Our Week - 3/18/13 - 3/24/13

Madden had his 15 month well check this week.

His stats:
23 pounds (50th percentile)
30 inches (11th percentile)

He did so great at his appointment.  Sat patiently and let the doctor check out his eyes, ears, nose, etc. Unfortunately the little dude had to get 2 shots :(  He wasn't too happy with me by the end of his appointment.

He's starting to say so many new words (ball, up, down, apple to name a few).  He even put together a sentence - "Hi Dada".  CUTE :)


Mariah got a new friend this week.  See the "activity" section below :)


Mike hurt his knee running his 11 miler - we were hoping it was just sore but it hasn't improved much over the past few days.  Hopefully its nothing serious :(


I did my first ever 12 mile training run.  While training for my last half marathon I never ran more than 10, but thought I would stick to the training plan and push myself to do 12.  It actually went pretty well!  I can't WAIT for the weather to get nicer so I can run outside more often.

Lets just start off by saying - Mariah has not adjusted well to the daylight savings time.

One night around 7:00 pm:

Me: "Mariah, it's getting dark outside.  That means, it's time for...."

Mariah: "LUNCH!  It's time for lunch!!!  It's time for lunch!!!"  (too much bubble guppies lately?!)

Meet MOBY!

Moby, an 8 week old mini goldendoodle, joined our family on Tuesday!  As if our lives weren't crazy enough, might as well throw a puppy in there too, right?

Mariah and Madden are in love with Moby.  Mariah is convinced that he is HER dog.  She makes sure he follows her everywhere, and if he doesn't she will gladly pick him up and take him where she wants him to go.  The first thing she wants to do in the morning is see her puppy.  Their favorite thing to do after playing is sit on the couch and watch cartoons.  It's beyond adorable!

Madden is so funny with Moby.  He pets him and brings him toys.  I think Moby takes a special liking to Madden since he is the closest to him in size :)

Moby definitely adds a whole new level of chaos to our lives.  Potty training a dog is oh so much fun - especially when it decides to snow.  YUCK.  But he's a smart dog, I'm sure he will get the hang of it soon (I hope!).

I'm sharing TWO photos this week :)

Just might be my favorite picture I've taken of my sweet little guy!

Mariah being her crazy self!  Had to climb in a basket just like Moby did :)

Our Week - 3/11/13 - 3/17/13

Madden the Leprechaun
enjoying a St. Patty's day snack!

Madden is big time teething this week.  We can feel a couple molars coming in, which is making him a little (or a LOT) on the crabby side.  Poor guy, thankfully we all can't remember how much it hurts for our teeth to come in - but I can only imagine that pointy teeth cutting through your gums can't feel too good.  Extra hugs and tylenol are making things slightly more tolerable.

Mariah hard at work on an art project :)

Mariah is becoming increasingly better at negotiating and rationalizing things.  She always has some further explanation for why she needs another cup full of goldfish, or why that one cookie just isn't going to cut it.  She's also been really sweet with Madden this week - trying to talk to him when he's crying and figure out what is making him so upset.

Many layers on - ready for my outdoor run :)

Mike and I were forced to do our first runs of the year outside after our treadmill decided to give out on us.  I guess putting 50 miles a week on it (between both of us) was stretching it to the max!  Honestly though, it was a good time for it to happen as it forced us to get outside.  I love running outside, just not in below 50 degree temps.  Crossing my fingers that the weather continues to warm up as we inch closer to our half marathon in April!

So, this is nothing particularly new this week, but it's worth mentioning because its quite funny.  When Mariah is in bed at night she often has requests, but my favorite she when she asks for either Dad or me (usually Dad - she's most definitely a daddy's girl) saying:

"Can you lay with me for a 'lib a dit'?"

translation: 'little bit' :)

Visit with the Easter Bunny

We spent part of our Saturday at the mall.  Our plan was to grab a couple things and get out, but when we saw the Easter bunny was there we thought it might be worth a try.  

Mariah does not do so well with Santa, so we were expecting a similar reaction to the Easter bunny.  Madden, however, is cool with just about anything so when he beelined it toward the bunny to see what he was about, Mariah was inclined to follow him.

We ended up with a super cute picture :)

Kids on a ride at the mall :)

Bread Bowls

Bread is my weakness.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE sweets, too.  But there's something about bread...

I am not particularly fond of soup.  In my opinion, it's too much liquid to be considered a true meal.  

