Friday Favorites: Magnolia Market, Conversations, Breakfast, Swimming, & Everly

ONE

This past Saturday, we took our first official "Family of Five" outing. We took a day trip to Waco to see Magnolia Market and to go to the Mayborn Children's Museum on Baylor's campus. As we had been told, the area around Magnolia Market was super packed and we had to pay to park close. But, we put Everly in my wrap, held little hands and off we went to check it out. 

Honestly, it is a really neat place. The shopping is great and the prices were not as expensive as I was expecting for the Fixer Upper's store. The outside has a big turf area with balls, cornhole games, and hula hoops for kids to play. There are two shaded areas to sit and eat and there are food trucks for lunch. They just opened a garden store and are working on a bakery. If it was just me and Vic, we would have shopped, eaten, and hung out awhile. But, the one problem for our little family that day? It was SO HOT. It was ok inside in the a/c, but I was worried about Everly getting too hot in my wrap and getting sunburned outside when I tried to give her some air. And Atticus and Grace were doing the best they could, but they were just so hot too. So, after 45 minutes of checking everything out, we got back in the car and headed to lunch at Torchy's Tacos. After that, we surprised the kids with the Mayborn Museum. It was great! The bottom floor has normal museum rooms where we learned that Waco was grounds for many Plesiosaurus's and Woolly Mammoths at one time. The top floor is all for kids and had great rooms for kids to play and explore; they had a pioneer room, a dress up room, science rooms with bubbles and magnets, a room with old phones and typewriters, a weather room where you could stand in front of a green screen and see yourself doing the weather, and best of all for Grace....they had a Tea Party room. Grace is really into tea parties lately and this room was so cute. She was enthralled and she and I stayed there at least 25 minutes just letting her setup her tea party and then move it and set it up again. We were there 3 and 1/2 hours but we would go again! It was a great first outing for our family!

TWO

This is my new favorite breakfast to eat and it's healthy, so I have to share! First, scramble 2 eggs. Then, cut an English muffin in half. Split the eggs and place on top of each muffin. Add a little shredded cheese on top. Then, place a slice of tomato on top of the cheese and top with a little more cheese. Put in the oven on 450 degrees for 5 minutes to toast and melt. Oh my goodness! This is so delicious!

THREE

A couple funny things Atticus has said:

Atticus: "Hey mom look! That is the place you and Daddy used to eat when you were falling in love!" as we drove by a Taco Cabana recently. Technically, we used to go to Casa Ole, but it was cute that Vic had told him that story and he remembered it.

When he was setting up his dinosaurs and had me come check out his amazing setup:

Me: "Atticus, this is the best setup you've ever done! I don't even know what to say!"

Atticus: "It's ok Mom; you can just say 'good job Atticus!'

He and Grace both love Everly. Atticus will constantly ask me where "my sweet baby" is and tell me he wants to eat her toes for breakfast or give her a million kisses. And, he really does love to kiss her all the time or ask to look at her. Grace also loves to check on her, but mostly she wants to touch her. I have to constantly remind her to be gentle. But, the funniest thing she will do is say "coochy, coochy, coo Evewee!" all the time!

Oh and a couple other kids things: So, Atticus has told me he loves sorting and has been sorting toys all week. He has also been into watching American Ninja Warrior with Vic! As for Grace, she has been memorizing Doc McStuffins songs on the Disney app on my Iphone. She will try to sing the songs and the moves and is so proud. She has had her microphone out a lot more lately too to practice her singing!  

FOUR

We finished our 2 weeks of swim lessons yesterday. This is our 4th year to do them with the City of College Station. This year, Atticus and Grace were in the same age group of 3-5. When they get in the pool the first day, the teachers have them do a few things to determine what level they go into. So, Grace went to the youngest, least experienced group and Atticus was in the middle group. They have 1-2 teachers per 3-4 kids so they get lots of attention. The first day, Grace got scared and cried the entire time and would not stay in the water. But, the next day, they sucked her in when they gave the little kids tiny pitchers to pour water onto their teachers' heads. Grace loved this so she was happy to go each day. She did good, although she would NOT even try to blow bubbles in the water. They would ask her to try and she would just shake her head politely "no". By the last day, she would get down and blow on top of the water and that was it.

