Witches Brew

I figured I'd enlighten everyone with a few of my fall Pinterest finds that we've tried out over the past two weeks.  Considering my "Happy Fall" board on Pinterest has 142 pins, it was difficult to narrow it down to a few.

But, I started with Witches Brew.  I remember my mom used to make "potpourri" on the stove growing up for the different seasons.  She had this brass pot that sat on the stove and it was always such a wonderful smell that lingered in the house for days after.  So, when I saw this pin, I knew I had to try it!

Witches Brew
1 apple
1 orange
1 lemon
2 T whole allspice
2 T whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
Slice fruit into rings. Don't worry about peels, seed, cores, etc. Place all ingrdients into a crock-pot. Fill with water. Simmer on low. Refill with water as needed.  Be careful not let the water get too low.

This should also read...leave the lid off.  Oops!  I wondered why it didn't smell at all after 4 hours on low...

After I solved that minor problem, the house quickly transformed into smells of apple pie, citrus, and cloves.  Yum!  We'll be making this again next time we have company over.

Another great find was this 5 Minute Cinnamon Cake!  I mentioned in my last post that my best friend, Trisha, had a new baby boy.  I figured I'd bring them a meal they could throw in the oven for a quick dinner along with a huge bin of boy clothes for her to go shopping through.  I needed a dessert that wasn't super time consuming for me with minimal ingredients and I hit the jackpot on this one.  

It wasn't quite 5 minutes like the title, but it turned out wonderful!  I recommend eating it warm with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Ingredients

• 1 + ⅔ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup milk

• 2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

• 2½ teaspoons baking powder

• pinch salt

• large egg

• TOPPING

• ½ cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ¼ cup melted butter

• chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat Oven at 350
2. Grease a 13×9 pan.
3. In a bowl mix all cake ingredients and place in pan.
4. Sprinkle brown sugar,cinnamon; walnuts on top of cake
5. Drizzle melted butter over top.
6. Bake for 30 minutes
7. Enjoy!

Lastly, with a cool rainy day today and nothing planned, I needed a fun art project to keep the boys entertained after their nap.  I had my eye on this cute bonfire/roasting marshmallow idea I pinned a while ago and figured I'd give it a go.  Evan loved smearing the paint with his hands, while Sean seemed to prefer using a paint brush with my assistance.  They're even polar opposites when it comes to art projects.  Either way, they both turned out cute!  I didn't have brown paper, yellow paint, or a longer wooden stick, but we made do.

There's our first round of fall Pinterest ideas with many more to come I'm sure!  Enjoy!  I know we did! 

Our Fall Frenzy!

I don't know what I was talking about in my last post when I said we needed to enjoy the slow pace that September brings us.

We haven't stopped yet.  And the first round of colds have hit our house for this cold/flu season.  So much so that I was greeted after work with a 45 minute crying spell by Evan.  Nothing would get him to stop.  Not even Facetime with Grandma.  Our first sick visit to the pediatrician this season confirmed he has an ear infection.

Lovely.

Nothing that a "Grandpa" cookie can't fix.  And a round of antibiotics.

But, I'm going to focus on the positive of this chaos.

September has brought me a new "nephew"!  Meet baby Aaron.  My best friend, Trisha, delivered a very healthy and beautiful baby boy and I couldn't be happier to be an "auntie" again!  Congratulations Trisha and family!

This month is just full of birthdays.  Between Evan's 1st birthday and the birth of baby Aaron, we also celebrated Evan's friend Avery's 1st birthday too!  What an adorable birthday party for an adorable little girl!  Her mom did a "year full of pictures" party and no detail was overlooked.  She did a fabulous job with this party!

Evan and I had a blast at the party.  Some bouncing in the bounce house, a ride on the swing, trying to roll over a ball, and chewing on party hats, Evan sure knows how to party!

I mentioned our trip to the cider mill in our last post, but we also had a busy first full weekend of September at the Plymouth Fall Festival where we met up with several friends all weekend long!  Sean was finally tall enough to ride the kiddie rides and couldn't get enough of them!  A funnel cake that we all shared (shhh...even Evan had some), one inflatable Nemo, and a pancake breakfast downtown, we were all in heaven!

Scott is stoked that the Lions are back at it again for another season.  And, I have to say, they are looking pretty good this year.  Too soon to be so confident?  Probably.  The one thing they are consistent at is letting down their fans.  I'm sure they won't miss that opportunity this year.  But, football Sundays mean hanging out with our good friends Kristen and Jeff.  And for Sean, that means rides on the bulldozer at a local working site that Jeff works at.  I swear this kid is so spoiled.

