Strawberries!!

Not much to say, but lots of pictures!
This morning after breakfast, we headed out to Sargeant's Berry Farm to pick us some berries!!


It didn't take the kids long to taste them!

Katie mostly just chilled in her stroller, but still wanted to get her hands on some strawberries too. Notice she wore an outfit with strawberries on it. A proper lady always dresses for the occasion.


Farmers Kelton and Layla.

Layla turned into a cow.

We got a lot of berries! Almost 10lbs!

Katie didn't quite make it home. Berry picking is exhausting.

I had to make a trip to Walmart to get sugar, pectin and a few other groceries we'd been needing. I saved $45 with my coupons, btw. I also picked up come cute little freezer jam containers. Total frivolous buy, but I couldn't resist.

These are totally the best strawberries I have ever tasted!
After I blended up the strawberries, I noticed they were pretty thin. I really wanted chunks of berries in my jam, so scooped out a cup and replaced it with some berries that I'd mashed up with my potato smasher.


Sugar and pectin is all you need.

This is how much it made. Another use for all our baby food jars! Although we have found a place that recycles glass, it's pretty inconvenient to get there, but hey, we're dedicated hippies.

I have a crap ton of strawberries left, so I'll probably make another batch after I pick up another pack of pectin tomorrow. I also made some yellow cake that we're eating them on top of. And of course, just by the handful as well. They are sooo good!


Tomorrow is my Gymboree/The Children's Place shopping extravaganza. I'm ecstatic.

Hitting the sack early

I'm already in my jammies sipping a cup of mother's milk tea. My allergies are totally haywire, so I'm skipping my walk. I ran half of it last night and learned something very important...I need a better sports bra.

I guess I should really teach myself to make Katie's hairbows. The huge ones I ordered on 5/7, just shipped today. The website did say they could take up to 14 business days to ship which is exactly how long it took. By the time they arrive, it will have been nearly a month from the date of order. Really. For 4 generic hairbows.

The Dillons Marketplace in Derby opened yesterday, so we had to check it out. They have cool new carts.


They also have a large natural foods section which has a mondo variety of goodies for Katie. I pick up some blueberry cereal bars and some veggie flavor rice crackers. We're going to talk the the manager about stocking the milk she drinks. While I'm totally excited about having a bigger selection closer to home, shopping for things that don't have gluten OR dairy can be such a bummer. It often seems like if it's gluten free, it has milk and if it's dairy free, it has gluten. I need to carry a flask while I grocery shop for Katie to help numb the frustration.

The garden is growing like crazy and the composter still isn't doing much. Both of which I'm way too tired to take pictures of tonight.

We're planning to hit up a "pick your own berries" farm maybe on Saturday. The kids will love it and I can't wait to make some freezer jam.

Also this weekend, Lisa and I are going to hit up a Gymboree sale. Their new hippo infant lines and girls watermelon lines are too cute! We're also going to stop by The Children's Place so I can make use of my $10 Place Perks plus 20% off.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wouldn't it be a shame?

If Katie were to ever endure the ride to or from Hardtner without crying at least 1/2 of the way? Seriously. I guess at least it wasn't the entire way this time and the ride home was relatively peaceful, but come on, shouldn't we be past that stage by now?

Katie was 15mo on Friday and weighed in at 19lbs 1oz! I was so surprised and very happy! This is such a relief considering that she's been a super picky eater lately and I'm always worried that I'm not getting enough calories in her. She has also delighted us by doing quite a bit of unassisted walking. She's had a rough go of things and was a late crawler, so we assumed she'd be a later walker as well. I'm constantly reassured by everyone that she's fine (she pulls up, cruises, balances, etc very well), but I still can't help but feel a little concerned and anxious for her to walk.

I got quite the surprise Saturday when I came down the stairs and saw a scorpion basking in the sun that was shining through the window. I thought it was dead, but when Yvette tried to pick it up with a tissue, we quickly learned it was not. We pulverized it with a boot before I was brave enough to take a picture. Katie and Jasmine were only playing about 10 feet away. Scary.


The girls did a little shopping Saturday morning and Nana bought Bugs some new cute shoes. Katie loves them and even went down for her nap clutching her bunny in one hand and her shoes in the other hand. Pedipeds are great shoes and it's super important for little ones to either be barefoot or wear soft shoes when they're early walkers and while their feet are still developing.

