BLT Dip and Swimming Lessons

Every year there is a Betty Crocker calendar. You have to sign up to get it and one year I missed it. (2012) But with the exception I have managed to snag one. Every month is a different recipe with a tasty picture and they also give you tear out recipe cards for all twelve recipes which is great!

This year the Red, White and Blue poke cake was July's recipe and we had that this past weekend. But also this past weekend we made the August recipe and man, oh man, this is going to be a family favorite of ours for sure.

We made the Layered California BLT Dip. And it was the best thing ever.

Now, I don't love guacamole so we just omitted that, but I can definitely see how that would be good too. Otherwise this was delicious. It was BLT dip so that's pretty much awesome. It was so easy and good, and I would never have thought of it! This would be a great addition to a party or pot luck that is for sure! 

We served it in a hallowed out Hawaiian Sweet bread loaf and used the pieces to dip. We also used Sun Chips. Both options rock. I have never had Food Should Taste Good chips but I am pretty sure you could serve this dip with anything. 

So if you like tomatoes or will soon find yourself in abundance of tomatoes, I recommend this friendly dip. It is a winner!!

Yesterday was the first day of swimming lessons and M's was cancelled because someone had an accident in the main pool and the chemical levels weren't stable yet. But C's lesson is in the baby pool and he had his still. 

His is the little face right in front of the red rainbow piece. Anyway, send all the good thoughts our way because he got a dud teacher. I am sure she's a good swimmer and a lovely person but the 3-4 year old age group is not her forte. 

There are two classes of the same Tot Pole level in the pool at the same time and C kept trying to join the other class because they were doing all the fun games he remembered with a perky, upbeat teacher. I did talk to him afterwards (parents aren't allowed on the pool deck) about staying with his class so hopefully the next 7 classes go a bit better but we will see. I truly couldn't blame him for wanting to switch classes. 

He has a teacher and 2 aides for 8 kids so it shouldn't have been quite the herding cats experience that it was. (That's a pretty darn good ratio. Plus each class has a life guard watching, but their job obviously is not herding children.) I was not the only frustrated mom sitting on the other side of the fence. I also did not have the only wandering kid. 

Ah well, C had a REALLY fun time even though nothing was accomplished so that's what counts. And he didn't cry when it was time to get out so that's major progress from last year! He just loves swimming and being in the water. As far as he was concerned, they could have just had open swim for the 40 minutes and he'd be good. So we'll see how it goes tonight. At least M should get to swim today. 

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! We have had a fun and low key weekend here at home. We had an American classic dessert for our BBQ yesterday, apple pie. I went with lattice crust because it seemed more...quaint or classic or something. I also cooled it next to an open window because I guess I am Aunt Bea. 

Our town has the BIG fireworks on July 3rd and poor C wouldn't sleep because he was super concerned that he was missing them! Poor dude. 

Our morning started with the parade. C was very excited!! M did pretty well and there was lots of sugar! I am not a fan of parades and I stayed home. I had a very Americana morning baking and watching Scandal. Totally classic! 

We had a little 4th of July photo shoot in their outfits that C's Godmother got them.  They actually did a really good job today so maybe we are coming back around to the possibility of great pictures! 

And we had another BBQ tonight and ended it with a Flag poke cake. Everyone ate all their food at dinner so it must have been a pretty good motivator! 

We ended our day with our now traditional turn off the lights and watch the concert/fireworks on TV with glowsticks party. None of those pictures turned out unfortunately but we had a good time. For a few fleeting minutes I thought about trying to go to actual fireworks but the kids were in total meltdown stage by the time the TV ones were over. The real ones hadn't even started so it's a good thing we opted to stay in. 

All in all, a great 4th!! Happy Independence Day my friends!

7QT: It's Already July.

one. July. It's July people. How in the world is that possible? We are halfway to 2017. And on top of that it is one of those delicious summer weeks where it never gets to the 80s. I'd like to order this forever please. I am writing this from outside and it's almost chilly in the shade with a breeze.

two. Go right now and look at Better With Titanic on Facebook. They have taken clips from movies, concerts and sporting events and set them to "My Heart Will Go On." And they're right. Almost everything is better with Titanic.

three. Are you doing anything fun this weekend? We are staying home and firing up the grill for the weekend. We are going to have a reprise of of last year's fireworks show. Which involved making our living room as dark as possible, lighting a bunch of glow sticks and watching them on TV!

