Come Play With Us

Pumpkin Carving

The girls and I had a little pumpkin carving party.  We put the movie Corpse Bride on, and pulled up Pinterest on the computer to look for carving inspiration.  Once we had our ideas set, it was time to start getting the pumpkin "guts" out.

Last year, Big Sis was really squeamish about touching the inside of the pumpkin, but this year she dug right in, and Little Dude followed her lead.

Big Sis decided that she wanted her pumpkin to be "spooky" and Little Dude said she wanted a "pooky pumkin". 

I was pretty happy with the way they turned out, and the girls loved them!

Beauty

I heard a quote on the radio today by some celeb mom that says she doesn't get caught up in what she looks like or wears, because the things that define her are much bigger than that.  That statement hit home with me.  Although I didn't realize it until I heard it. 

I think a lot about how am I going to instill certain values in my children and what an awesome and sometimes overwhelming part of parenting that can be. 

When I heard that quote today, I thought about at the prospect of teaching and modeling TRUE beauty to my girls. 

I personally have struggled with the concept of beauty, and have only had a few time periods in life where I felt really pleased with my general appearance.  So, how do I teach my children to not dislike the way that they look and to feel beautiful?  And more importantly how do I show them to recognize that true beauty lies not in how you look, but in so many other attributes:

-Spirit

-Kindness

-Poise

-Fairness, Caring and Integrity

-Confidence

-Goodness and truth

-Wisdom

-Positivity

-Grace

 -Intelligence

 

MTM-Chili and Fixins

I said in my last post I was going to do and apple theme this week, but we ended up having company over this evening.  We had a lovely visit from my hubby's sister, her boyfriend and our new niece.  I would have felt bad serving them apple shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, so I made chili instead.

So we did Chili with cheese, onion, sour cream and fritos for toppings.  Big Sis enjoyed the chili but Little Dude wasn't a fan. 

We also had apple crisp for dessert, made with apples from our trip to the apple orchard yesterday.

The girls and I took a trip to Pleasant Valley Orchard on Saturday. 

 


The girls had a great time, and so did I.  It was a perfect fall day, and now we have  a whole bunch of awesome apples to use up!

I am linking up with Muffin Tin Mom. Check it out for some cool meal ideas.

 

MTM-Not on Monday!

I am totally off track right now because of yesterday's holiday.  I totally thought today was Monday...holy cow.  

Today was Big Sis's first day of 3 yr Preschool.  We could have opted out of enrolling her, but we really felt she was ready for some interaction and social time with kids her age.  

I didn't go with for the big drop-off, because after agonizing over it for a couple weeks, I realized that it would all go a lot more smoothly if I wasn't there.  I really wanted to be there, but it is out of the norm for me to be around on weekday mornings and I didn't want to throw her off by being there when I am normally not.  I also realized that me going along would be much more for me than for her, because Daddy is going to be the normal dropper off-er.  

I was so unproductive at work this morning, waiting for a phone call to hear how it went....ok I may have attempted to call home 5 or 6 times...

Well Daddy finally called around noon and turns out she did wonderfully--there were no tears, when they got there she said "Bye Daddy, I'm going to go play!  See you later!"

On to the MTM (MTT):

1.  Carrot from our garden

2. Cut up string cheese (the girls practiced cutting food)

3.  Tomato from the garden

4.  Ham/pickle/cream cheese roll up (what are these called???)

5.  Craisins

6.  Open faced tomato sandwich (my fave)

Both girls ate a ton, and also asked for more.  Big day=Big appetites :)

Don't forget to check out Muffin Tin Mom!

 

 

 

MTM-Breakfast

Big Sis had a her three year old check up this morning, and because I was going into work late today, I did a muffin tin breakfast for something different.  

1.  Blueberries

2.  French Toast

3.  Syrup

4.  Chunky Peach Applesauce

5.  Grapes

6.  Hashbrowns

Dudie ate all her grapes right away, and Big Sis ate all her hashbrowns right away.  They both like french toast, but I think the presentation wasn't all that appetizing to them.  I think in hindsight, I should have used a cookie cutter shape instead.  

Big Sis and I also stopped by her future preschool to pick up some paperwork today.  She is going to start going two days a week in the fall. She met her teacher and saw her classroom.  I can't believe she is old enough for this, but I think she is really going to like it.  It makes momma a little sad, though...

Check out Muffin Tin Mom for some really creative meal ideas!

 

3rd Birthday

Happy Birthday to my lovely girl.

Mommy is a little behind in writing this, as your birthday was three days ago.  

As I was at work on your birthday I stopped several times throughout the day to take a moment to reflect back on what was happening three years ago at that moment.  I remember I said to one of my co-workers, three years ago at about this time, I was gettting an epidural!

My dear girl, I love you so much.  Thank you for teaching me what true love means and what it means to be a mommy.  You have grown up so much it seems in the last couple months.  You have always been very attached to mommy, but you are growing very independent and it is wonderful to see you wanting to learn and try things on your own.  You are such a thoughtful little girl.  I can always see your little mind working and learning and asking such meaningful questions.  

