Love, Love, Love

There is so much love between these two peanuts. 

Henry rarely gets a bottle... but when he does, Sydney has to be the one to feed it to him. It has become their very special bonding time. She rubs his head and holds his bottle and says "eat more buddy, you can do it". If that doesn't melt your heart into one giant gooey love puddle.... you are made of stone. 

Mrs. E

Peanut Butter and Jam

Did you have a something that you loved completely when you were a kid? Sydney does. 

Syd has a serious obsession with peanut butter. She would eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches every day if I let her. She would put it on anything and if she happens to see it when the pantry is open, she needs to have it right then. 

While we were in Phoenix I found her the cutest shirt. It was the perfect way for her to profess her love for peanut butter and jam and show off a bit of her personality. It has quickly become her favorite shirt and I think I may have to find a couple more in bigger sizes just so I have backups. The other day she wore her fav shirt and some matching peanut butter and jam barrettes. It was too cute not to capture. Check out those silly faces. Doesn't she look so much older?!

PS..... the shirt says "We Be Jammin"

Mrs. E

Henry ~ 7 Months

My love for Henry grows so much more each day. 

I am so fully and completely aware of how incredible both of my children are. To me, they are perfect. They fill our lives with joy and challenges and we love every minute of it. 

Our little man is getting so big. At 7 months, he has already battled through his first surgery, been on 4 plane rides and left the country for a month long trip. He has mastered feeding himself puffs and crackers and loves to eat anything we give him to try. He hates bottles and loves breastfeeding. He is great at entertaining himself and is getting better in his carseat. His favorite person in the entire world is his older sister Sydney and he flashes more gummy grins in a day than I ever thought possible. 

At 7 months, Henry has his first tooth! It popped through three days before his 7 month Birthday and it is his new pride and joy (pictures to come when I can get one). He can sit on his own very well but is lazy and often wants to lay down instead. He thinks that he can move forward by making a swimming motion while on his tummy and he has an endless supply of drool. 

Henry has his shots and a check up on Friday so we will weigh and measure him then. From the looks and feel of it he has gained some considerable weight. 

He is getting so big!

Mrs. E

DIY ~ A Quilted Halloween Pillow

Better late than never right?

I have been trying to finish up a million unfinished projects over the last week. I have so many things on the go and nothing is actually complete and usable. I was getting frustrated so I decided to change that. The first projects I decided to finish were the two quilted Halloween pillows I had been working on. 

I started with the swoon block pattern from Thimble Blossoms and went from there. I don't have a walking foot or free motion foot for my machine yet so I can't get too crazy with the quilting. But I think that the straight line quilting actually really works for this pillow. It's also HUGE! This pillow is 24 inches squared and the pillow form (duck feather filled from Ikea) is actually 26 inches squared. This is so that the pillow is nice and full looking. I didn't want to fuss with a zipper so I did an envelope style cover and hand bound it. 

What do you think? I am contemplating selling them in our little shop (which we are still working on). Would you buy one?

Mrs. E

Movember Mayhem

Ahhh Movember.....

How I love and loathe thee all at the same time. We are nearing the end of the month of mustaches and David is in full blown latin lover mode. He has changed his face to support Movember and I will admit... I am missing the beard! 

We are just over a week away from the end of the month so please click on the link below and donate! It will make having a latin lover instead of my husband completely worth it.... maybe. 

CLICK HERE!

Mrs. E

Eating Independence

Little mister has mastered some serious hand eye coordination. 

We have been letting him try to eat his puffs on hi own and in the last week he has figured it out! This is one of those skills that automatically makes a baby look more mature. He is just getting so big! Selfishly it also makes my life so much easier. I can now put him in his chair while I am cooking or cleaning and he can entertain and feed himself.... it's fantastic!

Mrs. E

Foodie Love ~ Wonton Soup

For some reason it just feels like it's soup season.

I am seriously into soups. I don't eat red meat or pork (except for bacon... don't ask) so soups lend themselves well to my diet. They are easy to make either vegetarian or red meat free. Lately I have been craving wonton soup. The problem is that they are usually filled with meat that I won't eat. So I decided that the best way to fill the craving would be to make it myself. After a little bit of Pinterest research and a few notes, I was ready to fly by the seat of my pants and put together my own recipe. 

I will be honest.... I have not had a real bowl of wonton soup in about 15 years. As a result, I can't remember what the flavor should be like. David swears that it is pretty bang on and I trust him because he had had it days before. If you have a meat aversion like me.... give this recipe a try! Feel free to substitute the veggie round ground for some ground pork or beef. Let me know what you think!

