Soaking up the Sun

Last week was beautiful and I tried to take advantage of the warm weather because I know that winter is just around the corner. so sad. We did as many outdoor activities as we could. Here are a few pictures from some of our new favorite places. I'm trying to appreciate snapshots of my kids again. Learning photography totally ruins you!

the BoTaNiCaL GarDenS are so beautiful and so much fun. Avery and Drew had a blast! I couldn't belive how much they had for the kids to do!

It was Mudpie Monday so the kids got to make little MuD PiEs and stick fresh flowers from the gardens in them. look how hard Drew is concentrating

     They also have this big atrium FILLED with butterflies. It is so cool! They just fly all around and a few even landed on us. We bribed this one with an apple. This Butterfly was HUGE and the inside of its wings are an amazing blue which you can see in the second picture. I had never seen anything like this before. Loved it!

There were these cute old school water pumps for the kids to play with. Drew is filling the watering can while Avery pumps it.

There were also ponds throughout the whole place. The kids could just go and play in them, try to catch frogs, fish, turtles, whatever. Drew loved the ponds and watching the fish... until he fell in. He wasn't too happy after that.

And no kid friendly place is complete without a sandbox. Drew was in Heaven with that tractor. He is all boy, totally obsessed with trucks, cars, tractors, etc.

And, a cute little playhouse
A fun hidden treasure in the middle of downtown Cleveland. Who knew?!

We also went to FARMPARK with some friends. My kids usually love animals, but they were both being big wimps that day. Drew would not even get close to ANY of the animals. He screamed when I started to walk towards the Llamas. silly kid. At least there were some Tractors to redeem the day!

watching the sheepdogs heard the sheep
cute Trevor in the tractor wheel

Just chillin' by the smelly pigs


I can't believe summer is over. It feels like it just started to warm up! We have had some good times though. I hope you have too!

tHe BowMakEr's DaUghTeR

I went in to Avery's room the other day and she was neatly laying out all her headbands and bows. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was going to sell some bows. I said okay and left the room for a minute, and this is what I came back to! She thought she was So funny!

Tasty Tuesday

Another Must try for those tomatoes. This is seriously SO GOOD! Let me know what you think!

Garlic Ranch Chicken Pizza

by: Erika

1 large pizza dough, uncooked (fresh, frozen, or whatever you like best)
3/4 c. ranch dressing (*see recipe below or the homemade ranch dressing recipe)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 c. bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 c. chicken, cooked and cut into strips (**I like to rub the chicken with olive oil and generously sprinkle with Montreal Chicken Seasoning on both sides. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.)
2-3 tomatoes, sliced

Mix ranch dressing and crushed garlic together then spread evenly on the pizza dough. Sprinkle a little cheese over the ranch dressing then add chicken and bacon. Sprinkle more of the cheese over that, add the tomatoes, then add the remaining cheese. Put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes (or until crust is a nice golden-brown). Top with parsley flakes to make it look fancy and serve!

*Ranch Dressing:

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk

Whisk ranch mix and mayo together, slowly add buttermilk. When well blended, cover and refrigerate.

Tasty Tuesday...a day late :)

For all of you growing tomatoes in your garden, this one is for you!  We BBQued the chicken and it was so good. The only change I would make is to dice up the chicken and mix it with the tomatoes, so You can get more on the sandwich. The tomatoes kept falling off. But either way it is a great meal for those homegrown tomatoes! Enjoy

Garlic Toasted Balsamic Chicken Bruschetta Sandwich

by: Jenny at Picky Palate

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts from above recipe
Pinch of salt
¼ Cup balsamic vinegar
¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil

4 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and diced (or whatever is growing in your garden)
8 fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled and thinly sliced into chiffonade
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

8 thin slices fresh mozzarella
4 ciabatta rolls, or other rolls of choice

1. Preheat a grill pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Spray with cooking spray. Combine balsamic and olive oil in a bowl.Season both sides of chicken with pinches of salt and place on grill.Brush top sides of chicken with balsamic mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes and flip chicken. Brush with additional balsamic and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until cooked through.

