Mommy AWAY!!!

I made it safe and sound to Maryland to spend the weekend with my sister, Bridget. I decided to take the train from NC ot DC and then take the Metro to meet Bridget. It worked out really well and I didn't have to do all the driving by myself!!! We're getting ready for her 30TH BIRTHDAY BASH tonight! I'll be sure to post pictures of our Halloween costumes. This is the first trip I've made by myself. I miss all 3 of my boys, but am also enjoying some time to myself. I made TONS of food and put it all in the fridge and freezer for the weekend, so Eric should be good to go. I hope everyone has a wonderfully-scary Halloween.

Boys Being Boys

The boys have been totally hilarious lately...as if they have ever been anything other than hilarious! Eric got a few cute videos of them. The first one is of Connor laughing at a cracker, and Brandon saying "more" and "mama" We don't start speech therapy next week, but in the meantime, he's finally picked up some "m" words.



This second video is of the boys playing on the Spidey Couch. I was in class, and while Eric stepped out of the room, they dragged their couch in from the playroom and started doing acrobatics on it!



This is a picture of Brandon. While I was changing Connor's diaper, Brandon pulled out the kitchen chair, crawled up on the table and proceeded to play with his pumpkin and hair brush. Now, I'm the master at changing diapers...QUICKLY, so it was a matter of seconds that Brandon accomplished this. Lord help me! I'm thinking of using bungees to hold the chairs under the table!


We had Brandon retested for allergies. Good and bad news. Bad news is that he's still allergic to egg white and nuts, but the good news is that his level of severity has dropped for the eggs. That means there's a good chance he'll grow out of it. Other bad news, is that he's now allergic to sesame seed. Both of the boys have been breaking out, especially around their mouths, when they eat hummus. I wondered if sesame was part of the peanut family. Even though it's not, he's allergic to it! It's about the same low severity as the egg whites, but it's another thing we need to look out for. I'm going to look into taking B to an allergic clinic regularly to monitor him. I think it's a good idea since his nut allergy could be life threatening.

Cookie Plate

I love to paint pottery at a local pottery place called Just Clayin' Around. I went this past weekend with a coworker of Eric's and had a great time. I decided to paint a plate to put Santa's cookies on. I think it turned out pretty darn cute...what do you think??? I love the idea of taking a plain white raw clay plate and turning it into something memorable.

Developmental Playday

Fort Bragg has many different opportunities for families and children. I saw a flyer for their monthly developmental playdays and decided to go. You can't beat organized play time with other kids and crafts that someone else comes up with and cleans up. We had a pretty good time!!!

Both boys were a little timid at first, but warmed up quickly. There were only 4 other kids there and 2 of them were babies.



After the kids all warmed up, we went right into cooking time! They made no-bake pumpkin pies. The ingredients were already proportioned out, and all the kiddies had to do was MIX MIX MIX! They really liked licking the spoon after they were done.


Next, they read a book about pumpkins. I was surprised that the boys sat still for most of it. After the book, we made pumpkin masks. Once again, I was surprised at how well the boys painted and enjoyed painting!


I'm sure you've noticed their smocks! My mom made these for them and they worked great! I kept most of the pumpkin off their shirts and paint off their pants!!! THANKS GRANDMA KAREN!

Weekend Happenings

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to post, but we forgot our camera today! We traveled to the North Carolina State Fair today for the first time ever. Parking was a breeze, the weather was beautiful, and the boys were angels. We pushed our way through the crowds for about 2 hours before I was ready to go. There were so many people there and strollers don't always go well with shoulder to shoulder traffic. I think we are very mindful stroller pushers and always stay out of the way, but not everyone thinks like that. Over all, we had a great time and I'm really glad we decided to make the trip.

The boys are getting into EVERYTHING now. I feel like I have baby proofed my house all over again. They can reach anything and everything on the kitchen table, counters, can open things they didn't use to be able to, and are very inquisitive about everything. They also thoroughly enjoy playing with the vertical blinds in the playroom SO MUCH that they broke one of them. I'm pretty sure I have extras in the garage. It's always somethin'

Hope everyone has a great week. I'm off to bed...it's been a long day.

Creepy Crawly Bugs...for lunch????

I'm always looking for fun and challenging things to cook. The boys are such good eaters that it's almost become a game to find something they don't like. Connor is still boycotting most fruit, but I'm convinced it's a phase. I found a really cute recipe for some Creepy Crawly Bugs that I'm going to make as an appetizer for a Halloween party. The boys were the perfect taste testers. All you need is mini sausages or hot dogs, refrigerated bread stick dough, potato sticks, ketchup and mustard. Here's the result!

The boys loved them! I should have used some of my cake decorating supplies to make cleaner looking ketchup and mustard decorations, but let's be real...I don't have THAT kind of time. I think they liked the potato stick legs and antlers the best!

Punkin's

Since it was Columbus Day today, Eric was off! So, we took the boys to a local farmer's market to pick out pumpkins and to get a few pictures of them in a "fall like" atmosphere.



