Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Happy Presidents Day

Happy Presidents Day
Mike and I were both off work on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.  Sadly, Emily had to go to school that day for a make-up snow day.  So that meant we all had to get up early and get Emily ready for school.  Since we were all up, Mike and I decided to go out to a breakfast date with Noah.  

So we went to Cracker Barrel and had pancakes.  Noah slept through most of breakfast but he woke up as we were finishing up.  I let him have a tiny taste of my orange and he seemed to like it.

After breakfast, we stopped by Walmart and bought a bunch of prizes for Emily's Reward Chart.  She has earned 22 stars so far so we thought we better get some prizes for her to choose from.  More on the prizes later.

Later in the afternoon, I was playing with Noah and I sat him down in Emily's pink princess chair in the living room.  Emily's Cabbage Patch doll Stephanie was sitting there so I picked her up and put her in the chair beside Noah.  I was laughing so hard, but here's kinda how it went down.


"What's up, Mom?"




"Oh, cool.  Another bald headed kid."





"Looks like fun, I can yank her around." (And check out that raised eyebrow!!! Where does he get that from???"




"Maybe I can throw her over my shoulder.  Nope, too heavy."



"Fine, then I'll just push baldie down on the floor"





"Well that didn't work.  I'm outta here!"




Poor Steph.  I showed Emily these pictures when she got home from school and she thought it was pretty funny that Noah was sitting in her chair and playing with her doll.  I don't know if Steph thought it was funny or not.



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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Potluck Or No Luck?

Potluck Or No Luck?
Last Friday, my department has a potluck lunch at the office. My coworkers are mostly male so the result of our potlucks can be a bit of a mixed bag.

If we are lucky, the guys will bring something store-bought. And if we are really lucky, sometimes the wives will fix something. But these guys are a pretty smart bunch. They have a few ladies from other departments that they routinely invite to our food days.

So I brought a couple different dishes for food day. I fixed a chicken cheese ball and a double batch of Peanut Butter Cookie Cups. The double batch makes 48 cookies and there was not a single one left. So clearly that was the favored dish.


A contributing factor may have been the fact that my cookies were the only dessert present that day. But in any case, they were a hit!

My mother made these cookies for us at Christmas. I loved them then and I still love them now. I loved them so much that I made another batch this afternoon since we did not get any of the ones I made the other day.

Want the recipe? Okay, here goes!

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Ingredients:

Peanut butter cookie dough
Peanut butter cup candies

The first time I made these, I used a roll of refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough. Today I could not find the peanut butter variety in the refrigerated section so I picked up this packaged mix. You could also make your own dough.




I prefer the refrigerated cookie dough over the mix for this dessert. The mix seemed to have a grittier texture than I would have liked.

I used the Great Value brand of peanut butter cups. They have a creamy texture that I really like. Make sure you freeze the peanut butter cups ahead of time. This will make them easier to work with.





So, put mini muffin cups in your mini muffin pan. I suppose you could skip this step if you'd like. You might want to lightly grease the mini muffin tin before you start if you are not using liners. I used foil liners for mine.

Put about 1 tablespoon of cookie dough in each mini muffin cup. This amount seemed to work well with both the refrigerated dough and the packaged mix.

No need to roll the dough into balls or press the dough into the bottom of the cups. The dough will melt and rise perfectly inside the wrappers.

One package of refrigerated dough or one packaged mix both makes enough dough for 24 cookies.

Bake cookies at 375 for about 10 minutes. Cookies should be slightly brown but still soft when they come out of the oven.

While the cookies are baking, unwrap the candies and return them to the freezer.

As soon as cookies come out of the oven, press a peanut butter cup into the center of each one. The cookie will come up around the side of the candies.





You can put the tray of cookies into the refrigerator to cool or let them cool on the counter. The peanut butter cup centers will be quite soft for a while, but they eventually firm up.




Eat and enjoy!




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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Fave iPhone App - iRewardChart

Fave iPhone App - iRewardChart
The other week, I was browsing the iPhone app store and I ran across an app called iRewardChart. It is basically a way to keep track of and reward good behavior.






You can set up daily tasks for each child and they are awarded stars when they complete the task or display the appropriate behavior. The app gives you a lot of tasks to choose from or you can make up your own.

For Emily, I used some of the presets and made up some of my own. One of my custom additions is "Good Family Member Award". This is where she can earn stars for going above and beyond. This could be things like helping mom and dad or being extra helpful with Noah.





Then after she earns stars, she can look at the list of rewards and choose what she wants. This list of awards is also customizable.

I have not set our rewards and their values yet. Really, the stars themselves seem to be a good motivator for Emily. But we will set some rewards soon.





One thing I don't like about this app is that Mike can't see the reward chart from his phone and we can't view it online. It would be nice if Mike was able to update Emily's chart too.

Emily really likes checking her chart every night. We talk about her behavior and decide which stars she has earned.

