"C" is for Confessions

Last week Courtney started doing "Wednesday Confessional" posts.  For the most part I think mommy bloggers post only the good things online, which sort of gives the impression that life is perfect.  It's not, but no one wants to sit around listening bad news all the time either.  I think a weekly confession provides a good balance.  Here are my spilled secrets for the week:

• I ate some cool whip with frozen dark chocolate chips for dessert last night.  I told myself the cool whip was healthier than ice cream.  John looked at me like I was from another planet when I made the bowl.  It was random but good.
• I let Tully watch Baby Signing Time videos on the mini-DVD player while he eats.  I know kids under two aren't supposed to watch TV, blah, blah, blah....but the kid is quiet, and he is learning sign language.  He hates the regular TV anyway, unless it's on Toddler Tunes music channel.
• I get easily obsessed with finding THE perfect (insert item you would buy: stroller/coffee maker/vacation resort) and can spend hours or even days researching.  I stayed up until 3am the other night looking into double strollers.  I found what I thought would be the best "everyday" double stroller for us, only to talk to John the next morning and decide we would use a double jogging stroller more.
• It drives me nuts when people baby talk, especially to toddlers learning to talk.  High-pitched voice for an infant? Fine.  Fake or shortened words combined with the high-pitched voice for a toddler? STOP IT!
• I'm ready to cut Tully's hair.  He has these crazy curls in the back that make a mullet, and there's this one long piece that curls up on top.  John and my mom said to leave it, but I might get out the clippers before he starts school next week.
• I like to eat Lucky Charms for dinner sometimes.
• I get mad when blogs make you type the CAPTCHA phrase/number thingy to prove you are not a robot when posting comments.  I NEVER get it right the first time.  Unless you are Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman or Glennon from Momastery, you probably aren't going to have spammers leaving comments on your blog, so go ahead and remove that for me.  Please and thank you.

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"C" is for Cooking - July Edition

Week 1:
Chicken, spinach and artichoke calzones (Cuisine at Home magazine).  Similar recipe here.
Chicken and leek stuffed biscuits (Little Pink Monster blog).
Pineapple steak with spicy potatoes (Real Simple magazine).  I'll spare you the recipe, since it wasn't good.

Week 2:
Mexican casserole.  Cook 1 lb ground beef in skillet.  Layer refried beans, beef, small can of corn, salsa or pico de gallo, and shredded cheese in 8x8 baking pan.  Bake in oven at 375 for 25 minutes.  Serve with sour cream and tortillas or chips.
BBQ pork and baked potatoes.
Honey mustard chicken and baked sweet potatoes.
Three meat calzones (Cuisine at Home magazine).  Similar recipe here but used ready-made pizza dough.

Week 3:
Buffalo chicken pasta.
Mojo pork tenderloin and grilled onions.
Crock pot lasagna and Caesar salad.
Mac-n-cheese & hotdogs.  Boil 4 cups pasta.  Combine with 8 oz melted Velveeta cheese and a splash of milk.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Microwave or grill hotdogs.  Put on bun.  Done.

Week 4:
Spaghetti.  Boil noodles. Brown ground beef and add Ragu.
Turkey wraps with cucumber and cream cheese
Crock pot Thai Peanut Chicken and rice
Goulash and salad

Week 5:
Pineapple chicken quesadillas
Turkey sausage and Zatarain's rice
Grilled pork chops and salad.  Marinate pork chops in soy sauce and a few sprinkles of ginger and parsley.
Beef tacos.  Brown ground beef.  Put on tortilla with cheese, sour cream, and whatever veggies are on hand.

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"C" is for Canine Cut

John got the brilliant idea to shave our dog.  His original plan was to shave, shave him and leave the fur around his neck, so Zach looked like a lion.  Luckily I intervened and convinced John that a short haircut would be more appropriate for the summer and would prevent sunburn.  I cannot imagine if our poor dog was sunburned because we cut his hair too short.  So John bought some trimmers and got started.  Zach sat still the whole time like the good boy he is.  Tully's bath time rolled around about the time John was finishing up, so I agreed to do the last little bit while he took Tully inside to get ready for bed.   John had left Zach's tail fluffy, so I cut all the hair off except for the end.  Zach had a little poof like a lion, and I thought it was hilarious.  Unfortunately, John didn't even notice when he came back outside, but he agreed it was funny once I told him.  Hey...I try.  It's almost impossible to tell that his hair is shorter in the pictures, but we really did trim a lot off.  I'm hoping it helps with the shedding inside too.

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"C" is for Craft (Door Wreath)

Last week Rachel@InNoSimpleLanguage linked up with Sherry@YoungHouseLove for a Pinterest Challenge.  Aren't we all guilty of pinning, pinning, pinning and not doing, doing, doing?!  Well, Rachel got on the ball and made a hydrangea alphabet wreath.