So much better with littles to do it like that! One day we will probably go out and see fireworks but this is not the year. 

four. Gratuitous picture of my girl.

She has just been amazing me lately. New words all the time. Physical feats that constantly surprise. Daily, I look at her and am frustrated beyond believe at some mischief she has managed and then within a span of ten minutes am swept up in how overwhelmingly I love her.

five. I am totally pumped because it is officially Bring Back My Bar Month and I am going to stock up on Happy Birthday. This is one of my favorites. I voted for this a ridiculous number of times. I warm it, shockingly, on people's birthdays.

six. Swim lessons start next week! Everyone is excited. Especially me. I have been watching the Olympic team trials and I just really like watching swimming. I am so excited for the Olympics, and sure I know that swim lessons for my 4-year-old and 20-month-old are not even really teaching more than water skills yet, but still. I'll take what I can get.

seven. Man. Oh Man. Let's talk Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Or the book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Same difference here because it's all about what a jerk Grandpa Joe is.

Lies in bed for 20 years. Able to jump up and click his heels when his grandson wins a trip to the chocolate factory. (So really... "I've got a golden ticket" is a crock of hooey, since it isn't yours at all.) If this is ringing any bells at all you should totally read this! 

Happy 4th of July! Linkin' with Kelly. 

Greatness!

Another perfect day yesterday. It started with a "Drop Over Playdate" (Drop off, but that's how C says it.) with a best friend playing super heroes, pirates, penguins and cars.

There was a little girl, with curls, in a new outfit. 

And it was a good morning. But then, Husband took an impromptu half-day and we went to the zoo in the afternoon! 

The boys fed the Lorakeets. Which is my idea of a nightmare. But they loved it. We spent all afternoon there, saw all the animals. 

And it was great. 

Another perfect day. 

A Pretty Good Tuesday

We are having one of those rare summer days where the weather is just perfect. Fluffy white clouds in a blue sky. Sunny and in the mid to upper 70s.

We went for a walk. We played at the playground. We played in our yard. I got some yard work done and my rapscallions chased each other around. One particular rapscallion pulled my Mother's Day flowers off their plant and that was that. The girl just loves picking flowers. And the dandelions are almost nonexistent so she went for the good ones I guess.

I can't be too mad. And I'm not.

We didn't quite know quite what to make for lunch today. Other than cheese. Because I don't know if I have mentioned it here before or not but cheese is M's favorite food and that is pretty much all she ever wants. So I made banana chocolate chip pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs and raspberries.

And you know what? Everyone cleaned their plates, which is kind of a miracle in and of itself since that never happens. Really.

 Soon it will be rest time. Which I am looking forward to. After which we are going to head outside again because this day is too gorgeous to let pass us by!

Fun in the Sun

M is going though a pink phase. She will only wear pink shirts. The first thing that happens every morning is she takes a pink tee-shirt out and tries to get it over her head. Usually on top of her pajamas. I tried to put her in this ice cream shirt the other day:

And she threw a fit. Like an honest to goodness fit. Oh I am in for it friends. She is such a spunky little girl, but oh so sweet too. 

I put Jamberry nail wraps on her toes Friday. I had thought about doing them for a while but I wasn't quite sure how they'd go. She actually sat for me really well and let me. She even said "Thank you mom." after every single toe. Oh my heart. I am starting to really appreciate and get into the fun girly things. Like pink toesies! 

In honesty, I didn't prep the nails at all like you're supposed to, I just did a heat and stick then a little filing. I didn't intend for them to last long. (And they didn't, she's already missing 3 or 4 but her big toes have survived and she's very proud of them!) I just wanted them to look cute through the pool party for her friend Brynn's first birthday which was Saturday. It was M's first birthday party as a guest for someone her size. It was a very fun party! 

