Happy Birthday!

Somebody turned 6! He had a GREAT birthday. He really wanted Little Caesars pizza for dinner.

His siblings were happy with his choice.

He also requested a donut cake.

Hurray for turning 6!

Soccer is Fun!

Somebody LOVES to play soccer.

Goal Tree

For our family night we decided to set some goals. Everybody got a few leaves to write their personal goals. 

1 leaf = 1 goal. 

We LOVE fun mail!

Our Own Private Pumpkin Patch

Well, it wasn't really our own pumpkin patch but I wish I could have recorded the amazement and excitement when Grandma took the kids to her backyard and told them to pick out a pumpkin. They are HUGE!!! That was last weekend and we won't pick them up for another few weeks.

Mmmm...fingers!

You're a...!

I decided to tell you how Kster is awesome.

Today he did a 63 piece puzzle. He really likes puzzles and has mastered the 24 piece ones I've given him so I brought out the next level ones we have.

After he finished the puzzle I asked him who was a pretty smart boy who can finish puzzles? Here is the conversation that ensued.

Kster: You.

Me: I'm a boy?

Kster: You're a boy.

Me: Well, you're a girl.

Kster: You're a boy.

Me: You're a girl.

Kster: You're a boy. (killing himself laughing)

Me: You're a horse.

Kster: (now hysterical laughing) You're a cow. A little cow, no a BIG cow. You're a REALLY BIG cow.

Nice.

Pondering on the Booty

Puj Snug Product Tester

I just got a chance to try out a new and fun product. I think it was fate. I had three of my kids in the bath and one of them whacked their head on the faucet. I figured I would either have to split them up or get a soft foamy thing for the faucet. I figured I'd need one even if I did split them up because my 3 yr old is a maniac in the bath tub. He really likes to wear goggles and go deep sea diving. I wish that I could say that the goggles make him see better but I'm pretty sure he could possibly slam into the faucet if he was in the bath by  himself.

Then comes an email from Puj asking me to pruduct test a faucet cover. Um...yes please. Perfect.

And here it is...

Here are some of my thoughts in no specific order:

• My 8 yr old told me she whacked her head on it and it was "really really soft".
• It is soft and foamy.
• It does cover the entire faucet.
• It makes it difficult to pull the shower clip up. You can do it fine, you just have to get your fingers in there. 
• You can't hang anything off of the shower knob. (like a puff)

But its cute. And my kids like it. And its gender neutral. And I really don't think my kids will hurt themselves with it on the faucet (knock on wood). 

Thanks Puj. Another great product.

Here is the link to the product on Amazon.

3yr old logic

My 3 yr old is currently screaming in his room.

He wants me to pick out his clothes. I did. He doesn't like them.

But, he still is screaming for me to pick out his clothes.

Apparently I am to clairvoyantly pick out the clothes that he wants with no help or input from him.

But, he is allowed to throw a tantrum if I dont guess right.

And if I shut my door so I don't have to listen to his screams while I feed the baby, he will run over, open my door and run back to his room to scream some more.

Hurray for parenting 3 year olds.

New things

I really like trying new things.

Tonight I jumped on the energy ball bandwagon and made some delicious chia seed/oatmeal balls. The flavor was definitely there so I'll see how they harden up in the morning. 

So, I don't get a ton of comments on my blog but I do know that are out there. Blog stats do not lie. Here is my request to you.

Share something new with me. If you don't know if it's new to me, share it anyway. It might be new to somebody. Your new thing could be a food idea, a drink, a good book, movie, tv show.  I just want it to be something that you really like that you wish you coud share with somebody, 

I'm here. I'm listening and I ant to hear all your cool stuff. I've realized lately thaT a lot of my cool ideas come from other peoples cool ideas. 

Sugar Cookie Bites

A month or so ago we had a party that everything needed to be prepared ahead of time. And I wanted easy cleanup and no utensils. No cutting, scooping, or slicing and preferably no plates. My neighbor suggested these little treats she found and successfully made from Pinterest.

The cups are made of sugar cookies and are cooked in mini muffin tins. I refused to use store bought cookie dough which apparently if you use you can just drop balls of dough into your pan and they magically make cookie cups. My sugar cookie dough holds it form when cooking so I had to mold the dough in the pan before cooking. (Read: my great friend had to mold them in the pan because I was beyond frustrated with figuring out the drop a ball in the pan idea) The gooey inside is a cream cheese frosting. You can't go wrong with adding extra cream cheese. When I made these again yesterday I added double the cream cheese! Yum. Then top with whatever fruit you have lying around your house.

