Good Morning

The husband was up bright and early getting things done.

Estate Sale, oil change, storage run.

It is only 10:45.

We were up until after 2 thanks to the kid elephants.

They woke HG twice, once being 12:15.

I was not a happy camper.

But everyone was extremely happy this morning when Daddy brought us donuts!

Have a great Saturday!

Dora Cupcakes

Trying to remain indoors in this terrible heat, we made Dora cupakes.

It was so fun and they were actually quite yummy.

How to make Dora Cupcakes




Ingredients:


1 1/2 cups dark-chocolate melting wafers

1 can (16 oz.) prepared vanilla frosting

Brown and red paste food coloring (we skipped this)

24 semi-sweet chocolate chips (eyes)

1 roll (3/4 oz.) strawberry or cherry fruit leather (such as Fruit by the Foot®) (we used sparkle pink writing gel)

1/2 cup dark-chocolate frosting

Ziploc bags

Dora template off of here






Bake 24 cupcakes, which ever your little heart desires.





Step 1

Line two cookie sheets with wax paper and place the Dora Cupcake template under the wax paper.

Step 2

Melt the chocolate wafers in a medium glass bowl in the microwave until smooth, about one to two minutes, stirring frequently. Spoon the melted chocolate into a resealable plastic bag. Snip a small corner from the bag, pipe the outline of Dora's hair, and fill in with the chocolate. Repeat to make 12. Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes or until the chocolate has set.

Step 3

Spoon 1/3 cup of vanilla frosting into a resealable bag. Use the paste food coloring to tint the remaining frosting a light reddish brown. Remove two tablespoons of frosting and tint it a darker brown; spoon this into a resealable bag.

Step 4

Frost the tops of the cupcakes with reddish-brown frosting. Peel Dora's hair from the wax paper and arrange on top of each cupcake.

Step 5

Snip a small corner from all the bags of frosting. Pipe white eyes and light-brown centers freehand. Press a chocolate chip into the eyes, flat side up, as her pupils. Pipe a white dot on top of each chip.

Step 6

Cut a 1-inch triangle from the fruit leather for Dora's mouth. Outline her nose, mouth, and hair with the dark chocolate frosting.

Step 7

Refrigerate until ready to serve.









* We had to put our chocolate hair in the freezer, the fridge just wasn't cutting it.

Could have been the chocolate I used (Bakers).

* The hair does melt somewhat out of the fridge so do keep in fridge.

Groovy Smoothies

If you have toddler or preschool aged children around the house, I'm sure you have heard this term.

Groovy Smoothies

HG loves the Fresh Beat Band.

We don't mind it.

They are always singing and dancing.

Always so positive.

No fighting.

No language a toddler shouldn't be saying.

Over all, pretty safe in our opinion.

HG has been asking for a while to make the smoothies.

Finally, we slowed down enough to remember.

It is a great way to cool down on a hot summer day.

Or with breakfast in our case.

They are so easy.

We didn't follow their recipe, just printed off the gang from Nick Jr.

Here is the whole recipe.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Yummy Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

1 C long-grain brown rice
4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
2 links turkey Sweet Italian Sausage ( I used sweet ground Italian turkey sausage)
1/2 tsp. ground fennel
1/2 tsp. dried Greek or Turkish oregano1
/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese


Here's what you do:

Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker. (Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner.

Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors. Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.



Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. (A few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.




You can freeze leftover peppers for a month or two, although the frozen peppers will be a little softer in texture (but still very tasty.) I cut them in half top-to-bottom before freezing and freeze two halves in a small baking dish with a snap-on lid.






*We did use Italian seasons instead of the ones listed in the ingredients. Also added a little bread crumbs to the mixture when we added the cheese.






These were great and super simple.

The little one loved helping me stuff the peppers.

Worn out Wednesday

Didn't make it through her dinner tonight.

Grocery shopping at dinner time wasn't the smartest.

