Friday Phone Dump

Okay, don't laugh at me (outloud) but I can not connect my phone to blogger.  They don't connect. Im also technology stupid and was telling my amazing neighbor that I wanted to get an external hard drive to save my pictures and videos to, because my phone was just about full and I can't bear to delete pictures of Grayson.  She looked at me and asked why I didnt just save them to my computer.

 

Shut the front door- whaaaa? You can DO that? HOW?!

After she so sweetly explained that I could use my charger cord (cause I legit thought I needed to buy a new one) I ran inside to save my pictures.

Oh technology how dumb you make me feel sometimes.

 

BUT- I can finally share some video and pictures with all of you loveleies. That I've only been trying to do for like a year and a half.  Yeah, Im pathetic and okay with it.

  

 

Cheeze-Its at the Home Depot...for when Daddy takes us there for hours on end!

 

All three K babies. Kaos, Gizmo and Grayson. Naps like this are common.

 

 

Two handsome guys.

Family Selfie

Taken off of the Ocracoke Island Ferry. Love OBX.

 

Cousins.

Ice cream in Erie.

Pensive thoughts while on the iPad

Leaf fun

 

Kaos sometimes uses Grayson as a pillow.

Carpet testing at Home Depot

and sometimes Grayson uses Kaos as a pillow. Its mutual love.

Wearing Daddys hat

First black eye. "Ice make it feel better Mommy?"

 

Lets go Mom!

Mothers Day 2014

Yard work is hard

Best shirt ever.

Going camping. He was WAY more excited than I was.

Looking EXACTLY like his Daddy.

A trip to the firehouse pop machine

Working out

At the Aviary watching birdies

Mommy the couch eat me!

My bed hogs in all their glory.

 

I think the craziest thing is to look back at how much Grayson has changed and grown over the past year.

 

So now that I've figured out how to upload photos from my phone, who can tell me how to put the breaks on your baby growing up!?

 

Anybody?!?

 

 

Fourth of July Fun

This year we packed up and headed South to visit the in-laws for the 4th. We were hoping for good weather and fun, and we got plenty of both. We packed up and headed out at 11 PM, hoping Grayson would sleep all night. He did, but much to this Momma's dismay so did everyone else. So thanks to more calories and caffeine from a big gulp and a bag of twizzlers than I think I have consumed in the past month- we managed to pull in the driveway around 8AM.  

 

And since its Gigi and Pap's house, we wasted no time getting down to buisness.

 

 

While Mr. Man played in the pool the hubs continued his nap time.

 

He's so lucky he's cute.

 

Since we don't get to see Gigi and Pap except for every few months we tend to pack in as much fun as we possibly can in one day.  

 

A water station, tree climbing, tire swinging and cookie making. All taking place in the span of a few hours. We also played diggers in the sand, ran around the acres of land, took wagon rides, swung in the swing, and ate 2 foot long ice pops. 

 

Sorry to tell you buddy, this lifestyle can not be sustained when we get home. Mommy gets tired just thinking of all of these things!

 

Then it was fireworks time! Now, it seems crazy but this would be Grayson's first time seeing fireworks as we have been rained out every year, so we've not had the chance to go.

 

 

On the car ride there, which was all of 10 minutes, Mr. Man just couldn't hang anymore.

 

Baby Cousin saying GET UP!

 

We did get him up for the show, because we didn't want him to freak out at the loud bangs.

 

He liked the colors, but asked me to hold his ears to make it not so loud. Welp, that didn't last long.

 

Of the twenty minute show? He maybe saw 5 minutes.

 

The next day we hit up a place called Lucky Ladd Farms. If you are ever in the Nashville Area, you MUST take your kids there. It really is that awesome. They have a petting zoo, tractor rides, TONS of play areas, a splash pad, a bubble zone, pony rides, mining for gold...and I could keep going. We spent hours there and we could have kept going.

 

It was a great way to spend the day, and I so wish we had something this awesome in Pittsburgh.

 

After a quick nap it was time to bust out the squirt guns and wait for it to get dark so we could catch lightning bugs and roast marshmellows!

 

 

Not too sure of his first sparkler experience.

 



 

Catching lightning bugs was much more his speed.

