Pizza Quesadillas

I haven't blogged here in over 2 years, but I randomly decided to start again!  Mostly I want to keep track of the cute happenings with the kids, like I have said before.  I am presently enjoying my last two year old and I don't want to forget the ever changing words and sentences (sit the chair Mama!!) that she uses!  I also plan to share some recipes and ideas, but we will see!

Yesterday I decided to try something new for the kids' lunches.  I call it pizza quesadillas but there is no sauce.  If I ever plan ahead or have extra time in the morning (unlikely) I will send some tomato sauce in a little container to see if they like dipping these.

My 7 (almost 8!) year old son, Ryan is not a huge fan of sandwiches so I am always looking for other things he will eat.  Super easy and quick:  flour tortilla on a plate, mozzarella cheese, 6 pieces of turkey pepperoni, top with another tortilla, and microwave until it just barely melts and sticks together.  I have been doing it in the morning so I don't want it to be too hot to put in a lunch box with ice packs.  Cut in 8 pieces, and done!

I also pack a lunch for Katie (6yo) and yesterday I tried half (4 triangles) for each of them.  They reported back that it wasn't enough to eat so I am trying the whole thing for each today.  As I was putting it in the container, I thought that it seemed like a good canvas for food color markers and a quick note, so I tried that as a surprise for them.  Not my best art work since we were tight on time, but it will make them smile :-)

I don't usually count calories or watch what the kids eat besides trying to make healthy choices, but since I am posting here I figured out some nutritional info.  I am glad I did because it was interesting for me and I was surprised by the flour tortillas!  The total for 2 medium flour tortillas, 1/4c (28g) of part skim mozz cheese, and 6 pieces of turkey pepperoni is 365 calories, 13.4g fat, 41g carb, 17g of protein, and 2g dietary fiber.  The two tortillas provided 260 cal and 6g of fat.  I am pretty picky about the tortillas but I might try some others to see what options there are.  I don't like turkey pepperoni (picky!), but the kids do, and it is a great option for them if they have pepperoni.

Let me know if you try this, or if you have any other ideas!

Being Present and Enjoying Now

I have always loved the quote "nothing is worth more than this day" though I find it hard to live like that all the time. I think I do pretty well with enjoying moments and appreciating the little things, but it's so easy to think about the future and to-do lists.

The present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now. – source

I found this quote on a blog that I read, at 4am this morning when I was wide awake, because that is what happens when you have 11 hours of sleep the night before, pregnant or not! Emily from The Daily Garnish wrote a post titled "On Being Present" and it reminded me that I need to focus on this more. Check out the original source of the quote as well - it has a list of 15 things to give up to be happy. Great list.

It is so true. We have today. Who knows what else we have, and what tomorrow may bring. Not appreciating today while we are experiencing it is a loss. Today is a gift. Will we have bad days? Of course. Even on the worst of days though, there are so many wonderful things if we can just take the time to see them. I truly believe that we can choose happiness, and make the best of many situations. It does take effort to do this, and sometimes it just doesn't happen, which is ok too.

As a parent, sometimes it seems very easy to be present. I can gaze into their gorgeous, sweet faces and just listen to their adorable voices and share their excitement about a popsicle or a bird that they see outside. I often remark about Katie and how she has no thought about what she is doing next. When we get ice cream, she puts tiny amounts on her spoon, savoring each spoonful in no hurry to do anything else. This can take a while and she invariably ends up with melted ice cream, and that is savored just the same, with all the time in the world. I also notice this when I pick her up from preschool. It is so cute to watch the 3 year olds get up from their tables, pushing in their chairs and grabbing their belongings, looking at their friends and appreciating everything without a care in the world, and with no thought of rushing because they have anywhere to go.

These pictures are from a day a few weeks ago when I remember really living in the moment with the kids. We had a busy day with school followed by swimming lessons, but then went to the Fish Hatchery to feed the fish and enjoy the beautiful and unseasonably warm day. I remember posting to Facebook about how relaxing and incredible it is to just lie outside in the grass. I was very aware of how it felt, to completely relax and feel the ground and the soft grass under me, enjoying the nice warm breeze. While I was doing that, the kids were playing in the tree nearby, and I got to just watch them having a great time.

