Swim Lessons Day 2

I'm going to try to post short videos weekly of Kason's swim lessons.  Thank you Oma and Opa for the great birthday gift and Aunt Amanda for the water proof camera.  We went with infant survival aquatic lessons.  The goal is to teach him how to swim-float-swim so if he falls in the pool he can swim to the edge for safety.  I must admit, watching some of the other kids that have been doing it for a couple of weeks is very impressive.  I'm already a believer.

This is his second day of lessons.  We will see how it progresses.

Keep in mind, he's only 15 months old...

This is Kason learning to float on his back.  Yes, he was pissed and cried the whole time.  He'll get over it though.

Here's some other recent pictures too

yes, i took my child to the chicken.  he loved it.

Boy's Ties for Sale

I'm making from scratch and selling boys ties.  Here's one I made for Kason.  John says it doesn't match, but I love it. :)

$15 - I buy the fabric and comes with 1 initial embroidered at the bottom of the tie.
$13- you buy the fabric and comes with 1 initial embroidered at the bottom of the tie.
$12 - I buy the fabric, no embroidery
$10 - you buy the fabric, no embroidery

Message me on Facebook if you want to place an order.  The tie above is for 12-18mn.  I can size to fit various ages, just let me know the size.  Turnaround time is 1-2 days if you supply the fabric.  1 week if I have to buy it.

The tie buttons in the back and comes pre-tied, finished on both side. :)

Guess who turned 1?

Well I guess I took a 6 month sabbatical from blogging... I know I was busy, but can't remember what all I was doing.  So, to try and get back into the groove, I wanted to share Kason's Ho'Down pictures with you. I have over 300 so forgive me if I'm having a hard time narrowing it down.

Kason turned 1 on February 28.  We had a small celebration with Oma and Opa at the house and Kason got to enjoy a bundt cake his Oma got him.  He was VERY unsure of it for about 10 minutes, but then he decided to lick the candle and it was on from there.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the weekend before he got his first hair(s) cut.  Here's the before and after:

What a difference, huh???

Since I only really have nights to plan, organize and get creative... I started planning his birthday party while I was off of work for the Christmas holiday.  I know that's ridiculous.  But, I'm glad I did because everything feel into place nicely and we weren't scrambling like chickens with our heads cut off last minute.

I used/stole ideas from pinterest and then had a couple creative ideas of my own.  I'm pleased with how all the decorations came out and it seemed like the kids had a good time playing with the variouis games that were set up.  All in all, the party was a success.... and to top it off.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!!   Entertain me while I show the decorations (I had fun putting them together), I'll put all the pictures of everyone in a slideshow at the end.

Temporary Tattoo Station for the little tots

Photo Booth Accessories

Kason's Cake, the Icing
ran a little bit but it was still cute

yummy sugar cookies!

K's Cake Throne

Must Have:  picture cutout

These were too easy to make... all I did was have a 4x8 ripped
at lowes and then I bought rope and stapled it to the board. (I stained
the board first)

Great Idea Pinterest!  Horse Roping (with hula hoops)
The kids had fun roping and hula hooping!

Since my Grandma came, we needed to celebrate her birthday too.
It happened to be the 80th anniversary of her 1st birthday.
Yes, there are 81 candles in the cake, and NO we did not light them all.
We only lit the 1.

These were the favors in the kids bags.  I made crayon holders
and a coloring book.  If you look closely the kid is a cartooned
child of Kason (I used his photo to create it) and the words on the
bottom are a story about a boy named "George Kason" going to a
horse show.

John cooked the hotdogs and branded a
"K" into them.  Nice outfit. LOL.

One of my friends Claire made the cupcakes.
Aren't they cute!  I love them.

Pin the tail on the donkey... SUCCESS!  $1 cardboard from
99 cent store and some construction paper.

The disaster afterwards!  Looks like they had fun.

Cake table aftermath.  I didn't show the food table aftermath...
because there wasn't one.  All the food was eaten.  Oops.

And now the pictures you really care about.  Enjoy!!

Kason's First Pumpkin

John's sister Amanda has been growing a pumpkin in one of her flower beds all summer long.  It unexpectedly started growing, and we thought it would be fun to have Kason take pictures in the pumpkin patch... so we made her keep it.  One of the pumpkins is perfect size for Kason and it is starting to go bad on the bottom... So we picked it today and took picture of Kason with it.  They turned out GREAT!!!  I just love how they came out.  He did so good!!!  Thanks Aunt Man-Man for the pumpkin and helping get the poses. Enjoy!

This is probably my favorite

Holding one of Daddy's Milk Trucks

He has on Lance's cowboy boots from when Lance was a toddler.
They are still too big, but SOOO cute

John's dad bought him a knife and
cowboy hat when he was born.  The
hat finally fits!!

Doesn't he look like a baby George
Strait here.  He's so handsome.
I love this.

Here's another one of Lance's shirts
from when he was a baby.  This is
one that my dad gave me from his
auto store back in the day.

