Nutritious and Delicious Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Creative title, don't you think?  Ha.  Anyway...
I'm the only normal member of my family who LOVES vegetables.  I could have a plate full of veggies for dinner every night and be perfectly happy.  Billy and the kids, not so much.  They do like some veggies - in small quantities.  But if I never prepared another vegetable side dish as long as they lived, they wouldn't be sad.
So I have to get creative when trying to get my kids to even get a portion of their required daily servings of veggies.  Smoothies have been one way I've been able to do this.  Vanessa is the one who first told me she put veggies in her kids' smoothies.  I was skeptical at first, but I decided to give it a whirl.  Some things work, some don't.  Like don't try spinich, right Vanessa?  Peas, however, do SO well in a smoothie.  They have the right texture and a mild enough taste that won't over power the other flavors.  So, before you think I'm nuts, try this recipie I created.  You will never even know it has peas in it.  I promise!

Cocolate Banana Smoothie

1 package chocolate flavored Carnation Instant Breakfast mix
1 1/2 - 2 frozen* bananas (depending on your taste)
3/4 - 1 cup milk, until desired consistency  (I use skim)
1/2 cup green peas

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

I actually divide this in half for Tyler and Allison.  Give them a handful of pretzels to go along with it, and it's the perfect mid-afternoon snack (or breakfast-on-the-go even!).
The first time Tyler and Allison had it, they slurped it down in like 5 minutes.  Tyler even went out of his way to tell me, "That smoothie was REALLY good!"  And when I asked Allison how delicious it was, she gave it a 10!  And this is coming from two kids who really dislike peas!  Like I said, you won't even know they're in there!

*I use frozen bananas because it gives the smoothie just the right consistency and makes it cold without having to use ice. 
If you don't keep frozen bananas on hand, here's a little tip.  Everytime I buy bananas, I always seem to have one or two left over that start to get spotted and no one will eat.  So option #1 is to make banana bread.  If we're not in a banana bread kind of mood, then option #2 is to peel them, put them in a Zip-loc bag, and stick 'em in the freezer.  Then I always have frozen bananas just waiting to be a part of my next smoothie (and the bananas are much sweeter that way too). 

By the way, has anyone purchased Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious?  If so, do you like it?  It's actually on sale (45% off) at barnesandnoble.com for $7.12 (and it's a hardcover)!  So I'm ordering mine today!  Anyone want to purchase it with me?  Orders over $25 get free shipping!

Didn't think I could possibly make this post any longer???  Well, think again!  :)
Here's some banana humor for ya...compliments of our very own Tyler Man!
Tyler (when he sees that I'm chewing something):  I want a bite!
Tyler again (when he discovers it's a banana):  Oh nevermind, I don't like bananas.  I'm not a monkey.
I wasn't aware that was a prerequisite!

8 Years Ago Today...

...I promised to be with this guy for time and ALL eternity!

It was one of the happiest days of my life.

Since then, we have created many more happiest days together. 

Happy Anniversary Billy! 

Thanks for being such a great example of generosity and selflessness to me! 

Without you, I would be incomplete.

I love you!

Chocolate Chip Sprinkle Cookies

Billy likes chocolate chip cookies.

Tyler and Allison like sprinkles.

I like to bake.

So we made some chocolate chip sprinkle cookies this evening!

Apparently, Ryan likes sprinkles too...

Yes, I knew he was playing with the bottle of sprinkles.

And no, I have no idea how the lid came off.

Some things we may never know...

Mother's Day Love

Remember these two sweethearts that I promised I was still taking pictures of?

They picked dandelions, wild strawberries, and berries as we played outside the past couple days. As each item was gathered, the collection was given to me as one of my Mother's Day gifts (totally their own idea!).

While picking the strawberries (on Thursday), I was told it was a surprise and that I wasn't supposed to look at it until they were finished. The word "strawberries" slipped from Tyler's mouth at one point and he said, "Oops! Mommy, did you hear that?!" I responded with, "Nope. What did you say buddy?" "Oh. I'm not going to tell you because it was about your surprise and I didn't want you to hear it," he says. SO cute!

Here is the pile I was presented with...

Today, we were discussing Mother's Day again and Allison says (in the most precious voice you can imagine), "We gave you strawberries for Mother's Day." Melted my heart!

Then this afternoon, I was given a pocket full of berries (the kind that come off a bush in our yard). They would pick the berries for a while, come running to me with little handfuls, and then deposit them into my pocket. This happened over and over until my pocket was rather full. "We're giving you two Mother's Day presents," they told me.

