High-Five for Friday!

This week has been a weird one with Max having a day off in the middle of his week (Monday). It felt like he should have had the whole rest of the week off as well but sadly he didn't. Anyways, here are the highlights from our week.

1. This week we hit 17 weeks with this pregnancy! This one is going so fast now that I'm not sick! AND this week, I was able to feel baby J move and by Wednesday, Maxwell could feel it too! SO much fun!

 2. Aston got to drive the car with daddy for the first time. He was so focused and into it. It brought back memories from when I was little with my dad.

 3. He was a crazy little boy this week but he is so darn cute, all I could do was laugh at him.

 4. We had a successful trip to Costco yesterday thanks to a sheet of stickers. He had a lot of fun decorating himself with them!

 5. This morning, we had a fun family Zoo date! I just love spending time with these guys!

I hope you all had a great week!

Copy-cat Nordstrom's Tomato Basil Soup

I love Tomato Basil Soup! I actually have a habit of trying it at just about every restaurant that has it but not many come close to being as good as Nordstrom's Tomato Basil Soup.

Today I was craving it badly, with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich and decided I should make some. I found this recipe and tweaked it a little. I didn't need a large amount of soup because it was just going to serve Aston and I for lunch so I made a small batch. (This recipe can be double, tripled or quadrupled if you want to.)

Ingredients

(Makes 3-4 large bowls)

1 28oz Can Tomatoes (I used diced)
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 clove of garlic
1 small can Chicken Broth
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream

1. In a medium sauce pan, heat about 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil. Sauté carrots and onions with salt and pepper for about 10 minutes, until the onion softens. Add basil and garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and simmer for 45 minutes.
3. Remove soup from heat and blend the soup. I used my Immersion Blender. I LOVE this thing! You can use a regular blender or food processor too but the Immersion Blender makes it so much easier and much less clean-up.
4. Once soup has been blended smooth, slowly add cream in to your likeness. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy with your favorite Grilled Cheese Sandwich. :-)

Quick and Easy Beef Stroganoff

I don't know what it is about Beef Stroganoff but I love it! Last night we made it with our usual recipe but I changed it a bit and I liked the change! So here you go with the recipe. It's great because the whole thing cooks in 30 minutes and I love that!

Quick and Easy Beef Stroganoff

1lb Beef steaks (We use Tri Tip Steaks or Boneless Beef Short Ribs, whatever you can find that is the cheapest)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
4 T flour
1 can Beef Broth
1 package button mushrooms
Salt and Pepper
1 Swanson's Beef Flavor Boost Packet

1. Trim off any fat and thinly slice the beef against the grain of the meat. Set aside. Slice up the mushrooms. In a separate bowl, stir together the sour cream and flour. 
2. In a skillet, brown the beef on all sides. Season with Salt and Pepper Remove from pan and add mushrooms and garlic, add some salt to help the mushrooms "sweat". Saute until cooked to your likeness. I like mine very cooked.
3. Add beef back into pan, then add the sour cream mixture and incorporate it with the meat and mushrooms. Then add the can of beef broth. Stir to get clumps out and to blend everything together.
4. Allow the mixture to cook over medium heat until sauce thickens. Stir in the Flavor Boost packet and taste. Add more salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice or noodles.
5. Enjoy!

Our Daily Routine

Aston is a creature of habit just like his mommy. He LOVES a routine and just loves having structure to our day. I really believe that all children want a routine and want to know what to expect in there day. As a teacher, my students always wanted to know the plan for the day when they walked in and our days just moved better if they were aware of what was coming.

Since finding out we were pregnant and me being sick, we haven't had the best routine in the world. We watched a lot of TV and movies because I just couldn't muster the energy to do much more. We both were taking two naps a day and life was just a bit out of order.

Now that I'm finally feeling better most days, and Aston has decided to transition to a one nap a day schedule most days, I decided it was time to really get back to a routine to help us both get things done during the day and help the day just move more smoothly. We started with this schedule last Monday and our week did just move right along.

• Wake-up - 8am: Breakfast, then cartoons
• 8am-8:30am: Get dressed, Make beds, brush teeth
• 8:30am-9:30am: Mommy School activities
• 9:30am-10am: free play inside
• 10:00am-11:00am: Outside, Outing, Library Time, Walk
• 11:30am: Lunch
• 12:00pm: Clean-up, do dishes, free play
• 1:00pm: Nap Time!
• 3:00pm: Wake-up and Snack with Movie or Mickey Mouse
• 3:30pm: Daddy’s Home, play with daddy, Outside time
• 4:00pm: Dinner Prep
• 5:00pm: Dinner
• 5:45pm-6:15pm: Free Play, Clean Up
• 6:15pm: Bath Time
• 6:45pm Bed Time Routine: Read, prayers, goodnight
• 7pm: Bed Time

Now this schedule is very loose as far as times go but it helps me to stay accountable to moving things along in our day. It is very easy to get stuck in the trap of having the TV on as entertainment and to get lazy but this really helps me to stay focused. This week we are also officially starting "Mommy School" and I cannot wait for that. Aston is such a learner and I think he'll enjoy having a structured preschool time with me.

I sure do miss two naps a day but I guess it had to kind of end at some point. I'm just one tired momma these days!

Custom Mug using DecoArt Paint

In March, when I was just starting to be sick, I hosted my second craft night. It was fun although I felt awful but this is one of the projects we did. It was so much fun and I LOVE that I have my own special mug made just for me, by me :).

What you need: 

Ceramic Mug (I got mine at the 99cent store)

DecoArt Gloss Enamels (I used Black and Indian Turquoise) 

Sponge brush

Spray adhesive

Stencil 

Nail Polish Remover

1. Find a stencil you would like to use at your craft store OR I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the shapes I wanted to use for my mug.

2. Lightly spray the back side of your stencil with spray adhesive so that it will lay nicely on your mug while you paint.

3. Attach your stencil to the mug and use a sponge brush to dabb the paint into the area where you want paint.

4. I could not get the paint not to bleed some but found the nail polish remover was my best friend. If you make a mistake, you can erase the WHOLE thing if you do it right away or you can clean up the edges if it bleeds.

5. Bake your mug as directed by the paint bottle. 325 degrees for 30 minutes and it will be dishwasher safe! Isn't that great? And so easy!


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