Today we got to meet some of our future neighbors....lots of them!
Sort of a funny story....a patient that I took at work probably a month ago or so had an address on the street that runs perpendicular to our new street (it's the busy street that'll be to our side). So I asked where on that street she lived (it's a pretty long street) and she told me....come to find out this woman is about 5 houses away from where our new house will be!! So on her way out, she asked for our email addresses-she said they have a neighborhood email list that they use and could she add us to it? So I gave them to her.
A few weeks ago, we got an email from the neighborhood saying they were having a block party. I emailed back asking if they minded if we attended since we don't really live there yet. And we were welcomed.
So, today was the party!
Yes it was strange walking into someone's backyard who you've never met and neither Gabe or I are big social butterflies so it makes it even harder! But we did it and we're glad we did!! We met a lot of nice people and Avery had a blast-there are SO many kids in the area!!
Someone in the area had a bounce house so they brought it and set it up-it took Avery awhile to get up the courage to go in...but once she did we had to drag her out of it!
It did rain while we were there-actually it poured. We all huddled under a tent and I'd say within 10-15min it stopped and then it was a beautiful evening.
I thought for sure Avery would crash when we got home, but to my surprise she didn't fall asleep until 9:45!! She must have been too excited about all of her new friends!!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Mexican Stuffed Shells
I got this recipe from a chat board that I go on so I decided to try it out this week....and yes, I picked the hottest day of the year to turn on the oven too!! But with central air, it wasn't that big of a deal to me.
Mexican Stuffed Shells
1 lb ground turkey
1 packet taco seasoning
jumbo shell pasta (12-15 shells)
1 cup salsa
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup taco sauce and 1/2 cup tomato sauce (mix together)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cook jumbo shells according to package. Drain and let cool
3. While shells are cooking, cook ground turkey in a frying pan until browned. Drain fat and add taco seasoning. Cook according to directions on seasoning packet. Once finished, add cream cheese and stir until cheese is melted and well mixed. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Pour salsa to cover the bottom of a 9x13" pan
5. Stuff shells with meat mixture and place into pan.
6. Top shells with sauce mixture and shredded cheese.
7. Cover with foil and bake 30min. Remove foil, add shredded cheeses and bake an additional 10-15minutes until cheese melts.
(Notes: The recipe called for 12-15 shells which to me didn't seem like much. I cooked half of the box which was about 25 shells and had just enough meat to fill them. For the shredded cheeses, I just used a Mexican blend I got at the store. I also didn't cover the shells with foil. Instead, I topped them with the cheese right away and baked them close to an hour, uncovered.)
I did take a photo, but it didn't turn out well at all so I'm not going to bother posting it. These shells turned out really good and we'll definitely make them again. I was a little leary because I'm not a huge Mexican fan, but they weren't really spicy or anything like that. Definitely a nice variation from regular stuffed shells!
Mexican Stuffed Shells
1 lb ground turkey
1 packet taco seasoning
jumbo shell pasta (12-15 shells)
1 cup salsa
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup taco sauce and 1/2 cup tomato sauce (mix together)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cook jumbo shells according to package. Drain and let cool
3. While shells are cooking, cook ground turkey in a frying pan until browned. Drain fat and add taco seasoning. Cook according to directions on seasoning packet. Once finished, add cream cheese and stir until cheese is melted and well mixed. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Pour salsa to cover the bottom of a 9x13" pan
5. Stuff shells with meat mixture and place into pan.
6. Top shells with sauce mixture and shredded cheese.
7. Cover with foil and bake 30min. Remove foil, add shredded cheeses and bake an additional 10-15minutes until cheese melts.
(Notes: The recipe called for 12-15 shells which to me didn't seem like much. I cooked half of the box which was about 25 shells and had just enough meat to fill them. For the shredded cheeses, I just used a Mexican blend I got at the store. I also didn't cover the shells with foil. Instead, I topped them with the cheese right away and baked them close to an hour, uncovered.)
I did take a photo, but it didn't turn out well at all so I'm not going to bother posting it. These shells turned out really good and we'll definitely make them again. I was a little leary because I'm not a huge Mexican fan, but they weren't really spicy or anything like that. Definitely a nice variation from regular stuffed shells!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Zoo Trip!
Avery's old daycare provider arranged a zoo outing so that we could get the kids together. It's been a few months since they've all seen each other.
So today was the day-and it was a perfect day for it!
Avery and I went shortly after the zoo opened at 10 so that we could have some extra time walking around. I wanted to leave the zoo around 12:30 to get Avery home for her nap.