We brought a huge box of goodies for Eric's parents to take when they go to visit his brother's family sometime next month. Carrie hooks me up with card supplies and I put my couponing skills to use for her. I hope to have another boxful ready when we see them sometime later this summer.


Last week, Carrie sent me a box full of stamps and card supplies. That night I unloaded the box and filled it back up with some things I thought she could use, specifically oreos and chocolate to help with the chaos of moving in to a new house.

I painted Kelton's toenails once when he was younger and Eric was not happy with me. I didn't get in trouble for painting these toenails though!
At first it was going well.


And as typical for Katie, she changed her mind.


But we did get them finished!
So pretty!


My mom is doing well recovering from her neck surgery. I went and picked her up Friday so that she could get out of the house for awhile. I was sure to medicate her while she was over.


I did have some really cute pictures from Kelton's preschool picnic and from Kelton and Katie swinging at the park, but I deleted them accidentally before I downloaded them. I'm not very happy about it. :-(

Beans Beans The Musical Fruit

Katie LOVES refried beans and mexican rice. Since we're being extra careful to avoid foods even processed in the same facility as wheat or dairy, that means nearly all canned beans are out. I figured I could make my own in the crock pot and after a quick google to get some ideas, here's how it went...


I bought a 2lb bag of pinto beans (next time I'm getting organic from the bulk bins at the health food store). I sorted and rinsed them like 100x, soaked them overnight, then rinsed again. I put them in the crock pot, covered them in a couple inches of water, then stirred in....

2 tbsp minced onion
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp cumin
a splash of extra virgin olive oil

My measurements are approx and we like our beans with flavor, so you might want less seasonings.

UPDATE: I have started making these with 1 part black beans to 2 parts pinto beans and we love them even more!

I put the lid on and cooked all day. After dinner I used my potato smasher and mashed them in batches, adding salt to taste.


The verdict?

They're super delicious!! Aaaand, it made a huge bowl for only $2! We enjoyed some right away and I still put 6 sandwich baggies full into the deep freeze!

Yummier, healthier and cheaper than the canned version!!

I put in an order on Thurs for some new marshmallow treat bars for Katie. Before I ordered, I was sure to check retailmenot.com to see if there were any codes for a discount and sure enough, I was able to get 15% off my order. Glenny's already had free shipping for orders over $30, so I did pretty well! They shipped quickly and arrived today!


The package I sent to Jaime finally arrived late last week. Since Molly is so small, she has been unable to find a birthday girl outfit for her, so my mom and I made this cute little (oragnic, of course) onesie. I used my cricut to cut out the designs and my mom sewed them on. I can't wait to see pics of her wearing it.


Grabbed a few things at Walgreen's for next to nothing. The total was $1.10 before tax, plus it spit out a $1 RR for my next trip.
Awesome.

I'm finally scheduled for PT in a couple weeks to see if I can salvage my abs and do something about my killer lower back pain.
Kelton started tball tonight.

Hump Day

I actually really enjoy Wed. It's my first day off after two work days. The kids and I usually hit up Target, Kelton and share a Starbucks drink, we nap, we play and mostly just enjoy the day. I try not concentrate too much on housework or laundry and just devote the day to the kids.

Speaking of Target.....
Subtotal was $2.15, $3.28 after tax.
Some of this stuff, like the BBQ Sauce (I'm partial to KC Masterpiece), I won't use. I've been building a stock pile for Carrie, so I checked for long exp dates. I also share with my mom and donate often to our local food bank.

Nana sent a package that arrived today. It contained a cute ladybug dress for Katie and some stickers for Kelton. I seriously cannot wait for the weather to just stay warm (and not rainy) so that Katie can start wearing all her summer dresses. Kelton is super eager to be wearing his flip flops and sandles more often too.




Today was finally haircut day for Jasmine. I waited too long to call for an appt and then had to wait even longer for an opening. Jasmine has a bit, okay, a lot of anxiety and the lady that grooms her does such a good job.






The composter is starting to make a bit more progress. If we could get some warmer weather and some sunshine, it'd heat up a bit and really get to breaking down.


Speaking of the garden..
Picked the first strawberry today. Yum!


Tomatoes are coming right along also.


Our latest casualty was the cantaloupe. Eric is going to replant this weekend.

