Recipe of the Week: Catching up!

Since I haven't posted recipes for like 3 weeks, here is another one for you to enjoy this week! Dinner tonight was Asian Sesame Salmon, garlic and olive oil green beans, and rice, so yummy. Well at least I think so. The rest of the family isn't a huge fish fan. Alissa ate some, but pretty sure she got a huge onion on the first bite so then wasn't thrilled about eating anymore. And the hubby, well fish isn't really his thing! haha

Asian Sesame Salmon
(made with McCormick Recipe Inspirations)

1 recipe inspirations asian sesame salmon package (or the same spices used in it)
1/3 c honey
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 lbs. salmon fillets (we just use 2 fillets cause that is all we eat)

1. Mix honey, green onions, soy sauce, and all of the spices except red pepper in small bowl. Stir in red pepper to taste (we don't use the red pepper). Place salmon in baking dish. Spoon mixture evenly over salmon.

2. Roast salmon in preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily, basting occasionally with honey mixture.

Chopped!

Got a new chopper a month ago and have only used it a few times since then, mostly this past week! I had been using a hand chopper, similar to the slap chop or whatever they are called, but the blades were getting really dull and it was not chopping anything anymore!  I hate chopping veggies! I think because I never really learned how to chop them properly so it takes me forever!  So I thought for only a few dollars more I will try an electric chopper.  Here is what I got:

I bought it from Kohls, and with Kohls cash and coupon I spent $18! Bought it online and with a few other items I also got free shipping! 

So far I like it.  It is very very similar to my BabyCook  (other than it doesn't steam the food too).  But it chops really well, is small and easy to store, and is easy to clean.  I have found it is a little difficult to get nice chunks of veggies like shown in the picture because it chops so well. Definitely ended up with mushed onions instead of chopped onions the first time I used it!  But it has a pulse button, and once you master that it makes things a little easier.  I am sure they have some that work a little bit better if you want to spend a little bit more. But for $18 it gets the job done! 

Recipe of the Week!

Well, I guess I should probably title this recipe of the month, since I think it has been that long since I have posted a recipe for you all! I hope to bring you a new recipe each week from now on, but I won't make any promises! Birthday party planning has officially taken the spotlight away from blogging! But here is a great meatloaf recipe that I made last week, and usually make quite often as it is something my husband will actually eat.  He calls it "my signature dish".  It is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and is very yummy! I do modify it slightly though, so here is my recipe! 

"MA, THE MEATLOAF!!!" 

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk

2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs or 2 c soft bread crumbs (2 1/2 slices)

1/4 c finely chopped onion

2 tbls fresh parsley (usually don't use fresh and it still tastes great)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil 

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef 

1/4 c ketchup

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. In medium bowl, combine eggs and milk; stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, basil, and pepper.  Add ground meat (I often only use about 1 lb. cause I usually freeze the beef in 1 lb. bags, I add a few extra onions and bread crumbs to make up for it).  Mix well.  Lightly pat mixture into an bread pan.  

2. Bake 350 for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until 160 degrees inside.  Spoon off fat.  In a small bowl combine ketchup and brown sugar; spread over the meat.  Bake for 10 minutes more.  Let stand for a few minutes before cutting.  Makes about 8 servings.  

We love this recipe and usually will have leftovers for the next day.  I usually make some kind of potato and veggie with it.  But we had some corn on the cob and sweet potatoes leftover from when my sister was visiting, so that is what we used this week!   

Potty Train Your Toddler in 3 Days: DAY 4

As I ended Day 3 completely discouraged, I contemplated what to do on Day 4. Should I keep following the "3 Day Plan", try something different, or try nothing at all? I decided to follow the same plan at home, but wear diapers when we went out. Here is how it went.

She woke up with a really full diaper, so when I took her to the potty first thing in the morning, I didn't expect much to happen.  But after sitting for a few minutes she ended up pooping! To most people a poop would not excite you first thing in the morning, but to me it was probably the most exciting thing that could have happened! haha.  We followed the plan with stickers, hurrahs, and flushing the poopy.  I decided to follow the "naked" plan for the rest of the morning.  Although, there were no accidents, there wasn't anything happening on the potty either.  After a few hours, I knew she would have to go soon.  So we went upstairs, sat for awhile, read some stories, played some iphone games, and finally some pee pee came out! woo hoo!