Atticus, however, thrived this year! He still cannot swim on his own yet, but from day one, he put his head in the water and was so proud! He did it anytime they asked and sometimes just for fun. He worked on floating and swimming with help and I was so proud of him. However, let me tell you the funniest part. Although I was proud of his excitement to put his head under the water, he had me laughing so much when he did it. He has a very dramatic, choreographed method to do this. He starts out standing up high with his arms flexed and in the air and then he squeezes his eyes shut, holds his breath, squats up and down a couple of times and then maybe repeats this whole method again until he gets his courage up to go under and THEN he finally goes under the water. He comes back up and rubs all of the water out of his eyes. It really is hilarious in person because when the teacher asks them to do 5 bobs in the water, (which should take about 10 seconds), he goes through this entire process which takes longer. It's no big deal but it's cute and funny! 

 

Also, the last 3 days of swim lessons, his class put on life jackets and got into the big pool to practice. On the last day, they let all the kids go down the big log slide. Again Atticus surprised me with not hesitating at all to do it. However, I did notice that he let all the other kids go first and then when it was his turn, he took a few seconds before he would slide down. His face was hilarious though! And he was so proud!

FIVE

And last but not least, Everly turned 2 months this week!

Happy Friday everyone!!

Friday Favorites: Weather, Recipe, Gymnastics, Conversations, and more!

Here are some of my favorite things from this past week:

ONE

After an afternoon of thunderstorms and tornadoes and watching the news constantly on the computer, Atticus and Grace decided to make a shelter for their legos and princesses and ponies. The next day:

Atticus: "Daddy are the storms over yet?"
Vic: "I think so, why?"
Atticus: "I need to know if my legos can go back to legoland or if they need to stay in their shelter."

During the storm, out of the blue, I hear:

Atticus: "Mommy, we have two options: we can take shelter or we can panic. I choose panic!" and then he runs around like a crazy 5 year old.

And a couple other funny, non-weather related statements:

Atticus (talking about Everly): "She's just so cute I can't keep my eye off her." (note that it is a singular eye; not both. Every time, he says it this way.)

Atticus talking to Everly from a few feet away: "Oh Everly; look over here." (as Everly bobbles her head around and doesn't look at him)
Me: "Everly probably can't see you very well. Babies can't see very far away when they are little."
Atticus: "Yeah, but they do have their instincts."
**um...what?"
 

TWO

These kids are really into using their imaginations lately. They will play so well together or apart and I haven't heard too many phrases of "What can I do? I don't know what to do." The funny thing is that sometimes they are SO proud of how well they are using their imaginations and will tell me. And Grace will say "ima-ination". And sometimes when they know is having fun, the other will tell me so sadly that they do not have ANY imaginations and the other one does...as if it's a tangible object.