So far, it is working for us. Emily has only come out of her room after lights out one night this week. I like that improvement!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday, February 18, 2011

Faces of Noah

Faces of Noah
Sometimes I sit in the backseat of the car with the kids, mostly when it's time for Noah's bottle. I took these pictures of Noah the other day with my phone.

Do you see his two teeth??























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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Happy Six Months Noah

Happy Six Months Noah
This week, we took Noah to the doctor for his 6 month checkup.

I was very anxious for him to get weighed and measured because I was pretty sure he weighed over 20 pounds.





Well, I was wrong. He weighed 19 pounds, 4 ounces. He was 26 inches long.

That puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and the 5th percentile for height. He's still on the short side at this age. But that is perfectly okay.





Oh Noah, what are you up to now?


  • You wear 6-9 months or 9 months clothes.
  • You wear size 3 diapers.
  • You take a 6 ounce bottle every 3-4 hours during the day. You also like all the vegetables we have tried - sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, carrots. You like fruit as well. You really seemed to like applesauce and were not as thrilled about bananas.  I even tried smashing up fresh bananas.  You ate them, but you didn't make the Mmmm Mmmm Mmm noises that you make with apples.
  • You are consistently sleeping through the night now.  Yah!
  • You are not always consistent with your daytime naps right now.  A lot of times you just take little catnaps.
  • One of your favorite things is watching Emily.  She can make you laugh more than anyone else! 
  • Emily is so good with you.  She likes to play with you and talk to you, but she lets you do your own thing too.  
  • You like playing in your Exersaucer and your baby walker.  You don't stay in either one very long, but every little bit helps.
  • You can sit up by yourself for several seconds at a time.  I have never seen you roll from back to front.  Maybe you are skipping that stage?
  • You like to make a lot of noise.  You are always "talking".  Sometimes you are loud!
  • We just love you so much!  We like watching you every day.  I love to see you smile and I love to hear you laugh.  You are just so precious and so fun! I can't wait to see what you learn to do next.

WE LOVE YOU NOAH!

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Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day 2011

Happy Valentines Day 2011


Hope you all had a great Valentines Day.

Mike and I both had to work today, but we had a good evening when we got home.  We ate supper and then opened our Valentines presents.  Emily and Noah got a lot of sweet presents.

I wish I had taken some pictures of the kids today, but I didn't.  This was Noah's first Valentines Day and I didn't get any pictures.  I will try to get some tomorrow though.

Tomorrow, Noah goes to the doctor for his 6-month checkup.  I can't wait to see how big he is now.  He is a big boy for sure.

Men at Work - Flag Edition

Men at Work - Flag Edition
Things are always happening outside my window at work.

My desk is one floor above the front door at our office and faces a busy street.

Today I got to see this new flag going up.





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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Paula Deen's Snow Ice Cream Recipe

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We did not have record snowfall like some other places did today. But we had enough snow to make some snow ice cream.

After supper tonight, we made some snow ice cream using a Paula Deen recipe that I found online the other week.

I was not sure how it would turn out, but it really was good.

Here is the recipe. (Yes, it is really this simple.)

Yield: 4 servings

Paula Deen's Snow Ice Cream

This simple recipe is one of those winter treats that you have to try at least once in your life. You can add mix-ins and make it all your own.

prep time: 5 MINScook time: total time: 5 mins

ingredients:

  • 1 pan clean snow
  • 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

instructions

  1. Fold sweetened condensed milk into pan of snow. Stir well. Enjoy!

notes

Add in chocolate syrup, if desired.
Created using The Recipes Generator



If you try it, let me know what you think.




Keywords: Paula Dean's Snow Ice Cream Recipe

Paula Deen's Snow Ice Cream Recipe

Meet Old Buddy

Meet Old Buddy
Noah has a new little friend.  This is Old Buddy.  He's a Glo-Worm.  But Noah loves him.  



"Seriously, Mom, don't take my picture."

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Emily's New Kicks

Emily's New Kicks
Do you remember the other day when I said we got Emily some new boots?

We got the boots on Sunday afternoon and she wanted to wear them to school on Monday morning.  There was a little bit of snow left on the ground so I said she could go ahead and wear them.

I was a little worried about them being too big for her feet.   But her toes were not too far from the end and she said they felt good.

Aren't they cute on her feet??


When she came home from school on Monday, she said that they did not come off her feet when she ran.  She also said that her friends made fun of her boots at school. They said her boots were funny looking.




But this morning, she wanted to wear her boots again.  I think sometimes when she says her friends make fun of something, she really means maybe they commented on them or liked them.


It's supposed to snow again tonight.  At least her feet will be dry next time when we go out into the snow.

I wanted some cute boots too, but they didn't have any in my size.

Boo!

Keywords: girls fun rubber boots, Western Chief girls boots, girls colorful rubber boots, girls rain boots, girls rubber boots horses, girls boots "Tractor Supply"

Monday, February 7, 2011

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday
I did not make Christmas tree cookies in February. Nope. Not me.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Bunny Tracks and Other Furry Friends

Bunny Tracks and Other Furry Friends
This post is a continuation of the Bunny Tracks blog.  I was not able to upload my iPhone pictures to the same post as my regular pictures.  And thus the need for separate posts.

