Deceptively Delicious

When Mary Sue, aka Grandma, came to visit a couple of weeks ago she brought me a present. Yeah! It was Jessica Seinfeld's new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. The premise behind the cookbook, if you haven't seen her recently on Regis and Kelly or Oprah, is that she hides vegetables in her cooking- so that her kids will get some vegetables. She purees them and adds the puree to macaroni and cheese, brownies and even pancakes. What a great idea! Parker is getting better at eating vegetables but not as much as I'd like. He will eat carrot sticks, cucumber, and broccoli and sometimes other veggies when they're in dishes like chicken pot pie. But this is a great way to get a vegetable in him more often. Right now Maryn loves vegetables, especially broccoli and peas.

Last night we tried the chicken nuggets. They were really good- and fairly easy! It was a little tough to do the breading part but that's how it is with any recipe with breading. If I had already had the puree done and just thawed from the freezer that would have made it easier too. Mark and I enjoyed them and Parker said he liked them too! Recipe as follows...

Chicken Nuggets
(with broccoli, spinach, sweet potato or beet puree)

1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup flaxseed meal (I omitted this because I didn't have it.)
1 T grated Parm cheese
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1 cup puree (I used spinach- to make steam spinach and then puree in food processor- like you're making home made baby food.)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 lb chicken tenders, rinsed, dried and cut into small chunks
1/2 t salt
Nonstick cooking spray
1 T olive oil

1. Combine breadcrumbs, flaxseed meal, Parm cheese, paprika, garlic, and onion powder in a shallow bowl (can also use a plate or a large sheet of foil) and mix well.

2. In another shallow bowl mix the puree and egg with a fork and set the bowl next to the breadcrumb mixture.

3. Sprinkle the chicken chunks with salt. Dip into egg mixture and then toss in the breadcrumbs until coated.

4. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over med-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Place the chicken nuggets in the skillet inn a single layer, being careful not to crowd the pan and cook until crisp and golden on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn and cook kuntil the chicken is cooked through, golden brown and crisp all over, 4 to 5 minutes longer.

*This is not typed word for word from the cookbook.

Enjoy!

Maryn's Second First Birthday

So the morning of the birthday started out with a bang!! Ford had been up early, didn't want to eat his breakfast of banana and cereal so he decided to mash it in his hair. Then came the bath. Now neither or my children ever pooped in the bath tub until about a week ago when Maryn did. Gross. That is not a fun experience and it involves a lot of cleaning. Anyway Ford decides if Maryn did it then it must be a good idea. So when we are trying to get ready for this party with three kids and a dog running/crawling around poor Sarah is cleaning up the bath tub, the toys, and Ford. While all that is going on I decide to change Maryn's diaper. She escapes before I can get a clean one on her and stands up at the refrigerator to play with her magnets. I run to get my camera to take a picture of the birthday girl in her birthday suit. I go to put up the camera and just as I am coming back to put her diaper on she POOPS on the kitchen floor. AHHHH!! Of all times to do that! So appreciate the above picture!



Ford and Maryn playing while Sarah and I were working. It is so funny to watch them together. Maryn is a bit of a bully. I guess that comes from having a big brother.


Ah the cake fiasco. So I decided to make Maryn's cake myself. I wanted something two layers but small, about 5 inches in diameter. I made two layers of an 8" yellow cake with the intention of cutting it smaller. So I cut the two layers and then attempted to ice them. Well, the icing would NOT stick. The cake was too "crumby." Now maybe some of you bakers (Abby) know what would make it stick- or do they sell little layer pans that I could have used instead? So the MORNING of the actual party I am on the phone with Harris Teeter. And let me tell you, they really came through. They sell a "patti cake" (like the nursery rhyme!!!) for $7. It's 5" in diameter and you can get it decorated however you want!! And when I went to pick it up I found out that they actually make it for baby's first birthday for free!! (but you have to register in advance so I had to pay the $7- after my disaster I was willing to pay more!) And look how cute it was...


Obviously Maryn enjoyed it!!


Everyone else had these beautiful cupcakes Sarah decorated. Not only does she do beautiful calligraphy but she decorates cupcakes! What a talented girl!


Circle sandwiches for our polka dot party. Andrea made the little flags for me with about 30 minutes notice! What a great friend!!


Decorations


The birthday girl and aunt Em. Emily gave her a beautiful cross necklace for her birthday. I'll have to take another picture with it close up.


All in all it was a great party, chaotic, but great. I am so thankful to have such great friends to celebrate my little girl.

She got tons of cute stuff... a couple of things for her room (thanks Arin and Meg), books (Sarah and Ashley), clothes (Andrea- not to mention adorable thank you notes), a Fisher Price dollhouse (Sarah and Ford), cute Halloween stuff (Jodi), and

a kitchen (Emily, Lanie, Ann, Julie Y, Julie F and Lori). Couldn't resist a picture of the kitchen for the grandparents to see.