2. In a large bowl combine the tomatoes, basil garlic, salt and balsamic. Toss gently to combine. Set aside.

3. Preheat same grill pan over medium heat and spray with additional cooking spray. Place 2 slices of cheese on bottom rolls then layer with chicken breasts, spoonfuls of tomato mixture and 2 more slices of cheese. Place top rolls to close sandwich and grill both sides on hot grill pan until toasty and warm. Serve warm.

ToTaLly BaBy HuNGrY

I have been SO NOT baby hungry lately, but this little cutie made me actually think twice about having another one. She is 1 month old and still only 6 pounds, so tiny and perfect. I could have taken pictures of her all day.

I just couldn't resist

snapping a picture of these cute buns. Andrew loves to run around naked after his bath and I have to chase him down to get a diaper on. He's going to hate me later for posting  this! Ha

Plus, I thought I would give you a sneak peek of the bathroom. The green tile is the old stuff, the floor is the new tile that Andy put in. 

Did you miss me? ;)

I hope you are all having a great summer! The kids and I just got back from a fun-filled trip to California. Once again, I didn't take any pictures. :( I really need to invest in a regular camera to take places with me!!! Here is a little glimpse of what went on in California:

   1.  There was an EARTHQUAKE!! I haven't been in one of those in a long time. It really got my adrenaline pumping.

   2. Many visits to the beach, lake, pool, and park. Andrew LOVED the ocean. Everyone says he looks like he belongs on the beach with his bleach blond hair and tan little body. Now I know he really did get my California blood in him :)

   3. Lots of Avery burritos. Avery just adores her cousins. They are so good to her! One of her favorite things to do is to have them roll her up in a blanket like a burrito.

   4. Andrew is now a toothless wonder. I posted a while back about how Drew chipped his front tooth on the bathtub. Well, the night before we left California, we went swimming at my sister's house. Drew was having a blast running back and forth between the spa and the pool. He tripped and hit his mouth on the side of the spa. There was so much blood that at first glance I freaked out because I thought his teeth were totally knocked out!! But after cleaning him up a bit, we could see that he had bit through the bottom of his top lip and his teeth were still there, just HALF the size they used to be. Poor little guy :(

   5. Trip to Legoland with the cousins. The kids had a good time and it was a fun change from the regular Disneyland trips. Drew wanted to go on every ride and cried when he couldn't. There were a few rides he could go on, like the airplanes and choo choo train, and we went on them at least a dozen times. Avery loved the roller coaster, the horsie ride, and driving the cars. 

   6. Mini photo shoot. I got to practice on my cute nieces and nephews. I have a ton to edit, but here is a sneak peek.

 

   

And, guess what we came home to??? A new bathroom!! I have the best husband ever. He worked all day and night to remodel the bathroom while we were gone. We still have a lot of work to do, but he got the hardest part out of the way. He had to shower at the gym and in the backyard with the hose for a week. What a guy. Thanks hon! I love it!! I'll post pictures when we finish.

Oh what do you do in the summer time?

The more we venture outside of our little Cleveland bubble, the more I love Ohio. It is so beautiful, and there is so much do to! This weekend we wentBluEbErRy picking and to Amish Country.

Andrew was in Blueberry heaven and probably ate half of what we picked

Amish country is always so intriguing to me. I love the simplicity of their lifestyle. Andrew loved seeing the horse-drawn buggies on the road and tried to chase a few down. We had a lot of fun! Here are a few cute pictures of Avery hanging out in front of the Amish restaurant Mary Yoders

I am so excited...

about these beanies! I really wanted to get one for Avery, and decided to buy a few extra to sell in my etsy store. I think they are so cute!! I have a few different designs in mind that I will be working on, but here are the first 2. Can't wait to take some pictures of Avery wearing them!!

This one fits newborn to 1 year olds

Adorable Baby boy!

