Fall Bucket List

The weather outside is starting to feel crisp and the geese are all flocking to our lake making noise outside our windows at an ungodly hour which means fall is right around the corner. I'm already excited for jeans and sweatshirt weather, cold after dinner walks and nights watching some TV snuggled by the fireplace.  I have so many things I want to do as a family or at least with the kids so I jotted down some ideas.  This weekend we crossed the first one of our lists and headed to the Apple Festival in Sparta for some bouncy houses, turtle racing and lots of free apples.

After  couple of hours of getting all of our energy out we headed back home with both kids passed out before we even left the parking lot.  Success for all of us but better yet when they were both in bed by eight... me by 8:30.

Summer Walks

One of my favorite things lately, now that it's getting warmer is going on our after dinner walks around the street.  Peyton is so chill and just hangs out and Noah rides his bike riding way faster than he should and giving me heart attacks as he turns the corners.  Sometimes late at night, when the kids are tired I swear that's when they get the whiny face going and I feel like they need the most attention.  Being outside though makes everything better and re-sets their mood so we're ready to take baths and do our night time routine.

This weekend, although not after dinner, but after nap, we headed out as a family to GV for a walk.  That is by far the best place to walk around.   Now that is summer it's just slow enough that there aren't students everywhere and Noah can ride around without running into somebody.   I love taking pictures of the kids there too.  The trees and flowers are the best around the spring and summer and I snap away while they just hang out.  We get to talk about the buildings and show Noah where we lived while on campus.  We talk about what we want to learn when we go to college or look at the bugs and leaves on the ground.  So much to do!  But mostly, we get out energy our and it makes a great way to settle into a nap or into bed and that my friends, is easy parenting at it's best. ...as Jeff would say.

John Ball Zoo

We had quite the busy four day weekend this past couple of days and it was packed to the max with lots of fun activities.  I had some nice one on one time with Peyton on Thursday.  We ran lots of errands and snuggled on the couch in between way too short naps.  His poor little mouth hurts so bad since he's teething and some days are just worse than others.  Friday, the kids and I headed for the zoo and saw every-single-animal.  It sure made the day go by fast.  We brought some lunch and had a picnic and talked about all the animals.  We only had a slight meltdown when Noah realized the spider monkeys weren't at the zoo that day because it was still too cold.   I can't wait to come back when all the animals are back.  It'll be even more fun!

On Saturday we went to Michigan State to watch the boys high school basketball state finals. A tradition for Jeffs side of the family.  A long weekend filled with lots of basketball games.  Lucky for me we only joined them on Saturday.  I'm not much for basketball all day but it sure was fun with the boys.  Unfortunately a little colder than we hoped for but still a good time.

Finally, Sunday I was able to catch up on some sleep when Jeff got up with the kids and I slept in for an extra hour.  It sure felt nice to wake up on my own.  We relaxed in the morning, the kids got much needed naps and then we went to see a friend from college and her two kids; which by the way, four kids is a zoo!  It was so much fun!

I'm looking forward to a relaxing week, a couple of barre and yoga classes and maybe even a nap somewhere little early bedtime for one of the nights.  I've got to catch up from this crazy weekend! 

Cherry Picking - Summer Activities

During the week, Jeff and Noah always go out in the mornings and do fun stuff before I get  home from work.  They've gone to see the airplanes at the airport, run errands together, grocery shop, strawberry picking, checking out new parks, and the list goes on.  By the time I get home from work most days though I have just enough time to do some cleaning and then it's time to start making dinner.  Then there is bath and bedtime, so really there's just not a ton of "fun" time left in the evening.  It was nice this weekend to partake on some family adventures trying things we haven't done yet.  The cherries are just about done and this was a perfect cool morning to pick some.  Also very perfect for someone nine months pregnant since I didn't do much walking, and I didn't have to bend over like other berries.

We picked So.Many.Cherries!  Three buckets full and honestly we did it so fast I can't believe what an easy fun activity this was.  Not to mention I really got a reality check as to what our cherry tree might look like in the future.  Like so big and so many cherries I may not know what to do with them.

