I'm betting on Pirate Face...

Michaela had her school pictures yesterday and I just can't WAIT to see how they turn out. Not for the usual reasons. See, when she smiles for a picture, she looks like:

A) a pirate
B) drunk
Or (my personal favorite)
C) a drunken pirate.

I'm dying to see which one it is!

Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Copycat Recipe

Last week I fell in love with OG's Pasta Fagioli soup. I usually get Zuppa Toscana but was looking for something the baby could share with me and thought the beans and small pieces of pasta would be perfect. I was right - she loved it and so did I! When I went searching for a copycat recipe online, this is the only one that used the right type of pasta. Boy did I hit the jackpot!  Not only was this delicious - it was super simple to make.  With 3 kids under the age of 5, I look for recipes that don't require me to be in the kitchen for hours on end.  Although, this simmered on the stove for an hour, actual prep time was probably only about 30 minutes.  That's a winner in my book!

Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Copycat Recipe

Ingredients
1lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 c celery, chopped
1 c carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can great northern beans (w/ liquid)
1 can red kidney beans (w/ liquid)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
12 oz V8 juice
1 T white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 lb ditali pasta
Parmesan, shredded (optional)

Directions
Brown the ground beef. Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent. Add the remaining ingredients (except pasta) and simmer on low for an hour. When the hour is almost over, cook the pasta al dente and then add to the soup.  Sprinkle some parmesan on top and serve.

Source
Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes

Notes
Make sure the pasta cooked al dente- it will absorb some liquid in the soup and become softer.

In which the boy sh**s all over IHOP and I leave without telling a soul...

Ugh huh, cause I'm classy like that.

We went to breakfast this morning with some friends and had a lovely time. We go to restaurants all the time (more than we should probably) so the kids totally know how to behave. Aside from Rafael being a little more hyper than usual and leaving a huge pile of pancake crumbs on the floor (seriously, can those funny face pancakes be any more crumbly?), everything went well.

And then we were getting up to leave when Rafael loudly announced that he went pee pee and poo poo in his underwear. Great. (BTW, I thought nothing of the poo poo part.  He says both whether he's just gone pee or gone both).  He hadn't had an accident in several days so I thought I was safe in putting him in underwear this morning.  I guess not.

Anywho, he gets really upset when he has an accident, so I was pondering whether I should cut my losses, grab him and rush him out the the car before the screaming started, or stick around and wait for a waitress so that I could let her know what happened.  I had just noticed that his pee had soaked all the pancake under his chair leaving a huge mushy brown mess when the shrieking started so I just grabbed him and ran him out to the car as fast as I could.

I started stripping him down in the car when I realized that there was explosive diarrhea running down his leg.  Explosive diarrhea.  And then in a mind-numbingly disgusting flash of recognition, I realized that the mushy pancake on the restaurant floor was NOT pancake.  Ohmygodohmygodohmygod...OH EM GEE!!!!!!  We can never go back there.  Ever.  EVER.

What's for Lunch Wednesday

I started making Michaela's preschool "snack" after I discovered that the ones offered at school frequently included such items as corn dogs and hamburgers. Um, no thank you. Here are her snacks from the first few weeks.

Top Left: Homemade Luncheable, strawberry and banana skewer, small chocolate cookie, milk
Top Right: veggie cream cheese sandwiches (cream cheese mixed w/ pureed carrots, cucumbers and sweet peppers), yogurt, peaches, chicken shreds, small chocolate cookie and milk.
Bottom Left: chicken shreds, pretzels and hummus, strawberry and cheese skewer, small chocolate cookie, milk
Bottom right: lunchmeat and string cheese roll up, watermelon, yogurt, carrots and ranch, small chocolate cookie, water

Top left: Tuna w/ crackers, broccoli and ranch, strawberries, banana bread, milk
Top right: Strawberry and cream cheese cracker sandwiches, carrots and hummus, grape/cheese/blueberry skewers, small chocolate cookie, milk
Bottom left: Strawberry and cream cheese sandwiches, cheese round, sweet pepper strips with ranch, dried apricot and apple, small chocolate cookie, milk
Bottom right: tortilla/chese/meat stacker sandwich, dried apples, popcorn, yogurt, small chocolate cookie, water

I'm Linking Up

NM State Fair

We spent yesterday hanging out at the State Fair. And by yesterday I mean ALL. DAY. We get in for free every year with my moms group and always try to stay a few hours. Yesterday we embraced the once-a-year-ness and were there for a solid 9 hours!  We had an awesome time and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Playing with our Friends!

Food Time!  Must have Indian Taco, corn dog, and of course baby food. :)

The kids were tall enough to go on a couple of rides this year.  I went with Rafael on a flying bumblebee, with Michaela on a ferris wheel, and Michaela got to go on a small "rollercoaster" by herself!

We did LOTS of things in the 9 hours we were there.  Lots of kid activities, we caught a hula dancing show, a white tiger show, an interactive play that the kids were able to participate in (Rafael was a pirate and Michaela a Mermaid) and much more!

Gabrielle was a trooper.  She took a small nap in the stroller and was back to her happy self!

And of course Rafael fell asleep promptly in the car as soon as we left!

A Little Person

Michaela started attending the local public preschool in August and it amazes me how in a few short weeks she's turned into the independent little person. She has her own friends and experiences that I am not a part of in any way.

She's been riding the bus (*tear* - I know!) and has her little group of bus friends. The other day we were running errands so I just drove her to school and she ran into a friend of hers. She had a whole small talk/ catching up conversation with her and even introduced me and her siblings without prompting.

Riding the bus!

When did my little girl turn into a little person?  I think this is the point where the years will start to slide by for her and I just hope I can remember how precious these very first moments of independence are.

Welcome to the Circus!

Welcome to my new blog!  I started blogging when Michaela was a colicky baby in order to exercise my mind and hopefully meet some like minded moms.  I eventually added a food blog so that I could test out all the yummy recipes I was finding on various food blogs, and a homeschooling blog to share all the fun things I was doing with my toddler and eventually preschooler.  It's been a while since I posted on any of these blogs and I think it's because I've outgrown them to a certain extent.

I don't need a blog to meet other mommies - I found an amazing MOMS Club chapter that has been my ever present support group since before Michaela could walk!  I'm no longer doing a weekly homeschool unit - with 3 kids I am just trying to squeeze in fun activities when I can!  I'm no longer trying out new recipes every night - maybe once or twice a month is about what I can manage.

I want a place where I can record all the things going on in my life - more like an online scrapbook.  And I want the freedom to post whatever I want - not to have to feel like I have to segregate my recipes from the fun things I'm doing with the kids, from the craft projects I occasionally work on.  So this is what this will be.  It'll be a mish-mash of sorts but I think I will like it better this way.  All my old blogs are still up if there was a post you'd like to revisit.  Just click on my profile on the left of the page and you can see them.  Hope you like the new blog!