At other times, it's especially easy to not live in the present. Certain stages can be trying, and it's tempting to wish away the time, thinking about how things will be easier when ____. As the mom of a 5 year old and soon-to-be 4 year old who is 29 weeks pregnant and still struggling with morning sickness, it's so easy to think about how much better I'll feel in June, and wish for that time when (God willing) I know the baby is safe and healthy and here. But then I remember that in a few months Katie won't be 3 anymore and Ryan will no longer be a preschooler, and I try to savor the feeling of holding Ryan and Katie while my baby kicks inside of me, even if they have woken me at 6am by crawling into my bed. Can life really get better than that?

Why I need to blog!

I think I might have said this a time or twenty. I know I will forget all the precious things the kids say and do day to day . . . all the little things that make being a parent so special and touching!

Tonight I was doing bedtime with Katie and she said "I'm sure sure sleepy" and she was so incredibly sweet when I put her in her crib. She said "oh, just what I wanted!!" and then she gave me "nose kisses" and "head kisses." Nose kisses are Eskimo kisses and head kisses are where we rub our foreheads together in the same manner. Too funny.

She can have quite a temper, but MAN, is she sweet. She has been acting very clingy, which I KNOW isn't a great thing, but it's kind of nice in a way too. Ryan had always wanted Marc to do everything for/with him, so it's a surprise for me when Katie wants only me. I'm not used to this! More on this in another post!

Ryan was so funny today. My mom said "you are something else!" and he said "Ha!!! WHAT else???" He also said that the geese were "crying out loud," which I think was a very literal attempt at using the phrase, LOL!

I wanted to post about a cute mispronunciation that Katie just stopped saying, but I can't think of it right now. I don't think I even told Marc. Hmmmm. We still have a "diamond room" (both of them say that instead of dining room) and Katie still loves "cakecups." I'll think of it!

Oh my, they both did a million cute and things today, but this is all I'll write for now :-)

Sibling Sweetness

Sometimes it is almost painful how CUTE and SWEET Ryan and Kate are together. Yes, there are many moments that are a little scary - tackles, wrestling, knock downs, etc. But when they are sweet, they are very very sweet, and it makes my heart melt.

Every morning Ryan loves to go into Katie's room to get her once she is awake. Katie smiles a huge smile and waves and says "Hi Ryrun" usually before she addresses me. Soon after, Ryan starts saying "come on baby, come on Kate, let's go to my room." He LOVES playing in his room with her. They run around, play train, and pile everything into Ryan's bed, LOL.

This morning I could tell he had to go to the bathroom, so I convinced him to go, and he asked Katie to come. I told Katie she could wash her hands. He got up on the stool and filled the sink with water for her to play with, helped her onto the stool, and said "first you have to push your sleeves up baby" and helped her do it. I was so proud. After he was done and washed his hands, he wanted to play with her in the water so I got him another cup, and he poured water into Katie's cup asking her if she wanted more, telling her to hold her cup up straight so he could fill it, and just enjoying the moment.

Awwwww!!!! I am so thankful they have each other!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a wonderful long weekend! This is the "snow house" that Marc and Ryan have been working on. Complete with tunnel entrance, windows, and cup holder, LOL.


This was at Nana's house - on the huge pile of snow that was removed from the nearby driveways. Here


Smiling for the camera on Valentine's day in his "Love Monkey" shirt.

snow!

I had a great day with the kids today! We went out to play in the snow in the morning before going shopping (and visiting the train table at the bookstore) and then baking cookies with Ryan while Katie napped. I am tired just typing it! Both kids loved the snow - especially eating it, LOL! There was lots of sledding, and Ryan made some snow angels (his idea!). He also did lots of digging!

On the right side there is now a link to a baking blog I may or may not keep up to date, LOL! I wanted to have a place to keep some pictures and ideas!

the little things

I really need to blog more often because if I don't do it day to day, I forget some of the little things I don't ever want to forget! The little things are so precious and Ryan and Katie are changing and growing up every minute!!!

I even occasionally save posts and then don't get back to them. I have a post that I started on Christmas - but I didn't get (or take) the time to finish it and post it. I need to be a little better. I want to be. It's hard to find the balance!

Today they put a street light up outside our house and Ryan asked me to bring him to the one window to see it better - and he said "them broomin' out there" - I think he was combining "broom" and "sweeping" :-)

Here are a few recent pics . . .

"Jack me up, Dada!"

That is what Ryan said right before I took this picture, LOL. Yes, not the safest activity - but since they seem to do this, I had to at least take a picture :-) There was also a lot of digging and raking done this weekend. When Katie and I got home from Little Gym on Saturday, Ryan said "Katie might want to dig with me" before she was even out of the car :-)

Happy Halloween!