Thank you everyone for such a great birthday party for Maryn!!!!

Check out the rest of the pictures...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?&conn_speed=1&collid=708172090107.534972317207.1193798399744&mode=fromsite

Maryn's First First Birthday

So excited!!


She starts out very daintily (is that a word?)...

And ends up a mess! All done!!


Parker insisted on a hat too.

While Grandma was still here we had to have a little party to celebrate Maryn's birthday since she couldn't be here on Friday, Maryn's real birthday. We had cupcakes and a few presents. As you can see from the pictures Maryn made a huge mess while Parker ate his cupcake very carefully. Check back for pictures of her big party.

My sister-in-law, Sarah is a very special person. I am so thankful that my brother married someone that I absolutely adore. She is one of my best friends. Now how many girls can say that about their sister-in-law!! And she really loves my children. I think she loves them as much as you can love a child that is not biologically yours. Today she and her son, Ford, are making the five hour trip up here just so they can be here for her party. If it wasn't during the week I know my brother, Joseph, would be here too and he is very sad he is missing out. Ford is one week, to the day, younger than Maryn. So we will be travelling to Auburn next weekend to celebrate my favorite nephew's birthday!! (It's ok to say that now because he's my only nephew!)

Today was also a big day for Maryn because she was having her one year pictures done. For all the grandkids first birthdays my dad and Debbie give them a photo session with a small stipulation of a picture in return. Maryn did great! especially considering she had not had a nap. My friend Sharon took the pictures. She is an amazing photographer! One of my favorite things about Sharon is how excited she gets about the things she loves... her friend's kids, Jesus, a great pair of jeans! Don't you know someone that you can't wait to tell something to because they are going to be out of control excited for you? That's Sharon (and also my friend Emily). Sharon has a big heart and such a passion for life... and photography! She took an unbelieveable 400 pictures! Here's the link to her blog so you can see the great pictures she took. Contact her if you want some wonderful pictures!!

http://smittenphotography.typepad.com/smitten_photography/2007/10/year-one-maryn.html

Hooray for Grandma!

Parker and I are sewing curtains for his room. Maybe now we can get the towel down that has been there for two years. Anything to make it darker and therefore get him to sleep longer!


Maryn and Grandma playing in the backyard.


Ready for the game!


On the phone to Grandpop who had to stay home and work. Hey, Grandpop!

Mark's mom has been here since Thursday evening. Not only have Parker and Maryn had a great time with Grandma but so have Mark and I. This was the weekend we were supposed to go out of town by ourselves to Charleston for my birthday but with his test only two weeks away we felt like that was not the best use of his time right now.

Mary Sue, aka Grandma, has been an enormous help to me with the kids and Mark and I have gotten to go on a couple of dates. Friday we took the kids to the mall for a little Chick-fil-a and play time on the playground. Then while they napped I got my hair highlighted, cut and my eyebrows done. A wonderful afternoon of beauty! If only it had included facial, mani/pedi, massage... but I am enjoying my new haircut and color. Friday night Mark and I went to dinner at Macaroni Grill, one of my favorites.

Saturday Mary Sue and I took Parker to Discovery Place (a hands-on museum for all ages) while Maryn napped at home with Mark. Now I went to Discovery Place when I was a kid with my dad, Debbie, and Joseph several times and when I taught 7th graders we took them on a field trip (walked from Piedmont, a couple of miles at least, with kids complaining the whole way and me scared to death they were going to run into the street and get hit by a car) there. I thought it might be a little too old for Parker but he had so much fun! There is a special place just for kids six and younger. It was like a giant preschool classroom. There was a really fun water table that he loved best of all. His other favorites were the snake and the air chair (it lifts you up somehow using air and then you sort of glide back down).

Today she helped me take the kids to the grocery store, a task I usually do by myself, which was such a treat! And tonight Mark and I went to see a movie!!! When was the last time we did that? Any other date night we want to go to dinner so we can have some adult conversation but since we were able to do that Friday... we went to see Rendition with Jake Gyllenhall (sp?) and Reese Witherspoon. Pretty good. A little serious for Reese but enjoyable. I had to close my eyes and ears for a few minutes during a torture scene but other than that it was good.

So... a great visit!! And we still have tomorrow!

Emily's Shower

Isn't she beautiful!!


For our "game" we had everyone put a tag on their gift that included a baby picture of themselves instead of signing it to say who it was from. Emily had to guess who the picture was. Thanks Sarah for that idea!


Flowers from the farmers market in Charlotte. What a well kept secret!! I got three beautiful arrangements for VERY little money!


The food was delicious if I do say so myself! Thanks to Emily's mom for taking care of the desserts!

