Felt board craftiness

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I recently needed a special birthday gift. I wanted something unique, fun, a little educational, and preferably not very expensive. Luckily, I’m willing to do a little work to meet all those goals and was able to present this handmade felt board to two happy two-year-olds.

To make the board, I followed the instructions on this post, though I used all hot glue and not staples. Then I just cut out shapes from several pieces of felt, some with pinking shears and others with regular straight scissors. I found the adorable printed ladybug felt at Hobby Lobby with the rest of the supplies and cut out several to be the stars of the project. Everything I bought totaled less than $12, and I have enough felt and ribbon left over that I could probably make two more.

The girls seemed to especially enjoy that they could put a piece on, then take it off, put it somewhere else, take it off, etc. unlike stickers that can only go in one place. They are also starting to name shapes and colors, so there’s a little educational practice snuck in. Project success!

Preparations

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As we are preparing for our upcoming Colorado trip, Brett has been doing some training for hiking. We borrowed a hiking backpack that Hannah can ride in. At first, she was hesitant of the new device and was not willing to be put inside. But just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down – I got out a cookie and told her that she could have it when she was sitting in the backpack. (bribery with sugar is not our normal parenting style, but I decided it was okay since hiking backpacks are only a short-term part of our life) This worked very well. She happily got in the backpack and munched on her cookie while Brett walked around the block a couple times.

So daily walks are now an easy thing, thanks to a little help from the cookies. Hannah is very excited about hiking and periodically during the day will grab the backpack and utter earnest pleas which clearly include “hiking,” “backpack,” “in! in!” and, yes, “cookie.”

Dinner tonight – Chicken with dijon mushroom sauce

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This is an easy one that makes a weeknight feel more special. I mostly follow the original recipe, but I use a package of fresh sliced mushrooms instead of canned. And because of the additional mushrooms, I add more broth and dijon to make more yummy sauce. It only takes a little longer to let the fresh mushrooms saute, but I think it’s totally worth it over the canned ones.

We had a side of roasted broccoli which I’m still trying to perfect. Since it’s summer, I’m avoiding the oven and roasting in the toaster oven. Didn’t seem to work well with the broccoli.

I like this chicken recipe because it does not have a long list of ingredients, and most of them are things I already have on hand. The steps are not complicated, and the final plating of crispy golden chicken covered in mushroom sauce really elevates a weeknight dinner. If you are a mushroom fan, this is a must-try.

Splash time

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This morning, Meghan and I tried out a fountain/splash pad area downtown. It’s easy to find, just turn in at Doherty Arts Center and park in the lot behind. Then look for the fountain.

We got there early in an attempt to beat the heat and some UV rays, and at 9am we were the only ones there. This was okay to start out, but it was fun when some other families came a little later. Next time we’ll bring more water toys; Hannah ended up playing with a plastic cup I had brought for snacks. We stayed for almost an hour, and it was a blast.

Today we deviated from the traditional swimsuit. Hannah is wearing a “rashguard” shirt which provides UV protection and dries quickly. We are also trying out a cloth swim diaper which comes in a colorful pattern and can be worn by itself. It’s a great combo – UV protective, modest, “green” and really cute!

4th of July – Easy entertaining

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To celebrate the 4th of July, we had Andy, Meghan and Cody over for dinner. Unfortunately, fireworks were banned because of the crazy drought, but we had good food, good drinks and good fellowship to make it a great evening.

I wanted to do an easy menu so that I could spend my time chatting and keeping an eye on Hannah instead of being frantic in the kitchen. Ahead of time, I had some homemade baked beans in the crock pot. When our guests arrived, I had an appetizer ready for munching – chicken and cream cheese stuffed jalapenos – and a pitcher of margaritas. Then the guys fired up the grill while the kiddos played outside. It was 101 degrees, by the way. I sliced watermelon, and Brett grilled burgers and some zucchini and yellow squash (from the farmers’ market). Opened a bag of chips, and we were ready!

Hannah and Cody were good eaters, and I don’t think any food ended up on the floor! (all the adults were good eaters, too) We saved room for dessert; not really, I was really full but couldn’t stop because it looked so delicious. Meghan brought homemade shortcakes with berries and homemade whipped cream. Strawberries,whipped cream and blueberries made red, white, and blue. A perfect summer dessert.

I was lazy and didn’t take any pictures, but you can probably picture the general scene – lots of food, lots of laughing and two silly toddlers giggling with food on their faces. Now it will be a quiet evening in the neighborhood due to the lack of fireworks. Happy 4th! We have a lot to be thankful for!

Pat the munny

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For several weeks at the farmer’s market, we have been eyeing a new booth. The Tiny Tails to You petting zoo does birthday parties and other events. At the farmer’s market, they have a penned area with stools and small rugs to cover laps. For $3, you get five minutes of animal petting time. Today they had bunnies, ducklings, and a turtle. Other days, I have also seen guinea pigs and a hedgehog.

They recommended that I go in with Hannah and help her handle the animals. First, we got a little black bunny (Hannah says “munny”).

Hannah was not sure what to think about it and didn’t even want to touch it. After a while, they switched it out for a duckling.