I absolutely love how it turned out, so I decided I needed a summer wreath on my front door too.  If you read my blog regularly, you know I am not a crafty person.  Most of my craft ideas involve thinking up something and having my husband or a contractor finish it.  Luckily this craft only took two trips to Hobby Lobby and maybe an hour of my time.   Here is how mine looks!

Shopping list:

• Wreath
• Fake flowers (apparently I bought the most expensive ones with the thickest stems known to mankind...ugh!)
• Wooden letter
• Acrylic paint
• Foam paint brush
• Glue gun
• Wreath hanger

Also needed:

• Scissors
• Wire cutters

All in I spent about $40.  The first trip to Hobby Lobby I bought glue sticks for the glue gun.  I didn't end up needing much glue at all, except for gluing the letter to the wreath, which was a good thing because I bought the wrong size glue sticks anyway.  Two glue sticks came with the gun, and I only used one of those.  I knew I had a wreath hanger at home for my Christmas wreath, but I forgot it had bells on it.  Can't really use that in July :-\  So the second trip to Hobby Lobby was to return the unused glue sticks and buy a new wreath hanger.  I originally thought I would get a hanger that went over the top of the door, but I saw these cool magnetic ones on the same shelf.  I was pretty sure our front door was metal, so I went with the magnetic hanger.  Thank you to the inventor of the magnetic wreath hanger.  It's barely noticeable on the door.

magnetic wreath hanger

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"C" is for Calgary

We started our trip here in the States and made a little detour through Utah for Kristen's wedding before flying to Canada.  Zion was beautiful and so was Kristen.  We spent a some time hiking and exploring Zion National Park when we weren't visiting with friends at rehearsal dinner or at the wedding.  It was fun to have most of the Nerd Herd in one place at one time too.

To get to the wedding in Utah, we flew through Vegas.  We had a few hours to kill before we needed to be at the airport when we were leaving, so we visited Circus Circus and the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.  Tully really enjoyed looking at all of the rides and watching the kids play at Circus Circus, and John and I had a good time checking out the sharks at the aquarium.  Vegas with a one year old is waaaaaaaay different than a normal trip to Vegas.  I've been to Vegas twice now without really drinking.  I think I'm going to make it a priority to go back in a couple years and do Vegas right!

Taking a break outside at Circus Circus

From Vegas we headed off to Calgary.  John had to be in Canada for the Global Petroleum Show for work, so Tully and I were mostly tagging along.  I have family in Canada, and our friends from Texas, Sarah and John, live there too, so I figured I could make the rounds while he was tied up with co-workers.  We did visit the petroleum show with John one morning for a few hours.  Tully did pretty good riding around in the stroller checking out all of the big equipment.  I also stopped by to see my Great Aunt Louise, so she could meet Tully.  When we weren't at the hotel or visiting family, I ended up spending basically the entire trip at Sarah & John's house.  It was perfect because they have a two year old son, so we had a place to play, eat, and nap, if needed.  Sarah was an absolute lifesaver because there's no way I could have done that week in the hotel by myself.  We visited parks, ran errands, and shared lots of mommy stories while the kids played.  Sarah and John even babysat Tully while John and I made the quick drive out to Banff National Park.  We rode the gondola, bought me an overpriced t-shirt, ate, and headed back to Calgary.  It was a really short trip but a great little break for us to spend time together.  We also got a babysitter one night for both kids while the adults had a double date at a really nice French restaurant.  We didn't get home until after 11, and we kinda didn't know what to do with ourselves!  We never go out and come home late.  John and Sarah were fantastic hosts, and we really enjoyed our time in Calgary with them.  I hope we get to see them in Texas soon, or maybe Sarah's John will get a random work trip to Tulsa, so they can come visit!

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"C" is for Class (Swim) Part II

Last month I posted about swim classes Tully took earlier this summer.  (See "C' is for Class (Swim))  Today Tully and another swim student, Ben, were featured in a story about Infant Swimming Resource's Self-Rescue classes on our local news station!  It was great to watch Tully show his rolling and floating skills in the pool. 

Check out the clip below.



NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com | 

Obviously I DVR'd this momentous occasion, and since my parents are in Europe, I showed my mom the clip on my TV via Skype right after the story aired.  We didn't have the greatest connection, so I'm sure she's happy the video is posted online where she can watch it directly now.  Either way, we were happy to share our excitement this evening.  A little later my Papa Jim called me to say he saw his great grandson on TV.  I hadn't even had time to tell him it would be on, so I was really happy to hear he just happened to be watching the news!  Another fun part for me was that I knew the reporter, Lacie Lowry.  She used to play on the same kickball team with me and John.  Small world!

If you have a child 6 months to 6 years of age, and you are interested in self-rescue swimming lessons for your little one, be sure to visit www.infantswim.com to find an instructor near you.  If you live in the Tulsa area, you can find out more about lessons at www.isroftulsa.com.

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