M and Brynn in the pool. They had a pool, a sprinkler, slip and slide and two water tables. So many awesome water activities and everyone got to take home a cool water shooter! 

C and M eating cupcakes with Mason, who is one of C's best friends and Brynn's older brother. M was really into her cupcake. After every bite she would exclaim that it was "Tasty!" 

The kids had SO much fun that after rest time we put on swim suits again and played in the sprinkler at our house. As it happens, last year C got this Mickey sprinkler ball for his birthday as a gift from Mason. They clearly got one for their house and it was out at the birthday party. C felt that we should break ours out so we did! 

Do you see that our next door neighbor moved Mater in? It's very exciting for our resident 4-year-old and less exciting for me. Our neighbor's son finished his army career and moved back in with his dad. He brought with him an extremely loud motorcycle, Mater and a giant red pickup truck. I hope that he moves on quickly but I doubt it. Until then, at least C thinks Mater is cool. 

Yesterday we all roasted marshmallows over the grill after dinner. It was so fun to enjoy being outside, eating gooey messy s'mores and sugaring my kids up. Then watching them run around and slide all sticky and dirty to burn off the sugar high. Those are summer moments to cherish. 

FOMO: Hamilton

If you have paid even a little bit of attention to theater or Broadway for the past year, you've known all about Hamilton.

If you haven't: there is an extremely popular hip hop/rap musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton. And when I say extremely popular I mean that it is sold out for the foreseeable future. Nominated for a record breaking 16 Tony Awards. Winner of 11. Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Face value of some of the best seats are $849. You didn't read that incorrectly. They subsidize some of the lottery tickets that cost a Hamilton. ($10)

It is so popular and so hard to get into that the resale ticket values are at upwards of $1000, and people are paying that. There's a video in which the message is that not everyone wants a baby but everyone wants Hamilton tickets.  Even though it gets weird with the husband (I don't even know...) it is a little funny.

Tomorrow, Hamilton Chicago tickets go on sale. The show will take up residence for an open-ended run in Chicago. Which is awesome. Chicago is a hop skip and a jump for us. It is not a completely unreasonable day trip and if we did stay over it is a far more affordable city that NYC. (Well, it can be certainly.) The tickets that go on sale tomorrow morning at 10:00 CST are for the first block of the show's run, September-January.

I am kind of a competitive person. Tell me I can't have something and I want it. I am a stay at home mom who could very easily set up camp tomorrow at 9:50 and hit refresh until I could buy tickets. But I am not going to. We are not going to buy Hamilton tickets.

And not because I don't want to see Hamilton. I fully admit that I have not committed to loving the show. Husband and C have however. For me, musicals are something I really have to see to appreciate. And there is VERY little video that has been leaked. Almost none. And people, I want to see what the fuss is about.

In the past month I have started to listen to it a little. The album is available on Amazon Prime Music which is great. Prime Music includes X-ray lyrics which is so helpful because I am able to read along with the music so I don't miss anything. (Visual learner right here!) I am currently really really really obsessed with the song Helpless.

And I REALLY want to see this show. But the September/October tickets are almost already sold for the subscribers and groups that have theater pull. Which leaves tickets for November-January. And then there's reality. The reality is the odds of snow or ice or other unfavorable driving conditions is high. Murphy's Law would have it that whatever day we were able to get tickets we wouldn't be able to get to Chicago.

But even though logic and reason tells me I am doing the right thing in waiting for tickets in the future for the open-ended run, I am still suffering from some major FOMO. (The fear of missing out.) The $10 lottery will be a little different for Chicago than it is in New York and it will be done online. So we may try to enter that in good weather times.

Have you seen Hamilton? Do you want to? Are your kids obsessed? C has always loved the Presidents and founding fathers so this is up his alley anyway. Are you going to read the book that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to write the musical in the first place?

I am on a waitlist that is HUGELY long for it but I can't wait to get my hands on it. I hope it will tide me over until I can get to see it. The show is going to start touring as well soon so maybe it will be near you in the coming years. It's a revolution in the theater world about the revolution of our country. Kind of awesome. And definitely giving me FOMO.