I'm Baaacckkk!

Sorry about the lack of posts! Assuming anyone noticed! haha.  We had an incredible week with family and friends! First we got to spend sometime with my husband's family in the Poconos! It was such a great weekend. We swam, and ate, and swam, and ate, which to me is the definition of a perfect weekend! We also got to go back to the PTFC carnival! My husband used to run the carnival before we moved.  He is somewhat "emotionally attached" to it now, so we try to make an appearance every year.  Such a great group of people working very hard for the community! 

My sister, brother in law, niece, and nephews also paid us a visit from Florida for the WHOLE week! Although it was a last minute trip, I was sooooo happy to see them and thrilled that they could stay for the week.  But most of all Alissa was so happy to spend time with her cousins! We had a blast all week and it was so sad leaving them last night! I will hopefully get some more posts in about the great places we visited and fun we had throughout the week as I get caught up with everything else, i.e. laundry and cleaning! 

Last Minute Dinner

Today was one of those days where 5:00 rolls around and I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner. Thankfully Weaver's Orchard is right down the street! Defrosted Porterhouse steak and made the 2 minute trip to Weaver's for amazing corn on the cob and green beans.


Marinated and grilled the steak, and we usually will grill our corn on the cob, but tonight we boiled it in some water, butter, and milk mixture. (yes, I say we because my hubby was a big help tonight). Sautéed the green beans in olive oil and garlic. Quick and easy dinner that was so yummy!


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Everlasting Sandcastle- Art Project FAIL

Well, I have learned once again that I have pretty much no artistic ability! But I did through that process find a great craft (if done correctly) and we had fun attempting to make an everlasting sandcastle.

Months ago I downloaded the SproutPlayer app for my Iphone, but it never really worked well with the Iphone 3G, so I had never used it. Tried it the other day on the IPhone 4 and it worked really well and had some great clips from the Sprout shows.  We watched the clip on how to make an everlasting sandcastle and my daughter loved it. She would not stop saying "make sandcastle like kids".  So I told her we would get all the supplies the next day.  She was so excited when we brought everything home!

Of course it started raining as we began the project and I was a little apprehensive about doing it inside because it does involve a bucket of SAND, but I thought it wouldn't make THAT much of a mess.  And had we had the proper supplies it wouldn't have made such a mess.  So to make a long story short we had the wrong kind of glue or maybe just needed more glue (we tried Elmer's school glue) and the sand we had was way to wet.  So below are some pictures of our "masterpiece" that we created. Although, my daugther still loves it even though it looks terrible! With the right supplies it could be really awesome! We may try it again later this week after we attempt to let our sand dry out in the hot weather!

Had all the supplies ready...so we thought

Time to glue! 

She had fun playing in the sand

Thought the glue might work better on the cardboard...nope

Our Everlasting Sandcastle..hahaha

This craft is a great beach craft, the sand from the beach would work great (and was really what they wanted you to use).  Here is a link to the directions, which I recommend following since we did not and this is what we got for it! Everlasting Sandcastle

Smoothie Update!

After a long day at Hershey Park and not very much sleep (still haven't figured out why), we woke up this morning very tired.  Wasn't in the mood to cook a fancy breakfast and I had a ton of fruit from the Farmer's Market at Elverson (see previous post).  So I decided to make some smoothies with a slightly different recipe.  Here is what we tried today that helped brighten our morning!

Blueberry, peach, melon, banana smoothies!!!

Handful of blueberries
1/4 of a peach
a few chunks of cantelope
1/2 banana
1/2 container of Blueberry flavored greek yogurt
Ice
Water to desired consistency

This combo was awesome! At least we thought so! We ran out of protein powder so we left that out, and I also didn't have any kefir left so I decided to try it with the greek yogurt. I had bought it a week ago and just couldn't get used to the different taste that greek yogurt has, but thought maybe mixing in a smoothie it would taste ok.  And it did! The greek yogurt also has sugar in it, which I am sure was one of the reasons it tasted so good! Planning on making some more tomorrow!