I thought she would be good to go for a little while after that, so I started gathering our belongings for a day at the pool.  As I walked into her room to put her shoes on, I heard the dreaded noise of the drips falling VERY hard on the carpet.  I cleaned up the mess explained that pee pee needs to go in the potty and then decided to put a diaper on her until we left.

Spent the afternoon at the pool where I decided to keep a swim diaper on her, wasn't sure I was ready to try and master the pool potty training, or did I think she was ready to use the potty's at the pool.  I put a regular diaper on her to go home because she usually falls asleep on the way home, and she did.

After nap time, I decided to try a Pull-up diaper that I had bought awhile ago and forgot I had.  Although it wasn't following Fellom's plan, I just felt it might work better for OUR plan.  I continued to take her to the potty every once in awhile and sit with her for a few minutes until she went or wanted to get up.  She kept the pull-up diaper dry for the whole evening and did all her business on the potty. She was also really excited about the pull-up diapers because they had a princess on them.  So every time we pulled it down, I would tell her to show the princess how she goes pee pee on the potty.  She thought it was funny.  For us finding new ways to keep her interested in the potty has kind of helped us through the process. I had even reminded her tonight that we were going to My Gym tomorrow, and the first thing she said was "I take my potty with?"  I was so surprised that she was thinking about her potty that much!

It was then bath time, and she usually is really good about going on the potty before bath. But tonight nothing came out.  So she had her bath, I put her diaper and Pj's on and told her to pick out her stories. As I walked back in her room she said "Mommy, I go on potty."  At first I assumed she wanted to take her stories there to read them, since we have been doing that ALOT lately.  But just in case she really had to go I rushed her into the bathroom pulled jammies and diaper off and put her on the potty.  She peed almost immediately.  Although, there was a little in her diaper also, I was so so so so proud of her! As I went back in to start our story time, the phone rang and I quickly answered it. After about 5 minutes on the phone, I heard her say "Mommy, I go pee pee."  I thought she might just be playing a game now, to get out of going to sleep, but just in case I was wrong, I hung up the phone, rushed her back to the bathroom and she sat on the potty. After about a minute she peed again! I couldn't believe it!

I was so proud of her and so glad I somewhat stuck to the program today! As I thought back, I realized this was probably really our "DAY 3" anyway because Day 1 was only a few hours of potty training.  The day went really well, and the one accident was not nearly as discouraging as the 7 or more we had the day before.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about using the pull up diapers, but I think they almost helped her a little bit.  Before the pee would just start pouring on the floor, and she wouldn't know what to do.  With the diaper on she feels the pee pee and realizes what is happening and that she has to get to the potty.  I will still probably continue to use a combo of pull-ups and bare butt while we are home, and use diapers or pull-ups when we are out, depending where we have to go! We aren't quite there yet, but I am so glad to not being feeling so discouraged about potty training!

Potty Train Your Toddler in 3 days: DAY 3

Day 3 had arrived! Was actually pretty excited about it at the end of Day 2. But didn't sleep much, and woke up feeling awful and not really in the "Let's get excited about the potty mood." But I knew we had to keep going. So here is how the day went as we started our Day 3 potty adventure!

When Alissa woke up we as usual, took the PJ's and diaper off , and as I did that I noticed that the diaper was warm and wet, so I assumed she had just gone in her diaper. So we didn't go right into the bathroom. I felt that I had been to pushy about going on the potty on Day 2, so I hoped to let her explore everything on her own. As I got myself ready for the day she was playing back and forth between her room and our room (naked of course). I heard her little feet walk into her bathroom, and then heard her yell "Mommy my stuff!!!" Wasn't sure what that meant so I went running to see what was wrong. She was indeed in her bathroom and Mommy hadn't put her potty back together after cleaning it the previous night and she apparently wanted to sit on it! I was really proud and happy that she headed into the bathroom on her own and was ready for the potty (unfortunately the potty wasn't ready for her). After I put it back together she sat there for a little while reading books. And went pee pee! Followed with the routine of hurrahs, excitement, stickers, and flushing her pee pee in the big potty!

After that I was feeling really optimistic about the day! We headed downstairs, potty in hand, and got some books and toys out to play with near the potty. She played while I made some breakfast, and I didn't prompt or say to much about going on the potty and she really didn't seem to interested in it. (This was completely different than Day 2, where all she wanted to do was sit on her potty). We ate some breakfast and I thought it might be good to have her try and sit on the potty again. She kept responding "No just play toys", so instead of making her sit down I let her play on her own. She stayed dry for most of the morning and maybe sat down on the potty once or twice, but didn't seem to have to go.

