1. My son started school! He's had a few rough days sprinkled in with a couple of okay days and topped with one great day. I was hoping that it would start out well, but so far it's been bumpy. We're looking into a few new things for this school year and hopefully it will make the difference.
2. My daughter is continuing gymnastics. For some reason she's the only one in her class so it's like she's getting personal training. She's the only one from her summer class that is continuing on and she's doing very well.
3. As an adieu to summer vacation for our son we ate at the restaurant of his choice. He chose The Proud Bird for the airplanes and helicopter located outside the restaurant and also for the huge bowl of m&ms at the dessert table (it was a brunch buffet). My son was excited that his uncle came with us. He wanted to show his uncle the retired airplanes and the food!
4. I took a look at the magazines I subscribe to and noticed that they fall into the categories of either food, family or fitness. I used to subscribe to a Christian magazine which would have obviously been in the faith category, but sadly it was discontinued. Anyway, one of the magazines I read is Real Simple. The editors of the now defunct Cookie magazine came out with a cookbook Time for Dinner: Strategies, Inspiration, and Recipes for Family Meals Every Night of the Week and in the Real Simple Family edition a few recipes were included. I'm not sure if they're from the book, but I made two of them. I made Dinner Pancakes and then
Sausage and Apple Kebabs. The Dinner Pancakes were okay. A little dry and bland and I think I would have preferred to take those sauteed vegetables and made savory crepes with them instead, just as easy especially with pre-made crepes. My daughter thought the colorful diced up veggies were m&ms though (influenced by big brother)! She was not happy when she took a bite and realized what it was. Hee hee. The Sausage and Apple Kebabs, on the other hand, were a hit! You can't go wrong with real Maple Syrup!5. Last summer (and part of this summer) I wanted to make EVERYTHING s'mores. S'mores cupcakes, s'mores cake, gourmet s'mores. Anything I could have made s'mores I was in the kitchen playing around trying to make. This summer got away from me so I didn't have much time to experiment, BUT I am soooo going to make these Baked Apples! I kinda wish I had some s'mores ingredients right now. I know I have apples. I know I have chocolate and graham crackers. Hey, Honey, wanna go get some marshmallows after you read this?
6. My sister made the cutest cupcakes (she loves to bake more than I do). I had to post pictures of them:
Cute, right? She's got skills!
7. Speaking of family, check out this video by my cousin. Cool and fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9oH60dOL8M. I can't embed it, so you'll just have to click on the link, turn up the volume and get your groove on.
8. We had the chance to hit up The Manila Machine, a Filipino food truck. What caught my eye was the Spam Slider. I didn't get to have it because we did not come prepared and only had enough moolah for the Ube Cupcakes. If you're an Ube lover, you'll love these. I loved the frosting with a hint of coconut. Wanna see?
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| With wrapper |
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| Naked |
9. My new favorite snack: http://snikiddy.com/index.php/products/archives/cheddar_cheese. Hits the spot when I'm craving something crunchy and bold and NOT a salad (which is rare because I'm always on the hunt for a good salad....gotta balance out that cupcake addiction). It's a "sometimes treat"! Like this afternoon while I had 30 minutes of peace and quiet while my son was with his playgroup and my daughter was napping. *sigh* They taste like a much better version of Cheetos. No weird artificial cheese flavor and they're much healthier.
10. In my last Thursday Thirteen I wrote about the conversion of our daughter's crib to a toddler bed. The first week was great...until she discovered that she could get in and out anytime she wants! Oh, my goodness. I think I get a good night's rest about once a month, only because I'm so exhausted I can't help but crash. But, here's the sweetest thing that makes me forget the lack of sleep. One morning this week she woke up just as her dad was getting ready to work, which wasn't too early so that was probably the one night I actually got some sleep. Anyway, I was pretty knocked out but I could feel my husband put her in our bed next to me. She was sitting there for a couple of minutes; I think she was waiting for me to say something, then she leaned over, kissed me on my cheek and said, "I love you, mommy." then laid her head next to mine. Oh, my melting heart!
11. My daughter, reading. You'll have to turn up the volume to hear her.
12. My husband went to our son's Open House at school (thank you, Love). He saw that our son's homework chart was the only one with all his stars for completing his homework everyday so far since school started. I'm very proud of him! I have to say, despite all his struggling, he will do his homework with little complaining. All because he wants to make me happy.
13. As I finish writing this I'm watching my daughter chase around one of those Zhu Zhu Pets. She got the one named Roxie (it's white and black with a pink mowhawk). I've been thinking about getting them a hamster or bunny as a first pet. I told her Roxie stays on the floor. She's putting it on the table to watch it nose dive off of it. I think we'll wait a bit longer on the new pet.
That's a wrap! Have a wonderful and blessed weekend. See good things, eat good things and do good things.
We converted my our daughter's crib to a toddler bed on the 28th. Now, she can get in and out of her bed anytime she wants. Yipee! Sort of. It's not so cute when it's 2:00 a.m. and she's running down the hall yelling, "Help Help!' because she can't find her binky. I didn't know I could leap out of bed so high and fast! Well, actually I did know, because I've done it many times before when my son used to scream bloody murder at the sound of a siren. Now, it's helicopters. *sigh*