THREE

This week, we started gymnastics for the kids at Power Sports in College Station. Or as Atticus sometimes calls it "Nim-gastics" and Grace calls it "Nim-Nastics". I get it; it's a tough word. So, we attend at 4:15 for 50 minutes every Wednesday for 6 weeks. They start out stretching together and then they break up each year (2 thru 5) into groups. This week they rotated and did trampolines, balance beams, somersaults, and hopscotch. The kids had a great time! And while Atticus isn't very limber, I was SO proud of him for trying something new, although at the end he told me "Balance beams aren't really my thing." ha! But, he really liked the trampoline. The only bad part...we were soaked through with rain when we arrived. It started POURING a few minutes before we left our house and even after trying to wait it out in the parking lot, the rain didn't stop. And, Grace fell asleep on the way over. So, after I get Atticus out and have him holding an umbrella, I get sleepy Grace out. And keep in mind it is not just raining, but POURING! Then, I tell them to start walking the long sidewalk to the covered area. I grab Everly in her carseat and thankfully have a carseat cover that kept her completely dry. So, I start walking and the kids have barely moved. Grace is getting wet and doesn't want to walk and when I do get them walking, they must think that you have to walk slower under an umbrella. Oh my goodness! I was getting drenched because I didn't have an umbrella and thought "oh I don't mind getting a little wet as long as the kids stay dry". I didn't think we would ever get to that covered area and door. Then, we get inside the door, dry off and I ask where we are supposed to go and they tell me it's the second building for their classes. Oh my. So, back under the umbrella, walking slowly, with carseat in hand, we head to the second building. At this point, I'm nervous Grace is so overwhelmed because she just woke up and is wet and cold and confused, that she may not easily go into the gym class. But, thankfully, she and Atticus were together and Atticus put his little hand on her back and led her in there. By that point, he was excited, so she was fine too. And, then the class was great! The building is two story so you have lots of windows to look through to see them in each area of the class and even on a TV monitor upstairs. So, when Atticus spotted me, he smiled and waved. But, when Grace spotted me, she smiled really big and then put her fingers in her mouth and gave me her "token silly face". It was so funny because the other kids were doing their thing and she is looking like a crazy kid! Hopefully there will be no rain next week because this week was really fun for the kids!

 Here they are stretching in their class.

 Here is Atticus on the trampoline.

 Here is Grace on the balance beam; we could watch her on the TV screen.

FOUR

We started Family Book Club this week. We read the book The Day The Crayons Quit and did a bunch of activities associated with it. I copied this exact idea and every activity from a blog I follow. I plan to do some more this summer and just copy her ideas. I have these grand ideas to get on pinterest and dream these up on my own, but let's be honest here....3 kids. Anyways, I am going to blog about Family Book Club in a separate post. But, it took 3 hours of our day and was a success!

FIVE

One of my favorite things this week involved conversations with Grace. She is hilarious. The other day, while she and Atticus were playing, I heard them calling each other "Sweetie" and "honey". And, yesterday while I went to check on Everly, who was crying and up from her nap, Grace followed me in there and said "Evva-wee, sweetie, what's wrong?"  

Everything she can try lately is said with pride: "I do it myseff!"

She also knows what a selfie is. And yesterday she brought me her toy makeup mirror and said "Mom, wetts take a seffie". 

SIX

The kids have been playing outside a lot lately with neighborhood friends. So, yesterday, I took a photo of Vic in front of our house. Check out the difference in both trees. The tree on the bottom is the same tree as in the top picture on the right. We moved into our house 7 years ago in July and this is how much it has grown. Vic loves his trees and really does a great job trimming them each year and helping them grow!

SEVEN

Meals. We had 13 people bring us food after we had Everly. I was shocked. We got evening meals, breakfast muffins, desserts, and some even brought Atticus and Grace gifts as well. And, it was amazing! Knowing that dinner was coming or having a sweet or treat for the kids was just so fun. If you know someone who is having a baby, do something for them. They will appreciate it so much! Anyways, this recipe is my favorite this week. Someone brought it to us as one of our evening meals and it was so tasty. I even made it for a friend this week who had a baby. It's easy and still filling for an evening meal...especially if you eat as many in one sitting as Vic and I can eat. Plus, the kids liked it! Here it is:

Hawaiian Ham and Swiss Sliders

Ingredients:

1 large packages Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls 

1 package deli sandwich ham (or about 3/4 pound)

12 Swiss cheese slices (we also have used provolone)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp. brown or dijon mustard

1 tsp. onion powder

Slice tops from rolls and place bottoms in baking pan. Layer ham and cheese on rolls. Replace tops. Combine butter, poppy seeds, Worcestershire, mustard and onion powder and mix well. Drizzle over rolls. Refrigerate until butter is firm or overnight. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook 2 additional minutes. Serve warm or cold. 