This was Brandon's punkin'
Connor's punkin'

After we got back from the farmer's market, the boys were CRAZY with their slide. They played for a while, we put them down for a 45 minute rest while I worked out and then made dinner. We had grilled chicken, avocado, crackers, and a cookie. Well, Eric and I just had chicken, and the boys ate the rest. I turned mine into a sandwich to take on the road to class. While I was in class, Eric and the boys played with the slide again. They are getting more and more daring and nimble. I'm sure the days of stitches are coming.

Head first...the best way to slide!

Brandon has figured out how to jump. He likes to squat and then jump up when he's on the ground. He figured out how to jump off the bottom of the slide today. Buckets of fun!
This is the new way he likes to climb into the slide. Heaven forbid he use the DOOR. He climbed in there for the first time today, and all it took was ONE TIME and he had it mastered.
The boys love to hug! Here are a few pictures of them hugging each other. So sweet.

They are the sweetest kids ever! They hug all the time, rarely cry or fuss, and are genuinely happy to be doing whatever! They go with the flow 99% of the time, and that makes my life very easy breezy!

Lazy Day

I've been working in the office a little bit this week and have had lots of other things going on, so Thursday morning was definitely lazy day for all of us. I had to go to work at 11, but the boys and I chilled out all morning. Brandon was doing some serious chilling with Rena! Connor tried to give Rena his pacie!!! It was really cute. I think Brandon looks really big in this picture. Yes, he still fits in 12 month clothes, but I think that's a little deceiving!

Simple Fun

I bought a big bag of dog food yesterday and the boys played on it all day long!

Kate's Crazy Good Eggplant

Truth be told...I LOVE VEGGIES. I eat a lot of veggies and a lot of different veggies. The only time I ever eat eggplant is when we get a chance to go out to eat...which is rare. I admit that I create some pretty funky meals at times, and not everyone in the house is as into trying new things as I am. I just like to see what I can get the boys to eat...because they like it all!!!! Eric was out of town this weekend for an Army 10 mile run in DC. WAY TO GO ERIC..he finished in 1 hour and 24 minutes, and his goal was 1 hour and 30 minutes. While he was gone, I figured it was a good chance to put my concocting apron on! Here's what I came up with...and EVERYONE liked it!!! I understand eggplant isn't the tastiest thing to eat and does have a funky texture. However, when it's covered in sauce and few different cheeses...IT BECOMES A HIT!

You'll need about 2-3 tbps of pesto. I bought a packet of pesto powder for the first time and it worked really well and was really easy. All you need is water and olive oil.


PESTO!

Next, take a 15 oz container of ricotta cheese and mix in 1/4 cup of parm, romano, and asiago cheese...1/4 cup total not 1/4 cup each. Add you 2-3 tbsp pesto and mix well. NOTE - you can add 1 beaten egg, but I didn't...for obvious reasons!!!


RICOTTA and PESTO!!!

Next, slice a medium sized eggplant into 1/4 in slices. NOTE - from now on I will peel the eggplant first. I really don't care for the skin and the boys spit the skin back out

Lay the eggplant into a greased 9 x 13 dish

Top with 1/2 ricotta mixture and some mushrooms. I used canned, but only because I didn't have any fresh.
Repeat layers!
Top with a 26oz can of sauce. I covered it with foil and put it in the fridge until dinner. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees..covered with the foil!
Remove the foil and top with about 2 cups of mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. I topped it with some tomato pesto seasoning I happened to have, but you can use either pepper or italian seasoning...if you want to.
Let cool for a few minutes for sauce and cheese to set up a little, and ENJOY!

Eric is not an eggplant fan at all, but he liked this better than the last eggplant recipe I made. He said spaghetti sauce and LOTS of cheese make anything taste good! I really liked this and so did the boys. They were almost like eggplant patties. I might try it again, but use less sauce next time and then put it on a whole wheat or maybe even a ciabatta bun. YUMMY!!!!

Party Time

Our "girl" friend twins turned the big F-I-V-E today! We celebrated at the riding stables on Ft. Bragg. Here are the birthday girlies with their HOMEMADE cake! Their mommy is AMAZING at these kind of things.

Me and Connor getting ready to go on the pony. He cried...not surprised! P.S. I took a bunch of pictures on my camera, but my memory card is whacked out.
Brandon calling the ponies DA!
Me "corral"ing Brandon! He really wanted to get in the corral with the ponies. He liked riding them...too bad I don't have a picture to prove it.

Getting Better

Connor-man is finally getting better!!! He's eating again, doesn't cry as much, and smiles his sweet smile! Here are some pictures from the last few days...enjoy!


Brandon squeezing into his toy cube...
Brandon took every last piece of dirty clothes out of the basket in his room and strategically THREW them all over the play room...
Brandon hiding in the basket and Connor trying to get him out
Hanging out on the dishwasher...Connor had a pretty bad fever at this time...that's why he's naked! I didn't have the heart to tell them to get down!


Now that it's October...it's time to break out the Halloween shirts!

3rd Time is a Charm...maybe not

Connor has ear infection #3 over a 6 week period. He's not eating, crying a lot, and all kinds of other fun symptoms. We ended up at the doctor this morning and have already started another round of meds. If this infection still isn't cleared up by this round of meds, then we're going to start talking about tubes. I'm going to relax and get caught up on my homework while the boys take a much needed nap. I would love to have one too :(