Edible Architecture

Today at school Joshua's class got to build their very own "house" made out of graham crackers and white icing. Needless to say the kids L-O_V-E-D it!! Ms. Maria said that this was the most focused all of them had been at one time on a project. Well, of course they were it was graham crackers and icing! She let them make the said house however they wanted too. So below is Joshua's "fort", not "house". When I said I love your house, he quickly corrected me and said it was a fort!

The Fort! In all it's glory!

Man, this fort taste good!!

Want some, momma?

Enjoying the fruits of his labor!

Total destruction of the fort!

Oh So Delicious

APPLESAUCE MUFFINS

(with Butternut Squash or Carrot)

Prep: 20min Total: 40min Makes about 12 muffins

These muffins are so yummy! Yes, they came out of my deceptively delicious book by Jessica Seinfeld. They are not too sweet, but they are wholesome and are great for breakfast on the go. I chose to put carrot puree in my muffins instead of butternut squash, but either one would work. Below is the recipe.

Nonstick cooking spray

TOPPING

2/3 cup old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp margarine spread, melted

BATTER

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 tsp backing powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk

1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree

1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups

2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine.

3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix(putting it in a zip lock bag was fun because I had Joshua help me out and he shook the bag all around and then got to dump it in the bowl). In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix-the batter is supposed to be lumpy.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18-20 mins. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and serve warm or cool.

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

(with banana and zucchini)

Prep: 20 mins Total: 35 mins Makes about 2 dozen cookies

(SORRY NO PICTURE HERE)

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

6 tbsp margarine spread, chilled

1/2 cup banana puree

1/2 cup zucchini puree

1 large egg white

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray, or line with cooking parchment.

2. In a bowl or zipper-lock bag, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and shake or stir to mix.

3. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and margarine with a wooden spoon until just combined; do not overmix. Add the banana and zucchini purees, and the egg white , and stir just to blend. Add the flour mixture, raisins, and walnuts, if using, and stir to combine.

4. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonful onto the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch in between. bake until golden brown, 12 -15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 4 to 5 minutes, just until they are firm enough to handle, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

I actually substituted the raisins for craisins and added white choc. chips. It was really good.

Both of these recipes came out of "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld

You should try them, I promise they will not disappoint!!!

Hoppin' Hippo

Joshua has been doing so well with his potty training! He is starting to tell us when he has to go, but the majority of the time we still have to remind him. He went all last week at school with no accidents and the majority of the time at home too. So, we decided to take him to a place that I found a while back on the internet called Hoppin' Hippo. While it is called Hoppin' Hippo it only has 2 jump houses, the rest of the place has a tree house with a tire swing underneath, a playscape and a bunch of space just to run and have fun in! Joshua absolutely loved this place. He kept saying he didn't want to go, but I knew he would love it once we were there. He attempted the bounce houses, but never quite made it in to jump, but he did everything else there was to do there and when we got home he crashed for 3 hrs!! What I liked about this place as a parent is the fact that only kids ages 0-7yrs are allowed in the place. I think that is a wonderful thing, because we have been to some places that are just too much for little ones and they seemed to get run over by the older ones. Another good thing is that adults are free, so you only have to pay for your kids. It is pretty reasonable, only 7 bucks and they are always running special too. I think we will be making more trips back to this fun zone! It was nice to go somewhere on a Saturday and it not be packed with people. I posted some pictures of the fun time that was had by all.

This thing was like an inflatable maze/tunnel! Pretty cool! Joshua kept going up to it and saying "elephant! elephant!" and then would make the noise that an elephant makes complete with raising his arm up and down. Funny kid!

Couldn't quite get the hang of the tire swing,but he tried!

