Birthday Party Recap

Well, it's now Tuesday after Aria's 2nd birthday party, which was Saturday, but I'm just not getting around to blogging about it. This is mostly because I couldn't stand my house being such a mess any longer, and I spent most of yesterday pulling everything back together.

The party was a success, for which I was glad. It's really the first party I've pulled off by myself, although I did get a LOT of help from my mom. She's definitely the party-thrower/entertainer of the family. I just wanted to give Aria a nice party, and had NO idea how much work it would be. But it was fun, and now I'm glad it's over :)

I loved the way the burlap and mason jars came out. We used a simple light aqua plastic table cloth and made burlap runner to go down the middle. We wrapped pieces of burlap around mason jars and tied them up with a pink gingham ribbon, then filled them with hot pink daisies. 

IBC Root Beer and candy sticks

I really loved the way those turned out. I had my husband tie the pink and blue candy sticks in groups of 3, and we put those all along the burlap runner at everyone's spot for their party favors. I also hung pastel pink, green and teal paper lanterns from the pavilion ceiling for some dimension, and liked how that looked.cf

The Pinterest idea I use to make
Aria's special vase. It looks great
but was WAY harder to do than I thought. 

For food, there were a few changes to the menu I had posted about earlier and wanted to do. We decided to nix the homemade cheese sticks, mostly because of time constraints, and put a veggie plate in it's place (although the day of, we actually forgot the veggies in the refrigerator, so I've been eating a lot of broccoli lol.) We still went with the homemade chicken nuggets, and I was glad we did. They ended up being pretty easy and tasty! I ended up going with a different recipe than I had posted before, because after experimenting, my mom found out those others didn't have quite enough flavor. The cinnamon sugar tortilla chips and fruit salsa were a big hit, and I will most definitely be making  those again for parties and family gatherings. And then there were the sweet potato fries. *sigh* They were tasty, although I could not for the life of me get them crispy. So they looked like limp little orange worms in the bowl. But again, they really were tasty.

Stewart's Orange soda, Cream soda and
IBC Root Beer in a big tin tub was a hit,
and I loved the way it looked.

Having the party at the park really was a great idea. The kids all had plenty of room to play and you really need that with a group of toddlers/early elementary-aged kids. And we had the perfect weather. It was sunny and warm, without being too hot - which was definitely a concern this summer. The guys brought a football and had a good time throwing that around while the moms and kids played on the playground. We also had one of our family favorite games, ladder gold, and that was a big hit as well. We had made a bunch of water balloons, but didn't actually use them until most of the younger kids had left. Aria and her friend Ellie had a great time with them, though, and all the "big kids" (my brothers, husband and dad) had a blast throwing them at each other.

Overall, we had a blast, and I hope our guests did too. I'll post a couple recipes below, as well as some pictures from the day.

Panko-Crusted Baked Chicken Nuggets

 (special thanks to my friend Margee for this alternative recipe. It turned out very tasty!)

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips

(warning: it is not this pretty, but it really is DELICIOUS!)

A group of the adults chilling

My mom made this great sign for us to
take pictures with. This is a shot of all
the kids who came for the party.

Family Photo <3

Operation Potty Training: Day 4

It's still the middle of Day 4, but I probably won't have time to post much later tonight. Today has been a confusing day as far as the potty training goes. My mom is staying for a few days, and she woke Aria up this morning. However, even though her diaper wasn't "loaded," she still did not go on her seat when she woke up. Or at all in the hours after waking up. In fact, as of almost 2:00 pm, she has not peed. At all. We ran out to Meijer to pick up groceries for her party on Saturday, but when we got home, her pull-up was still bone dry. She just went down for a nap, which means she got a diaper on, and I have a feeling she will relax enough during her nap and go then. At least, I hope so. Is there such a thing as a toddler who can go that long without peeing?

If you are truly riveted with the ending to this puzzling dilemma, stay tuned for the epic conclusion, which will be posted sometime tomorrow. Maybe. I have jury duty. Which will be another post. Until then... I'm signing off. 

Operation Potty Training: Day 3

Honestly, Day 3 was probably our worst day so far. We had the most accidents, and I wasn't feeling well, so everything was that much more exhausting. However, before we get to day 3, let me tell you about the epic ending to Day 2.

