Adventures In Rhode Island!

De-Cluttering

2012-01-29T18:07:00.000-08:00

I guess it's clear blogging is not on my New Years Resolution list! It's been awhile! So, today I just finished a project to help de-clutter Sadie's room. Little by little, I'm planning on getting her room more organized and this Hanging Laundry Bag really helped. She used to have a stand alone hamper on her floor, but it took up a lot of space. I saw this project in the sewing book my Mom gave me for my birthday, One Yard Wonders, and thought it would be fun to do and also, functional. The book is awesome, for any of you sewers out there. 101 projects to do, all with just one yard of fabric! So Mom, here is the first project I made out the book! It was fun and felt good to figure out things I've never done before. Double bias tape THIS! Snaps? No problem! Looking forward to the next Joann's trip to pick out new fabric!

The month of december was dedicated to working on my Christmas sewing project- making superhero capes and masks for Sadie, her cousins, and her friends! These are four of them, the other two I made I finished very late at night, the night before traveling to give them to my nephews, so the last thing I was thinking of was photographing them! But here are some pictures of Sadie and Luke playing with their capes. So funny!

Anyways, hoping to make it back to the blogging world more often now!

Ho Ho Ho

2011-12-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

A day late, but a 3 year old doesn't know that! I decided to try my sewing skills out on a homemade advent calendar, and boy, was it good practice! Please do not enlarge this photo and look at any of the stitches! I seriously almost FedEx'd my mom all the ornaments to sew for me because mine were laughable in the beginning. Even John, the most loving and supportive person in existence, could not suppress his smirk when I showed him my earliest ornaments I made. But..... I finished it and Sadie loves it! The ornament are pockets and inside are treats like mini candy canes, chocolates, hello kitty hair clips, jingle bell bracelets, etc. I thought it would be a good visual for her to know when Santa was coming and a good number game. Our cats have already tried to use it as a scratching post, and if those hairy beasts destroy this labor of love, we're taking a trip back to the Potter League (animal shelter for those who don't live here!)! Just kidding... kind of.... ;)

Take-Out At Home

2011-11-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

I definitely have a pattern on this blog. Blog a lot, then start slacking and once I do that, I conk out on the blog completely. Then it just seems like a lot of work to write all that I had intended to write and I just end up goofing around on facebook or something. So I'll just write a quick post today to get back in the writing swing of things. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon a crockpot Orange Chicken recipe. The recipe was actually called crispy orange chicken but honestly, I have no idea how you manage to get a crock pot recipe to turn out crispy. Anyways, I love orange chicken and it usually is what I order when we get chinese food. It's just so damn good. And happy to say, this version turned out delicious. I have made a couple other orange chicken recipes and they all turned out bland and not worth putting in the "to keep" pile. But this one was different. It almost tasted like take out (just like the recipe said!) and was perfect served over rice and a side of broccoli. Cooker beware though- it burns easily! I cooked it on high for 3 hours and I burned the outside edges, so if you do try it, keep an eye on it. Check out the link, it's worth a cook!

Pumpkin Season

2011-10-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Pie Bites.

It's that time of year again... the most wonderful time of the year...... it's pumpkin time! This recipe I have had in the back of my mind since last fall. I read it on Bakerella's blog (you know her, the now famous cake ball creator) and have really been wanting to make it. I mean, really... pumpkin pie, in mini form??? It's right up this redhead's alley. You make them with pre-made pie dough and mini muffin pans, completely easy. And they are adorable and delish! It's not so much pumpkin pie filling as it is pumpkin cheesecake filling, and these little guys would be perfect with a dollop of fresh whipped cream....mmmm..... Might be taking them to a Halloween party coming up. Here is Sadie helping out. Ok, actually, I gave her some pie scraps to play with so I could finish up the recipe...

And we have finally decided on a Halloween costume- Thomas The Train! When asked what she wanted to be, Thomas was the winner, and here is the day it came in the mail. Pretty cute! She loves it and her bff Skylar is going to be the same thing.... Twin Thomas The Trains!

Wordless Wednesday: Tiny Dancer

2011-09-28T08:20:00.001-07:00

Let's try this again

2011-09-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

I warily made my way back to the sewing machine, after first popping a couple advil, downing them with a beer and saying some prayers, and to my relief, it went much better. No no, I did not actually wash the pills down with a beer. I was all out. However, even so, I found out I can now sew lines that fall much more into the "straight" category, except for sewing velcro, which doesn't count because that sucker is slippery and impossible to sew straight. Im-freakin-possible. I decided to make a travel diaper changing pad that can fit into a purse for a friend's baby shower. I had seen someone get a homemade one at the last shower I went to and thought it was a great idea, and a good place to start for a beginner sewer, since it was basically a rectangle. That's my speed. I love, love, love picking out fabric now and had fun designing what this was going to look and feel like. A girly, but not overwhelmingly girly outside, and a soft as a cloud inside. Here's what it looks like when you open up the crooked velcro. It has a pocket that holds wipes and a diaper or two, then it folds back up and secures with.... crooked velcro. And it is small so it can fit in a purse easily.

I had leftover fabric from the inside and was initially going to make a blanket for Sadie's baby doll, but as I was sewing, it turned into more of a pillow shape, so I stuffed it, and now it's her "cuddle" pillow, that she has slept with ever since! I am thinking about making big floor pillows now for her.

Time to start looking for the next project, I think I'm getting addicted.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

2011-09-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

My beautiful mom in her teens.

My mom turns 70 today! Happy birthday to the most caring, nurturing, loving, all-forgiving, compassionate woman I know. You know how the Grinch's heart grows 3 times the size at the end of the story and it's huge? It's not even a fraction of how large my mom's heart is. I've learned a lot of life lessons in empathy and how people should be treated from her and I thank her so much for that. She has a strength in her most people don't know and something she herself doesn't give herself credit for. Mom, you are amazing and I'm so thankful for you. Love you with all my heart.

Wordless Wednesday: A Frosty Sculpture

2011-09-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Future modern art sculptor? I think so. It's clearly a political commentary

on the state of the world today. Duh.)

Preschool Proud

2011-08-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

All decked out in her Dora gear.

I am VERY proud of my girl for starting preschool today! It was a little rocky with potty training, so we weren't even sure if she would be able to go to preschool. But, she is potty trained..... enough. For half days anyways. :) She was super excited to be going to her big girl room this morning.... the preschool room! I know it was a little daunting to her to go into a room with 24 kids, instead of a room with only 10, but she did great. I did get the little puffed out bottom lip as I left, but we lucked out and she has a teacher she had last year, which really helped her transition into her new classroom. When I picked her up she told me all about the "new playground" she gets to play in, for BIG KIDS, of course. And how a girl named Allie was there and it was her birthday and they all got TWO oreos. And how she is now a new friend. :) She really is growing up so fast.

Modeling her new Preschool outfit.

WOW! Great job, Sadie! :) She was pretty excited about this!

Pre-Irene

2011-08-27T17:52:00.001-07:00

Hurricane Irene is not even here yet, but as evidenced by the huge waves rolling in, she's a'comin. She is still in Virginia, but here is what we are already seeing in Newport. Our crappy camera doesn't do it justice. It's beautiful witnessing the gorgeous power of mother nature. Oh, and Sadie loved the "ocean baths" we got from getting these pics and videos. :) Luckily, we've got wine, corona's, homemade guac and salsa, and plenty of chocolate to get us through the storm! BRING IT, IRENE!

And we already did our "Hurricane Craft Project", before the hurricane even started. Sadie and I "designed" and decorated a new backpack for.... Preschool! We already had a plain pink backpack we used for daycare that fit her well, but it was pretty bland. So we took a Mama/Daughter trip to Joann Fabrics and she picked out her favorite felt iron-on appliques and we decided to put her name on it too. I decided I had better make it today since I needed electricity for the iron and Preschool starts Monday, and I wanted her to have it for the first day. She is also getting a present tomorrow- her new Dora lunch box, Dora water bottle and Dora sandwich container to take to her new big girl classroom. She is going to love it! She is so excited for Preschool!

Three Year Old-isms

2011-08-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

What a ham.

Some recent sayings from our resident 3 year old.

On aging:

"What's on your forehead?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are those lines???"

... long pause.....

"Oh, you mean my wrinkles?"

"Hahahaha, YEAH!!"

"Would you like to know how I got them????"

(Just kidding on the last part.)

On a "blemish" Mommy had:

"Why do you have a nipple on your face?"

Subsequent peels of laughter.

On why she can't do what she was asked:

"I CAN'T, Mommy!"

"Yes, you can, please listen."

"No, I can't cuz I'm CHUFFING! I'm chuffing real fast!"

(continues to play with trains....)

(Mom still trying not to laugh over the term "chuff" and mentally makes a note that perhaps she is watching too much tv.)

On underwear malfunctions:

"Mooommmmyyy! Ow! I have a scrunchie!!"

(Translation: I have a wedgie.)

Riding the carousel, happy as a clam.

On growing up in the digital age:

"Can I play with Skylar today?"

"We can't today."

"Yes, we can! You just have to text Miss Nanette and ask her!"

(Seriously?! She also pretends to text on her own phone.)

On trying to get her way:

"I want M&M's!!"

"Not before din—"

"DADDDDDDDY!!!!!!!!!! CAN I HAVE M&M'S???????"