At the top of the tree house

His 28th Year

On Thursday(1-20), my fabulous husband turned 28! While he said it was just another day, I was determined to prove him wrong. So, I sent him different texts throughout the day about how much I loved him and what a great daddy he was and of course poked fun about him being 2 yrs away from 30(payback, he did it to me!) Joshua and I went to the store to get a few last ingredients for the birthday meal and when I told Joshua that it was Daddy's birthday, he insisted that he have balloons and candles. So I let Joshua pick out the balloons and we bought some candles, plates and napkins. The night before I had made his birthday cheesecake, which is his favorite and what he always has requested since we have been together. His birthday dinner is usually roast, but he decided to get creative and asked for Chicken Scallopini! It was a great birthday meal! Then it was time for cheesecake. Joshua was super excited about this part, because he knew there were candles and singing. We lit the candles and sang "Happy Birthday" and then Dan and Joshua together blew out the candles! He opened up all his cards from friends and family and then he opened his gift from Joshua. Dan has been saving up for a grill and not just any grill, a "MANLY" grill. He has been researching grills and what he wants them to have, etc. He has saved all his money/gift cards from Hanukkah, Christmas, and now his birthday for the grill of all grills! So I thought it would be a fabulous idea to give him an important accessory to go with his grill. Earlier in the week Joshua and I did a painting project. I found a black apron and I thought it would be neat to have Joshua put his hand prints all over it and then I write: "The Best, Hands Down..." and then he could where it when he grilled! I thought it was a cute and memorable idea. Well, Joshua was all about painting his hands. He kept painting them over and over and knew exactly what to do with his hands when he had painted them, smash them on the apron and press down with his other hand(you think they do that at school?!). Anyway, when Dan opened it up Joshua started showing him all his hand prints and telling him what colors they were. It was really cute and of course I made Dan put it on to take a picture. I hope Dan had a great birthday, because I had fun trying to make his day special. We didn't do anything elaborate, but we still had a great time celebrating his birthday!! He is the best, super fantastic, 28 year old Daddy and husband anyone could ask for! I am thankful for every year that I get to spend with him, each year gets sweeter and sweeter!!!

You think Joshua picked these out for him?...lol Dan you are a good sport!!

Of course Joshua had to try it on next!

HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT BIRTHDAY BABE!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Love Them and Tell Them

Word of Caution: I am about to get real here...

On Sunday, I received some very sad news regarding an old friend from high school. All in a split second he lost his wife and youngest son in a hit and run accident. The driver of the vehicle was drunk and never stopped after the impact. It pains me to think of what my old friend is going through. Although we are not close anymore, I still hurt for him and his family.

I will be the first to admit that I can get caught up in the craziness that is life and take advantage of what I have in life. When something tragic like this hits close to home I always feel an added challenge to step it up. Almost like a reminder to remember what you have in your life and to continue to cherish the moments in life that you might brush aside on a busy day. Although, I always tell Dan and Joshua I love them sometimes I know I could probably say it a little more or give an extra hug or kiss. Sometimes, we forget that it is ok to let the laundry sit in the dryer for a couple of more hours so we can paint with our kids or let the dishes hang out in the sink another hour or two so we can spend some time with our spouse. I am not saying you should let your house go completely unclean, I am just saying that all those things will still be there, right where you left them, rather it be 5 mins or a couple of hours. Spending time with the ones you love is the most important thing you can do.

I know you are probably thinking, duh, I know family is more important than the dishes in the sink, but what I am talking about is cherish the little, littlest things that we can pass up on busy days, like an extra smile or hug or being very attentive(no distractions) when having a conversation with your child, spouse or friend.

My friend's wife was on her way to work and was going to drop off the baby at the grandparents when this horrific crash happened. She was just doing her normal routine that she always does, same road at the same time. No one knows when their time here on earth is through. So, we should all live each day like it was our last and make sure we tell the ones that we love how much we love them and how much we cherish everything about them.

We should never get so busy in life that we take for granted what we have and who we have in our lives. So tell your spouse or loved one a thousands times and more how much you love them and go ahead and spend that extra minute or two snuggling with your child. Life is too short not live it to the fullest and cherish every last second!!