As I mentioned in the blog post for that day, I was very worried about whatever was going to happen when Aria finally had to go *ahem* #2. This time, my fears were justified. Aria had been sitting on the couch reading books, and I was texting someone. When I looked up, she was no longer on the couch, and during this stage of potty training, I really don't want her leaving my sight for very long. I saw her over near the front hallway, and just as I stood up saying "Aria bug, can you come here, please?" she comes running to me saying, "Mommy! Icky chocolate!" For future reference, that is never a phrase you want to hear coming from your toddler's mouth. I'm not exactly sure the exact order of events, but there was a perfect little log sitting on my side table, and Aria's hands were covered in "icky chocolate." After putting her in the bathtub and sanitizing the side table, I realized it really could have been a lot worse. But that was still nasty.

Like I said, throughout the course of Day3, Aria had the most accidents so far. 3 or 4 I believe. But she still went in her potty 5 times, so all was not entirely lost.

And the journey continues....

Happy birthday, Aria-Bug!

Two years ago today at this point, I was holding my baby girl who was less than 5 hours old. I couldn't stop staring at this little bundle of sweetness, and I couldn't believe how much I loved her. I mean, I loved her to death when I was pregnant with her, but I couldn't believe how much you just absolutely fall in love with your child when they're born.

Although from the day that she was born, she's been a daddy's girl, she'll always be my little girl. I still can't believe when I look at her that it's been 2 years. I remember the day (rather, very early morning) she was born like it was yesterday. I was so relieved to have that awful pregnancy done, and to by honest, labor and delivery with her really wasn't that bad - I truly got lucky.

In the past 2 years since that day, she has changed our lives in so many ways and taught me so much about love and myself, and I'm sure Josh would say the same thing. I have begun (but not by any means finished) leaning the endless patience required to raise a child. I have learned to make even the most insignificant moments memorable. I have learned that sleep is the most precious commodity that one cannot buy.... besides time. Time is so precious.

So even though we're not celebrating Aria's birthday this year until Saturday, today is always the day that brings back all those memories of first diapers changes, first snuggles and all the joy that went along with being a mommy.

Aria's first picture just a few seconds after being born.

Aria today - exactly 2 years later :)

Operation Potty Training: Day 2

Well, I must say, all my fears about Aria peeing everywhere were completely unfounded. Yesterday, she only had one tiny accident in her room while she was playing, and successfully peed on her potty seat 7 times. So far today, she had one even smaller accident on the bathroom floor and has been successful 3 times on her seat. Not bad odds. She really loves the "treat" she gets after every little success and loves using toilet paper almost as much as the chocolate, which I find strange, but hey - she's a 2-year old.

Some things I have not done that are apparently popular are 1) forcing her to drink a lot of fluids and 2) even attempting a clean and dry pull-up during nap and night times. The reason I decided not to force Aria to drink more was simply her personality; she's the type that if you ask her repeatedly to do something (ie - drink more than she wants) she will rebel against everything you ask, and she's doing so well with potty training, I didn't want to ruin that. I also haven't tried a dry nap or night time sleep simply because I don't think she's ready for that yet. She is still getting used to the idea of going on her potty seat and walking around without pants on, and I'm not sure that she's not holding in a lot for when she gets a pull-up on. I don't know this for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Something else that we haven't accomplished yet is a poop on her potty seat yet. I'm not sure when that will come, and I'm kind of dreading any unsuccessful attempt on that front. This has always been the aspect I've been most nervous about, because until just a few months ago, she only went #2 while she was asleep, and there's just no way to train a child with that habit. She's since changed her schedule, but it always made me wonder if she was fighting it for some reason. I guess the answers to those fears are yet to be discovered.

All in all, I'm very proud of her, especially the 2 times where she has explicitly told me that she needed to go. I have worried about her being too young, but it seems we started at just the right time. I'm still wondering how long the actually "training" period should be before we go back to putting pants on her. (The typing of this blog post was briefly interrupted by another accident that occurred because she was too involved in Curious George. Distraction is another obstacle that we'll apparently have to deal with soon.) 

