Weekend Wrap-Up

Labels: , , - Tuesday, October 26, 2010

What a weekend!  It was a busy one, but  a good one. 

Friday evening, Jack and I went down to the Fort Worth Stockyards for the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering.  Basically, it's where a bunch of people dress up in their authentic cowboy best and get their horses, wagons, and other paraphernalia together, and hang out in the stockyards.  Jack had a whole lot of fun and Aunt Kat is the perfect stockyards tour guide!  If we asked Jack what he liked best, he'd probably say his snack trap filled with goldfish.  He wouldn't let go of that thing for anything!  It was his security blanket of sorts.

Saturday, after a fun and delicious dinner with our supper club we headed to the TCU game!  Go Frogs! 
Happy with Daddy, time to go home with Aunt Kat. 


Sunday...oh Sunday.  Well, we were all up and ready for church.  Jack had on this ADORABLE green and white checked smocked jon jon.  He was so cute.  Beside the point, but still, he was so cute!  So, coffee and Bibles in hand, we turn the alarm on and head out the door.  Right after the door shut, Jeff said, "Did you grab the keys?"  Um, no.  I didn't.  "Are the spare keys in the back?"  Um, no.  I forgot to put them back out last time I used them.  Really?  So we had church in the backyard, waiting for the locksmith to show up.  Not the perfect start.  But, once the locksmith got here and helped up get back in the house, Jack took a nap and we decided to have Sunday lunch out.  Usually we have family lunch on Sundays, which is so wonderful.  But this week, Jeff's parents were visiting his brother in Baltimore, my mom was lunching with some friends from church, and my sister was helping out with a presentation at Sunday school.  So it was just the three of us at Pappacito's!  And Jack learned that he loves rice.  And beans.  But not rice and beans off of a fork or spoon.  The taste much better one handful at a time. 


The Motley Barnyard Crew

- Monday, October 18, 2010

This is what happens when you have a 1 year old and a dog.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

Labels: - Saturday, October 16, 2010

Jack's been a stinker when it comes to eating vegetables, so I've decided to keep trying to trick him get creative and get some veggies in that boy!  And what better way to get creative in the fall than with pumpkin!!  Pumpkin is a superfood squash, loaded with all kinds of good stuff, so it's a great thing for the kiddos to love.

I've already shared my amazing banana bread recipe and this is simply a pumpkin take on that recipe!  One thing you should know about my cooking/baking...I like to wing it.  I'm bad with exacts, I don't always measure well...and that's totally reflected in this recipe...so basically, use this as a skeleton and add in whatever else sounds good to you!

Pumpkin Bread:
 1/2 can of pumpkin (I usually use the other half to make pumpkin pancakes)
1 c sugar
1 egg
1.5 c whole wheat flour (You can totally use white flour, but the whole wheat flour makes it sooooo tasty!!!!)
1/4 c melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp of any fall spices.  you could use cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice...use whatever's on hand
1/2 cup chopped pecans (Optional...I don't do the pecans because Jeff is allergic and Jack's not doing nuts until he's 2.  But the pecans would make it sooooo good.  And a little tip.  Toast your pecans before you add them.  It makes a WORLD of difference!)

Bake in greased loaf pan at 325 for 1 hour.

I've realized lately that the best way to make quick breads in our house is in mini muffin style.  I mean, how much easier is it to pop out a mini muffin than to slice a piece of bread?  Ok, not that much easier, but when I make bread, it tends to sit around and get forgotten.  For some reason, the mini muffins last 2 days, max!  And they're so easy for Jack to shove in his mouth.  And he does.

So, I made almost 3 dozen mini muffins and baked them for about 15 minutes at 350 and they were delish!  Next time I'm thinking I'm going to add shredded carrots to the mix.  The whole wheat flour gives it a great hearty taste and I think carrots will absolutely make the muffins!  Maybe even toss in a few golden raisins, too.  Yes, it's becoming a spice/carrot cake muffin, but if I can get Jack to eat any veggies in a muffin, I will have won a battle! 

