This picture is for Mrs. P so she can pin it to her pinterest board.  The meat is called Carne Asada (served here with pico de gallo and guacamole).  My family never tires of this dish.

Recipe for Carne Asada:

Flank or skirt steak

3 tbsp lime juice

1/2 cup canola oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp mexican oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

In a glass 4-cup measuring cup, mix everything but meat.  Add meat to mixture and let it marinade for 1-2 hours (at least).  A few minutes before serving, get a large, cast iron skillet very hot.  Sear the meat in the pan.  In a separate saucepan, cook the marinade for a few minutes.  Serve the hot marinade with the meat.  Enjoy! 

 Clara likes me to take a picture of her so she can see herself on my camera. 

 She is talking so much nowadays...and she doesn't like me to use baby talk...like horsey instead of horse.  She corrects me every time!

I finally remembered to take a picture of the pillow I made for Clara for Christmas.  Above shows the backside with the zipper...so Adina can take the cover off for washing.  I bought the alphabet buttons at Joanns Fabrics.  So cute. 

 This is the front with all the fun zippers.  I can't find my picture from which I got the inspiration for this pillow.  If you google "image zipper pillow" you can see a lot of creative ideas. 

Anna and I returned all the sorted and laundered baby clothes to carenet today.  This time we only brought home four large bags.  Not so overwhelming.

We had to keep our eye on Ranger while we were bringing the bags out to the car.  He wanted to take a nap on our plush seats!

This past Saturday, Sarah gave Ruthie a birthday tea to celebrate her 12th birthday.  The girls were in the kitchen baking all day.  Our family doesn't usually have birthday parties...except for family...so this was a special treat.

Ruthie chose green and pink for her colors.

Then Sarah transformed the music room into the party room. 

And these are the four princesses, Anna and Elaina (from church), Ruthie, and Brianna (l. to r.). 

Sarah had the party all planned out with games and crafts.  The first game the girls had balloons tied to their ankles.  Then they had to stomp each other's balloons and pop them.  But Anna was too sweet for this game...she whispered to the other girls to let Ruthie win because it was her birthday! 

One of the crafts involved painting their own miniature tea sets. 

This was also an American Girl Lookalike party.  Each guest brought her own doll.  These are Ruthie's dolls.

The food was delicious.  The candies in the last picture were a gift from Mrs. Joyce at church.  Each December, Mrs. Joyce makes dozens of jars of candies with her granddaughters.  I think it's a wonderful Christmas tradition.  And the many different flavors are delicious!

This tea party was definitely a memory Ruthie will treasure. Thanks for all your hard work, Sarah, Maggie, Anna, Lizzie and Allen. 

I've been enjoying seeing the 100% cotton yarn (Peaches n' Cream brand) our Dollar store has been carrying lately.  I bought these seven colors to knit and crochet some washcloths.  I always enjoy projects that take one afternoon!

We are enjoying unusually warm weather.  Anna and I drove past an amish field that was being disced.  I wouldn't be surprised if they already had green peas growing!  Allen listened to someone from Frederick, MD, on his ham radio...and the cherry blossoms are already in bloom there!  I better go check my tulips tomorrow.

Our funny moment this week came from Anna.  "I did an experiment and came up with this hypnosis!"  It took her a few tries before she finally came up with hypothesis. 

Our other funny moment happened when Abigail was cooking with Maggie:

"Maggie, I taste flour?"

"Yes, Abigail."

"Maggie, I taste sugar?"

"Yes, Abigail."

"Maggie, I taste cocoa?"
"Yes, Abigail."

"Does it taste good, Abigail?"

"Maybe not!"

We were all laughing.

Many blessings ~ Kathie