Playing, Loving & Surviving the Games of Motherhood
Can you believe Easter is this weekend?! I feel totally caught off guard, partially due to the early holiday this year, but also due to the lingering cold. Going to church Easter Sunday in boots and sweaters just doesn’t seem to jive in my mind. I do, however, feel totally re-energized from our days at the beach and am super grateful to my mom and dad who watched the boys for us. I love my kids, but days when you aren’t called “mommy” are priceless in their own ways as well.
Spring is only a few days away, but it is still seriously cold here. Like, stay-in-bed-all-day kinda cold. The only thing good about this never ending winter weather is that we get to keep on eating hardy, warming dinners like this beef stew (and that we get to hide all our winter eating under big comfy sweaters). You are going to love this recipe. It uses frozen vegetables, so you can get it into your slow cooker with barely any prep time. And the end result is a bit lighter and definitely more flavorful than your typical beef stew, all without even having the brown the meat. We loved it over rice, but you could do mashed potatoes if that’s more your style. If you are still dealing with the cold, put this one on your list to make soon!
A first birthday cake can be a tricky thing. You want something that your baby will love and can safely eat, but you also want something yummy for the adult party goers. After much consideration, I decided to make a banana cake for Rylan, since he loves bananas, and top it with a cream cheese frosting. Blueberries are also his current fruit obsession, so I used those as decoration. This was a huge hit with everyone, including the birthday boy. Rylan devoured his piece and then tried to steal his brother’s as well. This cake isn’t too sweet, and has no nuts or chocolate (though it does have eggs), making it a perfect first dessert. I made one 2-layer cake, but if you are having lots of guests over, you might want to make a smaller “smash” cake or cupcake for the birthday girl or boy, then a separate cake for everyone else. And it’s not just for birthdays, this cake would be fabulous any time!
Rylan is 1! I honestly can’t believe it. Although he is acting older, he still has his precious little baby face, leaving me in a slight bit of denial over the whole year-old thing. I pretty much refuse to take him for his first haircut. I mean, look at that hair! You only get those crazy baby hair pictures for so long, and I plan on dragging it out as much as my husband will feasibly let me. It doesn’t help that he’s pretty much grown out of all his baby clothes (although I am more than happy to say farewell to onesies – those snaps are the bane of my existence). Thankfully, he seems to fully grasp his role as “baby of the family,” and is constantly laying his head down on my shoulder and smiling sweetly, or doing a little fake crying just to get your attention. He knows just the way to melt your heart and seems in constant pursuit of eliciting an “awww” from all those in his presence.
So it has been busy, busy, busy around our house! We moved at the end of last week, and even though it was only a total of 14 floors, moving takes a heck of a lot of work. Thank goodness for my in-laws, brother-in-law, and husband who all pitched in to watch the kids, organize (we had people pack and unpack but I pretty much found clothes in the kitchen), hang pictures, and make many, many trips to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Things are no less crazy today as we have a construction crew in doing all kinds of last minute work. Tequila shots at 10 am sounds just about right to me.