Shriner Circus 2011

On Saturday we went to the Shriner Circus. My boss had brought some coupons into work and I thought it would be fun to take Joshua to his FIRST circus! It was the perfect day to do so because it was cold and rainy. I wasn't quite sure how Joshua would react to his first circus experience, but I knew with out a doubt that he would love the animals that were there. When we first entered the circus there was a clown that greeted us and Joshua tightened his grip around my neck and told me to go the other direction. Well, that was not where our seats were, so we just quickly went by the clown and went to our seats. We had really good seats! We sat right above the floor seats. We could see everything! Once we settled in our seats, Joshua blurted out with excitement, "look at all those elephants!"(eyes wide and mouth opened) He also informed us that they liked to eat corn(who knew)?!

So once the lights went down and the music started this is what Joshua did immediately! He asked for his blanket and it went straight over his head. He is not afraid of the dark, so I think the loud music bothered him. He stayed like this for awhile and then eventually he started to peek out from behind the blanket.

He was all smiles when it came to intermission. The lights were up and the music was low. Plus he got to see the elephants and ponies that they had out for kids to ride. Joshua did not ride even though he said he wanted to. I knew he wouldn't once we got up there and it was our turn, so instead we distracted him with snocone!

Joshua's favorite acts were the elephants, tigers, and the jugglers! He was glued to those acts and never covered his face once with his blanket.

Joshua got a couple of things while he was at the circus: snocone, popcorn, a stuffed "Bo" the elephant and a lighting rod that flashes and changes colors.

The animal performances were amazing! I really liked that part of the circus. A tiger on a spinning disco ball, dogs that high jumped and an elephant that skipped, what more of a "wow factor" do you need!?

Joshua's first circus experience was a success I think! I don't think we traumatized him too bad. He never cried or freaked out and to be honest I was surprised. I know I cried when I went to the circus for the first time. Those darn clowns were scary! I am glad we took him and I know he enjoyed parts of the circus even if he said "No!" when we asked him if he wanted to go back and do it again!! I think we will give "the greatest show on earth" another go next year!

Friday Updates!

Here are some updates on Joshua:

We went back to the doctor yesterday for his booster for the flu shot and to check out his ears from a month ago when he had the beginnings of an ear infection. His ears checked out beautifully! No infection in sight! He took his booster shot like a champ and when they weighed him he has almost gained 2 lbs in 1 month (31lbs 10oz.) ! I think last month at his 3 yr well check he was 30.2 or something close to that. My growing boy!!

Next up for updates is potty training! So, we are still going strong at home, but not so much at school. We had to put him back in pull ups while he is at school(per the teacher's request) because she couldn't remember to take him every 20 mins and it just wasn't working since he can't tell her when he had to go "potty". It was a little frustrating to me, but really there is nothing we can do about it, because I can't really force her to do different and I can't stay at home with him while potty training, so pretty much stuck with the cards we are dealt for now. She still continues to ask him and take him to the potty, but with little success(he will go and sit on the potty, but he usually has already gone in the pull up). Which leads us to a slight struggle when we get home and change him to underwear and then he proceeds to say he doesn't have to go until he has an accident! Very, Very frustrating!! I talked to his doctor about our little dilemma and he said that yes, the preferred idea would be for him to be in underwear all day, but it will not stop the progress of him potty training, it will just take a little longer because he is in both. So, with all that being said, we are still pushing on! He is still doing well at home with minimal accidents. The first hour after we get home is a little rough because of the transitioning from pull up to underwear, but after that he is going to the potty. We have actually found a "groove"! He seems to go every 45 mins on the dot, so we watch the clock closely and still ask him every 15 mins but do not put him on the potty until 45 mins. He will have a 3 day weekend, because his school is closed on Monday for MLK day, so I am hoping this 3 day weekend will help the process seeing that he will be at home and be able to wear underwear 24/7. We will see how it goes! He is doing so well and we are so proud of him!!!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A HAPPY FRIDAY AND A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!!

SHHHH! It's A Secret!

The book above was written by Jerry Seinfeld's wife, along with the help of a dietitian. She has 3 kids and was struggling when it came to dinner time and getting them to eat what she considered the "good food" and they considered "yucky food".

