aww!

This little man is keeping me on my toes! See what we've been up to in the last couple of weeks. E's first Easter egg hunt photos are here too.

Yes, mom. I'll help you make bread!

Who cares if my jammies don't match?

Raw bread dough...yum.

I found slate tiles on clearance in packages of 9 (I'm talking $3 bucks a set.)
For less than $10, I got enough to paint an outdoor alphabet set for E.
I'm gonna make these for my students, too.

E liked organizing the slate into a grid pattern.
Kinda related to his love for puzzles, I guess.

Bubbles!

Hand over those bubbles, mom!

Why does everyone have a basket again? Are you sure about whole "hunt" thing?

Ah-ha! I put the eggs in the basket!

Look there's something in these eggs, mom!

Once he figured out there was candy inside, he was all about gathering the eggs!

The egg hunt was hoppin'!
With any luck the Easter bunny will visit our house tonight....

big mouth

I'm pretty sure I'm the reason this term was invented. I'm always throwing my two cents in, whether I was asked to or not. And speaking up all the time means that a lot of the time my foot is in my mouth. (I think I'm the reason for that phrase, too.)

In case you haven't guessed, my "month of meals" was a total bust. *Sigh* Now, I'm sure you saw it coming from a mile away. You may have even chuckled under your breath, tickled to watch me self-destruct in the kitchen. Well, I'd like to think you were rooting for me. I was rooting for me. But alas, cooking every night wasn't meant to be. When my husband (yes, I'll blame him) told me "babes, I'll know you really wanted to cook every night even if you don't" that was just an easy out for a tired mama.

I don't know what other people do, but I just cannot keep up the standard! I definitely feel like I should be able to cook for one month and I can't! I'm not trying to (or at least didn't think I was) live up to an unrealistic expectation. I really didn't realize just how much I rely on the convenience of eating out. Call it spoiled, call it lazy, or just plain snobby that we'd rather buy food from a restaurant that will taste good rather than cracking open a can or frozen box of processed crap because we're too tired to cook a proper meal.

Someone does not like baby tomatoes.

"All done. That please!"

So maybe I learned something from my failed experiment: it's far more fun to cook when you don't have to; AND be grateful to feed your family healthy food no matter how the food comes about.

month of meals?

I'm going where no modern woman has ever gone before. (Okay, that's a lie, it's just were I've never gone before.) I'm going to the land of homemade meals. Every night. For a month.

And by going to this magical place, what I really mean is making this magical place. All by myself. Except, my husband will be expected to open tight jars and shred cheese.

I love to cook. But it's something I'm often too tired to do. With warm weather here and the produce aisle looking more luscious than ever, I'm determined. Between the fresh spring fruit and my Vegetarian Times magazine, I've got all the inspiration I need.

So begins my attempt at a month of meals.

On Feb. 29 I did a trial run. Since it was leap day, best to pretend like that meal never happened. I tried to cook with fennel since I had no idea what it was. Needless to say I substituted orzo pasta for arborio rice which was disastrous. Possibly the nastiest pile of food I've ever cooked. Bless my sweet child he ate a whole bowl full of it! My husband, not so much. He's still apologizing for his obnoxiously honest reaction to my fennel fiasco.

Which means Mar. 1 is technically my day one of said month of meals. Good thing too, because I reverted to an old standby to save face. Homemade cornbread and chili is always a winner with Frito's at the bottom of the bowl. Not sure what's on the menu tonight...

super cute Sunday

He saw this hat at the store and exclaimed "Dada's! Dada's!". Naturally, I had to get it for him and he LOVES to wear it!

Guess who learned how to open the fridge?

help with the tree and chocolate bon-bons

He helps light the tree...

Okay, he lights up that tree in my mind...but he also helps light this one:

The self-proclaimed tradition, you see, is to put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. That way I can revel in the glow for as long as possible! The tree makes me happy!

And now for the famous chocolate bon-bons. You haven't tasted heaven until you've tasted one of two things: my chocolate babka (at Easter) or my mother's famous bon-bons. If you're allergic to peanut butter you may as well just cry yourself to sleep tonight.

powdered sugar and rice crispies meet

peanut butter and butter in double-boiler - not exactly good for your waist

Chocolate Bon-Bon ingredients:
2 cups peanut butter (16 ounce jar)
1 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar (actually, you'll probably only need to use 3/4 of the box)
3 cups of rice crispies
2 (11.5 ounce) bags of milk chocolate morsels

Combine powdered sugar and rice crispies in a huge bowl. Set aside.

