Friday Kidisms 12/3/2010!

Before Vu left for work today, I was able to get in a few quick errands after I dropped Bray off at school.  I dashed over to Dollar General to snag a few last minute items for the MOMS Club Christmas Party tomorrow and then ran into Michael's Craft Store and picked up a few items for Bray's school project.  When I got home a package was delivered..my Ergo!  Squeeeeeal!!!  I will create post later next week with pictures of my new baby carrier.  I am SOOOO excited!!!

After lunch, naps and picking up Bray, we headed home to make some pigs in blankets for dinner.  Braylon again was such a helper and assisted me with the dough...things were going great until I realized I haduunnn

Friday Kidisms 12/3/2010

(I'm a little behind so here's a few weeks worth!)

"My favorite holidays are Halloween, Christmas, Easter and Camping!" --Peyton

"Mimi, you are my expensive family."  --Peyton telling my mom she is her "extended" family.

"Eat my Pax'n sandwich!" --Kyan attempting to "eat" his "Paxtyn sandwich"

"You mean YOU beat all the boys!?!  You are the most unbelievablist mom in the world!"  --Braylon's reaction to me telling him that I beat out all the boys in Elementary School in street hockey and won a hockey stick from the Lightning Team.

"Bullying is when kids make fun of you, call you names, hurt you or make Guerilla noises at you."  --Braylon's explanation of what bullying is.  Ms. Florida came and talked to his class about how she was bullied in school...it made a real impact on him!

"I want to be a chef like mommy and help people like daddy!"  --Peyton's response to what she wants to be when she grows up.

"Braylon, don't be mean to mommy!  God is WATCHING YOU!"  --Peyton.

Feeling Better Thursday...Aquarium and Ikea.

Everyone is finally on the mend!  Yay!  Paxtyn finally had a normal night and slept 11 hours  *whoop whoop*  I just have a nagging cough and Kyan should be ready to be around friends by tomorrow.  Therefore, today we made a grand escape from the house and headed for the Aquarium!  Hooray for fish, sharks and sting rays!  Our kids are obsessed with the Aquarium and Peyton let her marine life nerdiness show this morning when she gave Mr. John (an employee) a description of a Transient Orca Whale and squealed with excitement when she raced over to another exhibit, "LOOK!  LOOK!  It's the Rosetta Spoonbill!  It's my most favorite bird because it's PINK!"  It's really wonderful witnessing Kyan's vocabulary expand, too.  Everything is more descriptive, the once shark is now the "Hammerhead Shark," the seahorse is now the "Dragon Seahorse."  The kids had a great time! 

After the Aquarium we headed to Ikea.  I've never been and had some extra time before picking up Bray, so I thought what the hay.  Um, yeah.  After hearing all the rave reviews about this place I assume I am in the very small minority of people who dislike Ikea.  Greatly dislike.  I am not a big shopper and had no idea what an event it is supposed to be!  I felt completely claustrophobic.  Everything was so contemporary with sharp edges, I had no control which way I wanted to go, and I just felt as though it wasn't a personal buying experience.  When I spend ANY amount of money I want it to be MY choice.  The whole experience felt so superficial and then it top of it, it took me 25 minutes just to get out of the store!  It just was not what I was expecting...at all.

After I picked up Braylon we came home and had a wonderful evening with the kids while dad was at work :/  After the little ones went to bed I assisted Braylon with a rough draft of his November/December School Project.  I was VERY proud of how hard he worked and focused for 45 minutes before bed.  He had some awesome ideas and we'll buy the crafts tomorrow to complete it.

Below is a super cute video of the kiddos dancing at the Aquarium!  Ch-ch-check it out! :)

Homemade Baby Food Time!

Today was daddy's day off!  YAY!  Unfortunately, I was STILL coughing up a storm and was unable to ride my bike to school with Braylon (we try to ride bikes with him once a week).  Therefore, Vu was on bike duty and I was stuck inside all morning again.  Being inside is very very hard for me!  The kids had a decent morning and Paxtyn seemed to be well, although Kyan was still runny and sneezy so dad took just Peyton to Open Gymnastics.  We had the garage door repaired yet again during the day and I cooked Paxtyn's first batch of baby food (recipe below) and was a bit overzealous when I made the decision that I was well enough to ride to Bray's school in the afternoon for pick up.  I'm surprised no one stopped their cars to ask if I was ok!  Hacking the entire time.  Looovely.  When we got home, Braylon was in a very helpful mood and after folding a load of laundry he became my assistant chef in the kitchen!  We cooked a huge pot of Chili with rice...it was DEEE-LICIOUS!  I think I might even make another pot for a Christmas Party this weekend.

