WHOO HOO! NICKY'S TWO!

Terrible two's...we are finally here!  This would normally be the case but not with my Nichols.  He is such a happy boy.  He has meltdowns and temper tantrums but I still wouldn't call it the terrible two's yet.  He is such a sweetie and literally makes everyone who comes in contact with him smile.

At two he is just recently starting to put multiple words together and it is so cute that I can hardly stand it.  Sometimes it REALLY makes me want to have another baby.  Please don't tell my husband though because that would disturb him.  He LOVES his "doggy" which is really a lamb but let's keep that a secret, K?  He won't sleep without doggy.  He loves his brothers more than anything in the world.  His day is ruled by doing or trying to be included in whatever his older bros are doing.  He is borderline obsessed with baseball.  He wears this baseball helmet all the time while carrying a baseball glove and ball.  He wears this to the store, restaurant's, friends houses where ever.  He gets extremely upset at naptime, bedtime and bathtime when I make his take it off.  At his brother's baseball games he stands behind the fence at home plate and screams, "GO GAYKEY" or "GO BAYDEY!"  It is hysterical.  He loves the pool and is pretty fearless which is good and bad for obvious reasons. He is an excellent sleeper...sleeps in his own crib for about 10 hours a night!!!  Can I get an AMEN?!  He easily keeps himself entertained and really doesn't need me to keep him occupied.  I'm telling you he is the easiest baby in the world.  By far the easiest (thus far) out of my three boys.  He is so quiet that sometimes I forget about the poor little guy.  I'll finally say "where the heck is Nick?"  He's usually jumping on "Baydey's" bed or playing quietly with some toys.  He is not the best eater.  I don't really know many two year olds that are.  He LOVES sweets though.  But so do I so what can I say?  His favorite tv shows are Sesame Street and Yo Gabba Gabba.  He even got an Elmo cake for his birthday.  My friend Heather of Colleens Cakes and Cookies made it.  Go check out her website at http://www.colleenscakesandcookies.blogspot.com/.  The girl makes some cool stuff!

I'm so happy that he is two but I am also a little sad.  When I walked into his room to get him up from his nap yesterday he said plain as day, "hi Mom."  It sounded so grown up and if I wasn't looking I may have mistaken it for my 6 year old uttering those words.  I got a little nostalgic and just realized that my baby really isn't a baby anymore....sniff, sniff.  Time sure does fly.  I'm sure I'll blink and he will be three.  It's so freaking sad!

Love this picture!

I realize his ears look really big (his ears are actually kinda big but not this big!)  He loves to wear his brothers shoes and hats.  The hat makes his ears dumbo..ish!  I love it!

Look at his legs.  Even his baby chunky legs are disappearing.  Okay...now I'm sobbing.

Nicky's favorite people.  Well, besides me and his Daddy of course!

Happy birthday little man.  May your second year of life be full of excitement, learning and potty training!!!

NEW RECIPE #8: EASY STROMBOLI

I know I have been a slacker on the "new recipe every week" issue.  That was my New Year's Resolution.  We all know New Year's Resolutions only last 2-3 months at best right?  Well at least for me they do.  I always start the new year with great intentions and by March it's over.  I actually have done more than 8 new recipes this year but have been to lazy to blog about it.  I need to continue because recently my husband told me that he has really enjoyed all of the new experimentation in the kitchen.  I have found some killer recipe's as well!