The duckling was very active, so I had to really hang on! He was really fluffy and quacking the whole time. Hannah asked for the bunny back.

She eventually got up the nerve to touch it and realized it was actually fun. The bunny was very soft and sat very nicely in the lap. He would crawl around and sniff things but was very calm and well-behaved.

It was ridiculously hot, so I was glad our five minutes seemed to go quickly. As hesitant as she was at first to interact with the animals, Hannah threw a little fuss when we left the pen. In the car on the way home she said, “Munny – more – more!”

I think we’ll be stopping at the Tiny Tails pen again on future visits. They have a great set-up with the stools and lap rugs, and it’s an easy opportunity for Hannah to become even more comfortable with different animals. We read books about “munnies” but this is a fun chance to actually pat a real one!

Happy hour at Mandola’s

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We love food, and it would be easy for our eat-out spending to be much larger than our budget. It probably already is, but we really try to find deals when we can. We often take advantage of happy hour specials to eat at restaurants we might not otherwise have in the budget.

Mandola’s, a local “Italian market,” just opened its third location near us, and we’ve been wanting to give it a try. I’d heard they have good happy hour deals but only until 6pm. Since Brett got home early from work today, we were able to make it before 6pm and check it out.

The happy hour food menu features two types of pizza for $6 each (usually $10-$12), some fried appetizers for $3ish, garlic bread for $2.50 and a meat and cheese plate for $5. We opted for the sausage and mushroom pizza, fried zucchini, and garlic bread, totaling only $11.50 plus tax.

While we were waiting for our food, a server brought out silverware and a basket of focaccia bread which apparently comes with each order. So I quickly realized the $2.50 we’d just spent on garlic bread was a waste. The focaccia was delicious and they had some herbed olive oil for dipping – yum!

Our table was very full which was a little difficult since we have to keep an arm-length radius clear around Hannah. (sorry for the bad phone pics) The pizza was good, we like thin crusts, and the fried zucchini was also tasty. Hannah had some of everything we ordered. The garlic bread was okay, but again sort of a waste of money because you get the free focaccia. And it was plenty of food; we had almost half the pizza left over.

When we finished eating, Hannah entertained herself but putting her piece of bread in and out of the cup they gave her. We also enjoyed the live accordion player who strolled around the restaurant.

All the employees were very friendly and went out of their way to be helpful, especially to families with small children. When Hannah threw her sippy cup (ours from home) on the floor, an employee picked it up and offered to take it back and wash it for us. We were about to leave anyway, so I didn’t take him up on it, but I was impressed with the genuine service that was shown to us and other families there. Those of us with little kiddos appreciate all the help we can get!

We’ll definitely be back to Mandola’s for a happy hour dinner whenever Brett can get out of work before 6pm. The food deals are great, and they also offer 1/2 off wine by the glass or carafe. And excellent service tops it all off – big win!

Dinner tonight – Mini pizzas

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Lunches are hard for me, especially with a toddler. I have to come up with something to feed myself and a little person. For some reason, this leaves me standing in front of the fridge scratching my head too many days. This was pointed out to me when I realized that every time I open the fridge, Hannah says, “Hmmmm…” Wonder where she learned that.

I knew that if I didn’t come up with some good, healthy, kid-friendly lunch options, I’d be very tempted to turn to some pre-packaged frozen foods for convenience’s sake. That’s when I expanded my repertoire for bulk-cooking and freezing. I’ve already shared my chicken nugget plan, today highlights my mini-pizzas.

Super easy, just whole wheat English muffins, sauce, and cheese for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. I made my own sauce by cooking canned crushed tomatoes, dried herbs, and grated zucchini. When they cooled, I just threw them in a large freezer bag, and they’re now ready to pull out whenever Hannah wants some pizza. Unfortunately, she was not in the pizza mood tonight and most of hers ended up on the floor. Sigh, I try not to take toddler eating habits too personally.

Brett and I also had mini pizzas for dinner, but we added pepperoni and didn’t throw any on the floor.

Real life photography

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Part of having a blog is turning little things into “events.” This morning I grabbed my camera to capture a little event.

We will be spending some time in Colorado this summer, and we are talking about the trip with Hannah so that maybe she’ll have some idea of what’s going on when it happens. This morning I went through our postcard collection to find any of “Rado” or any picture that included mountains.

10:39 AM: Setting them out on the coffee table, I let her look at the pictures.

10:40 AM: This was fun until Fern jumped up on the table and decided to sit right in front of the camera (she’s kind of a diva). My photo op wasn’t going as planned, but this is real life so I kept shooting. Also in this period of seconds, Hannah apparently got bored and found some crossword puzzle books and a pen.

10:41 AM: Hannah decided crossword puzzles were not a good activity due to her lack of knowledge of the alphabet. She then realized there were other postcards in the basket and started going through the rest. Fern is still posing conspicuously.

10:42 AM: There were so many that she decided to turn the basket upside down and bang it on the table to remove the rest. This scared Fern off the table.

10:43 AM: She found one of a toucan that she really liked.

And that’s real life. I wanted a sweet picture of Hannah gazing dreamily at mountain landscapes. Instead, I have a diva cat, crossword puzzles, and a toucan.