We even had time to play dress up while we waited for pee pee

As it was getting close to lunch time, I knew she would have to go again soon, but she really was wanting nothing to do with the potty. So instead of forcing it, I decided to just let her go there on her own. I gave her a few reminders, and then, although I should have known better, asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She of course said "No" and continued playing with her toys. About a minute later I hear the little drops falling on the hardwood floor, followed by "Uh oh, what I do?" I tried to follow through with the staying calm and not yelling about the pee pee, but as I looked over and saw the pee pee seeping through her toy basket and falling on all the toys she had out of the basket, I almost unconsciously let out a scream! Not really yelling at her, but just yelling cause the pee pee was falling all over the only things in the room that could not really be cleaned very well! I should have just gotten over it at that point, because the fun was just beginning.

To make a long day seem short, she pretty much had accidents all day long, she did go on the potty about 3 times. We had her sitting on the potty several times throughout the day and she just really didn't want to stay there like the day before. She seemed like she had lost her patience for "waiting for the pee pee" like we had on Day 2 which in turn also led to me losing patience. I only spent about 1/2 the time I did on Day 2 really pushing her toward the potty and trying to get her excited about being on it. I thought I was doing that too much on Day 2, but now that I'm reflecting on today's events, maybe I should have been as pushy today, although I am not sure it would have helped, as she seemed to have a different agenda anyway...

Our potty chart at the end of Day 3, happy that we at least have some stickers on Day 3!

Overall, today was a little discouraging. It was what I had pictured potty training would be. She was not excited about the potty at all, and I felt like I really had to pull teeth to get her to sit for a few minutes. Spent much of the day cleaning up messes. Now as the weekend ends and we don't plan on sitting in the house all week, I am a little worried about venturing out and whether to diaper or not to diaper and just pack a ton of extra clothes! I plan on continuing with the potty training at least when we are at home. I am not sure what my plan is for when we are out and about yet. She definitely doesn't seem like she is ready to tell me when she has to go pee pee at all. So we are taking a few steps back, but not going all the way back to the beginning. I also plan to try the more vigorous "Potty Train your Toddler in 3 Days" again, but think we might need to give it a little more time. We'll see how Day 4 goes, as I hope to continue with somewhat of the same plan for the next few days. I'll keep you posted!

Potty Train Your Toddler in 3 days: DAY 2

Day 2
I was actually excited for Day 2! Day 1 (or the 1/2 day) had gone much better than I had expected and Day 2 was a Saturday! That meant I had a potty training partner!!! Woohoo!

I had to leave for a dentist appointment before baby girl woke up, so the night before, I gave my husband a quick guide to potty training! And from what he tells me he actually followed it!

When she woke up, he made sure to take her diaper off and let her play in just her pajama shirt for the morning.  First place they went, however, was the potty.  He sat and read stories with her for a little while, but she seemed as if she didn't have to go.  ( I am thinking she probably went in her diaper before she got out of her crib or else she probably would have had to go pretty badly).  So, potty in hand, they went downstairs and Alissa played while Daddy made some breakfast.  Before eating he had her sit on the potty to try to go pee pee again, but had no luck.  So he put her "big girl pants" on her and they sat and ate breakfast.   After that they played and he made sure to remind her about going potty, and took her to sit on the potty several times.

As I arrived home about 2 hours later (made sure to do a little shopping and get my Starbucks after the dentist), she still had not gone to the bathroom on her potty.  I knew by this point she was probably getting close to the point that she had to go.  And I also found out that my "potty training partner" had some fire company duties to attend all afternoon!

So as he left, I had her sit on the potty and we played Mrs. Potato Head, read some books, and even managed to do puzzles all while she sat on the potty.  Not sure if playing while she is sitting on the potty is again the best idea, but she doesn't seem to mind sitting there, she enjoys my attention, and she gets to play with her toys.  As we play I keep asking her if any pee pee came out or if she can try to go pee pee while she is sitting there.  She will sometimes stand up to check what is in her potty, and if nothing is there, I often ask her if she wants to sit down and try again or if she wants to take a break.  We spent a few minutes going through the motions and she eventually pee peed! Had our big Hurrah Party, put our Elmo sticker in the Saturday Column, and did some more cheers!

