's been reassuring to have such a strong sign that things are going well. but in the midst of it, i found it extremely hard to hold fast to joy consistently. i definitely found myself feeling pretty ungrateful in the midst of such a huge blessing to us. so i spent a good bit of my time feeling discouraged. and nauseous, of course.

but now, i can see fruit. through my weakness & struggle, i find myself filled with a little more joy & contentment in my circumstances, no matter what they might be. i feel like my perspective on life is becoming a little less selfish. and with that, i'm encouraged.

once again, i'm so thankful for grace. for unending grace, despite how easily i forget how incredibly blessed i really am.

oh, we are so excited.

love.

around here lately & giveaway winner.

happy monday, friends. i hope this warm hot weekend treated you well.

our weekend was, well, hot. we spent most of it indoors. but yesterday, this is how the boys dealt with it.

this guy loved spraying daddy with the hose.

oh, and a few days ago, the baby birds started hatching!

i'm sure they'll get cuter soon.

in other news, it's time to announce the giveaway winner! *drum roll, please*

erin tozier, you've won!

(i'll be emailing you shortly--congratulations!!)

many thanks to everyone who entered and, of course, to Atoning Yoga for the DVD!

love.

chickpea & artichoke salad.

i made this for lunch today. it was so light and fresh. and so quick and easy. perfect for such a hot afternoon.

i ate it all. (in my defense, i hadn't really eaten and it was a late lunch. i was famished.)

chickpea & artichoke salad
serves 2; 4 as a side dish

ingredients
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, quartered (and one tsp of liquid reserved)
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
5 mint leaves, chopped into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon parsley
salt & pepper to taste

directions
1. in a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

2. serve at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate until chilled.

3. if you want to be fancy, garnish with a sprig of mint leaves.

that's it! super quick and so yummy.

variation: for a more savory flavor, swap out thyme for the mint and serve with grated parmesan. 

enjoy!

love.

savory potato salad.

let me start this off with a confession: i love potato salad, but i'm kind of a snob about it.

okay, maybe not a snob, but a bit more minimalist in approach than most? i'm not sure why, but i've always been pretty opinionated on what goes into this starchy side. and with so many variations out there, i couldn't figure out where my aversion to most of them came from.

and since my love for potato salad goes far, i decided to research the many types, and even ask my mother about my childhood exposures to the glorious little dish. with that, i came to realize that i've just grown into my own opinions. and that i'm more of a german potato salad lover. kind of, but not quite.

so, here's what i've come up with. hope you like it!

savory potato salad
ingredients
about 5 pounds of red potatoes
6 strips of turkey bacon (or more)
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 c. mayonnaise
a little less than 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp cane sugar
splash of lemon juice
salt & pepper, to taste

directions
put water in large pot to boil. wash & cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces, and add to pot. once the water is boiling, cook for about 5 minutes, just until tender (be sure not to overcook). meanwhile, fry the bacon. since we use turkey bacon around here (that doesn't crumble well), i've learned that it's easier to cut it up into little pieces before cooking it. once bacon is almost done, add onion and sauté until clear. remove from heat.

once the potatoes are al dente, dump into a colander and allow them to start cooling. in a medium bowl, combine mayo, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, and a decent amount of salt and pepper.

dump everything into a large mixing bowl. mix together until just combined. liberally add salt & pepper.

serve chilled. but if you just can't wait, it's pretty great warm, too.

love.

dog days.

this past week, we had a special houseguest.

eames's sister came to stay with us, which proved to be a joyous occasion for the both of them. the best part about it was, even though they were separated at nine weeks (and they're now almost six months), they remembered each other. unlikely, you say?

well, sister pup is a shy, timid, somewhat-scaredy-cat. she's terrified of dogs and wary of most people upon meeting them. likewise (and by that i mean opposite), brother pup is thrilled and crazed at the thought of making a new friend (the number of legs makes no difference). but when they met, sniffed & looked, they were overjoyed and loving. in fact, eames was gentle. gentle is not usually a word used to characterize my dog, save with the baby. it was so sweet to watch the reunion.

and, after nearly seven days of playing, kissing, playing, sleeping, playing & playing, she's gone.

as i write this, my nearly-fifty-pound pup is resting at my feet (on my feet, really), looking rather forlorn. i have a feeling another reunion will be in order soon.

but for now, though the heat still thickens the summer air, in a way, i suppose our dog days really are over.

lovely things.

today is just a few more tidbits to share. we've been getting lots done around the house and, now that we've been here almost a year, it's really starting to come together! hurray!

i've even got a little before/after project i'm working on, as well as pictures of our house for you to see. finally! and although it's not the best picture, here's a preview:

summer at our house is jazz music wandering through the house, evenings on the front porch and (finally) good food for dinner. i have to admit i had lost my motivation to cook much of anything for the past few weeks, but it's going better now, for sure. greek frittata and fresh french bread was on the menu last night:

and even without meat, my man liked it. win. you can get the recipe here. i only had half the amount of feta it calls for, and it turned out just fine. and as for the fresh bread? yes, i cheat, but you can't really beat this when it comes to convenience. and it's so good. :)

and finally, here's a sweet little boy meeting his shadow for the first time. and not quite sure how to handle it being so bright out.

glimpses of summer.

welcome to the new blog! i hope you all bear with me, as it's still a work in progress, because i have high hopes for it. such as posting more frequently. but it's not like we haven't heard me say that before, eh?

summer is flying by in our little home, and we're trying to enjoy it as much as is possible right now. c is walking. everywhere. and e is getting ginormous.

here's a few snapshots of the past few weeks of the sweet faces i get to see every day.

it's turning out to be quite a lovely summer.