"John! Don't you dare....!"

On growing up:

"So when I get bigger my boobies will grow out of my chest?"

"Well, ya, but you need to be a LOT bigger, kid."

(Where does she get these things?! I think she will be the kid stuffing her undershirt with tissues, she is obsessed with boobies!)

Separate incident:

"Ha ha, Daddy has boobies!"

"Honey, boys don't have boobies (kind of a lie here), boys have?????"

"Penises." (said very matter of factly.)

(Insert John's jaw dropping and "What do you teach her?!)

Hey, I was expecting her to say "chests!"

I realize she is talking a warp speed here, she is saying "I'm a ferocious dinosaur! Rarrrrr!!!"

I Have A Problem

2011-08-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, more than one. But this particular one is how I seriously can't be trusted to shop at Target. I may need nothing, but I always come out spending way more than intended. And those damn dollar bins and clearance sections. The other day Sadie and I were shopping there and I saw these on sale and started cracking up in the middle of the aisle, and said "I need to have these!" And Sadie agreed and threw them in the cart for me and we rolled on, both chuckling over our funny find (but only one of us getting it). So now, I'm home with my note cards and I realize that I don't actually write to anybody. Huh. Maybe John is right, I need a chaperon in that store. Who knows, you maybe be a lucky recipient of my new cards! God knows after a long day with a toddler, I do feel like I live in Crazyville and I still won't accept that the no matter the haircut, I still won't look like Keri Russell! As I say to John....... "but it was on sale!"

Going Bananas

2011-08-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

..... over bananas, that is. I went to visit my mom for a week and she had NO working internet and this is the first time I've had a chance to post. More on that later. And for my first post in awhile, I am choosing to talk about how awesome bananas are. As a medium, not a food, really. Get ready for this. Did you know that if you lightly write on a banana with a toothpick, over the course of a day (or night), the writing turns brown and voila, your message magically appears! One of my favorite bloggers, The Bloggess wrote about it and I just about busted a gut laughing. Oh my goodness, I can't tell you how excited I was to try this out! At first I just did a cute one for Sadie to pack in her lunch for school. Cute, but boring. Then I went out and bought bananas purely for writing on them, with no intention of actually eating them, and wrote John messages to find. Very meaningful messages.

(This pic came out bad, it reads "U R a lucky guy", "Your wife is amazing", and "The wifey needs a vacation.")

Then when I went to my mom's house, I saw she had just bought a beautiful, unblemished bunch of bananas and let me tell you, it was a hard choice to decide what to write. She is very catholic and I thought about writing things like "sinner! repent!" or "the end is near!", but in the end, I went with this.

The thing with these banana messages is that you can go in so many different directions with this! I mean, I seriously just want to hang out in Stop n' Shop, prowling around the produce section and write ridiculous messages for people to discover the next day as they are about grab a banana for a smoothie. "Eat more apples", "I'm watching you", "This doesn't make up for the cheesecake", "I'm bananas about you". I think it would make people's mornings better, to discover their secret little banana notes. Try it, it's addicting!

Wordless Wednesday: A Future Flashback

2011-08-03T17:25:00.001-07:00

Someday, 13 years from now, I'll look over at Sadie as she is learning how to drive,
and this is the only thing I'll be able to see!

I'm Sewing!!

2011-07-31T17:08:00.000-07:00

My first pillowcase dress!

And..... the back.

I find that What About Bob? quotes work for many things in my life. Like, with sewing. Thanks to Lorraine, my mother-in-law, who generously gave me her sewing machine, I've been taking a couple sewing lessons at JoAnn Fabrics. And the first time I put two pieces of fabric together and successfully put them through the machine and sewed them together, I had a hard time keeping my giggles to myself during the class, because all I could think of was the scene in What About Bob? where he tries sailing- "I sail! I'm sailing!!" As he is strapped to the mast of the boat... Don't know what I mean, here's a clip. And for the love of Mike, please don't tell me you've never seen the movie. It's classic.

Anyways, that is EXACTLY what I thought when I first started sewing. I'M SEWING! Turns out, I have to do more than just strap myself to the sewing machine. Sewing, I have learned, is HARD! Ginny, if you are reading this, I had flashbacks to the time we took tap dancing in college together and everyone in the class had experience except us and the teacher kept having to stop class and explain things to us. Both classes I felt like I stepped into an Advanced Physics class or something, instead of sewing. And I sucked at physics in school. Reading a pattern, figuring out how something is constructed, is a whole new way of thinking. I made some pretty bad mistakes. Like, my first class was making a bag. I accidentally sewed the top closed and left the bottom open. In case you are wondering, yes, yes it is embarrassing to ask for help with that! The second class was making a child's pillowcase dress. Oh Em Gee. It took me 3 solid hours, and I had to start over twice. I think next time, I'm definitely bringing a flask of something with me to get me through the stress. It was so worth it though. To bring home something Sadie could wear, completely homemade. And she loved it! (I may have started crying if she did her toddler "I don't like it!") I am hoping that with experience and a little alcohol, I can overcome the stress and really start to understand patterns and construction..... and enjoy it. :) In the end, it was a triumphant feeling to show that cloth who's boss and, after trial and error(s), actually do it!

My "Hipster Bag". After using a seam ripper to open up the top,

and then close the bottom up. :)

Lazarus Plants

2011-07-31T05:31:00.001-07:00

My official Bamato Picker. Do NOT try to pick these yourself. Someone may have a meltdown.

They are coming back to life! I guess that is what they needed- SUN. My cherry tomatoes, after a solid month or more of green fruit, is finally ripening. Mmm.... fresh tomatoes are the bomb. Sadie is loving picking all the "bamatoes", it's her official job. The basil is finally growing and I just started being able to pick it again last night. The parsley is doing so much better, much greener and really big now. Also, the pumpkin plants I transplanted, I honestly thought I had killed the heck out of, they were so wilted- miraculously are popping back up now and turning a lovely green. So, it's working! I love gardening, I can't wait for the day I can really set up a great veggie/herb garden. For now, this is great, thank you life giving sun!

The nasturtiums budding and blooming.

First cherry tomato of the season!

My love. Basil. Green and thriving.

D-d-d-d-Dora!

2011-07-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

A present from Auntie Kelley to my Dora-obsessed tot! She loves it, thanks "Cahkey"! And thanks, wonderful Etsy!

Makes Me Melt

2011-07-28T07:25:00.001-07:00

A short photo essay on the beauty of innocence, simple love and best girlfriends. Makes me smile and remember it from my own childhood. Thanks to a friend who recently sent these to me.

Wordless Wednesday: Annual Girls Nite Out!

2011-07-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

The Salve Crew's Annual Girls Night! Love these gals. It's hard to believe we've known each other 15 years. Man, that makes me feel old!

Beach Bound

2011-07-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

We are so lucky to live here. I've been here for awhile but I don't take it for granted and I hope I'll always appreciate the beauty and diversity of environments we have in Rhode Island. Beach, farms, great hiking, cities, towns. It's a small state, but one that is hard to top, in my humble opinion. As the weather has been so hot lately, we've been beachin' it as much as possible. Here are some recent videos and pics of our beach excursions.

Collin and Sadie's rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle". Adorable!

Another sweet beach video!

Yoga poses? Sand crabs? Not sure, but they weren't having a blast!

I just love this pic, very candid and captures that moment of buddies having fun so nicely!

Practicing swimming!

No beach trip would be complete without a Del's!

Aww, sharing so nicely.

An approaching storm that skirted the entire beach, but never a drop of rain fell on us. Seeing as how much preparation it takes to get toddlers to the beach, not one of us left. Even after seeing the lightening. And good thing, the sun came out as soon as it passed!

If you know Sadie, you know she never takes naps! So you KNOW the beach must wear this energizer bunny out!

Garden Transplant

2011-07-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

We've had a bit of a setback in the gardening department. As it turns out, I probably should have done a bit of research before just haphazardly growing whatever I wanted in the above ground boxes that were here at this apartment. I guess..... the plants I chose need..... sun. Who knew?? They just weren't getting enough. "Sun Dappled" wasn't cutting it and my little plant babies weren't going to make it. So I worked until dark last night performing award winning plant surgery and now all the plants are in individual containers around the yard in the sunniest spots. I hope this works. Every day I would sit and stare at my tiny basil plants, like waiting for water to boil. I kind of felt like Gollum and his "precious". Please sun, do your magic! I've added one other plant because I was inspired by my friend, Elaine. She has a wonderful garden (grrr....) and was sweet enough to give us a whole bag of delicious greens- kale, swiss chard, arugula, dill, oregano and..... nasturtiums. I had never heard of this beautiful, edible flower. It's totally spoiled me. I need these gorgeous things in my salad now. So Sadie and I took a trip to a local nursery and bought some. Apparently these things actually grow best with a little neglect. Wow, it's a like a match made in heaven for me!

Fresh from the ground salad with beautiful Nasturtium flowers. Yummy! We added sliced strawberries, toasted walnuts, a tomato from the garden (previously a container plant, so it grew), and grilled chicken. Delish!