However, combine soup with a bread bowl and NOW we're talking :)

And who would have thought bread bowls could be so much fun to make!

Also - DON'T be afraid of the yeast.  I was terrified to make bread for quite a while, until I realized if you get the water temperature right it will work out just fine.

Italian Bread Bowls
Adapted from Allrecipes
Makes 4 bread bowls

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp cornmeal
1/2 egg white
1/2 tbsp water

Dissolve yeast in a glass bowl with warm water.  Let stand for 10 minutes until creamy.

Add salt, oil and 2 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well.  Slowly stir in remaining flour and beat well with an electric mixer until dough has pulled together.  Knead dough on a floured surface for 5-6 minutes.

Lightly oil a bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl.  Cover with a damp towel and let sit in a warm place for about 40 minutes (until the dough doubles in volume).

Punch dough down and divide into 4 equal portions.  Form into balls and set on baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.  Cover dough and let sit for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In a small bowl mix together egg white and water.  Brush the loaves with half of the egg wash.

Bake for 15 minutes, brush with remaining egg wash, and return to oven for another 15 minutes or until golden.  Let cool on a wire rack.

To make bowls, cut out a 1 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf and scoop out inside to make room for soup.  Then, fill it to the top!

What's your favorite soup to eat out of a bread bowl?

Our Week - 3/4/13 - 3/10/13

Madden is a sponge these days!  This week he started doing "SO BIG" with his hands up in the air.  He is also learning "UP" and "DOWN" as well as "OPEN" and "CLOSE".  His favorite thing to do lately is throw various objects in the trash - from toys, to sippy cups, to cell phones.  We basically have to scope out the trash can every time we throw something away to be sure there isn't an important item in there.

Mariah has taken a liking to spiderman lately.  I'm not one to restrict her to "girlie" stuff, but I am surprised that she actually likes it.  I kind of think she just likes to watch it because I tell her she shouldn't.  Hopefully that's not a common trend... ;)

I got a promotion at work and started my new position this week in the Accounting department. It's a big change from Internal Audit, but I'm excited for what's ahead!

Mike attended a special retreat this weekend.  I am so thankful to have married such a strong, loving, devoted man.  He's the best.  I am so very, very lucky.

I keep track of Mariah's funny sayings on a list so I can recall them for my post.  I felt like I was writing something down every day this week, but I will limit it to my favorites.

• Sometimes we have to bribe her to come down stairs in the morning so we can get on our way to day care.  The other morning I told her I had a special surprise waiting for her.  She turned to look at me and said "What it be?".  Haha.  I'm still laughing about that phrase.
• "That's so fair!" - she was trying to say that's "NO" fair - but it had quite the opposite message :)
• we bought Mariah a package of underwear from Old Navy.  The other day she said she wanted to wear her "New Movie" underwear.  It took us forever to realize was she was talking about (Old Navy = New Movie, makes sense, right?).  Then, to make matters more confusing we got a movie on a Cheerios box.  So when Mariah asked to watch her "New Movie" we had no idea what she wanted.  We eventually got it all figured out.

Making Cake Balls

I am pretty sure that cake balls were invented by accident.  My theory is that someone was in a hurry and tried to spread frosting on a cake fresh out of the oven.  We all know how wells that works.  And when the frosting melted and the cake crumbled, they got upset and started taking their frustration out on the cake.  When it started to form a fudge-like texture they knew they might be on to something!

So we decided to make cake balls this week!  A box cake mix and a can of frosting make for an easy project.

Mariah was not quite patient enough to wait for the cake to bake, so we made a quick and easy version of a cake ball - crushed graham cracker and frosting, dipped in chocolate!  We put it on a stick and she decorated it with M&M's and sprinkles.  She loved it!

I finished the rest of the cake balls while the kids were sleeping.  Why are they so good?  I'd take these any day over a piece of cake.

Technically this picture is from a few weeks ago, but I just saw it this week so I think it counts!  My little buddy and I at my grandparents 60th anniversary dinner!

Homemade Tortillas

We use tortillas a lot.  At least once a week it seems like we are whipping up quesadillas for dinner because they are quick and easy, plus the kids love them.

But really, those store bought tortillas.... not even close to being fresh!

I've heard people mention that they make their own tortillas, and I just figured it would be an intense, difficult process.

