mother's day mad libs and strawberry shortcake

Another great Mother's Day.  I wouldn't say relaxing.  I wouldn't say stress free.  I wouldn't say my hair looked pretty or my house was clean.  But I love my family.  I love my kids so much.  I got to celebrate with all my favorite moms.  The kids got to play with cousins and run around outside.  It was good.  I am happy.  I feel lucky.

I made some last minute little Mother's Day Mad Libs.  I thought it would be so funny to do with Max, but he needs to be a little older.  He wanted to use bad words or words that didn't make sense.  He's also 3 and doesn't know a noun from an adjective.  We will work on it.  I used some that he said on impulse and others I would give him 2 or 3 choices.  But he did sign his own name on all of them!

We celebrated with a potluck brunch and I recently saw these Strawberry Shortcake Skewers on Pinterest, I thought they looked easy and yummy.  Max had fun cutting out the teeny biscuits with me.  And the homemade whip cream has marshmallow fluff in it and I wish I had captured his face when I let him lick that spoon!  I did end up making the skewers with just biscuits and strawberries and added the whip cream as a dip.  Still delish.  John says I could make teeny sausage and egg biscuits for the kids.  That would be so cute!

I love her big top tooth!

Happy Mother's Day!

puppet theater

One of the first things I ever made and posted on this blog was a puppet theater curtain.  I made it for my nephew, but I never ended up making one for Max.  We did make a little duck tape house a while back and I recently got it out for the kids to play in.  Max and Lola sit in the house and then we "call" each other on the phone.  Lola puts her hand to her ear.  I love that she is starting to play with us!

Both kids have been pulling all the tape off though.  So we decided to make it into a puppet theater.  I didn't really try very hard to make this look cool.  We just needed something to occupy our time during all these rainy indoor days.

Max's pirate story.  I wish I could re-tell a really cute story, but here is where the pirate punches the bird...

Then Teeny comes in to play.

That's not how a puppet theater works Lola...

Max really loves for us to tell him stories.  "Talk about our day", "Talk about Wolves game", etc.  He recently started a little preschool program and there are three Max's including him.  So John tells him the story of the three little Max's.  I hear him re-telling it during the day.  They are funny stories though, and don't make much sense.  "Then the biggest Max says, hey who took my cheese?"

babyfood : lemon coconut breakfast bars

This is another recipe from Superfood Kitchen.  Max is obsessed with breakfast bars.  I mean the enriched white flour with evaporated cane juice filling kind.  That's why I wanted to try these, I need to find something he thinks is yummy that I can still have ready made in the morning before I'm able to function.  And Lola could eat these, so that was an added plus.

Lemon-Coconut Breakfast Bars

1 1/2 T. chia seeds

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup oat flour

1/2 t. baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 c. + 2 T. shredded dried coconut

2 T. fresh lemon zest

2 T. coconut oil

2 T. applesauce

1/4 c. maple syrup

1/2 c. Medjool dates (I used whatever kind they had at the store)

The chia seeds (same as are used on chia pet- what?) are one of the superfoods in the book.  They are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, packed with antioxidants, have lots of important minerals and are a good source of fiber.  I'm sold.  You can't see or taste them in these bars.

The dates and maple syrup make these super sweet and the shredded coconut make them seem like a real treat to Max.  Everything cooked soft enough for Lola to eat them too.

We had an indoor picnic, the kids thought that was fun.  It's been so rainy lately.

Feeding bear-bear.

Ignoring her party guest.

babyfood : fruity gelatin

I've had the book The Petit Appetit Cookbook since Max was born.  It has gone hand in hand with my Babycook.  It has recipes divided into age group from The Beginners: 4-6 months to The Connoisseurs: 3-6 years.  My personal favorite are the Banana Apple Bran Muffins.  I have made these so many times I can whip them up by memory in about 7 minutes flat.  I'm sure I will post many recipes from here, I love it.  So it makes me a little sad that this is the first one because it wasn't that good.  I decided to post even the recipes that fail.

Fruity Gelatin

1 envelope gelatin
1/4 c. hot water
1 c. apple puree

They were way too gelatin and not enough apple.  Or sweet... something.  Neither of the kids liked them.

Max took one nibble and Lola squished them in her hand.  So we just played instead.

Waiting and watching for Daddy.

He's home!

 Love them.

my girl + vintage dresses = the cutest

My sweetest, sweetest, sweet pea.  She is so beautiful to me.  I can't believe she's almost a year old already.  She is walking, rolling on the floor throwing temper tantrums, signing all done and more, bringing books to us to read, smiling when she'd doing something naughty, getting curls just like Max.  She is such a happy baby and so full of personality, I know she is going to give us a run for our money.  And she loves her brother.  The way she looks at him makes my heart melt.  My Lola.

Could these little dresses be any cuter?  My mom made them.  She makes dresses and tops from vintage embroidered linens.  They are so soft and sweet.  Just like Lola.  If you are interested, she will be in Naperville this Thursday, April 25th at the School Readiness Center from 7-9pm.  Or you can go to her Etsy site.  Or go to her website and message her with what you're looking for.  Make sure you like her on Facebook to get up to date information!