Menu Plan

Here's a look at what's happening in the kitchen this week. Most of these recipes can be found on my menu board, if you want them. :)

Jedi Knights-in-Training

A few weeks back, we had some crazy morning storms. It was so dark outside! So, naturally, we set up the tent in the living room and kept the lights off for a good while. They boys were so excited about camping out. Andrew had asked me for flashlights. After some searching (lol- I am a bit unorganized in the flashlight department), I found the glow stick flashlights - one was in an Easter package from Nana and another one I grabbed from Target when I saw it was on clearance. They usually run about 7 or 8 bucks.

Anyway, somehow that decided to use them as light sabers! Ok, first, they have NOT seen any of the Star Wars movies (Though, I CANNOT wait until the day I get to show them!! I love Star Wars!!) and, second...I don't have a second...Hmmm... Whatever, it was so cool. I told them that they looked like my little Jedi, so that got the ball rolling on that idea. They loved it!

Simple Things

WOW! Time is flying past us! I don't think I even posted a picture for last week's simple thing... The summer is quickly coming to a close. Only a month and a couple weeks left until Andy goes back to school! 10 or so weeks until he is 3! AHHH!!! Crazy, right?

Well, while I catch up on some posts here are some pictures while you wait. :)

 From top left, clockwise: Andrew working on the railroad. Alex and his FIRST juice box! Alex taking a turn on the railroad. Those silly brothers having a blast in the tent and slightly annoyed I interrupted their fun for a picture LOL 

 

Impromptu Outing!

This past Tuesday I took the boys out to the McWane Center. Yep, by myself. I was praying the whole way there that A) I wouldn't regret doing this with 2 very independent toddlers and, B) that the place was not super busy. Fortunately, only 3/4 of that worked out. Ha! Andrew was a GREAT listener and was pretty patient when he needed to wait until it was his turn to do something. Alex...well, he was Alex. Mr. Man. I let him out of the stroller a few times so he could play with some of the things, but he sure did like to walk off...A LOT. But, on the bright side, I had a few moms and a dad tell me how good the boys were and all that stuff that makes mommies feel great! It was a great day and those 2 little guys LOVED the place! On to the pictures!!

 

Good times at McWane!! 

**Linking up with**
The MOB Society

Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday, we made and impromptu trip to the Science Center. I'm still going through the pics, but I though this would give some laughs in the meantime :)

Menu Plan

Here's a look at what I'm cooking up this week:

Looks good, huh?

For a look at the recipes I am using, follow me on Pinterest or stop by to take a look at my Menu Plan Board

Fantastic Fourth Fun {con't}

If you missed the first 1/2 of the day, click here!

Let's continue taking a look back at the fun we had on the 4th of July!

After nap time, it was time to get our cook out on complete with hot dogs and beans. And, of course, a festive dessert.

Afterwards, we just let them run around and play until it was time to go. They decided they wanted to play a game...on the Wii. What?!

 Andrew has a REAL Wii remote this time. He still doesn't know how to do it exactly (which is fine with me), but he had fun. Alex now has the pretend Wii. I can't find the post about it, but my friend, Rachel, found it while we were out shopping one day at Toys R Us. It is supposed to hold candy. I saw them today while getting diapers there. They only had pink... But they were about $4. 

While they were playing, I got our goodies together for watching the fireworks. I saw this idea on a blog that I read, Just a Girl, and LOVED it! In my goody basket we have, 2 rocket glow sticks ($1 bins at Target - got em 1/2 off), 2 fireworks buckets for treats ($1 bins at Target), pretzels, a thing of mixed nuts, wet ones (always a necessity), and a cooler of ice cold water. We got the guys ready for bed ahead of time so we didn't have to mess with it once we were back home.

 On the way to the Vulcan!

 Enjoying snacks and watching the fireworks!

 SO MUCH FUN!!!

 We hope y'all had a great holiday!!

Fantastic Fourth Fun

We had a TON of fun for the 4th of July - and, we hope y'all did, too! We started a day early with some Star-Spangled Ice Cream Sandwiches! All I did was grab some Fat Boy Mini Jr's and some festive sprinkles! And, voile! Party time! :)

Earlier, we headed to Sonic for lunch and got a fun summertime spinning top. Perfectly decorated in red, white, and blue.

The boys loved the treats, though Andrew was more in to it than Alex. That little guy will eat anything, but hand him ice cream and he could care less. It must be too cold, we guess.