It was raining for trick-or-treat on Saturday. We got the the end of the driveway and it started POURING so we ran for cover on the porch and waited it out until it let up a bit. The kids didn't seem to mind one bit. You can tell the kids are wet in the pictures and check out the rain all over Katie's face in some of them! On Sunday, November 1st, there was a Halloween party at Little Gym so Ryan and I went since Katie was napping. With the time change she was SO tired and we couldn't keep her up - it was from 12-3 and she slept from 12-4! For more pics click here!


"Why is my face so wet?"

"See, we didn't melt, and are even having fun!"

responses!

Ryan has started saying "o-tay" (ok) in response to many questions and comments that we make. It still shocks me every single time, LOL. I know it probably doesn't sound like much, but it always surprises us because it's such a change. I have been thinking about what the change really is - it is not that he wasn't answering us before. In some cases, he is responding verbally where he wasn't before. If I had asked for him to take his shoes off, he usually just did it, but now his action is preceded by "o-tay" - so cute! In other cases I think he is saying "ok" as a response instead of "yes." The other day (while working on the railroad) he had two handfuls of train track and I asked him to cover the piano keys. He spun around to look at the piano and said "o-tay, in a minute." I LOVE how our little boy talks and I continue to be unable to get enough!!

In other response news, Katie is answering questions too! If you ask her a yes/no question she will say "no" or "uh-huh" to respond. So so cute!!!! This also shocked us. Most times it actually comes out as "uh.....HUH" and usually includes some shoulder shrugging to emphasize her point :-) She is such a sweetie! Right now she loves giving hugs. There are times when we are eating and I have to get up from my chair 10 times in a row to respond to her calls of "hugggg hugggg hugggg" and outstretched arms. I know, it's a very tough life :-)

Happy Birthday to our precious little man!

*Here* are some interesting facts about October 7th in history. For us, October 7th is the day we met our son, the day we were lucky enough to become Ryan's Mommy and Daddy. I will never stop being amazed at how he has changed our lives for the better and has brought us a world and lifetime of happiness. Happy Birthday Ryan! We love you so much!

I can't believe he's already 3!!!!! It seems like only yesterday we took these pictures . . .

color of the day: RED

This was Ryan's 3rd week of preschool. He is going Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-3. The first week he was only there for 90 minutes total, so this is his second "full" week. The first week consisted of a 30 min "meet the teacher" session where I stayed with him on Tuesday, and an hour long class for him on Thursday where I was still in the building participating in an orientation for the parents. I don't know of him shedding a tear - it's a struggle for me to get him to say goodbye since he wants to start playing as soon as he walks in the room. I'm very happy he seems to be enjoying it! I still need to post pictures from his first day!

Today he had to wear red - the color of the week - so I snapped a few pics of him in his new red shirt. He's getting so big! I am also including a picture of Katie from yesterday. I was trying to get a picture of her in her new tights (which I was LOVING) but she didn't cooperate, so this is the best I could do! And yes, that sock is in the garbage :-)

groggy windows

When he got up this morning, there was condensation covering Ryan's windows. You really couldn't see out at all. He was talking about a "grog" (frog) and it hopping way up high, and it took me a little while to catch on :-) He explained "a grog hopped way up high and made Ryrun's windows all groggy!! Need a ladder to clean Ryrun's windows" LOL! I guess he was thinking the windows were "foggy" but got it confused with "froggy" - clearly a frog was to blame :-) So so cute! I also love that he realized we'd need a ladder to clean the windows from the outside.

"The dogs no like Ryan in the corner"

Apparently, Golden Retrievers don't agree with time-outs. Who knew? LOL! This is his latest excuse, and I heard it over and over during his last time-out. He also said that he couldn't walk over to the corner.

His talking continues to amaze us. The other day we were at my mom's house and his drink was on a table near my mom's cat. Ryan started screaming "Cat! Cat!" which of course caused the cat to flee to safety. Then he said "Ryan had to scare Nana's cat away so the cat would not drink Ryan's drink." I remember when we used to talk about whether he was saying 3 or 4 word sentences :-)

Another cute thing that I had wanted to write down, though it was said months ago now . . . Ryan bit into a grape and exclaimed "there's juice in there!" Now that I am typing it I feel like maybe I already blogged about it, LOL. So maybe I'm repeating myself. Oh well!

Let's see, what else . . .

