What to get a toddler for Halloween?

My family is always asking what to get the kids! And my response is always the same "Its the little things they love the most, so don't spend a ton of money" Well my sister hit the ball out of the park for Halloween this year, though a month early! A trip to the dollar store hit the spot. Cooper and Caddie played for hours with the various items. A coloring book, some stickers, and a dress up set of a pirate for Cooper and a princess for Caddie. What would a Halloween box be with out some sweets...well she threw in 2 cookies on a stick with yummy icing! Thanks Auntie Kimmie for the great gift!!!

Using a spoon

In the last couple of weeks Caddie has been working on using a spoon to eat. She loves using it and for the most part is getting food into her mouth. She wants to be just like her big brother and this is just another way she is like him :)

Having fun with food

Step 1 - Start with eggs, a cup, and some cheese

Step 2 - Combine everything into the cup

Step 3 - Microwave for 1 minute stir then 30 more in the microwave

Step 4 - Add fruit breakfast is done in under 2 minutes.

Having two little ones can make meal time a stressful time. They both hit the wall about the same time and some days I have a short peroid of time to get food on the table before the meltdowns begin. I have began to look for ways to make this time quick and easy while still making fun food that is healthy and yummy! I know this sounds impossible! But one of my favorite items to make the kids for breakfast is eggs. Most days I don't have time to get out the pan and scramble them up on the stove, so I found a way to do them in the microwave and have fluffy yummy eggs in 1 minute 30 seconds!

My other suggestion that I have found to be a fun way to spice up dinner is with hotdogs and mac & cheese. I found this in one of my magazines and the kids love it. By just cutting a hotdog a little different you are able to create an underwater scene that my kids love. It even got Cooper to eat his veggies!

A Saturday at the Park

Looking for squirrels to feed

Where is the train?

Our little buddy enjoying a little popcorn

Just running

Just happy to be next to the popcorn

Trouble!

having a hotdog on the way home

taking a little break

Yea popcorn

With the extreme heat of summer finally beginning to break (still 90 out though) the kids and I are able to get outside more. One of my favorite places to take them is to the farmer's market. Every Saturday and Sunday there are various ones around town. Winter Park, by Rob's work, is a favorite for the kids. There is a great grassy area where they can run, a cool view of the train tracks, and plenty of squirrels for the kids to feed popcorn to. We are finally at a point where I can let them run and have fun but they stay close and listen when I need them to stop or come closer. It makes these outings a little less stressful.

We feel so blessed that our town supports local vendors and allows them to be available each week. Plus who doesn't enjoy a huge bag of kettle corn :)

Cooper and his shades ~ A love story

This past week I finally went out and purchased Cooper a new pair of shades. He is totally in love with them and wants to wear them all the time. On top of his obsession with having his picture taken he is also gone nuts about wearing his shades in the picutes. Today he had to wear them out to lunch. Enjoy the pictures I got of him.

Our new rides

Our sitter this week got very creative with some left over diaper boxes. With a few cuts and some construction paper Cooper and Caddie had little cars to run around the house in. Did they have fun with this and the boxes, though beat up, are still being used. They have a blast running around saying "vroom vroom". They just laugh and scream the entire time and our house becomes a race track!

Just hanging out

Most nights we have dinner, get baths done, then spend some time chilling out and relaxing. This is the time of night were we can read some books, cuddle, or just sit and calm down. Some nights are calmer then others and some times they get a little goofy! Either way it is a time that I look forward to knowing the day is almost over and we all made it through! These are just a couple of pictures from one of our nights. The kids love to play with their sunglasses and were being very goofy!

We love FOOD!

Cooper and Caddie love lunch and dinner! They have just been introduced to chef boyardee and boy do they love him. As you can see it makes a huge mess for me to clean up, but they have a great time! Caddie loves to spread it all over her tray and just make a bigger mess where Cooper just gets it all over his face. It is just better to strip them and let them go to town! Thank you chef boyardee for making lunch a fun time at our house :)