I thank you for helping me see the world in new ways because I get to share the excitement you find in all kinds of little things and experiences.  You amaze me every day.  

I am so very proud to be your Mama, and love you like crazy.  Your Mommy, Daddy, and Little Dude are all so blessed to have you in our lives.  We love you!

My Daddy-By Big Sis

Big Sis and I did a project for Daddy for Father's Day.  Her answers were so darn cute, that I thought I should share.
My Daddy

My Daddy is  __3 __years old.  His hair is    brown but his hair is not blue.    My Daddy's eyes are ___blue.      My Daddy likes to wear ___boy clothes.        My Daddy loves to eat    basanga wis some red sauce.  But some red sauce makes me itchy.  I have poison ivy on my neck.    My Daddy is smart because he knows   how to do everysing.    My daddy works hard on    his wowter table.    Daddy always tells me    sings and naughty sings.  Nice words.  He say "Hi". (spoken in a deep daddy voice)      I make my Daddy happy when I    play and give him smiles.  That makes him happy.   I read stories with Daddy like    Cookie's Week.  Berenstein Bears.  I like that one too.     If I could give my daddy anything, it would be     a big family hug.  Hugs and kissies.     I really love it when Daddy    hugs me.       My favorite thing about my Daddy is     play, play, play!      

The Sweetest Ending

Some days as a parent are more challenging than others.  Anyone with kids knows this.  

Today I had a crazy busy day at work, so I arrived home a little short on patience.

Our nanny told me when I got home that Big Sis had pushed Little Dude down on the sidewalk.  Big Sis has really been pushing the limit lately on almost everything.  

My dinner menu told me that we were supposed to have soup and sandwich this evening.  I haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping this week thanks to work (usually Monday I shop).  

Both girls were in pretty grouchy moods and not interested in eating the "sandwich sampler"& leftover green bean dinner I threw together.  There was a lot of whining going on.

After three rounds of wrestling and 5 minutes of hysterics, I finally had Little Dude in her jammies.  It was 10 minutes before bedtime for her, but the poor thing was really tired.  So I left Big sis in my bedroom watching Man vs. Food (one of her favorite shows), and put Little Dude to bed.  

***My little one isn't always much of a cuddle bug, but tonight she just nestled right in, grabbed my hand and started rubbing it on her cheek.  She was out in about 2 minutes.  

I went back to my room to find Big Sis tormenting our cat, Vern, who seemed to be running low on patience himself. 

So we watched the rest of the M v. F episode and it was off to bed with her too.  Since she moved into a twin bed a few nights ago, I have been cuddling up with her and reading her stories with her in bed.  We read Annie Bananie and Noisy Nora tonight. 

Then I shut off her light and she tells me:

BS:  Sank you, Mama

Me:  For what?

BS:  For all da wonderful sings you did to me

Then she grabs my hand and smells it.

Me: What are you doing?

BS:  Smellin your hand.

Me:  Why?

BS:  Because you smell like you, Mama.  Because you smell so nice.

I swear, whenever I have  a hard day and struggle with patience and parenting, then night ends up having the sweetest ending.  

 

MTM-Yellow

We are slowly working our way through the colors of the rainbow, with a few other themes mixed in on various weeks.  

I had a lot on my plate as far as what I needed to get done today, but feel like I didn't get anywhere with any of it today.  I am pretty pooped out from a fun weekend of garage sales with my mom, and then a busy Mother's Day yesterday.  On top of that, Big Sis woke extra early this morning, at about 6am because of a thunderstorm (she normally wouldn't wake till 8:30am at the earliest.  

1.  Apple & Eve Big Bird Juice Box.  (This was a treat, we normally serve milk with meals)

2.  Spaetzle (traditional German noodles or dumplings), tossed with Butter and Garlic

3.  Potato Salad

4.  Pineapple   

5.  M&M's--yellow

6.  Vanilla pudding with Yellow sprinkles that melted by the time I took the picture.  

They both went after the juice boxes and M&M's first.  Neither girl ate very well tonight.  I think because they were both a little grouchy from being inside all day, and also they knew after supper tonight was bath time.  My girls will choose bath time over food any time!  

Make sure to click the button on the top of the page to see more fun ideas for muffin tin meals.  

 

MTM-Cinco de Mayo

We participate in Muffin Tin Monday every week, and this week we celebrated Cinco de Mayo a little early.  I thought it would be fun to have the girls try something different than our old standard tacos.  
1.  Taco Sauce

2.  Cheese Dip with a dab of sour cream

3.  Tortilla Chips

4.  Chicken Tamale

5.  Frijoles

6.  Chicken Flautas

And for dessert we had

Fried Ice Cream!  

Soy Delicious rolled in Crunchy Nut Flakes, drizzled with chocolate.  

The girls weren't super big fans of the food, but they LOVED the dessert.  

After dinner the girls were having a lot of fun. They have really started playing together a lot lately and it is so fun to watch.  

Then they started carrying their pillow around together and big sis was shouting "We're working togedder!"