Sidewalk Paint

I've been trying to find some fun, inexpensive activities to do with Taylor on these fantastic, sunny days before the weather gets so hot that we end up hibernating again. While scanning Pinterest I found a simple recipe for homemade sidewalk paint and I just had to try it.

Basically all you do is mix water with cornstarch to make a watery white mixture. Then you divide the "paint" into small plastic containers or a muffin tin and dye each one using basic food coloring. Break out the foam brushes and go to town!


Taylor had lots of fun, and Mommy did too! It was neat to draw shapes with sidewalk chalk and then fill them in with paint. We'll definitely be doing this again.

27!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, today I am 27 years old.
And every time I think about it I laugh because this clip runs through my mind:

I'm not like most women in that my age doesn't bother me. I've never had an issue with getting older and I actually look forward to getting older and (hopefully!) wiser. We're not doing much for my birthday this year because we're saving for our Seattle trip in August, but that'll be a great belated birthday present!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! Love you all!

I dare you...

...not to smile at these pictures.

Sometimes I have the
Best.
Life.
Ever.

Nine Years!

Nine years ago today I married the most amazing man in the world.


In the past nine years we've had...

Two adorable children.
Three months of chemotherapy.
Four years of college.
Five road trips.
Five speeding tickets.
Eight cars.
Nine moves.

And too many adventures to count!

Sean, I love you more than I can possibly put into words.
We've had our ups and downs but I know that I wouldn't want to
spend my life with anyone else but you.
You are the most
amazing, loving, devoted, loyal, kind, sexy, compassionate man I know
and I absolutely, positively adore you.
I love you, sweetheart!

S'mores Cookie Bars

I hesitated to join Pinterest because I knew it would be severely addicting, and I was most definitely right. I really love it though - it allows me to organize potential craft projects, yummy looking recipes, and inspirational pictures.

One of the recipes I found last week: S'mores Cookie Bars. If there's one dessert that epitomizes Summer it's s'mores, and I was so super excited to try out this recipe. I definitely wasn't disappointed! These bars are so delicious, super rich, and simple to make. I thought I'd share the recipe and spread the yumminess.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Things I love about Summer.

1. Puddle Jumping

2. Sidewalk Chalk

3. Muddy Hands

4. Messy Faces

5. Swings

6. Dirty Feet

7. Flip Flops

8. Happy Chubby Babies

9. Wildflowers

10. Carnival Rides

11. Snowcones

12. Dirt Digging

13. Stroller Rides

14. Summer Love

15. Slides

16. Sunglasses

17. Naked Babies

18. Playing with Friends

...and more to come!
What I'm looking forward to in the next couple of months:
fireworks, barbecues, visiting with old friends, parades, and road trips.

I love Summer!!

Happy Daddy's Day!

I just love Father's Day and today I'd like to send my appreciation and love to three very important fathers in my life.

The first is my daddy. My dad means so much to me and I am so indebted to him for all the invaluable advice and support he has given me. He and I are so much alike (which can be good and bad) and I absolutely adore him. Love you, Papa!


Next I'd like to thank the father of my husband. John is such an incredible man and one of the nicest guys I know. I'm so grateful to him for raising such a great son and for his love and devotion to our family.

(This is John with Sean when he was about Tay's age.
Doesn't Taylor look so much like him??)

And last (but certainly not least), I'd like to thank my sweet husband for being such an incredible father to our children. Sean is the greatest father on the face of this planet, hands down. The second he walks in the door after a hard day's work, Taylor immediately jumps up and runs to him. Without getting even a minute to rest, Sean instantly switches to "play mode" and the wrestling, tickling, and running around commence. He has more patience and energy than I think I could ever muster, and he never answers Taylor's questions with the typical parent response of, "Because I said so." He really takes time to explain things to Tay Bug and build up his trust and confidence. Sean also loves playing and tickling Ollie, and both Taylor and Oliver absolutely adore their daddy. I can never repay Sean for all he's done to help me raise our brood.

I hope you all have a very Happy Father's Day!

So relaxed.

A few days ago we took the boys swimming for the first time this year. One of the things I love the most about renting is that we've got access to a nice swimming pool and playground in the summer. I thought Oliver would hate the water (Taylor sure did the first time we took him swimming), but instead he was the exact opposite. Little Ollie was so relaxed in his little floaty that he almost fell asleep! So cute..

First Meal

At Oliver's six-month doctor's appointment on Monday his pediatrician was a little concerned about his weight. Looking at him you wouldn't think he needs to gain anything, but in the past two months his weight and height have both gone from the 80th-ish percentiles down to the 30th. I know that part of the reason why is that we've had a hard time giving him cereal; it seems to really upset his stomach and makes him super cranky. So for a while we just gave up giving him solids at all. Well now that he's six months old we can give him pureed fruits and veggies, so I've started him on a twice-a-day feeding schedule that will hopefully catch him up to where he was before.

His very first meal: peas and a sippy cup of prune juice. YUM-O.


He did the typical make-a-yucky-face-not-so-sure-about-this expression, but he ate it pretty well. Since then we've also tried peaches, pears, prunes, and squash. He absolutely hates peaches, but he's pretty good with the other foods.

Since Sean bought me an awesome food processor for Christmas I've decided to make a lot of my own baby food. There is something so rewarding about making your own baby food. Plus it's a super money saver! I bought one squash for less than $2.00 and it made 14 servings. Can't beat that!


I just can't believe my munchkin is already big enough for solid foods. He's growing too fast!

Best. Lunch. Ever.

This is my lunch of choice lately. It's an avocado and roma tomato panini with a little mayo (I use veganaise), salt, and pepper. I grill it in my George Foreman for just a couple of minutes and it is so YUMMY.


I think I could eat one of these babies every day for the rest of my life. Mmm!

Day Out With Thomas

Memorial Day weekend we took the boys up to Heber Valley Railroad to see Thomas. This was our last gift to Taylor for his birthday. Do you think he was a bit excited to go?

I'll admit I was in a bit of a bad mood that day (Mom can't be happy all the time, right?) but we still had some good times. The boys loved riding on the train. Oliver looked more confused than anything, but we all had a fun time.





Afterward Taylor got a (temporary, of course) Thomas tattoo and a big balloon that surprisingly still has enough helium in it to keep it floating around on my living room ceiling.


I think the highlight of the day was the hay bale maze that Tay wanted to go through over and over again.

Whenever we go up to Heber Valley Railroad I have to take some pictures of the old train cars. I just think they're so neat looking. I may have some large prints made and hang some of the beauties in my house.




All in all it was a great way to end this cute four-year-old's birthday celebrations!