Ten on Ten // February 2017

 

Yesterday was the tenth so I captured the highlights of our day.

This week was a wild one, for sure - we only had school on Monday and yesterday, and part of Wednesday, because of snow and ice storms. Crazy! It's snowing out right now, and there is a major storm coming our way for tomorrow night, up to 18 inches we've heard!

Our nights have been bad bad bad this week - SuperBowl night was our only good night. Coincidence? I think not. ;) We're beyond exhausted, and Isabelle had her basketball championship game this eeeeeaaaarrrrly this morning. Coach Dad said the roads are pretty awful but the girls played great. They lost by four points but they played their hearts out and we're very proud of them. Levi and I cheered them on in spirit in our pajamas and from the warmth of our house. #badmom

Here is a look at February 10th:

 The sun was actually making an appearance! This has been one of the darkest winters I can remember, and it's tough!

Lovely yellow snow right there, too, right? Thanks, Ryder.

Since we are making some big changes in the coming days, I really wanted to have some decent photographs of how things are right now, with Levi still in our room, so I can look back and remember. So yesterday morning was the perfect time to take some, especially since the sun popped out. 

See all that ugly brown trim? Well, it's getting less and less! And I just may have a claw for a hand for the rest of my life. :/

cute little monkey :)

I will share some house pics this week!

Since I've been on break from Rose & Ruffle, I've been trying to get some house projects finished. One of them was to lengthen some curtains...it was pretty easy so I'll post a tutorial soon!

Those cheeks!

Getting in a little morning nap...

While Levi dozed, I cleaned up and got some things ready for a visit with my friend, Kim, and her little girl, Lilee Ann. I wish I'd taken a pic of her because she is the sweetest thing...but we Mamas were too busy chatting away. Such a nice visit!

I find it incredibly hard to balance making time for friends and fun when I'm also trying to get so much done (painting, ugh) around the house. Can anyone else relate?

I turn my back for a second and...find him in here. 

Emptying all the things, as usual. He is getting fast!

Cookie Friday!

And the sun was still shining. Amen!

Boys. ha ha ha ha

He's eating a cracker here, but someone maaaay have given him a bite of cookie too

Future NBA star in the making!

Caleb went to his best friend's house for a sleepover, so it was quieter than normal. After dinner (burger + fries, every Friday night...yes, I think we have a food thing for every day of the week now!), we hung out in the family room, reading- we decided that Isabelle is ready to read Harry Potter, so she is already on the second book, and I am reading The Girl on the Train and now I'm hooked. I need to know how this is going to get resolved!

Ethan is working his first all day Saturday at his new job today, we're going to my father in law's birthday party, and then he has two club soccer games tonight, so I'm hoping he gets the chance to drive over to see us and get something to eat before having to head back into town for soccer. Life with active teenagers is not for the weary, ha!
Have a nice Saturday!


ps- in case you missed it, here is a post dedicated to yummy cookies... enjoy!

 

Little Levi is Ten Months Old!

So close to one year old I can hardly believe it!

This boy is pure joy!

We're discovering that Levi is quite funny, which cracks us up to no end because everywhere we go, he stares at the strangers. He has an incredible game face, too! People still comment on how serious he is, how he stares right through them. He doesn't even blink! But at home... silly boy

Last month he began to favor his right hand, and it seems that's still the trend. He can pick up small pieces of food to feed himself, though sometimes he fights us when we're trying to give him something - he'll hold his left wrist up to his mouth and push us away with a little fist. Exasperating at times, but so cute too. Then, we finally get him to eat whatever it is, and he's like, Oh this is so yummy, what took you so long? Funny boy!

His favorites are toast with peanut butter, homemade applesauce, squash, YoBaby yogurt, chicken, hamburger, and scrambled eggs. He does not care for strawberries, blueberries, or bananas, which most babies love, ha. He refuses any and all pureed or baby foods, except for oatmeal with apple juice or orange juice, and it has to be warmed up just right. He prefers to drink from a glass instead of a sippy cup and does a great job. I've long since given up hope of him taking a bottle, and don't really see the point of bothering to try again at this point. He's such a big boy!