When we got home we had lunch and both Noah and I were pretty exhausted so we both took a lengthy nap.  When I woke up I found Jeff pitting most of the cherries so we could make some cherry recipes.  First one on the list was dessert for that evening.  Chocolate Chip and Cherry Blondies.  They were amazing and I really recommend them.  We even doubled the recipe and made it in a 13x9 pan so we could use even more cherries. We ended up freezing about half of what we got and we've been eating them non stop the whole weekend.  We probably only have one more weekend together as just a family of three so it was nice to get out there and make some memories!

Chalkola Chalk Markers - Activities for Toddlers

I'm always looking for new activities for Noah to do around the house, especially now that it's getting colder outside.  It's always nice to have options for busy hands.  I was lucky enough to try out some new chalk markers this month that were perfect for a fun toddler activity for Noah. Chalkola Markers are super high quality and high pigmented markers.  The first time you use them they have to be shaken up and the "ink" has to be pushed out.  It does take a couple of minutes so you would want to do this ahead of time.  I started the markers during nap time and played with them for a little bit.  It's even fun for parents to draw around with.

We used our large slider door as our drawing surface as you only will want to use them on non porous surfaces.  Glass worked out great. Noah had so much fun trying out all the colors and naming them with me.  We worked on some numbers, and Jeff even drew out some football plays.  Fun for everyone.

These markers are perfect for Noah now but will also be great as he gets older.  They wash up nice with some water and paper towel so you can do it over and over.  The 15mm markers are slightly larger for little hands to grasp but the 6mm pens were perfect for Jeff and I and great for older kids to use to get a little more detailed.

Chalkola Markers also was kind enough to send out coupon codes so you can try them out for a little less cash.  Thanks Chalkola!

15mm markers - 20% off on Amazon with CHK20OFF
6mm markers - 20% off on Amazon with CHALK20A

Halloween Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes

One of our projects this weekend was making some festive mini cheesecakes.  This recipe is the easiest thing ever and perfect for little hands to help.  They can basically do it by themselves with just a little supervision.  It's a variation on my regular Mini Cheesecakes but much more fun for Halloween. 

Ingredients:

Crust

5 chocolate graham crackers

3tbl brown sugar

3.5 tbl butter, melted

small pinch of salt

Cheesecake

8-oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 (heaping) cup sugar
1 large egg
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
chocolate chips

Festive Sprinkles

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat your over to 350 degrees. Crush the graham crackers to a powder.  I use a meat mallet but I gave Noah a sturdy plastic cup with a flat base and that worked just as good. 

2. Melt the butter and add to the crushed graham crackers.  Add brown sugar and salt. Mix well with a fork.  This step is perfect for little hands.  Make sure the bowl is big enough so they don't spill out the sides.  Once it's all mixed, evenly spread the crust onto the bottom of a muffin pan filled with liners.  With a small spoon press the mixture in the bottom.

3. In a separate bowl add softened cream cheese and the rest of the cheesecake ingredients, less the chocolate chips.  Mix well with a hand mixer until there are no lumps left.

4. Now we're ready to assemble the cheesecakes.  Add a couple of chocolate chips to the top of the crust.  Evenly spread the cheesecake mixture in all twelve muffin tins.  Top with some festive sprinkles.

5. Bake 23-25 minutes and be patient like Noah was. =) You'll know it's done when you can stick a knife in the middle and it comes out clean. (unless you hit the chocolate chips.... then you'll probably get that)  Let cool and eat them all because they will be that amazing.

Toddler Activity - Painting a Wooden Bird House

Another weekend success with Noah and I.  Jeff was working all weekend and we saw him a little in the morning after he woke up but mostly it was just Noah and I.  I find now that I'm a mom I have major problems just sitting around on the couch when Noah's around.  I feel like I have to be doing something at all times.  That's probably why my house is always clean.  Noah walks around the house and helps me sweep and mop and dust, put away the dishes and vacuum.  It's a great way for us to get things done around the house and pass by the long days. 

