Kelly - Guest post

Pumpkin + Chocolate Chips = HEAVEN

The second best thing to Fall is making things with pumpkin in it!  These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies were easy and scrumptious!!  Nope, I couldn't eat just one, two, or three, they are that good and I think you should give these a try!!  I also had my little helper with me today as well, so I wish it went smoothly, but when my three year old help, I am lucky to get ALL the ingredients in the bowl and NOT on the floor!  It's ok though, it is quality Mommy and Me time or at least that's what I keep telling myself!  Anyway, onto these yummy cookies!!

All it takes it flour, sugar, brown sugar, quick cooking oats, chocolate chips, cinnamon, canned pumpkin, egg, butter, baking soda, and vanilla.  I pre measure everything out and put them in bowls if I know Abigail will be helping me.  It makes it SO much easier and quicker when I can just tell which bowl to pour in!  

Look how happy she looks here!  She was waiting to add the yummy part of the cookies - the chocolate!!  Personally, I think chocolate makes anything delicious!!  

BEFORE shots getting ready to go into the oven!!

And finally!  Ready to taste test!  

Ok, so I tried them and I thought they were pretty good.  The pumpkin really adds a different texture to the cookie!  Since a lot of my readers have kids, I had to test it out on mine first!  

Well, as you can see, she liked them!  She had seconds and thirds too like Mommy!

Yep, I think she likes them, what do you think?  I also had Peter try them when he got home from school because he is the picky one and.....  drum roll please.... he liked them too!  I can not believe it!  Wow, I have actually found a new cookie (with pumpkin in it, shhhh, don't tell them) and they like it!!  It's a keeper!!

So, what are you waiting for, start baking them!  Go here for the recipe!!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

I am guest posting over at my friend Kelly' blog today at www.thehoutzhouseparty.blogspot.com

So, go on over and check her out and follow along with her!  

Do Not Enter - Sick Zone

I must apologize for the lack of blogging this week.  Everyone is sick in our house except my husband.  I took Peter and Abigail to the doctor yesterday.  Peter has an ear infection and Abigail's tonsils are inflamed! Maison has a runny nose and I do too plus a sore throat.  We are having loads of fun!  I am playing nurse by giving my children medicine and I am also the patient.  

Peter didn't go to school yesterday and now I think one of the hardest parts for a Mom is determining whether your child is ready to go back to school.  I don't want him to miss any more school than he already has, but I don't want to send and get a call later and have to go get him!  Hmmm...  decisions decisions!!  

So, that is what I have had to deal with the last day or so.  I hope you are reading this and have a healthy house!  

Mr. Maison - 6 months old

Mr Maison had his 6 month check up today and it went very well!  I love every stage that he is at.  I love watching him grow and I am thinking he is going to be a silly little guy!  Oh, and a flirt!!  Yep, he smiles at you with that dimple in his right cheek and he has you wrapped around his little finger!

Here is Maison Reilly in the hospital!  So tiny and precious.  

 Now look at him!  I love my little chub!!  He is 15 pounds 3 ounces, and 27 inches long.  When the nurse said 15 pounds I had to look at the scale myself because I did NOT believe it!  He had to be A LOT more than that!  Although, maybe I am factoring in the car seat, which can add 5 more pounds (the dangling toys too).  He is healthy as can be.  

 He gets along well with his sister for the most part.  Abigail is into picking him up and trying to carry him!  I recently caught her dragging Maison across the floor, by his ONE ARM!  Aaahhh!  Scary for a Mom to come into the room and see that.  So, that is why I said, "for the most part" they get along.  He loves watching her and laying with her, but most of the time, he just LOVES her from a distance!  He loves his big brother Peter too!  I think he is going to love following him around when he gets older.  Peter may not enjoy it though as they are 9 years apart!

 We did it!  We made it to the halfway point!  Big changes are coming his way.  Starting solids and crawling are the two big ones!!  

M & M Counting (and eating)

Ok, so I love doing fun things with Abigail that also teaches her in the process!  I don't know if any of you have ever heard of this book before, but it is really awesome!  I got it from the library and I have had it for awhile.  I better get it back before I get a late fee!  Anyway, all you need is this book by Barbara McGrath and M & M's!  Yep, I said M & M's!  They are not only good for eating, but learning AND eating!  How great is that!!  

The book tells you to find 1 blue, 2 green, 3 orange, 4 yellow, 5 red, and 6 brown!

I have to keep a close eye on her!  She is pretty sneaky!  She likes to give herself rewards for finding them!  I reward myself too for helping!  Hee, hee, hee!!  

