My little rider

Ollie has mastered the fine art of riding. He throughly enjoys getting on to riding toys. Getting off, well that's altogether another issue. This particular riding toy is a super obnoxious noise maker that both Ollie & I love! He pushes the buttons & laughs & dances. It's delightful.

This first picture is blurry but he is oh so joyful; I couldn't resist!











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Mule Days Parade

We took Ollie to his first ever parade this morning. It was a lot of fun. His favorites included the Fire Trucks, Clowns, Marching Bands & Shiners in their cars. The hardest part was waiting for the parade to begin. Mule Days is a huge deal & the parade really was good but I just realized that no one gave out candy! I used to love that.















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I love messy fun!

I love messy fun! Today, I decided Ollie was ready to experience finger painting. I made paint using flour, water & food coloring. I laid paper on the floor & away he went. It was on the paper, the floor, the stove, me & Ollie from head to toe. He thought it was great fun & it gave him an opportunity to talk about color & experience new textures.













It was most definitely bath time when we finished! I am the proud mama of a budding artist!

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Clean floor+clean baby=:-)

Ollie had so much fun today playing with bubbles. There are not just any bubbles. They are the extra special kind that you make when you fill up your sink with water & add dawn dish soap. They are light, fluffy & hook together. They are baby heaven when in his hands, stuck to his butt & all over the kitchen floor.










Bubble butt!


It was really a win win for all parties. I got a clean floor & a clean baby & he had the time of his little life!

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3 days, 3 new recipes

It could be that I just watched Julie & Julia or that I'm completely bored with my old recipes but I've cooked all kinds of new things this week. I know I typically only write rocking entries about my wildly fun & famous son but tonight I want to give you 3 new recipes I've tried this week; all of them were awesome! Please note that I honestly don't measure a thing so these are guesstimates.


Julianne's Fabulous Fajitas
Marinade

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup + olive oil- just a smudge more than lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 large fresh garlic clove
1/4 t ground cloves
1 t seasoning salt
1/2 t brown sugar

Fixings

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 green pepper sliced
1 red pepper sliced
1/2 large onion sliced

Mix the marinade. place the chicken in a bowl or ziploc bag. In a separate bag, place your veggies. Cover with marinade. Refridgerate for at least 2 hours

Grill the chicken breasts for approximately 20 minutes. Place veggies in tin foil & grill for approximately 10 minutes. Cut the chicken and mix with the veggies.

Serve with flour tortillas, shredded cheese, blackbeans & salsa.
(I got this recipe from Julianne Stewart.)

Day 2- French Dip
I greatly modified a recipe I got from allrecipes.com. It called for a roast, didn't have one. It called for a slow cooker, mine was at church....you get the idea!

2 NY strip steaks
1/4 c low sodium soy sauce
1/4 c soy sauce
5 peppercorns
2 large garlic cloves
1 beef boulion cube
1 t chopped fresh Rosemary
1 t Thyme

Mix above ingredients together & pour over your steak. Add water until it completely covers your meat. Bake at 250* for 3 hours.

I made garlic bread to put the meat on & sauted onions in butter with Johnny's seasoning salt. I also melted a bit of cheese on these. It was yummilicious!

Day 3- Pork Chops in Pear sauce

This could be better so I am giving you the way I will make it next time.

2 or more boneless pork lion chops
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1/4 c salted butter
1 Bosc pear- chopped
1/2 yellow onion
1 large garlic clove
2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp clove
1 T brown sugar

Sauce:
Melt butter in sauce pan. Stir in onion & garlic. Cook until onion is translucent. Add pear, thyme & clove. Reduce heat & cover.

Chops:
In a frying pan, add olive oil & heat to medium/high heat. Rinse pork chops. Salt & pepper. Dip into flour & place in pan. Brown both sides. Pour pear mixture over the chops. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 35 minutes. Add brown sugar. Stir. Cook 5 more minutes.

There you have it! 3 new recipes! I actually made something new tonight as well. Maybe I'll add it later. Enjoy!










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The Great Outdoors

Birthday Video

I have been pathetically slow about posting new stuff on the blog and I apologize. Here is a video of Ollie's birthday party. We had so much fun! I can't wait until next year!

1st year appointment

Oliver had his one year appointment today. He is doing very well developmentally. His eyesight & hearing are good. He received 5 vaccines including round 1 of the flu shot. I did ask some questions about doing so many vaccines at once & felt very comfortable after my doctor & I spoke.




Here are Oliver's stats:
Height: 32.5 inches long-97%
Weight: 25 lbs- 75%
Head: 18.5 inches- 75%






He's a big boy just like his daddy!

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