Happy 18th birthday alicia!

                          HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY ALICIA!!!!

Dear Alicia,
   I want to wish you a very happy birthday girlie! I can't believe 18 years have passed by so quickly..I remember holding you for the first time in the hospital so clearly...i remember babysitting you for the first time you were so teenie i was afraid I'd break you...you have grown up to be such an amazing person and I am so very proud of you....I hope this year brings you happiness ...there's alot of big changes coming your way but i know you will do great things and be just as amazing as you always are ....i can't wait to give you a big birthday hug and 19 punches :) oh and a pinch to grow an inch.....i love you more than you will ever know and i'm now im gonna go barf because i still can't believe you are actually 18!!
love, your favorite coolest most awesome GODMOTHER cocia natasha xoxoxoxo

                                                               happy birthday!!!

no more markers for miles

all kids love markers..and miles is no different...but he also loves to suck and bite the tips off of them! usually i sit with him and draw and if i need to do something i switch back to crayons....but the last couple of weeks hes been pretty good about not putting them in his mouth...until today! so i made some split pea soup and while finishing it up i had him sit and draw with markers..like an idiot...so im working away and i turn and see him sucking on one i yelled no miles no mouth and he stopped so i kept on blending my soup...after i walk over i realize he has bitten the tips off of a bunch of markers and has appeared to have swallowed them!UGH seriously! the weird part was he had drank water and wiped his mouth to hide the marker on his face! little devil! i was so shocked that my little guy actually tried to hide something from me! isn't it too early for this?!? his mouth and face were clean but he forgot to hide the rest of the evidence....the markers!!

                                                                dirty hands clean face

can you believe how much he ate!?! after i took this picture i took him out of his seat to find one more marker the blue one also eaten....so in total he ate 5 marker tips! so gross and so annoying .....so no more markers for miles!!!xoxoxtrash

play day!

last week i decided to try two new playtime activities...they ended up working out pretty great so of course here i am sharing the fun! miles loves rice play and rice and bean play..so i thought why not try pouring and digging with flour! we had a blast but there was flour all over my house...next time we do this i think we may keep it outdoors...the clean up was a bit annoying....i also thought it could be fun for miles to paint some rocks he collected outside...he loved it and had a good old time getting messy! here's what we did....

                                                         i collected some supplies

                                      i poured the flour into a baking tin and added some animals...

he was trying to scoop up the flour on his lap with a tiny bulldozer...so cute

while i was getting ready miles had fun sticking the rocks in all the little bowls...much less messy than the flour!

                                                       then we painted some rocks!

                                                it got really messy really quickly!

                                                                             gross! i cant figure out why he has 3 different outfits on even though these were taken within 2 hours!! i guess we were super messy!! anyway it was fun and im spraying the rocks with clear spray paint to seal them and make them nice and shiny!! ill take pics once its done..i also started painting some rocks of my own ...well for miles...that post is coming soon! xoxotrash

what miles eats

heres another post on what my boy eats! this week the teething at our house is hellish ...its always something! but these teeth are giving my kid a runny nose, a cough, diaper rash and a fever...my poor boy hardly moved yesterday..today the fevers still here but at least hes actually eating and drinking a bit more then yesterday...ugh anyway hes napping finally so i decided to come on over to blogland and post alittle something...enjoy!

yogurt with blueberries, half a banana and a blueberry muffin

yogurt with blackberries, zucchini bread (made by my mom), and banana

                      garlic lemon chicken, cucumbers and an onion roll

                           yogurt and strawberries, blueberry muffin and kix cereal

i made this with phyllo dough ham, swiss cheese and mustard ..served with apple slices it was delicious!

