Date Night!

So, we aren't the best at having Date Night, but every once in a while we manage something.  Several weeks ago we had some plants that needed re-potting so I decided to turn the task into a themed date night.

1.The Invitation, which I left on Daniel's dash board in the morning

2. Dinner - Dirty Rice

3. The Activity - some gardening in the dirt

4. The Movie - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

5. Dessert - "Dirt"

He's 18!

Months that is, but still!  Last Sunday Dane went to Nursery for the first time at church and he was a pro; now it's to be seen if he'll remain so.

(Just a funny pic)

At his 18 month check-up he weighed in at 21.3 lbs and 30 inches high.  Yes, he's still small (3%), but what he lacks in stature he makes up for in intellect :P 

(I'm not really the bragging type, but this would be a pretty short post if I didn't do a little bragging.)

Dane is still the cutest little boy ever!  He's so smart and is constantly surprising us with stuff we didn't even know he knew.   He relishes every opportunity he gets to play outside and loves his daily walks to the mailbox with daddy.  His favorite book is Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?  His favorite song is Itsy Bitsy Spider.  His favorite things to watch are home videos of himself (he points to the computer and says "baby" - which means he wants to watch videos of himself).  His favorite words are "outside" and "let's go."  His favorite toys are a football, a phone (there are several objects that can become phones), and a wooden stick that switches between being a baseball bat and a horse.  His favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, grapes, and any kind of sugary treat :S.  His best new trick (according to mommy) is putting garbage in the trash can when asked to; (according to daddy) he can work the iPad and get to what he wants; and (according to himself) climbing the back of the couch to stand on the counter.

Here's a video of recent pictures and videos.  I have more that I may or may not get around to posting.  Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

We hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!

~From Grapes, Apple and Banana

Feed Me! Chili's Eggrolls

A friend linked to this recipe on Facebook and it just sounded so good I had to try it out.  I did make slight modifications (when don't I?), nothing major but you can see what I changed in the small print below.

(In place of fresh red pepper I used jarred fire roasted peppers because it was more economincal.  In place of fresh jalapeno I used jarred, because I already had some.  I used fresh spinach and just let it wilt in the heat-up process.  I used dried parsely instead of fresh.)

I also made the dipping sauce (with no modifications) and it was very good.  We had these twice and the second time I did change up the sauce.  In place of all of the spices it calls for I just added 1/2 Tbsp of ranch dressing powder.  We liked it our way better, but as I said the sauce recipe as written was very good.

Oh, and the most important modification was that I did NOT deep fry them.  I just can't bring myself to fry things.  For one thing, it's messy; secondly, it's not very healthy; and lastly, it's a waste of a lot of oil.  So, I just lightly brushed some oil all over the rolls with a pastry brush and baked them at 450 for about 20 mins, flipping the rolls over every 5 mins.

My Favorite Things! Fall

Fall is my favorite season, so one of the hardest parts about living here in Houston is not having a fall season, at least not the kind that I'm used to - the wind getting brisk, the smell of cold in the air, the leaves changing color (they're changing here but only because they are dead from the drought). 

Here is one of my other favorite things.  It's a wind chime.  But not just any wind chime; a hand made by my brother Jared wind chime.  It's not much to look at (no offense Jared), but the sound is divine.  It's not your run of the mill whimsical tinkering chime (bleh, who needs those).  It's got guts, this wind chime; a deep, earthy, nautical quality.  And sometimes it even sounds eerie;  a "something wicked this way comes" vibe.  Perfect for the Halloween season.  This wind chime is my fall.



Maybe I'll try to record the sound sometime, but I fear the magic would be lost in the translation.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

It's Craft Time! Candy Monster

I saw this awesomely cute tutorial recently, and the other day during Dane's nap I had an itch to be crafty, and I had an empty tissue box (I never have empty tissue boxes because I never buy actual "facial" tissue).

So using only supplies on hand*, this is what was created...our Halloween Candy Monster (because I plan on putting candy in it's mouth instead of tattles).

This would be a great craft to do with the kiddos! (maybe using good ole Elmers instead of hot glue).

*Originally I used cotton balls for the eyes, but quickly found out that they don't hold up so well, especially at the hands of a toddler.  So I did go out and purchase some pom poms to replace the eyes.

Feed Me! Conference Breakfast

Since it's General Conference weekend and we are watching from the comfort of our home, I thought that I should at least make something special for breakfast.  I was going to make our favorite german pancakes with buttermilk syrup recipe, but I had some leftover banana oat muffins that were getting dry so I decided to make bread pudding instead.  I used this recipe here and substituted muffins for half the bread.  

This was the first time I've ever made bread pudding so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was super simple and yummy - especially with the sauce drizzled on top.   Ok, forget the bread pudding, you just really need to try this buttermilk syrup recipe (aka carmel sauce).  We love it on the german pancakes and it was the star of the bread pudding too.  Daniel, who is not a fan of carmel anything, loves this stuff.

Oh, you noticed the lovely fish pitcher in the picture did you?  Well, that my friends is a GurglePot.  It's my new favorite thing, compliments of my sister, Elizabeth.