Conversations with a Toddler

Ethan yelling, "CLAIRE TOOK MY CRACK AWAY!!!"
Justin, "Croc Ethan.  They're called Crocs"



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Ethan playing at his friend Ellie's house.

Ellie, "We really like each other.  We're going to get married in the temple someday"
Ethan, a few minutes later, "I love you Ellie.  You're the best."


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Ethan,"Dad let me smell your foot"...."Pew-eeeee, that's gross.  Go in the shower", short pause, "Dad let me smell your other foot"

 ha!  boys will be boys.  He really sees us play this stinky foot game with Claire :) and is mimicking...way to go us.

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I'm throwing a friend a baby shower in a couple weeks, so I've been busy shopping, making, preparing, all that jazz.  Apparently Ethan has taken noticed and said to me one morning

"Mom, are you doing that for the baby shower?"
"No, I'm just working on something"
"Mom, where is the baby shower?  Is it in my bathroom?"

hahaha!

"No, Ethan, it's just a party where friend come to our house and we call that party a baby shower.  It's not really a shower"

Baby #3

  Yep this Eggo is Preggo!

 Whoot Whoot!  Baby #3 is on its way!

We visit the doc September 24th.  More info to come.  Baby #3 should be making an appearance ~May 5th.

Friday Family Faves....Zucchini Boats

It's summer, so for most of us that means zucchini, zucchini, zucchini.  Too much zucchini in the garden means having to get creative on how we cook.  Here's something new we tried this week and LOVED...and I even took the time to measure and write down what I did in case it turned out yummy and we wanted to replicate :)

  Enjoy!

1 Zucchini
1c. rice
1-2 tbsp EVOO
2c. Cherry tomatoes, sliced
1/4c diced bell peppers, we used a mix of red, yellow, & orange, but you could use just green if you prefer
1/4c onion, chopped
1.4 tsp minced garlic
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

*Preheat oven 350 degrees
*Cook whole zucchini is microwave ~5min, cool slightly, & cut lengthwise.  Scoop out seeds and set aside on cookie sheet
*Cook Rice according to package

*Meanwhile, In skillet over medium heat, cook garlic, tomatoes, onion, peppers until tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat

*Add cooked rice to tomato mixture and stir to coat

*Stuff zucchini with rice mixture and top each half with 1/2c. mozzarella cheese.

*Bake for ~25 minutes, until cheese is golden.

For the meat-lovers in the family...feel free to add some chicken into the rice mixture or even some sausage.  For those hard to please kiddos add a little spaghetti sauce to the rice mixture for a thicker coat :)  Great recipe to make your own, add your favorite veggies...mushrooms, shredded carrots, etc...be adventurous.  Enjoy!

Sunday Sweets....EASY Banana Chocolate Pie

EASY Banana Chocolate Pie

Ingredients:

1- 9" deep dish pie crust

2 bananas

1 small box chocolate pudding mix - we prefer sugar free chocolate fudge by Jell-O

Milk

Cinnamon

Honey

Instructions:

Bake Crust according to package.  Set aside to cool.  Slice bananas and layer in bottom of baked crust.  Sprinkle bananas slices with cinnamon.  Drizzle with honey (we buy local honey that I will scoop a little into a small bowl and warm slightly in microwave.  The honey is more liquid at this point which makes for an easy, light drizzle).  Set aside.

In separate bowl, combine pudding mix and 1&3/4 cup milk.  Stir until smooth.  Pour mixture gently onto bananas and place entire pie in fridge to set.  Top with whipped cream if desired.  Enjoy!

VaCaTiON!

A Day at The Shed

First stop, Chicago.  We got there just in time for lunch.  We'd packed a picnic lunch and headed to the park to eat and play.  Full, we made our way to the Shed Aquarium.  Lucky for us, a coworker of Justin's had bought our entire family tickets as a thank you for Justin's kindness to them.  It was a fun, packed day.  We then set off to our hotel in Buffalo Grove to enjoy the pool and some down time before setting off the following day for some Wisconsin Camping.  

Playing in the Spider's Web

At the Shed

jumping pose :)

Wisconsin Camping

Off to Ottawa Lake/Kettle Moraine Forrest State Park.  We spent a few days camping and hiking and then  finished our vacation with a bang...Ethan's Triathlon.

Enjoying some Naked juice, Mango Tango...a family fave, as you can see.

Enjoying the park playground

They love their trailmix, or should i just say M&M's.

Not sure what's going on in this pic.  Something to do with Daddy's knife, but they look adorable so I had to share :)

Off for a walk and some bike practice

He did it!

Family fun after Ethan's Tri

Friday Family Faves...Pesto Chicken Pizza

Pesto Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 slice of fresh lemon (optional)

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Crust of your choice

8oz package fresh mozarella

Pesto- we make ours, but you can easily buy a jar and use that

1/2c-1c. cherry tomatoes, sliced

*Preheat oven 450 degrees

*Cook chicken breast in skillet with EVOO and slice of lemon, add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook through, no pink, and cut into chunks.

*make crust, or you can use a store-bought crust if you prefer

*spread with pesto

*top with Chicken chunks

*Slice mozzarella into 7 even slices and top pizza

*top with sliced cherry tomatoes 

*Bake until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

 Enjoy!