Oh The Life Of A Toddler....

We also ride dinosaurs in our spare time.

... in 2010. I keep laughing over how jam packed my two-year olds schedule is. When did that happen? I don't remember having anything near a packed schedule at 2, or 3, or 4.....! But, what happens when you are home with your child 24/7, things get boring pretty fast. So, I'm very thankful for the many different things offered to mommy's and kids. She has school two days a week, swim lessons the next (in which she does her best impression of a clingy little monkey, holding on for dear life), library story class another day, and her rockin' music class to kick off the weekend! Not to mention park and beach playdates. Whew! Don't get me wrong, I love them, I just find it funny how I'm scrambling to register her for all this stuff before all good classes get filled. At two years old! Us moms are ruthless trying to nab a coveted spot! Hee hee :) So, that's my random post. Oh, and here are some random pics, of course!

No, that is not a floor pillow. It is Bean's bed, which she likes to sit in. I've given up on trying to not get her to sit there, to many other battles to fight!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Fall Obsession

(Now I can't stop cooking.... )

(Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce. Yum, yum, yum, easy. Love.)

(This monstrosity is Pumpkin Lasagna. It's super ugly to look at, but super tasty to eat. Sounds weird, but it's surprisingly good!)

No More Denying It, Fall's Here.

At the farm stand. Sadie-sized gourds and pumpkins.

For reasons unknown to me, I've been hanging on to our sun soaked, beach filled summer with all my might, when usually, I am running towards fall full speed. But...... after our awesome morning going apple and raspberry picking at the local farm, I'll admit, fall has officially won me over. Now all I can think of is every pumpkin food imaginable, apple desserts, sweaters and foliage. I mentioned before how I've had a complete, total, and utter lack of cooking anything worth eating for months. Part of it is the hot summer and part of it was, I'm not sure..... laziness?! But I've missed it. And maybe, just maybe, the cooking bug may be back. In part, due to the wonderfully cooler weather, and in part to having some kick ass inspiration. That would be Pioneer Woman. If you need new ideas in the dinner department, check her out. Or just check her out to look at her food photos and read her hilarious posts. This site is a gem and one of the main reasons I'm itching to get back in the kitchen and try new recipes.

Our official taste testers! Two thumbs up, from Amelia and Sadie.

So, getting back to apple picking. I knew I would waste most of what we picked if I didn't find an apple recipe. And on PW's site, I found the ultra easy (so easy, I wasn't sure if it would taste good. I was wrong.) Apple Tart. I think it has 5 ingredients in it. And do you want to know the BEST part? You don't need to peel the apples! WOOT! It's made with puff pastry, so no struggles with any dough. Need I say more? Try it! I sprinkled ours with confectioner's sugar and served with vanilla ice cream. And I do believe it'd taste divine with a morning cup of coffee.

Fresh out of the oven. Yes, I was going for the "rustic" look.

This was John's plate, snatched from just as he was about to eat it. "WAIT! I need to photograph it first!"

The dessert was so easy, I even got a chance to make a real dinner, too. (Notice I made dessert first, in case there wasn't time to make it after I made dinner. I've got my priorities straight.) Yup, another PW recipe, that had been recommended to me by two friends. (Awesome rec, Laurie!) If you love the flavors of lemon and basil, you must try this. It's called Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta. Also pretty easy to make. Especially if you do what I did, and go to your local market and buy THEIR homemade grilled chicken. :) Seriously, though, I cannot make grilled chicken close to as good as this place. It's the rub they use or something. Whatever it is, it's so good, and totally worth buying it, as opposed to making it, to save some much needed time. And hey, support local businesses, right?! Anyways, it really was a delicious dish, one I would eagerly pass on to anyone. The lemon/basil/parmesan combo is really out of this world.

So good. Looking forward to leftovers later!

So, onward to fall! Finally looking forward to it!

Wordless Wednesday: God Bless Crayola

Paints: $5.00

Brushes: $3.00

Paper: $7.00

Holding the attention of your kid for an entire hour: Priceless.

The One, The Only- Cupcake Bites!

I'm in love with anything in "mini" form.

Today, I decided to channel my inner Bakerella. I've been a major slacker in the kitchen for about, oh, I don't know..... the entire summer. I have been drooling over her blog for awhile now (check her out under my blog list). Bakerella, in a word, rocks. It's amazing what she can do with cake and chocolate. Her imagination, creativity and attention to detail wow me. Apparently, it wow'ed other people too, because after starting her blog and creating the first Cake Pop (A cake ball on a stick. Brilliant, no?), word of it took off, and she was offered a book deal. This is what I'm talking about, people! One awesome idea and a blog (ok, and lots of talent), and look at her! So cool.

Red Velvet cake wrapped up in chocolate. I'm smitten.

Oh, Bakerella. How do you make it look so easy??? I guess that's why you have your own cookbook and I don't! I always had mad respect for her work, but now, having tried my hand at her Cupcake Bites, I have uber mad respect! Mine look nothing like they are supposed to. How does she get her chocolate so smooth? Hers are ridiculously adorable! They were fun, but much more time consuming than I first thought. Great afternoon project, say, with a friend. Or four. Very thankful to John for entertaining Sadie for a bit so I could make these. At first I thought they would be a good project for her, but they required too much effort on MY part! And red velvet stains everything, maybe not the best toddler food project. So, they may not look how they are supposed to look but they DO taste good! Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, and the entire outside is made from dipped chocolate. I don't think one can go wrong with that combination. Thank you, Bakerella, for the culinary inspiration and hopefully this will break me out of my cooking rut!

Oh, and I'm thinking those sprinkles are going to be similiar to Christmas tree needles. I'm gonna be finding them everywhere for a long time to come, no matter how many times I vacuum. I could hear them pinging on the floor whenever I sprinkled them. Tricky little suckers, they are.

Photo Essay: A Day In The Life

Every day should start off with a good breakfast. Today's was extra special. Coffee and chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. It's actually pretty healthy because of all the antioxidants in the chocolate and we all know peanut butter is packed with protein. Right?

This photo tells a lot about our daily life! I constantly have a shadow following me. And I'm not talking about my own. :)

When a toddler is told it's time to go home, they will sometimes do the "throw themselves on the ground and refuse to walk" thing. It's so pleasant. And it doesn't matter if we're in the middle of the woods. (At least my toddler does.)

Sadie has no problem using a random kid she just met as a make-shift train track for Thomas.

She wakes up with fully charged batteries, without any coffee (I can't even comprehend that), and is ready to create masterpieces at 7:30 in the morning. And she wants YOU to create masterpieces as well.

Loving her Happy Meal and having a fun lunch with Mommy. Love it. Love that I am actually buying her a Happy Meal! (PS. She gained almost half a pound at her last weight check, and it was the first time she gained weight just from solid food, ever. EVER. It's slow, but it's progress, baby. Elated doesn't begin to describe when I saw that number on the scale!)

An end of the day visit to the park, swinging together on the swings with my shadow.

Wordless Wednesday: Some Random Cuteness