During my resent google research on gardens (what the hell did I do before google), I found out that the spot I have for gardening is probably ideal for lettuces, arugula, swiss chard, endive, even beets and peas. So maybe next year it will just be a place for greens. Live and learn. A friend of mine has a local CSA at an organic farm on the island and had gone on vacation and let us pick up her weekly veggie share. In it had bok choy, swiss chard, kale, beets, salad greens, garlic and snap peas. Wow, it convinced us to get our own CSA next year. I never had ANY of those greens before and they are delicious. Having something like that makes you eat not only healthier but also completely broadens your food scope. Something we desperately need! We live in Food Rut City. Once again..... next year!

Come on, sun, revive my preciousess (what is the plural of precious?)!

Giggles

2011-07-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

You know those days when everything goes wrong, every little thing stresses you out and you just basically want to cry? Well, I was having one of those days as I was racing to Providence for an appointment when I looked over and saw this car:

Of course in my frazzled state I immediately thought I was witnessing some terrible crime and my heart jumped, but luckily before I called 911, my brain kicked in and I realized that it was not a partially severed hand but a very eye-catching joke. I just laughed and laughed.... and all of a sudden I didn't feel near as stressed out anymore! So I thought I'd pass it on to give you all a little giggle. I did happen to notice other people in the cars around me pointing and laughing as well. I was very pleased when I happened to be stopped behind the girl at a red light and was able to take a picture. Your welcome. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Besties

2011-07-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

Girlfriends. Same swim suit, sitting in the same chair, eating their sandwiches and juice boxes at the beach together. Doesn't get much better than this.

Am I Dreaming???

2011-07-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

What is this, you ask? A completed potty chart!!!! I think this time it has finally clicked and we are on our way to being potty trained! Can I hear a big WOO-HOO??!! What did it take? Underwear and lots of Clorox wipes. She has to be potty trained by the end of August to go to preschool, so the pressure was on. And I always did work better under pressure! We started sending her to school in underwear and she did very well there. Week 2 and no accidents at school yet. We also try to keep her in underwear as much as possible at home and when we are out. And while yes, we do have accidents, she makes it to the potty much more than when she doesn't. It definitely has clicked. She isn't loving the potty yet, but she is very proud of herself and she DOES love her Dora underwear! Yay Sadie!! So proud of you!! (PS. I highly recommend this potty chart because stickers are given for pulling down their pants, sitting, flushing, washing hands, as well as actually using the toilet. So for us, where nothin' was comin' out for awhile, she would at least feel good about getting some rewards for just trying. Thank you, Amazon, once again. )

Summer Eats

2011-07-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

Caprese Salad, complete with a drizzle of balsamic reduction, 'cuz I fancy like that.

One of my absolute favorite things to eat in the warm summer months is fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomato. In a panini, in a wrap, or just on a plate drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. It's that super simple dish where the flavors combine perfectly. So at a 4th of July bbq we went to, that is just what I brought. With fresh basil from the garden! Ok, so technically, the plant already had leaves when I planted it and I really just used those already grown for me.... but still, it totally counts!

An avid gardening enthusiast, Sadie is triumphant over those stubborn weeds. We both have gloves, kneeling pads, and tools. She loved it!

After some backbreaking weeding (the weeds seemed to win....) and some great help from Sadie, we finally have a little garden going. I've learned about potting soils, I've bought compost. I've learned that both are really freakin' heavy. I skip out to water my little lovelies every morning, I like to visit them. That being said, it's pretty small. We have very little sunlight back here so I just planted a few things to see if anything would even grow.

We are growing basil, parsley, eggplant, cherry tomatoes and our landlord gave us pumpkin greens to plant. I wonder if that will actually grow?! Also, a few geraniums for Sadie. I've been told they are super easy to keep alive. Which is good, because in the past I've not had much of a green thumb. Let's hope the days of my dried up, petrified office plant where one touch sends a flurry of brown leaf bits to the ground, are over.

I'm also growing a container of the larger tomatoes in another sunnier part of the backyard. So far this is what we have. Tomato mozzarella goodness, here I come!

Daddy's Day

2011-06-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

It started off with Sadie waking John up with art she had made for him and a homemade card. Then we used items from her play kitchen and she brought him breakfast in bed. Munchkins and coffee, mmmm :) She loved going on our Top Secret Dunkin Donuts run in our jammies early in the morning as Daddy slept....

Then we beached it! COLD water, but fun, fun, fun.

Daddy chillin' with his girl.

The day earlier we went to the Butterfly Pavilion and learned all about butterflies and moths. Loved it. Tons of monarchs. Gorgeous.

Outside the Butterfly Pavilion, a Daddy and daughter shot.

Sadie's First Haircut

2011-06-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

I buckled after over 3 years of not cutting it. It needed it though. And as much as I loved it long, I love it shorter even more. It's summery, cute and looks much healthier. She did great at the hair appointment. I took her to the girl who cuts my hair, so she's met her a couple of times before. She clung to me like a little monkey and Nicole had to cut her hair with me holding her, but she was great, no tears, just very quiet. :) Then after it was all done, I put her down and she was so excited about her new 'do and the fact that all her hair was on the floor. She keep saying "You like my hair? Is it pretty?" It's beautiful, baby!

Taken right before the appointment.

Ta-Da! Her new shorter 'do!

New haircut pic, and also, just a sweet pic of her loving her baby doll. She's very maternal!

Late Spring Project

2011-06-03T04:51:00.001-07:00

So I am trying some basic gardening for the first time ever. These above ground boxes were in the backyard of our apartment and I never did anything with them last year, and now look at these beauties. Yup, me thinks they need a little bit of work. I picked the brain of a friend who knows her gardening stuff (thanks for the tips, Elaine) and now comes the muscle work. Which Sadie is excited about because she thinks it's a sandbox. She has her own gardening shovel and rake and I am sure will have a blast as I weed the crap outta these suckers. Then comes the big question...... what to plant in an area that only gets the afternoon sun? Any gardeners out there that can weigh in? I know I would love to plant tomatoes and basil, probably the two things I buy the most at the store. Anything else that is easy to grow? It's really not that much space so I don't think I can do a whole lot in those. And that is my project, send some green thumb vibes over to Rhody, k?!

Wordless Wednesday: First Haircut!

2011-06-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

(For John that is! Always goes to a barber, but convinced him to go to my place, after a few barber shop snafus... So, I documented it for blogland, of course!)

Snip, snip...

Wash, wash...

Voila! Look at that handsome hubby!

First Beach Day Of The Year!

2011-05-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Finn having a blast in the water!

We took advantage of the semi-nice weather (ridiculously foggy here lately) yesterday and the fact that it was the last day of free beach parking and took the kids to the beach! It was fabulous and blissful and made me look very forward to the carefree summer days ahead. Friends, laughing kids and a beach picnic (which honestly didn't get eaten because the beach was way too exciting) was a great Memorial Day Weekend kick-off. Who's comin' to visit us for more beach adventures???

Definition of happy!

I love the way 3 year olds play!

The "secret fort" :)

Wordless Wednesday: Safety First!

2011-05-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

For Nana

2011-05-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

I Heart Carnies

2011-05-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Riding the kiddie cars. The boy in front was so sweet to her, telling her everything she needed to know! And unbuckled her at the end and helped her out- chivalry is not dead, people!

Ahhh... who doesn't love a good carnival? (Well, John still calls them death traps, but I still love 'em!) Every year Newport has one down at First Beach and well, ya, it's a pretty sketchy one..... but what carnival isn't?! (I think the words "just got out of prison" were said a few times.) It's part of it's charm. Sadie had never been to one so we took her down, not sure if she would like it or not. When we found out that they wouldn't allow adults on the kiddie rides, I thought that was the end of it. She would never just go on a ride without me. Not my timid girl. Or would she? Apparently she would! I was shocked and very proud of her bravery for going on rides she had never been on and all by herself! We happened to find one tame ride that I could go on with her and that had her hooked. After that, she couldn't be stopped! She had a blast.

Riding the train all by herself like a big girl.

Amusement parks always make me think of my Dad. And this one was no exception. They had two rides that made me think of him. The first was the "Polar Express", the one where the cars whip around and around at lightening speed with ridiculously loud music- I used to LOVE that one when I was a kid! You would yell "FASTER! FASTER!" at the guy running it and he would, so much fun! My Mom gets motion sickness by simply looking at a ride, but my Dad loved them and would take me on everything. One time on that particular ride, he sat down on the inside and I sat down on the outside, and we realized our mistake as the ride went faster and faster and centrifugal force kept pulling my Dad to the outside (to me)...... so the 230 lb man used all his strength not to crush an 80 lb kid the whole ride. :)

The Polar Express hasn't changed much......

The other ride was the Zipper. Although this ride doesn't look like much, it packs a punch! It goes around and around at the same time your cart is spinning crazy around and around. I remember my Dad's pockets emptying out during that ride, spilling his wallet, keys, chapstick (he was never without one), it's a crazy ride! Thankfully the cage caught everything but the chapstick :) I just have such fun memories of my Dad taking me to Riverside Park as a kid every year, he was such a kid himself when he went there and he would go on everything. That's all..... just a little stroll down memory lane!

Neither has The Zipper..... which, when you think about it, is pretty scary!

Wordless Wednesday: What's Wrong Here?

2011-05-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

2011-05-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Luke, Sadie and Gio- April 2011. I just love this photo!

