No Egg in this Sweet Corn...

We had our first round of sweet corn this week!  I wasn't sure how Cash would do but both boys enjoyed it!!

Pierce looks really mad but he wasn't...I swear;)  He was just really enjoying his corn!

 To say Cash LOVED his corn is an understatement!  I think he would have eaten 10 ears if we let him!  I was not willing to change those diapers the next day...if you know what I mean;)

Looks like sweet corn will be a repeat meal!

EGG ALLERGY

We had Cash's 18 month check up yesterday...even though he's 20 months!  {Geesh...we get lost in the system and I forget to make one appointment and now we can't get back on track because of insurance and only being able to make appointments so many months a part!}

Anyway...when Cash was 8 months old we gave him a fried egg for breakfast.  Not a good idea!  He had hives everywhere, his face was as red as a tomato and he was coughing and wheezing!  I wasn't smart enough to realize his throat was closing!  We called Mercy on-call and she said get to the hospital ASAP!

Scariest ride to Iowa City...EVER!

We spent the next 5 hours in the ER....and we were sent home with an EPI-pen to be with us at all times!

Fast forward 12 months and here we are and Cash hasn't had an egg since!  He's able to eat everything with egg in it...just not an actual egg.  We are lucky with all of that because there are eggs in everything!

 His pediatrician has been amazing and has answered all our questions we have (a lot!).  She decided he was too young to go through allergy testing so decided at his 18month appointment we would give him an egg and see what happens.  I had prepared for this appointment a month in advance because she said to take the afternoon off work (could end up in the hospital) and she also said this would be a good appointment to bring your husband with.

That was scheduled for August 1st and she called on July 31st and said she doesn't think we should go through with that.  Instead she decided to draw blood and test for allergies from the sample.  We won't know anything for over a week and we'll decide what to do when we get the results back.  If the egg allergy is severe then he'll have to stay away from eggs for a while longer but if it's not severe then we'll give him an egg and see what the plan of action should be!

She's also testing him for a peanut allergy.  He breaks out from peanut butter but can eat chocolate covered peanuts and be fine!  She's not sure what the deal is there!  If any of you have any insight on this I'd love to hear it! 

Turns out Cash is a healthy, happy, husky boy!  He's in the 96% in everything but his head!!

I am totally happy with a healthy, happy, husky boy:)

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Canning!

We have lots and lots of produce growing:)  It's a lot to handle but Travis is doing a great job;)

[I just reap the benefits!]

We are doing pickles for the first time this year!  I'm anxious to see how they turn out!

 Travis grew a lot of hot peppers this year.  He has dehydrated a few batches and then crushes them up....get it...crushed red pepper;) 

 Too hot for this girl but Travis is pretty excited!

 On to the salsa.... Here are green peppers, jalapenos and every other hot pepper we had.

I'm rather sad about this because I love salsa but all these peppers made it too hot and I can't eat it!  Travis promises me we'll make a milder batch...we shall see!

 A lot of hard work goes into making this!  Here are my parents doing the tomatoes.

Don't worry...I set the camera down a few times to help!!

 Final product!  It looks really good....but HOT!!

 Last but not least the tomato juice!  It's a team effort around here;)

We ended up with numerous jars of pickles,

12 pints of salsa,

and 7 quarts of tomato juice.....

....just for that day!

I'm sure there's more to come!

I love having all this fresh produce!  I made a pasta salad last weekend and I only had to buy noodles!  Pretty exciting stuff:)

Happy Wednesday all!!  Cannot believe August is already here.

My poor baby (Cash) is getting tested for egg and peanut allergies today:(  Not going to be a fun appointment but hopefully we'll get some answers soon! 

The Ride of all Rides!!

Over the weekend the Williamsburg Fire Department held a poker run.  They needed someone to escort all the motorcycles from Parnell to Williamsburg so Travis volunteered us! 

Words could not explain how excited Pierce was!  I'm pretty sure it was the best day of his life, to date:)

Here we are waiting for the phone call from Travis telling us to come to the fire station....it seemed like years for Pierce!!  And of course we were all supporting the WFD t-shirts:)

 They weren't exactly sure what to think...

 Cash-man still wasn't so sure...but by the end he was in love!

 Pierce was ALL smiles:)

 Here's the truck in Parnell getting ready to escort the bikers back.

My husband left out a few details....like the fact the bikers just got to TJ's in Parnell and wanted to chill for a bit.  So Travis, Pierce, Cash and I bellied up to the bar;)  I felt so idiotic with my kids at the bar (full of bikers) and all 4 of us had the same shirt on!  We looked so cool;)

 Travis was thrilled when I asked a fellow friend and biker to take our family picture in the fire truck!!

Family Christmas photo material;)

 Travis wouldn't let me hang my head out the window to take a picture of all the bikes behind us so the best I could do was take a picture of the mirror!  Still pretty neat!

It was the coolest feeling being in the fire truck with full lights and sirens...having 80 bikers behind you! 

{I actually got goose-bumps}

 Final destination...Sundown in Williamsburg!

It was a great few hours and they will be some Pierce will NEVER forget!!
The fireman street dance was that night and I'm pretty sure it was a good time had by all!  Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the W'Burg fire fighters!  They truly appreciate it!