How long of a training period did you use with your kids before they went from pull-ups to "big kid pants?" I s a week unrealistic, or is that a normal time frame? I don't want to rush her, especially since she's still rather young. Any advice on things I'm missing?

Aria sitting on her "designated area" on the couch,
reading bookies. She's bottomless, but I figured this
was a good enough picture ;)

Passing down the memories: simple summers

Like I mentioned in my previous post about our vacation to West Virginia, there are some memories that I have as a child that I'm getting to pass down to Aria now, and that makes me so happy. Times have changed so much even in the past 20 years (does that make me sound old?) and I still want to be able to teach my kids to enjoy the simpler things in life like an uncomplicated trip to the mountains, watching her daddy play softball and the current favorite, splashing in a cool pool on a ridiculously hot summer day.

Finding an empty school playground to
play on during cooler evenings is a great
way to make fun (and cheap!) memories.

Another one of my favorite parts of summer growing up was enjoying all the fresh fruits that come along with the warmer weather, specifically berry picking. Now, I know that Aria's probably still a year or two too young to go to a berry patch to pick strawberries or blueberries. She would eat so many that we'd probably get kicked out, not that I didn't come close as a kid, but ya' know. But Aria does love fruit probably more than any other food group (although as the potty training goes on, chocolate chips are becoming a close second.) She goes nuts over blueberries, strawberries and watermelon and has no problem just chewing on a lemon slice - rind and all, if we're not watching carefully. In fact, if I'm not watching her every move some days, I'll find her in the kitchen with the fridge door open, sitting in the middle of the floor eating out of the blueberry container. As cute as it is - and it really is cute - and as healthy of a snack it is, I'm reluctant to let this habit continue, partially because of the blue poop I later have to deal with and partially because of the future ramifications of allowing such refrigerator raiding now.

I can't wait until we have our own backyard and can grow raspberries and strawberries, as well as other veggies she's starting to enjoy - especially if dipping them in ranch dressing is allowed. There's nothing more rewarding than cooking up or snacking on some fruits and vegetables that you helped grow; it was always one of the best parts of the end of summer when I was a kid.

Summer traditions don't have to be complex or complicated. Ours are all relatively simple, but memorable ideas, many taken from our own childhoods. What traditions are you starting with your young ones? Were they part of your childhood as well, or are you starting with fresh memories?

Operation Potty Training: Day 1

Well, I didn't post about this earlier on the blog, but we have tried potty training once before. Incredibly unsuccessfully. Whenever I would try to sit Aria on her potty seat, she would have a panic attack. The thing that confused me was that she loved sitting on her special froggy potty seat, as long as her pants were on. But as soon as we took her pants and diaper off, she would freak out sitting her bare rear end on the seat. So, all that to say, it was remarkably unsuccessful.

So last week, I sat down and read between 5 and 43 different blogs from moms who were or had recently trained their young toddlers successfully. I read various different methods and creative ideas on how to motivate younger children to leave the diapers behind and enter a brand new world of "big girl pants." The method I decided to start with seemed the most scary and - quite honestly - impractical of all, but everyone who had tried it said it worked surprisingly well. So I decided to give it a shot. Starting today, Aria is not wearing any pants. At all. Her little bare bottom is running around my house completely uncovered. It's scary. I fear for my rug, honestly, and I have blankets and towels down on all the furniture. But here's my thought process - in a few short weeks, this will no longer be my carpet. In a few short weeks, I will be moving into a house with brand new carpet. So I weighed the options - have her potty train on crappy carpet that will not be mine - or anyone else's - very shortly? Or try when I have brand new carpet in my brand new house that I paid very good money for? When I thought about it like that, starting before the move seemed the best idea.

First thing this morning when Aria woke up, I pulled off her diaper and took her right to her potty seat in the bathroom. And she peed in the potty!! I was elated! We cheered, sang and danced! And then Aria got 2 chocolate chips, which then caused her to be elated. We cheered and hugged some more. About every 1/2 hour, I ask her if she needs to potty. She will run to the bathroom every time, but only sits down in she has to go. In fact, 45 minutes after her first successful potty, she stood up from playing, turned to me and said "mommy! potty!" And sure enough, she ran to the potty and went! I was shocked, and, once again, elated. And the elation continued after Aria got her chocolate chips.