The Nifty Nilla

2011-05-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Kinda lemon-y, kinda cheesecake-y, with a tasty Nilla-y crust....... you just need a pan of these and your favorite guilty pleasure tv show and you are all set, my friend.

What is it about a Nilla Wafer? So old school, so simple and I eat them unabashedly by the handful. They are especially good dipped into tea and coffee (for breakfast). Mmmm.... say it with me..... Nilla..... Which brings me to the point of this post. Creamy Dreamy Lemon Squares. Ok, I added the dreamy part. It's a regular ol' Kraft recipe and it's damn good. I made them for Easter and it seems to be something I crave every spring. Lemon is just so.... springy. The crust is made out of crushed Nilla wafers (only 20 of them, so what's a girl to do with the rest??) butter, brown sugar and flour. Nothing bad can come of that. It's delicious and complements the creamy lemony goodness to a T. Just make them, for goodness sake! They are good for the soul and a perfect way to celebrate spring!

New Member Of The Family

2011-04-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

A pleased as punch Sadie, taking her new buddy for a walk. And yes, he's buckled in "to keep him safe."

Meet Knuffle Bunny, the newest addition to our family. Sadie has a few favorites that are constantly with her. Baby Katie, Daisy, Frosty The Snowman, Nemo, Splat the Cat....... and now...... Knuffle Bunny! Every night, we have to read all three Knuffle Bunny books (great kids books, very funny!) and now because of the Easter Bunny's penchant for surfing on Amazon.com, she has one of her very own. It's official that he is part of the "in crowd" in her room because she took him out on a stroller ride to show him his new neighborhood. :) We only went around the block, but it took us 45 minutes. My curious little stroller kept constantly stopping to smell and pick flowers, trying to pick up the ants and bugs on the ground, inquiring in great length why the bumble bee was walking on the ground and not flying, and how he might have gotten a boo boo, and if his mommy was going to make him feel better, and learning about the trees growing leaves and what buds are...... whew ........ so yes...... 45 minutes. But a treasured 45 minutes, because it was one of our sweetest walks yet. When we went home, she took her flowers and made this flower arrangement all by herself. Then, like mom, proceeded to get her fake camera and photograph it. :)

Who's Happy?!

2011-04-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

Trying out her new roller skates that she got for her birthday from Uncle Paul, she LOVES them! That is pure happiness on her face. Must be just like her Momma, I spent many an hour roller skating when I was a kid. Although, she is slightly terrifying me on these "skates of death" that I now call them, as she careens around. She now wears a bike helmet and soon will be donning some knee pads and a thick roll of bubble paper wrapped completely around her. Kidding. Kind of.

And a special video for Uncle Pauly!

HAPPY EASTER!

2011-04-24T10:48:00.001-07:00

The Easter Bunny brought Sadie's current favorite thing- KNUFFLE BUNNY! And a new knuffle bunny book too. Those are the best books!

Finding her basket. The cheapo magnifying glass is a huge hit!

The Bunny hid bug eggs outside! Sadie spotted them from her window. "A bumble bee!!"

Easter egg hunt outside, loving it.

Flower child.

Opening up her eggs. A great Easter. :)

Getting Ready For The Bunny

2011-04-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! Today's pre-Easter activities. Looking forward to making her basket tonight, she is very excited this year for the Easter Bunny to come!

The Easter Bunny doing his best to talk to Sadie, and Sadie doing her best to ignore him completely. :)

'Scuse the bad photo, it's all I have. Our perty eggs!

Having fun with the wax crayon.

Another bad photo. But cute egg. John's Blues Clues egg he made for the biggest blues clues fan ever!

Carrot Cake Balls. For the Easter Bunny of course. Not for me. For him. I'm selfless that way.

Toddler Food Rut

2011-04-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Ya know, it was soooo much easier to shop and cook when I was was childless! I'm not picky, I'll eat most things. But planning meals now has become such a chore and finding food for my seriously "picky" eater that will actually be eaten is a challenge. So...... does anyone have any suggestions for meals (breakfast, lunch or dinner) that are winners with their toddlers? Or even ways to serve the food that is more fun or interesting, tempting them to at least try it? Any tricks or games used? I'll listen to anything, I'm plum out of ideas and I'm running on empty right now!

We're going on a trip.....

2011-03-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

.... on our favorite rocket ship!

This IS a really catchy theme song, I can't help singing it myself :) One day we'll be singing Rent and Wicked songs together- I can't WAIT!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-16T16:53:00.001-07:00

In Like A Lion

2011-03-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

My weekend! Medicine and soup.

March definitely came in like a lion, at least in regards to colds! Ever since Sadie has started daycare, I don't know if there is a day she doesn't have a runny nose so I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that I came down with both the flu and an ear infection all at once. I am both very relieved that Sadie got the flu shot this year and very disappointed that I didn't get one for myself! I do believe the conversation went as such..... "Flu shot? Nah. Never got one and I never get the flu." In hindsight, those words were doomed to come and bite me in the a$s. What's that phrase..... hindsight is 20/20? :) Luckily, or more like miraculously, we still had a bag of the homemade pasta in the freezer and enough things in the fridge and pantry to make a tortellini feel-better-soon-soup. Really, it was a miracle. We NEVER plan ahead or have exact ingredients on hand. And the best part- John made it for me! They were pork and cheddar tortellini in a chicken broth with veggies- so good and so comforting. Those homemade pastas are certainly paying off! Anywho, still fighting this stupid thing and hoping to feel healthy soon. March, please be true to your adage, go out like a lamb!

I Think It's Time!

2011-03-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Yep, we still use our changing table, it's convenient, holds everything and she has always been pretty good on it. But then I walked into her room yesterday and found her sitting all by herself on the changing table with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. (Ack! How'd you get up there?!) Then, a little while later, she was sitting with Owen on top on the changing table together, where she was trying to lay down on him. (Surprised she didn't try to put diaper ointment on him like she usually does!) Anyways, this might be it on the changing table, as it seems to be quite the fun thing for her to do whenever I'm out of sight!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Proud

2011-03-02T11:01:00.001-08:00

Sadie LOVING her early birthday gift from Grandma and Papa. THANK YOU!!

Zzzzzzzzzzz.......

I really was dreading the transition from crib to toddler bed. Would she refuse it, would she not sleep well in it, would it be a nightmare getting her to STAY in the bed? But I'm really proud of my girl. She has done amazing with her big girl bed- she really IS turning into a big girl. She has slept all night in the bed and aside from the normal getting out to explore her new freedom, has been really great about night time and quiet time. Of course she initially would walk out with every excuse in the book to see what we were doing, and I would be lying if I didn't say how funny it was. :) All in all, she has really impressed me! Love you, my girl!

For The Love Of Pasta

2011-02-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

I once tried the South Beach Diet. I never made it past the initial two-week phase. It was awful. Nightmarish. Torture. Giving up the sugar was hard enough, but CARBS?! It's too much to ask! My body went through shock and my hands would shake and I was a veritable be-yotch. John was so happy I caved and snarfed down a bowl of cavatelli's one night. End of diet. You see, pasta is a staple in our house and we're always looking for different ways to fix it. This last meal we made is reason enough to never do the South Beach Diet again. And it's a pretty healthy dish. It's a recipe by Lidia called Pasta with Baked Cherry Tomatoes. Basically a dish consisting of the pasta of your choice tossed with an olive oil and garlic sauce, topped with baked cherry tomatoes, a generous serving of pecorino cheese, fresh basil and topped with small dollops of ricotta. It was wonderful! I especially loved the hot pasta with the cool ricotta mixed together. Delish! The baked tomatoes roasted with olive oil, red pepper flakes and bread crumbs were fantastic with it. Kudos to John for finding the recipe. I didn't expect it to taste near as good as it did but John has made me a believer Lidia's recipes, thanks dear :)

Sadie helping mix the tomatoes and seasonings.

Wordless Wednesday: Child At Heart

2011-02-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

yes, my head is cut off here, but the image is kinda funny :) we both have same pose, both of us lovin' the trampoline at her friend's bday party! hey, it was fun!

Wind Chill Says It's 2 Degrees.....

2011-02-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

..... so this is what you do to pass the time! Dress up time with Mommy and Daddy! Isn't he a good Daddy??! Sadie had a blast. :)

A good sport!

Her "pouty" face.

Apparently, "just like mommy".

Taking the babies for a walk.

Happy girl!

Best Meals Of The Week

2011-02-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

Nothing says "I love you" like tuna, salmon and eel in "special sauce".

My original plan for Valentines Day was to make a complicated Julia Child recipe. I'm sure glad I tend to like the easy way out and opted for take out sushi! It was perfect in every way. We hadn't had it in forever so it was blissful and perfect for that "special" V-Day meal. Even had miso soup to go with it. Ahhhh....... so much better than the 3+ hours I would have spent preparing that original meal and eating at 10 pm, stressed out and starving!

A truly delicious combination (and not near as time consuming as the last one).

The second meal was another Pioneer Woman pizza. She calls it her "Favorite Pizza". The last one we made was a gourmet pizza, this one was much simpler, and although we loved the last one, we liked this one even better. Something to be said about simplicity. Roasted eggplant, grape tomatoes and garlic over fresh mozzarella and sprinkled generously with grated parmesan cheese. Bake until browned, bubbly and begging to be devoured, while watching episode after episode of Glee. Now, THAT'S a Friday night!