Melt peanut butter and butter in double boiler. After the peanut butter mixture is melted, mix well with the sugar mixture. Let cool. Put butter on your hands then roll into delicious bite-sized nuggets. Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and let cool in the freezer. Meanwhile, melt milk chocolate in a double boiler. Once cool, dunk the nuggets in chocolate and freeze again on same wax paper.

These insanely delicious bon-bons remind me of the miracle pill that Wesley swallowed on The Princess Bride to bring him back to life. Enough said.

Thanksgiving is near when...

You know Thanksgiving is near when you take an evening walk and the sky looks like this at 6:15 p.m.

...Or when the kitchen counter is already feeling the onset of sugar cookie craze...

...Or when your little cub is all bundled up....

...Or when you are enjoying the first blaze of the season.

My family and I have so much to be grateful for. I feel full of thanks and can't wait to share the holiday with my loved ones.

yum!

While looking for great recipes online, I came across a simple apple juice/cranberry recipe. I'm going to invite the preschool students finger paint with chilled cranberry applesauce this week, in light of the holiday. They will get to eat it for snack, too. YUM!

E will be my guinea pig tonight...thought you might like to try this, too!

first oreo

I don't remember when my first bite was, but it sure made an impression. E got his first taste and seems equally delighted. (Okay, technically they're not oreos because they are an organic brand, but still. It's an oreo.)

Hmm, what's this?

Right away, he had to shovel it in because it tastes so good.
Anyone else know the feeling?

What's this white stuff?

Pure oreo rapture.

don't rain on my parade

I try to stay peppy despite the weather, but all this rain is brutal! I usually love to be in the garden during mild September temps and I feel like the time is slipping away from me. Let's see, an earthquake, hurricane, and flash flooding in two weeks...yep. That'll put a damper on things.

Add to the fact that E is miserable when he can't play outside and you've got, well, the perfect storm.

"At! At!"
"Okay, we'll go out. But first you need your boots!"
Seriously, you want me to wear these outside?

Boots? I think not, mama.
My toes like the rain just as well as my cheeks.

Luckily I have a stocked pantry for baking to keep me occupied. I've been testing recipes from my beloved cookbook, inherited from my Grandma. Last week I made homemade cinnamon rolls (they required two attempts to get it right). Today, it's my first attempt at croissants. And since everything tastes better with chocolate, I'll be putting my own spin on the recipe. As you can see, I have a little helper in the kitchen as I cook.



The water outside was fun. Now I'd like to play with the water inside.



Yes, I realize it's not super safe. But he's learning to balance and so far, so good!
I'm always right beside him just in case...

pies and flannel board: warm and fuzzy projects

Two pies: apple pie and pot pie. Neither of them will EVER compare to my mother-in-law's pies, but a girl has to try! Thanks to my BFF allrecipes.com, my apple pie was amazing! The pot pie...well, I don't want to talk about it.

And while I had some time on my hands during E's nap, I got started on his flannel board. I've been using recycled cardboard packaging to write alphabet letters (one day he'll be old enough to make his own). My thought was that these could have velcro on the back and be used on a flannel board for spelling. But first, I had to make one.

Supplies: fabric to fit your board, good scissors, staple gun with staples, ribbon, and hot glue.

If you can get past our messy art room/play room, you can see that the backs of these small book cases divide mommy's art room from E's play room. And since they're cheap book cases, it's just a sturdy board backing that can be stapled into.

So I went through my fabrics and found some scrap flannel, fleece, and one other weird yard sale fabric that the velcro seems to like. Next I started stapling it onto the cases. It's important to me that the finished board is safe, so after all the fabric is in place I will hot glue ribbon on top of the staples. Here's my progress so far:

You can see the ugly brown backing of the book cases here. Anything will look nicer than that!

Almost all of the fabric is in place. (Still need a strip of fabric on the far left.)

The stapled seams are ugly! The next step is to cover them with ribbon.

This is the start of our alphabet cards.

When the flannel board is complete, I will update the post!

Finally, Friday was E's last day of camp. I think this photo about sums it up.

weird menu

As I was feeding my toddler his dinner last night I thought WOW. What a weird combination of foods. Since I'm vegetarian, I don't prepare meat or seafood for him so I'm always concerned that he's getting enough protein. I found these nutrition guides online at KidsHealth.org and the American Hearth Association if you're curious like me. I just want to make sure he eats well-balanced meals but it's easy to fall short.