After dinner, we watched Space Dogs. It such a cute movie. It was the story of the first 2 dogs in space, sent up by then-USSR. I thought it was appropriate for this month. Yes, it might have been about the Russian spaces program, but July 20th is the anniversary the first man on the moon sent up by our program - which, sadly, has slowly disappeared... One day we will go back. I really do believe that.

Anyway, the morning of the 4th, we had some blueberry breakfast cake to start the celebration! And, I ran around the kitchen and Target to finish the cakes I baked for our Church's Fourth of July Festival. Last year, I baked just one since Alex was younger and Andrew was "becoming a 2 year old" LOL. this year I got ambitious, then forgot about the 2nd one... But it is all good. Fun things happen at the last minute. Every year, just before the festival, the Church is asked to help out by baking cakes for the cake walk or volunteering in one of the booths. They provided boxed cake mixes and we do the rest. Like I said, I just did the one last year and just did the box mix and canned frosting. But this year, I got, again, ambitious... I didn't take a picture of the first one, but it was a snickerdoodle cake. YUM! The second one was my favorite - my Patriot Cake! Red, white, and blue marble cake with my last-minute-icing-and-decorations-because-I'm-insane-and-forgot-extravaganza. LOL, but for realzzz.

 Isn't is pretty?!

 OMG star-spangled awesomeness!

Time for the festival!

Remember, if you would like to see these pictures a little bit better, just click on them. A new window will appear with a bigger picture :)

 How cute are these guys? 

Collage on the left (starting at top left): Alex chilling; Andrew and Daddy; Andrew walking along the wall waiting for the fun to begin; Andrew says, "Time go!" as soon as he see the bouncy house moving LOL

Collage on the right (starting at top left): Getting a feel for the bouncy house; He got the hang of it!; Andrew and Alex rolling around, Alex the littlest monkey :)

 The really enjoyed this thing! It was great, too, since it was in the shade. Plus, they were the only ones in there for a while.

Once they did decide to come out, we headed over to the games. 

It was getting hotter and we were all getting hungry so instead of staying out in the heat, we decided to grab some lunch somewhere else.

Time to head home for naps and get ready for the rest of the day's festivities!


Click here to see the rest of the day!

Blueberry Muffin Cookies

After our blueberry extravaganza last week, I have been baking all sorts of goodies. I have made blueberry bread, blueberry breakfast cake, added blueberries to salads, etc. But, I think our favorite thing was the blueberry muffin cookies. YUM!!

I found this recipe on Pinterest, of course, through Baker's Royale. And, yes, I did have 2 little helpers in the kitchen! Andrew helped add the ingredients to the mixer while Alex attempted to watch. Instead, he stole blueberries from the bowl I had set aside... He is such a stinker, but he is SO CUTE!

Here are the cookies!!

I know, right?! They are pretty awesome.

I had to change up the original recipe a bit. I didn't have cottage cheese and Jason isn't a big fan of the extra stuff on the top. So, here is what I did:



Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Ingredients:
10 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup of cottage cheese, pureed 1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
4 oz raspberries
6 oz blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Preheat over to 375. Cream butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and yogurt.
2. Add in dry ingredients. I use my stand mixer with my favorite attachment (Now that I'm thinking about it now, I don't use any other attachment...) Mix for about 2-3 minutes on stir or 1 speed.
3. Add in blueberries, just until combined.
4. Using non-stick foil or a generously greased cookie sheet drop dough about the size of 2 tbsp.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven... Mine is wacky. So, I had to do 10 minutes.
6. Cool and enjoy!

Note: In case you were wondering why I didn't combine my dry ingredients first, then sifting, then finally adding is because of Paula Deen. I can't remember the episode, but she had a guest that just added the stuff in without all those extra steps. They both agreed that they didn't know the reason for "all the fuss." Ever since then, I haven't done that either. And, I do not taste or see any difference in the end product. Just thought I'd share!

Boys Boys Boys

It is never a dull day at the house. When Andrew was about 14-15 months he was much calmer than Alex. Andrew ran around the house, sure. But never once did he do this:

Yep, that is Mr. Alex - Daredevil Extraordinaire with his latest trick involving mommy's coffee table. Oh, no. This picture is not the first time he dine this either. This is like the 800th time. Seriously. And he is only upset because he can't figure out how to get down.

I'm still trying to figure out how he gets up there. I know he steps onto the shelf part on the bottom, but then he's got some serious climbing to do. His little legs are so short at the moment! I swear I'm going to record it one of these days...

Of course, Andrew is all like, "WOW!" and he goes on to try out Alex's trick.

Awesome.

Ah, boys. LOVE IT!!