Beat the Heat

It's been over two months since my last post, but I guess that's just because we've been too busy enjoying our summer ;)  I hope to get back to writing soon, but for now, I will share some pictures of one of Matty's favorite hot weather activities: water balloon fights!

Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday, as we watched the rain falling, we sang "rain, rain, go away." After one time through, when the rain did not oblige, Matty turned to me and said "mama, sing louder, it didn't hear you!"

a monster for my monster

Does your toddler like to eat spinach? Matty does not care for it. I knew I needed to find a creative way to get him to enjoy spinach because it is so good for you and I didn’t want him missing out on all those antioxidants and vitamins! A few months ago, on my beloved Pinterest, I came across the green monster smoothie. There are many variations, but I use the following:

One sliced banana {some recipes call for you to slice it, then freeze it before adding, but I don’t do this}

½ C vanilla greek yogurt or non-fat regular vanilla yogurt

1 Tablespoon peanut butter

¼ C low or non fat milk

2 big handfuls of spinach

Ice

Usually, I make this right before I rush out the door for work, so I never measure it out. I have never tasted a bad batch, so basically, I don’t think you can mess this up.

I throw in the banana, the yogurt, pb and milk and then add spinach to almost the top of the blender. I blend it for about 10 seconds and then use a spoon to push down the spinach. Blend again for about 15 seconds.Then push down spinach again and blend. By this time, it should be pretty smooth, but if not just keep alternating between pushing down the spinach with a spoon and blending. Once you have a lovely green smooth consistency, add ice, blend until smooth again, and pour into your favorite glass or to go cup. This recipe makes the perfect amount for Matty and I to share. 

Originally, I made this with myself in mind as a quick breakfast and tasty post-run drink, but it ended up being the perfect solution to get Matty to eat spinach. Plus, he loves to help me use the blender. Think about it: dump a bunch of things into a bucket like object, press buttons and you get loud noises. And the result is the coolest shade of green. This has boy written all over it! Thankfully, I have successfully avoided any attempts thus far that my little monster has made to press the buttons while the lid is off the blender.

For another healthy treat for both children and adults, be sure to try this lemonade smoothie recipe over at my running buddy’s blog, food is good.

What’s your go to smoothie for the summer?

three

Three. I feel like not so long ago I wrote this post, yet here we are already two weeks into Matty being three. The other night, as he lay on my chest and fell asleep, I reminisced the newborn days and realized that my baby has graduated to a boy. I have been resisting it for awhile, but three just seems so undeniably big. I mean, even though two was difficult to digest, at least you can cling to babyish things. For example, clothing that is labeled 24 months. And diapers. As much as I hate changing diapers, their presence = baby. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any tags out there with 36 months on them and Matty continues to trade his diapers for pull ups and underwear, so  somewhat reluctantly, I acknowledge that he has sprouted into boy. A smart, caring, loving, stubborn tornado of a boy that can simultaneously make me cry and smile. Who frustrates and motivates. Who challenges and comforts. Who can make me question my sanity, yet brings me peace.

Last year, we put a two on the back of a tshirt and he wore it at his party. Hubs made another one with a three on it to celebrate this year. I think it will be a tradition. I wonder how old he will be when he refuses to wear a shirt with an iron on announcing his new age...

Sweet Treat

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day! Ours was perfect. We tried Vietnamese food for the first time and had delicious cupcakes from Blondies for dessert. Calories don't count on Valentine's Day, right? Well good thing because we certainly had our share.

The night before last, Matty and I made gooey pink cookies in honor of this day of love! It was a simple recipe that allowed Matty to basically just dump and mix. The batter is very sticky so he had a hard time rolling them into balls, but otherwise, it was the perfect toddler friendly recipe. The main ingredient was strawberry cake mix. You can read the recipe here. The cookies were yummy, but very very sweet!

my funny valentine

Making valentines with an almost three-year-old little boy and his four-year-old cousin seemed like a good idea at 8 a.m. I happily gathered art supplies and set up our "studio" on the dining room table. I envisioned smiling children coloring, stamping, glueing and glittering away their Sunday afternoon as I played art teacher and sang "All You Need Is Love." {I swear my morning coffee was not spiked!} A girl can dream right? The prettiness of it all didn't last long and my dreams were dashed by bickering and tantrum throwing not even ten minutes in, but fun was still had and memories were certainly made. I even got to make a card for my valentine ;)

Super Weekend.

This past weekend was beautiful in so many ways. We spent much of Saturday just being silly and playing in our living room fort:

NOTE: Perhaps you noticed that Matty has big boy underwear on in picture #3. This was pair #2 of 3 in only a matter of a few hours. Potty training = not so successful, but we'll keep trying :)

Saturday night, I started cooking for my grandma's 70th birthday party which was the next day. When the phone rang around 11:15, I immediately thought "who the heck is calling this late?" and then I thought of only one person it could be and I was right....it was my bff letting me know she was in labor and on the way to the hospital. I didn't get much sleep that night as I anxiously awaited updates on her progress. I headed to the hospital around 6:30 a.m. and at 7:46 a.m., little Ivy Maye was born! Such a beauty she is and I am so happy she shares a birthday with my grandma!

After meeting Ivy, I headed home to get ready for grandma's party. We had a wonderful time celebrating, but soon after arriving home, we all were visited by the stomach bug. I didn't even get to watch one second of the super bowl, though I hear that I won $25 in the office pool and hubby won $150 in another pool!

Despite the sickness, it was a lovely weekend filled with many blessings. Have a great week, everyone!