This one's for you dad. :)  So cute, thanks for the shirt.
I love it!

this just makes my heart melt.

Unexpected Day off WORK!!!

Well, I very unexpectedly took a day off work today.  So unexpected, I showed up to work... and then just left.  LOL.  I got to work and realized that I had left my computer at home (DANG IT!!)... then Kason has been having this eye "goo" and dry cough/sneeze going on for the last week so I finally decided to take him to the doctor.

He's fine... he's on the tail end of a virus (regular cold)... He's still happy go-lucky... just with green goo coming out of his eye.  He's napping now, he missed his morning nap because of the doctor's appointment.

So, in lieu of going back and forth to work three times today, I just took the day off.  It's actually been WONDERFUL!  So fun!  I got home and went on a 4 mile run, picked Kason up, went to the doctor, fed him, got him down for a nap, ate lunch w/ John, yada, yada, yada... all in all, good day so far.

I also cooked a noodle-less lasagna for dinner.  I wanted to share the recipe... It's baking now and smells SOOO YUMMY!!!  I can't wait to eat it for dinner.  I'm quite positive this is a dish that adults and children will both like, so you should try it.  It is pretty healthy (in moderation of course).

Zucchini, Spinach and Italian Turkey Sausage Lasagna (without Noodles)

Preheat your oven to 425

Mix: 8oz of onion and chive cream cheese, 15oz of Low Fat Ricotta Cheese, 1/2 cup chopped basil (fresh), 1 tsp salt.

Brown sausage

Slice (thinly) 4-5 zucchini's and sauté with 2 cloves garlic, add 10oz spinach (fresh or frozen will work), let wilt if you used fresh.

Layer zucchini mix, cheese mix, sausage, zucchini mix, cheese mix.  Sprinkle with Mozzarella.

Cover with sprayed foil.

Bake 30 minutes covered, Bake 5 minutes uncovered.

WA-LA!  Super easy, only takes about 20 minutes of prep-time.

Finally, add spouse, children, kitchen table and a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord and your sure to have a great evening!!!

Enjoy! Kason's awake, time to play!

Kason's into Baby Food!!!

I am so excited we are to the baby food stage!!  I love it!  I love the mess, the gagging, the smiles, the spoons.... and did I say the mess!  He is just so cute eating!!!

We have dappled into Rice Cereal, Oatmeal (his absolute favorite, like his mommy), Peas and Green Beans so far!

Rice Cereal!!!

Kenna feeding Kason oatmeal

mmmm... peas.  These took some getting used to.

I love real food!!!

LOL.. here's one where he's gagging.  I love this

Dad feeding me Green Beans

The other day, I read a startling article...  What is the #1 most eaten vegetable by 2 year olds (and probably older children)?........  French Fries!!!  Oh my gosh!!!  Why?  There are so many fabulous vegetables out there, why fried potatoes?  Look, I'm not saying that I don't like a thing of fries and a milk shake every now and then... I just don't want that to by my child's number one vegetable eaten.  His favorite "fry" will be baked sweet potato fries, I'm sure.  LOL.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE to make his baby food.  It's so easy, and INCREDIBLY inexpensive.  I bought a 2 dollar bag of peas the other day and it made the equivalent of 40-50 dollars of baby food.  For containers, I just bought the small Glad containers instead of the traditional baby food containers.  Most baby food containers at $10 for 4 small containers.  You can get 8 of the same size glad containers for $2.50.  Seems like an obvious choice to me.

Also, you can easily make your own baby food with a stove, pot of water and a blender or food processor.  This is what I did with the peas while I was waiting for a part to come in for my baby food maker.  Yes, I do have a baby food maker (thanks Donna and Holly)... but is a hand me down.  I love it!  But, I would not have gone and bought one.  They are quite pricey!!  Yes, they are "easier".... but the other way isn't hard either.

Here's what we do.  The doctor said to start with the greens and then work towards the yellow and orange veggies... We've done peas and green beans quite successfully.  This week we are going to try spinach so he can be strong like popeye; then we'll move to broccoli and zucchini.  I was going to get him some asparagus, but it was still kind of pricey.  I'm going to see if it goes on sell.

Thanks Christyn for the wonderful strainer as a wedding gift, I use it all the time.

Don't these veggies look yummy!!!  Obviously, I clean the vegetables thoroughly first, then I use my baeba food maker.  You just put it in the cup, add some water and turn the nob to steam... and forget it... literally!  It finishes in about 20-45 minutes depending on what veggie you are making.  Then you turn the nob to purree and pour it in a container.  I freeze mine and use them when needed.

Here's  my complete set up...  pretty simple, huh?

this is all you need.. the spinach is making in the maker while i took this.

Here's how I see it...  I could go trample thru Walmart buying baby food wanting to rip my eyeballs out because that store drives me crazy... or i could run to the local grocery store half a minute away... buy some nice veggies and spend about 30 minutes making 1-2 months worth of baby food.  I think I'm actually saving time AND money making it.  Seems like an obvious answer to me.

I can't wait to see his face when he tries the spinach!!!