This climbing stuff is so much easier without a diaper

I then decided to head outside before the rain started so we could get some fresh air.  I only put some capri pants on her and nothing else.  We played outside for about 45 minutes.  I did keep reminding her she didn't have a diaper on and to tell me if she thought she had to go pee pee.  I also joked with her telling her she could pee pee in the grass if she had to, just like Star and Joules (our dogs).  But she stayed dry the whole time we were outside.

When we went in the pants came off, and we tried to pee pee before we sat down to have a snack, which was unsuccessful.  As we sat and had our snack I noticed she wasn't eating a whole lot, and was getting very antsy sitting in her chair.  Took her out of her chair and walked over to her potty with her.  She sat for a little while reading a book, and I could tell the pooping had begun.  Went through the same steps, hurrahs, sticker, more hurrahs.  I let her have 2 stickers this time since she did pee pee and poo poo on the potty.  After this potty event however she remembered that we empty the potty and flush the pee pee and poo poo, so she actually asked to go back downstairs and "flush the poop, Mommy!"

I did put a diaper on for nap time,  I think she went again right before nap, she took a good nap, and when she woke up (with a dry diaper), we went right to the potty.  We again had to sit and read for a little while, which she loves, but she did go again! At this point in the day she was using the potty so much more than I had expected and hadn't had any accidents! But, I had really been prompting her so much and making sure she was sitting on the potty a lot, so I decided for the rest of the afternoon and evening to back off a little bit and see how she did.


SHE WAS AMAZING! Pretty much followed the same routine as Day 1.  Let her play, would give her a few reminders, but I didn't take her over to her potty nearly as much as I had done all morning.  She went back and forth on her own. We took the potty all over the house with us.  Even bounced in her bouncey house for awhile which I thought might make her have to pee pee and may cause an accident, but she stayed dry! She went poop and pee so many times on the potty I lost track and I realized I didn't have to be "in her face" like I had been.  The evening was relaxing (well the potty training part), and she stayed dry ALL DAY!!!!

Putting her Elmo sticker on her chart

We did take her to the potty and sit with her a few times, but there was maybe one or two times that she went and sat down on her own.  But as bed time was getting closer, she wanted to watch a TV show and have a snack.  I know how distracting that can be and thought it might be a good idea if we put her pajamas on with her diaper while she watched TV.  She had her snacks and juicy and I knew after that she would probably have to go pee pee before bed.  Sat down on the potty with her, read her a few stories while she sat, and she peed AND pooped before bed time.

This day has been completely different than I had expected! I had braced myself for clean ups, planned on doing lots of laundry, had the towels and cleaning supplies ready to go,  and never needed any of it! I am so incredibly proud of her! However, I am now realizing how much I really did prompt her or take her over to the potty throughout the day.  I think we spent like 1/2 of the day sitting on the potty.  Although, we read MANY good books, I feel like I needed to just let her be a kid a little more, and accept the fact that accidents may happen and not constantly be reminding or asking her about the potty.  Good thing I still have Day 3 to work on that! :) She has also not gone potty at all when my husband is with her.  I am not really sure why exactly, I think it has to do with patience (his, love you hunny), or maybe she just hasn't had to go at those times! But unfortunately, he has some more fire company duties to attend to tomorrow too! I am hoping to have him take over completely in the afternoon and see how it goes (maybe I can even get out of the house by myself for the afternoon :) :) ) But so far the progress is great! And it seems like (fingers crossed) we are headed in the right direction!

End of Day 2! 

At this point, I don't see her being completely potty trained in 3 Days (have to go back and reread parts of the article about that).  But I feel like we are off to a great start and I really am not concerned if it takes more than 3 days.  I really just wanted to "test" the theory and see if it would work.  And for the most part seems to be.  We'll see how tomorrow goes!

Potty Train your Toddler in 3 days: DAY 1

Yeah you read that correctly, 3 DAYS!!!!! Got an email from Babycenter.com (which I had signed up for long ago, and often don't agree with or don't read 1/2 the emails they send), but the title "Potty Train your Toddler in 3 Days" got my attention.  I for some reason hadn't really been rushing into potty training our daughter. Mostly for selfish reasons like I knew it would take a lot of time and attention throughout the day and was also content changing her diaper instead of cleaning up accidents.  She had also not always been thrilled about sitting on the potty and for awhile would get upset if we asked her to sit on it, so I felt that maybe she wasn't ready.    