Look at those love bugs!  Evan has truly made some strides in the past few weeks.  We've weaned him onto sippy cups of soy milk all day.  The only bottle he gets of formula is his bedtime bottle since the pediatrician recommends he still get 8-12 ounces of formula.  But, he seriously dropped 3 bottles without so much a fuss in one week!  Andplusalso, we're weaning him slowly down to one nap.  We've cut his morning nap down to 40 minutes so that he'll take a long afternoon nap while Sean is napping.  Jackpot.  That's all I can say about that.  So proud of this little trooper!

And for my other little man, I can't believe in one week this guy will be 3 years old.  It's unbelievable how quickly time is really starting to go by.  He's made some big strides too over the past year.  He's such a smart cookie!  We're so excited for him to start preschool next week when he turns 3 and I'm just enjoying watching how much he grows both physically and mentally each day.  What a joy it brings being a mother...

Truly, the best part of this fall has just been enjoying time with our families and our friends.  I always look forward to the foods of each season.  This weekend was pork tenderloin, mac and cheese, and fried cinnamon apples at my parents' house.  It was so nice just to slow down long enough to relax in the living room after a delicious meal.  

If it was exhausting reading this post, you can imagine why I'm ready to head to bed at 9pm just like last night.  I'm not seeing a break in our fall frenzy in the near future....

Hello fall!

I thought I was going to die on Tuesday.  I mean, come on.  We're back to school, it's September, and football has started.  We should not be dealing with 95 degree days!

It was so unbelievably muggy in my classroom that even the fan I brought in on full blast wasn't doing the trick.  And then the storms Wednesday and Thursday evening brought the start of fall weather.  Cool mornings, mild afternoons, and cool evenings.  And suddenly, we're digging out hoodie sweatshirts, jeans, boots, and even hats.

It seemed so fitting that we fill our weekend with the first trip to the cider mill of the season.  We might as well jump right in to fall activities and enjoy the casual pace that this September is bringing.

Welcome fall!  Nothing beats a cool, rainy Sunday evening with football on TV, a fire going in the fireplace, and a warm mug of apple cider from the orchard.

Evan is 12 Months!!

12 Months Old

21 lbs. 4 oz.

30.5"

The day finally arrived!  Evan is officially a toddler now.  I put off writing this post for a week exactly.  Partly because we've been so busy with being back at school and adjusting to working full-time with two kids syndrome.  Partly because this boy is such a busy body that there's no time left for these frivalous things like blogging.  He leaves me so exhausted by 8pm that I have to force myself to get off the couch and do things like pay bills, lesson plan, and yes, blog.  But, man, the few times a day he slows down for a minute or two to snuggle and hug are like nothing else.  This boy can love.

He's walking everywhere now.   He's finally come to the realization that walking is just as efficient as crawling.  It also helps that he can stand up on his own with no support.  He's obsessed with exploring cupboards, dishwashers, dog bowls, bathrooms, wine cabinets, and showers.  Hence, the keeping us on our toes paragraph above.  But, it's fun.  It's fun to watch him learn about everything around him.  And it's been fun getting out all the cute shoes like in some of the pictures below.

He's an eating and sleeping machine!  He's showing no signs of being ready to drop down to one nap, so he'll be in the infant room for at least another month or two.  He's also showing no signs of being interested in taking his formula in a sippy cup.  He loves water in the sippy cups, but formula is for bottles, yo!  We tried whole milk a few weeks ago and found out quickly that he hasn't outgrown his milk protein intolerance.  Don't be fooled that he can eat cheese and yogurt with no reaction (that we can see at least)!  Milk is not for Evan.  A week straight of projectile vomiting once a day and you can bet your bottom dollar we'll be stearing clear of whole milk for a while with him.  Our pediatrician's recommendation:  lactose free milk.  No thanks.  We'll be back this week to push for rice milk, coconut milk, or soy milk.  In the meantime, we're still on bottles and formula four times a day.  

My favorite shoes from Sean

Another notable thins this month: Evan said his first word aside from mama and dada.  His next word of choice is "dog".  Ahhdorable.  However, every animal right now is "dog".  It's a work in progress...

My favorite addition this month has been listening to him laugh.  Everything is hilarious to him.  He thinks he's pretty funny too.  From pretending that the swing hits me each time he swings towards me outside to him hiding around a corner and waiting for us to chase him, everything makes him laugh.  Having a bad day?  Just come on over to our house and Evan will cheer you up instantly with his infectious laugh.  I remember Sean at this age thinking that throwing a ball to Nana and Pops' dog, Dixie, was a real knee slapper.  It must be the age.  I hope this phase sticks around longer than others...

