Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Projects and Pinterest

Behold!  This is one of the projects we've done this summer--a "kid deck" and sandbox.  Sam and his good buddy Karl made this a few weeks ago and it has been a hit.  It is a big rectangular frame with decking on one side and a sandbox on the other.  The deck side holds the kids' outdoor toys, freeing up the "adult deck" behind our house for sitting and eating.

In this photo you see the sandbox covered with a gray tarp.  This was the day after we received 6 inches of rain--the box was a nice little pond!  Anne and Sammy played for 2 hours--it started out as just wading and filling up their buckets and ended with both kids running and jumping around in their underwear totally dripping wet.  Hey, that's what summer is for, right?

On the fence you can kind of see another project Anne and I did.  We spray painted a dozen assorted plastic containers, hung them from the fence, and planted red petunias to dress-up the area.  I found the idea on Pinterest, but you can see the original blog post at http://stuffstephdoes.com/2012/05/08/diy-hanging-flower-tins/.

On Father's Day we had Calvin dedicated at church.  Erin, Todd, Will, and Adrienne were there, as well as my grandparents.  We had everyone over for brunch afterwards, and I have had requests for recipes.  Here's what we ate:

Breakfast Pizza
Ingredients: 1 tube Crescent rolls, 1 lb breakfast sausage, 2 cups frozen hashbrowns, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, 6 eggs, 1/2 cup milk

Seal and stretch the Crescent rolls to cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan and cover up the side by 1 inch.  Brown the sausage and put on top of the rolls.  Layer on the hashbrowns and cheese.  (At this point you can stop, cover with foil, and put in the fridge overnight).  Mix the eggs and milk; pour over other ingredients.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 10 minutes or until eggs are set.  It will take longer to bake if it has been in the fridge.  Serves 6-8 (our party of 12 ate two of these easily!)

Raspberry Crumb Cake
Follow the link above for this labor-intensive cake.  The recipe is confusing and jumbled; I made my own copy that is more logical.  I would recommend not melting the butter for the crumb topping--use cold butter and cut it into the sugar and flour.  Mine didn't turn out pretty, but it tasted good.

Fruit Salad
Cut up fruit.  Put in bowl.  Sam did this while I fed the baby, which was nice!  One trick I've learned is to always include pineapple canned in juice--the pineapple juice is acidic enough to keep apples and bananas from browning.

Lemonade Punch
Combine 1 cup Country Time lemonade mix with 2 cups water.  Add one 46-ounce can of pineapple juice and 2 cans of Sprite.  This was also a nice Pinterest find.

Peanut Butter Brownies
This is just dressing-up a box of brownie mix.  Choose your favorite brownie mix (Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix, family-size box).  Mix according to package directions, but substitute brewed coffee for the water.  Coffee makes chocolate things taste more chocolate-y.  When brownies are cooled, top with peanut butter frosting:

1 stick softened butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2-3 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk

Cream butter and peanut butter.  Add 2 cups of sugar and 3 T of milk.  Continue adding remaining sugar until spreading consistency is reached.

If you want to be fancy, bake your brownies in a round cake pan or tart pan, and call it a "torte"  Thanks to my friend Emily for introducing this frosting into my life.  So good!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

First Month Wrap-Up

 The Calvinator passed the one-month mark last weekend with much fanfare.  He met the extended family at our annual summer picnic, then had his first party: a post-church brunch to celebrate his dedication.  He was a trooper through all our travel and being passed from one person to the next.  My arms enjoyed the break!
 He weighed 11 lbs, 1 ounce at his weight check on Thursday.  He is right on track and has made up for his slow start.
 I am hesitant to write about his sleep, as I am a firm believer in The Jinx, so I will simply state: Last night Cal slept from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. in his crib.  He ate, then returned to the crib until 7:30 a.m.
We have social smiles!  Cal has graced us with his mouthy grin this week and it has been wonderful.  That smile erases the memory of crying and spit-up pretty quickly.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Random Tidbits

--The Calvinator's favorite place to sleep: on Mom.

--Calvin is a name we liked; it is not in honor of anyone.  I just realized last night that both Calvins I know have a brother named Sam, so they must naturally go together.  Jacob is the name of Sam's maternal grandfather, though he preferred to be called Jack.  We almost named him Joseph, but Cal was the name I kept coming back to throughout my pregnancy.

--We call him Cal, Baby Cal, Baby Cow (little Sam's pronunciation), Cal-Pal, The Calvinator, C.J., C-Jack, and OhMyGodGoToSleep

--I have a basic Amazon Kindle (black and white, books only) and it is great to use while feeding the baby.  It is the only way I've found to read one-handed.  Load it up with free e-books from the library and we're good to go!

--Cal seems sensitive--he doesn't like his diaper to be dirty and he cried both times I got out the nail clippers (I didn't actually trim his nails.  He got too worked-up for me to do it!)

--Cal is a great sleeper, if you hold him.  If you lay him down anywhere, notsomuch.  I spend a lot of my day on the couch, feeding him and snuggling him to sleep.  It was fun for a couple of days, but it is getting old now.  Other people need me, too, buddy!