So she came up with this wonderful book, full of recipes, nutritional guidance, and so much more. Joshua is not really a picky eater, but sometimes it is hard to make sure he gets all the nutrients that he needs. The trick to these recipes is that the "extra" ingredients are all pureed veggies or fruit. I took the time to make my grocery list with 5 of the meal recipes in the book, 2 breakfast recipes and 2 dessert recipes, just to try it out. I shopped for all my ingredients and then went home and washed, chopped, steamed and pureed all the fruit and veggies. I am not going to lie and say it was easy, because it was not. It took alot of time in the kitchen and alot of clean up. I did buy as much frozen veggies and fruits that I could, so that cut out a little time. I bagged, measured and marked all the purees and but them in the freezer. I measured them out so all I would have to do is grab the measurement that I needed when it came time to make the meal. The long, tedious process has paid off I must say. Every meal this week has come from the book and every meal has not disappointed! They have actually turned out really good. Joshua ate them right up with out ever knowing what I put in there. Here is a little list of what I have made since Sunday:

Chocolate brownies with pureed carrots and spinach(sounds gross? it wasn't; they actually had a great taste and everyone loved them!)

Banana Bread with pureed cauliflower.

Turkey Chili with pureed red bell pepper and carrots.

Spaghetti and Meatballs with pureed carrots and squash

Tonight we are having Italian Meatloaf(with pureed carrots and zucchini) and mashed potatoes(with pureed cauliflower).

I have not replaced the vegetables that I make as a side dish with my meals just because there are veggies in the main dish. This is just an added bonus of nutrients and antioxidants! This book is great! I didn't think the meals or the desserts for that matter would taste as good as they have. There are tons of ideas in this book for meals and all kinds of things for picky eaters. Even if you do not have a picky eater it is still a great book, because it provides all kinds of variety for adding more vitamins and such to your meals.

I found this book at Kohl's' and it was only 5 bucks!! I think it retails at 12.95(which is still not bad). I would go take a look at Kohl's first, but if you can't find it there I am sure it is at a book store or online. It is totally worth the money.

To me it just helps me reinforce and boost what I am already doing and that is providing healthy, wholesome meals for my family!

P.S. Anybody can do this, just set aside some time on the weekend and prep everything and then during the week all you have to do is pull out the correct measurement of the frozen puree. The prepping in the beginning is time consuming but the meals are easy to make and only take about 30 mins to make. If you have a baby you can set aside some of the pureed fruits and veggies to give to them as baby food(saves money and you know what your baby is eating) You can put the purees in an ice cube tray, cover and freeze it. One cube is considered to be 1 oz of food. Just an added idea for mommies with babies!!

Kids do not always have to know what they are eating as long as it taste good, right??

Adventures in Potty Training!

A couple of post ago, I talked about adventures that our family would be embarking on in 2011 and one of those adventures is potty training. Dan and I decided that after the New Year we would start potty training Joshua. He is 3 after all, so we thought we would give it another shot since the last attempt failed miserably(clearly he wasn't ready then). This weekend we decided would be a good start because it was supposed to be nasty weather and we did not have any commitments so we thought let's do this! We knew full well that it was going to be painful for all of us and that we were going to have to try just as hard if not harder than Joshua not to throw in the towel. So Saturday morning arrived and at 8am we began! Pull up came off and underwear went on.

We set the timer for every 5 mins. Every time it would go off we would ask him if he had to tee tee of poo poo in the potty and his answer would be "NO!" Every 10-15 mins we would actual sit him on the potty and if he sat on the potty he got to pick a sticker for his "Potty Time Chart" and if he actually went "potty" he would get 3 m&ms.



Saturday consisted of alot of accidents, which was to be expected. I think I did about 2 loads of laundry to replenish his supply of underwear that he was going through. It only took 4 hours before he actually went tee tee in the potty and boy was he happy! He was so excited that he kept asking us to give him high-fives and kept saying "it's splashing, it's splashing!" We were just as excited and clapped and cheered for him. The best part of course was getting his 3 m&ms. After each one he put in his mouth, he would say. "mmmmm, delicious!"(This child does not get candy hardly ever, so this is a huge deal to him)

The little potty seat that goes on the big potty, or Joshua likes to call it his "Elmo potty"
In the afternoon he had a few more accidents, but before bed he successfully went to the potty again. Once again, high-fives and m&ms. I told Dan after Joshua went to bed that I was proud of Joshua and I thought the day was a success considering it was our first go at it in awhile. Dan said he agreed but that he was proud of us for not throwing in the towel. It was all worth it with the 2 successful trips to the potty!!

