My Halloweenie!

Happy Halloween from my Little Puppy!!!

Ruff Ruff

I asked Madden what he wanted me to carve out of his pumpkin, after his initial reaction of pointing at the pumpkin and calling it a ball he said doggie. So doggie it was, which was perfect since that what's he was for Halloween....he's learning to coordinate already ;) 

Wednesday night was Trick-or-Treat. It was less than stellar weather, pouring rain the entire time.

MJ has been a moody/whiny butt the past week and was no different for the occasion.

He didn't want to keep his paws or socks or hat on. And even ended up throwing his hat in the raging river of water along side the curb when I went to get him out of the car once.

Because of the "awesome" weather and toddler attitude we cut Trick-or-Treat down to just visiting both  grandparents houses and calling it a night. So we got to play a bit at each one's house and MJ got some great treats. Hopefully next year the weather will turn out a little better.

Puppies play pianos!

Today at work we celebrated Halloween with a potluck and costumes. A group of us dressed up at Guess Who characters.
Can you Guess Who I am?

Hint: I have a mustache.
I have furry eyebrows
I have red hair.
I look like a creep.
I'm a male.

Taste of Fall

This week I made some good use from our little apple harvest last weekend (and I have more planned for Sunday too). Thanks to Pinterest, I found all of these recipes...AND I actually make recipes I pinned. I swear I have so many recipes and ideas pinned, with the intention of really trying them but just never get around to it. Am I the only one who feels like this?  Well I'm finally getting some completed!!! Yay me! 

 

First up, Apple Crisp for the freezer!!

I love me some warm apple crisp straight out of the oven so I knew I wanted to make a few small dishes of it for the freezer so we can have it whenever we want. This recipe was super easy. It actually calls for the juice and zest of both lemons and oranges but not having either fresh fruit in house, I only used lemon juice. 

 

Apple Crisp

Source: website

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds apples, I used Red Delicious from our own trees
• Grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spry a 9×13 baking dish or 2- 8×8 pans. Peel, core, and cut the apples into large wedges. Combine the apples with the zest, lemon juice, sugar, and spices. Pour into the dish.

For the topping combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.

At this point I covered both pans with lids, wrote directions on the top for future reference and placed them in the freezer.  When you bake the apple crisp you will want to place them on a cookie sheet for just over an hour until the topping it brown and the apples are bubbling.

***

Did you know it was National Boss's Day this past Wednesday? Husband failed at that one, he didn't even wish me a Happy Boss's Day ;)~ 

Although we did celebrate it at work with a potluck! I wanted to use some of those apples so I decided to try out this recipe for a Apple Snicker's Salad. Who doesn't love chocolate, caramel and apples together?!?! I mean, how can anyone go wrong with those 3 ingredients right there?

Snickers Caramel Apple Salad
From: Chef in Training

Ingredients

• 6 regular sized Snickers bars
• 4 medium apples
• 1 (5.1oz) pkg vanilla pudding, dry do not prepare
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 (16oz) tub Cool Whip, thawed to room temp
• 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

Whisk together the vanilla pudding packet, milk and cool whip until well combined. Chop apples and snickers bars into bite sized pieces. Stir together chopped apples and snickers into the pudding mixture in a large bowl. Drizzle with caramel topping. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

***

 

Last up, pumpkin pancakes!!!

Okay so these don't have anything do to with apples but they are totally Fall! I've been wanting to make some health(ier) pancakes for the fam, especially since Dave loves breakfast for dinner so much but isn't so good at eating his fruits and veggies. I feel like I have to treat him like my toddler sometimes and "hid" them in things! LOL

Pumpkin Pancakes

Source: Justice Jonesies

• 1 3/4 - 2 cups milk 
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg (or whites of two eggs)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 2 cups flour ( I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour)
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1.Mix dry ingredients first, then add wet ingredients. Blend until smooth.

2.Heat skillet and grease with butter or fat free cooking spray. Leave on low heat.

3.Scoop batter onto skillet, wait until pancake starts to rise, about 2-3 minutes, then flip for another 1-2 minutes. Add a splash of milk if the batter gets too thick.

Happy Fall

Happy Fall Y'all

I finally got my fall decorations out a few weekend ago. MJ was my little helper getting them out and trying to put them up. He really just loved climbing on top of the tub to sit.  

Last month we finally got my dream storm doors! Yes one of my dreams has been to get storm doors, I know lame but that's what home owning is all about, right?

This is our Before & After picture.

I just LOVE the storm door and being able to keep our front door open, it has one of those roll away screens that's hidden. AND don't you just love the Fall decor?! 

 

One of MJ's favorite things is to sit in the door jam, the wierdo! Him and the dogs are always at that door looking outside, it's so cute. The puppies always let him win and will get out of his way so he can look outside and play on the rug...or they just don't want to be terrorized.   

This time of year everyone is visiting apple orchards and pumpkin patchs. We have 3 apple trees in our backyard that I've neglected since we built but this year we are finally reaping the benefits of having these fruit trees! MJ helped me pick 2 huge buckets full of snow, red delicious and golden apples over the weekend. Unfortunately the pumpkins in our garden didn't turn out well this year so we will be visiting the pumpkin patch for the first time.

And we still have apples coming out of our ears to be picked!

I'm on the hunt for some good apple recipes so there will be tons of baking in our future that I'll be sharing :)

MJ also got to try out his Halloween costume over the weekend...

 Isn't he just the cutest puppy!

We're practicing keeping things on our head ;)

One of his favorite words is doggie so it's only fitting he is one for Halloween. Plus I wanted him to be something really cute before he has his own opinion and only wants to be a superhero.   



