My Oldest Baby is 44 months!

The 44 months thing is kind of an inside joke with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law about continually referring to your birthday in months since that is what you do until kids start to turn about 2.  I explained in this post why I have started writing letters to my kiddos every couple of months.  Here is the first letter to Tyce.

Dear Tyce,

Today you are 3 years and 8 months old!  I cannot believe that in 4 short months you will be turning 4!  You are getting so big.  In fact, a few days ago I looked at you and could not believe how tall you seem to be.  I think you took a growth spurt.

You have been a very big helper lately.  You want to help clean, help your brother with anything we ask you, and help get food for Merlin.  We just started giving you "smiley faces" on your new rewards chart and so far you have gotten big points for getting ready to go to bed, sharing, and picking up your toys!  Good job buddy!

You are quite the little talker.  It is actually hard to get you to stop talking sometimes and just listen!  We are always working on those listening skills.  You have definitely hit the "why" stage and you want to know exactly how everything works.  If we tell you that we do not know you respond with "no you tell me".

You have loved playing in the water this summer and it is hard to get you out of the pool/water once you have started.  You are swimming with floaties on and are getting much better at kicking and floating.

3 of your favorite things these past couple of months have been

1.  eating snow cones and popsicles
2.  playing soccer
3.  "exercise" class (gymnastics and tumbling) at school

We are really enjoying watching you grow up and imitating everything around you!  Can't wait to see what you have in store for us next.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

A Little Dose of Happiness ~ Special Smile Moments this week!

My hubby's most recent triathlon.  Both boys enjoyed getting to run up to him during it!

I love Will's super curly hair after he takes a bath.  This is why I just can't bring myself to cut it...
 

A fun mail surprise...I had e-mailed Bob's Red Mill asking if they ever offer discounts or coupons since I buy a lot of their products like almond flour and coconut flour.  Just for asking they sent me these in the mail....awesome!

Eating our homemade popsicles and playing soccer in the back yard

 

Tyce's first experience at VBS this year.  This was their final performance of Go Tell It On the Mountain. 

I hope you find something to smile about this week!

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Helping your Kids to Eat their Veggies ~ Fruit and Veggie Popsicles

So I was nice in my title and said "helping" kids eat their veggies, but let's be honest, we have to trick those kids sometimes....hehe.  My oldest son is actually pretty good about eating vegetables.  He likes them as much as you could expect any kid to like them.  His favorites are broccoli and raw carrots.  But if I were try to make him eat a salad he would not even try at this point.

The other day when I picked him up from daycare he asked me if we could go to the store and buy some popsicles (they have been having them at daycare lately since it has been so hot).  I wasn't really hip on the idea of buying a big bag of popsicles with all of the processed sugar and high fructose corn syrup.  Not to mention that I would probably want to eat them too.  So I thought maybe I could make some homemade ones with fresh squeezed (no sugar added) fruit juice.  Then it came to me...a lot of times when we make fresh juice or smoothies we add in veggies and you can't even taste them because the fruit is so sweet.......it adds a lot of vitamins and minerals.  So the fruit and veggie popsicle idea was born.  My husband tells me this is not a new idea but it was new to me and I am very excited about them and controlling the ingredients for my kids.

The first one I made was GREEN.  Tyce loves "green flavored" things (yes green flavored - gotta love kids).  It was made from 3 apples and a generous hand full of spinach.  I juiced both the apples and spinach in my juicer.  It made a nice green color.  Any color apple will work (I used Fuji, granny smith may be too tart).

The next one I wanted to make was ORANGE.  This is Tyce's second favorite color flavoring.  At least orange is also a flavor and not just a color....hehe.  This one was made from 4 large carrots, 2 oranges, 1 lemon, and just a sliver of ginger root.  All of the ingredients I juiced in my juicer.  It was more than enough for my 4 popsicle molds. (I didn't have any oranges left for my picture - poor planning I know).

Next, after all of the blueberry picking we did I just had to make a blueberry version.  It turned out to be my PURPLE popsicle.  It was made from about 1 1/2 cups of blueberries, a generous handful of kale, orange juice and lemon juice.  I juiced some oranges and lemons together in my juicer.  Then in my food processor I added the whole blueberries, kale, and then the orange/lemon juice until I got the desired consistency for my popsicle.

And last but certainly not least was my RED popsicle (kinda pink really).  This was made from almost a whole carton of strawberries, a generous handful of spinach, the same lemon/orange juice mixture from the purple popsicle, and broccoli.  I juiced the broccoli stem (you get a lot of juice from that). I added the strawberries and spinach to the food processor whole and then added enough lemon/orange juice and all of the broccoli juice to get the desired consistency.

So after freezing all night here is the finished product!!  They turned out very yummy and the kids don't know the difference.  Yay!

The green and orange were more classic popsicle consistencies since they were made of only juice.  The purple and red with the fruit purees were more like a whole fruit bar (almost like a frozen smoothie on a stick).

Enjoy!  Let me know in the comments if you have other ideas/recipes for more!


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A Little Dose of Happiness ~ Special Smile Moments This Week

Finally back to my normal-ish schedule of weekly smile moments!!  A little snapshot into my life of what brings me joy!


My boys holding hands - melts my heart to see how much they really do love each other.