Her dinner consisted of chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, gold fish, strawberries and celery.

Filled that belly right up. I kept calling her and she wouldn't answer.

I looked in living room, bedrooms and bathrooms.

Then I heard giggles.

Goodness, HG was a MESS grocery shopping tonight.

2 hour trip.

It will be a long time before she goes back with me.

If I could have a glass of wine, I'd have the whole bottle tonight kind grocery shopping experience.

I did buy some fabric to attempt a cloth insert.

I needed to visit a craft store rather then Walmart.

But, it is something to play with and make mistakes.

Wish me luck!

Picture wrap up

Just a look into our busy days.

The weekend went non-stop.

Monday and Tuesday were as well.

We've eaten more than our fair share of french fries.

We've had many laughs.

Great times.

Played at friends.

Played at play areas.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a super lazy day.

Maybe one of those where it is mid afternoon and you are still in pajamas.

A warm shower, snuggling with mommy and the blow dryer.

She is sound asleep. Waiting on the husband who was inside running an errand.

119 degrees from the concrete.

Holy Cow!

First time to see a mouse.

Hopefully the last.

Yuk!

Riding around with Daddy.

Sweet Toni sent this for Miss Harper.

It is sooo soft.

HG has let her babies try it out.

Next, she tried it out.Looks beyond the mess.

The chair and ottoman also came from Toni.

We got a great price on it.

The chair pulls out into a twin bed.

We'll throw a slip cover on it and put it in the game room.

It is such a comfy chair.

Toni is so graciously letting us borrow so much for Miss Harper.

This swing will be perfect on the go.

We still have our tall swing but not sure if we can fit it here.

She also sent a car seat and extra base.

I love sweet friends.

Queen of the Castle.

A fun play date and lunch with Nicolle and Boyd this morning.

Monday after swim and lunch at Chicken Chicken, we headed back to Highland Park.

We had made that trip Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Goodness.

We stopped by the condo to snap some pictures of it.

Monday HG participated in a boat safety class.

Isn't this lovely?

We bought it last minute on Sunday from Toni.

It is a Texas western look with a lot of class in it.

It is also A LOT taller and bigger than it looks.

I can't wait to move and decorate!!

Best dinner date.

Our bed.

Need I say more?

Our massive king bed (minus the actual sleigh bed) is back with us.

Sleep is Heavenly.

Blocking the sun for a super car sick sweetie.

This was me at a full 25 weeks.

She ski slope is in full action now.

We had been using a coffee table to house our TV.

It was much too low.

But not knowing where we land, we didn't know what entertainment center we wanted.

We did know that we were sick of HG sitting on the TV table.

And feeding her snow cones to the tv.

So we switched tables for now.

Don't worry, I busted her bubble and moved her quickly.

See the coffee table in the back?

It is in storage now.

Thank goodness!

Toni sent this home for Miss Harper.

HG thinks it is for her babies.

Pink, purple and white sheets were a must.

Poppy came over for a visit on Saturday evening.

He treated us to dinner on Saturday at Pappadeaux.

It was yummy.

HG had alligator for her first time.

She said yummy chicken.

Then Sunday morning, he treated us to lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

Two yummy meals in a row.

He also helped us move some furniture.

Thanks Poppy!

HG is always super excited when he comes.

Monday

Super busy weekend.
So much accomplished.
The husband and I slept in our bed for the first time in 20 months last night.
Wow, I forgot how much I love that thing.
HG is amazed at it.
Yes, our room is even smaller now but it is okay.
Pictures coming.
Boat safety for half of swim lessons today.
Good dr appointment today.
Miss Harper is a couple of ounces from 2 pounds.
My uterus is balling up on the bottom already.
That isn't the best thing.
We will be spending a lot of time indoors and following the dr's rules.
It is going to be a hot week, heat index even hotter.
It is crazy, I am still craving burgers/fries in this heat.
The little one too.