Ok, humor me as I share one more giveaway with y’all!  This one is for a beautiful necklace from one of my very favorite Etsy shops, The Vintage Pearl.  I have had a necklace from her shop on my “wish list” for a long time, and I’ve got my fingers crossed for my upcoming birthday (hint, hint, honey!).  It sure would be fun to win one, though!  The one I’d love is actually not available right now, but you can see it on the right sidebar of her shop, the diamond shape with names on it and a pearl in the middle.  But these dainty hearts with initials would be nice, too…  I could make a long list!  (Oh and honey… the names I’d like on it are “Analise” and “Josiah”, hehe:) )

dainty hearts on a chain from The Vintage Pearl

Here are some random pictures from life around the Toone house the past week or so!

Just some cute remembrances of my sweeties.

Josiah says “Hop-copter” for helicopter… “Hawold the hop-copter” is Thomas’ friend, Harold the Helicopter.

He likes to say, “I want somethin’ hungry,” at which time he’ll make his way to the fridge, open it and browse, saying, “Hmm…”

Yesterday I was resting my head on the couch with a headache, and he said, “I wanna come snuggle wif you.”  He crawled up on the couch, clambored over me, and sprawled himself on me, with his head on my chest.  I reminded him how he liked to do this when he was little and how much I enjoyed it, he said, “This makes me so-o-o happy.”  Ahh… me too, sweet boy.  Me too.

As he was riding his car down the hall way, he stopped suddenly and said, “There’s a princess in my way!”

And a big milestone… today he pooped on the potty!  Woohoo!  This is so exciting to me because it’s the first step to no more diapers in this house!  (2-25-09, 2 years, 7 1/2 months old)

And after Analise asked if she could have a piece of her Valentine’s chocolate after naptime and I said yes…”Mommy, you’re the best.”  Aw.  I was happy to hear that, and sure that it didn’t have anything to do with the chocolate.  She went on…”And Daddy’s our hero.”  Aw, so very sweet!  I love that she sees him that way!  She went on…”Because he kills bugs.”  I’m still laughing.  He is indeed our hero, and not just for the good bug-killing

A couple weeks ago, I shared my cooking plans.  I wanted to come back and let you know how it all turned out…

• Asian Peanut Butter Pork – I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this!  The onions (which I don’t normally like) were very milk, the peanut butter flavor wasn’t overwhelming, and the lime took the edge off the sweetness. The meat was falling apart when we were ready to eat, and I just shredded it.  Brian didn’t even recognize it was pork tenderloin! I served it with rice noodles, and it was a HUGE hit with Brian.
• Pork Fried Rice Chinese Style – This was ok.  It came together quickly, and I liked it.  But Brian would have prefered another night of the Peanut Butter Pork.
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins – These were tasty.  VERY dense.  It felt like I was eating an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for breakfast… without the guilt
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins – These were ok for me, great for Brian.  Too much banana for my liking, but he loved them.
• Some form of cupcakes, with some special Valentine’s decorating help from Analise for Life Group on Wednesday.
• Spicy Sour Cream Chicken – Probably unnecessary to even rate this, but it was a big hit.  Two bags of chicken tenderloins (doubling the recipe), black beans, and taco toppings was plenty for a dinner of 10.
• Banano con Leche – Everyone loved them, and Brian is now asking me to make them.
• Carmelized Onion and Cheese Quiche – I just finally made this last night.  Wow.  This is a melt-in-your-mouth quiche.  Seriously, seriously good.
• Deep Dish Pizza Crust – I’ve made this twice since I originally posted… once as pizza crust, and tonight as breadsticks to go with spaghetti.  They are a homeade version of the Olive Garden.  Yum.

Happy eating!  Feel free to come back here and post your comments if you try anything!