Whatch Cookin



 Meatloaf Cupcakes.
Found here.

Not too hard to make and tasted pretty good.  L was a little disappointed when it wasn't a "real" cupcake and didn't take one single bite. 

I think it put too much thyme in the potatoes but other than that they tasted great.  Also, the recipe recommended using the sturdier cups but I didn't have those so they were a little sloppy. 

Who knew?

Who knew I would love being a boy mom so much. 
New words every day.
Dinosaur, football, airplane to name a few.

Trucks, tractors, cars ALL DAY LONG. 

Love it!

Hi

So here is my once a month post!

This blog thing is hard! ;)

Well, we're back from a ten day vacation to Ireland. With my hubby's family. 14 in total. 6 kids. Under 6. You can only imagine. We had a great time. It was nice to wear sweaters and build a fire in the evenings.

Downloading 409 pictures takes a long time.

Here is one of the best ones.

(He'll be two in just one month. Tear, tear)

Play That Funky Music

This morning Liam pushed the kitchen chair over towards our 1970s radio. We rarely use it so it was even more funny that this song came on. He started jammin!

Book Nook

Liam is quite the book nerd. I find him all the time reading books without our prompting, which I love. I wish I could understand his baby gibberish as he turns each page.

In the playroom/office we have an entire wall of built in bookshelves and on the bottom are cabinets. 6 sets of this. It mostly holds junk and more junk.

So I decided to take off the cabinets in one corner and make a little book nook for Liam. Love the way it turned out. This room will eventually be all playroom so I think while he's still little I'll take off all the cabinets so he can reach his toys and such.

I had an old frame I didn't like so I spray painted in blue and added this little quote.

Found these old locker baskets at a local antique store. They fit perfectly!

I have leftover fabric from his baby bedding so I am having large pillows made instead of the blue mat.

First Day of Summer!

I've been seeing everyone's posters/boards/calendars for their Summer plans and I felt the urge to make one too! Since Liam is not in school the Summer is just like any other day for us!

Her is our little calendar. We're actually quite busy when I see it all written down!

We've got music, soccer, and playdates. We've been hittin up the library and the free splash pad near our house.

Heading to Sea World soon too!

Happy Summer!

Vegas Baby!

Catching up here!

Okay...way back in MAY my mom, sistah and I went to Vegas for the weekend. It was Mother's Day weekend and the weekend of my Dad's 70th Birthday.

Umm..I know I didn't mention this when it happened or actually really that my Dad had been ill. But he passed away in January so our Vegas trip was also a celebration of him too.

My parents love them some Vegas. They would go all the time. (I didn't get much of the gambling bug from them though!)

My Mom said that every time they would go to Vegas my Dad would walk into the first casino and put $100 on black. So we did just that and WON! Thanks Dad!

We stayed Caesars and hit up the spa and pool. I didn't win NADA! But my Mom sure did!

My sister did pretty good too. I was the Debbie Downer of the group!


One afternoon we went to the "old" section of the strip and we talked my Mom into doing the zip line down Freemont Street!

We saw Penn and Teller too!

And one last group pic!

What We're Eating Wednesday

Alfredo Chicken and Mushrooms





and fresh tomatoes from our garden!

Garden

We decided to plant a garden this year. It was a lot of work but fun too. We already had the space from the previous owners blocked out so it was a no brainer for us to get planting.

The Mister getting the soil ready. (the hard part!)

Little man playing in the dirt!

Starting to look like a garden!

Okra.

Tomatoes!

We also planted cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, peppers and corn.

We're not counting on much to actually grow! ha! But it was fun!

L had fun too. We got out his water table to keep him occupied which then resulted in one muddy little boy. But he had a blast!

Train Ride

We finally made it out to FW to ride the train this weekend.

L actually sat through the 40 minute ride!

Waiting for the train.

Where is the train?

No really. Where is it, Mom?

There it is!!!

It's coming!

Wow! (His latest word!)

Procrastination

What do you procrastinate about?

Me. Chores.
I have a huge list of to-dos. They vary from call so and so. Make this appointment. Wrap gifts.
But then there are chores that move from list to list. Like what? Clean blinds. Clean ceiling fans.

