Corporate America

Last week, Kaitlin drew this picture on the Magna-doodle:

K: Do you like my picture, Mommy?

Me: You did a very good job. He looks very angry.

K: Yes. He's a manager.

Congratulations, Danielle!

To celebrate you passing your Teacher’s Certification Test on the FIRST TRY…I’m sticking your blue-eyed baby boy front and center on the blog so everyone can see that not only have you been successful in your schooling, but also extremely successful in the cute baby making department!  Congrats again!

Kids in the Kitchen: Apple Cartwheels

We've been having fun finding healthy(er) alternatives for school snacks and thought we'd share this one with you today for Kids In The Kitchen. We found the original recipe somewhere on the internet and can't re-find it, so this is our "version from memory," which is slightly terrifying if you're familiar at all with my memory.

We're calling them "Apple Cartwheels" and all you need are:

Apples (we made 2)
Peanut Butter
Honey
Chocolate chips

First we mixed some peanut butter (about 1/4 cup), some honey (not measuring is the way to go!) and some chocolate chips (somehow we missed a picture of adding the handful of chocolate chips.)


After all of the "stuffing" is mixed, we cored out our apples. Mommy did this part and didn't do it very well.
Now it's time to stuff the apples with the filling.
I think next time we make these we'll use a piping bag to fill them!

Put the apples in the refrigerator for at least an hour so the peanut butter can harden a little.

Once the peanut butter mixture is good and set, slice the apples into rings (Mommy also did this part, also not very well.) I brushed the rings with a sugar syrup in hopes of keeping them from browning too much.

They looked yummy, but we're waiting for a final verdict from the munchkin when she gets home from school!

A Labor of Mud

Doug took the family out in Jeep number 4 (don't ask) on Labor day for some quality family bonding time. Nothing says family love like mud!

The majestic Jeep stands atop a hill, surveying its' muddy domain below. I couldn't figure out why Doug sat there for about two minutes until I realized that he couldn't see me at the bottom of the hill and was afraid he was going to run me over. See, he really does love me.

Doug didn't want to get the Jeep muddy. Hahahahhahahah. He shouldn't have told me that I could bring the camera.

Yep, this clean-up definitely looks like a job for Daddy.

We found a flat, mud-free spot for a family picnic. D.J. thoroughly enjoyed the peanut butter portion of his celery and peanut butter.

Mmmm...peaches for "dessert."

We couldn't have asked for better weather, but the sun was getting ready to start going down which means the invasion of the killer mosquitoes was about to begin. Time to pack up and head home.

We stopped at a car wash to let Daddy clean the car (I was serious when I said it looked like a job for Daddy!) and I got the chance to get this classic photo of D.J. riding in the Jeep. He loves it!

I just love family days!

Getting Nowhere...

He may look all sweet and precious, but I assure you, he's 99 percent stinker.

I have desperately been trying to convince little man that he's ready for potty training, but he's so not falling for it. He's a tricky little one. These kinds of conversations are happening on almost a daily basis now.

DJ: Mama, I 'tinky.

Me: You're stinky?

DJ: Yes.

Me: That's yucky to go stinky in your pants, bubby. Where does your stinky need to go?

DJ: In my bum.

or...

Me: Don't you want to be my big boy now and go potty in the big boy potty chair?

DJ: No tanks.

Me: Do you want to just be my baby?

[looking quizzically]

DJ: No baby.

Me: Do you want to be my big boy?

[now looking at me like I'm crazy]

DJ: Noooo.

Me: Then what are you going to be if you're not a baby or a big boy?

DJ: Das silly. I DJ!

Me: Oh, yeah, you're DJ. Apparently you're your own classification of boy.

DJ: Yes. I like birfday cake.

I don't know how cake got into the conversation. Maybe he's giving me a clue that birthday cake is the secret trick to getting him to chuck the diapers?

Seriously, he's a stinker.