Monthly Archives: August 2015

Friday Ramblings

by August 28, 2015

I have already enjoyed looking back at some of my posts and it’s so interesting seeing what I was up to or what I thought at the time. So Friday Ramblings are to my future self and of course to my friends who want to hear my nonsense thoughts as of late.

– Have you guys seen the cotton candy grapes they have in the grocery store lately? Weirdly they really do taste like cotton candy! Please do yourself a favor and get them. And if you have a baby put them in a Food Feeder and you will delightfully have not only a cute baby, but one that smells like cotton candy. And i promise you will want to kiss them 100x more than the norm that day.

– I have been intrigued by this whole capsule wardrobe concept which is not by any means a new thing, in fact it’s kind of old news, but its something new for me to want to try. Right now I’m just trying to get a handful of items that are timeless and will work with my current status of stay at home mom – comfy but trying not to look like I am wearing my pajamas…you hear me? I like the idea of having anything I grab work together and purging more. Also on this topic I challenged myself to not buy any clothes for myself or the kids for a month and I did it!!

– Going from my last thought to the complete opposite direction I now have this desire to get all new sheets and towels. And I want linen everything. These sheets, bath towels and beach towels.

– This has been Nola’s second week of school and I am DYING to know in every detail how she’s doing. Don’t worry teacher friends, I’m trying to be cool and not that annoying parent. To be a fly on a wall though.

– My neighbor mom friends and I have been talking about surviving the winter, because midwest stay at home moms do this thing now already, and I’m thinking about creating a space in the basement as a playroom. We already have a playroom, but I’m thinking of doing the one in the basement focused more on physical activities, like a basketball hoop, tent, pool of balls, slide, swing, clearly all I want to do is create a playground in our basement, now how to create a sun…

– I started reading Jen Hatmaker’s book For the Love, which so far has been really great. That girl, I desperately would love to be her friend.

– I got my haircut last night! Took off 6 inches and my ombre is no longer.

– As of late we have been hearing a lot of tragic news from friends and family. I’m so sorry for all of you struggling at this time and I am praying. Also on this note, live life hard and live life kind because it truly is so short.

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one of the few times jonas looked little to me and that made me happy

*** I have been trying to type this post with one space after the period because apparently a double space is no longer, but it is driving me INSANE. It’s hard to teach this old lady new tricks like that

Pope Farms

by August 27, 2015

A couple of weekends ago we visited the Pope Farm Conservancy in Middleton.  They grow fields of sunflowers and since there’s a small window when the sunflowers in bloom I felt the urgency of getting out there.  That weekend I was also planning my bro’s 30th birthday party and things were BUSY. But since our kiddos wake up so early it worked out because we were able to check out the sunflowers, go out for breakfast and be back home by 9:30, plenty of time to make food and frost 50 cupcakes.

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I’m not the biggest fan of sunflowers, but I have to say seeing them in a field like that was pretty neat.  If you live in the Madison area I highly recommend checking it out next year!

Nola’s Off To School

by August 24, 2015

Last week Nola started 3k.  I am not going to lie I felt a little lost, not knowing how to handle part of the day without her around. I guarantee that when she starts school full-time and all day you probably should expect me to need counseling. For me personally, being a mom has been the greatest job I’ve ever been given and the fact that my first kiddo is starting preschool, it gives me a lot of anxiety with what my role means, especially as they get older. I think about this often and it honestly brings me down, but life’s going by too quickly to dwell on that and so I’m doing the best I can to enjoy the present.

Here’s a few photos of Nola on her first day sporting her unicorn backpack (mom fail b/c it’s toddler size and now her folder doesn’t fit, but seriously a full-size backpack would be huge on her!!):

DSC_0084 DSC_0080 DSC_0088 Ha!  The expression on Jonas’s face is like, ‘um you are leaving me with mom by myself sis?!’

We are happy to report so far Nola loves school

p.s. I saw on Instagram someone prepared a little cute gift for their teacher.  Have any of you done that for the first day?  I plan on getting something for Nola’s teacher this week!!  I mean these teachers are loving on our kids, it’s the least we could do right?!?

p.p.s. I had asked some of my friends tips that parents should know when sending their kids back to school.  Here’s the post and can I say they gave SUCH GREAT ADVICE!!  If I could make a wish and have all my friends be my kids teachers I would.

Zucchini For Dayz

by August 11, 2015

It’s no secret that I love food.  After God and family it’s a close third.  I mentioned in an earlier post that my parents have a ton of zucchini from their garden, so the previous week I tried out a handful of recipes that I think are worth mentioning.  Also next year when I have tons of zucchini I hope I remember I did this post so I can refer back to this!  That’s always a gamble though, but here’s to hoping I’m getting more sleep a year from now.  So friends let’s all support each other during the crazy zucchini season and swap tried and true recipes, ok!!

Zucchini Casserole – This is such a tasty recipe and such a comforting meal that I enjoyed having in the summer.  I really miss soup and fall recipes a lot during the summer!

Zucchini in Olive Oil – Like Molly suggested in the post, please eat this with fresh mozzarella and crusty bread.  I did this recipe with 2 large zucchini and pretty much ate it all by myself.

Breaded Zucchini – Nola and CJ both liked this recipe!  I just did a typical breaded recipe for this.  Cut the zucchini 1/4 inch thick and dip it first into an egg wash, next bread crumbs with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.  Lay them on a baking sheet and put in a preheated oven at 450.  Bake until golden brown and crispy.

Raw Zucchini – olive oil, and salt and pepper.

For some reason I always gravitate towards savory recipes.  Has anyone tried zucchini chips?  I am considering trying that next!!  And please share your favorite recipes as well!

IMG_7067 Zucchini & sprinklers mean summer, right?!  This pretty much means I had no zucchini photos, so this will have to do :)

Jonas is 6 Months!

by August 3, 2015

I really have so many things I want to write about…Nola’s birthday, more Apostles Island fun, zucchini (my parents have a ton and I tried THREE different recipes last week), but before all of that what’s most important on my list is talking about my little main squeeze – Jonas.  Guys can you believe he is 6 months old already?!  These months flew by and being the second kid it seemed to go by even quicker.  With it being quite possibly our last child, I am without a doubt babying my baby.  I don’t view the bad sleeping, blowouts (those happen daily people) and all those nuisances babies bring the table quite as negatively as I did with my first.  In fact these past 6 months have been pretty great and not as hard as we thought they would be.

Here’s a list of things I want to remember about Jonas at 6 months:  he loves to grunt, his mobility revolves around rolling and pivoting, he despises food (not quite sure if it’s a texture thing or what), he weighs oh so much (more than Nola when she turned 1), he wears size 4 diapers, he’s mastered sitting on his own, he still wakes up twice during the night, he is a tough little dude, when he jabbers it sounds a lot like mama so we are going to go with that, he is a gracious little brother to his big sister and he lights up whenever he sees her.  We call him our joy baby because he exudes so much joy to our family.  He wakes up every morning with the hugest smile.  It’s the oddest greatest thing, he doesn’t cry when he wakes up (most baby’s do, right?) and groggily as we force ourselves to get up we can’t help but start our day on the right foot when he’s smiling so big at us.

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The night we had our photos taken Jonas refused to smile.  It’s the strangest thing since he’s typically smiling mostly all day of everyday.  So here’s serious Jonas for you.  I am so thankful for our little guy and love seeing him continue to grow and getting to know more what he’s all about.  I can tell you one thing, we love this little guy and he without a doubt belongs in our family.

*remember the freshly picked moccasin giveaway ends this wednesday!  go HERE to find out how you can win a free pair!*