EIGHT

And, finally, my last favorite of the week is this little 7 week old girl, who by the way, has slept 12 to 13 hours in a row starting at about midnight to about 1 the next day and only waking for about an hour and a half in the middle to nurse. Amazing! The other two did NOT do this. Fingers crossed that it will last! However, the not so easy side...from about 6 to midnight, she is only happy when held, eating or asleep in your arms and if she's awake, she prefers that you are walking her around. She knows it's the end of the day and we have two other kids, right?

Puppy Chow

Today, we made our first Christmas season treat. Every year, before I was married, we would have Erwin Baking Day at Melbo & GG's. This consisted of making lots of candies and treats that we would give to friends, family, teachers, etc. and then of course, eat during the month of December. A few recipes I remember include: million dollar fudge, divinity, buckeyes, chocolate covered pretzels, peanut patties, Texas trash, and then one of my favorites: Puppy Chow. I love it. I want to make it as soon as December starts. And I can only make it in December. I made some a different time of year one time and it just wasn't nearly as good as in December. It is also one of those really terrible treats. I mean, it is kind of messy and not super pretty so it's not always something I think is good to take to a party. But, I like to have it on hand for when I need a sweet treat. It's one of those things that you can walk by and grab a bite of without getting a fork and plate, anytime you want. The bad part is...you can walk by and grab a bite anytime without getting a fork and plate. Terrible for your waistline. Its just so delicious. And GG always taught me to look for the piece that is the most clumped up because it is the most chocolaty and tastes the best. Hmmm. Delicious!

Anyways. After I got married, I used to go nuts buying ingredients and trying to have my own personal baking days to make as much food as possible to give away and take to parties and to recreate what I grew up enjoying on our family baking days. The problem was I would get overwhelmed and end up with way more ingredients stored in the pantry and sometimes try to do way too many recipes. Last year, for the first time, I went simple. I made my favorites, attempted a new one or two and just enjoyed a little baking. The nice thing about staying home with the kiddos is that we can still do that and be stress free. Atticus loves to "cook" aka eat batter, so it is fun to bake with him.

So, today, we made Puppy Chow. Atticus keeps calling it Chex Mix or Puppy Snack, but either way he loves it too. I remember last year, giving him a bite for the first time. That was some of the first chocolate he really ever had. We already gave a bag to the neighbors and I've already found lots of clumpy chocolaty pieces. So, day one of baking has been a success!

Decorating "My Sugar Punkin Cookies!"

So, when I was at Michael's last week, I found a pumpkin cookie decorating kit for $4.99. How could I pass it up? So, last night I told Atticus we were going to make and decorate sugar cookies today. Of course, the first thing he says this morning when he wakes up is "where my sugar punkin cookies?"

So, after Grace went down for her morning nap, we made sugar cookies and decorated them. In case you were wondering, here are the required steps for making "sugar punkin cookies".

Step 1: Place butter & sugar in the mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add eggs and mix.

 

Step 3: Taste test the batter.

Step 4: Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and then add to mixture in bowl.

 

 Step 5: Lick the mixing bowl beater.

 Step 6: Roll out the cookie dough.

 Step 7: Taste test again to make sure the cookie dough is still good.

 Step 8: Cut out "punkin" cookies.

 Step 9: Bake cookies and continue to ask "Where my sugar punkin cookies?" as they bake.

 Step 10: Smile for the camera.

Step 11: Use up leftover cookie dough by adding some chocolate chips. 



Step 12: Let mama ice the cookies because the icing bag is "too hot; need to cool off". But, then start adding a few "spinkles".

Step 13: Start out putting "spinkles" on very carefully but then dump the entire jar out to make it easier to use them.

Step 14: Let mama ice all of the cookies while you lick the icing off and ask for more icing. Also, be sure to use way more sprinkles than necessary. (I promise that I kept his cookies to the side and saved the rest from his little sticky fingers.)

 Step 15: Eat cookies!

And if you'd like the sugar cookie recipe, here it is:

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar (I use sugar that I've stored vanilla beans in)
2 sticks (salted) butter, cold & cut into chunks
1 egg
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.

Roll on a floured surface to about 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets (I recommend freezing the cut-out shape on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before baking) and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.