A Blue Valentines Day

2011-02-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

Blues Clues of course. I felt very mom-like yesterday as I was putting together valentines for Sadie's class at daycare. School valentines already?! It was fun though, and the theme was none other than from her favorite show..... Blues Clues! I'm in my glory whenever I get to break out my paper punches, stamps and ribbons! I don't really think 2-year-olds will really appreciate my handmade name tags, but I do!

I also made these yummy little pretzel/hershey kisses/m&m numbers yesterday for Valentines Day too. I might have posted about this at Christmas, not sure. But all you need to do to make them is take waffle pretzels and top them with hershey kisses of your choice (we used regular, hugs, and my favorite.... caramel) and stick them in the oven at 350 degrees for a couple minutes, then when they come out, plop an m&m in your holiday color in the center and VOILA! A very tasty, very addictive little treat. Especially the caramel ones, trust me on this. Make them! You can't go wrong with sweet and salty.

And if those weren't enough, I wanted to try out my new heart shaped cookie cutters and also had a box of red velvet cake lying around, so I made cake hearts. Just like cake balls (cake and frosting mixed together) but you shape them in the cookie cutter, then freeze them for a little bit to harden up, then dip them in some candy melts or chocolate in the color of your choice. YUM!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

No Ordinary Pizza n' Beer

2011-02-07T16:49:00.001-08:00

Fancy schmancy pizza and beer, complete with candle light, doesn't get better than that.

Oh Pioneer Woman, can you do no wrong? Thanks to you, I made my first completely homemade pizza- dough and all! Guess what I learned? Pizza dough is super easy. Why did I resist for so long? Why the fear? And for nothing, I tell you! This is PW's Potato Leek Pizza and it is delicious and something you aren't going to be able to order at your typical pizza joint. I would never have thought of putting potatoes on a pizza, but it works. You slice them paper thin, with a very sharp knife if you have mad knife skills, but for the rest of us, a mandoline comes in handy. And I actually had a mandoline in the basement! A long time ago on the yellow brick road, I worked at a magazine and would help photograph products for their review section. One shoot was about kitchen utensils and at the end of the shoot, all the products were up for grabs. I raced in to grab the coveted mandoline and skipped out like a school girl with the latest issue of Tiger Beat (dated myself, didn't I?) back to my desk. I was SO happy to get this uber cool freebie that it only took me 6 years to use! But let me tell you what a life saver it is because I think it might be near impossible to slice things that thin by hand. By my hand, anyways. Sorry, tangent. Back to pizza. So, you put a layer of potatoes on the dough, fresh mozzarella, leeks, parmesan, bacon.... and crumbled goat cheese. Oh my my my, it was wonderful! An added bonus is that the dough recipe makes two pizza crusts, so one is in my freezer and I've already been eyeing her Favorite Pizza Recipe which has roasted eggplant and grape tomatoes on it......... mmmmm......

To compliment our gourmet pizza, we paired it with some gourmet beer. Or so I learned as I paid for it. I actually thought they charged me for two 6-packs. Nope. Turns out it's a small brewery on Nantucket and they only make small batches of this stuff. However, that being said, it's a great beer and 3/4 of one made me completely loopy happy so I consider it money well spent.

Ready to be cooked. A thing of beauty! Look at all that BACON and CHEESE! Two of the things that make everything better.

Leeks are beautiful. Tasty, too. Tastier when sauteed in bacon grease. Aw yaaaaa.....

Me with my mandoline, making the thinnest potato slices ever made and enjoying it a lot because I had already cracked open that beer.

Potty Procrastination

2011-02-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

A Reason To Have Kids

2011-01-27T18:05:00.000-08:00

Put 'em to work! Kids actually think shoveling is fun! Sadie was extremely happy to receive her very first shovel just so she could help Daddy when it snowed. Which as it turns out, is pretty often. We stayed outside for about 2 hours today and she never tired of shoveling! She was pretty good at it! The only thing that could convince her to come in was the promise of hot cocoa and "little pillows", aka, mini marshmallows. Also, we had a random act of kindness paid to us today. A man from a street over from us saw us digging out and offered to use his snow blower and free both our cars and our upstairs neighbors car. How wonderful was that? We couldn't thank him enough, he saved John's back! Man, spring is going to feel good this year!

Christmas Number Two

2011-01-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

Using her oven mitt to take our her baking creation, "just like Mommy's".

Because of Mother Nature's apparent need to show who's boss and dump snowstorm upon snowstorm on us, we had to cancel our plans to travel to NJ to see John's family for Christmas. We just got a chance to go and see them and have our second Christmas. Which Sadie was very grateful! Thanks to Grandma and Papa, our little cook now has her own kitchen! She loves it and now one of her favorite things to do is cook us food (yes, I know, the definition of irony) and make us delicious coffees! I had to laugh at my stubborn little girl, as I tried to show her where the cream and sugar was for the coffee and she firmly told me no, to go and sit on the couch and she would do it herself. She proceeded to make an elaborate coffee concoction of coffee, salt, fresh ground pepper, chili powder, parsley and ginger. Yes, the kitchen has all of these spices! I was cracking up, and boy, it was the tastiest cup of coffee I had ever drank! She was very proud of it :) Cream and sugar are sooooo overdone anyways, am I right?!

She also got a toy that is fun for kids AND adults! Remember the piano from Big? She got one! A giant floor piano that you can run and jump on, she loves it! I love it! And I love that it gets some energy out of her. Now I just need Tom Hanks to come and do "Heart and Soul" on it with me. I loved that movie as a kid. :)

FUN!

It's All In The Accessories!

2011-01-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

Look out Suri Cruise, another toddler can rock a pair of heels! Here is Sadie enjoying playing dress up with her "clickity clack shoes" from Nana!

This is probably something only I am going to think is funny, but she is an adorable little swisher and she makes me giggle!

Wordless Wednesday: You Know She Is Growing Up When...

2011-01-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

... you can braid her hair!

Enjoying The Fruits Of Our Labors

2011-01-16T17:51:00.000-08:00

Our Sunday pasta treat. Delicioso!

I've been wanting to blog about this for awhile but blogging got pushed to the end of the list during the holidays. In November, a few friends and I got together for a kid free afternoon of catch up, girl talk, nibbles........ and about 6 solid hours of ravioli and tortellini making! I have always wanted to learn how to do this. I even have a pasta attachment for my kitchen aid, but there it sits, sparkling new and unused in the box in the basement. I had good intentions when making out that wedding registry, I really did...... So, anyways, when my friend, Dana, invited us all over to learn how to make homemade pasta treats, I was excited. We each made a different filling and this way we each would take home a few dinners to freeze and we would get to try new and different ravioli's. I made a spinach/mushroom/mascarpone cheese filling, and other fillings were pear/cheese, pork/cheddar, lasagna, spinach/feta/sun dried tomatoes, shrimp, four cheese and butternut squash. At the end of our 6 hours, we had handmade about 100 (yes, you read right, ONE HUNDRED) dozen of these beauties! I will admit, it was a bit labor intensive because of the amount of filling we had, but I am so glad I learned how to do all of this from scratch. I think we are all masters now. We could rival any little old Italian woman! And the big benefit? Ready made meals to go in the freezer! I can't wait to try them all. Tonight I tried the butternut squash ravioli's. They were in a word: Awesome. I will have to call Nanette (who made the filling) and sing her praises. Delicious. And I got to go through my Big Binder Of Recipes I Will Someday Make and find a sauce to go with it- Giada's brown butter sauce with cranberries, toasted walnuts and fresh sage was something I always wanted to make. It was the perfect compliment! John even liked it, and that says a lot coming from him. This isn't "John Food". :) He admitted he was skeptical at first, but really did enjoy it. I am so looking forward to trying all the fillings. So is from scratch better than store bought? In this case, definitely yes! But realistically, will I search the basement any time soon for my pasta attachment? Probably not. But it's a pretty good way to spend a few hours with friends, however my patience level is way too low to do it alone!

Picture perfect butternut squash filled ravioli's. These are Nanette's and it seems as if she had found her true calling. Look at these babies!

Dana and Nanette hard at work. Look at that concentration!

Kate and Jen showin' us how it's done! Rolling out sheets of pasta. Many, many sheets of pasta. Did I mention we made 100 dozen???

I Never Knew....

2011-01-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

... that quiche was so yum! Never had made one, but I had eggs and ham to use up and thought, eh, why not? I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I had remembered quiche not being all that great, but this was really tasty. I also for some reason thought it would be a healthy and light lunch to eat. Wrong again! In addition to the pie crust, all the eggs, cream, cheese, and ham made it so you needed only a small slice. Tasted great, but pretty heavy. And surprisingly, Sadie even tried some and liked it. That makes it a winner! Here is the recipe I used for a basic quiche, all I did extra was add the chopped ham. Would definitely recommend!

Snow Day!

2011-01-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

What to do on a snow day? Snowy things! We finally got a nice snow here, good packing snow, so we could practice our snowman making skills. Gum drop eyes, oreo cookie smile, gummy santa nose, mints as his buttons, scarf and hat. I noticed we forgot to give the poor guy some arms. Whoops! We had a great time, she loves the snow! We lucked out and didn't get clobbered like most others around here. We maybe got 8 inches tops. It rained here too, making it seem like less. I'm not complaining, a big snowstorm around here is not fun! Small, old streets + 20 inches of snow + on street parking= not leaving the house for a week.