Some things that help her - if I'm also sitting on the toilet, she feels better. I could be sitting on the lid, but as long as I'm sitting next to her, she relaxes. Also, asking her every half hour reminds her, even if she doesn't have to go. And again, chocolate chips. Seriously. It's an awesome motivation. I'm only giving her 2, but that's enough to excite her beyond all reason. Another motivation - toilet paper. Nope, I don't get it at all, but getting to use toilet paper is another reward that excites Aria beyond reason.

So, it's only 11:39, Day 1 of Operation: Potty Training, but Aria has successfully peed on the potty 3 times now. I'm thrilled about it, and Aria is eagerly awaiting the next 2 chocolate chips. More updates will come as the week goes on. Successes, failures and all.

The Toddler Wars: Episode 1 - Discipline and Discipleship

This will be a rather short post mostly because this is a topic that we haven't figured out quite yet. In fact, after talking to several moms with children of various ages, it appears to be a topic that most parents don't have figured out, so I don't feel too bad.

As you all may know, Aria turns 2 this week. This week it will have been two years since she came into our world's and took over our hearts. Remarkable how time flies. Anyways, the "terrible two's" didn't get that name for no reason. No sirree Bob. A few weeks ago, we entered the terrible two's full force. The "no, mama!"s and buckets of tears when we tell her not to try to climb out of her crib were a totally new experience for us, and I was not prepared. Despite Aria's high energy and occasional high maintenance tendencies, she's actually been a very good toddler as far as obedience goes. So what happened?!

Needless to say, I've found this newly discovered boldness of Aria's to be incredibly frustrating, and it's hard for me to hide that frustration when she's having "one of those days." To be honest, the rather obvious truth that the word "discipline" comes from the same root as the word "disciple" didn't occur to me until church one Sunday when my pastor pointed it out. It was like a light bulb moment for me.  I mean, let's face it - when you're 3, 7 and 13, you don't think of your parent's discipline as an attempt to turn you into a good person. You think of it as more of an attempt of your parents to make you hate them. At least, that's kinda what I thought.

So... I'm not naive enough to think that Aria will immediately acknowledge in all her toddler wisdom that the way she is being disciplined for that temper tantrum in the middle of Meijer is me trying to mold her into a better human. In fact, I'm pretty sure she will not like whatever form of discipline we use for several more years. Ok, never. The shift in thinking about discipline as a discipleship project occurs more in the hearts and minds of the parents, rather than the kid. It's the attitude we have. It's the attitude towards our children that we display to them when they're being put in time out, or getting that favorite toy taken away (especially if it's not theirs and they just snagged it off the shelf in aforementioned Meijer.)

All that to say, during this first episode of The Toddler Wars, I'm working very hard to make sure I'm coming at discipline more from, no - entirely from - the attitude of discipling my daughter into the image of who God wants her to be, instead of frustration out of the fact that she's not being the little person that I  want her to be.

Anyways, that's all I have to say on the subject for now. I don't have advice on how to do that or how well it's going so far, since I just started this mental shift and haven't always done it completely successfully. But I'm trying.

If any of you have discovered that discipleship is your gift with your children, please PLEASE share how you do this. Any and all advice and prayers would most certainly be appreciated. :)

Hint: this is NOT her happy face.

Time for another birthday!

I can't believe it's been yet another year in the life of Aria! 2 years, really?! Wow. In fact, just yesterday I was watching some video of just 6 months ago and I couldn't believe how much she's grown up! Her legs have thinned out and lost that "baby fat" look, her hair is so long and her face has really changed from baby-cute to adorable little girl. At least, I think she's adorable :)

This year, we're doing an outside birthday with an old-fashioned theme. Classic games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Ladder Golf , Badminton and water balloons will keep things fun and simple. I'm currently working on some vintage decor for a special touch, and everyone will go home with old-fashioned cotton candy-flavored candy sticks as a party favor. Also, since it'll be held at a park with a playground, all the kids can be easily entertained no matter what age-group they fall into.

This is the recipe that I'm
planning on using for the
homemade chicken nuggets.
I'll let you all know how
it works out... or doesn't.

