Written by Jessica on Friday, July 25, 2008

Thank you all so much for your support and willingness to take the time to go out there and vote and spread the word for me. Unfortunately there was some controversy over the voting causing the vote to be called off and it looks like now it will probably just be a random drawing. So, keep your fingers crossed!

In other news, Brayden slept through the night (7pm-6am!!) Wednesday night. Then, on Thursday we were a little off schedule because Taylor's baseball practice was a little later than usual and so they ate at 10pm and all slept through to 4am! It's getting close, but I'm not getting my hopes up too much. My little, hum, Big Brayden Bear is 13 lbs!! They'll be 12 weeks old tomorrow.



I caught Carter smiling (on camera that is). They are all starting to smile when you talk to them. After they get a full tummy they're all smiles. They're also starting to coo and make little noises here and there. It's all still few and far between, but I'll take what I can get.

We registered Taylor for school yesterday. The school is so nice, we are so excited we were able to get him in there. His teacher is Mrs. Walters, she seems nice and Wade, well, let's just say Wade won't be disappointed if we have any parent/teacher conferences! When registering us for the PTA, he put his name down on the form, forgetting about me, then saying there just wasn't enough room. Hmmm.. School breakfast and lunch is $70 a month. Sheesh! Does it ever end?? These boys are already eating me out of house and home! Looks like he'll be packing a lunch everyday. Speaking of eating...



July has been hot and I decided to make some sweet Popsicles to help cool things down. I found these super cool Popsicle molds at Bed Bath and Beyond ($2.99 for a mold that makes 4). Afterwards, I realized that I probably could have gone to the dollar store and got the same ones cheaper... I have to remember that dang dollar store! Anyways, they have a drip catcher and as the Popsicle melts down you can slurp up the juices through the super cool straw mold on the side. They are easy to clean, of course that means dishwasher safe, and Taylor LOVES the excitement of helping me make them. I made a big batch and as we ate one, I'd refill the empty mold with more of the mixture. You can also put some of this mixture in ice trays and put the ice cubes in regular lemonade to make it even yummier! So, are you ready to find out what this "mixture" is comprised of?? It's complicated...
Ingredients
1 frozen concentrate pink lemonade mix (use this can to measure water)
1 pint fresh strawberries, clean, cut off tops, and puree with concentrate
1 1/2 cans of water

Put strawberries and concentrate in the blender, put water into the container you're going to store it in, then add blended mixture, stir. Pour into molds. Freeze 4 hours or so.

Note: You have to dip the molds in water for about 3 minutes so they'll come out easily without pulling the stick out while the pop stays in the mold.
You can play with this recipe as much as you want by changing the flavor of the concentrate and the fruits you choose. Pink lemonade is probably one of the highest in sugars, go for the "all natural" and fruit juice blends to reduce the sugar intake. I get those huge bags of Dole frozen fresh fruit from Sam's, so I'll be making a healthier fruity blend with that next time and instead of adding the concentrate or water, I'm adding low-fat vanilla yogurt as my mixer...I'll let you know how that works out.

ENJOY! He sure is...

2 i *heart* comments!:

Meredith said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meredith said...

Earlier this week I modified our budget for the rest of the year to reflect the cost of lunch and after school care. As you know it all adds up pretty quick. Madilyn is going to eat breakfast at home which will keep us from paying out $1.50 a day, but she will eat lunch at school. Judging from the menu on the PCBOE website, it is well worth the $2 charge. Hopefully the days she has to go to LEAP will be minimal (and I do mean MINIMAL!), thus saving another $6 per day. Her Aunt Heather is going into the 5th grade so we are hoping that when Grandpa picks up Heather he can grab her too, even if it is only 3 days a week. I'm sure we can make arrangements for the other 2 days if we need to. Next year will be a whole different story.