Turns out it's NOT at all.  The hardest part is giving yourself enough time so that they can sit (about 1 1/2 hours total).  But the actual mixing and heating time is minimal.  Perfect project on the weekend while you have the laundry going.

Homemade Tortillas
adapted from A Sweet Pea Chef

makes 14-16 large flour tortillas

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup hot water

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, bread flour, baking powder and salt.

Drop 1/2 cup vegetable shortening by spoonfuls into flour mixture.  Using your fingers, pinch and disperse shortening into the flour.  Slowly add hot water and stir until mixture sticks to itself.

Knead in mixing bowl for 3-5 minutes until dough forms a ball.  Place clean towel over bowl and let sit for 1 hour.

After an hour, break the dough ball up into 14-16 small dough balls.  Cover and let sit for another 30 minutes.

Warm up a skillet to medium-high heat.  Using a well-floured rolling pin and surface, roll ball out to be flat and thin.  Put on skillet for 30 seconds on each side.

Wrap the tortillas in a towel - eat warm or let cool and store in an air tight container in the fridge.



The texture is SO much better than the ones at the store.

The only thing I need to work on is making them into a more circular shape - way harder than it may seem :)

Our {Two} Weeks - 2/18/13 - 3/3/13

I really had good intentions with this weekly update thing.  The past couple weeks have been exceptionally busy around here, though!  So, that resulted in one update for the past two weeks!  Oh well, that's OK sometimes, right?

Cheesin'

Mariah has been such a good kid lately.  Not sure if she's outgrowing terrible twos or what, but she's much more reasonable lately.  I am very thankful for that.  And she is just so darn funny.  The things the girl comes up with - just hilarious!

We also enrolled Mariah for preschool this week.  In some ways its SO hard to believe that she will be starting school in the fall, but I KNOW she is ready for it.  I sure hope her teachers are ready for this firecracker :)

He has my heart :)

Madden, on the other hand, is making his way toward the terrible twos ;)  He likes to get his way and knows how to throw a fit to get it.  I guess after watching his sister for the last year he has the techniques down :) 

 But really I know that it is just the way little one's learn - he's SUCH a sweet kid the majority of the time.  His laugh is contagious!

His favorite thing to do lately when I am putting dinner together or cleaning up is to grab on to my legs, not letting me move until I pick him up.  We call him a leg-clinger :)  It's sweet, really!

A VERY early morning with Mariah one of the days
Mike was in Orlando!

Mike went to Orlando for a few days of work training last week.  He got to enjoy some decent weather and actually got to run outside in non-freezing temps (jealous!).   The kids and I held down the fort (let me tell you, I was exhausted when he got home!)

I attended CEW at St. Paul's last weekend.  It was SUCH a great experience, something I was hesitant to do with so many other responsibilities back home, but turns out it was EXACTLY what I needed.  I am truly blessed and so grateful for everything in my life.  

On President's Day the kiddos went to spend the day at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.  On the way there I told Mariah that it was President's Day.  She said, in a very excited voice, "PRESENT'S Day?!?!"


Putting Mariah to bed one night I told her a story about a bear who ran out of honey.  She quickly responded that SHE could make some honey for him.  I told her that she should probably let the bees make the honey.  She insisted that she could do it, but the bees could come over if they wanted.  She then proceeded to tell me the recipe for honey:

• eggs (i asked how they should be prepared - she decided scrambed would be best)
• sugar
• strawberries
• honey (yep, you need honey to make honey - I questioned this, but she said it's necessary)
• water
• chocolate milk

So, now you know in case you run out of honey.  Or I should say when your honey is running low... since honey is a necessary ingredient in honey :)

As I was prepping dinner one weeknight Mariah ran to the fridge and opened it, grabbing applesauce (one of those pouches).  I told her she should wait until dinner to have the applesauce.  She didn't like that idea.  She then lifted up the applesauce and pretended to read the back of it saying:

"It say's right here, Mom.  Eat applesauce first before you eat your dinner."

No idea where she comes up with these things - but she was on a roll the past couple weeks :D

Painting!

Mariah and I did some painting this weekend.  She's truly an artist.  I think she would paint all day if I let her.  And I WOULD let her if she didn't think that the chair cover was a towel to wipe paint off her hands :o  Thankfully, its washable paint!

Check out her projects!

Mariah and Madden playing Elefun together!
Madden likes to pick up all the butterflies :)