More Summer Fun

Here we are in mid August and I've crossed off just about everything off my summer bucket list. I would still like to get to Cedar Point before they close for the year, but that could even be a fall trip.  I've heard their haunted houses for Halloweekends are pretty intense.

This past Saturday was the John Mayer concert at Klipsch Music Center Deer Creek.  As always, he put on an amazing show.  I like his music, Continuum is definitely a top 5 album, but seeing him live is an entirely different experience.  The highlight of the show for me was seeing him tear up an electric guitar solo during "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room," then transition into "Neon" on the acoustic, then tune to drop D by ear for "Your Body is a Wonderland." I really can't stand the last song, but the sequence of the three really highlighted his skills.

One of the great not so great things about lawn seats at Deer Creek is the constant waves of smoke. Cigarette smoke and then once it gets dark, lots of pot smoke.  I of course got a headache and spent the last 45 minutes of the concert laying down and wearing my sunglasses.  Thankfully that kept a migraine at bay.  I consider that a win.  Even laying down and just listening to the music, it was still a blast.

On Sunday we got a quick visit from some of our STL family.  Pat, Phil, Alex and their sweet dog Dash stopped in on their way home from spending the weekend at the lake.  I wish we would have been able to spend more time with them, but the brief time we did have was nice.  Harrison took to Pat right away. Amazing, right? There was no crying at all which is a rarity these days.  It took a little googling to figure this out, by Alex and H and B are second cousins once removed.

One added bonus about visiting family from St. Louis, gooey butter cake from McArthur's Bakery. This stuff is so rich and delicious.  If you're ever in the area, you have to stop and get some. They also ship via UPS.

This week Amanda, or Panda as Sophie calls her, is headed back to school.  This was her first summer working at the daycare, but hopefully it won't be her last. Harrison has a little crush on her and can't wait for her to come back over break.  Kara was kind enough to throw a little get together for all of us girls this evening to send Amanda off.  I am so fortunate to have an amazing group of girls that work for me. All of our kids are starting to get along well too which is an added bonus. There used to be some stare offs between the twins and Sophie.  It was pretty intense.

H and B hanging on the couch with Amanda.

She is so close to crawling.  She'll be on the move any day now.

We are definitely enjoying the last few weeks of summer.  I can't believe the kids will be 15 months this week.  More about that later.

Blog Changes

My blog was started as a way to keep friends and family up to date on my pregnancy and the twins.  That is still the purpose of Our Little Miracles, but the blog is starting to get a lot more page views from Pinterest, largely due to my Tasty Tuesday posts.

If you're a follower of my blog, you'll notice some layout changes over the next few days.  I want to make it easier for people to find what they're looking for when they visit.  Thanks to some wonderful error messages from Blogger and the kiddos ever changing nap schedule, the changes will be taking place over a couple days.  Also, I'm not an expert in HTML code, so I'm figuring it out as I go.

Thanks for bearing with me, and there will be a new, finished look soon.  Thanks to everyone who follows our adventures, and I hope you like the new look.

Dinner with Entertainment

When trying to decide where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner, I kept thinking I wanted to have the kids come too so we should go somewhere they'd enjoy.  I love adult time, but I love spending time with H and B above anything else.  I thought going to a hibachi restaurant, Takaoka,  would be something they'd enjoy, and boy did they.  They loved the show and one of them really enjoyed the food.

Harrison ate some of my salad, shrimp, chicken, steak, veggies and of course sherbet for dessert.  Brooke only ate fried rice and sherbet.  She was more interested in drinking Rob's water and playing with the fork.  They definitely enjoyed watching the food be prepared and all of the hoopla that went along with it.

Before dinner Rob and the kids gave me cards and a few gifts. My birthday card from Rob is too funny not to share.  It's amazing what a well placed # can do.

Another Year Older

Today I turn 31. Another year older. I wasn't a fan of birthdays in my late 20s. There were always fun dinners, or a week of dinners as was the case when I turned 26, and trips to Chicago, but infertility was always looming overhead.  Every birthday was a reminder that we weren't pregnant and that it was becoming more difficult to get pregnant.  I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but if you've been there, you know what I'm talking about.

I thought for sure I was going to hate turning 30, but I didn't.  I finally felt like my life was where it was supposed to be.   I had Rob, the daycare, the best dogs on the planet, ok that might be a stretch, and the two most amazing presents I could ever have imagined.  Life happened how it was supposed to despite my plans for it to have worked differently.  The big 3-0 was just another day and 30 has been the best year of my life.

There are no huge plans on my birthday this year, just cupcakes from DC, a work meeting with my girls and spending the day with my little loves.

There are fun plans later in the week, but today I'll just relax and reflect on how fortunate I am and what a great last year I've had.  Cheers to 31! I can't wait to what the next year has in store for me.  

Beer, Beer and Babies

Our weekend started off with homemade pizzas on Friday evening.  The babies' godmother joined us for the evening. This was their first time getting to eat pizza.  They mostly picked off the toppings and ate the crust.  Not as successful as I hoped, but at least they were willing to try it.  