Shawnee Mission Theatre In The Park showing of Peter Pan.  It was free for employees of my work and their families!  Tyce loves "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" so it was fun to see him watch the actual Peter Pan story. 

What Tyce looked like when Chris picked him up the other day - his teacher says it is his favorite dress up costume!

My yummy meal from last week's date night at Bonefish Grill!

My amazing gas price after using my Fuel Saver rewards from Hy-Vee just for buying my normal groceries (and no, I am not being sponsored or paid by Hy-Vee....haha)

Our blueberry picking extravaganza - read about it here.

My new necklace (charm locket) from an Origami Owl party one of my friends had!  Love it!

Tyce's foot suntan from his sandals that I find hilarious!

Hope everyone enjoys their own weeks to come!

My Baby Boy is 20 months!

Silly little Willie has the cutest smile!

 

 

So, I saw this idea on another blog I follow and I thought it was a great idea.  She writes a letter to each of her kids every month as they grow up describing what they have done, how they have changed, etc.  It is very sweet and a great way to document different milestones (so I can look back whenever I decide to get my scrapbooks done).  So this is my first one but I plan on keeping it going at least every few months.

 

 

Dear Will,

 

 

You are 20 months today!  I cannot believe how time flies.  It feels like yesterday I was holding you in my arms for the first time.  Your smile makes me melt which is why I love that photo of you.  Maybe I am partial because you look so much like me, but you are a cute little stinker.

 

 

In the last few months you have been doing some really fun things.  You graduated to the Little Angels class at your school (that's what we call your daycare).  You want to be just like your big brother and do everything he does.  There is nothing that can stop you.  He even taught you to say "gooooooaaaaaalllllll (goal)" when you are playing with the soccer ball.  You have also started saying "hello" using anything as a phone - it sounds more like hell-aaa right now but we get the idea. 

 

 

You really like to hold hands with people.  You even reach out to hold hands with Tyce now.  You come and grab mine and Daddy's hands when you want to show us something you want that you can't say or sign.  Your favorite activity is sharing your food with our dog Merlin (I think it might be his favorite activity too).  Cheese sticks seem to be your snack of choice to share (maybe soon we can learn to share something cheaper....hehe).  You are also eating with a spoon very well these days.  You still manage to get food in those long flowing locks of hair of yours but we don't mind because you love the baths you get afterwards.

 

 

You have started to go to bed willingly after I sing you the lullaby from Peter Pan. We are hoping this is a good sign and we can convert your bed into the toddler bed soon.  We love you so much and are enjoying watching you become a little person!

 

 

Love,

Mommy (and Daddy)

 

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Blueberry Picking Extravaganza

This was such a fun activity!  I knew that there were places you could go and pick your own berries but had no idea there were some not too far away from me!  We went to The Berry Patch just south of Kansas City.  It is a pretty large U-Pick berry farm (their website says you would walk 10 miles if you went down every row of blueberry patches).  I definitely got my exercise in from walking and squatting for 2 1/2 hours!!

We had told Tyce the night before that we were going to wake up really early and go and pick our own blueberries.  He was so excited.  He went to bed like a champ and got up super easy in the morning.  We got there before the crowd got too horrible (seeing as it was a Saturday).  It was a great learning activity for me and Tyce.  Chris had been before when he was younger.  So here is a photo recap of our blueberry picking extravaganza.

Tyce ready to go with his bucket all tied up.

The boys finding berries to pick.  The best ones were actually at their eye level so it worked out nicely.

The yummy yummy blueberries.  Not that we ate any while we were picking....hehe!

Chris showed Tyce how to know which ones to pick and he did a wonderful job.  He kept telling Will "no Willie those are red ones, we need dark blue big ones"

Will didn't really care about picking the ripe ones.  He would pick berries and just wanted to throw them in the bucket. Or he would pick them and they would go straight into his mouth.  Then he decided to just save himself some time and eat straight from the buckets from what Mommy, Daddy, and Tyce had picked.

Such a little stinker!  He was getting so hot poor guy!

Tyce did a great job and filled his bucket more than me (of course I had to keep dealing with the little blueberry thief)

After picking Tyce got to relax and go on a train ride....such a cute little train!

Our haul of blueberries.......we had almost 12 lbs when we were done!  But you can't beat the price (probably half what you would pay in the store).

We had a great time!  I can't wait to do it again sometime :)  Stay tuned as I attempt some blueberry recipes...but for now I am just going to have some blueberries and whipped cream...

 

You could check out my pancake recipe that I like to add blueberries to (scroll to bottom to find the blueberry version)

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A Little Dose of Happiness ~ Special Smile Moments from the Beginning of Summer!

So since I had been slacking on the blog posts I had not been able to share my fun moments.....so here is a recap of some of the best memories from the beginning of summer...

My first nephew was born......such a cutie

My birthday.....I got a little cake from the boys and of course had a great time with the hubs.

Playing in the water and pool time.  I just love when it is hot enough to swim.

Trips to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun like this one on the 4th of July.

Will hanging out with grandpa who he is named after and has crazy hair like.

And one of the best memories so far.....my hubby becoming a 70.3 Iron Man where his oldest son ran the last little stretch with him to bring him home!

What has made you smile this summer??


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