I originally had planned for a rather complex, albeit delicious, menu, but after reviewing it, decided it was a tad more than I could handle even with extra help, so I pared it down to homemade chicken nuggets and grilled chicken, sweet potato fries, a veggie try and a fruit salsa with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips.
I'm hoping the menu will also appease all age groups. I'll also let you know which recipes (from Pinterest, of course) worked, and which did not :D

Mason jars and burlap.
I'll be using pink daisies
for Aria's party.

For decor, I'm planning on using some burlap and mason jars to get the vintage-type feel I want, with pastel pinks, greens and blues to keep it girly. I'd love to do a "prop" or "dress-up" area with boas, necklaces, top hats and cane for the little kids, but haven't ever been to a party with that kind of area - I've only read about it in blogs. Have any of you ever seen or done this successfully? I don't want mad chaos lol.

I'm also still deciding about what to do for a cake. If you're in the US, you probably know that we've been experiencing some of the hottest weather since the Dust Bowl days, and the last thing I need is mountains of melting buttercream. I'm thinking cupcakes may be the way to go.

So anyways, those are just some thoughts and my inspiration for Aria's party. 

The overall look I'm going for
with the jars and burlap, only with
more "girly" colors. 

I already have my wheels turning for next year after seeing some Sesame Street veggies trays, but one party at a time :) 

What have been your most successful parties and their inspiration? Do you always do a theme or operate on favorite foods? Which Pinterest ideas and recipes have worked for you for a large group and which not so much? Having thrown a total of 2 parties in my lifetime, I could use all the help you can give me!

Street Fairs and Sunshine

One of my favorite parts about living in suburbia is all the summer activities that happen in our town and the neighboring ones, specifically the street fairs. If you've never enjoyed this aspect of Americana, let me describe it for you. Artists and crafters lined up on main street of a downtown area selling their colorful and occasionally disturbing goods; truck upon truck of various friend foods, as well as other sundry stands of pulled pork, specialty candies and more fried foods, and all said foods accompanying scents; an immense amount of sweaty, sticky people. That pretty much sums it up, and it's a lot of fun. Oddly enough, I only ever make it to these festive occasions when I'm extremely pregnant. We'll have to fix that next year, cuz I have no intentions of being pregnant next summer.

The metalworks frog I got for Kylar's room.

For me, there's nothing more fun than finding a unique piece of art or jewelry from a local seller at the art fairs. I love the different art mediums and ideas that are as numerous as the vendors themselves. It would be incredibly easy for me to spend hundreds of dollars on all the different home decor items available.

 Instead, I limited my purchases to one item per child (plus an adorable caricature of Aria - who could resist those big blue eyes?!)

Aria's caricature

Another favorite part of the street fairs are the bounce houses. Not for me, of course - that would be quite the sight, let me tell you - but Aria really loves them. We first tried them out on Wednesday afternoon, when my mom and I took Aria. She happily bounced until her little legs could hold themselves up on the unsteady plastic floor no more, and came and laid down on the side of the bounce area saying "night-night, mommy." When Josh and I took her on Friday night, her reaction was much the same, although since there were more kids there, she did tend to be a little more tentative....until someone pulled out a ball. Then she was all over that puppy.

Later, Josh and I indulged in some fantastic pulled pork BBQ (for me) and hand-dipped corn dogs (for him.) It's just not a street fair if you're not eating greasy, unhealthy food. :) We soon escaped before the night crowd came in and traumatized Aria :) What are some of your family's favorite traditions in the summertime? 

Big-Girl-Bed Time?

Since we are about to add another baby to our family, and we didn't want to buy a second crib for obvious reasons, we have decided that around the time we move will be when we transition Aria over to her "big girl bed." But I'm freaking out a little bit. If you have read our blog at all, you know that she loves to move around, and is not at all a fan of remaining in one place, specifically for sleeping. We have decided to move her into a daybed, since they already have 3 raised sides, and we can simply add a protective rail to keep her from falling out of bed in the middle of the night, but I'm not so naive to think that it will stop her from climbing out whenever she wants. 

When did you move your child to a "big kid bed?" Did they start in a toddler-sized bed or go straight to a twin bed? How did you teach them to stay in bed at night? I'm at a bit of a loss, and I have a feeling I'll have plenty of other things to deal with when I'm 8 months pregnant than just keeping my toddler in her bed at night. 

