This is how we do it

On Memorial Day, I hear from friends, online and off, about the picnics they are going to, what patriotic looking dish they are making, which pool they are going to.  For my family, we don't do anything special.  I take the kids and go to a friend's picnic the weekend before Memorial Day, but on the holiday itself, we don't do much more than sleep in and hang out at home.

This year, the husband decided he wanted to cook dinner.  I obviously did not have a problem with that!  He wanted to use our little grill to make dogs and beans.  This grill is meant for tailgating, but that has never stopped us from using it at home.

He pulled out the grill and arranged the charcoal.  He then asked me where the actual grilling piece was.  I had no clue.  While we looked high and low, he decided it would be fun to cook our dogs using sticks.  Of course we found the piece we needed in the drawer under the stove where I keep the cookie sheets, but by this point, Little Dude had heard the stick plan.  There was no backing out now!

The husband went to work sharpening some sticks while Little Dude arranged chairs around the grill for us to sit on.  Once the sticks were sharpened and the coals nice and hot, the kids began to cook their own dinner (how awesome for me!).

While they were busy roasting their dogs, the husband popped open a can of chili and a can of baked beans.  He used a combination of the little grill and a esbit stove to cook his chili in beans.   

And because no cookout is complete without dessert, we made S'mores!  Or one S'more per kid followed by a bunch of roasted marshmallows!

After all the marshmallow goo, chili, cheese, and whatever else the kids managed to get stuck to them was cleaned off, the husband and I took the kids out for some more family togetherness.  You'll have to stop back tomorrow to find out what that was.

How was your holiday weekend?


Until next time...

Sickeningly sweet

I have a 6 year old who thinks he's the king of the world that listens to no one and a 10 year old who is embracing every bit of pre-tweendom there is. I know. You're jealous.

But just because my kids have bratty tendencies doesn't mean they're like that all the time. In fact, they can be sickeningly sweet. Take this past weekend for example.

Friday night GG was invited to sleepover a friend's house. With one child out of the house I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work on the 100th day of school project with the other. Little Dude, with the help of GG, decided to make a football field for this project. Football fields have 100 yards so this was a perfect idea.

I squirted some green paint on a plate so Little Dude could start to paint his field. When he was done he asked if he cold paint the rest of the plate. Instead of wasting the paint, I told him to have at it. Before it had time to dry, he asked if I could add some glitter to the paint. When all was said and done, he had a green glittered plate with a picture of a girl taped to the side. On the back of the picture was a note to his sister - I love you.

How sweet, right?! But he was not the only one who was sweet over the weekend.

GG had some gift card to a book store burning a hole in her pocket. I told her we could go to the book store and have a mother-daughter afternoon. While we were at the store, GG got lost in the maze of shelves. Being an avid reader, she just couldn't make up her mind. And then she saw it. An illuminating Harry Potter wand! Sadly, the only actual Harry Potter wand we could find was broken. She was about to settle on a Hermione wand when the look in her eyes changed. I tried to explain she could get whatever she wanted with her gift cards. GG told me if she bought the wand and one of the nooks she wanted, she wouldn't have enough money left over to buy me a treat and coffee.

Naturally that explanation broke my heart. I told her to put the wand back and grab her original choice of books. If treating me was that important to her, the husband and I would go online and buy her an actual Harry Potter wand. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She proudly paid for her books and we walked towards the coffee shop. I must say, that was the best tasting Oreo cheesecake I have ever had.

Have your kids done anything sweet lately?

Until next time...

Sweet

Over the weekend, GG celebrated her 10th birthday. I still don't think it's hit me that my child is a decade old. How the hell did that happen?! I had considered dedicating a blog post to this milestone birthday of hers, but time got away from me. Between birthdays and holidays, this time of year is nothing short of hectic and out of control.

But I don't really think GG will hold it against me that I didn't write some sweet post for her. Her cupcakes alone made up for the lack of sweetness on this blog.

Cute, right?!