All three kids are in bed. (We have Layla for the next couple days). I'm hitting the sack as well. Before 11pm - Whooo Hooo! My mom's surgery is tomorrow, please pray that everything goes routine and that she has a quick recovery.

Holy Kellogg's cereal, Batman!

Kelloggs had great IPs at coupons.com a couple weeks ago and as expected they totally went on sale. I was super conflicted about purchasing "sugar" cereal for my family, but I figured it'd score me some points with the boy and the hubs. Sure enough, Kelton's chowing the Pop's like there's no tomorrow and Eric is eating 2am bowls of Frosted Flakes. I have to admit I'm enjoying the Raisin Bran and Frosted Mini Wheats. So today, I bought 14 more boxes. Yes, yes I did. At .98/box, frugality won over healthy. I'm storing them in the bat cave.



Hairbows arrived today, finally. She really does awesome work, but these took over a month to get here.



Eric's favorite is the red gingham.



Katie's started playing a new game at meal time.
We shovel it in, she finds it hilarious to bite down and not let go.



Kelton used to do the same thing.



You know what's special about these shoes? You can see it if you look closely. I just bought these today. They're size 3 (6-9mo)!! Katie's feet are finally growing!



We were given TONS of shoes as a shower gifts when she was born and now we're finally going to be able to start wearing a few more of them!

Mother's Day Weekend!

Kelton has been super excited for Mother's Day to finally get here. He brought this flower home for me from school and also made sure to tell me that he told his teacher Happy Mother's Day too. He is the sweetest boy.



Nana and Papa came to spend the night on Friday. The 182 had been in the shop forever and was finally done. The boys went out flying Saturday morning and according to Kelton it has tons more power now.



When they got home, I left to go have an early dinner with my mom and do a little shopping. We went to TGIFridays and I had a Berry Mojito. It was really good, in fact, our entire dinner was super delicious.

Target was next. My subtotal was $7.02, $8.26 after tax. I know that seems kind of high, but take notice of the 10pk of Children's Claritin which was $9.24 itself. My cashier also missed 2 of my $1 coupons, which would have made my subtotal $5.02. Seeing that I don't drink very often though, I was still a bit blissful from my mojito, so I let it slide.



I hurried home so I could put Katie to bed. She was in a great mood. She's usually a bear to get to bed, but not this time. I rocked her while she nursed for a bit. Surprisingly, she popped off, looked up at me sleepily, smiled and then closed her eyes and went to sleep. She was just laying there in my arms, snuggled up with her bunny, snoozing away. I had to rock her a bit longer to soak in the wonderfulness of the moment before I laid her in her crib. What a great little Mother's Day gift.

While I was gone, the boys worked in the garden and went fishing. Katie tagged along with them and from what I hear didn't seem to mind too much. Nana bought some ladybugs and a moose for the garden, which Kelton painstakingly chose spots for. The corn has been replanted. Cross your fingers that it grows this time!









If you are on my facebook, you saw that I listened to Kelton have a 10 min conversation with a slug on Friday afternoon, which just confirms the fact that he will indeed talk to anyone. "Hello little slug, you crawl really slow little slug, watch out for that puddle little slug...." You get the idea. I'll admit it, I was only half listening. I've learned that "I see", "oh yes" or "wow" interjected at just the right moment usually does the trick. Just another tally on the awesome mommy rap sheet for me.

Found a new rice crispy bar for Katie since the old one seemed to be bothering her tummy b/c of cross contamination. Naturally, they're more expensive and harder to find.

She's been doing the sign for more and blows kisses all the time too. It's something new everyday. When Eric walked in the door from work on Friday, she looked up and started signing more as she was saying Dada. It's a magical thing that none of this ever happens if the camera is anywhere in the near vacinity.

This morning, Kelton brought me breakfast in bed and gave me a few gifts (in addition to my composter - which is making progress!!)



I can't wait to try some of the recipes in the cookbooks. I flipped through it and it looks like many of them can be altered to be safe for Katie as well.

I'm such a lucky mommy.
Yep, Katie is crying - shocker, huh?



For the next couple months there'll be a extra pair of little feet in some of our pictures. My mom is having neck sx on Thurs, so Layla's going to be spending some extra time with us while Sarah is at work. Kelton is thrilled.