Could this really have been a year and a half ago?
Even then, she was wanting OUT! 

One of those days...

You ever have those days where no matter what you do, your kid or kids just won't be happy? And it also happens to be on the same day that everyone around you took their stupid pills? And the day that you swore you would scrub down the kitchen/vacuum the living room/dust all the furniture, but you can't get a blasted thing done because of aforementioned crabby kids and stupid people? That's my day today. But then this picture of this little guy made me smile. And now, I will go have another cup of (decaf) coffee, and all will be well. For 5 minutes.

How do you deal with "those Mondays" in your home?

Learning to sing, singing to learn

It's no secret, especially to those in the music education world, that using music to teach concepts is one of the best memory aids for young kids. This is why we teach our kids the ABC's to a tune, and why kids can memorize lyrics to any given song much faster than adults. This week, we have had an excellent demonstration of how to teach activities and concepts with a simple tune.

Exhibit A: whenever we put lotion on Aria, we sing the "Dove song" (for lack of a better title) which is really just "Dry Bones" with doo's and dah's. Aria has always thought it's hilarious and giggles her way through it, but just recently she started singing with us. After a while, we noticed she would ask for "doo-be-dah" whenever we changed her diaper. We didn't really put the two together until one day, when I was putting lotion on my legs after a shower. Aria walked up to me, started rubbing my legs and saying in a sing-song voice, "doo-be-dah, doo-be-dah." Now, it's one of her favorite things to get her nightly lotion on while we sing to her, and it's one of my favorite things to hear her say.

This is just one of many potential everyday examples about how putting words (unfortunately, "doo-be-dah" is not an actual word) or concepts into music can imprint ideas into even a young child's head. This is why it's so important that you know what your kids are listening to, not just on the radio in the car, but even on TV. A commercial ditty can stay with a kid for YEARS. I still remember ditties for random toys or theme songs from shows I only saw a few times as a child to this day.

Adults have a habit of mindlessly singing through songs they've heard a thousand times, but to a kid, that may be the time he learns the words and tries to figure out the concepts behind those new words. (This is another excellent, important reason for churches to take a good look at the theology behind their favorite hymns, but that's another rant for another day.) With a young child, the words aren't the only things that will get stuck in their heads. The words they learn and philosophies they are subconsciously being taught frequently start out with the music that is in your home. What are you listening to?

(Stock Photo)

Family Favorite Recipe: Spaghetti Carbonara

When I went to Europe in 2006, one of my favorite things as a foodie, was enjoying all the different flavors and dishes in European cuisine. My favorite dish ended up being one of the most simple things I ate there, Spaghetti Carbonara. I'm a huge pasta fan anyways, but when you add even more cheese and prosciutto (basically Italian bacon) it only gets better.

Recently my mom discovered a super easy recipe for this yummy dish and it's now a family favorite. It takes me no longer than 1/2 hour max to mix it all together. Because it's SOO easy that even I can make it, I thought I would share so maybe you and your family can enjoy a little bit of Italy :)
(Full Disclosure: this is not in any way a healthy dish. At all.)

You'll need Spaghetti, 1 lb of either prosciutto (if you want to be really authentic) or bacon (which is also yummy,) grated Parmesan cheese, a couple eggs and salt and pepper to taste. Yep, that's all. Like I said, super easy.

~ First, make up your spaghetti like normal. Nothing special there.

~ Next, fry up your bacon or prosciutto. This is easily done on a cookie sheet inside your oven, since 1lb is a lot to fry up all at once. Trust me on this one. SAVE YOUR BACON GREASE!
~ Chop your bacon up into bite-sized pieces.
~ Add about 1/2 cup, give or take, of the grated parm to your bacon grease and stir it together. Now slowly add your 2 eggs to the grease and cheese mixture. (If you do this in the wrong order or too quickly, you will scramble your eggs. Not yummy.)
~ Add your bacon and grease/cheese/egg mixture to the spaghetti and stir well.
~ Enjoy.

Seriously, that's it. If your family so desires, you can add saute'd mushrooms or peppers as well. I'm not a huge fan of either, but those in my family who are have enjoyed both variations.