When I saw this email, I thought, I guess it is time to really start this process.  We had been slowly introducing the potty and she had gone to the bathroom on it a few times before, but more just by chance than actually understanding the idea. I honestly only briefly read the article, skimming, for what seemed like the important details.  And in turn kind of came up with my own plan for potty training, using some of the ideas that were shared in the Baby Center article and some ideas I had heard from friends and family. I hope over the next few days to share our "3 Day" experience with you. 

Day 1 

I am not sure that I should really count Thursday as Day 1 because I really only started the process 1/2 way through the day, but we'll count it anyway.  We had a busy morning with My Gym class and a few errands to run in which she wore a diaper.  During her nap time I came across the article and decided that since we had a free weekend ahead of us it might be the perfect time to give it a try! (They suggest you have 3 days that you can pretty much stay at home to start the training).  So after nap, we took her diaper off and the adventure began.  

Using advice from Julie Fellom (babycenter article) I left Alissa run around with only a t-shirt on for the rest of the evening.  They also recommend you have a potty for all the rooms you are going to be in, we however, only have one so we took it with us wherever we went.  She thought this was funny of course.  But it really got her interested in the potty and she was excited to use her potty in her playroom instead of just the bathroom.  So while I made dinner (made the mistake of choosing a time consuming meal) she played in her playroom, pretty much naked.  Every 10 minutes or so I would go in and remind her about her potty and she would usually end up going over to sit on it for a few minutes.  I got some books out for her to read while she sat there, and she also ended up eating snacks while sitting on her potty (not sure if that was a good idea or not, but I guess we'll find out, live and learn right!).  After about 30 minutes of on the potty off the potty, I heard "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!".  As I responded "Yes, baby?" and looked over, she was on her potty! I ran over and asked her what was in there thinking that she hadn't done anything and as she stood up she says "Ooo, What in there? Peepee!" And there was! I was so impressed because I was kind of tied up with dinner and wasn't paying as close attention to her as I would have liked.  

So after I got done praising her, giving high fives, and making a REALLY big deal about her pee pee in the potty, we went upstairs to put an Elmo sticker on her new potty chart. I had coincidentally bought her a Sesame Street Potty Coloring Book earlier that day that came with stickers and a chart. We are also planning an Elmo party, so Elmo is a pretty big deal in our house right now. I wasn't sure if stickers were going to work as a reward, but I tried to make a big deal about how cool they were, and let her put them on the chart herself.  We hung the chart on our bathroom door where she can reach it.  She put her sticker on and seemed to be pretty excited and proud of herself.  

We went back downstairs to continue playtime and dinnertime.  Since she had just gone pee pee I didn't go in to remind her about the potty as much.  Fellom says not to ask them if they have to go because they will almost always say "No".  So I would just remind her she didn't have a diaper on, and a few times had her take the toy she was playing with over to her potty and play while she sat there.  Pretty sure she put Mrs. Potato Head together a few times while sitting on her potty.  I also started bringing her favorite books over and she sat and "read" those for a little while.  But for the most part, I let her do her own thing as I did mine.  

After about 45 minutes since the first "peepee", I see her sitting on her potty again reading her book. But this time I could tell she had her "Poop face" on.  Although I was so excited that she was sitting there pooping on her potty and I hadn't even prompted any of it, I left her have some privacy.  I also wanted to see what she would do when she was done.  As she finished, she looked out at me and yelled "Mommy, Mommy, Ooo, What in there?" I walked over and asked her the same question, and she replied "Poooop!".  We did another 5 minutes of yelling (good yelling), praising, and high fives.  Went upstairs, added another sticker to our chart, did some more high fiving, and went back down to finish dinner. 

When my husband came home from work, I handed the potty training hat off to him because dinner was STILL baking and I wanted to make sure that we didn't just spend our whole day potty training and actually ate something too! Alissa showed him her stickers and we praised her some more.  As they played together, she decided she wanted to play games on our cell phones.  She began the game playing sitting on her potty, but it is often easier for her to set the phone down on a surface to play on it.  So she got up, stood at the bench next to the potty and played her games.  Next thing we know, in a kind of disappointed voice she says "uh oh, What I do?".  Thankfully we have hardwood floors! We used the advice given on the Baby Center website, and simply told her that peepee and poo poo go in the potty and that we would wipe the pee pee up.  She seemed a little discouraged, but wasn't upset about the accident, which I am hoping is a good thing! 