After dinner I tried making Summer Shandy Cupcakes.  They were a disaster.  Overcooked, not sweet enough, just bad all around.  The icing turned out great though.  

The next morning I made vanilla blueberry cupcakes to accompany the delicious lemon cream cheese frosting.  So much better.  The cupcakes helped us kick off "The Best Day Ever."   

We have been dubbing this day The Best Day Ever for months now.  BrewHaven was Saturday and it was as wonderful as we had hoped.  Great company and more beer than I could ever drink.  

There were more than 300 varieties of beer available and I bet we tried about 30.  There was also a cheese table, best idea ever, where we sampled awesome spicy cheeses and meat sticks.  

It was a great day and I learned two important things.  1. Don't wear a full length dress to a beer tasting.  The bottom will get covered in beer, spit and water.  2. After the 5th IPA sample they all taste the same.  Every brewery brought an IPA and by the end of the day I was cursing IPAs.  I am already looking forward to next year's event and spending another great day with some wonderful ladies.  

Sunday started off with us just chilling around the house.  The kids decided to raid my underwear drawer and wear Victoria's Secret capes.  Who am I to tell them they can't be underwear superheroes?

  

We ran a few errands between naps and then went out to dinner in the evening. Salvatori's is a great local Italian restaurant that's just around the corner from us. The kids had their first tast of alfredo sauce.  H liked it and B just picked at it.  They've both decided sippy cups are overrated and they want to drink out of our cups.  We had quite a few people comment on how well behaved the kids were which was much nicer to hear than the usual, "You must have your hands full."

The evening of course ended with popsicles and messy babies.  Once the kids were in bed, Rob and I sat down to watch some Walking Dead.  We've already watched it through once, but we're watching it again.  I can't get enough of this show.  I am kicking myself for waiting so long to watch it.  At least now the wait for the new season is only a  couple months.  

I hope you all had a great weekend.  

Hello August

Welcome to August, the best month of the year.  August has always been my favorite month.  When I was younger it was because my birthday is in August. Now it seems that August is always full of great things to do, plus birthdays are still pretty great. I get to cross off most of my summer bucket list in the next few weeks, and I'm excited for all of it.

As we say hello to August, we say goodbye to July. You were a good month, but I'm glad to see you go. Here are a few pictures of the kiddos from last week.

I love these two so much and can't wait to share another month with them.  We have a lots of fun planned, things with them and adult stuff too.  I have high expectations for you August, don't let me down.

Tasty Tuesday - Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

I know some people who cringe when you say the word casserole.  I grew up eating casseroles and absolutely love them.  Some of my favorite dishes my mom makes are casseroles.  Pizza casserole, tater tot casserole, green bean casserole.  Just because its mixed together and baked in a 13x9 pan doesn't mean it can't be delicious and full of flavor.

I like making casseroles for the kids because it's a great way to add veggies to their dinner.  Although they will eat some veggies just steamed and as a side, often times they'll tackle the meat first and the veggies are left once they're full.  

I thought I would tackle a casserole favorite, broccoli rice casserole, and change it up a little.  While I'm not completely opposed to rice, I prefer not to base an entire meal around it. I'd much rather use a whole grain pasta or quinoa.  This was my first time using quinoa in a casserole, and I think it turned out well.  My 13 year old niece and both kids downed it.  H and B even had seconds.  

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

2 cups quinoa

2 cups cooked shredded or diced chicken

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 bunch broccoli

1 can low sodium cream of mushroom soup

1 can low sodium cream of chicken soup

Instructions:

1. Prepare quinoa as instructed on bag. Most quinoa requires 2 cups of water per cup of quinoa.  

2. Clean, peel and cut up broccoli. Use the stems and heads. Smaller pieces are better. Steam for 5 minutes.  Do not fully cook.  

3. Once quinoa is fully cooked and broccoli is steamed, mix all ingredients in the pot the quinoa was cooked in. 

4. Spread mixture in a greased 13x9 pan.  Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes, until thoroughly warmed and lightly browned on top.    

Notes: I recommend getting pre rinsed quinoa.  Trying to rinse and drain quinoa is a pain. You can make this a vegetarian dish by leaving out the chicken and using an additional can of cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of chicken.  I used salt and pepper when I served myself.  I think if I make it again I will add pepper to the mix and probably 1/2 cup of red onion.  While it wasn't bland by any means, I did feel it could use more flavors. 

Happy cooking!

Leftover Makeover

I had about 2/3 of a pan of this left after a couple days. I know there was no way we were going to finish it all, so I decided to whip up some mini muffins. The mini muffins are a go to food for my picky eaters. I make a batch of broccoli quinoa mini muffins every month now because they love them so much. I always have a stockpile of them in the freezer.

Ingredients

Leftover broccoli quinoa casserole
3 eggs
2 cups cheddar cheese.

1. Preheat oven to 400*.

2. Mix all ingredients together.

3. Spoon mixture into silicone mini muffin pan, or greased mini muffin pan. Bake at 400* for 20 minutes. Mini muffins will be lightly brown around the edges.

Notes: These freeze great and reheat easily in the microwave. If you want to make full size muffins, up the baking time to 25 or 30 minutes.