Lauren's Valentines Day Par-Tay MDO Style

Lauren had her Valentines Day party at her MDO program on the 15th. She was super excited to give her "Pesents" to her friends and teachers. She was so excited that she smiled with her eyes closed :) That was her thing last week. Anytime I asked for her to say cheese, I got the cheese with the eyes closed. Gosh I love that girl.

She was saying cheese in the picture below. She was slightly annoyed that I kept asking for smiles.

This would be the "Mom, STOP taking pictures, here's your smile" face.

Another annoyed smile...I love it.

That's my little sweet pea. I was totally digging her heart day outfit. I bought it over a year ago on clearance on Gymboree's website. I love buying her clothes early = super duper sale!

Now for some good food stuff. I made a big pot of vegetable beef soup the other night for dinner. I found a recipe on www.allrecipes.com that sounded yummy. I just made a couple of changes and boom, it was good! I have to share.

1 pound of beef. I use grass fed or bison.

2 cans of chopped carrots or fresh

1 bag of frozen peas or a can

1/2 of a white onion, chopped super fine

3/4 cup of bow tie pasta or your pasta of choice

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

 1 can of tomato sauce

4 cups of chicken broth

4 cups of water

1 can of yellow corn or frozen

2 packets of onion soup mix

1. Brown beef. Drain.

2. Add your ingredients to the pot.

I served this with a baguette. I brushed olive oil on the slices and then sprinkled with parsley before toasting.