We also got to taste test some fresh falling from the sky snow! Mmmmm!

And lastly, I copied a project they were doing in her school and we made fluffy snowman, painted with a "snow" of shaving cream and glue! When it dries, it stays puffy and squishy, very cool! She loved this. Especially the glitter part. Why do kids love glitter?! And why do they need to use a gallon of it per project?!

Ta Da! The finished product. Our super happy, fluffy snowman!

A Potty Story

2011-01-12T15:42:00.001-08:00

The lonely little potty. Waiting for some baby bum bums. Poor potty.

It's all ready and waitin' for some tiny hiney to sit and use it. Books are waiting to be read on it. Toys even. Chocolate rewards. But a certain little girl is resisting the potty. Here is a snippet of dialogue that happened yesterday as I noticed the tell-tale sign of Sadie going into a corner quietly.

"Do you need to go poops?"

"No."

"Let's go try the potty."

"No, I AM using the potty."

"You are?"

(Nod)

"That's not a potty, that's your diaper. The potty is in the bathroom. Come on, let's go try it."

"No, that potty's broken. I'm usin' this one here."

"It's broken?"

"Ya, it's broken. I'm usin' this one."

Uh huh. And she did.

Does anyone have any hints on how to potty train a stubborn little girl?! We are going nowhere here!

Hits and Misses

2011-01-09T14:29:00.000-08:00

I received two awesome cookbooks for Christmas from my Mom. One was The Slow Cooker Bible and the other was The Pioneer Woman Cooks. And we all know how much I love my crock pot AND my Pioneer Woman! The first recipe we chose was Chicken and Black Bean Chili. It's the one recipe I forgot to photograph. Oh, and John made it from start to finish! I LOVED this chili! Definitely one to keep. Great depth of flavor (which sometimes you don't get with a slow cooker) and chicken in the crock pot is always so tender. Served with shredded cheddar, sour cream, chips and corn bread (addicted to this stuff), it was an ultimate comfort meal. So, this was a hit.

The second hit was from Ree, the wonderful Pioneer Woman, called Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce. Ohhhh, baby. Delicious. Wonderful. But anything is, with an entire cup of heavy cream in the sauce. It was very simple, just fettuccine and this delectable sauce, with fresh basil sprinkled over the top. This would be fantastic with chicken or shrimp, as well. But...... lack of time made us stick to a simple recipe. We served it with some pesto flat bread and a glass of merlot, and divine, my dears!

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce. Eat this only in the winter, far, far away from beach season.

Now for the miss. At least for me. John on the other hand thought this was a huge hit. Which is why he ended up eating most of it. :) It was from the slow cooker bible and it was called Chinese Chicken Stew. The spice in this dish was chinese 5 spice, and I just don't think it's for me. I wasn't crazy about the type of smokiness that it lent to the dish. John likes to think he has a more diverse palate than me and that is why he liked it, but we all know the truth on that one. :)

Chinese Chicken Stew, a hit for some, a miss for others!

So hopefully I will be cooking a lot more lately, as I really slacked towards the last part of the year. On tonight's menu? A favorite around here: Bobby Flay's Meatloaf, with smashed potatoes and roasted asparagus (#1 veggie of choice in this house!). Wish me luck, somehow this meal always ends up taking me forever. I may have mentioned it before, but I am a slow cooker (pun intended)! Ah, that was a bad one.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Fairy Girl

2011-01-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

Ya know what is cool? Finding a pair of 3T fairy wings on clearance at Old Navy this Christmas. Paired with her homemade tutu from our friends Dana and Amelia, she was clearly in magical fairy heaven!

A New 'Do

2011-01-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

In honor of this new year, I thought I'd start it off by chopping my hair! Ok, so I did it a week ago, but I think it still counts. Out with the old, in with the new! I've had long hair for at least 15 years. That's a long time, my friends. And I've always been petrified of cutting it. Fearing the worst. I bit the bullet. It can always grow back, right? In the beginning of 2010, my hair was past the middle of my back. Now, a foot shorter and much less puffy, I start off my year a little bit braver, and a lot happier I finally took the plunge! See, I told you I love January Highs!

Deep Cleansing Breath

2011-01-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Sadie's celebration was at 7 pm, though.)

There is something cleansing about the start of a new year, no? A clean slate kind of feeling. The this-year-will-be-different fantasies flood in. It can be kind of euphoric! We're allowed to put the parts of last year that we'd rather forget, on a shelf waaaaay in the back, and with a clear mind and a renewed spring in our step, march forward into the new, the better, the happier 2011. In January, the possibilities seem limitless! We have a "let me at 'em!" approach to life. I think we all deserve and, most importantly, need this feeling of rebirth, new hope and anticipation. No, of course it doesn't last, but that's ok. It's job is already done. It gave us a chance to sit still for a moment to think (a precious gift in and of itself) and reevaluate our lives and figure out what changes we would like to make. It lets us dream a little bit. It can give us inspiration. If we're lucky, some motivation. So what if it doesn't always last? If it wasn't for January, we'd never do it these things period, we're too busy! I really appreciate the January New Year High. So to all of you in this new year, I wish you health, inner peace, contentment with what you have, dreams that inspire you, and motivation to make them happen. Happy New Year!

Wordless Wednesday: Merry Christmas!

2010-12-29T10:21:00.000-08:00

Nana had snow for Christmas so we got to go sledding! Thanks for the sled, Nana!

Homemade cookies (decorated by our little elf herself) and a carrot for the reindeer. She loved this part!

Opening her stocking and thoroughly enjoying it!

Loving a present from Santa- a doll high chair.

Christmas candy cane dress.

Hoping everyone had a very merry Christmas, now onto the New Year!

Sing It, Sadie!

2010-11-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

My future Broadway singer! (The memory was full on my camera and unfortunately cut off her Grand ABC's Finale, but it's still a sweet video.) She was quite entertaining at dinner tonight!

Wordless Wednesday: "It's Q-uge!"

2010-11-17T11:41:00.001-08:00

As Sadie told me "It's the biggest tower ever seen! It's Q-uge!" (How she pronounces huge, no "h", it starts with a "q". Hee hee.)

A Really Long Photo Recap

2010-11-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

Let's start with the most important thing: Pom-Pom Hats. A-dorable. Love them. I mean, how cute is that??

How did I not blog about Halloween? Sadie was a ladybug. No, wait, she was a monkey. Ok, she was both. Why? Because she's a toddler and adamantly refused to wear the monkey costume at first. So that's where the ladybug costume came in. (Thank you Old Navy for cheap costumes). Somehow that one was ok. But in true toddler fashion, by the time Halloween actually rolled around, she decided, that she did in fact, want to be a monkey after all. Girls are so fickle.

Ladybug Sadie.

Monkey Sadie.

And then there is potty training. We love to sit on the potty, oh yes we do. And sing on it. And play with bath toys on it. And make those turtle/duck/dolphin bath toys pee pee in the potty. And tell Mommy excitedly "Pee pee's are coming! Pee pee's are coming!!" But she's just jerking me around, people, because no pee pee's have ever made it into the potty.

The face she made when I told her to "smile".

Also, an obsession has started with Blues Clues. I mean, she loooooves that show. The other day I walk into her room about to read her a book before nap and find her cozied in her chair, with Blue on her lap, and she is "reading" to HIM. Oh my goodness, so cute.

And speaking of naps, I think this two and a half year old is starting to transition out of them. Isn't that a little young?! I was fairly devastated when it first started happening. Wasn't sure how I was going to cope without "my" nap time during the day. But a wonderful thing would happen every time she wouldn't nap. She'd pass out for the night at like 7:30pm! I will definitely forfeit a nap if it means that early of a bedtime!

Lastly, we discovered how much Sadie loves boats, when we drove to see family in NY and had to take 3 ferries to get there. Sadie was in heaven! We also discovered that our car has a sense of humor- the only time our car has ever died on us was when we were driving home from NY that evening, right before getting on the first of the three ferries! That was nice of our car. It is currently still being fixed, a week after the incident. Murphy's Law, people. The positive side of the car break down was that we got to spend more time with family that weekend and Sadie got to sleep over her cousin's house- she was psyched!

Sadie on her first boat ride. Excited? Nah.

Gio and Sadie. We were there for Gio's baptism.

Uncle Eddie, Luke, Sadie and John at the restaurant after the baptism. The cousin's had a blast together!

Wordless Wednesdays: Two Anniversaries

2010-10-20T15:05:00.001-07:00

Our wedding anniversary.

Sadie's anniversary of being tube-free for exactly one year. This day has a lot of meaning for me. Picture was taken the day I pulled it out. A year later and life has changed for the better for us so much.

Catch Up

2010-10-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

I keep meaning to blog about a couple of things, so here goes...

One of the best things about raising a toddler is showing them new things. Everything is amazing to them. Last weekend we went with a couple friends to Roger Williams Park Zoo since it was a beautiful day and Sadie had never been to a zoo. We were pretty sure she'd love it. And our instincts were right on the money. This is her reaction to the first animal we came across- a zebra:

I love that pic! That says it all. "You mean..... those things in my books are.... REAL?!?!" So priceless! Sadie had her friend, Amelia, with her, and that made the day even better for her. They were pretty adorable playing and looking at all the animals together. Definitely a great activity, I can't believe it's taken me so long to take her. It's a perfect zoo for kids. Small, but has some great things to see.