The Sweetest Place on Earth

When my husband told me his company picnic was going to be at Hershey Park, I was so excited! I had such great memories of the Park from when I was little, I couldn't wait to take my baby girl! I hadn't been there for a few years so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect.  But we packed a bag (or two, or three, I always overpack for everything) and took the trip for the day! 

We had a blast! It was a bit warm with temps around 90, but we found some ways to stay cool and drank plenty of water (and although I packed some we still had to splurge on the $4.00 bottle when we ran out).  Here is a little bit of info for anyone wanting to make the trip: 

It took us about an hour to get there from Berks County. The parking is around $10, thankfully we had a free parking pass.  The admission is a bit pricey, thankfully that was pretty much covered for us as well.  Despite those 2 negatives, there is a TON to do! It is great fun for all ages, however, my daugther was a bit young (22 months) for most rides we still found things to do that we all enjoyed. Thankfully, a nice ride attendant let her ride the small carousel by herself even though she wasn't tall enough.  She is still talking about "riding little horsies". And when it got to hot we made the short walk to Chocolate World to take their free tour in the air conditioning.  They have a great water park there as well, but we honestly only walked through and didn't venture into any of the pools as they were really crowded.  Crowded water parks just really aren't our thing especially with a toddler! But they looked fun and seemed great if your kids are swimming on their own.  Zoo America is also located at the park and is included in your admission.  They had a few nice exhibits, but wasn't too exciting (probably because that was the last thing we did and we were hot and really tired by that point). They have some great shows to see at the Aquatheater and other spots throughout that park.  Overall I was pretty impressed with the Park and was surprised that it wasn't as crowded as I thought it was going to be!  We had a great day, but definitely came home worn out! 

The Farmers' Market at Elverson

The weekend has finally arrived and it is the first weekend in awhile that we have been home on Saturday! I have been wanting to check out the Farmer's Market in Elverson for awhile, so after our My Gym make-up class this morning we decided to check it out.  They are a local Farmer's market that is open on Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 8-1.  

I had viewed their website last night and was really excited for the organic produce, raw milk cheese, and grass fed beef.  However, when we got there it was not exactly what I had expected.  I quickly realized that the ONLY vendors there were organic produce stand, raw milk cheese stand, and grass fed beef! (pretty much anyway).  The vendors that were there were great and had great items for sale, but I was expecting much more after reading articles in the paper and seeing their website.  Two of the vendors are also stores that we usually visit on a regular basis anyway and they raise their prices on the produce they bring to market.  :(   

It wasn't all disappointing, I was able to get information on LOCAL all-natural grass fed beef as well as eat one of their burgers for lunch! We bought some peaches, blueberries, and a few sugary treats from the Weaver's Orchard stand, as well as cantaloupe from another local farmer (which was almost to ripe to eat).  My favorite item I purchased was raw milk cheddar cheese from a local farm.  Although, I don't think all their cows are grass or green fed :( I did get information on the farm and the cheese is excellent! I also purchased yogurt from them and would be writing about how it was had I not left it sit on the table at the market! ARGH! There were a few other stands with local coffee, treats, and some veggie/fruit plants.  

Overall, I love that the market is geared toward organic and grass fed foods. But it was a bit overpriced and there weren't really many options or vendors there.  We also went a little later in the day, so we may have missed some of the deals or better produce.  I am hoping that the market grows in the future because it is such a great idea and a great way to find some great local produce! If you want more info on the Farmer's Market here is a link to theWebsite.  