I want to take a minute and wish my parents a happy anniversary....they are celebrating 35 years today!  They are great role models and I only hope Travis and I can have what they have 35 years from now!  We love you very much and wish you a great day!  Here's to 100 more:)

Catch Up

First of all...holy hotness!  This heat is ridiculous!  Luckily it's going to be in the 80s for the next couple days!!  I was supposed to golf last night but my partner and I decided against it and ate at Texas Road House instead!  It was delicious:)

The kids and I made a cake yesterday!  I have been craving my mom's homemade chocolate cake but I've been nervous to try it (my mom is a great cook and when I attempt to follow her recipes it never tastes as good!).  But to my surprise it turned out great and the kids had fun!

The only problem...that damn cake has been screaming my name!!!!

Side note: one year for Christmas my mom hand wrote all her recipes for my sister and me!  It took her a long time but I'm so happy we will forever have all her recipes (in her writing!).  She also did it a few years later for my sister-in-law!  Such a great family heirloom to have.

We got the boys' room darkening shades in the mail already and I put them up right away!  It was a success...Cash slept til 7:30am!!  That may not be sleeping in to some but it sure is better then 6am!  Pierce...not so much.  He got scared of the wind and storms and was on our floor by 11pm!  I guess we'll see how tomorrow morning goes with him!

Happy Thursday all!

Shredded BBQ Chicken

I "like" Skinny Crock Pot on Facebook and they posted this recipe (and picture) the other day.  I decided to try it last night and it was a huge hit with the whole family...not to mention super easy (which is what I like!).

Recipe:

3 pounds of boneless chicken (I used 4 boneless chicken breast)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp black pepper

salt to taste (I don't use salt so I left this out)

1 (18oz) jar of BBQ sauce

*Add chicken to slow cooker and sprinkle with pepper.

*Pour broth over chicken.

*Cover and cook on high 4 hours or low for 6 hours...or until chicken shreds easily.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Remove chicken and place in roaster or casserole dish and shred the chicken.

*Add 1/4 cup chicken broth from crock-pot to chicken.

*Pour BBQ sauce to chicken and coat well.

*Cover and heat 15-20 minutes.

*Serve on a roll or bun.

I asked Travis to bring home some buns and he brought the really big, yummy buns!  It made the meal even better!  Both boys ate a whole sandwich plus some! 

I have never shredded my own meat and I have to say it was the easiest thing to do! 

If you're looking for an easy, healthy meal write this down:)

Happy Tuesday and stay cool:)





Another Summer Weekend

The weekend went really fast...AGAIN...but we had a good one!

Friday night we went out to my grandma's farm.  Pierce loves being on the farm and loves seeing Great Grandma!  On the way home we stopped at a friends pond where they were having a get together!  Can't wait until the kids get older so we can actually sit and have a conversation;)  Not that I'm wishing them to grow up any faster!!

Saturday Travis worked in the morning.  The boys and I had our friends over (Stacy, Demi & Karli) to swim in the kiddie pool!  The kids had fun and the dads (Mark & Travis) brought us all lunch!  They left and we took naps:)  I did a few spray tans then we took off to golf in Solon.  It was Solon beef days so we were the only ones on the course!  It was perfect!  We had 8 people and we were all able to golf together!  The girls kicked the boys butts...btw;)  I don't think the boys took that so well!  We ate supper at Gus' in North Liberty and headed home.

Sunday morning my wake-up call was Cash's finger in my eye!  I haven't been poked in the eye in forever and I'm not gonna lie...it hurt!  I wasn't able to open my eye for a good 45 minutes!  I wasn't sure we were going to make it to church because I couldn't open my eye!  I sucked it up and we made it to church.  We grabbed Super Value chicken and mashed potato's and gravy for lunch (TO DIE FOR!).  Travis canned green beans ALL afternoon and the boys and I napped!  We went to my parents for supper (zucchini pizza!).  The kids ran around swimming and my dad put the sprinkler under the trampoline!  They had so much fun!

I ended the night by ordering room-darkening curtains for the boys' room!  I cannot wait for those to come in!!  They were $10 at Wal-Mart!  No joke!

Happy Monday all!  Go out and make it a good week!

Norwex Demo: Kitchen Sink....

My mother-in-law is a Norwex consultant.  I have a lot of their products and love them! 

I decided to do an experiment and let my sink get gross.  I'm embarrassed to even post these pictures but I'm doing it for the "after" pictures and to show how Norwex  works!

This is the right side of the kitchen sink.  It catches all the empty soda cans and recyclables.  As you can see it can get pretty gross....

 I'm going to blame a little on diet Pepsi and a little on Williamsburg's hard water!

 I got my travel pack enviro-cloth wet with warm water and cleaning paste....

 I wiped it down and the whole process took less then 5 minutes (you would think I scrubbed but I didn't have to because the paste took it all off fast).  And this is the outcome....

 Looks like a brand new sink!! 

 Gotta love Norwex!!

If anyone wants my mother-in-law's information I'd love to give it to you!  Message me:)

[And please don't judge me on my yucky, gross sink....I'm really not a dirty person!!]