Popsicle breath and other happenings

Just some photos today... but they're good ones ;)

Popsicles are awesome.

teasing Daisy with delicious popsicle breath

Cranberry Almond Granola Adventures

I tried this granola recipe last week because I hate how expensive granola is at my grocery store! This was cheap to make, and tasted pretty good. Not great, but that could be my error. My first batch looked perfect, but then because I didn't follow the exact recipe, I burned it :/ So my second batch, I didn't have any sliced almonds, so I chopped some, leaving it a little clumsy, if that even makes sense. And I also forgot to spray the foil the second time so it completely stuck to the pan. Whoops. That was pretty annoying. Also, it doesn't seem to be the healthiest recipe (with the butter and brown sugar) but since I can't have booze, I'll take sweets. I'll try a healthier one after this baby comes!

Cranberry Almond Granola

2c old fashioned oats

1/2c dried cranberries

1c sliced almonds (much better than chopped!)

1ts cinnamon

1/4ts salt

4tb (1/2 stick) butter (reason for my "not the healthiest"disclaimer!)

1/4c lightly packed brown sugar

1/4c honey

1ts vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400˚

2. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil (see note about size of pan and cooking time). Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Mix oats, cranberries, almonds, cinnamon and salt

4. Combine the butter, sugar and honey in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the butter melts and the mixture begins to boil. Add the vanilla and stir. Remove from the heat.

5. Pour the butter over the oats, mixing until well coated. Transfer to the prepared pan and, using a spatula, press the oats evenly into the pan.

6. Bake until the top is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes*. Transfer to a rack and cool. Using the foil as aid, lift out of the pan and place on a work surface. Crumble into pieces. Serve with berries and yogurt.

*If using a 9" square pan, bake 20-25 minutes. If using a 13x9" pan, 15-18 minutes.

yummmm

perfect with "Banilla" yogurt, blueberries and banana

Manipulation and Dum Dums

What a day. I learned that Sam's head is incredibly hard, literally. Falling off the bed, he hit his head on the windowsill at 7am. Good morning. A HUGE knot. But the skin never broke. I don't know how.

I also learned that he is smarter than I thought. He used his injury to try to get what he wanted. This morning, wound still fresh in both of our minds, he pointed to the canister where I keep the Dum Dums. I said "no, it's breakfast time, we can have one later this afternoon". He looked at me, put his hand dramatically over his goose egg and started to whimper. I seriously thought to myself, "maybe one wouldn't hurt, the poor kid". Next thing I know, strawberry flavored drool is all over his pajamas and it's only 8:30am.

The pleads for sympathy rolled in all day. Pretending to hurt himself just for an extra hug or kiss. I'm happy to oblige. I dread the day where the injury takes more than a Mommy kiss to heal. Dread.

On another note, you might notice another page link listed above. You guessed it, it's time again for Team HPB to get out the walking shoes! Please visit the page for more info in how you can help this year.

My office being taken over by Sam. And George of course.

I love his little hiney in his cords. 

The Name Game

Great. Thanks a lot Beyonce. Now I can't name my son Green because I'll seem trendy going with the color thing because you had to go and name your baby Blue. Now I'm screwed. I could have even gone with Blue myself. Blue Boyer. I could say "you're my boy, Blue!!" all day. And Beyonce and Jay-Z had to take that from me.

I think it would be easier to name a baby if I were a celebrity. You can get away with some crazy shit. Pilot Inspektor? Taken. Moon Unit?? Taken. Bronx Mowgli? Taken. Zuma? Zowie? Arpad? Speck Wildhorse?? All taken. I could just blindly point to a few letters in the alphabet and create a new "American" name. I could pick a name and put a lowercase i in front of it in honor of Steve Jobs? iPaul. Has a nice ring, no?

By the third time around, thinking of another boy name is pretty hard. With Henry, it was frustrating. I merely suggested Henry Philip once to Phil and he held on to that name with a kung-fu grip. He untimely "won" the name battle, and in the end, it was perfect. With Sam, We knew we wanted the middle name to be Henry. So that knocked out a few names that didn't go with it. We tossed around some names, and almost every name I suggested - Phil hated. But in all fairness, every name Phil suggested made me gag. We're a little opposite. Samuel was on the suggestion list the first time around and of course Phil hated it because it wasn't Henry. But then I showed him what it meant, and he was turned. And then clutched on to that name with the afore-mentioned grip.

So now I've found a name I like. Finally. I know I have time. I know I might change my mind in some crazy pregnancy induced mania over the next 19 weeks. But I saw it, remembered it from a list I'd made in the past, and thought "that's it". And there is no "k" in place of a "c". No hyphens or apostrophes. It's not a color in the rainbow.

Now all I have to do is convince Phil. Because I've got a kung-fu grip too. That and you just don't mess with a grumpy pregnant lady who has made up her mind. She thinks.