Despite the one accident, we followed the same routine for the rest of the evening.  She played in only a t-shirt the whole night. I did put "big girl undies" on her while she ate dinner just cause I felt it was a little more sanitary, and didn't really feel comfortable making my poor kid eat her dinner pretty much naked at the table, haha.  After dinner, she went upstairs for her bath, took her little potty with her, and went pee pee one more time on the potty before her bath! It did take a pretty long time for it to happen though, we do alot of reading together while she sits there! We then put a diaper on her to sleep, and tucked her into bed! 

I was so happy with how the first night went! Although it was only a few hours, I guess I had just expected pee pee or poo poo to be everywhere! I was thrilled to find that wasn't really the case and that she seemed to be pretty excited about it.  

Stickers from Day 1 

However, as I went to bed I realized that I had made plans to visit friends and family the following day, which was an hour drive, a lot of running around, and we would be out and about ALL day.  I decided to leave her in her diaper for the day, because of our crazy schedule.  We could resume our potty training on Saturday! Which we did....stay tuned for the Day 2 post! And if you have any questions about anything we tried let me know! Or any suggestions, we are always up for those, especially any suggestions on emptying/cleaning out the little potty??!!  That's always a good time! haha Or feel free to share your potty training stories in the comments or on Facebook!!! 

Coupons!

So...growing up my Dad would not take us anywhere unless we had a coupon to use! We only went to a restaurant if we had a coupon to use, most groceries were only purchased because we had a coupon, and any kids activities required a coupon as well.  If he were here today I know he would totally be on this website...http://thekrazycouponlady.com/.

Got an email from a friend with a link to the site today, she also reminded me that my Dad would love it! Which is so funny that my friends also remember all the funny things he did.  Although, I am not quite a "crazy coupon lady". I usually will not buy clothing (especially kids) or diapers without a coupon.  Groceries, well I haven't quite ventured into the grocery couponing just yet.

I may be the last person to find out about this site and I have only checked the site out for a few minutes, but have signed up for some great coupon deals for things like paper towels, toilet paper, and other household products.  Registered for a free potty training kit (needing lots of help with that) and I also got a code for a FREE mini photo book!!!! (look under Freebies) Check it out and let me know if you find any other good stuff on there!

3 years!

Celebrated our 3 year anniversary yesterday! Made some last minute plans for my BIL and SIL to babysit so we could grab a quick dinner! Had heard a lot of people talk about Emily's in Mohnton and we drive past it just about everyday, so we decided to give it a try.

Very cute inside, but we decided since it was finally not 100 degrees out, we would sit outside on their patio to eat.  Since live right down the road and know how bad the bugs are at our house. we probably should have known better.  It wasn't too bad out there great little view, very relaxing. quiet, and FILLED with flies! They were everywhere.  Of course there wasn't anything Emily's could do about it, it just goes along with the territory!

Relaxing (with the wrong glass of wine), but relaxing none the less! 

We started our meal with drinks (they brought me the wrong wine, but quickly fixed it for me) and a really yummy appetizer. This was the best part of our meal!
 

Crab and Fontina Cheese Dip

I ordered Lobster Pasta and my husband ordered Beef Tenderloin topped with crab for dinner.  They were both good, but for the price they weren't fabulous.  The pasta was a little under seasoned and the peas weren't cooked enough.  My husband had tons of crab shells in his meal.  They looked gorgeous though! 

We decided not to have any dessert.  We had a nice evening though.  The food, like I said, wasn't terrible, but was pretty expensive for it to not be perfect! The atmosphere was great (minus the flies). We were expecting it to be more like an upscale bar and grill than a fine dining restaurant.  I would say we'd give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars! We are probably more likely to visit our Anniversary spot from last year Bistro 614 in West Reading the next time we go out.  We love it there and usually go there for our fancy dinner celebrations!

My hubby also surprised me with this awesome lounge chair for our new deck for my anniversary gift! It has a cushion with it too, but due to the rain I don't have it out! 

And well since my husband buys everything he wants, when he wants it, all he got for our Anniversary was a new coffee cup, new sneakers, and a Happy Birthday card since apparently I can't read! :) LOL

Children's Place vs. Gymboree

Spent Monday morning at the Coventry Mall in Pottstown.  Went specifically to find an anniversary gift for my husband, but of course had to visit at the children's stores too! Started at the Children's Place because I had an email coupon.  Found some great bargains and just some great buys!

Terrible picture, but I got all of this for $40! 