Here he's holding his "1" and "0" blocks, though I think it's pretty obvious what he's most interested in doing: dropping them over the edge! Look at that face! Guilty guilty

Levi has become very vocal this month, too. He babbles lots and we're all pretty sure he is saying Hi, Mama, Dada, and No, ha ha ha

Just last night, he shook his head no and muttered "uh-uh" - I don't know how to spell that! The opposite of uh-huh - so smart!

He loves it when we hide something and make it reappear for him, and I think he is beginning to get the concept enough to start hiding things himself. I haven't played peek-a-boo with him in a long time, but I'd bet he'd really enjoy that now. #badmom

Last week in the nursery, he saw his friend, who is about a month older, crawling and standing up, AND a little girl who was born in June who was beginning to crawl, and I think he got jealous! That very afternoon, he began to drag himself around all over the hardwood floors, and he's fast! Nothing like a little peer pressure to motivate you! Yesterday we visited a new church, but Levi desperately needed to sleep, so he stayed home with Daddy.

This month, Levi also began to sit still and read books with us. He gets excited when he sees The Mitten, The Barnyard Dance, and a couple of his Jesus storybooks, and he settles right in when we're reading to him. He likes to touch the pictures and help turn the pages. :)

He still loves it when I sing The Wheels on the Bus, Peace Like a River, and Amazing Grace- those are his favorites! He adores playing Itsy Bitsy Spider and Patty Cake. Our little goodnight song has always been The B-I-B-L-E song, and I think he notices if I don't sing it right away because he really settles into my arms when he's nursing before bed as soon as he hears it.

I'm certain no one will be forgetting your ten month birthday any time soon since it happened to coincide with last night's big win! #gopats 

And oddly enough, after nearly an entire week of being awake and fussing most of the night, last night you slept from 6:45 straight through until nearly 5 am! I think you cried out for a second around midnight or maybe 2, but I hardly woke up to hear it. Your Daddy and I are exhausted after this past week! I was downstairs reading and working when I heard you this morning, so I came up to get you and hold you for a few minutes, and we rocked and I fed you. I think you missed me! You seemed so happy to see me. Thankfully you were still sleepy so I put you in your favorite place- nestled in between my pillows in the middle of the bed.  Everyone will be anxious to see you in a little while, though sometimes you're still asleep when everyone but Caleb heads off to school. 

We are beginning to transition you from our bedroom into your own nursery, and while I know it's for the best, I have such mixed feelings about it. I know I will miss you.

I've also begun planning your big First Birthday party and it's going to be great!

What joy you have brought us these past ten months! Oh how we love you!

+++++++

here are a couple shots from yesterday before the big game ...

gotta work off the calories about to be consumed!

These were my contribution to the game day feast. Bill made everything else, and it was yummy!

 almost time to start...nervous energy all around!

Friday Favorites

Today I'm linking up with Andrea , Erika, and Narci for Friday Favorites! Always so much fun to read everyone's posts. Thanks, ladies!

Hey friends! Not gonna lie, this week has been a rough one.

Parenting young kids is hard.

Parenting babies is hard.

Parenting teens is hard. Like, really hard. There have been so many absolutely phenomenal and wonderful moments with my teen-aged boys...and then there have been the ones like we've been having lately. Did I already say that parenting teens is hard? Don't even get me started with the girl. My word. Am I going to survive this? Sigh.

I was tempted to wallow and not participate in a Friday Favorites today because I felt like I didn't have anything worth contributing, since I'm not in such a great mood, but I don't want to be a victim of circumstance (or bad moods or sleep-striking babies or winter blahs etc etc), and I do believe that there are always things to be thankful for and to look forward to. That being said, here are some favorites this week:

One of my favorite things about blogging, besides meeting new friends and getting great ideas, is how I'm able to look over posts from all the years and remember things I would certainly have forgotten otherwise. But I neglected this blog after Levi was born, and I realized that I really wish I'd documented our day to day, so I've been filling in some gaps and I just finished a post about his newborn photos. Seeing him all little and squishy has me all swoony.

