I'm Doing A Happy Dance

Mister Nathan has decided that he doesn't like poopy diapers and is alerting us right after he poops....sometimes even before he poops.  "Change poopy diaper," he says.  He even cut short a trip to the park today because he wanted us to change his pants.  Woo hoo.  This is just a tiny baby step toward diaper independence but, I'm very excited :) 

Joe #6

In honor of the cooler weather (and by cooler, I mean 90s and not 110!!), I'm bringing you an autumnal Trader Joe's turkey recipe. 

 

Turkey with Green Chile Sauce

1 lb. turkey cutlets

1 Tblsp. olive oil

3 cubes frozen crushed garlic

1 C. Blackthorn Fermented Cider or dry white wine

2 Tblsp. Trader Joe's Fire-Roasted Diced Green Chiles

1/2 C. ripe Brie, rind removed

Salt and pepper

Season the turkey cutlets with salt and pepper.  In a medium saute pan, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.  Add the turkey cutlets in a single layer and cook until barely seared on both sides, about 2 minutes (work in batches, if necessary).  Remove to a platter.  Add the hard cider or wine to the pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until the cider is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.  Return the cutlets to the pan and cook through.  Remove again to the serving platter and keep warm. Add the chopped chiles and Brie to the saute pan and simmer until cheese melts and sauce is thickened.  Pour over cutlets and serve.  Makes 4 servings.

A New Way to Count

 

Every night during bath time I put Nate's bag of sticky letters and numbers all over the tile around the tub.  We recite them over and over and spell out short words.  Tonight I lined up all of the numbers in order -- one thru ten -- and asked Nate to tell me what they were.  Very rapidly, he recited the following as he pointed to each number, beginning with the number "one":

"Unn, two, tee, water, daddy, nine, unn, two, tee, ten."

Progress!

Nate's growth chart ..... courtesy of our iMac Photo Booth.  You can see the gaps - he goes from being bald to suddenly having a full head of hair.  The final picture was taken last week and he absolutely loved having our picture taken.  We probably took 30 pictures that afternoon.  He was fascinated by the "camera" flash.

 

Art in a Pinch

Time to make a change! I've had a display of black and white photos in our living room for the past two years. It's nice but needed updating. Adding color pictures is the most obvious way to spruce things up. Check -- I added four new color photos. But I wasn't satisfied. The wall needed some pizazz (do people even use that word anymore??).  Turns out, I had everything I needed for some chic artwork.  

3-dimensional sticker + scrapbook paper + frame =
artwork for the creatively challenged

How cute is this?

On a roll, I made one other piece with a fall theme.

The background is a scan of Psalm 26.  I blurred the text to make the leaves pop.

The opportunities are endless --- imagine using 3-dimensional stickers for all of the holidays, birthdays, etc.  You'll have a continuously changing wall.  I love it!  Here's the final product:

I'm linking this up to:

Another Hair-Don't -- I'm on a Roll!

Nate and I have our bath-time routine down pat. We play with bath toys, sing songs, and generally act silly in-between the actual business of washing his little body with soap. He gets the giggles when I flip my hair over my face and pretend I can't see him. Then I shake my hair back into place and ask him to shake his head too.  

So the other night, I finished up with the bath and handed Nate over to Lee. He was going to finish putting Nate to bed while I ran a few errands. I'm out the door at 7:50pm, in a rush to get to the library and TJMaxx before either of them close. It only dawns on me about 15 minutes later as I'm standing in the library that I didn't brush my hair before I left and I'm sure I look something like this:

 I reached up to pat down my hair as I stood looking for a book.  Oh brother.  I really need to slow down sometimes.  Makes for a good laugh!

Appletown Bus

We HAD to buy this at Target because:

1) An apple a day keeps the doctor away, and

2) the Little People need a way to get to school

I Need My Own Craft Corner Because....

Men.

Eating in front of the television.

Watching football.

This will be my life for the next 18 years.

Are You Ready for Some Football?!!??

The Saints play tonight 

for the first time since their Superbowl win, 

and this family is pumped!