Weekend photos

Some day I'm going to do a "real" update post instead of just putting up pictures from my phone. It's been busy over here! :-) But in the meantime, here are more pictures from my phone, from this past weekend.

Theodore has been eating cereal from a bowl, like a big boy!

We went to a birthday party on Saturday and the kids got their faces painted. Buttercup = reindeer, Oliver = black widow. :-)

And here's a cute picture of Buttercup and Oliver's friend's little sister at the party.

Father-Daughter Dance!

Buttercup's preschool hosted a Father-Daughter dance on Friday, and surprisingly, Buttercup decided she wanted to go! At first she said no, but then I told her that her daddy would take her out to eat -- at the restaurant of her choice -- before the dance, and she changed her mind pretty quickly, ha ha.   

She knew immediately which tights and shoes she wanted to wear (pink polka dotted tights and sparkly purple shoes), but it took her a couple of days to decide on a dress. She ended up choosing a short-sleeved dress with a twirly red skirt. :-)  

I asked her if I could take a picture of her before they left for the dance, and she very happily posed and posed (and posed and posed) for pictures. She cracks me up!

This one is hilarious!!

As soon as Dennis got home from work, she ran outside and told him it was time to go! She was so excited and they had a great time!

 

Wow.

I remember being at this very park about 4 years ago, with a barely 2 year old Oliver and a newborn Buttercup. I was wearing the baby and chasing the toddler around, feeling frazzled while pushing him on the swings and just trying to entertain him the best I could with a baby attached to me.

I remember feeling more than a tad jealous of this other mom, who was sitting on a park bench reading a book while her 2 (older) kids played with each other on the playscape. I thought, "When is THAT going to happen?!!"

Today! It happened today. :-)

Sweet baby face!!

It's a shame to wake him up to get the other kids from "school" and school....but thankfully he's so sweet that he never really seems to mind. Sweet baby!!

Playing outside

After Theodore and I drop Buttercup off at preschool, he and I usually play outside for an hour (or longer) until his lunchtime. He used to like running on the sidewalk down to our neighbors' house, where we would play for a while before coming home again. But lately, he really likes playing in our back yard!

This morning he started off playing with the rocks under the playset. Scooping, filling, and pouring, over and over. :-)

This morning, he didn't play in the rocks for too long before heading up the porch steps to find something in the toy box. First, he played with the (broken) toy leaf blower, then he played with the fire truck for a while. 

 Then, he asked for the broom, and surprisingly, played with that for the longest time, ha ha.  

I love this picture. :-)

While he was sweeping our dirt for us, we heard the train horn!

In this picture, he was asking for more train horn. :-) 


And then suddenly, we heard the train horn again! He was so excited. :-)  I love that sweet baby! :-)

This was really cute -- every time he was finished playing with one toy, he would sing the "clean up" song and bring it to me to put away before he picked out another toy to play with. :-)

 He also found this puppy to pull along behind him.

The puppy had to swing, of course!

In this picture, he was saying, "Three, go!" 

 "Puppy swing!"

 "Where['s] puppy?"

"Puppy!" 

"Hi, puppy!"

 "Love puppy!"

Then he left the puppy in the swing and headed to the playset to slide for a minute or two. I'm not sure why he's making this sinister baby face! He's so funny. :-)

 And finally, we ended our time outside with running through the leaves. :-) What a fun morning!

Minestrone soup (crockpot recipe)

This has become one of my favorite recipes over the past month. I've already made it 3 times! It's yummy, full of vegetables, and everyone seems to like it.

Minestrone Soup (adapted from Taste of Home)

2 cans (14 1/2 oz each) low sodium chicken broth

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

2 cans (15 oz each) kidney beans, drained

1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained

8 oz water

2 or 3 small Italian squash or zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

1 or 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

2 tbsp dried minced chives

2 tbsp dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarse ground pepper

2 tsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp dried basil

2-3 cups cooked whole wheat pasta

1 package (16 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

2 cups frozen peas, thawed

In a slow cooker, combine the first 14 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. 

About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the pasta, thawed spinach and peas. Enjoy!

Bonus pictures of the cute baby boy (who's not quite a baby anymore, but will always be the baby).