                                                                   miles loved it!

yogurt with blueberries, strawberries and bananas, and a roll with peanut butter

chicken legs, mashed sweet potatoes, cucumbers, left over strawberries and bananas from breakfast and a drinkable smoothie yogurt thing that miles is obsessed with!

purple potatoes with dill, broccoli, fried onions and mushroom (miles' favorite), pork chops and cucumbers

ok again its alot of breakfast...im gonna try really hard to add lunches and dinners...oh and snacks...but you know how it is..busy busy! anyway madelines mommy has been taking pictures of what madeline eats...so stay tuned! (see now that i wrote this jess you have to email them to me :) xoxoxotrash

crock pot oatmeal

we aren't big oatmeal people but have been trying hard to get miles to eat it...i found this great recipe for overnight crock pot oatmeal and it ended up pretty good! the best part was waking up to a hot breakfast!! miles wasn't too crazy about it but i loved it..i'm hoping the more i make it the better he will like it..hopefully.... he's just not a mushy food kind of guy...even  when he was a wee babe he never really liked baby food it had to have some texture for him to really enjoy it....what a strange little one i have...anyway now that its warm i don't know how appealing a bowl of hot oatmeal is but save this recipe for a rainy day or fall time...hope you enjoy!

You will need: 1 cup steel cut oats (not quick oats!)
                       4 cups water
                       1/2 cup milk
                       1/4 cup brown sugar
                        1 TBSP butter
                       1/2 tsp vanilla extract (i actually ran out of vanilla so i added 1 TBSP maple syrup)
                       1 tsp cinnamon

                                                               steel cut oats

                                                                    brown sugar COMBINE EVERYTHING IN CROCK POT

oatmeal isn't the best food to photograph so i didn't take too many pics...it looked gross but i swear it was yummy!

                                                    cook on low for 8 hours

serve with milk and butter...and any other topping you like...we added a bit more cinnamon and raisins...but add whatever you like on yours...hope you give this one a try!
xoxoxotrash       

bad for you snack of the day

 i love any kind of bready food...sweet savory...it really doesn't matter and yes it can be a problem...especially since summers just around the corner....but last week i made these awesome stuffed crescent rolls ...they were so yummy and had to share....even miles (mr picky) ate them right up!

what you will need: crescent roll dough
                              shredded cheddar cheese
                              precooked bacon (the microwavable kind)
                              kale ...see one healthy ingredient!
                              green onions

take the kale and spread it on a baking sheet...drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper...broil for a few minutes til edges are a bit browned

place crescent roll on baking sheet...put cheese, kale bacon (don't microwave the bacon it will crisp up in oven) then a few green onions (i like the white part but if you don't like it that strong just use the green part)
roll like a regular crescent roll...bake according to package directions...and its done!

yum! this is a great party treat...but we just ate it at snack time!

you can stuff crescent rolls with anything...best invention ever..especially if you're like me and can't bake... people will think you worked really hard on it and its actually so simple...try it i swear you will  thank me!
xoxoxtrash

beach day

i know i promised more posts but life has just been getting in the way lately...its been so warm out this week that we literally have been spending all day and into the night outside...miles has been in heaven! we took out the sand table my brother got for us and bought lots of new sand toys ....its been so nice...im still working on my gardens...i have about a million more bushes to dig up and replant...its a complete pain in the ass! actually a pain in my back! it sucks but in the end i know i'll be so happy i did it....last weekend it was 75 degrees out and we decided to go spend the afternoon on the beach...we met jess, dan, miss madeline and jacob at the sand castles park in fairfield and then walked over to the beach...we ate watermelon in the sunshine..played in the sand...and played with lots of dogs and even 4 horses!! miles and madeline loved it! they ate sand and shells and tried desperately to jump in the freezing cold water....never in my whole life have i ever remembered having a day like that in march here in CT...its strange and beautiful but kinda freaky too! i mean its usually cold and rainy and sometimes even snowy...its so freaky but really nice too.....anyway i took a few pics and needed to share them...recipe posts to follow...i really promise this time!

madeline sat under here playing with wood chips...she was so sweet and quiet i had to capture this moment to remember ...i can sit and watch her play forever...shes so gentle and sweet i can hardly handle it!

                                                                    swing addict

beach fun! miles wouldn't put his feet in the sand...it was hilarious! i kept making him put them down and he'd just lift them right back up! it grossed him out...hopefully after a few more trips he will learn to love it

                                                              walking with daddy

                                                        diggin in the wet sand

                                         daddys boy...walkin to see the horses

i think miles was confused about the horse...it s the first one he has ever seen!

                                                                pretty in pink

we had such a great time and can't wait til the water is warm so the kiddos can jump and splash! this is gonna be the best summer ever! xoxoxtrash