Along with not writing a post for her, I also fell short on supplying a kick ass party. In my defense, I blame all the other parents in the area who also had their children around the same time as mine.

I told GG I would take her and a few friends for a few rounds of bowling and some pizza. Little did I know the bowling alley we planned to go was having 10-15 parties on the exact same day. A lane for the 5 of us would not be a guarantee. I have to give one of the employees some credit because she did try and secure us a lane, but it was a no go.

Again, I really don't think GG will hold it against me due to her awesome presents. Harry Potter Legos, board games, video games, a ton of clothes for her American Girl dolls, and this rockin' lamp...

Orbeez mood lamp
It's pretty awesome!

But the best present of all is one I don't think has taken off, other than to sleep, since Saturday night.

My fashionista!

Happy 10th birthday, GG!!!

Until next time...

Happy Halloween

Looking at the outside of our house, you would never know that I am a Halloween junkie. Except for my Boo door hanger, there is not an ounce of Halloween in our yard. First of all, it has been cold and I hate decorating in the cold. Second, very few, if any kids trick-or-treat on our street.

But that doesn't mean I am lacking on the decorations on the inside of our house.

Witch and monster sign, courtesy of my MIL.
Boo ghosts that I just finished making.
A pumpkin whose batteries might actually survive
through Halloween this year.

As much as I hate spiders, I have to put this guy out every year.
Last year, I actually forgot to put him away.
Yes, it freaked me out on more than one occasion.



web made by me

Not only do I enjoy watching my kids enjoy this holiday, but I also enjoy being someone else for a change. Can you guess what I was this year?

The husband was NOT a fan of my all to real black eye!

And by the way, why does my hair never cooperate
until I actually want it to be messy?! So frustrating!


In case you're still not sure of my costume,
would dirty, beat up wings give you a clue?

Because I have been so busy making Halloween decorations and starting on Christmas stuff, I decided to forgo making homemade costumes for the kids. The first costume GG chose was not available in a size that would fit her. Big is good as we have to work a costume over layers of clothes in this city, but 4 sizes too big is pushing it. She instantly fell in love once she saw a picture of something else.

I bought Little Dude's costume at a consignment shop back in July and up until October, he was so psyched to wear it. Then he decided to be a werewolf. Having already purchased a costume, I said no. Once I explained I could paint his face, his original costume was a go.

Without further adu, I introduce my Polar Princess and a soldier to protect her.

Or maybe a soldier to chase the polar princess with the gun I caved a bought him.

I wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween full of good candy for moms and dads to dip into!


PS. In case you're still not sure of what my costume was, I was a Fallen Angel.


Until next time...

Whirlwind

Yesterday was Little Dude's family birthday party. I would love to share some pictures of the awesome gifts he got, but I was too busy being anal about wrapping paper being all over the floor enjoying the moment.

He did get some pretty awesome, and much needed things. There were Legos, bug catcher equipment, airplanes, and tons of clothes. Little Dude didn't care much for the clothes, but I was over the moon about them. That means one less kid I have to buy school clothes for!

The best part of this party, at least in my opinion, were the cupcakes. With the exception of 2 or 3 birthdays for GG, I have always made their cakes. I think it's more personal and the kids love helping me decide what to make. Having them decide their cake can be good or bad depending on their choice.

Between my mom and my sister-from-another-mister, I found a few cute ideas. When I presented them to Little Dude, he went with the corn on the cob cupcakes.





I think the trick candles put them over the top. I don't think the Dude really thought I would buy him the trick candles he kept asking me for.




I really wish I could have some down time after this party. Parties (and family) are always exhausting! Instead of taking a day to rest, I need to get ready for vacation. The panic of what to pack and me pre-departure to-do list is going to kill me. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't such a procrastinator! That and we haven't taken a vacation in 7 years. I'm freaking over the possibility of forgetting something little yet trivial, such as a toothbrush or Tylenol.

