Parties

So Many Great Things

mildlygranola, 27 Comments

I should be writing a Sock It To Me Monday post, but I have too many things to tell you about and no photos of my sock, so you get run on sentences full of excitement instead.

Yesterday I went to a friend’s birthday party. She throws the best parties. Last year on her birthday we painted fox canvases. She threw an amazing BINGO party last spring, just because. This year it was a paint your own pottery party. I painted a yarn bowl and got some knitting done, all while eating the best monster cookie ever. And I was able to spend time with some of my best friends. It was so great I didn’t even mind when I got a text from the owner telling me my yarn bowl broke and I would have to come back in to make a new one.

Later that night, John and I went on a date. We ended up at the 80s and 90s themed pub in our neighborhood, because there isn’t much walkable that is open on a Sunday night. I enjoyed the pizza we shared, and the spicy ranch oyster crackers were really great to snack on, but the bar is so popular it was crowded and loud. I felt so old, wishing they would turn the music down. We did get a nice walk in before dinner, and it was nice enough to leave our coats at home.

This morning a friend came over for coffee and we sat around chatting for a couple of hours. It was wonderful. I love it when my day starts with conversation and friendship.

It was nice enough today for us to go to the park in fleeces. The kids were a lot happier to play without bulky layers.

When we got home from the park the last of my birthday yarn from John had arrived. I’m planning to make the Arachne sweater later this year, with significant changes to make it more appropriate for my Middle Aged Mid-Western body. I am going to be the coolest mom at the pumpkin patch this fall with my spider sweater and sugar skull dress.

Are you a podcast person? Have you listened to The Happiness Lab with Yale Professor Dr. Laurie Santos? It is amazing. I learn something from every episode that I can use to make my life happier, and I already consider myself a happy person. Please listen to this podcast and tell me how much you love it. Because you will love it.

Have a great Monday. I promise to tell you all about my current socks later this week.

Elliot Turns Two

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Today is Elliot’s birthday. I don’t know where the past two years have gone. It seems like just yesterday he was a screaming baby who barely slept. Now he’s a big guy that loves trucks, whisks, and going to the grocery store. He loves being on the go. He has a large vocabulary and talks all the time (no seriously, all of the time. I would really like him to give it a rest for an hour or two). He wants to be a grandpa when he grows up. He is such a joy, and we are so happy that he is ours.

To celebrate his birthday we had a party for family at my sister’s house. Her house has the space for entertaining, ours does not.  We do brunch birthday parties for the kids. They nap in the afternoons, so planning a lunch or early dinner can be hard.

Brunch doesn’t just work with timing, it also helps with food. Brunch food is delicious and can be made ahead. We had 2 egg bakes (strata with sausage and potatoes with bacon), cinnamon rolls (I go with the freezer kind for birthday parties), fruit, and cake.

I made two cakes. A layer cake for everyone and a smaller cake just for Elliot. He loves construction equipment, so I topped the cakes with Oreo dirt and put a few new toys on top. It was a very easy way to decorate and I didn’t have to worry about how the top of the cake looked. 20180414_0937251381250925.jpg

Audrey helped me put the trucks on. I’m pretty sure she only wanted to help because she thought she could sneak frosting. In addition to stealing cake, she also made sure the excavator was dumping dirt into the dump truck.

When it was time for Elliot to eat his cake he had no interest. He only wanted to play with the backhoe.

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This is his cake after he was done with it. He wasn’t interested. Trucks are more exciting than cake.

I would like for time to slow down, but I know it won’t. I hope he continues to be a sweet boy, continues to grow, continues to learn, and continues to enjoy toys more than cake. I also hope he continues to want snuggles from his mommy.

 

Busy Day

mildlygranola2 Comments

Oh my gosh. I have had the busiest day. It’s 10:30 and I’m just getting time to sit down and write.

Let me tell you about my day. I got up with Elliot at about 7:30. I had coffee, he had milk, and we watched the news. It is how we start every day. He grabs the blanket and crawls into my lap and asks for the news. The kid love CBS This Morning as much as I do.

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After breakfast (scrambled eggs and blueberry pancakes) Audrey and I headed out to Target so she could pick out a present for Elliot’s birthday next week. She also picked out a fingernail polish color, as she is currently obsessed with nail polish.

After Target we headed to the YMCA for Audrey’s tumbling class. She loves tumbling. I love how it wears her out so much she naps after class.

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After tumbling I took Audrey home, said hi to John and Elliot, and ran out the door to go meet Ivy for lunch and knitting.

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After knitting I ran to the grocery store, as we were precariously low on milk and fresh vegetables. While I was putting the groceries away the babysitter pulled up (my mother-in-law and father-in-law are generous babysitters). John filled her in on dinner plans while I brushed my hair, then we were out the door.

