Mini corn dogs

Feeding a toddler can be a difficult thing.  (Is a 3 year old still considered a toddler?  For the sake of this post, lets go with yes.)

I know that Miss A would eat macaroni and cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I would let her..... and some days, she comes pretty close to that.  I now buy the Kraft veggie macaroni, so at least she gets some veggies that way.  But other than mac and cheese, I can always count on cottage cheese, fruit and some veggies to make their way into her tummy.  Meat has now become the kicker.  Other than CFA nuggets and chicken fajita meat, she is not a huge fan, so I am trying to come up with creative things for her dinners. 

Last night I made her mini "corn dogs" and she gobbled them right up. I used canned biscuits and mini turkey sausages and baked according to the biscuit directions.  It made about 20, so I have plenty for the next couple of days.  This would even be a fast thing for a breakfast on the go. 

What are some things your toddler loves to eat?  Give me some new ideas!

Hey, Stevie - Vol 2

It has been a while since I did a "Hey, Stevie" post.  Miss A still is in LOVE with Steve and he tolerates her affection about 90% of the time.  And when he get annoyed with her, well.... most of the time she probably had it coming.  :)

 A Bears headband and bracelets as earrings.  Stylish.

 "Stevie, are you cold?"

 I did not buy this shirt....  But, I am ok with her wearing it because she still knows to cheer for the correct team.  Go Mavs!  Go Dirk!

 Froggy panties.

 Steve likes to visit the farm.

 And watch Bob and Larry DVD's.

 Sunglasses are always a popular accessory.

 "Hey Stevie, want to check your email?"

He looks like he is wearing a bowtie.... it is a headband.

"Hey Stevie, look... it lights up!" 

Strawberry Dora shampoo

Last night when I was putting Baby N to sleep, I just sat there holding her for an extra 5 minutes.... breathing in that intoxicating smell of freshly bathed baby. There is something about that scent that makes me want to move to a farm and have an entire litter of babies. But then I snap back to reality. I realize that my baby is almost 6 months old. I try to freeze this memory into my mind. Pretty soon the baby shampoo smell will be replaced with strawberry Dora shampoo and she will no longer fall asleep in my arms.

But then something else pretty wonderful happens. That big girl will run in from playing with bubbles in the backyard, wrap her sweaty and dirty little arms around my legs and say "mommy, I love you all the way inside my heart."

And before she runs off to start playing with stickers or books, I make sure to wrap my arms around her and tell her that I also love her deep inside my heart. As I am doing that, I take in the smell of strawberry Dora shampoo, sweat, and the smell of a little girl that has been playing outside all afternoon. I also want to bottle up that sweet, innocent smell and never forget it.

Life with a 3 year old and a 6 month old can sometimes be pretty hectic, but all it takes is a whiff of a sweaty ponytail to remind you that unloading the dishwasher can wait.

Grass Worm

Over the weekend we went to a Living Green Expo.... I am all for recycling my wine bottles and Land's End catalogs, but mainly we went to see the Bubble Lady. This lady was incredible - I am not sure who loved it more - Miss A or us. And in case you were wondering, Joy dish soap is the best for making homemade bubbles.

After the bubble lady, we checked out some of the exhibits. They had some really cute children's booths and Miss A made some fun little crafts. My favorite was a grass seed worm made out of panty hose and rubber bands.

We go out and water the worm every afternoon and she can't wait for it to start growing.

I think this is such a fun idea, I could see making these every spring or even making them as a fun birthday party project.

Miss A turns 3!

Miss A had her 3rd birthday party a couple of weeks ago and we had a wonderful time celebrating our precious girl!  Her party was held at a big McDonald's and all of the kids were able to play in the huge play area.  The food was provided - all I did was make the decorations and bring cupcakes.  It was a prefect setting for a bunch of rowdy 3 year olds! 

One of her favorite books is Olivia the pig, so it only seemed right to throw an Olivia themed party.  Black, white, red, polka dots and stripes were everywhere. 

A good friend designed the invitations and I made the address labels and star stickers. 

Since the party took place inside the play area, there was not much I needed to do for decor.
 

You can't tell in the picture, but the letters on her name banner are made from red glitter paper.

Here is the main table. 

I made all of the cupcake toppers. 

All of the other tables had Olivia coloring pages, as well as McD crowns. 

And the basket of favors. 

As far as a family picture, well.....  the birthday girl was too excited to pose!

Shutterfly Yearbooks

**Shutterfly compensated post**

So, I have an obession with photo books. I make them all the time and I love to flip back through and look at them. I don't really print out pictures, so this is my way of preserving memories. I probably have about 20 books that I have made, from all different sites.

Shutterfly is one of the easiest sites to use, and they now have specialized line of photo yearbooks. I think this is a great way to preserve memories and I plan on ordering these for the girls. It is a wonderful way to keep track of their teacher, friends, classroom, etc. from that year. I know that I enjoy looking back at my old books, and I am sure someday they will want to look back at their old books.

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The heart of a child

Today was one of those hectic afternoons where you wish you could be in 3 different places at once. Or at least have a sister wife that could help with the driving around. And just when I was getting kind of frustrated with driving all over creation, Miss A goes and puts everything into perspective for me.

We were driving down the interstate and came upon horrible traffic due to a pretty bad accident. Fire trucks and ambulances were flying by and I asked A if she wanted to say a little prayer for the people involved.

I said "dear Jesus, please be with the people that were in the car accident." and then I hear her sweet voice from the backseat "and please send someone to hold their hand."

Once I wiped the tears from my eyes, I told her that that was a very sweet thing to say. She responded with "momma, when I am scared I want someone to hold my hand. They might want that also." I told her that that was probably Jesus's favorite thing he heard all day.

Her heart is so pure and sweet and I hope it stays that way for as long as possible.

What Is on My Phone

A couple weeks ago we tried out this new burger joint - Goodfriend. They have some great burgers, but what I really loved was that they have wine on tap. And, they bring you a generous sized sample to test out the different wines.

I spotted this princess wand over the holidays and decided I needed to recreate it for Miss A. Have not done so yet, but it is on the list.

I saw this frosting recipe on Pinterest and thought it looked good. I pin stuff all the time, but hardly ever go back and look at my boards, so if I really like an idea or recipe, I just take a screen shoot.

This is a really sweet book to read to your kids. If you don't have it, go get it.

I went to the Smocked Auctions warehouse sale a couple weeks ago and it was a mad house, but I managed to get a couple cute dresses for the girls. The girls will be matching in their pink poodle and cheerleader dresses.

An artist friend is working on a custom piece for A and N. Here is a sample sketch that she sent me - love it!

I have been collecting charms for years and years, yet I cannot remember the last time I wore my charm bracelet. I think I am going to add it to the arm party mix.

My BIL introduced me to this wine last weekend. It has a screw top and is about $10 for 1.5L.... plus, it is really good.

I made a double recipe of taco soup this afternoon and here is the aftermath. It is like a can cemetary.

The girls sent Valentine cards to our family.... aren't they cute?