Josie and her Mom met us there early as well and these two kiddos go to their new daycare together too! They are peas in a pod! Today they wanted to hold hands and it was so darn cute! They both had this huge grin on their face while walking hand in hand! Precious!
After we walked around and saw the monkeys, rhinos, hyenas, tiger, snakes, sea otters, and wolves, it was time to meet up with everyone else. As soon as we met them, we did a quick group photo (I think one person is missing though):
Then the kids were bursting with energy so we hit the playground that the zoo has. They have a little water area so everyone else went to that while Avery continued going down the slide. She then took off and wanted to go see the monkeys again, but she ran in the wrong direction! So I took her to see the polar bear, penguins, and sea lions before going back to see everyone. She loved this polar bear statue!
Once we caught up with everyone, they were having lunch. Avery ate as well and we walked with them for about 5min before heading home. Despite my effort to get her home in time for nap, I think we waited too long because she never fell asleep for us!! So, it was an early bedtime for her tonight!
So today was the day-and it was a perfect day for it!
Avery and I went shortly after the zoo opened at 10 so that we could have some extra time walking around. I wanted to leave the zoo around 12:30 to get Avery home for her nap.
Josie and her Mom met us there early as well and these two kiddos go to their new daycare together too! They are peas in a pod! Today they wanted to hold hands and it was so darn cute! They both had this huge grin on their face while walking hand in hand! Precious!
After we walked around and saw the monkeys, rhinos, hyenas, tiger, snakes, sea otters, and wolves, it was time to meet up with everyone else. As soon as we met them, we did a quick group photo (I think one person is missing though):
Then the kids were bursting with energy so we hit the playground that the zoo has. They have a little water area so everyone else went to that while Avery continued going down the slide. She then took off and wanted to go see the monkeys again, but she ran in the wrong direction! So I took her to see the polar bear, penguins, and sea lions before going back to see everyone. She loved this polar bear statue!
Once we caught up with everyone, they were having lunch. Avery ate as well and we walked with them for about 5min before heading home. Despite my effort to get her home in time for nap, I think we waited too long because she never fell asleep for us!! So, it was an early bedtime for her tonight!Friday, June 3, 2011
Garden Celebration
Avery's daycare had an end of the year Garden Celebration yesterday. Sort of a culmination of "look how much we've grown this past year".
It was one of those proud Mama moments....ya know...getting nervous/excited for them, tearing up when they're "onstage". Yep, one of those.
All of the parents showed up around 4pm and we were asked to bring a light snack. I of course had to make some flower cupcakes to go along with the garden theme (they went like hotcakes and were pretty yummy!):
All of the parents took a seat out in the playground area. Then the kids all paraded out. The toddler group went first (18mo-3yr olds). They started with a song playing on a radio about flowers and they did a music and movement type of thing. As you can see, Avery just stood there (shes all the way to the right):
Crouching down before the flowers grow:
After the toddlers did that song, they did a little bumblebee skit and song. Then the younger ones came back to sit with their parents and the "older" toddlers did one more little skit. Then the preschoolers did their routine. It was really cute!
It was one of those proud Mama moments....ya know...getting nervous/excited for them, tearing up when they're "onstage". Yep, one of those.
All of the parents showed up around 4pm and we were asked to bring a light snack. I of course had to make some flower cupcakes to go along with the garden theme (they went like hotcakes and were pretty yummy!):
All of the parents took a seat out in the playground area. Then the kids all paraded out. The toddler group went first (18mo-3yr olds). They started with a song playing on a radio about flowers and they did a music and movement type of thing. As you can see, Avery just stood there (shes all the way to the right):
Crouching down before the flowers grow:
After the toddlers did that song, they did a little bumblebee skit and song. Then the younger ones came back to sit with their parents and the "older" toddlers did one more little skit. Then the preschoolers did their routine. It was really cute!
At the end, the director brought out a habitat with 5 butterflies in it. They had bought them as larva and taught the kids the different stages it goes through-larva, caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly. They decided to release them into the wild at the end of the celebration:
After the butterfly release, each family got to plant some flowers in the garden for the daycare. Then they had all of the snacks out for some mingling. It was such a cute party and I think Avery enjoyed it!
After the butterfly release, each family got to plant some flowers in the garden for the daycare. Then they had all of the snacks out for some mingling. It was such a cute party and I think Avery enjoyed it! Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Memorial Day Weekend
I love nice, long weekends! Especially when the weather turns out to be gorgeous!!