Recipe of the Week!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Sunday, after a busy weekend the hubby and I decided to eat at Panera Bread for a quick dinner.  Love it there because you can eat on your own time and it is convenient with a toddler.  I ordered broccoli cheddar soup and the Sierra Turkey sandwich.  I can never eat all of it so I brought the soup home.  As I sat eating it for lunch the next day, I thought "This can't be to hard to make".  Can honestly admit that I never made soup from scratch before! (I know kind of sad, but like I had mentioned before my cooking knowledge is not that great).  So I turned to my AllRecipes.com app on my Iphone (LOVE IT) for a great recipe and set out on my first homemade soup adventure! This is my version of the AllRecipes.com recipe, but here is a link to their version if you'd prefer to try the original Best Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

1 head fresh broccoli, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 package of Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix 

3 1/2 cups water 

3/4 cups whole milk

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions: 

1. In medium sized stock pot, over medium heat, combine soup mix and water stirring constantly until well mixed. 

2. Add broccoli florets and carrots, partially cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes stirring often.  

3. Once vegetables are tender, place soup in a food processor or blender and puree.  Once blended return soup mixture to stock pot. 

4. Add milk and stir. 

5. Add cheese to soup mixture keeping 1/2 cup set aside.  Stir soup until cheese is melted and then sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup on top of individual dishes.  

Tips: I added some extra cheese to it.  Also add water or milk as needed to desired consistency.  Also needed to add a little salt to taste.  

Tonight we had this soup with a yummy filet! Strange combination, but both were delicious! Baby girl even enjoyed them! 

You can learn a lot in 1 day!

Woke up this morning in some sort of "funk".  Felt like I hadn't slept a wink last night and didn't really have any specific plans for the day which always leads to lack of motivation for me! Made it through a somewhat trying day (with some help from Starbucks) and looking back am realizing everything I learned in what seemed like an uneventful day.  We'll start from the beginning.

1. Burg Restorations are just as fabulous as I said they were in a previous post! They came to paint the basement after tearing out the wall to fix our pipes.  Because they weren't sure they could color match the paint close enough, they painted our WHOLE basement for us! And it looks AMAZING!

2. Your children hear and will repeat EVERYTHING you say.  As the "paintman" arrives our dogs of course bark their heads off (as they do at everything that moves outside). And baby girl of course starts yelling "Knock it off" in the same exact tone I do when I yell at the dogs.  And although it was pretty darn funny, I have learned to be careful with what I say around the little sponge!

3. When you wake up in a "funk", blueberries and Clifford Crunch cereal seems like an amazing breakfast!

4. Spic and Span cleaner is not the best cleaning product for hardwood floors! I am now left with shiny, but sticky floors!

5. Google + is another social networking site that I really didn't need in my life, but somehow got sucked into!!!

6. A Tennis store is a great place to entertain a toddler for an hour! Baby girl had a blast running around and seeing all the "pretty dresses" aka tennis skirts.  And the entertainment even included seeing family and friends for a quick visit! (Fromuth- Reading, PA)

7. To go along with lesson #6 I also learned (well not really cause I sort of already knew this, but just wasn't listening to the instinct today) that taking a tired toddler to a tennis store during nap time is not the best idea.  She acted tired around 11:30, tried to get her to nap for about an hour without any luck. Decided to feed her lunch and jump in the car to meet up with my Mom for a little.  Of course she fell asleep within the first 5 minutes of the 20 minute drive.  And of course when we got to the tennis store the family wanted to see her so I woke her up.  I know most of you are thinking what is wrong with you, and I was thinking the same thing, but hoped she would maybe just fall asleep again on the way home.  HAHA, wishful thinking. She stayed awake of course, so I decided it was still early enough to try and get her down for a nap when we got home.  (Moms you probably know how this one goes) Now she was beyond tired and so cranky and would not fall asleep again.  As it was almost dinner time by this point I decided to keep her up and get started on dinner.  But she was of course miserable the rest of the evening!

8. Speaking of dinner time, the 8th thing I learned was that Broccoli cheddar soup is super easy to make! (see recipe in later post)

9. And onto bedtime....Learned a lot at bedtime...Having Daddy try to put baby girl to sleep on a night that she is extremely exhausted is probably not the best idea and led to everyone being a little stressed out.

10. I was then reminded of how much I love rocking my baby girl to sleep and having her "snuggle Mommy's shoulder" that I was "secretly" happy that she wouldn't go to sleep for Daddy.  :)

It is amazing what life teaches you throughout the day and you don't realize how much you have learned, some silly things, but also some really important lessons.  Can't wait to see what "lessons" tomorrow holds!