September Goal Recap

I'm a little behind on this update but here goes....

I made it!!!

September's goal is complete and I'm going to call it as a SUCCESS!

Technically I did not make it all 30 days with my goal, I missed TWO days. Yes that says 31 workouts, there were two days I actually got in two workouts (usually was just a bonus taking the dogs for a quick walk).

BUT I make it 26 days straight with following and sticking to my goal of moving at least 1 mile a day. YAY me! That last weekend in September got the better of me!!

28 of 30 days....not too shabby!

I might not have gone all 30 days with 1 mile of activity but I went a total distance of 60 miles in a month AND burned over 7,000 calories. That's insane to me! To think I actually did that. I love being able to see it all add up.   

I feel pretty damn good about myself, literally, that amount of actual moving my @ss really has made my body feel good physically and mentally.

Onto a new goal!

For the month of October I am bustin my arse to Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30. 

14 Months Old

 

14 months old

We like to brush our teeth every night at bedtime

Favorite game at bath time...throwing all the toys out of bath

Highlights

• Went to Des Moines for family Summer BBQ with mommy and grandma and grandpa Gorsh we stayed in a hotel and went swimming
• Started back at daycare
• Went to doctors for a cold, teething, right ear infection and yeast diaper rash
• Spent the entire month fighting the yeast diaper rash
• Attended Halana’s 1st birthday party
• Celebrated Grandpa Gorsh’s birthday at Applebee's
• Roxie and Tom visited and stayed with us
• Mommy and daddy went to a wedding, MJ hung out with grandma and grandpa Dexter
• Went to the Celtic Festival downtown with Roxie & Tom
• Had a play date with Roxie & Tom, Rachel & Finn, Lea & Mateo, and Leigh & Clare
• Took lots of walks with the doggies and went on a few runs with mommy

One of my fave pictures!! I can't get over his cuteness!!

We love boxes!

Age: 14 months old
Weight: 24 + pounds
Length: 30+ inches
Size: Currently wearing size 4 diapers and in 12-18 month clothes.
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: Love those Baby Blues!

Double fistin'

Health: Started the month off with a visit to the doctor for a bad diaper rash. We fought the rash on our own for almost 2 weeks trying every kind of cream with no luck. It got really bad, like his boy junk bleeding bad!! OUCHY!! At the doctor we found out it was a yeast diaper rash along with having a cold, teething and an ear infection. The ear infection went away after one round of antibiotics. The diaper rash on the other hand has been a pain. We got a prescription of Nystatin, it worked right away but then the rash came back after a week even though we continued to keep using the cream. Then it would go away again after for a week but came right back again even worse. We are on our 2nd prescription diaper cream, this second one has worked awesome except for the wonderful price tag of $50...that's with insurance!! MJ had been a trooper through it all. He fought some diaper changes but that is totally understandable since his balls and butt hurt so much. Poor guy :(
   

Teeth: That 8th tooth came through, he has 4 on top in the front and 4 on bottom in the front.

Sleeping: Still my good little sleeper! Even with a cold, ear infection and fighting that yeast diaper rash. I can't complain at all!! He sleeps through the night. Bedtime is usually around 7:30-8:00pm and he wakes up around 6:30am. He still takes two naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Eating: He’s been getting a bit more picky. He can eat the hell out of some bananas, blueberries and grapes. Other loves are yogurt, oatmeal, eggs, waffles, pancakes, chicken nuggets, muffins, tortilla, almost any kind of bread. Dislikes just about any vegetable it's a toss up. Sometimes he'll eat a few of something but then all of sudden start spitting it out like it grosses him out and then refuses to eat any more.

Movement: Crazy crawling maniac! He's not interested in walking at all yet, prefers to crawl everywhere because that's what works for him and he's good at it. He's one fast cookie!!! Anytime I stand him up and let go of him he thinks it's a game, he'll laugh and just fall into me for me to catch him. He'll stand alone for a few seconds but as soon as he realizes he's on his own he'll fall into me. He climbs up stairs and can go down them backwards.

Milestones: Stood up in the middle of the room all by himself once. Will stand for a few seconds by himself when you let go of his hands but as soon as he realizes it will drop to the ground or fall into your arms. He's mastered climbing on his motorcycle and puppy rider.

Favorite Toys/Activities: Balls! Any and every type of ball he loves. Sitting on his motorcycle and pressing the buttons. Bath time. Being naked. Sitting on door jams...He loves when we have the front door open, he'll crawl back and forth across the rug and sit in the door jam and look outside or just have his back against the storm door and hang out. Eating!  

Dislikes: Diaper changes, especially this month because of the rash and how much pain he was in. I don't blame him there! He doesn't like when other people are eating and he's not, even if he's already ate. He'll either cry, whine and point to food or crawl over to you and practically beg for a bite.

Baseball

Words/Sounds: Mommy, mama, dada, daddy, doggie or dody, kitty, ball, baseball, nana for banana, bath, nigh-night

Favorite Moments:

• MJ's not a huge fan of veggies right now but he'll eat peas if they are with mixed veggies. I have him just peas one night and he proceeded to stop eating everything and just squish each pea. He wouldn't do anything else until every single pea was squished by his thumb!

• He likes playing with the blinds if they are left down all the way. We usually have to pull them up a little bit so he leaves them alone. He was playing with one of them and when I pulled them up he realized he could see outside! Amazing. I had just let the dogs outside in the backyard and he could see them from inside. He really wanted to watch them but had to be up on his tippy toes in order to watch them...oh and he was naked (it happens a lot in our house). He stayed at the window for like 15 minutes just yell "Doggie! Doggie!" on his tip toes.  

Trying to watch the doggies outside