Sooooo, enjoy the muffins!

Dinner time!

- Wednesday, October 13, 2010

 We had spaghetti for dinner tonight.

I think someone enjoyed it!

 Gotta have juice to go with spaghetti!

And the night ended, surprisingly, with a bath. 

Precious!!

1 Year Molar Time

- Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ok.  So.  Jack's teething.  Yes, again. 

I swear someone told me that the first teeth a baby cuts are the worst.

They were wrong.  WRONG.

Teething turns my sweet, funny, happy, nap taking toddler
into a cranky, crying, 5am waking toddler.

This is not my child.

This is the worst bought of teething we've had. 

It's terrible watching my precious child be in pain and aggrevated constantly.

He's soooooooooooooo tired, but can't sleep.

On a normal day, he never has his paci out of his crib.
These days, he is never without his paci out of the crib.

Things Jack loves right now...

- Wednesday, October 6, 2010

  • Walking.....as in not strolling.......not sitting in a high chair.......just walking. 
  • Being outside.....and walking outside.  But not in the grass.  Crossing the border between our concrete patio and the yard is like a entering into the abyss.  And it's only to do cautiously, slowly, and for very short periods of time.
  • Banging everything......and walking around banging everything.  He loves to carry around his plastic baseball bat and bangs it on the floor while he walks.  He carries around his plastic golf club and bangs it on the floor while he walks.  He carries around his ladle and bangs it on the floor while he walks.  And if he's on the floor for a millisecond, he's found something to bang while he's there. 
Did I mention he likes to walk? 
Ok, just checking
  • Throwing food over the edge of the high chair to signal to me that he's done eating.  I guess that's what happens when I decided that I didn't want him to throw food, so if he threw food twice, meal time was over.  Well now he just waits until he's full, throws a piece of pasta over, and looks at me like, "Ok, mama, done!"  And he is!
  • Throwing toys, balls, puzzle pieces, blocks, books...ok, throwing everything!  Most of the time he throws something and then laughs soooooo hard!  He thinks it's hysterical!  And it kinda is...
  • Feeding Vincent goldfish crackers.  He'll sit on the floor with his snack trap full of goldfish and place them very intentionally on the floor all around him so Vincent can eat them!  And they both love it!  Who knew the snack trap would be so bonding!
  • Throwing the paci into the crib after naptime.  When he wakes up and we pick him up, he keeps his paci in as long as possible.  But we'll stand right by the crib and tell him to "Just throw it in there!" And he giggles and smiles....and throws it right back into the crib for next time.
  • Watching people leave out of the picture window in the front.  As soon as someone walks out the front door, he walks right on over to the window and stands there until they've driven off!  And he knows that's where he can watch for Dada to come home.  Cutie!!!
  • Saying Uh-oh!  And saying it a lot!  Uh-oh means pretty much everything.  It's not just what we say when we drop something.  We say it all the time.  Just walking around the house...."Uh-oh!"
  • He knows exactly what things mean!  No, I'm serious.  If I say, "Jack, you want to go take a bath?"  He gets up and goes straight to the bathroom!  "Jack, time to take a nap!"  Straight to the bedroom.  "Jack, time to eat!" Into the kitchen! 
  • Going to pull Monk out of the crib for a snuggle.  Jack LOVES Monk!  I mean loves him.  If you even mutter Monk's name, he heads straight for the bedroom, reaches through the crib slats, and pulls Monk out to snuggle with for a minute. 
  • He does the same thing with his paci!  But he's sneaky about that.  He knows paci belongs in the crib, but every once in a while, he'll be in his room, all quiet...and sure enough, I'll walk back to check on things there he is, just sitting in there (ok, walking around in there) taking a few drags from the paci.
How is it possible for him to be so fun and funny!  And quirky!  And have such a cute little personality!!  It's such a blessing to see him grow and learn and become the little boy God created him to be!  I couldn't love him more.

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