That evening Paxtyn had a very big milestone and ate his first baby food!  Once I became a stay-at-home mom I decided to push starting foods back further to keep my milk supply stronger, longer.  Kyan didn't start solids until 7 months and Pax is 2 days shy of 7 months.  Doesn't work for every mom, but certainly has worked for me!  Pax loved the Butternut Squash and ate like a pro :)  I am so proud of my sweet baby boy.

Butternut Squash Baby Food

I started with this veggie since it's not too sweet and just one Squash makes a LOT of food!  Right now I'm guesstimating on amounts and hopefully in a week or so I'll have the portions correct.  Making baby food is easy-peazy and takes very little time...in my opinion.  To get a refresher, I used the site http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/.  Last year when I started making food for Kyan, I found countless sites that suggested freezing the food in ice cube trays which made thawing exact 2 ounce portions easier.  I did this for my first few batches but in the end, found it to be a waste of time.  Maybe if I started my babies on food at 3 months and needed the smaller amounts it would have made a difference...but not at 7 months.  Therefore, what I found to work really well was to make a batch and just allocate the food into a few containers...keep one in the fridge and freeze the others until needed.  Usually 1 plastic container would last a day and half to two days. I also just fed cold baby food pulled straight from the refrigerator...none of that warming/reheating business and never had any complaints ;)

I bought two Butternut Squash and one Acorn Squash.  I used the medium sized Butternut to make this batch.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 Cut squash in half.

 Scoop out the seeds.  I use an ice cream scoop.

 All set.

 Fill pan with 1/2 inch of water and place squash side by side "meat" side down.

Cook at 400 degrees for 45minutes-1 hour (until skin is brownish and puckery).

Scoop out inside and put in blender...if pieces of skin are attached, it's no big deal.

 Ready to blend!  I blended on high for about 2 minutes.  Also, add small amounts of water as needed to get desired thickness.

 And that's it!  Fabulous Homemade Butternut Squash Baby Food!

 This is how much one squash made.  The 3 containers on the right went in the freezer and will all probably be used within the next week.

 And the verdict???

 "Mikey likes it!!!"

 Can't get enough!

Short video of Paxtyn chowing down!

Peyton's Wipeout video!

Still sick and now Kyan is as well.  This morning I felt like I just went through the motions.  Had a doctors appointment (had blood drawn and didn't cry!  woohoo!), made my grocery run, survived during the day and watched the pool repair men like a hawk, picked up Bray and took all the kids to the park.  Then...the coughing started.  and.  has.  not.  stopped.  Therefore, to add a little humor to my day and in an attempt to go to bed with a smile. in.  between.  coughs.  I thought I'd post this video.  Don't worry, she was fine after the fall.  :)

Multi Tasking Monday 11/29 and Linguine Salad Recipe

Well, I'm even more sick than I was yesterday!  Pax had another rough night and now Pey and Ky have runny noses, too.  Today was spent dropping Bray off at school, running a quick morning errand, some outdoor time with the little ones, picking up Bray and finishing laundry, cleaning and staying hydrated (I can feel my milk supply has taken a hit).  Hopefully today is the worst of it!

List for the Week

Tree Decorated

Grocery Run

Primary Appt.

Watch pool repair man like a hawk and make sure he's fixing it correctly ;)

MOMS Club Emails

Print and complete Peyton's VPK forms

Bray's ACH Appt.

Get things together for December Holiday Party

Complete Christmas Card and PRINT

Complete The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Book

Laundry, cleaning and cooking in a joyful way!

And all the in betweens :)

Linguine Pasta Salad

This is a recipe from my mom that is SUPER easy to make and I always get compliments.  It's a yummy side dish and takes about 20 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

1 box of linguine pasta

1 green pepper chopped small

2 large tomatoes chopped into small pieces

1/2 bottle of Salad Supreme

1 16 ounce bottle of regular Italian Salad Dressing (try to find one in which the oil doesn't settle half way down)

Break the pasta in half and put in pot of boiling water and cook.

 Mix 1/2 bottle of Salad Supreme (found in spice section at Publix)...

 with the chopped green peppers and tomatoes.

 Drain cooked pasta and rinse with COLD running water.

 In a large bowl add pasta, mixture of ingredients and an entire bottle of Italian Salad Dressing.

 And that's it! :)

 Place in gallon zip lock bag in frig to marinate overnight.  This also makes it very easy to transport to events or potluck dinners

Sunday Supper 11/28!