I know I'll get it together on time to leave. Just because I'm panicking doesn't meant you have to. I am taking my computer, but I probably won't get a chance to blog, Facebook, or tweet. I promise to come back next week with a proper vacation post as well as a post on how I made those cupcakes.



Until next time...

Brownie Biscuit

I'm sure you're wondering what the hell is a brownie biscuit. It surely isn't food. That would be just a little nasty. Little Dude has a Webkinz Jr. monkey. His name is Brownie Biscuit.

Brownie Biscuit is starting to look a little sad around the edges. His tail no longer curls. He can no longer sit unassisted. He is definitely well loved. So well loved that we have to celebrate his birthday. This little tidbit of information was sprung on my out of nowhere the other day.

Since Little Dude was so excited about his monkey's birthday, I had to get in on it. I told him we would pull out the Easy Bake oven and make some cakes. I would like to point out that is the Easy Bake oven was really "easy', it wouldn't have taken us an hour to bake those cakes!

But in the end it was worth it. And from what I was told, the cakes were really good. I didn't get a bite.

Until next time...

Balls and Cones

Yesterday was yet another hot day. Mother Nature teased us by filling the skies with clouds. I wasn't sure if it would ever rain, but I didn't want to be stuck at the pool if it did. After Little Dude got home from his summer camp, I decided to surprise the kids with mini golf. It is something Little Dude has never and GG probably doesn't remember her last time. She was only three.

They had no idea where we were going until we pulled into the parking lot. Thank goodness the car windows were down or else their shrieks might have cracked them!

I was worried at first. Little Dude is pretty good at hockey an he loves slap shots. I immediately explained that we do not hit the ball hard. I really didn't want to pay for a lost ball. Luckily he took my advice, but I still cringed every time he got ready to swing. Have you ever seen Happy Gilmore? That is the stance Little Dude took when it was his turn to golf.

I admit none of us were very good, so I chose not to keep score. Neither child started a fight. In fact, they happily took turns putting their balls. It was like the Twilight zone!

Completing all 18 holes didn't take nearly as long as I expected so I decided to treat them once again. Before we made the trip to get the husband from work, we stopped at Bruester's for some ice cream.

Little Dude got a dirt sundae, which he did not like because it was crunchy. Although he licked the bowl clean.

GG got a cone with a huge scoop of mint chocolate chip. At first I thought she was really hungry because she was eating it so fast.

Then I got my cone topped with chocolate raspberry truffle (yum!!). I quickly learned that, even in the shade, ice cream melts fast when it's 90 degrees!


I can't tell you how many times each child thanked me. Our summer isn't exactly going as I planned, but if it continues to be full of days like yesterday, I will take it!



Until next time...

Parfait Pops

GG loves American Girl and anything related to them. She has not one, but two dolls of her own. Both dolls combined probably have just as many clothes as GG does. My girl has a lot of clothes!

GG was nothing short of excited to receive a subscription last Christmas to American Girl magazine. I have flipped through a few of her magazines myself and I must say, I am quite impressed. They are full of stories, crafts, and all kinds of confidence boosters.

Her latest edition came in the mail the other day. While she was flipping through it, she came across some summer snacks that we just had to make. We finally agreed on one snack and off to the store I went to get supplies.

The first snack from GG's list turned out so well that I have to share it.

Parfait Pops

Supplies:

3-ounce paper cups (we decided 5 ounce cups are better)
Popsicle sticks
Foil
Fruit-flavored yogurt
Fruit
Granola


1. Fill cups halfway with yogurt

2. Place a layer of fruit on top of the yogurt

3. Sprinkle granola on top of the fruit

4. Finish filling the cup with yogurt

5. Cover the top of the cups with foil and poke a stick through

6. Freeze overnight; peel away the cup and remove foil before serving



For our parfait pops, we used strawberry yogurt as the bottom layer and vanilla yogurt as the top layer. We chose blueberries and kiwi as our fruits. You can experiment with different flavors if you would like.

A healthy snack on a hot summer day. How can you go wrong with that?



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Until next time...