Let's see....Saturday morning I went to the gym then after Avery didn't nap, we took her to a playground and out for dinner. We also brought out her potty seat to see what she thought of it. At first she was really excited about sitting on it.....
Let's see....Saturday morning I went to the gym then after Avery didn't nap, we took her to a playground and out for dinner. We also brought out her potty seat to see what she thought of it. At first she was really excited about sitting on it.....
(tea anyone?)
But then the novelty wore off and soon enough she wanted to climb in it and take it apart, etc. Let's just say she's not ready just yet for this!
On Sunday we didn't do much in the morning. I went grocery shopping in the afternoon and then later I took Avery out shopping at Michaels'a and to Carter's to get her some new clothes. (They had a HUGE sale going on!)
On Monday we decided to take Avery to her first parade!! We went to the city's parade which was downtown. There weren't a ton of people there and we found seats pretty easily. Here's Avery waiting for the fun to begin!
She had her spot on the curb-up front and in the action!
She loved the horses!
And when the bagpipes went by, she got up and started dancing! It was so cute!
Avery and I at the parade:
We had to buy her a flag to wave around! Look at my patriotic little girl! I could eat her up!
After the parade, she came home and napped. Then we went to my in-laws' for a cookout. Gabe's sister and her family came and my Mom and Aunt Pat also came in from Buffalo to join us!! Owen had fun finding snails (I think he had 4 of them):
And Avery was very interested in them!
Avery and Owen played some catch with my Mom:
Avery with her football:
The cookout was great-we got to eat outside and relax! It was just a beautiful day outside!!
Happy Memorial Day!
On Sunday we didn't do much in the morning. I went grocery shopping in the afternoon and then later I took Avery out shopping at Michaels'a and to Carter's to get her some new clothes. (They had a HUGE sale going on!)
On Monday we decided to take Avery to her first parade!! We went to the city's parade which was downtown. There weren't a ton of people there and we found seats pretty easily. Here's Avery waiting for the fun to begin!
She had her spot on the curb-up front and in the action!
She loved the horses!
And when the bagpipes went by, she got up and started dancing! It was so cute!
Avery and I at the parade:
We had to buy her a flag to wave around! Look at my patriotic little girl! I could eat her up!
After the parade, she came home and napped. Then we went to my in-laws' for a cookout. Gabe's sister and her family came and my Mom and Aunt Pat also came in from Buffalo to join us!! Owen had fun finding snails (I think he had 4 of them):
And Avery was very interested in them!
Avery and Owen played some catch with my Mom:
Avery with her football:
The cookout was great-we got to eat outside and relax! It was just a beautiful day outside!!Happy Memorial Day!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Twenty Three Months Old!
Today Avery turned 23 months! Only one more month until someone has another birthday! Wow!
I would say her eating has been better these days-she seems to eat better meals. Although the past week or so she wants to sit in her highchair only now (not her booster)...which is odd, but we roll with it. The other night we went out for dinner and she ate the biggest meal ever-a bowl of applesauce, a hot dog, a ton of french fries, and a bowl of ice cream! We were amazed at how much this kid put away!
Her sleep has been all over the place, especially the last week or two. She had numerous days of not napping and then taking FOREVER to fall asleep at night-sometimes close to 2 hours! I'll be honest, it's been frustrating to me because I can see how tired she is in her face and yet she won't give up and fall asleep. We tried everything-earlier naps, earlier bedtimes and she still takes just as long to finally conk out. I don't know what's going on with her, but I really hope it gets better-for both of our sakes!
This month Avery also dealt with her first round of antibiotics. She had both croup and an ear infection so doing the meds for 10 days was not fun at all. She was a trooper though and really never acted too sick, thankfully!
Thanks to her Dora book, Avery now says "Hola" and "Soy Dora" which is too funny! She also sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Wheels on the Bus", and her new favorite is the alphabet song!! She skips maybe 1-2 letters, but overall does a great job with it. And at the end she says "Now ABC's....next won't sing me" (yep, every other word). It's so cute though and she sings it A LOT these days! She also started saying "please" on her own without us prompting her. Again, super cute to hear her say "More juice please Mommy"....love it!!
We finally bumped her up to size 4 diapers during the day. She still wears mostly 12/18 month clothes-especially pants because she's so skinny that they fall right off of her! She has a few pairs that we've had to take in a bit in the waist so they'll stay up!! (wish I had that problem!)
Here are the pics of Avery this month....
blowing Daddy a kiss:
"Cheese!"