We really enjoyed the last few days of Thanksgiving Break.  My husband only had to work 4 days and also had the entire weekend off!  Yay!  Yesterday we spent the day taking out our Christmas decorations and attended a friends birthday party.  Our good friend, Little K. turned the big 3 and Pey and Ky are at war over who is his best friend...it's quite a battle!  Late last night both Pax and I got hit with a cold...it was so sad trying to nurse my little one when he was so stuffly.  Today we felt a little worse, so we took it easy and decorated the tree and house and went to my parents house and enjoyed cooking smores by the fire.  I'm a little sad Bray goes back to school tomorrow...its been a great break.  Hopefully we will be on the mend by tomorrow!  :)

Sunday Supper Meal Plan

Breakfasts: Cold cereal, breakfast burritos, smoothies.

Lunches: Turkey sandwiches, Cheese mini-me's, left overs.

Dinners:

Monday: Left over turkey and rice

Tuesday: Mac and cheese, green beans and salad

Wednesday: Chicken stir fry, rice and salad

Thursday: Chili's Chili Recipe over rice

Friday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Saturday:  MOMS Club December Holiday Party

Sunday:  Spaghetti, meatballs and salad

Thanksgiving 2010!

Our Thanksgiving was WONDERFUL!

 The morning started off at 6am getting packed and heading out to the Turkey Trot Race, which is an 18 year tradition for our family.  Vu and Bray decided to run the 5K and did AMAZING...they did not stop once!  My mother also power walked the 5K and did great :)   I headed down with my brother, dad and the kids to participate in the 1 mile.  Everyone had a really great time!

We quickly raced home and turned on the Macy's Day Parade and the kids had a blast watching the floats and dancers.  It was very exciting to see my high school participate as well!  During this time, my mom came over and worked very hard getting the casseroles made.  I FINALLY finished the apples pies that I had started on the day before...it literally took me 5 hours just to peel them because of the back and forth with 4 kids and a hubby who didn't get off work until midnight.  But they turned out really well and no one got food poisoning. I was proud of myself :)  Naps were next, then turkey time!

My parents, brother and grandmother came over and we ate dinner together.  It was a lovely evening of delicious food, good kid behavior (whew!) and sweet company.  Peyton even said Grace at dinner..it was adorable.  My mother started a new tradition by giving us a new family game...this year it was Yali, a game of balancing small balls on a table.  Braylon really loved it!  My mother is full of wonderful ideas :)  Some pictures are below...

Daddy and Bray up bright and early for the 5K run.  They ran the ENTIRE race!!!  So proud of my healthy runners :)

 Uncle Bo and Pa rode in our van to the Turkey Trot Race.  Here is Bo snapping the beans en route...a tradition :)

 YAY!  A great photo at the race!

 Mommy, Daddy, Pey, Pax, Ky and Bray

 My very first attempt at apple pies!  I even made the crust *happy dance*

 Ta-da!!!

 Mimi and Kyan working the on the undercover corn

 28 pound beauty!

 Uncle Bo cutting the bird

 Lots of giggle attacks with grandma!

 Paxtyn chewing.  I also caught Kyan in the background  hee hee

 6 months old!

 Braylon working hard.

 I tried to get creative and took a photo from the stairs.

 I love this photo of us!

 Investigating Bo and Pa's beards

November 2010 Camping Trip!

We just got back from our 2nd camping trip and it was SOOOO much fun!!!  We booked a site at Ft. DeSoto Camp Ground and checked in on Saturday morning and spent two wonderful nights enjoying the beautiful fall weather!  We were with four other familes (who we dearly love!) and the children had a marvelous time playing in the water, climbing trees, and enjoying all nature had offer.  We also got to bond with our friends.  Great company+ yummy food+ fireside chats=lifelong memories!

On Sunday my parents and brother came for lunch and to hang out for the rest of the day and after wetting all of his outfits, they also took Kyan for the night (newly potty trained kiddo did not fair well with walking long distances to the bathroom!).  Paxtyn (6 months) was AMAZING.  He only woke to nurse a few times each night and immediately went back to sleep.  Both Bray and Pey had sooooo much fun!

This is such a fun family tradition and all the hardwork of prepping, packing, and unloading is ABSOLUTELY worth it!

Braylon helping set up our new tent!

 Woa!  It was massive!  But perfect for our larg(er) family and room to grow.

 High 70's in mid November...dream weather.

 Fun at the waters edge

 Many discoveries

 Piling in for some tubing fun!

 :)

 So much fun!

 Kyan finally joined in!

 Giggle attacks

 and sippy cup battles

 Pajama monkeys

 Really, does it get any better?

 Potluck dinner with friends

 Marshmellow king

 Fun at the playground!

 Rolly Polly collector

 WOW!!!

 Mommy and Pey :)

 Silly Mimi!

 Surprise visit from Uncle Bo!!

 Post braid krimpy hair

 Too much fun for little bodies to handle!

 Pancake breakfast

 My little sweeper

 The easiest baby in the world!