In all her cuteness

It's been a while since I posted any videos, so I thought I'd post them all at once. Most of these have been put on Facebook, but sometimes those aren't as clear or take a long time to load. If you're one who likes to keep up with Aria's goings on, hopefully it'll be easier having them all on one page :)

Aria playing her "dooder," as grandma taught her to call it. She loves making music, just like the rest of the family :)

Aria rocking out and singing with Uncle Zak

Josh has now taught Aria to play one of his favorite games, Fruit Ninja. The phrases she keeps saying are "Oh, Watermelon!" and Oh, Bomb!" 

July 4th fun and recovery

Unfortunately, due to the awkward time of the week that the 4th fell on this year, Josh had to work on the holiday, so Aria and I had to find a way to entertain ourselves. We left on Tuesday night to head up to my parents in a torrential rain and hail storm. There are fewer places Aria would rather go to than my parent's house, but there are also fewer things she hates more than long car rides. Fortunately, we all survived.

Wednesday the 4th just may have been one of the hottest days Michigan has had in a long time, and that's saying something this summer. We all got up and had breakfast and then headed out to the famous Hadley Parade. If you live in the mid-Michigan area, but have never been to the Hadley parade, you are missing out on a vital part of small town life, let me tell you. It was our first year taking Aria out there (I believe) and she LOVED it, once the sirens had gone by. The candy flying everywhere, all the prancing horses, loud tractors and - the best part - the water hoses coming from the firetrucks just put her in euphoria. She was devastated to leave, but I for one was very excited about getting back to the air conditioning inside. (Pictures soon to come; my camera is still MIA.)

Then we headed off for another long car ride up to Saginaw to spend some time with friends. I have never been so grateful for the presence of a pool in my life, and Aria was thrilled, as usual, about swimming. She swam until waterlogged, which took almost 2 hours. There really was no other place to be than that pool. Aria also experienced a bit of a swimming first; she went down the slide and was completely submerged and LOVED it. I had worried about her sucking in too much water or panicking with water in her face - she can't stand it in her ears - but she wanted to go down the slide again and again. I'm so glad we're eliminating any fear of water so early.

After a long day of friends, food and hiding in the air conditioning, it was time to head home, all the way from Saginaw back to Southgate. After all the playing and lack of napping, I thought Aria would be passed out as soon as she got in her car seat, but she didn't sleep till the last 30 minutes, which was straight through another huge mid-summer storm. We finally made it home around 8:30 and all went straight to bed.

It was a crazy couple days of travelling and trying to keep cool, but it was a blast. Maybe next year we'll progress to fireworks and, hopefully, our own barbecue in our new back yard :)

How was your Holiday?

Pinterest Birthday Treats

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I really do make an effort to actually use Pinterest ideas I find and not just blow hours and hours of time on there for naught, which is very easy for an aspiring Creative to do. This weekend seemed the perfect time to try one of those easy but yummy desserts with it being my hubby's birthday. His love for Reese's made this one a sure winner. Also the fact that very little actual work was involved was very appealing to me - I am anything but a master chef or baker.

The steps and results are super easy and super delicious. All you'll need is a brownie mix (mine called for oil, water and eggs as well,) Reese's cups - one per treat - and frozen cookie dough. I used plain old chocolate chip, but I'm sure any flavor would be yummy.

1. Smoosh 1 - 1 1/2 blocks of the cookie dough into the bottom of your cupcake pan, like so. This works best if the dough is not frozen solid.

I had to use a spoon, since the dough was
frozen pretty solid at the time. 

2. Place Reese's cups on top of now smooshed cookie dough. 

Doesn't have to be pretty, folks, just yummy.

3. Pour brownie mix over the Reese's and cookie dough. I poured just enough to cover the Reese's cup, and it was perfect.

(Yes, mom, I cleaned the edges of my pan so the mix
wouldn't bake on there and stain my pan :) )

4. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. I used a non-stick pan, and had no issues getting the treats out with a butter knife.

I'm sure you could easily make a less processed version of this, but like I said, I'm no chef, and this was super easy for me. My husband loved them and they were perfect for his birthday party - portable, portion-sized and easy to stick a candle in, if that's your thing :) 

Finished product!