Last night I made something called easy stromboli.  I am a calzone/stromboli type of gal.  If you give me the option between stromboli or pizza I will almost always go for the former.  My kids are picky so they are always my judges and they gave me 2 thumbs up for this one.  Brady even said mid bite, "this is soooooooo good."  Awesome!  Mission accomplished!  Let me add that this was so quick and easy that it almost felt criminal. There was minimal clean up too.  Recipe as follows:

EASY STROMBOLI:
1 can Pillsbury Country Italian Bread Dough (13.2 oz)....I couldn't find this so I just used Pillsbury refrigerated thin pizza crust dough.
6 slices Genoa Salami (can add more)
2 pinches Kosher salt (plus more for the top)
A good sprinkling of Garlic powder
A few Pinches of dried oregano, crushed between your fingers (plus more for the top)
A couple pinches of red pepper flake
A liberal sprinkling of freshly ground Parmesan (plus more for top)
6 pieces Provolone cheese, broken in half to facilitate rolling
several slices of pepperoni
pizza sauce for dipping

PREP INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a rimmed sheet pan.  Unroll the bread dough and place on a lightly floured surface.  Unrolling this kind of dough can be challenging, so have patience.  When unrolled, the dough should form a rectangle.  Lay the dough so that the long edge is closest to you.  Make sure the dough is not overstretched in some spots, or the filling will burst out in those areas.

Place 6-8 slices of salami on the dough, leaving a 1/2" border around the edges.  Sprinkle on a little kosher salt, some garlic powder, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Add the Parmesan and provolone cheeses. 

It's easier to roll the dough when you break the provolone in half when adding it to the top of the dough.  Finally, add as much (or as little) pepperoni as you want on the top of the provolone, making sure to leave a 1/2" border around the rectangle of dough.  Starting from the edge closest to you, roll the dough like a jelly-roll (or cinnamon-roll style).  As you roll the dough, make sure to keep all of the ingredients tucked inside and pinch the ends as you roll to keep the filling from slipping out as you roll.  Carefully pinch the seam shut (and the ends).  And place on the sheet pan seam-side down.  I made two because I have hungry kids and I was hoping for leftovers.  It's a little phallic looking or maybe I just have a dirty mind?

Anyhoo...lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with kosher salt, dried oregano, and grated Parmesan.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is a deep brown.

Let rest 5 minutes before cutting into 1" slices.  Serve with some warm pizza sauce for dipping.

Like I said....2 thumbs up!

I got this recipe from http://www.ourbestbites.com/.  I'm already searching for my recipe for next week.  Stay tuned!

Jules

THE SOUNDS OF SUMMER

Kansas had a BRUTAL winter.  As of last week it still really felt like winter.  Yesterday was the first day of hot and sunny humid typical Kansas weather.  Sure we have had little tastes of it over the past month but nothing consistent.

Yesterday afternoon I thought I would sit on my back porch and try to soak up some rays and try to change the color of my pasty, white skin.  I headed out with a magazine.  Everytime I tried to read the magazine my attention was elsewhere.  I finally decided to quit trying to read and I closed my eyes.  In true Kansas fashion the wind was something to be reckoned with.  It was a warm wind though.  Something I haven't felt in months.  I just took in some deep breaths and I could smell my neighbors smoker cooking up something delicious.  I could hear the childrens screams and laughter at the neighborhood pool that is two doors down.  As I looked that direction I saw a little boy do a cannon ball into the water.  In the other direction I heard the sounds of a lawnmower and a weed wacker working hard to cut the lawn.  Directly in back of me I saw my neighbor cleaning her windows from the outside.  Trying to clear away the remnants of our nasty winter.  I then noticed a girl riding her bike with nothing but her swimsuit, goggles and towel headed to the pool.  Several families walked by my house taking a leisurly Sunday stroll and enjoying the weather.  The hibiscus plants I planted last week have several new buds growing and big blooms growing.

Summer is finally here.  When the days are long and lazy (kind of).  When there isn't bedtimes or homework deadlines.  When I can sit outside and drink my morning coffee or evening wine.  When my kids can run around shirtless and shoeless and it's ok.  When baseball season seems to last FOREVER!  Summer means trips to the library and doing fun things with my kids, the constant smell of chlorine and sunscreen, tan skin, blue skies, emerald grass, mosquito bites, the scent of citronella, abundant fresh fruit, farmers market's, backyard bbq's, sangria and margaritas, sundresses and flipflops.