I also had a coupon from the mail for Gymboree, so I decided to venture in to see what kind of sales they had.  Found a few things on the sale rack, a little summer dress and a pant outift.  (sorry I don't have a picture of them).  Of course go to pay for them, use my coupon, and my total is $32!!!! And I also didn't realize until I get home that the pant outfit I bought is one piece (looks like it should be two).  That usually doesn't work well for Alissa cause I often have to roll her pants cause she's so tiny! 

Children's place is the winner!!! (My opinion of course) I do think the Gymboree clothes are a little better quality, but when the kid wears them twice and then you pack them away in a box, who cares!!! The Children's Place clothing also runs smaller and is more petite which is perfect for my baby girl! Will probably end up returning at least one of the Gymboree outfits if not both of them.  If you haven't already, sign up for Children's place emails to get some great coupons! 

Family Getaway Part 4

My sister and her family decided to spend Thursday and Friday of their vacation at our house! I was happy to have them over, and found that it was a little easier to have all the kids at our house with all the toys, Wii, and bouncey house! We had a great steak dinner Thursday night, and Friday we decided to visit Weaver's Orchard (see previous blogs for more info on Weaver's) to pick some blueberries and raspberries.  

We had a great time, although by the time we got there it was a bit hot! So we filled our bucket as quickly as we could.  I also learned how much cheaper berries are when you pick them yourself! :) We also spent some time in their market buying some baked goodies! 

When we got home we waited for our lunch delivery from Cali Burrito in Allentown (thanks to my awesome niece Mindy).  Then we headed to French Creek State Park to swim and Kayak.  

That night my sister, her husband, and my nephew went back to my moms, but one nephew and one niece decided to spend the night with me. (My hubby was away taking his National Fire Certification Test, and he passed woohooo!) Saturday I took them all back to Emmaus and spent the day at my moms house with them.  

We went shopping at the The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley (love it there).  Had some icecream, Dede bought all the kids a toy, and then we headed to Saturday night church at LifeChurch West (love it there too).  Tried to leave Alissa in the Nursery for the first time in a long time and it didn't go so well.  She spent most of the time screaming and when they paged me she was so upset and so sweaty, I felt so bad about leaving her.  Still working on the separation anxiety (for both of us).  She does great when I leave her at home with anyone, and she doesn't cry when I leave her in the nursery until she realizes that I'm gone.  I'm so used to seeing kids clinging to their parents and crying cause they don't want to stay in the nursery, but Alissa isn't like that.  She walks in as independent as can be, starts playing, I sneak out and then she comes looking for me to show me something and I'm gone.  Then she freaks out! Any suggestions on what to do??

Sorry went off on a tangent there! After church we ordered Thai food (my favorite) from Thai Thai House in Emmaus.  Very yummy and I could not believe how much Alissa loved it!  Anyone know any good Thai places in the Tri County area??

Was very sad to leave Saturday night, but was happy to go home to see my hubby who I hadn't seen all week.  Can't wait until the next Family Getaway, maybe in Florida next time :) 

Family Getaway Part 3

Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom: Allentown, PA 

Spent last Wednesday afternoon at Dorney Park with the family! Grew up right down the road from Dorney and spent MANY hours with friends there and made many great memories! I was excited to take Alissa.  We got discount tickets through the company my mom works for which was another plus! And kids under 2 are free! 

Seeing that it was a hot summer day, I expected the place to be crowded! We were pleasantly surprised when we saw many empty parking lots as we pulled in! Before we even entered the park Alissa saw the "horsies" also known as the carousel.  So that was the first ride we went on. 

We spent a few hours in Planet Snoopy, the kiddie area at Dorney, and it was great entertainment for a 2 year old (ahh can't believe she's almost 2) and a 4 1/2 year old.  They have a great Snoopy Show and many more rides than they had the last time I was there.  My niece who is 8, of course wanted to go on the bigger rides so we had to split up for a little bit.  

I was sooo surprised at all their safety precautions/regulations though.  I guess it is a good thing they are very strict about the rules, but it was definitely almost a  little over the top as far as height requirements, safety restraints, etc. Someone had to come around and open our seatbelt on every ride we went on.  Defintely think the safety belts are a good thing, but it took a lot of time for the attendant to open every seatbelt at the end of the ride! (Seeing that we were riding rides such as the kiddie cars that go around in a slow circle).  But I guess better safe than sorry! It was very different from the experience we had at Hershey Park.  