Every time I ask her if she wants to count M & M's she gets so excited!  Look how how serious she looks here!  Now if I could only get a Snickers counting book, I would be happy!!

Before the book tells you to EAT the candies, it tells you to put them in a square,

a circle,

and a triangle!!

Now, it's time to eat them.  Basically, the book tells you to take away the red one, then count how many you have.  Next, the blue one, and so on and so on!  When the books tells you to take away the 6 brown, that's when I get to help eat them!  

Well, that's all for today!  It's time to do some more M & M counting!  Well, maybe we should wait til AFTER lunch!  

Blockbuster cookies

OK, so if you like a cookie that would go GREAT with movie night, than this is the cookie for you!  They are Blockbuster cookies and I found them while I was flipping through my Family Fun magazine!  Going to the movies, for me anyway, almost ALWAYS includes popcorn, candy (chocolate), and pop (special treat since I don't buy pop for home).  Ok, so let me be honest with you, my husband and I do NOT have time to go to the movies like we used to.  Plus, look how much they cost these days!  Wow!  It's outrageous!  

So, here are the ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

3 cups popcorn - salted and buttered

2 eggs

1 TBSP vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups raisinets

1 tsp salt

2 sticks butter, at room temp

1 tsp baking soda

Pretty simple ingredients right??

The first step:  the butter and sugars blended until they're well combined.

Step 2:  Mix flour, baking soda, and the salt.

Here they go!  They will be ready to eat in about 10-15 minutes!  So, I did try the cookie dough before they went in the oven!  Hey!  Don't judge me!  I had to taste test it to make sure it didn't need any more salt!

All done!  Finally!  That was the longest 15 minutes ever!  

And here they are - up close and personal!  Don't they look yummy!  The popcorn in them sort of tastes like  caramel corn!  I will also tell you that my kids did try them, but unfortunately they didn't like them like I thought they would!  Who says we always have to make what they like?  

On the go...Here and There

I was not looking forward to yesterday at all.  It didn't help that Maison woke up at 4:30, Peter woke up at 5:30, and Abigail shortly after that?  Each kid had an appointment yesterday and Peter had basketball practice in the evening too!  So, we all were pretty busy!!  

Maison did NOT pass his newborn hearing test 100% in his left ear and at 6 months old I am finally taking him in to get it done.  Yes, I procrastinated a little too long.  I am pretty sure he is fine, but I wanted to get it done anyway.  It turned out that I will have to take Maison back in because the machine is very touchy.  The slightest noise or movement it seemed would make it start over.  So, the results were inconclusive at this time.  I rescheduled the appointment for a week from Friday to try again.

I also scheduled a hearing test for Abigail who is 3.  She hasn't had one done since she was a baby and she was a late talker so it didn't hurt to see how she is hearing.  The reason is, is because I had speech problems when I was little and I had tubes put in and later taken out.  I thought maybe, just maybe, that was why she was a late talker!  It never hurts to check it out, right?  Well, it turned out that Abigail is just a lazy talker and all she needs is Speech Therapy, which is what we are doing presently.  

Later in the day I picked my 9 year up from school and took him to have a consultation with an oral surgeon.  Peter is SUPER excited about that.  That was sarcasm folks!  What 9 year old would be excited about going to an oral surgeon?  For the stickers?  I feel so bad for him.  At first he was supposed to get 2 teeth pulled, now it may be 3!  I haven't even had to have any teeth pulled and he is 9 and having to get 3!  Well, it turned out that he will only have to get 2 teeth pulled!  That doesn't make it any better, but especially to a 9 year old.  So, now the BIG awful decision a Mom has to make... local anesthesia or and IV?  Does anyone have thoughts on this?  I would love to hear what you have to say.  My son hates shots, I mean REALLY hates shots (he cries at the thought of it), so I was thinking the IV.  With IV, I am aware there will be risks involved, but for Peter I think it would be best!

Well, that's pretty much my day yesterday!  Now, today I get to stay home!  So excited!!  Sweatpants and sweatshirts all day long!  What a glorious day it will be!!

Our little Halloween

Well, Halloween has come and gone and I am just posting about it.  I thought I would also post that Mr.Maison turned 6 months old on the 30th too!  

Right now Maison LOVES his fingers and in the next picture, you can see that he LOVES his toes as well.  I love how limber they are at this age.  If I tried to do that now, get your cameras ready cause it would end up on Funniest Home Videos!  Oh, and you would probably have to call 9-1-1 cause I would be stuck!