Ryan has discovered plugging the drain in the sink, though he can't quite reach the handle to do so himself. When we go in the powder room he immediately gets on his stool and starts saying "Mama, please pull that up please mama . . ." The other day he had the sink half full of water and made his fist "swim" around in it and said "like Nemo swims through the ocean."

About a month ago now, Ryan stood on the base of a cane (the kind that has four little feet) that had been in the garage. The handle is bent and makes it look like a microphone, just the right size for a toddler. He was saying (screaming) something over and over and over and my mom and I could not figure out what he was saying. I finally figured out that he was saying "WE ARE HERE!" and realized he was copying the last scene from "Horton Hears a Who" - I was surprised he remembered and thought of that!

A while ago he saw Marc feeding the dogs and said "Ryrun eat cocoa puffs TOO!!!!"

nuke nuke & trains

Ryan and I were just sitting at the table eating and I hummed a song and he said "mama, put some nuke nuke (music) on!" I asked what I should put on and he said "I workin' on the railroad" - awwww! His face lit up when I opened iTunes and started playing "I've been working on the railroad" - we have a playlist of some of his favorites.

A week or two ago we were eating dinner and has some music on and he said "mama, turn the nuke nuke off" and after I asked why he said "so Ryrun can hear the rain!" It was a pretty nice rainstorm :-)

Today we went to Barnes & Noble and the kids enjoyed playing with the train table. Katie was bringing all the helicopters (one at a time) to the grandmother of a little girl that was also playing. She was also blowing kisses to the little girl and the grandmother. When the grandmother's cell phone went off, Katie was dancing to the music. Out little social butterfly had a great time! Ryan loved it too and he played very nicely!

Here are some pics from today that I took with my camera phone . . .

Ryan calls this the "turnpike" :-)



Katie with a "helpacoppa"


Ok, I have to go play with blocks :-)

"this new toy not working, Mama"

Katie woke up from her nap, and I wanted to get her a snack. Ryan wasn't hungry, so I went in the office to get him a "new" toy that is really just something he hasn't played with in a while. I got his little street rug and his matchbox cars and thought he'd love playing with it for a few minutes instead of distracting Katie in the kitchen. After about 2 minutes, he comes over and says "this new toy not working, Mama." I laughed and went over, curious to find out how a carpet on the floor can be "not working" so I ask. He says "all the cars fall over" and of course there are about 10 inverted cars scattered around. I ask to see and he drives a car on the roads, complete with sound effects and then discreetly flips it over, LOL. Apparently, this is a pretty dangerous stretch of road, and 10 minutes to feed your daughter some yogurt is too much to ask :-)

Katie has been saying and signing more and more. She loves the Paddington bears that Marc brought home from London a few months ago, and "bear" is one of her favorite words. It's also very cute how she signs it. This morning she picked out a Raggedy Ann book to read before her nap, and she found a teddy bear among a large group of toys in the story. She was so excited to sign and say "bear" every time she saw him, and SCREAMED and cried if he wasn't on one of the pages, LOL!

cookies

There is a Nestle Cafe at one of the shopping areas near us. The kids really enjoyed it, as you can see below. I enjoyed the half of a cookie that I shared with Katie while Ryan ate a whole one and lost it because I even suggested that he should share a tiny piece with Katie. He broke a VERY small piece off, but then thought better of it and ate it himself.


This looks like a girl that is enjoying her cookie. Maybe, as the bag suggests, Nestle really does make the very best.


"What do you mean that is the last cookie??"

a fun weekend

I will update this and post more soon, but for now, here is a link to pictures! The pictures are even still uploading, but I need to go to bed at the moment!

On Friday we went with Nana to Jim Thorpe to ride the train. Since Ryan LOVES trains, he was pretty excited! On Saturday we went to visit Grammie and PopPop and went for a swim. It was freezing, but the kids still enjoyed the water. On the way home, we stopped to see some fireworks which Ryan loved!

I think Katie is a toddler now!

Here she is walking across our family room - it's 17 feet gate to gate. She and Ryan came up with this game on their own - I got the camera after the 1st two laps :-) Ryan can open the gates now, but he was having too much fun running back and forth through the dining room! He also noticed her walking on his own - he was playing with his trains and saw her and said "Katie Walk!!" He was so excited about it, as you'll see!

Happy Birthday Dada!

Here is Ryan singing Happy Birthday to Dada! He also adds in "I love you dada" all on his own. At the end he says "Ryan look?" and makes a dash behind the camera to see how cute he is :-) Happy Birthday Marc!!!