Watching the very real zebras.

We also went to a surprise birthday party for a friend last weekend. In classic Sadie form, she of course refused to nap the day we really needed her to (and the days I want her to stay up because of an afternoon activity, she passes out cold.) and I was preparing myself for a short stay at the party. And a very cranky little girl. I was pleasantly surprised though that she sat all throughout dinner and even tried some of the clam bake food. Then came the dancing. Oh, the dancing! She was in her element then and you would never know she had no nap. She and her friends ruled that dance floor! Around 9, we decided to go, because we didn't want to push our luck. I brought her pj's in case she conked out on the way home and she protested loudly in the bathroom as she was being dressed "NO!! I wanna DANCE!!". I seriously think she could have danced the night away. But as soon as we we in the car and down the street, she was deeply asleep! No tantrums, a night out...... ahhhh..... nice. :)

Sadie and Amelia dancin' the night away.

Also, down the street from us they had a jack-o-lantern walk through the woods and we bundled up and met a few friends for a nighttime Halloween stroll. It was so cool! Over a thousand pumpkins along the trail. It was so pretty and just a perfect October night to see all the lit pumpkins. I heart fall so much.

A group of jack-o-lanterns on the trail.

Go Rhody!

So that's been the latest happenings in our adventures in Rhode Island. We're in full fall mode and loving it!

Wordless Wednesday: Why Housework Takes So Long

2010-10-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

A Close Call

2010-10-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

It's a sad story, folks, but thankfully with a happy ending. Imagine, if you will, opening up Facebook and seeing that one of your most favorites places for good eats updated that they just concocted a delicious homemade pumpkin ice cream, that could be mine, mine, all MINE for the taking! Oh joy! Oh rapture! It's all I could think about. It's all I could dream about. Unfortunately for John, it's all I could talk about. I finally got over there and eagerly bought their completely ridiculously overpriced pumpkin ice cream, which had better have been made with the utmost love, care, and delicious ingredients available to man for that price. So I race home, run inside and grab a spoon and prepare for utopia..... only to be utterly disappointed. It really..... wasn't all that great. I just kind of stood there in my kitchen, with my empty spoon, feeling kind of deflated. It was way too pumpkin-y and not near enough sweet ice cream-y. Le sigh. What to do? I hated to waste it, it was that expensive, and also, I still needed my pumpkin fix. But an idea hit (they are few and far between), what goes better with pumpkin than ginger??? I took some ginger cookies and sandwiched the ice cream between them and voila- Pumpkin Ginger Ice Cream Sandwiches were born! And ya know what? PERFECTION! It was exactly the flavoring needed- pumpkin disaster avoided!! And no, I haven't OD'd on pumpkin yet, in case you were wondering. :)

Wordless Wednesday: PAPA!

2010-10-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Cozy Corner time!

Happy Sadie with her Papa.

Papa brought Sadie a big surprise- her first tricycle! Big girl now!

Having a ball, playing ball!

Things To Love About That Girl!

2010-10-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

1) Her genuine love for vacuuming. Seriously. If I want to get her out of a bad mood, I say, "Hey, you wanna vacuum with me???" (That's her doggy vacuum.)

2) Her obsession with puddle stomping! I made her day with a rainy day walk and puddle hunt today.

3) Naked reading on the couch. HA! This cracked me up when I walked into the room. Reading a catalogue on the couch, so chill and laid back, so adult!

4) My current favorite video. Her intently working on her painting, singing "apples and bananas", and then a lengthy explanation on what she was making. :)

Oh The Life Of A Toddler....

2010-09-24T10:58:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-22T18:54:00.001-07:00

(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.

2010-09-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-01T17:26:00.000-07:00

First Days Of School

2010-08-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

Our first two days of school were a success! I am so proud/happy/relieved simultaneously- Sadie did a great job even though I am sure it was hard on her in the beginning. In true Shannon style, the first two mornings getting ready to drop Sadie off at her new school at 8 am, was a complete disorganized mess, and I didn't get any photos! All those little things like breakfast, packing her a hot lunch, guzzling down coffee all took more time than expected! Oh, and I overslept. Both days. So.... no pictures yet. I'll try the next day she goes to school. So, school went really well for her. She was sad the first day I left, her little lip trembled and did that heartbreaking pout thing that kills me, but the teacher said she recovered quickly and amazingly, no tears. When I called to see how she was, she was chasing kids around the playground. :) Then, when I went to pick her up, she didn't want to leave! Today, she was much better when I left, and had a great time with her new friends. I owe the eating program she was in this summer a lot- if it wasn't for them, the first time leaving her at the school would have been bad. But she already had a taste of it this summer and it helped a ton. Not too much eating going on yet, but I think she needs to get used to it there first. I think this is going to be a great experience for Sadie. And did I tell you that her teacher is the woman who rented our old apartment we just left?! Small island world. Both teachers seem great, so happy with the school so far.

So guess who is the most adorable pregnant girl ever?! This weekend was Allison's baby shower and it was soooo good to see her! She seriously had the pregnancy glow about her and just looks beautiful. Poor thing is in her third trimester in flippin' August! It was a great shower and just so great to see her, I would have been so upset if I didn't get to see a pregnant Al!

Pregnancy glow!

Allison opening up her baby Ghost Hunters onesie! She got me one for my shower, so I had to get one for her little muffin!

And lastly, when we got home today, we had a box from Target on our doorstep. In it was Sadie's first big girl sheet and comforter set for her crib (it's meant for a toddler bed, but we're not there yet!) and she was so excited! She actually said "I love it!" and wanted to cuddle up in it right away, even though it was 90 degrees out. And she wanted me to go under it too. I was dying!

Sadie's new kitty/doggie comforter and her paw print sheet set. Gotta love Target.

She's Got The Shoe Gene

2010-08-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

With a Mom who perpetually steps out of the house in her one pair of reefs, not sure how Sadie got her love of shoes. But you say the word "shoe" and her eyes light up and wants to see and try on those shoes ASAP. I was out tonight and found a pair of $5 sandals and Sadie got SO excited to try on some Mommy shoes. Very funny to see! It brought back memories of going through my Mom's closet and trying on her 70's platform shoes, and attempting to walk around the house in them (remember that, Mom???)!

Wordless Wednesday: Enjoying The New Cozy Corner

2010-08-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

OMG.

2010-08-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

Do you know how weird it is to be buying a lunch box and thermos for your two-year old kid??? Very. Very, very, very! Well, the unthinkable has happened- Sadie is officially enrolled into some part time daycare. OMG! The main reason is to give her the experience of eating with other kids (without Mom around) and hopefully to watch and learn, and also, just for some group socialization (also, without Mom around). So for two half days a week, she will go to..... SCHOOL!! I even found a tiny backpack. And it's seriously "awwww" on her too. She is excited about going and this week is her "orientation" (ha ha!). Thank God for it, though. We go each day this week for an hour to meet her teachers and her classmates. The first two days went well. Tomorrow, I will leave her alone for part of it (NOT going to be a fun scene!! Her poor teachers will get to hear her lung power), and by Friday, just drop her off. Sooooo..... fingers crossed, when I drop her off on Monday, it won't be a major meltdown. Mommy, however, will be having her own meltdown in the car. Yup, I'm slightly ..... terrified. It's a big deal, being it's the first time really leaving her in a school setting without knowing anyone. Sunday night, I will be a nervous wreck, ha! I know the beginning will be tough for her (me), but that she will adjust and have a good time there. She already loves all the new toys. And there is a boy named Connor who keeps following her around, but I won't tell John that. :) I didn't think I would see the day this would happen and I know it will be so good for her. Wish her (me) luck!

A Friday Night Out

2010-08-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

Friday nights are usually fairly uneventful, but last night was the last of the Family Beach Nights, sadly marking the "end" of summer. (Sniff, sniff.) We got together with friends and had pizza on the beach, listened to the Navy Band, played in the water and sand, and at the end, they lit a bonfire. A nice mom on the beach offered to take our picture, and we took her up on it because there is a shortage of family pics. I love it because we are all actually smiling and looking at the camera- that is nothing short of a miracle! Sadie had a blast with her girlfriends, which was the real highlight of the night. Love seeing them play together!

Skylar, Amelia, and Sadie. It's not hard to imagine giggly girl (lack of) sleep overs in their future.

Sadie can't resist a good tickle!

Wordless Wednesday: Street Dancin' With My Girl

2010-08-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

Grateful

2010-08-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

What for? Well, I'm extremely grateful for the band that was playing next door to where we ate dinner this past weekend when visiting my family! Small towns aren't used to being mobbed with people, so dinner took a long time come. A long time. Which would have been quite unpleasant with an impatient two year old, I'm sure anyone would agree! However, since I have a music and dance lover on my hands, it was actually a pretty fun wait! I think it was entertaining to other patrons as well. :)

Top 10 Things I Learned At The Zucchini Festival

2010-08-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

We trekked it home to see my family this weekend, to attend the now annual Zucchini Festival 2010! As you might imagine, it's a small town festival that centers around...... zucchini! And it rocks! Petting zoo, lots of people selling homemade crafts, every type of zucchini related food, hot air ballooning, music, hula hooping, euro bungee (google it), and even some type of crazy zucchini rolling contest. Take my word for it- these people don't mess around with their zucchini's. We had a fantastic weekend and here's what I learned:

#10- When my Mom drinks, there is no telling what she will do. I tried to tell her I thought it was illegal to leave restaurant premises with her drink in hand, but as evidenced below, she did not listen! Nana, the Rebel.

