Deceptively Delicious... Chocolate Fondue

This was a success!  Very easy and very fun - the kids loved dipping all kinds of stuff in the fondue.  Our letter of the week was F so it work out perfectly for our "F" snack.
 (I tried a chocolate pudding recipe in the cookbook that was pretty much the same thing but with cornstarch to thicken it.  The kids liked both, but I'll stick with the fondue recipe.)

Who would have guessed that this was in that up there???  I adore avocado but it's one food that my kiddos just don't like - I think it's the texture. Scout used to share chips and guac with me but now she won't touch it.  I sneak into their chocolate peanut shakes and now I will serve it in this yummy new treat : )

Viola!  Green slime has magically turned into yummy Chocolate Fondue!

Ryder - 4 month check up

I am so in love with this little guy!  He brings so much joy to our home.  Every morning, when I wake him up (that's right I have to wake him up - awesomeness) his little face just lights up when he sees me.  He is such a mellow little guy - just content to stare at me or have the kids run circles around him.  He is the perfect little, happy, smiley addition to our home.  I think this 3/4month stage is my favorite (so far!) He can go almost 4 hours between nursing, no solid foods to deal with yet, sleeps all night, only poops once or twice a day (instead of every diaper!) and he's just so stinkin' happy!  It's like he's saying, "Thank you Mama for all that nausea you endured for 9 months, the constant state of sleep-deprivation, for continuing to nurse me exclusively even through mastitis and thrush and for not losing your cool when I have a huge poop every time we are leaving the house running late for some important event."  Who knew that little smile could say so much?  

Ryder does all those classic adorable baby things - plays with his feet, sucks in hands, sticks his little tongue out, blows raspberries and makes those adorable little cooing sounds.  It's perfection and I love every bit of it...

His little routine goes something like this:

8/8:30am  I wake him up and nurse him (I should get him sooner, but I just love my sleep!)

9:30ish     Nap

11:30/12   Nurses

1pm          Nap

3pm          Nurses

4:30          Nap

6:30/7       Nurses

8pm          Bedtime

10:30pm "Dreamfeed" (one last feeding before we go to bed)

At his checkup today he was 28 inches long (100th percentile) and 16 lbs (50th percentile) 

He enjoys laying on our bed, playing with his crib gym toys, tummy time, staring at his mobile in his crib, and sitting in his bumbo and watching Scout and River play.  He is awesome is the car and usually falls asleep.  He's loves chilling in the jogging stroller for family walks and can't live without his paci and his little dalmatian "lovey"  We cannot seem to ween him off the swaddle.  Every time we decide to stop swaddling him and move to the sleep sack, he just cannot get to sleep - he can't handle his hands! (lol!)  So he's got to be the longest swaddled baby ever - he looks so ridiculous in his swaddling blanket and he always wakes up with at least one leg out : ) Oh well, hopefully he won't go to college in a swaddling blanket...

30 before I turn 30 - update!

My List - update!

 1.  Blog : )  this makes 16 posts! So far, so good.
 2.  Do a triathlon with my Mom (Aug. 5th!)  DONE!
 3.  Nurse Ryder for a year  4 months down, 8 more to go!
 4.  Start freezing meals I've had 3 freezer meal "cook days" so far. I'm working on a post about it.
 5.  Pray regularly with Tony
 6.  Make home made baby food getting close...
 7.  Do a 5k as a family of 5
 8.  Stop biting my nails
 9.  Have a "computer fast" (either one day a week or fast for a whole week, etc)
10. Memorize 12 Bible verses
11. Read a book a month so far:  Searching for Alaska and the Namesake
12. Get pregnant (yikes!)
13. Try deceptively delicious recipes tried 6 so far : ) Posts to come...
14. Create a system for actually remembering friends and family's birthdays  
    just bought an adorable perpetual calendar and have been filling in birthdays/anniversaries
15. Play the piano/guitar more
16. Have "yes days" with the kids
17. Have a kid-free weekend (this will be a hard one)
18. Help Scout write letters to family members as part of our routine Letter writing is an official part of her school week. We put together a special box with paper, stickers, addresses, stamps, etc.  So far she's written 2 bday cards, 1 thank you note and a letter to a cousin.
19. Incorporate a walk with all 3 kids into our day
20. Sign up for an Olympic Triathlon ( a Sprint if I achieve #12 : )
21. Try 10 new recipes I'm updating this to "incorporate 10 new recipes into our monthly menu"
22. Move towards eating "clean"
23. Try 5 new restaurants
24. Family "TV fast"
25. Drink more water
26. Figure out how to do my own shellac manicures/pedicures at home Going Great! Post in the works : )
27. Do a triathlon with Tony Sept 15th!