That post is HERE if you want to see all his pictures!

Reading is my favorite. There's just nothing like getting lost in a good book. I haven't gotten much reading done in the past nine months or so because I have a hard time making myself slow down when there's sooo much around me that needs tending to, but I'm trying. Each of us is a big reader around here, which I love.

this is Elin Hilderbrand's The Matchmaker - so far so good, though I'm anxious because I don't know how any of it will get resolved nicely, and I'm a total give-me-a-happy-ending fiction reading kind of girl.

Leaving love notes and little surprises for my crew throughout the month has always been a favorite of mine. These are the things I always dreamed of before even becoming a Mom. I need to remember that when I'm having a hard time with one (or more) of them. Life is short, their time with me is short, let stuff go.

While I'm over winter, seeing this guy loving the snow was a favorite sight this week. Not sure what exactly he was trying to accomplish, but he face planted several times and didn't get upset about it once. Weird. But so cute!

 I sat him in the jogger while I shoveled the driveway first. Great exercise! ;)

He was mesmerized when I put him down.

See how he's looking longingly for the snow? ha ha

Lastly, while I don't love football, it IS Superbowl weekend, and we ARE from New England.

So, yeah.

Terrible pic but I love making special food for all the festivities. That part, I like. :)

These easy Quesadillas may be on the menu, too!

find the recipe HERE

 And if we have chili, then we have to have this No-Yeast Cheese Herb Pan Bread!

find the recipe  HERE

Who are you rooting for on Sunday?

What special food things do you make?

Have a great Friday! It's almost the weekend!!!!!

(I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....)

If you're new here, thanks for visiting!

You can follow along on the sidebar here and on:
 bloglovin'

 facebook (I just started a page for fun this week!)

 Pinterest
 instagram

Dark Chocolate Brownie Volcano

I've been making this gooey chocolate dessert for years and years, I can't believe I haven't blogged about it before! It is so, SO good. It's a brownie cake that magically creates a molten lava layer when baking. It is sometimes referred to as a pudding cake, but my boys started calling it a brownie volcano, and I think their description is still spot on.
This dessert is so good it should probably be a sin. It tastes fantastic hot and steaming, especially with vanilla ice cream, but it's just as good chilled, too. You just can't go wrong with this one!

Here's What You Need

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided 

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt

 1-2 tsp vanilla extract, divided

 3 Tbsp butter, melted

3/4 cup whole or 2% milk

3/4 cup dark chocolate morsels

1 3/4 cups boiling water

Here's What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; put water in a kettle to heat up while you make the first part*

2. In a large bowl - I use a measuring bowl with a spout - lightly whisk together flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, 1/8 cup of each cocoa powder (I add a couple teaspoons of each to the same 1/4 cup measuring cup until it's full), and salt. Next, melt butter, and add it to the dry ingredients; add milk and 1 tsp vanilla, stirring/whisking until smooth. Stir in chocolate morsels and spread into 9x9 dish or 2-quart dish.

3. If you used a measuring bowl with spout above, then use that same one here; otherwise, now you should use a bowl with a spout because you'll be pouring liquid. Add remaining sugar and cocoa powders, stirring lightly. Carefully add boiling water and whisk ingredients together gently; add either 1/2 or 1 tsp remaining vanilla.

4. Carefully pour the liquid mixture over the top of the brownie batter. I find it helpful to hold a spatula over the brownie batter and pour the liquid right onto the center of the spatula and adding the liquid that way; otherwise, pouring all that liquid directly onto the batter can make a big dent or hole.

It's okay if there are bubbles or even little "clumps" of cocoa

5. Bake for about 35-40 minutes. There may be some "lava" bubbling up through the brownie, and this is a sure sign that it's done baking. Allow to cool before serving. Enjoy by itself or with ice cream...so yummy!

*You could boil your water in the microwave right when you need it

recipe adapted from the Pampered Chef

 

 I have never tried doubling the recipe, but I think I should! This would be the hit of the party for a large crowd, one that's larger than our seven anyway. ;) I'll update this if I get a chance to try it out.

You should really try this one! Let me know if you do!