We then decided to spend our last hour or so at Wildwater Kingdom, hoping that most people would be heading over to Dorney Park at that time, and we would have to worry about changing to go back on the rides.  First thing we saw when we walked in was the wave pool. My sisters kids (who are excellent swimmers) wanted to run right in! That was until they saw the sign that said "If you are under 48" you need to wear a life vest".  Well needless to say that didn't go over well with my nephew, which then led to meltdowns from very tired kids. We did put life vests on and try the wave pool for a little, then decided to check out the rest of the park.  We found some great kiddie pools with cute slides (which

Alissa hated of course).  But she loved the fountains! 

However, after a few meltdowns and injuries we decided it was time to head home! We had a great afternoon, probably should have tried to get there a little earlier so the kids didn't get so tired by the end of the afternoon.  But all in all, I would recommend this park to anyone with kids! I suggest a weekday visit, as we barely had to wait in line for any rides (and really wouldn't have had too if it didn't take so long to unbuckle seatbelts).  Check into local businesses to see if they offer any discount tickets also! Otherwise, just like any other amusement park it gets a little expensive! 

Family Getaway Part 2

My sister had planned to visit us from Florida sometime in August.  But made some last minute changes and decided to visit us for a week in July instead.  So after spending some time in the Poconos we drove down to the Lehigh Valley (Emmaus, great little town where I grew up) to spend time with my mom, sister, brother, nieces and nephew.

Alissa adores her cousins so much and I wish they didn't live 1,000 miles away! Every morning while we were at my Mom's house, she would wake up and say "downstairs see Cael and Cole" (short for Nicole).  In fact she is still doing that even though they are at home in Florida! Watching them play together was just so amazing to me! And watching my 8 year old niece be my little helper was so awesome! We spent time hanging out at my Mom's letting the kids play, as well as, taking them on various other adventures!

We spent Monday at my sister's girlfriend's house with her family and lots of kids! Great to have friends for Alissa and for Mommy to have some adult conversation!

Playing with her new friend Carter 

The next day we went to Emmaus Community Park to swim and play at the playground.  It had been many years since I was swimming at that pool! It is such a great pool, with 2 water slides, a diving board, huge swimming area, and huge kiddie pool, and the playground is awesome too! The pool was a bit dirty, but I think it was mostly because we had some storms the night before. But it brought back so many great memories! If you live in the Emmaus/Allentown area check it out! 

The kids were exhausted after a day of swimming and sun, and I was on my own with the 3 of them that night! Honestly, was kind of dreading it because I was tired too and wasn't sure how well everyone would go to sleep for me! But they were sooo good! My sister got to visit with her girlfriends and I got some time with the kiddos! And bedtime was a success, of course with some help from my little helper and awesome story reader! 

We all got some shut eye after storytime! (and after I finished The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks, great book!)  We all needed the rest for Wednesday's adventure....Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom! 

Family Getaway Part 1

Had such a crazy and busy week with our families, as I upload all the photos onto our computer, I decided it would be great to share some of the fun activities! Although most of our time was spent in NEPA and the Lehigh Valley, they are both not to far from the Tri County area! 

Part 1 of our family getaway began in the Poconos.  We spent some time with my husbands family and did a lot of swimming at their amazing pool, which was a total plus, seeing that it was another scorching weekend even in the mountains! And of course relaxed in their awesome house. It was like being at an all inclusive resort all weekend! (Thank you Jennifer and Poppy!)

Gorgeous, relaxing, and so much fun! 

Ahhh....this is the life! 

We usually plan our summer visit to the Poconos specifically when the Pocono Township Fire Company Carnival is happening! My husband spent two years as the Carnival chairman while we lived there.  As a Carnival Chairman's wife I learned how much hard work goes into an event like this one! And it is ALOT of work for so many dedicated people.  So we like to pay a visit, support the fire company, and catch up with a great group of friends that we miss so much! And it is a blast for kids of all ages! 

I was also thankful that my sister (who had just landed on her flight from FL) brought her kids up to the Poconos to visit with us too! 

Just a few of the prizes we went home with! 

We had such a great time! And although PTFC is a bit of a drive for many of you, I encourage you all to look into your local fire company's events! Carnivals, Bingo, Egg Hunts, Breakfasts, etc.! The Firefighters and Auxillary's work really hard for their community all year long and to have these events, so show them your support!  (Had to make sure you all read this part!!) 

 

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!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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.