School is out tomorrow for my kids and I am surprisingly looking forward to having them home!  What does summer mean to you?

 
Jules

LIFE QUESTIONS

"The world is full of women blindsided by the unceasing demands of motherhood, still flabbergasted by how a job can be terrific and torturous." Anna Quindlen.

Lately I have been surrounded by very successful working mothers.  Mothers who make working outside of the home seem easy and fulfilling.  Working mothers who seem very happy and satisfied with life.  Being around these women makes me take my mind to where I probably shouldn't take it.  Being around them begs me to take a picture of my life and analyze.  Am I happy?  Am I fulfilled?  To be perfectly honest, I don't know if I can answer 100% yes.  Cleaning a house, cooking dinners, driving your kids around, changing diapers, doing laundry, only speaking to children most days, ALWAYS being there can slowly drive a woman insane!

I NEVER viewed staying home with my children as a sacrifice until recently.  I am being forced to wonder where my career would be if I hadn't taken off 9 years (so far) to raise children.  How much money would I be making?  Where would I be working?  Would I have gone back to school?  I was very interested in becoming a nurse anesthetist and I probably would have been one if I hadn't stayed home with my sweeties.  Don't get me wrong.....I am not complaining.  I chose to do this job without hesitation.  I'm just sort of thinking out loud right now.

I am a VERY motherly person.  One who likes to nurture and take care of people, especially my children.  I know if I had chosen the other route (working outside of the home) I would be asking myself the questions of are my kids happy?  Are they adjusted?  Do they wish I was home? And so on and so forth.  I do think that whether you choose to work at home (be full time mommy) or work outside of the home you may question yourself either way?  Both are hard.  I'm not really sure why all of a sudden I am just now wondering about all of this.  I feel like I should have wondered about it before now!!! 

I'll be honest in saying that sometimes I envy the working mother.  I envy that they get to maintain an independence and identity other than being a mother.  They have the luxury of having adult interactions and their work (to me) could be viewed as a "break" from family life.  Maybe working mothers envy me as well?  I always get to be home with my kids. 

It's all good though.  For me, right now, this is the best thing.  It is very reassuring to me to know that I am ALWAYS here even if it is exhausting.  Nobody has to take a sick day or a vacation day when one of the kids is sick or there is a snow day (which actually happens alot).  I can always drive to and make most events, sporting or otherwise.  I get to take the credit or blame for my kids actions.  I do have three really good reasons that I sacrificed my career and working life.  They are pictured below:

Haha!  Nick's face cracks me up in this picture.  If given a "redo" I would probably choose this same path!  Although I don't get paid in money, I do get paid in alot of other ways!

Jules

Bandana pants

Wow!  I have been absent for a long time!  To be honest, I think I just felt like I didn't have anything interesting to write about or share these past weeks.  I FINALLY started sewing again.  I made a bunch of these outfits to be sold at Addie Rose Boutique and Maddie's Closet in Leawood.

I realize that the pants appear stupid wide in this picture.  I assure you that any diaper booty'd little girl looks adorable in this outfit.  The shirt is just a simple tank with a grosgrain ribbon sewn into place.  This is such a simple project.  I even bought some blue bandanas to make my son some PJ pants with.  Pictures to follow!  Now let's just hope they sell!

Jules

EMBRACE THE CAMERA THURSDAY

I haven't joined http://www.andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/ for an embrace the camera in a looooong time.  I caught Nick in the office with a marker and a pen destroying my desk calender.  There are pen marks all over his cheeks.  I think I caught him just in time before he started coloring the walls.  Go check out the other embracers!

Jules

SHUTTER LOVE TUESDAY...EVEN THOUGH IT'S THURSDAY

I am entering this photo at http://www.trendytreehouse.blogspot.com/.  The theme this week is eyelashes.  I love this picture of little Nick.  The girls are going to be jealous of those lashes someday!  Go check out the other eyelashes!  Don't forget to go vote for me in the comments section of the trendytreehouse blog.  Thanks!



Jules