Like the phase where he hates getting dressed, getting lotion put on, getting sunscreen, getting his face wiped after meals, or getting his diaper changed.  

Or the phase where he gets mad at his brother for taking his toy away and actually can get up and do something about it now.  I have a feeling this one is going to be here for a long time...

Please note his adorable Haviana sandals

Stats:

• Size 3 diaper and still holding true to this size
• 12 month clothes, some 12-18 month stuff as we move into fall clothes (oh, who am I kidding?  It's going to be 94 degrees tomorrow)
• 25 ounces of milk a day - piggy!
• New favorite foods include funnel cake, cider mill donuts, and some healthy things like pumpkin blends and asparagus
• Sleeping through the night on most nights (when he gets his two precious naps and the stars align)
• 6 teeth!  And they're all spaced far apart and coming in crooked.  Need I say braces?
• Still 2 naps and bedtime around 7:30-8pm

Favorites:

• His new xylophone!
• Pushing things around that aren't meant to be pushed around (laundry baskets, chairs, etc.)
• Trying to grab the dog's tail
• Watching bits of Bubble Guppies when Sean watches it
• Coloring with a crayon (mostly eating it)
• Reading books and pointing to things
• Dogs and pictures of dogs
• Playing hide and seek!
• Going down the slide face first (this is completely chaperoned)
• Throwing balls
• Giving "squeezes" (hugs)!
• Facetime on the phone with Grandma and Grandpa or Uncle Eric and Aunt Ana

Oh my gosh - what a year it's been with my little love bug!  From a difficult labor a year ago to the struggles with his health and skin, it's been a challenging year at times.  But, the greatest gifts in life are those that don't come easy.  He has truly been a blessing to our lives and has made our family complete in every aspect!  In fact, as cliche as it is, I can't imagine him not being here with us.  Despite all of his challenges, he's such an easy going, happy little boy who finds joy in the simplest things in life!  

Happy first birthday, Evan!  We love you now and always!

The best we can do is breathe and reboot...

Confession:  I'm tired of my weekly blogs that I put undue pressure on myself to do.

There.  I said it.

Gone are my weekly food review blogs.  I made it 33 weeks of making a new recipe each week and taking the time to take pictures and write about it.  And I'm exhausted.

I feel relief wash over me already just to wash my hands and be done with it.  I've got TONS of recipes that I can add to our menu each week and many more on Pinterest just waiting for me to make them.  But, for now, I'm good with what I've accomplished.

On that note, we're back to work full time this week.

Evan says, "Joy."

Both boys have transitioned really well to being back full time at daycare.  We're really excited for Nana to start watching them on Mondays next week and for my mom to start Fridays in October.  To only have them in daycare for 3 days a week and to have them spend time with each grandma is beyond words.  Sean will be moving up to preschool (ahhh!!!) right after he turns 3 in October.  He's already been visiting the preschool room a few times to see how he gels with the others and he's a natural.  Everyone at daycare just gushes over how he's fully potty trained, how smart he is, how he says the funniest things, etc.  I have to say, after a year + of negative reports of biting, it's been really nice to hear all this positive feedback.  They can keep it coming.

Evan will move to the toddler room once he meets a few more of the criteria.  He's on all table food and can walk, but still needs to move to sippy cups for his milk and take one nap.  So, since I'm not seeing either of those happen as smoothly as they did with Sean, I think he'll be in infants for another month or two.  No rush.  Let them be little, right?

With all this back to school and daycare talk, we managed to escape up north for Labor Day weekend with both sets of our parents all under one roof.  It was a really nice weekend!  The start of fall weather with cool mornings and evenings and enough sun in the afternoon to still be able to do all the water activities.

Throw in a fair with games, prizes, and a bounce house and crazy awesome sales at the outlet mall and we had one heck of a weekend.  S'mores, ice cream, blueberry pie and all.

We drove home Sunday night so that we could all be home for Evan's official first birthday on Monday.  We didn't have anything planned, for a reason.  We wanted one last summer day at home, playing toys, running around outside, ordering in pizza and breadsticks, and of course singing happy birthday with a cupcake from Just Baked.  A perfect end to our summer and a very happy birthday to my baby boy, Evan!

And we're off and running.  Another school year.  New ideas, new lesson plans, new technology, a new blog for my students, and a new schedule.  There's something to be said for getting a fresh start every September.
Now come the days where I long for the weekends full of extra snuggles with the boys, trips to the Cider Mill, and all the October birthdays and Halloween festivities.  Where sleeping until 7:30am feels like a gift from God.  The fall gives me something to look forward to after going back to work.

"I'm so glad I live in a world with Octobers." L.M. Montgomery