I don't know if it is the change in seasons or what. But right now everything in our house is dirty, dusty and dingy. Are you feeling this as Spring approaches? I have been noticing dust in the most random places but also in places I see everyday....blinds and fans.

Anyway, the main reason I procrastinate from doing those chores is because I think they will take forever so I move on to an easy chore. So after a pep talk I started cleaning the blinds. And you know what? It didn't take me as long as I thought. And I felt better about all the dust and dinginess (is that a word?)

So now on to the fans! ;)

Spring cleaning here I come!

And since I just did the most boring post about cleaning my blinds (at least I am posting!!) I'll leave you with this cuteness!

It's About Time He Starts Earning His Keep

Whatcha Cookin!

Here it is!

Love this casserole!

One of my favs. L likes it too!

I have posted before. Had to again. Because it's so good.

Chicken, Orzo and Spinach Casserole.
Sorry no pic!

Whatcha Cookin!

Okay. Here is my attempt to post more.

I am hoping this will help everyone who has a cooking "block".

I cook almost every week day. Plan at least one left over and usually have one casserole in there too.

Most are pretty easy. I take great pride in whipping up a quick and delicious dinner. I am kinda like Sandra Lee, I use short cuts and pre-made stuff when I can.

I'll try to post every Monday what I am cooking for the week.

Here is what we ate last night.

Quick and Easy Chicken BBQ Pizza (Southern Living)

Notes: The Hickory BBQ sauce gave it a little kick. So if you don't like spicey or you want to feed the kids then change the sauce type. I also added cherry tomotoes.

First Annual Oscar Party 2011

The Academy Awards provided the perfect excuse to invite girlfriends over for an Oscar Party! Most of us are new moms and hadn't seen but maybe one movie each. Of course Toy Story 3 was the top movie seen by this group!

The rest of us were up on our pop culture so we were at least familiar with characters, movies and the stars! I had seen Social Network, The Town, Inception, Black Swan.

Here are a few pics.
(Pics didn't come out very well...)

You have to have a red carpet for a red carpet party!
It was super windy and the "carpet" wouldn't stay put!



Cheesy Decorations



Official Oscar Ballots

The ballots were fun as we checked off our correct answers. It made it more interactive since we hadn't seen half the movies!

Guests were greeted with a champagne cocktail instead of the paparazzi.


Appetizers: Cheesy Olive Snacks (Similar to PW's Olive Cheese Bread) and Tomatoes, Basil and Cream Cheese with Bread.

Sesame Crusted Chicken with Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes

Salad and Meatballs with Pineapples

(the pictures looks like a lump of meat)

Dessert: Raspberry Mousse in heart shaped chocolate cups.

CHEERS!

I guess him watching TV is not so bad (see previous post). Look what I have taught him. ;)

TV

So I held off as long as I could....
Liam is now a TV watcher.

(This is all my opinion, not judging anyone whose children watch TV. It just wasn't what we wanted to do for L.)

I held off for a number of reasons. He doesn't need to watch it. Actually, who does. Now, don't get me wrong it is definitely on in our house. I just never put it to a kids channel for him to watch. I did find it too stimulating for him, even the baby videos. We have an entire library of Baby Einstein that has never been used. The other thing is that we are big TV watchers. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later that he would watch TV. I think when he was about 9 months old I tried some baby video but he was not interested AT ALL. Plus, he's got butt loads of toys and books. He plays independently pretty well. Shortly after Christmas I needed five minutes to do something and put on Disney. And he watched it.

So now, we exclusively watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and sometimes Handy Manny. He loves MMC. He's addicted to the Hot Dog Dance. I taught him to move his arms back and forth. Too cute. Anyway, I try to only put it on in the morning and sometimes in the evening while I cook dinner.

What do ya'll do? What are your rules?

L.i.am

L.i.am loves Will.i.am

I'm back

Hello there!
It's been a while. A long while. Too long.
So Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Love Day to you!
I am finally downloading and uploading photos and videos from December and January. So here is one from Christmas that I had to share. We celebrated Christmas at our house before heading to San Antonio.
We set up "the wall" for L. "The wall" was set up for the hubs when he was a kid so I thought it would be fun to do it for L too. Wasn't sure how he would react when he saw his gifts on the otherside. Check it out.

P.S. NY resolution=blog more...or at least more often!