 I don't know about any other Moms out there, but I find it SO hard sometimes to get a picture of just my 3 kids!  I have learned to just snap the camera and hope for the best.  I didn't want the puppy in it, but I wasn't in the mood to fight her on it!  We needed to be out the door, like, 10 minutes ago!

Abigail decided to be butterfly, but ended up looking like a ballerina, so we called it a ballerina butterfly!  She liked it and that's all that matters.  Maison went as a Tiger (the same costume that my 9 yr old wore when he was 6 months old), and Peter, well, let's just say I plan on picking out the costumes from now on.  In the picture above, he went as a baseball/basketball player.  

He asked me to surprise him with either a red man morph suit or a Howl at the Moon (werewolf) costume.  Well, having a Halloween carnival at our church I couldn't have him show up in a werewolf costume!  I would probably get all kinds of looks.  So, I ended up getting him the morph suit!  

 We have this wonderful carnival at church for the kids and their families to come to.  I love it for a few reasons - 1) It's inside and warm, 2) the costumes are clean and 3) It's inside and warm.

There is a bounce house, donut eating contests, and many more games that the kids can walk around and do and yes, they still get candy!  

Here, Peter is finally wearing the morph man costume that I paid $30 for!  Money well spent I might add!  He only wore it twice!!  Peter also had his Halloween party at school last week.  This is his "I don't want my picture taken Mom" look.  He is getting pretty at that look!  Abigail always loves going to the parties because she ends up getting snacks too!  

Well, I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween, now on to Thanksgiving and the yummy food!!

Breakfast on the go

I am so happy that Halloween is over with, but now I have ALL this candy sitting around and tempting me!  So, I thought it was a good time for this recipe.  I absolutely love LOVE fruit smoothies!! 

 I don't know about you guys, but it is so hard for me to sit down and have a bowl of cereal without it getting soggy!  I can't even have1 cup of coffee right now (since I am nursing) without having to warm it up because my children keep distracting me and other things (making lunches, dirty diapers, laundry, you name it).  So, I am always up for quick and easy ways to have a breakfast.  So, I decided to try this Berry Breakfast Smoothie I found here.  Some smoothies have the protein powder in it and I was doing that too until I saw on the label that it wasn't recommended for nursing women!  

So, I halved the recipe since it was originally 5 servings.  

DELISH!!

Here it is:  breakfast on the go!  I absolutely LOVED it!  It was so good and energizing!  Just what I needed for a Monday.  I plan on having another one tomorrow!  I must warn you that, because it is SO good, I found myself getting a brain freeze from drinking it so fast!  Little sips only!  

Now, here are the numbers you are wanting to see:

Serving size: 1 cup 

141 calories

1 g fat (1 g saturated fat)

3 mg cholesterol

 39 mg sodium

 31 g carbohydrate

2 g fiber

4 g protein

Would love to hear what you do for breakfast when time is limited and any good smoothies you like!

My sleeping beauty and prince

Maybe it's because it is Sunday and it's a day of REST that I am posting my children sleeping, who knows.  Am I a tad bit jealous that my kids look peaceful and most importantly, QUIET!!  Why yes, jealous that they get to sleep and SUPER HAPPY they are BOTH quiet at the same time!  It doesn't happen very often!  So, this post will be a dedication to my wonderful children who get to take naps when their Mommy doesn't!  

I loved this one!  She had a good grasp on her crayons!  One time she fell asleep with her little pink stuffed puppy in one hand, also name Abigail, and a dog treat in the other hand.  She was like this ALL night long!

 Ok, so let me be clear, I never told you my daughter slept like a little lady or a princess!  I don't understand why she sleeps this way!  Cracks us up though!  Plus, how does that look comfortable??  

 And here is the little sleeping prince! So exhausted from bouncing!  I don't even think he was in that long!  Looks so peaceful!

 Let me be clear with everyone!  He does not take a whole 1-2 hour nap in this thing, never has!  He falls asleep for about 20 minutes or so and then wakes up.  He is really dreaming about something.  I wonder if it has anything to do with MILK?  Ha, ha, ha!  

 He is so tiny in there, you can barely see him!  So precious!  I sometimes put him in the highchair to get him away from his sister!  She can't really invade his space that high up!  He needs some time to himself too!

I don't have any of our 9 year old because, well, he would be embarrassed if I put them on here!  Well, as I end this, I hope everyone had a peaceful Sunday and hope your kiddo(s) took a nap or 2!  Hey!  Maybe you were even lucky enough to get a nap in!  If so, I am a little jealous!