Sorta Apple Cobbler

Tonight, I made teriyaki chicken drumsticks, green beans, pan fried potatoes and some apple cobbler for dessert. The kiddos RAVED about the cobbler. Once they finished it and had their dishes put away, I told them my little secret. My sorta apple cobbler did not have any apples in it. It was made with zucchini! Neither of them believed it at first and then Wolfgang requested that I make more healthier things that taste as good as the cobbler. I did have to tell them that it still had a lot of sugarand it is, in the words of Cookie Monster, 'a once in a while food' but it was quite tasty. The recipe I had was for Zucchini pie but I didn't want to take the time to make pie crust (and I had no crisco) so I made cobbler instead. It was very yummy and I will definitely make it again although I would add at least 1/4 cup less sugar. I'll post the recipe when I have a little more time.
It's fun to fool the kiddos. I need to do this again!

Trial Run

Princess is a big Kindergarten-er this year and Wolfgang is a mighty 3rd grader. To ensure that we get our morning routine down, we had a trial run at getting ready for school today.
So, this morning we got up at school time, had breakfast, and got ready. The kids even packed their backpacks with their imaginary lunches, homework and water bottles (well, Princess used her real Dora water bottle, guess the imaginary one was leaking or something). Then, we got in the car and drove to school.
And, we were 10 minutes early! We didn't actually get out and walk up to the school doors but we looked everything over really well before we moved on.
To celebrate our successful trial run, we drove through McDonalds. A couple hashbrowns and a cinnamon melt later, the kids decided that we needed at least one more trial run to practice.
I wonder if they realize that Mickey D's is not included on a regular school day?

Old Navy Bargains

This Saturday, 8/22, you can buy Adult Basic Tee Shirts for $3! Limit of 5 per customer.
And, you can get some kids and toddlers socks for $1/pair, limit 5 also. Offer good while supplies last.
Great bargains if you need some shirts and socks.

Summer Swimming

Princess completed her summer swimming lessons. I was so proud of her. She can now put her whole head in the water, float a little by herself and is just much braver in the water. Thanks to an awesome swim teacher, she's got a whole new confidence level.

Pink Friends

Today I had the privilege of having brunch with a group of ladies that I haven't seen in a while. It was my former (definitely not OLD) pink group from MOPS. I had forgotten just how much fun we could have together! The kids played outside, had snacks outside and got completely water soaked outside. Fun for them! Inside, we shared food, coffee, family lives, ups, downs, concerns, laughter and prayer requests. Wonderful for us!
I had been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately because my friend time (really my 'keep me sane' time) had been at a minimum for a number of different reasons. That was cured today by the resurrection of these precious friendships. Once again, these ladies were in my life at the perfect time.
Love the Pink Ladies!!

Good Vs. Bad

There are some everyday things that my kids do that just make my day. Like when Wolfgang feels the need to explain EVERYTHING, including knock knock jokes, his explanations are priceless. And, when Princess can't say Vacation Bible School but says Va-Bi-Ca-ble School. Princess's laugh when Simon makes a joke and she understands it before he explains it. Wolfgang giggling at Maggie's antics and the way he cannot, under any circumstances, say Abominable Snowman.
And, then, there are the other times when I wish I could find the good side. After Princess spills her yogurt drink in the garage and doesn't tell anyone and I don't find it until I see the massive trail of ants coming in to feast. When Wolfgang tries to help water the flowers and my pitiful garden and leaves the hose running to create a muddy mess which I discover only after I have traipsed in the dog poo that hasn't been cleaned up in the yard (did I mention I was barefoot?).
Guess the bad is there so you appreciate the good.
At least, that's what I will keep reminding myself.

A Loud Princess

She is so going to get me for this one day.

:)

Good Bye Thomas

The other day, Wolfgang told me that it was time to pack up Thomas the Tank Engine and all his train buddies. It was a sad day for me. I wanted to tell him no, that he needed to stick with his friends but he's a big boy now and too old for his Thomas trains. Geez, Mama, he said, I'm way too old for this stuff. I like real trains and I would like to put up the Model Railroad Grandma got me for my birthday (by the way, thanks a lot Grandma.)
So, we're off tomorrow to look for a big plastic bin to hold the round house, track and engines. I will put them away for when his little boy will play with them. But, I will miss those cheeky little guys and I will forever remember the many many hours Wolfie spent with his English pals.
Good bye Thomas and Sir Topham Hat. You will surely be missed.

Have You Seen Herman?

A couple weeks ago, Hubster and I were able to have a mini vacation alone. Without kids. Did I mention we were alone? It was lovely. We went to Herman Missouri and stayed at a B&B. But, we stayed in the private cottages there. So we had our own space, with a private deck that had a hot tub and grill. We also brought our bikes along and one day we rode on the Katy Trail. It was very nice but terribly hot. We took a nice long bike ride and I was feeling it a bit once I got off my bike. Good thing I could soak in the hot tub when we returned!

This was the view we woke up to every morning and what we looked at from our hot tub. There was a lot of wildlife around complete with small rabbits that would run almost up to our deck.

We also toured a couple wineries in the area. The wine tastings were fun and we brought home a few bottles with us. Notice how relaxed we look? This was at the start of the wine tasting so it really was the time away and not the beverages we were drinking.

Our trip was really a lot of fun and I can't wait for our next visit away.

Mama Mia Pizza

My menu plan this week included pizzas for dinner tonight. But, not your average throw the frozen pizza in the oven and bake it kind, not even the call Papa John's and pick up a hot one (pizza that is) kind. Not even the 'please can we please go to Pizza Hut' kind. Nope, we did it the old fashioned way. We made our own pizzas. Dough from scratch and each of us got our own private pizza.

Wolfgang made a double decker pepperoni pizza.

Princess made a ham and pineapple pizza and so did I (but mine was bigger of course).

And, I made Hubster an onion and pepperoni pizza since he wasn't home from work yet.

The kids bit into them and said "MAMA!!!!!!"

Crap, I thought, here we go with complaining about what's for dinner again and I just busted my butt getting these individual pizzas done. Well, truth be told, the kids rolled out their own dough and put on their own toppings, but still. Don't these kids appreciate my culinary expertise???!

"We LOVE these pizzas!" "Even better than Ruffalos pizza!" my youngest declared and that's high praise indeed.

Guess that's what I get for jumping to conclusions. Too bad that kind of jumping doesn't count as exercise.

Oh, and this is what Maggie did while the pizzas were cooking. Right next to the oven with a forlorn 'all I want is a bite!' kind of look. Darned cute though.