My friend asked me to take some pictures of her sweet little 2 week old baby. I had so much fun. We tried to do naked pictures, but he didn't like to have his diaper off and he got really sad :( But, we still got a few cute ones in between the whimpers.

I Love Target!!

I went to Target today and found the best deal and thought I 'd share it with the rest of you. They had Pampers Splashers and Huggies little swimmers (18count packs) on sale for $2.99!! It wasn't really a sale, they were just on the end of the aisle with a temporary price cut sign on them. I thought it was a mistake so I asked the cashier to double check. You can't beat $2.99!! I think I will stock up for next year too. I don't know if it is all the Targets or just mine (university heights for those of you in Cleveland). But go check it out!!

Every Mother Knows...

that when the kids are being quiet, they are usually up to NO GOOD!!!! I went upstairs for a few minutes and Andy was downstairs on the couch studying. I knew the silence wasn't good, but Andy was down there with the kids, so I thought everything was okay. Guess again. This is what I found in the kitchen. I have a huge Costco sized bag of flour on the side of the oven. It has been there for a couple of weeks and the thought of it causing potential problems never crossed my mind. But, the kids found it and boy did they have fun. I couldn't help but laugh, and I think they thought that it was worth every minute that they had to spend in time-out.

Independence day

     I hope you guys all had a fun fourth of July. We sure did. I actually survived my first camping trip with 2 kids! On thursday night we headed to Punderson Park with about 6 families from our ward. We set up camp, had tin foil dinners, roasted marshmallows, and the kids all had a blast running around and playing. Their favorite game to play was "wake the sleeping princess." One of them would fall on the ground and play dead and then the others would come and try to wake the princess up with a kiss. We had a few good laughs at their "make-out" sessions before we said no more kissing. Then they started playing "take me to the hospital." One of them would fall on the ground and say "I'm hurt and I've got blood. Take me to the hospital." Then the rest of them would run over, grab an arm or leg and carry the person to the hospital. seriously, where do they come up with these things???

 

   That night we got maybe 3 hours of sleep. It was quite miserable and yet I find myself asking "when can we do it again?!" Andrew WOULD NOT SLEEP! we tried everything to no avail. He finally fell asleep some where between 4 and 5 a.m. Luckily he didn't cry too much. He just crawled all over us and kept grabbing my ears and saying "wiggle wiggle wiggle." Our neighbors left some food out on the table and a darn raccoon keep raiding their food. The raccoon got a bag of chips ahoy and carried that thing around making tons of noise for what seemed like an eternity. You know how noisey those plastic containers are inside the bags. it totally echoed through the camp. Our other friend's little girl had a really rough night too. we felt so bad for them. She woke up and wouldn't stop crying so the Dad drove her home at 4a.m. and came back the next day.

  On Friday we went to the beach...nice sand, really gross lake, so we headed back to camp and played games and hung out.
We roasted hot dogs and decided we were really tired and didn't want to risk another bad nights rest, so we packed everything up. A few families were going to stay the night again, but decided to leave also. We all left around 9:45  and went to the fairgrounds to watch the fireworks. the kids loved it and it was  ton of fun. Drew kept saying "Whoa!"

  On Saturday we spent the day at Pioneer Land and water Park. They have water slides, pools, miniature golf, batting cages, and a bunch of other activities. Another fun-filled day, but boy am I tired!! Too much fun for one weekend. I must be getting old.

***I was too scared to bring my camera so I'll steal some pictures from my friend's blogs after they post them! :)

Latest craft project

This post is for you Carlie!! :)

I Love Amy butler and Michael miller fabrics. I've been wanting to order some, but I wasn't sure what I was going to make with it. I finally received some inspiration and decided to make some cute camera straps. I ordered the fabric from my friend Carlie's etsy shop. Go check it out!

I also ordered fabric to make this Shabby Apple dress for Avery.

My mom is an AMAZING seamstress and can look at anything and recreate it. I could just order the dress, but $40 is a little steep for a toddler dress, and my Mom loves to have sewing projects to do.

What sewing projects have YOU been working on? I need more inspiration for all the fabric I ordered!