Sunday started a little earlier, around 7! Once again off with the night pull up and on went the underwear. Joshua went almost 2 whole hours before he had an accident. We still set the timer every 5 mins and still continued to take him every 10-15mins. I think he was holding it until he couldn't any longer. That was frustrating to me, I am not going to lie. I knew he needed to go, but you can't force it out of him. After that it just seemed to click. I think it clicked for both Dan and I as well. We started watching the time and would put him on the potty every 20 mins and most of the time he would go. The boy got alot of m&ms today, but they were well deserved. He did awesome! He had more successful attempts today than he did accidents.

I am so proud of our little man! To be honest I was not looking forward to this weekend at all, because I know how stubborn Joshua is and I just didn't think we were going to have such a great success rate as we did( just being honest). Well, the weekend has come to a close and all the resolve treatments for the floor, the underwear washing, the timer going off every 5(then 10 mins) and the asking 50 gazillion times "do you need to go potty?" was all worth it in the end to see that he went to the potty and that he was so very proud of himself when he went. At the end, I think he liked going to the potty. He has yet to tell us that he has to go to the potty, but I know that will come in time. We got a lot further than I thought we would this weekend. I think we are going to go full force and continue his training while he is at school. His teacher is willing and ready to work with us she said, and I really do not want to put a road block in the process by putting him in a pull up during school. So, on Monday, with a ball of nerves and several changes of clothes, we will be sending him to school in underwear. Hopefully, him being with the other kids who are fully potty trained and Ms. Maria taking him and reminding him when to go, he will do ok. I know he will have accidents, that is all part of potty training, but I also know that he will catch on quickly and we can STOP buying diapers!!!!

WISH US LUCK WITH OUR RECENT ADVENTURE!!!!!

One Special Ornament!

While I understand that Christmas is over and the trees and lights are down, I still wanted to post about this one special ornament that you see to the left. This tarnished santa ornament has held it's place somewhere on my grandparents Christmas tree for over 61 years. That's right, 61 years!!! I had never really noticed the ornament on the tree before. This year while having Christmas at my grandparents it was the only ornament on the tree(except for the paper angel that showed up later from Joshua).


One of the days that we were there I was looking at it and wondering why it was the only one on the tree. My grandmother must have noticed me looking at it so intently, because she asked me if I knew the story behind the santa ornament. I told her "no!" She began to tell me how her and my grandfather had the santa ornament their first year being married and how it was the first ornament that they hung on their first tree together. Every year they place the santa ornament on the tree. Folks, that means that my grandparents have been married over 61 years! How marvelous is that! You do not hear of that very much these days. Her telling me that story made me smile and think about the tradition they set just as a couple without kids and how the tradition continued to be carried on through Christmas after Christmas with 5 kids and still continues with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I had never heard that story nor had I really noticed that ornament before.

On this great big tree filled with twinkling lights and one paper angel(added by Joshua) there is one tarnished little santa ornament that hangs and twirls throughout the month of December.

On the ride home from their house it got me thinking about the ornaments on our tree. I recalled an ornament that was given to Dan and I our first Christmas together by my brother and sister in law. It is 2 bears hugging and the writing on the bottom says "Our 1st Christmas Together". We have hung that same ornament for almost 4 years. I guess in a way we have started our own tradition with our own ornament. The most important thing is that my grandparents have been married for over 61 yrs and have come across many trials and tribulations over these years and they never lost faith in their marriage. I hope Dan and I can one day say that our ornament has hung on our tree for over 61 years!

To my family: Have any of you ever heard this Story told?! It was crazy to me how this story has never come up in conversation at Christmas. I think it is one of the most precious stories I have ever heard! What a great example!!!