We went to an early showing of A Wrinkle In Time. I had just read the book and expected great things. I was not impressed. I actually found myself hoping that John would lean over and suggest that we leave.

It was only in the 40s, but it was sunny. We took advantage of the sun and headed out Greenwood Park and walked around the pond.

After our walk we headed to a birthday party. We ate tacos. We ate cake. There were mustaches. It was a lovely time (even though my hair was doing a weird flip thingy).
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I am finally home for the night, and I’m exhausted! Tomorrow will not be as busy, and I’m looking forward to it.

I hope you had a great day!

Hot Chocolate Hack – Nutella Cocoa

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I am a big fan of hot cocoa. I like rich, decadent, coffee shop cocoa – the fancy pants stuff that is a special treat. The kind of drink that says “Hello winter! Let’s get cozy!”

It has suddenly gotten really cold in Des Moines. When it starts go get cold and I’m pulling out my winter gear I start craving cocoa. With two little kids it is hard to get out, so I am not able to pop out and get cocoa when the craving hits.  Last week I tried Nutella cocoa at Gateway Market and I decided I needed to recreate it at home. It turns out that decadent coffee shop cocoa is remarkably simple to make at home. It is so simple I took several photos just so it would seem more complicated.

This is a great recipe to break out when you have friends over and you want to impress them with your very special chocolate hazelnut cocoa that is super duper hard to make (yup, I’m advocating lying to your friends so you look like a culinary visionary). The best part is, you probably already have the 2 ingredients in your house. The only two things you need are nutella and milk.

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Step 1: Choose your mug. How big is it? I picked a 10 oz mug.

Step 2: Measure out your milk. You will want a few ounces less of milk than will fit into the mug. I measured out 8 oz for my 10 oz mug.

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Step 3: Pour your milk into a saucepan and start to heat it on medium low.dsc_0210

Step 4: Scoop out 2-3 tablespoons of Nutella. Try not flinch at the large amount of Nutella on your spoon. dsc_0216

Step 5: Stir the Nutella into the warming milk. Get so excited about the impending yummy you forget how gross your stove is (mental note: clean stove).dsc_0218

Step 6: Whisk the Nutella into the milk until it is smooth and the cocoa is hot. dsc_0224

Step 7: Pour it into a mug. Spill a little bit on your counter (optional).dsc_0227

Step 8: Drink it up. Marshmallows would be a great addition.dsc_0229

It is so delicious I almost wish it wasn’t so easy to make. With cold weather hitting most of the country this week it is probably a great time to try it. I would love to hear what you think of it.

Audrey’s Birthday Party

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I used to love throwing parties. I would make elaborate recipes. I would bake a cake from scratch. I would put thought into the decorations. Then I had kids…and I got older….and lazier. I don’t do that stuff anymore. I had a birthday party for Audrey only because John wanted to have a party. She’s 2. She doesn’t care. But I knew our family would want to celebrate with her, so I got to planning.

The first thing I did was to find a date that worked with my sister, Kathleen. As I have mentioned, we have a small house. It is too small to have a party with 12 guests. Kathleen graciously let me have Audrey’s party there.

The next thing I did was log on to Pinterest to get ideas. I found a lot of inspiration – there are a plethora of very elaborate Mickey Mouse parties for two year olds out there.

I ended up making a half-assed version of Mickey Mouse cupcakes that I found. I skipped the red frosting, red sugar, and yellow M&Ms in favor of something I would actually want to eat.

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I decorated her cake in a similar manner to the cupcakes, using whole Oreos and Mini Oreos. I added red sugar as an accent. I probably would do red and yellow M&Ms as a border instead if I had it to do over. I would also make sure the Mickey on the cake was oriented the same as the Mickey on the plate. She’s 2 though, so it doesn’t matter.

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For the cake I used a Funfetti mix. Sure, I could have made a cake from scratch, but this way I knew it would turn out. I made the my go to Creamy Vanilla Frosting recipe. I love the convenience of cake mixes, but homemade frosting is so much better than canned frosting.

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The decorations were sparse, just 3 balloons. One red, one yellow, and a Mickey happy birthday balloon. The Mickey balloon is still floating around my house, providing hours of entertainment a full week after the party.

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We had nachos to snack on. I love nachos, so this was a good excuse to eat one of my favorite foods. The toppings were queso (the fancy Velveeta and Rotel kind), refried beans, salsa chicken, guacamole, salsa, and black olives.

The party was a hit with Audrey. She loved the presents, wearing her party hat and skirt, and the cake. It was worth the work to spend time with our families and give Audrey a fun day.

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