Of course, there is only so much cleaning one can do, so this weekend we we're a little more creative with our activities.  First on our list was a painting project which Noah was so excited to do.  This wasted at least an hour and we had endless conversations about the colors he was using.  I also heard a lot of, "Mama, Wow!"  as the colors mixed together to form other colors.  When we were done I explained to Noah that we had to wait until it was dry but then we could go put it outside so the birds had a home and I think he really understood that.

We spent the rest of the weekend making food, baking and cuddling on the couch reading books. Noah even let me lay my head on his lap at one point.  I said, "you have to be gentle and nice to mama" as I took his hand and showed it how to nicely rub my cheek.  Then he follows it up with "...I love you mama".  And it's just one of those moments when your child first says I love you without asking that really melts your heart. 

Easter Bunny and Weekend Activities

It was Noah and I again for the last couple of days and therefore my lack of blog updates.  Kids keep you busy for sure and when I did have down time I took advantage by napping or catching up on some Real Housewives.  Jeff left us Thursday through Saturday and Noah and I tried to keep busy to pass the time as quickly as possible.  We met some friends at the mall on Thursday for some reading time at Barnes & Noble.  We stopped by to see the Easter bunny, which after the tragedy of Santa I thought we would admire from afar.  He did seem pretty intrigued though so maybe next year we'll stop by and say hi. 

To let of some steam we played in the mall play place for the first time.  And let me tell you what total chaos that is! I've never been so scared for Noahs safety his entire life then in that hour.  The kids are running over and into each other non stop with no regard to what anyone else is doing.  The slides are just accidents waiting to happen and I've never seen so many kids fall over and over again.  But the best part, I didn't see one child cry.  Everyone was so excited and happy they didn't even care they were being trampled.  Noah had a great time and was super upset when we left but we made up with a group lunch date to Panera and that was enough to make up for leaving.   At least to me. 

Friday, we spent most of the day packing up loads in the car and moving them to the new house.  Mostly everything from the closets made it over and a couple of kitchen things.  Noah was kind enough to be a great child and hang out watching the landscaper level the yard and I walked in and out from the car a million times.

By the end of the day on Friday both Noah and I started to get sick.  Maybe from all the hard work, but most likely from the stupid mall.  We both hit the couch as soon as we got home and got to sleep pretty early. Saturday we lounged all day waiting for daddy to come home so we could snuggle. And like that, the weekend was over.

This week will go super fast too as we look forward to moving day this weekend.  Today, we close on the sale of our current house and weather we like it of not we'll have seven days to get all of our junk out before the other family moves in.  Thursday and Friday, Jeff and I will slowly move all the little stuff we can put in our cars into the new house and although I do have to work on Saturday, all of the big things will be moving in the U-Haul then.  Sunday we'll be celebrating Easter and I'm sure I'll get no sleep as I spend every waking moment trying to organize and put away our entire life. Noah's room will be the first one to get settled and hopefully by the end of the week the rest of the house will take shape.

Bath Time Fun

Noah has really been enjoying bath time lately refusing to leave when it's time to get out.  He just really loves being in the water.  He lays down so the water covers his ears and most of his body and looks around at all the bath toys around him.  He's even gotten good enough to lay down and get up in the water by himself without sliding all over the place.

It's so nice to just sit back and watch him do his thing. It gives me a good fifteen minutes of peace.  Although peace I suppose includes hearing all the giggles.

Last night we pulled out some bath paints from the target dollar section and went to town.  We've done a similar paint before but was still a little leery of what was going on. He eventually got into it especially rubbing the paints all over his legs and arms.

Lucky for me they were super easy to clean off.  We just wiped them down with a little water and down the drain they went. I rarely have my phone with me while I'm the bath, you know, water and toddler hands scare me a little, so when I pulled it out to take a picture Noah couldn't not be a part of it.  Little cutie.  I say, "blow me a kiss!" and like that we got the cutest pictures ever.

...and another night down for this mama. Success!