Honestly, I wouldn't be the slighest bit disappointed if these were the ONLY gifts I received this Mother's Day. For me, these moments are the ones that make all the tough moments of being a mom fade into the farthest parts of my mind. I feel so blessed to have these three precious little munchkins to call my own!

And I'll treasure my Mother's Day berries FOREVER!

Why is it always the catchy tunes???

When I hear a song that has a good beat, I typically don't even pay attention to the lyrics.  If I do try to sing along, I've been known to improvise the words I'm not sure of.  (I always thought "manic Monday" was "man named Monday" and never understood why the song would suggest that it was such an ordinary name!)  I'm one of those people that usually doesn't know the artist of a song.  It's only once in a blue moon that I even listen to the radio these days.  And I typically discover a "new" song once the rest of the world has been listening to it for quite some time.
So you can only imagine how floored I was to discover what the lyrics of the Britney Spears song, 3, were all about.  Afterall, I've ONLY listened to it like 100 times, NEVER even knowing what it was talking about.  I even had it on my Playlist (you proabably already knew that though).  I always thought it was a stupid title and wondered why it was called that.  But did I look it up then???  Of course not.
Anyway, I was listening to the song for the 101st time last night and just happen to catch the line, "living in sin is the new thing."  Hello!  Huge red flag (that I had been missing)!  So I finally looked up the lyrics, and it's HORRIBLE!  Needless to say, I removed the song from my Playlist and I won't be listening to it anymore. 
I feel so bad that I was advertising this song on my blog and I'm sorry if I offended anyone.  Maybe there are more on my Playlist like that and I'm not even aware (please tell me if you've caught any...you won't hurt my feelings!).  At least I've learned a valuable lesson, and I'm certain that I'll be more diligent in doing my homework before adding new songs in the future!

7 Months Old Today!

I realize that it seems as though this is becoming Ryan's personal blog, but the months are just flying by and my little guy is growing right along with them.  In his (and my) defense, Tyler and Allison both had their own websites when they were babies and got to be in the spotlight.  So since I never started a website solely for Ryan (because quite frankly, keeping up with just this blog is challenging enough for me), I have to make up for it on here.
With that said, I DO still take pictures of Tyler and Allison, and I'll try my best to do some posts that include them as well!  Until then, here's what Mr. Ryan is up to at 7 months...

• He's a crawling maniac!  Going any and everywhere, especially wanting in on whatever Tyler and Allison are working on.

• He's starting to pull up.  He's been working everyday to pull up to things that are close to the ground, and he's getting stronger and stronger.  Now he just has to figure out how to get back down once he's up, because the falling method isn't making him very happy.

• He's eating solids.  I'm mostly only giving him veggies at this point, but he does get a fruit with his rice cereal in the morning.  He LOVES carrots and won't even touch peas.  If I sneak in a bite of peas in between bites of carrots, he immediately clamps his little mouth shut and turns his head away.  It cracks me up! Ironically, peas were the very first one I decided to give him, and it didn't go over so well!  Other likes include sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, and applesauce.

(You'll have to click to read the captions.  I was having issues.)

• He has a favorite toy.  He's enjoyed other toys, such as his froggy pull toy and his musical Baby Einstein light up toy, but has just recently discovered the toy that MUST go with him everywhere.  You can not even pry it out of his little hands most of the time!  What makes it even more special is that it was mine when I was a baby.

• He likes his back scratched.  Ryan is a pretty active little guy who doesn't like to sit still (even when nursing).  But if you scratch his back, he'll lay on your chest rather still the whole time!  It makes for pretty special cuddle time that's hard to come by with him!
• He is still such a squealer.  It's mostly a happy squeal these days, but he'll still use it when he's tired and upset too.
• He is such a happy baby and loves to smile.  There's rarely a time when you can't get a smile out of the little guy.  Even if he doesn't feel well, he's got smiles to give out.  I get people commenting all the time, "He's such a happy baby!"

6 month portriats

To go along with the previous post, here are the portraits my sister took for Ryan's 6 month photo shoot.  It was a spur of the moment decision, and I am happy she offered to do them.  They turned out adorable!

Not a huge fan of the grass at first.

Alright, I'll be okay if I just keep my arms tucked in...

...and Mommy keeps me distracted.

Thanks Vanessa!

See more of her work and book a session of your own...http://photosbynessa.blogspot.com/