#9- My mom's memory fails her when on her second glass of wine. This picture was taken just as she was reminded that she was supposed to be designated driver that night!

#8- Zucchini Art is just plain AWESOME.

#7- Sometimes only a photo can capture how alike sisters are!

#6- I got some great Kelley shots to be used for my next funny card/craft project.

#5- That as Catholic as my Mom is, it was OK to steal her granddaughter a balloon. This picture is before Nana pulled out her handy dandy scissors (only my mom keeps a pair of scissors in her purse) and snipped one for her. Straight to hell, Nana. Straight to hell.

#4- Dancing in the streets with your family to Samba music and attempting to hula hoop is flipping FUN and should be done as much as possible!

#3- That I come from a really crunchy granola area, as evidenced by t-shirts proclaiming "Eat More Kale" and more Birkenstocks than I can shake a stick at.

#2- Zucchini's make awesome centerpieces.

#1- And the #1 thing I learned was that when there are that many farm animals in one spot, someone is bound to step in goat shit. Sorry it had to be you, Kelley. :)

Wordless Wednesday: First Happy Meal

2010-08-11T11:52:00.001-07:00

Not too much eating going on, but she sure loves "dipping" things! And she had a great time!

Kissafur

2010-08-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those awesome mornings that make you glad it's summer. Sitting outside on a blanket, enjoying the sun and warm breezes, having a good time with friends listening to our favorite children's performer, Mr. Christopher! He runs the music class that Sadie has gone to since she was 5 months old. Sadie loves, loves, loves Mr. Christopher. She used to call him "Fur Fur" and now, a bit better verbally, he is "Kissafur" :) Music class used to be my one "get out of the house with other Mom's" (hell, with other people!) way back when. I looked forward to that class all week - I owe that class big! Now it's a blast because we've gone for so long and with many of the same people- it's a great group. He is amazing with the little ones, gets them all involved and they love him. So...... when I told Sadie that Kissafur was going to be playing guitar on the lawn of the library, a huge grin lit up her face and this morning it was HER prompting ME to get out of the house! So just a cute video of Sadie letting the music move her and a pic too. Oh happy summer!

Really getting into it! And thanks to Auntie Kelley for the awesome Etsy dress! Or known to Sadie as the Lemon Dress.

Enjoying Summer

2010-08-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's August already. Where did the summer go?? We've had such beautiful weather this weekend, we thought it would be fun to go to one of the local farms and pick some fresh fruit with Sadie. Last year, she had no interest in it except to run around, but this year she loved it. We picked blackberries, blueberries and peaches and she tasted each one! She loved the berries the best, probably because she could easily pick them herself and put them in the little basket. Pretty much every one she picked, she would taste, then put in the basket. :) So..... this fruit is probably not for sharing! She seemed to really like the juice of the blackberries, and these bad boys were really juicy, so it almost looked like a scene out of True Blood after we left that berry patch. :) Great time had by all. But now...... I have all this fruit to use up! So I found a recipe for peach crisp that sounded delish and also a blueberry coffee cake, and it's been SO long since I've baked (or cooked, really), that I'm excited to try these out. Especially with the fresh fruit. Leave it to me to make fruit bad for you!

Inspecting this curious fruit, never tasted before.

Sadie's commentary on blueberry picking.

The program Sadie was in stopped this past week, so we now have our summer back. Looking very forward to that. And to not drive 2 hours a day. The program did wonders for her. We still have a long way to go, but they broke through the barrier that we couldn't- they got her to start chewing. It's kind of hit or miss right now, and we have good eating days and bad ones (but don't all toddlers??), and she is in such a better place right now than she was in June. It felt like I'd never see the day she would crunch Kix at breakfast or eat small pieces of mac and cheese or eat ice cream or american cheese. And just try different things and experiment. The latest? A McDonald's french fry!! I gave it to her because we had dinner on the run tonight and expected her to lick the salt and ketchup off, or start to chew it and spit it out. She ate the entire fry! I was shocked and she was extremely proud of herself. So was I. Sometimes you never see even the smallest light at the end of the tunnel, and then you get something like this today, and it shows you that progress is indeed being made. Good progress, at that.

Off to bed, we had a fun weekend and we did a lot, but now Mama's tired. Night, all.

Wordless Wednesday: C Is For Cookie

2010-08-04T10:14:00.001-07:00

A Woman Of Few Words (Well, Today)

2010-07-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

Had an awesome time hanging out with Karen and Fam! By the end of the night, the three of them were holding hands walking out of the restaurant. ADORABLE!

It's been a tiring week and my brain isn't up for writing an actual blog, but we did get some fun pictures the past few days, so I think I'll just post those to show what adventures we've been having in Rhode Island. :)

Eating some more of that yummy soft serve ice cream. My favorite pic of the summer.

Being a beach bum and giving sneak attack hugs for friends.

Cuddling with her favorite kitty, Bean, in her kid-size Poang chair from IKEA. Man, I love that place. And yes, that is Bean's entire head in her hands. He is a very tolerant kitty.

Wordless Wednesday: Like Mommy, Like Daughter

2010-07-21T17:52:00.001-07:00

Girls Night!

2010-07-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Roomies- Me, Karen, and Moe.

Old friends rock. We don't get to see each other nearly enough, but when we do, it's like college all over again- both laughter and alcohol flow freely! It's become tradition now to have a yearly reunion when Karen and her family fly in for a visit, and it's so much fun to catch up with these girls, and to reminisce about our wild college days. :) (Note: Stories will be omitted so my Mom still thinks all I did in college was study and go to church.) I think friendships that you can pick up where you left off every time you meet are hard to come by and it's one of the many reason's why I heart these gals. Plus, they have way too much dirt on me... Miss you guys, next time it's an overnight trip!

One of the best pics of the night- contemplating a crime! I'm giggling now as I write this.

Drinks and friends, what could be better? Well, as long as that drink is a Cherry Bomb, right Karen?!

Ginny and Kim, friends in college, now sis-in-laws!

Wordless Wednesday: Aww yaaa, Rhody

2010-07-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

Kite Festival

2010-07-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

I am now a big fan of the Kite Festival that is held every year at Brenton Park. We headed down there this morning and set up a little picnic area on the grass, ate yummy snacks, watched the colorful kites against a vibrant blue sky, introduced Sadie to soccer and had a blast with my $1 huge Walmart bubble wand I bought 2 years ago but never used. I didn't expect it to be so relaxing, laid back and fun, but it was. It's just kind of cool to see tons of kite's being flown all at once, especially on such a not-a-cloud-in-the-sky kind of day. However, I did not anticipate being down there that long and neglected to put on any sunscreen except for my face (thank God for that) and I am quite the crispy critter as I sit here and type. Oww. I must have gotten cocky with that post about me being tanner than John. A little overly confident in my melanin production. Perhaps it was all that gloating I did. Is this karma?! What was this pale-as-pale-can-be girl thinking. Well, my tanning euphoria is gone alright- and oh, and I'm not tanner than him anymore! Fairly short-lived, eh?! Anyways, we thoroughly enjoyed our extra big dose of vitamin D today!

Oh, and I got to see Eclipse today finally! Two glorious vampire-filled, kid-free hours- in AC! It was wonderous, I tell you. And the movie was great too! GO TEAM EDWARD!

Putting that $1 bubble wand to good use, Sadie loved it! This picture also captures why my shoulders and back are fried right now. My legs, however, are still a ghastly shade of white. It's like some cruel cosmic joke God enjoys playing on me. Every flippin' year.

Future World Cup Champ.

This photo has nothing to do with the kite fest. Just a sweet pic of Daddy and his little girl!

You Go, Girl.

2010-07-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Everything tastes better in a cream sauce, Sadie!

I am always reluctant to write about any possible food progress with Sadie because anytime she might seem like she has taken a step ahead, it never pans out, and we end up right where we started. But I think this time I will share a little because I'm really proud of her and I do think that she is honestly showing a little progress. This photo was taken last night at dinner. No, she was not actually eating fettuccine alfredo, but she is doing stuff here that she doesn't often do. Getting her hands dirty and really experimenting with the noodles, even breaking off small pieces and not spitting them immediately out but enjoying the taste of the sauce (even saying mmm!) and letting them stay in her mouth for a bit. The foods I make for her are starting to be accepted slightly more and she is doing better with textures. Just small things, but promising because she has been doing all of them for over a week, not just once. It's going to start small like that though, and hopefully build to more. Then last night, we found out a soft serve ice cream shop opened in walking distance (YAY!) and went to get ice cream. She did so awesome with it! This is definitely something very new- Sadie enjoying the ice cream and actually eating some of it! It was not long ago we wouldn't have been able to sit and enjoy ice cream with her, so to be able to do this with her, was wonderful in it's normalcy. And just really good for our spirits to see!

So we'll just see what happens with it, continue on with the program, and hope for the best!