Here are the final additions to the list:

28. Try 100 new recipes 

I've already tried 16 new recipes because pretty much any recipe is new to me since I'm not a cook so I'm thinking I can get to 100 before my birthday. We'll see...

29. Make some homemade Christmas gifts with the kids
30. Try organic cleaning supplies/ body care items: homemade deodorant, laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, diaper cream, dish washing liquid, etc.

First Day of School

Yay!  The first day of "school" was an exciting event in our house.  Even though we had "learning time" most of the summer and we've been easing into "home school" the last couple of weeks, it still didn't feel official until we packed the lunches, strapped on the backpacks and said our goodbyes.  I have to say, it was really nice this year to have both kids going to places they already feel comfortable and had plenty of familiar faces to greet them.  This is River's second year at preschool and it is such a special place - he was so excited to to stay "all day" on this year.  That's right, I actually have both kids staying all day on the same day this year and I am SO looking forward to having some one-on-one time with Ryder, a break from the older 2 chatterboxes (I don't know where they get that?) and most importantly, a chance to drink my coffee in peace (while it's still hot!).   After taking River to preschool, we headed down the road to Scout's "school" where attends a home school enrichment program.  As a first grader (I still can't get used to that) she gets to change classes this year and chose the courses she most wanted to take.  She is most excited about her Robotics and Hands On Science classes.  River said his favorite part of his day was learning about frogs and eating goldfish.  So there you go!  Looking forward to an awesome, exciting, fun-filled new school year...

Aurora Reservoir

The sand may not be as pretty as Florida and the water not nearly as clear as California, but our kids get their own little "beach" adventure every weekend at the Aurora Reservoir.  Now that Tony and I are both training for the Crescent Moon Triathlon on Sept 15th, spending the day at the Aurora res is the perfect way to have a fun family day and still get in a little training : ) Sunday is family day in our house and it is definitely our favorite day of the week.  Our usual routine is to make a yummy breakfast and head to the res.  I bike around the res while Tony and the kids get the shade tent setup.  Then I nurse the baby and Tony swims laps in the freezing water lol! Meanwhile, Scout and River have a blast splashing in the water and building sandcastles.  We all eat our picnic lunch together while Ryder naps : ) Then I swim my laps and we head out.  (I have to say that I do look forward to the day when I don't have to worry about training or nursing the baby and I can just enjoy the sun while the kids splash and play, but that day will come...)
I'm really looking forward to the next few weekends before the swim beach closes for the season and I can't wait to come out here even more next summer when Ryder will be older. 

Ryder loves chillin' in the shade : ) 

Tony headed out for a swim in the freezing water

Lunchtime!!! Yum!

Ryder loves his Sunday nap!

Deceptively Declicious... Banana Bread and Coffee Cake

I decided to combine these into one post because for some reason I didn't get any pics of the cauliflower puree that I used for the banana bread and the coffee cake was sort of a flop so it didn't deserve it's own post : )

The banana bread recipe has actually been one of my biggest successes so far.  The only major problem is that the kids weren't really into it.  But, Tony really liked it (shocker!) and I liked it too - with a cup of coffee : ) It's not super sweet, so the coffee brings out the subtle sweetness.  I think I acted a little too excited about it, for the kids to be into; they sensed that something was up... 

 











The batter

Ugh! The Coffee Cake.  Just the name makes me smile, because it describes 2 of my most favorite things; coffee and cake. Yum! right?  Well, this was definitely not Yum : (

The recipe called for butternut squash puree and I was amazed by the following:

1. How simple it was to cook the squash
2. How much puree one squash made
3. How beautiful it was and how good it tasted!
(Ryder is really gonna enjoy this in a couple months : )

The Batter : ) 

Now, here's where it all went wrong.  The recipe called for spreading the butternut squash puree over

 half the batter and then sprinkling it with marshmallows.  If you look closely, you can see the orangey mush...



The kids were more than happy to help with the marshmallows : )

We were all so optimistic!











This is the crunchy topping that was supposed to bring it all together...

I REALLY wanted to like this, but unfortunately the butternut squash gave it a slimy texture that just didn't work (sad face)  At least the coffee was good lol!