I am so excited about this baby!! I love Cam so much and am excited to have another baby Fowler to love. The shower was at Emily's sister-in-law's house in downtown Concord. It was a perfect place! We sat outside to eat and open gifts. The day could not have been more beautiful. She got lots of great gifts- one of my favorites was painted hangers. One set was animals- each hanger was a different animal- and another was transportation. If I can get a picture I will post one. They were very cute!

Now the next party on the horizon is Maryn's birthday! I cannot believe she is turning one... but that's another post.

Busy...

Maryn in a dress that was mine when I was little. It was made by either my mom or grandmother. I have several and mom can never remember who made what.

A quick picture from Amanda's shower.

Two babies rocking.

So I am a little behind on my posts. I have been in the middle of baby shower heaven! I helped give one last Sunday and had one Saturday. Sunday's was for my friend, Amanda, from church. She and Juan are having a girl, Sofia, at the end of November and Saturday's shower was for one of my very best friends, Emily, is having a boy at the first of the year. I will post pictures soon.

What's going on with the kids... Maryn has another tooth. That's three in about 10 days. And she hasn't been extremely cranky and I have only gotten up with her once in the night through the whole thing. I am convinced that because she is older getting teeth that she can cope with it better. Please correct me if you have had a different experience. I'd hate to have another child who gets teeth late and then its murder!

Parker had a good week at school. Tuesday was school picture day so I can't wait to see how they turned out. He just told me that Miss Thomas took pictures and had a bear on her head. And that he didn't like taking pictures so I have very low expectations for how they will look. He also had fun this week because his best friend, Cam, spent Tuesday and Thursday with us. The boys had a great time playing on my bed in the pillows and doing their laps. They like to run around through the kitchen and den occasionally yelling something or falling over a toy.

We also got trees put in our backyard. We have one of those typical new development yards that is RIGHT next to another. And our neighbor is sooo sweet but she does have a rather unsightly backyard. So hopefully these trees will be a distraction and eventually give a little privacy. It took them two days to complete the job and I felt so bad for the guys doing it. It was still pretty hot and our hill is horrible.

More soon...

Teeth!

More driving the Gator. Yesterday when Maryn and I went to get the mail she noticed the Gator in the garage. We went inside and she started crying and reaching for the door. She didn't stop until I took her outside to sit on the Gator. She knows what she wants!


Parker is cleaning my bath tub with my shaving cream. He's obsessed with cleaning. Should I be excited or concerned?


We love bath time!!

These pictures are not related to this post but I couldn't resist. This past
weekend Maryn did not want to take her afternoon nap. I figured since she still, at 11 months old, had no teeth that perhaps she was teething. I was putting orajel on her bottom gums which were maybe just slightly swollen when I felt a tooth! On the top! Most babies get their first teeth on the bottom so I never expected it up top. The next morning, after waking up at 5:30, I found another one! So she has two top teeth and no bottom teeth yet. I am a little relieved that she will make it to her first birthday with a couple of teeth.

Parker is still a little apprehensive about preschool but overall is doing really well. I am very proud of him. A policeman came to visit yesterday and Miss Fran said he loved it and climbed over all the other kids to get into the police car. It was Dylan's birthday so they had cupcakes, and it was their first chapel. A very fun-filled day!! That was the most detail I've gotten all year.

The Gator

Last Thursday night I went to the semi-annual (Is that twice a year or every two years? Whatever word means twice a year.) Birkdale consignment sale with some friends from church. Amy, Jodi and I started going two falls ago to buy things for our boys. Now we both have two children each to buy for. Sometime we added dessert afterwards to the tradition. (Those of you who know about my Atlanta shopping trip with my girlfriends from Auburn know how I love a good tradition!) So this year we have expanded our group because there are more women in the church now with little children. As we walked up to the sale, carrying our laundry basket to load our goods in- we have learned a valuable lesson, I spotted the Gator. Now my friend Emily bought one recently for her son, Cam. I had never seen it but knew he had just started riding on it in his back yard and loves it! So... guess what we came home with. Yep, the Gator!! I spent most of my money on it (You have to bring cash to the sale as they don't take cards. This helps keep me in my budget- except when I have sweet friends who lend me money to make my big purchase. Thanks, Meg!!) but didn't find a lot of clothes anyway. So we brought it into the front hall that night and charged the battery. Parker came in the next morning (kind of like Christmas and I would have kept it for a Christmas present but where in the world do you keep one of those for three months?) and was a little cautious at first. But a little riding down the hallway took away his fears so we brought it into the back yard. We ended up buying a new battery for it because Mommy got tired of having to do some pushing and now it runs great!! I practically have to run to keep up with him. Thankfully Parker knows that even his toys have to take naps so the Gator gets tired and needs a rest every once in a while. So if you call and I don't answer at home or my cell... we're probably outside with the Gator.