Daddy/Daughter Activity

Sam took the girls to a daddy/daughter activity. We had been talking about it all week and the girls were about to spontaneously combust when Friday afternoon rolled around. They were a bit naughty that day, so I kept threatening that they couldn't go if they were bad. (20 Awesome Parent Points for me!)

 

They started with a nature scavenger hunt. They were excited about all of the treasures they brought home.

Then, they had foil dinners. Sam said they turned out delicious so I can pat myself on the back for that.

They finished the night with S'mores, which I think was what the girls were most excited about.

Grant went to bed before 6 that night so I had a couple hours all to myself. I ate a bag of popcorn for dinner, painted my nails and read. It was wonderful.

Avocado

After a few days of rice cereal, we gave Grant some avocado. That was the first thing we gave both of the girls too. He wasn't too sure about it. He kept pulling the funiest faces and gagging.

 

He was still willing to give me some smiles though.

 

I gave it to him another day and he was a little more tolerant. Though I still don't think he's a big fan. I have since given him some squash and he loved it.

Recipe Sunday: Macaroni and Cheese



I have made a lot of mac and cheese recipes. I try pretty much every one I come across. It's just the perfect comfort food and, of course, my kids love it. I've had a lot of good ones but this is my favorite one to make. It's simple and always turns out delicious. In fact, it's probably the most repeated recipe in my house.

Macaroni and Cheese
via Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups milk, cream, half and half (I just use whatever is in the fridge)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

I also love to add leftover ham and peas when we have it. Yum!

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Cook macaroni as directed on package.
3. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper are Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.
4. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.
5. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
6. Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole pan. Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes or until bubble.

A Taggie Blanket

My friend Laura, in Philly, made Taggie Blankets as her signature baby shower gift. When Grant's hands were getting a little spastic in bed, we started to give him the Taggie as a way to occupy his hands and keep him from knocking the pacifier out of his mouth. He has grown quite fond of the Taggie and likes to have it when he sleeps. I decided, at 3:30 a.m., when I do some of my best thinking, that I should make him another Taggie for the times when one is in the wash, or heaven forbid, one gets lost. (Wow, that was a run-on sentence!) I'm all about babies having something to soothe them, but I think it best to have more than one of that something. I know my own parents had some fun experiences with lost blankies.

 

I checked my fabric stash and found some I liked. Most of my ribbon is girlie so I loaded up the troops and went to JoAnn for some more.

 

I thought I'd document the process for your sheer enjoyment.

 

Taggie Blanket

 

What you'll need:

2 kinds of fabric, I used a minky and a snuggle flannel

assorted ribbon of different sizes and textures

pins

sewing machine

 

I started by cutting my fabric about 12x14 inches. I was using some leftover fabric so I was a bit limited on size.

 

Next, I cut my ribbon into 4 inch strips. I made 20 strips using 6 different ribbons. I wanted to keep it cheap so I used some ribbon I already had and bought a couple of new ones at JoAnn. (Check the dollar section. They had some cute two-spools packs for a buck!

Once all my ribbon was cut, I arranged it how I would put it on the blanket. I strayed from it a bit but I didn't want the same ribbon next to each other.

Fold a piece of ribbon in half.

 

Place each strip of ribbon between the fabric, right sides together and pin it in place. Pin it well! You don't want it coming lose.

 

Pin all of your strips between the fabric. It's a bit tedious, but the project is so easy otherwise! (This is just to show you what it looks like. When all the ribbon is in place, it should be hiding between the fabric.)

Sew around the outside leaving an opening of a few inches at one of the corners.

At the open corner, turn the blanket right side out.

Sew along the edge to close of your opening and to make sure all of the ribbons are nice and secure.

Ta da! So easy and inexpensive--a perfect gift for a friend or for your own little one.

I think it's safe to say that he likes it!

Cousin Time

We watched our nieces and nephews the other night so Roo and Alisa could go to the temple. The girls absolutely love having their cousins over. Ella is always thinking of fun things to do. She did makeovers on the girls and brought over a Barbie movie to watch.

 

I love that Abby's feet are on Ella's lap. So sweet.

 

Owen wasn't really into watching the movie so Sam played some games with him. While they were playing games, he said to Sam, "Can you tell your wife to come back here and make some more popcorn." I don't think he meant for it to come out that way but when Sam told me I laughed so hard.

Ella helped the girls brush their teeth. Here's a glimpsy of their cute bathroom.

 

We sure love having cousins close by!

A Hair Cut

We finally decided to cut Grant's unruly mohawk. I've been convinced for a while but daddy needed some convincing. We were both worried that he would look totally different.

 

I'll start off with an apology...sorry...these are rather awkward photos of me...

 

I love this picture. It's like he's saying, "No pictures please."

I didn't get a very good after photo. He was ready for a nap. I couldn't believe how much hair came off! Isn't it funny that our boy has more hair than our girls did? He looks as handsome as ever!

Daddy wanted a haircut and the girls decided they needed trims too. It was a weekend of hair!

Recipe Sunday: Baked Brunch Omelet

After a two-week hiatus, I'm back with a new recipe.

We are big lovers of brinner in our house. We usually have some form of brinner every week. These breakfasty meals tend to happen on lazy days where I decide to throw some pancakes or breakfast burritos together last minutes. This recipe isn't the last minute type since it does need to cook for an hour but it's easy to throw together and is super delicious.

Baked Brunch Omelet
via allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 loaf unsliced bread, cut into cubes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed ham
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup chopped green onions
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Place half of the bread cubes on bottom of baking pan. Sprinkle with half of the ham and then half of the cheese; repeat.
3. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, salt, pepper and green onions. Pour egg mixture into pan.
4. Place pan on top of a baking sheet with a rim and place in oven. Pour water into baking sheet and bake for 60 minutes, or until eggs have set.

Note: Don't mind how terrible my plate looks in that picture. Our dishwasher here leaves everything looking really lovely.

 

Fun at Preschool

Abby's preschool teacher just posted some pictures of the first few weeks of preschool.

 

She's having a lot of fun and has started speaking to the teacher a little bit. I don't think she has said anything to her classmates though.

 

 

There's a pretty fun set-up outside. It's been pretty hot so they usually don't spend a lot of time out there.

 

 

She loves doing dress up! She always reports to me whether or not they did dress up that day.

Grant's First Bites

Grant has been showing a lot of interest in our food so we thought we'd start him on rice cereal this week. The whole family was excited but especially Sam, he loves feeding our babies.

 

The girls picked out a bib for him and each took a turn giving him a bite. They were also quite a distraction.

 

 

He wasn't too sure about it. He ate a few bites but spit out most of the last few bites.

Labor Day Weekend

Well, I've been a little MIA on the blog...sorry...I have my excuses but they're lame so, we'll just move on.

 

We had a lovely Labor Day weekend at my parent's house. Philip and Merrick and their kiddos came to visit so the whole fam was together. We took some new family pictures since the ones we took in California weren't the best. These ones turned out better, although we are all (especially Sam) a bit squinty (I'm not sure I've ever written that word before and it looks really weird). Honestly, none of the pictures looked this good. Merrick just swapped most of our heads.

 

 

 

I'll post some more pictures from the weekend when Merrick sends them to me. I forgot to bring my camera.

 

We're now enjoying our Monday at home relaxing as a family!