If it's snowing outside, you can go for a boat ride inside!

Mackenna and Madisyn had a play date this Sunday, and Mackenna got to show her friend all the toys in her new playroom. They had a blast! It's hard to believe they are this big already. 

Winter Wonderland

I was up early this morning, per usual on Monday mornings, and glanced out the window just in time to notice the sunrise through the trees. The foot of snow that we got yesterday was the kind that sticks to the trees and looks beautiful. 

Enjoy these shots that I got with my Canon!

Mongolian Beef

It is a snowy Sunday up here in Maine, and Ben spent most of the afternoon out plowing driveways. I spent that time searching for a new recipe to enjoy tonight. I stumbled across this Mongolian Beef recipe, and paired it with jasmine rice and toasted broccoli for our own homemade 'beef and broccoli' dinner. Ben cooked it, and us girls enjoyed it. It was delicious with strong flavors and fresh ingredients. A hit tonight, and I am guessing it'll be even better for lunch tomorrow.

Ingredients

• 4 tsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. ginger, minced
• 2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1 c. soy sauce
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. brown sugar (packed)
• 2 c. vegetable oil
• 2 Lb. flank steaks
• ½ c. cornstarch
• 3 large green onions

Instructions

• Make the sauce by heating 4 tsp. vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Don’t get the oil too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to medium and boil the sauce 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens a little bit. Remove sauce from heat.
• Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so you get wider cuts. Dip the steak pieces into cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit about 10 min. so the cornstarch sticks. As the beef sits, heat up 1 c. oil in a wok (or skillet). Heat the oil over medium heat until its hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and saute for just 2 minutes, or until beef just begins to darken on the edges. Stir the meat around a little bit so that it cooks evenly.
• After a few minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour most of the oil out of the skillet. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce, cook for 1 minute while stirring and add green onions. Cook for 1 more minute. Now at this point you can either remove the beef with a slotted spoon or tongs and discard the sauce OR thicken the sauce with a cornstarch-water mixture to desired thickness and serve it over rice with the beef.

Soure: www.favfamilyrecipes.com

New Camp Progress...

Coming along VERY nicely. Great work Dad! 

Looking for a place to vacation this year? 

Information to our rental listing: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p3521030

Share with friends and family!

Happy Saturday!

Ben and I have been camp shopping/ snow tubing all day- and my mom sent me this photo of Princess Mackenna, reading to her subjects. I think it's safe to say she is having fun!

Master Bedroom Makeover

We've been here for 3 1/2 years, and I've been slowly doing some updates to the house, in the event that we don't find a house we would like to move to this Spring/ Summer. (We plan on re-listing our house on the market in April.)

Our master bedroom has always been my least favorite room. I liked it for a few months, but after a while the dark colors started to get old. I always envisioned a room that was bright, white, and peaceful. No colors at all. And that is what we did. I love the simplicity of it.

BEFORE

AFTER

Happy Valentines Day!