Enjoy the Ride Rewards

I'm sure if you buy Huggies diapers or wipes you have seen the yellow stickers on the boxes or bags.  For the longest time I thought "I don't have time for collecting codes" and just threw the packages away.  I then decided to check out the website to see what things they had to offer and have now been collecting rewards points for about a year. It takes about 2 minutes to enter the codes and can usually get you free stuff or great coupons!

So far we have only been able to earn enough points for a new bead maze and a Huggies onesie.  But I have also spent points entering to win contests for vacations or room makeovers (which of course I didn't win).  But either way they have some nice items in their rewards catalog and I am sure if you have more than one child you could rack up points pretty quickly! There are times of the year that their catalog is pretty empty, but they usually have a few good items that you can redeem points for.  We also receive valuable coupons in the mail for diapers and wipes.

Just wanted to let you know those little yellow stickers can be pretty valuable! Here is a link to their website if you want to check it out! Enjoy the Ride Rewards

Bathroom Makeover!

This project has been in the works since March! And well, it's still not totally complete as I am still shopping for some accessories. But here are some before and after pictures of our new Master Bath. Once again my husband does an amazing job on a house project! :)

Before:

First paint color: My husband was working on this makeover while I was in Florida.  I helped picked the paint color, but was looking at the colors online.  He only did one coat and waited until I got home to finish.  It was a little to bright for us so we decided (and he lovingly agreed) to repaint with a different color.  So needless to say we have a few gallons of green paint if anyone is interested! 

The Second Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Hopsack

Pretty New Lights and new trim around the mirror

 My awesome hubby installed a new light in the shower since it was so dark in there before! It was not an easy task since there was barely any room in the attic for him to do all the wiring!

Some new accesories, but still in need of more! Taking suggestions!!

We didn't make to many obvious changes, most of them were small.  Here is a list of everything we updated/changed and some info on them!

New Paint: Sherwin Williams Hopsack
New lights: from Lowes
New trim around mirror
New fixtures (faucet, bathtub, towel racks, doors): changed from chrome to brushed nickel, from Lowes
Installed shower light: Lowes


Let me know if you have any suggestions! We hope to make some other changes as time goes on.  Our bathroom wasn't that old so we didn't think we needed to replace floors, shower, sinks yet.  We'll wait until they need to be replaced!

Week in Review

As this fabulous weekend comes to an end, I am looking back and realizing I have been so busy the past week that I haven't had time to blog! So now I am playing catch up! The Highlights (and low lights) of the week.... 

1. Broken pipe floods the basement! Thankfully we've had a great company, Berg Restoration, coming in to fix the carpet, wall, plumbing, and dry everything out. Still not completely back together, but we could have never done it on our own! 

2. Hubby and family built a new deck! We decided to add on to our existing deck and replace some of the wood. My husband, father in law, brother in law, and brother, worked their butts off to complete the deck in time for our 4th of July party. Ran into a couple snags with some of the railings and we had to order some brackets that haven't come in yet.  Although it isn't totally complete, it still looks amazing and I am so proud of their work! 

Before 

During

After 

(with the temporary baby gates covering some openings)

3. Driveway! In the midst of having people coming in and out everyday working on the basement, and deck building happening in the backyard, we also had our driveway sealed! (It was supposed to happen before the deck building began, but the weather didn't cooperate) Just added one more factor to the craziness! But another project well worth it, the driveway looks really nice, thanks to Superior Seal Coating! 

4. 4th of July Picnic! We had a great picnic with family and friends on Saturday! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate and hope you all had a great time! 

5. Ended the weekend with a great day with my little family! Relaxed, played outside, cleaned a little, and made a special trip for an ice cream cone (which doesn't happen very often).  Alissa LOVED it, of course! 

We have another busy week ahead, but thankfully it is filled with fun activities and not so many house projects!