The Necessities:

~ 12 Cups of Vegetable Broth

~ 4 Cloves of Garlic Chopped

~ 1 Tbs Fresh Grated Ginger

~ 1 Bunch of Green Onions Chopped

~ 1 Package of Wonton Wrappers

~ 1 Package of Firm Tofu (Cut into small cubes)

~ 1 Package of Veggie Round Ground

~ 4 Cups of Bok Choy

~ 1 Cup of Carrots

~ 1 Package of Uncooked Shrimp (About 20 Large)

~ Salt and Pepper to Taste

The Process:

~ Add vegetable broth, chopped garlic, grated ginger, and chopped green onions to large pot

~ Bring to boil and lower to simmer

~ Chop the Bok Choy into bite sized pieces and add to the pot

~ Cut your carrots into thin matchsticks (I used baby carrots because that's what we had in the house)

~ Add to pot

~ Cut your tofu into very small cubes (mine were about 1cm cubed)

~ Add to pot

~ At this point you will also add your uncooked shrimp to the pot. They will boil and cook fully in the broth

~ Organize your wonton wrappers and a small container of water on a cutting board

~ If you are using veggie round ground, break it up and place in a bowl

~ If you are using beef, pork or turkey, brown the meat and place in a bowl

~ Lay four wonton wrappers on your cutting board (you can do more at one time but I found this worked best for me)

~ Place approximately 1 tsp of meat in the center of each wrapper

~ Wet your finger using your container of water and run it along two edges of the wonton wrapper 

~ Fold in half to create a triangle and press firmly to seal

~ Place more water on the two lower corners

~ Fold up to meet the top point and press firmly

~ Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper

*You will be left with a lot of extra wontons. These can easily be frozen in a freezer bag and stored for other meals or another batch of wonton soup.

~ Once the soup has been simmering for about an hour, add the wontons and let simmer for an additional 5 minutes

~ Serve and enjoy!

Mrs. E

Random Cupcakes

Do you ever have one of those nights where you just have to bake something? Really? You Don't? Well I do.

I love baking and I am pretty sure that I have passed on the love to Sydney. She gets so excited when I start bringing out all of our baking supplies and has to get involved with everything. I let her pour and stir and she gets to taste test everything. My favourite part is when we get to feed what we have made to our loved ones. These particular cupcakes were enjoyed by Ryan while we were watching the Walking Dead and a few family members who dropped by over the next few days. 

I love random cupcake nights. 

Mrs. E

DIY ~ Dining Room Chair Makeover

Whohoo!

I am finally starting to get back to normal after our month in Phoenix! That means that I am finally starting to tackle some of the projects that have been sitting on my never ending to do list. *sigh* We need to start a petition to have more hours in the day. 

One of the projects I have been looking forward to the most is recovering our dining room chairs. Our dining set is nothing fancy. Our whole theory on furniture these days is that we refuse to get really great pieces until the kids are old enough to treat it with respect. So for the next little while we are stuck with our Ikea set that has functioned perfectly for us over the past 5 years. 

The original chair covers were a plain cream. Although I loved the simplicity I was tired of trying to keep them clean. Cream seats and a toddler eating anything with sauce just don't mix. So I headed out to Ikea check out their fabric selection. I had already scoured the specialty design stores and decided that I would try to be price conscious instead.

If you are looking to update your dining set on a small budget give this a try.

The Necessities:

~ About 2 meters of upholstery fabric or cotton canvas

~ Good scissors

~ Staple gun and staples

The Process:

~ The first step for us was to pull off all of the chair cushions and remove the original cream covers

~ The fabric I chose was this great graphic pattern in a cotton canvas from Ikea ($5.99 a meter!)

~ Lay your chair cushion on top pf the fabric

~ Measure and cut your fabric ensuring that you have enough to wrap the fabric around to the bottom of the cushion with at least 2" inches of fabric to work with on all sides

~ Pulling the fabric as tight and smooth as possible, staple in the center of all four sides

~ Choose a side to start working on and slowly pull the fabric tight and staple right beside the center staple

~ Continue pulling and stapling stopping approximately 2" from the corners

~ take your time and ensure everything is looking nice and smooth

~ Once you finish your first side move on to the opposite side

~ Then work the other two edges

~ When you get to the corners take your time. How you choose to tackle them depends on your seat cushion type. I squared mine off as best I could ensuring that it looked perfect from the top.

~ Trim away any excess fabric and add staples to any section you feel needs more support

~ Place the seat cushion back on the chair

Yay! I am so happy with how all of these turned out. It was super easy to finish this project and I only had to make a tiny mess in the front room. The best part is that it was incredibly cheap and made a huge impact! Love it. 

Mrs. E