 

That's one toddler eating a marshmallow the size of a coffee mug.  He ate two. I was not anticipating bedtime to go well.

 

 

Sugar high in the bathtub! Even bath time is better at Gigi's.

 

Our last day was turtle hunting and river exploring...every boys dream.

 

 

Such a fun weekend, but the twelve hour drive home is for the birds!

 

See you at the Beach, Gigi and Pap!

 

 

 

 

 



Rainy Tuesday Randoms

I hope all of you lovelies had a wonderful Fourth of July!

 

We spent the weekend in the South with the in-laws and had a blast.  Of course the nine hour car trip is never my favorite. Esp with a two.five year old who tends to get bored pretty quick.

This time the hubs said that we were going to drive at night. Here was the plan. He would come home at 1PM, then nap. I would clean/get packed and wrangle the toddler. We would head out around 11, and my momma could drive the first leg. He would nap then drive the rest of the way.

Here's the reality.

 

Notice who is passed out and who isn't? You cant see my mom, she's behind me, also passed out.  This was around six AM and I was sitting at a red light (no driving and moving selfies, I promise!). What else can't you see? The big gulp of Coke and bag of twizzlers that I was using to keep myself awake. I stopped to get said treats and NO ONE ELSE IN THE CAR WOKE UP.

I guess they figure letting Mommy drive on maybe 2 hours of sleep was a smart plan?

Maybe because Mommies can function on zero sleep? 

All I know is it is fully documented that his promise of me not having to drive was a big fat fib. One that I fully used to my leverage when I wanted to go outlet shopping on the way home. It sounded like this "Were stopping at Pottery Barn Outlet, because I didn't kill us driving to your parents when you promised I wouldn't have to drive."

 

He didn't argue. Not that he would have anyway- but I'm pretty sure the "Hey Gymboree is having a Sale, you go in and look!" was him making up for my lack of sleep.

 

Anywho, Ill be back to post more pictures from our travels to Gigi and Pap's. Weekends there are always so fun filled- because we don't get to see them as much as we like they tend to keep the fun coming. They also do bath/bedtime, so as far as I'm concerned they can pack as much as they want into the day- because once bedtime hits this Momma gets to watch food network and pass out. Its the little things in life.

 

So what else is going on around these parts?

 

Well, I started participating in the Blog Hoppin Scavenger Hunt. So if you follow me on Instagram you'll see my posts and find lots of people posting with the hashtag #bloghoppin2014. Its pretty awesome, with over 200 items to find, and you only need 105 to qualify for some great prizes. So sorry in advance for the picture overload. I'm also competitive, so I'm already trying to figure out how many of these I can get. If you want to join in, head on over to this post on Blog Hoppin and check it out!

 

 

It's also raining hardcore here today. Like tornado warnings and thunderstorm watches. It was raining so hard that I couldn't see the street from my house, and its really like 20 feet away. The best part? I got to call hubs and say our pantry roof sprung a leak. Woo hoo for coming off that vacay high quick, huh? Im spending today laundry-ing, cleaning and putting away everything from our trip. All the while hoping that the power won't go out or we get to have a Wizard of Oz moment. It might be my favorite movie, but unless the munchkins want to come and do some cleaning/organizing around this place they can stay in Oz. Also, explaining to the two year old why we cant just turn the lights back on so he can watch Zerby Derby is not something I want to do today.  I need that Zerby time to get dinner made!

 

Alright, Im off to get all the pictures from our weekend off of the good camera and log a few more entries in the scavenger hunt. And if anyone is still reading my random brain dump, thanks! I love you to bits for sticking with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mashed Smashed Potatoes

Last night I needed a quick side dish, and since I was too lazy to go to the grocery store all I had was about 15 fingerling potatoes. The hubs wanted baked potatoes, but with these tiny guys that just wasn't going to happen. So I went with my version of mashed/smashed potatoes.

 

 

 

First, I boiled the fingerling potatoes until soft. Once they were easily poked with a fork I drained them, and put them on a sheet pan. I drizzled them with EVOO and set about smashing them. I've seen them done with a potato masher and a fork, but I went straight for the meat tenderizer. Because it was on the top of the drawer and I was too lazy to keep digging.