I told her to smile:
Another smiling one:
I didn't get too many great ones this time-after I took these, she was saying, "all done" and was diving to get off of the chair...oh well!
I would say her eating has been better these days-she seems to eat better meals. Although the past week or so she wants to sit in her highchair only now (not her booster)...which is odd, but we roll with it. The other night we went out for dinner and she ate the biggest meal ever-a bowl of applesauce, a hot dog, a ton of french fries, and a bowl of ice cream! We were amazed at how much this kid put away!
Her sleep has been all over the place, especially the last week or two. She had numerous days of not napping and then taking FOREVER to fall asleep at night-sometimes close to 2 hours! I'll be honest, it's been frustrating to me because I can see how tired she is in her face and yet she won't give up and fall asleep. We tried everything-earlier naps, earlier bedtimes and she still takes just as long to finally conk out. I don't know what's going on with her, but I really hope it gets better-for both of our sakes!
This month Avery also dealt with her first round of antibiotics. She had both croup and an ear infection so doing the meds for 10 days was not fun at all. She was a trooper though and really never acted too sick, thankfully!
Thanks to her Dora book, Avery now says "Hola" and "Soy Dora" which is too funny! She also sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Wheels on the Bus", and her new favorite is the alphabet song!! She skips maybe 1-2 letters, but overall does a great job with it. And at the end she says "Now ABC's....next won't sing me" (yep, every other word). It's so cute though and she sings it A LOT these days! She also started saying "please" on her own without us prompting her. Again, super cute to hear her say "More juice please Mommy"....love it!!
We finally bumped her up to size 4 diapers during the day. She still wears mostly 12/18 month clothes-especially pants because she's so skinny that they fall right off of her! She has a few pairs that we've had to take in a bit in the waist so they'll stay up!! (wish I had that problem!)
Here are the pics of Avery this month....
blowing Daddy a kiss:
"Cheese!"
I told her to smile:
Another smiling one:
I didn't get too many great ones this time-after I took these, she was saying, "all done" and was diving to get off of the chair...oh well!Next month we'll have a birthday to write about!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wilton Course 2, Class 4
Last night was my last Wilton class for course 2.
We had a lot to prepare for this week....we had to bake and frost a cake at home and also bring in 2 batches of buttercream frosting. Lots of time in the kitchen for this week!
There are only 2 of us in this class and the other girl didn't show up last night, so I had a private lesson! It was pretty neat!
We started out by learning the reverse shell, which was pretty easy. Then we learned how to do a basket weave. It's actually not too hard once you get the hang of it. Time consuming-yes! Hard-no!
Once we practiced those, it was time to decorate our cake. I brought in the flowers we made in previous classes for the decorating. We started out by putting the basket weave on the cake-which took quite awhile (and a LOT of frosting) to do! Then we topped the weave with the reverse shell border. After that, we added the flowers to it and put in some leaves.
Here's my final product:
Close up of the reverse shell border:
close up of the basket weave:
Overall I was pleased with my cake. Some parts of the basket weave weren't perfect, but that's ok-it was my first time doing it so I can't expect it to be perfect! I wasn't totally thrilled with the layout of my flowers either, but I only brought the big flowers we made so it was hard fitting them all on there just right.
We had a lot to prepare for this week....we had to bake and frost a cake at home and also bring in 2 batches of buttercream frosting. Lots of time in the kitchen for this week!
There are only 2 of us in this class and the other girl didn't show up last night, so I had a private lesson! It was pretty neat!
We started out by learning the reverse shell, which was pretty easy. Then we learned how to do a basket weave. It's actually not too hard once you get the hang of it. Time consuming-yes! Hard-no!
Once we practiced those, it was time to decorate our cake. I brought in the flowers we made in previous classes for the decorating. We started out by putting the basket weave on the cake-which took quite awhile (and a LOT of frosting) to do! Then we topped the weave with the reverse shell border. After that, we added the flowers to it and put in some leaves.
Here's my final product:
Close up of the reverse shell border:
close up of the basket weave:
Overall I was pleased with my cake. Some parts of the basket weave weren't perfect, but that's ok-it was my first time doing it so I can't expect it to be perfect! I wasn't totally thrilled with the layout of my flowers either, but I only brought the big flowers we made so it was hard fitting them all on there just right. Gabe took the cake in for his coworkers today and apparently it was a big hit!!
As of now, I'm probably not taking the next course-it's all using fondant which I really don't care about at this time...maybe in the future I'll sign up for it!
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