(This picture is for Monica. I had some leftover dough on my second batch so I tried doing it in a regular muffin tin. The result. The cup did not cook uniformly so the insides were raw and the outsides were overdone. If possible, the bigger muffin tin cookie holds too much frosting. Stick with the mini muffin cups)

Canning Salad

That's right folks, canning salad.

I found this idea on Pinterest and was instantly intrigued. Would it really work? Would it taste good? Would the vegetables get gross? Wouldn't the salad dressing touching stuff for a week compromise the veggie goodness. Well, let me tell you...it was AWESOME!!!

I used about a tablespoon or so of salad dressing on the bottom. I used carrots on the bottom as I figured they were the least likely to get trashed by the dressing. And then I just smashed in as much vegetables as I possibly could.

Actually, I was a little more methodical than that.

I placed my 6 pint sized jars on the counter. I got out my cutting board and cut everything in the order that I wanted it to go into the jars. So, first I dumped in the dressing. Then, I cut the carrots and put them in the jars and then cut the cucumbers and dumped and then the celery...you get where this is headed. I even hardboiled some eggs while I was chopping and added them in. Last but not least I washed and dried and dried and dried my lettuce and jammed in as much as I possibly could into the jar before shutting the lid. I had actually almost filled my jar with veggies before I even got to the lettuce part so there was some serious smashing.

This next step is most important...DO NOT WATERBATH OR PRESSURE CAN YOUR JARS!!! hahahahaha...I'm just imagining someone really thinking that these are "canned" salads.

While I was cutting up vegetables I had some leftover that I decided to just chop up and put in containers for snacks and lunches for the kids. I figured while I was chopping, might as well do it all...

Doesn't it look pretty...:)

Ok...so here's my confession. This is my second time around making these salads and I haven't eaten my second batch yet...But the first batch worked great. Vegetables stayed crisp as if I chopped it that day. I ate them all throughout the week and ate my last one maybe 5 or 6 days after originally putting them in jars.

This time around I experimented with avocado. I cut up one avocado and put it in one of the canning jars just to see if it would turn. I didn't want to pick out brown smushy avocado out of 6 salads. I haven't eaten it yet but they have been in my fridge for over 24 hours and the avocado looks exactly the same as when I put it in the jar. I say, SUCCESS!!!!

The Force

Kster started soccer today. His coach sat the boys down and told them soccer players don't use their hands.

"How do we move the ball if we can't use our hands?" he asked. One little boy replied, "the force."

Some Pinterest Fun...

I like Pinterest. Just like anything, you have to find the good but generally, I enjoy all the ideas that people have tried and liked.

Here are some of my pinterest recipe finds that I have actually TRIED and LIKED!

Orange Chicken

Pad Thai


(picture from browniesfordinner blog)

Greek Salad Dressing


(pic from cookingoncloverlane)

Rub For Whole Chicken in Crockpot


Strawberry Muffins


(picture from dashingdish.com)

Marshmellow Fluff




Smoothie Packs (so helpful) I also you the fruit/yogurt packs to mix with my steel cut oats



(pic from laceyinloveblog)

Birthday Boy

We have had a week of 3 yr old Birthday Fun! 

The fun started at Grandma and Grandpas house.

Then we had a friend party. We called it the Kster Olympics. There was long jump and hockey shot and shotput. And there was even a special Olympic water balloon event where the kids tried to get rid of the chalk target on our fence by throwing balloons.

We arrived late the night before the party. Plan A was to make a blue cake (birthday boy request). The cake was a bust. Plan B was to make cupcakes. I overfilled the cupcakes. I was done. So off we went in the early morning to go buy donuts. 

Hurray for Plan C.

Then it was Ksters actual birthday. We started off with Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

Dropped the kids off at school, played a little Wii and headed up to go ride the horse. I love this horse. It costs a penny. A PENNY! He was so excited. 

Then off to get his birthday balloon from the dollar store (he's a cheap birthday boy) and then to Dad's office where he requested we bring ham sandwiches (we told him he could have ANYTHING he wanted) and then didn't eat anything. 

The night ended with more cake! He wanted a baseball cake.

This was the best I could do. 

 

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

First Day of School

Msterisms

"You know what they say, the less the merrier. So whoever leaves my room will be merrier."

Big Brothers

Kster has reached a phase of life where his older brother is the coolest guy EVER! Whenever I ask him what he wants he has yo consult Lster first.

I'm full

This week I've noticed a change. I've been able to better recognize when I am full. I feel so empowered. I'm finally starting to get my body back. Not just the loss of weight but the ability to read what it's telling me. This is a great feeling.