 

 

 

If the potatoes were small they stuck a little bit, and I just used a knife to pop them off of the meat tenderizer thing.

 

Once they were all smashed, I sprinkled them with salt and pepper. In a bowl I put two tablespoons of butter and grated up three cloves of garlic and melted that in the microwave.  Once it was all melt-y and mixed, I drizzled a bit of the garlic butter over each potato and popped them into the oven at 400 degrees.

 

 

They took about 30 minutes to get nice and crispy on the edges. Once they were, I pulled them out and put a little bit of cheddar cheese on top of each potato and popped it back into the oven to melt.

 

 

I served mine with BBQ chicken and the hubs was devouring them, which is always a good sign.

 

Now, I have to go to the store otherwise its cereal for dinner tonight!

So tell me, what are your favorite easy side dishes?

 



Flowers, Carousel Rides and a Balloon Ostrich

Otherwise known round these parts as Mothers Day 2014. Yes I know I'm behind, pretend its still May and I'm not completely off my rocker, kay?!

 

For Mothers Day my sweet boys decided to take me to Phipps Conservatory to look at some flowers, then we hit up Schenly Park for some carousel rides.

 

 

Grayson's favorite part? Phipps currently has choo-choo trains on display in every single room. My favorite part? Him in his fab sunnies- how stinking cute is he?!

 

Not only was he digging the trains, but also the live butterfly room. We are currently obsessed with all things bug- and this place didn't disappoint. They have an entire room filled with free flying butterflies. Grayson spent the twenty minutes we were in there yelling HERE BUTTERFLY! Hoping one would just land on him. When I asked what he wanted to do with a butterfly he told me hug him. Uh, can we get a mop for the puddle of Mom mush over here?

 

 

 

He loved the place- but hes a kid, and he needed to be outside. So off we headed to the park in search of the Carousel.  When we got there it was closed for lunch, so we let Grayson burn off some energy running around. Then it was time to ride some animals. 

 

 

After two rounds we topped the day off by visiting the balloon artist in the park.  As Grayson sat waiting for his turn watching the kids get dogs and cats made, Patrick asked him what he wanted. To which my child- who really didn't start "talking" until April- responded, "He make me an ostrich Daddy?" Well, sure buddy.  (I really need to do an update on our EI experience- since Grayson has officially graduated from Speech Therapy!)

 

 

He threw the balloon artist a loop, but as he said when a two year old asks for an ostrich, you make him an ostrich.  He asked him what color is the ostrich's body, feet, everything- and Grayson told him exactly how to make it.  What we ended up with lovelies, is Olive the Ostrich. Not too shabby.

 

It was a perfect Mothers Day, and I couldn't be more blessed to have these two amazing guys in my life.

Summer 2014 Bucket List

This summer is going to be short for me- like 9 weeks total. This year I go back to work in the middle of August, which is way early. Now I know, if you're not a teacher you're telling me to suck it up, no one else gets summers off and yada yada yada. I wont argue the validity or non-validity of your point, I will simply ask you to come into my classroom for one day and then we will see if you think I deserve a nice long break in the summer. If you don't think I do, then we can discuss your reasoning.  

 

Anyway- knowing that my time at home with my bubs is limited, I wanted to make sure that I got all of the fun things in that I simply had to do with him. Grayson is at such a fun age, you really do get to experience everything through his eyes. Even things we did last summer are new again, because he was simply too little to remember them.  Here's the problem, I'm also a procrastinator to the core. So if I know I want to take him to the museum, Ill push it off because its sunny today and Id rather go to the pool. Now that's all fine and good until I'm back with my teenagers and I never got to take my kid to the museum.

 

All that changes however when I make a list. I'm one of those people who get a strange satisfaction by checking things off of the list. It makes sure I get them done, and when the things on that list are staring at me I will not ignore them. So I did what any sane person would do I spent a good 15 minutes using Pic Monkey to make our bucket list, printed it out, and stuck it in a dollar store frame.

 

Now I can cross off what I want using a dry erase marker and make sure that the things I want to experience this summer get completed.

 

 

So tell me friends, what's on your summer bucket list?