So ... these tracks look pretty interesting, but I don't know what kind of animal made them.



This must be an animal crossing area.

Thinking this is probably more kitty cat?


I'm not sure what this one is ... a one-legged sloth?

No, I really have no idea.


Emily wore her suede boots when we went outside - and they got completely soaked.  And when we got back in the house, she said her feet were freezing.  She took off her cold, wet boots ... and her feet were sockless. Ack!  Total parenting fail right there.

(Consequently, we bought her some cute rubber boots today.  More on that later!)

Bunny Tracks - Part 1

Bunny Tracks - Part 1
Okay we're going to have to do this post in two parts.  Click here for Part 2.

As I mentioned, Emily and I went outside yesterday to check out all the animal tracks in the snow.

This one looked like a kitty cat.




Not sure about these?





Something had been all around outside our shed.






Walking in Mama's footsteps.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Snow Shadow Puppets

Snow Shadow Puppets
This afternoon, Emily and I went outside to check out all the animal tracks in the snow. The wildlife is always busy at our house. I will show you what I mean later - a lot of the pictures are on my other camera.

But in the meantime, check out these shadow pictures I snapped of me and Emily.

What fun! We posed for these pics. She has an imagination for sure.
















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Where's the food?

Where's the food?
Walmart does not have it!








One of my helpers had a good idea.










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Friday, February 4, 2011

Silent Prayer Time

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Well, believe it or not we got another couple inches of snow today. I guess I did not watch the weather very closely this morning. I saw that Texas was getting some snow, but I did not realize it was going to affect me at all. Boy was I wrong.

This morning after I dropped off the kids at Nanny and Poppa's, I decided to go to work a different way than I went the day before. The day before, I just went and hopped on the nearby interstate to avoid the snow mess on the side roads. This meant a longer trip around the city via interstate but at least I avoided the city streets.

Today I decided to go my normal route which is to cut across a smallish, less traveled street to reach a different more direct interstate. It did not take me long to figure out that this was a bad choice.

In some spots, the road was down to one lane. Not one lane in each direction, but one lane only. At one point, I kid you not, it was one lane up a hill! I was so scared and praying a big truck did not top that hill headed right for me.

Luckily, I made it to work okay but I will probably not take that road again until spring!!!

That prayerful trip reminds me of something that happened our first day out in the snow. I was driving that morning with Emily and Noah. Emily was just wearing me out with questions. One of her favorite topics right now is what she was like when she was a baby. "Mom, when I was a baby did I smile at you?" " When I was a baby, did I wear the same pajamas as Noah? Did I have a bear suit? Did I hold my bottle when I ate? Did you change my stinky diapers?" "Mom, does Noah have teeny tiny toes?"

I was trying to keep my little car on the road and needed to concentrate. So I told Emily that we needed to have some silent prayer time. Who can argue with prayer time, right? Every time she would ask another question, I would ask her to keep praying that we would arrive safely at Nanny's.

This morning when we arrived at Nanny's, Emily said "Mom, did I do good not asking you questions today?" I said she did an excellent job and she said "and I didn't even need silent prayer time today." Ha!

File under: how to keep kids quieter in the car

Result: Success!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Braving the Elements

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Today was the day that we decided to brave the elements and get out of the house to go to work.

Mike was not sure his work was going to be open today. He has to call a recorded message to find out what's going on. But the message is not updated until about 6am. So he called and found out they were opening a couple hours later.

The roads were bad, but they were not terrible. I did not really have any major problems. The traffic was slow and there was a tiny bit of slipping and sliding but it was okay. I took the kids over to Nanny and Poppa's house and then headed on to work.

My desk at work overlooks an intersection on a very busy street. All day I was watching people get their cars and trucks stuck in the snow drifts and in the intersections.

Between the stuck vehicles and the ambulances and firetrucks that race by a dozen times a day, I felt like my eyes were focused out the window most of the day.

I was glad to be out of the house though. I was glad I could make it back to work because I was really falling behind being home for two days at the beginning of the month.

And the bad news? We might get more snow early next week!



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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Snow Angel

Snow Angel
Yesterday afternoon after the snow stopped, Emily and I went outside to check things out.  It was so so cold!  I was ready to go back inside after about a minute and a half.  It was just awful when the wind was blowing.  I had on several layers, but it was not helping.  My hands were especially cold.


Pretty Girl

So proud of her snow chunk

Ohhh this is a big one!

Watch out, Mom!

Of course we have to make a snow angel.

Pretty good one, too.

 Putting a snow face on the snow angel.


We are stuck inside again today.  It looks like we might be able to get out and go to work tomorrow. Emily's school will be closed again tomorrow though.

Hope you all are staying safe and warm!
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