We had been in the house for days so Sunday we headed to Ikea with Brenda.  We didn’t really need anything there but just wanted to walk around.  Somehow at Ikea we got on the subject of letterboxing and I told them that there was a letterbox hidden within the Ikea.  I remember reading the clue once while surfing the letterbox website.  Well, of course Ichiro jumps on the internet to find the clue.  We didn’t have our letterboxing journal but we searched for the box anyway… and of course found it!!!  I can’t wait for the weather to get nicer so we can search for more!

Koji was excited to go to Ikea…

It’s always fun when Ichiro’s bored.  He ends up taking fun pictures like this…

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I can’t believe it’s been THREE weeks since I last updated this blog.  I told myself that a second baby would never affect my ability to blog a couple times a week.  I actually convinced myself that things wouldn’t change that much!  Boy, was I wrong! The past couple of weeks have been crazy.  Besides dealing with the crazy amount of snow that hit New England, Ichiro has had to take two different trips out of town, leaving me and the boys to play in the snow!  During his DC trip, the boys and I headed to CT to get snowed in with Memere and Buddy!  The camera hasn’t been taken out as often as it should but here are a few pictures to bring you up to speed on our little life… Today’s a picture update post… Enjoy!

Koji had his two month well check up, at almost 3 months old (oops!).  The doctor said he looked great and we had nothing to worry about…

Noby’s pumpkin plant from school is growing so fast!  We’re going to have to replant into a bigger pot soon…

Our trip to CT is always a blast!  Noby playing dress up with the daycare kids…

Noby was so excited when Memere let him pick out a new video at Walmart.  Of course he picked his favorite movie Toy Story 2!

Koji was also excited to try out the new walker at Memere’s house…

While we were in CT we got to visit with Great Grandma!

Noby wore that necklace for days… haha

We even got to play outside in the snow!

Back at our house, Koji modeled the new clothes Auntie got him…

We had so much snow in Boston that when I moved the car you could see the GMC imprinted in the snow!

One of the days Ichiro was in NY, Noby found his Red Sox hat.  He didn’t want to take it off and even tried to wear it to bed…

Noby and I have done a lot of cooking lately.  He is getting pretty good at breaking the eggs!

We took this picture to send to Yoyo.  This is how Noby sleeps with his giant hippo!

I experimented and made Buffalo Scallops for dinner one night, recipe to come soon!

With all our snow days lately, Noby has been really getting good at playing Just Dance for Kids on the Wii!

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Tuesday Bowling/Taco Night was changed up this week.  Since New Years we’ve been raving to Keith about our Seafood Udon so this week we traded Tacos for noodles!  Of course it was a huge hit!  Keith said it could be added to the dinner rotation.  Here’s the recipe for Seafood Udon, it’s Keith tested and Keith approved!

I lightly cooked up a couple of onions…

Then added the broth, the bottle said one part broth to 4 parts water…

I added the mushrooms and brought it to a boil…

Added the raw shrimp…

and the raw scallops…

Let it boil, cooking the shrimp and scallops then add the lobster meat.  The lobster is already cooked, but still a little frozen.  So it just needs to be heated…

While that is being brought back to a boil, I chopped the napa cabbage…

Then added it…

and the noodles at the same time…  The noodles only take a couple of minutes, they are already cooked, just frozen…  I added 4 bricks of noodles for the 4 people eating it…

Finished!!! Yum!!

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So since our plans changed last weekend Ichiro and I have been eating lots of ham!  See we defrosted a 9lb ham that we had in our freezer.  The plan was to have some for dinner on Friday then bring the rest down to the beach with us.  We figured people could have it for lunch or breakfast while we were down there.  This would have worked out perfectly IF we ever made to RI.  The snow kept us home and now we had 9 lbs of ham to eat.  I’m determined NOT to wasted any of this ham.  I’m not really sure why, I bought this ham because it was on sale.  So it didn’t cost much at all.  But something in me is telling me we can do it, maybe I’m channeling my inner Kerry Smith!  That girl can work magic!  Anyway we had Friday night for dinner with some rice and veggies, we had some for breakfast over the weekend, we had more with the leftover rice, I’ve had some in a salad and I’ve made two quiches.  One of them I froze along with the ham bone.  I’m in search for a good ham bone recipe!  Please share if you have one!

So this recipe is one that came from my Memere.  It’s included in the Ouellette Family Cookbook.  What’s this Ouellette Family Cookbook you ask?  I’ll come back to that!  Anyway this is a quick and easy recipe for quiche.  You can pretty much fill it with whatever you like, of course this week I made ham and cheese!

Opps I forgot the star of the recipe.. the ham…

Here it is…

Mix everything together…

Doesn’t that look good…

My Sous-Chef…

Memere’s Creamless Quiche

1 frozen pie crust

2 eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup milk

1 Tbls flour

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1 cup shredded cheese

and whatever toppings you wish, such as crumbled bacon, ham, broccoli, onion & spinach, shrimp, etc.

Directions:

Fill the uncooked pastry shell with fillings

Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour it over the filling.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 – 25 minutes.

Easy as pie!

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Our plans for the weekend changed due to the snow!  But what better way to spend a weekend home then playing in the snow!

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That day we also celebrated Christmas with the Ouellettes!! Pepere hosted his annual party and like always it was a blast!  Everyone has busy schedules these days and this is one of the only opportunities we get to get together and visit.  Ichiro and I really look forward to this party every year!

Koji meeting Uncle Ronnie…

I love this picture…

Buddy and Koji…

“I got balls!”

“awwww”…

Noby had is microphone to sing some Xmas songs!

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Saturday morning, we packed the family up and headed down to CT to celebrate Xmas with Grandma!

Noby helping Great Grandma open her candle…

Noby had a great time exploring Great Grandma’s house!!

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This year Ichiro and I had a quiet evening as we rung in the New Year!  It was perfect for us!  I can’t say we rang it in alone because we video chatted with our good friend Kelly!  For almost 3 hours we watched the same shows and talked about everything!  It was awesome, Kelly in CT and us in MA, but it was like we were together.  It was like we were all in the same room!

It’s a Japanese tradition to have noodles on New Years, noodles are meant to symbolize longevity.  This year I decided to try to make seafood udon for New Years!  Ichiro and I think it came out great and will be a new item on our menu!

So good, I think even my father in law would be impressed! haha

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