One thing that surprised me on the health guides is beverages. We only give E water and milk - NO JUICE. I am surprised that anyone includes juice as a regular part of their child's diet, and as early as 6 months old! It's not nutritious and contains a lot of sugar. My philosophy is why start so early? They don't know what they're missing if they don't drink it until much later! If parents want the vitamins or calcium fortified in some juices, it's much healthier for kids to get them from nutritious-rich foods instead.

As soon as he's tasted something he points to the fridge and shouts "ack!" (which means he wants a different "snack" - there's no word for "food" yet). This means he will eat three or four different kinds of food during a sitting. And even though his "acks" are organic, I still try to avoid processed foods during meal times.

So as I was replaying last night's smorgasbord in my head, I thought, this actually could have been a very adult menu. Here's my translation:

sliced grapes                             
(could have been a spinach salad with grapes)
naan flatbread                           
(could have been a pesto flatbread with the mozz and soy sausage)
fresh mozzarella cheese
soy sausage
whole banana in plain yogurt   
(could have been a piece banana cream pie or cheesecake!)
cup of water

On second thought, he did alright with dinner last night! Tonight I'll try to work some veggies in.

latest tricks, courtesy of Houdini

There have been lots of changes in our household recently. Our little man is getting SO BIG! (Just picture him raising his arms to the sky.)

First off, while we were on vacation, we awoke to a frustrated/terrified scream as E was precariously hovering across the length of the pack-n-play. He had swung his leg and arm over the top to crawl out, but got stuck like a leopard hanging on a tree branch. Only apparently less comfortable. So the hubs and I looked at each other and knew we'd have to do something about the crib situation at home.

About two weeks prior to vacation we'd seen him try to get his toes up over the top of the crib. He's still so young that we weren't ready to consider switching him to a bed. But after the episode at the beach, we weren't willing to take any chances that he'd try the same move at home and fall out. So, we took one side off his crib. (It converts to a toddler bed). Gulp.

The first day he took a nap and could SEE that the side was gone, he jumped right out of bed and cried desperately trying to get out of his room. I think he was afraid and didn't feel safe, despite the bed rail. I snuggled and assured him that he is okay and that this is still where he does his "nappies". I laid him back in bed and that was that. He hasn't gotten out of bed again since. (Knock on wood.) I'm sure when he starts feeling more confident about getting in and out of bed, it will be a new ball game.

So that's been a big change - the mental shift that our boy isn't in a crib anymore, but a big boy bed. (Okay, okay, he's still technically in his crib just with one side missing, but you know what I mean!)

That's not the Houdini part, though.

Before breakfast last week, I was doing some dishes while E was playing. I turned to see what he was up to and there he was - in his highchair. Mind you, I did not put him in! I was in shock as to how he got himself in. I took him out and then watched in amazement. He pushed the highchair away from the table, then scaled right up the front and turned himself around in the seat! While I was terrified at the sheer speed of his act, I was also proud of this impressive feat!

He's got another trick here lately involving his fridge magnets. The trick is to see if they will sink or swim in kitty's water bowl.
Where has my baby gone??? He's growing up way too fast! 



smoothie lovin' and the paddle pool

It's been HOT! Little guy got his first paddle in Gram's baby pool this weekend, which was adorable.

There are a few more flowers blooming in my yard, so I wanted to share those, too.

Mountain Laurel

Yarrow - not native, but a magnet for pollinators. Plus has herbal uses.

Cute bee on the yarrow!

I had peonies in my wedding bouquet so I have a soft spot for these.

And finally, my little guy got his smoothie on this afternoon - he didn't leave a drop for me! (Well, there may have been if there weren't that spill into the dishwasher...) If you've never made your own smoothie, you've got to do it! So healthy and yummy and easy! I use:

-about 2 cups of organic yogurt (I like the non-fat vanilla yogurt but plain whole milk yogurt is great, too)
-one banana
-2 cups strawberries (frozen ones are great because then they are like ice cubes)
- 1/2 cup milk

Blend in a food processor and voila! I swap out different fruits and experiment with the texture to keep things interesting, but here's today's strawberry-banana smoothie recipe. (Blueberries, peaches, raspberries, mango, and pineapple are all yummy fruits to try.) At my fave smoothie bar they also use almonds, grapes, chocolate chips, and agave or honey for sweetener.