Little N is Mobile!

As proud as I am that I now have two kids that can move, Little N only by crawling, but still, he's mobile, it means I pick apart fights CONSTANTLY. Funny how I just posted how much my kids love each other, the love is only when the big one wants to give it. The little one wants to be around his big sister ALL. THE. TIME. and now that he can get to her, she's not too happy. Probably because he's a biter, and we're all now covered in red marks. Oh teeth gods, please let these ones come through and take away the biting tendencies.

Sibling Love

The love my kids share for each other makes my heart swell on a daily basis.

The other day Big N advised me that Little N had woken up from his nap after she heard him on the monitor while we were outside. I said, okay and started packing up our stuff to head indoors. Big N took off upstairs as soon as I opened the door. She then climbed on my bed and slid herself down into Little N's bed to ask him if he had a good nap. I can't wait to watch these two grow up, and I hope they will always love each other as much as they do now.

Strawberry Muffins

After a large purchase of strawberries, I needed something to do with them. I stumbled upon a blog that suggested this recipe was delicious. So, the kids and I got to baking, and they really were pretty good. I made one fatal error when making these, so follow the directions closely.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar. Set aside for 1 hour (DO THIS, do not assume 10 minutes is the same as an hour, it's not at the muffins are a little too tart). Drain, reserving liquid and berries separately.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the juice from the berries. Gently stir in the berries. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Monday Meal - Broccoli, Lentil and Red Pepper Salad

Can you tell we are big into summer salads? This was a salad made up from a few different recipes combined, so I'll just post what I actually did.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of broccoli
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 can lentils (original recipe called for chick peas, but Big N ate all my chick peas on me)
1/2 red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Steam broccoli for about five minutes. In a bowl, mix mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Add chickpeas, red pepper, and broccoli. Toss to combine dressing. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

R commented that my salads keep getting better, so this one is definitely a keeper. We served this with a side of chicken because we are big into protein, but you could definitely make it hearty enough for a meal.

The Newest Addition to the Playroom

Our playroom has never quite been complete but I wasn't sure what it was missing, until I stumbled upon a sale at Kitchen Stuff Plus. They had a removable vinyl chalkboard on sale for 25% off, so I picked it up and thought it could be a great addition to the playroom. They also had picture frames on sale, so I picked a few up thinking we needed to hang a little more artwork in the room too. Little N did his very first painting and made the bottom piece at 8.5 months of age. It's awesome!
Big N loved the new addition.
The only trouble now is convincing a two year old that you can colour on the wall, but only this part over here. Oh well, that's what being a kid is all about.

It's Hot!

We've been doing lots of activities to try and beat the heat.

From trips to the splash pad park to cool down
to investing in a pool for the backyard:
Came with a free lifeguard.

To making rainbows with the hose.

We aren't letting the extreme heat ruin our summer, it's just making it even better.

A House in Progress

Little N got a new car seat, which means we got a giant box. And since it's a million and one degrees outside what better way to make use of our air conditioned house than by making a play house.

It started with some simple cutting and taping.

And of course we had to test it out at every stage.
On to the painting.
R was super jealous that I could fit in the box the same time that Big N was in it.


Now, our house is no where near complete, but we can't do everything in one day in case it stays this hot and we have to stay indoors for a few more days. I'll post more pictures when we finish our awesome project.