Category Archives: Nico

Aug 10

Mommy is not the IHOP

This Summer I have been one determined Mommy to help Thade eat and enjoy new foods, and try to lose his picky eating ways. Every night at dinner time Thade will ask “what is for dinner?” No matter what I say he will promptly add ” I don’t like it.” That is when I started saying “Mommy isn’t the IHOP, we are all having the same dinner!” That always gets a giggle from Thade.

I used to cave in and give in to the two weeks of nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches… But after Dylan came along and all of those extra dishes started to pile up, I decided no more extra menu items,we will be all be having the same. It has helped out, Thade still turns up his nose at many items, but he is giving new foods (including fruits and veggies) an honest try.

I take a little extra time and present Thade’s plate in a fun way, with kid sized portions. It also helps that Dylan will eat just about anything that you put on his plate, so Thade has to try the food too.

We are making great progress with our picky eater, and I’m happy that he is trying plenty of new foods. I know one day the picky eating won’t be a problem, the new problem will be attempting to keep the fridge stocked with two teenage boys in the house.

Aug 9

Preschool Let’s Go!

Last night we signed up Thade  for Preschool, and it looks like it is going to be a great school year.This will be his first year at Preschool and he is so excited. He even ran into a few of his friends at sign up. We brought Dylan along too, and he had a blast getting to play and run around the classroom.

Thade can’t wait to start school, and today we started a count down on the calendar. I’m thinking of a few fun activities that we can do before the school year begins. Thade can’t wait!

Aug 7

New Recipes with Nico: Coconut-Orange Candies

My Mom and I were on the phone and we were talking about cookies. I was getting ready to bake cookies for VBS. We were discussing a few of our favorites, and we both mentioned these amazing Orange cookie-candies that her Mom (my Na-na) made. I really wanted to make the Orange Cookies for my family, and my mom found a recipe that she thought would be pretty close to her Mom’s recipe.

The Coconut-Orange candies are light, cool, and delicate. Perfect for a simple Summer dessert or Tea.

The recipe is simple and calls for: Vanilla Wafer Cookie Crumbs, Butter, Powdered Sugar, Orange Juice Concentrate, Vanilla Extract, and Coconut or Powdered Sugar to coat. I’ve omitted the Pecans and added in a bit more Vanilla Extract.

I thought it would be fun to get the kids involved in the prep work. Thade had fun smashing and crunching the cookies, but Dylan was a little concerned that all of the cookies were going to be crumbs, so he had a few to munch on. Once Thade was finished with the smashing, I finished up the cookie crunching job with the pastry blender.

Blend in the softened butter and add in the Orange Juice Concentrate and Vanilla. I set up a little assembly line for the candies, so I could Roll, Coat in the Coconut, place in Gladware, and then off to the fridge to chill for at least 24 hours…

I tried to resist, but I had to sample a few, just to make sure that the candies would be super tasty!

The candies were delicious, and were almost as good as my Na-na’s cookies. I hope that you give the recipe a try, and let me know if you liked it.

Aug 5

Dreaming of Crafting Spaces

My sewing machine is living on the kitchen table, my rubber stamps are residing in the utility room, and my Nicostuff jewelry supplies are hanging out in the buffet in the dining room. I am longing for a crafting room.

I would love to have a nice quiet room where I could paint the walls petal-pink and leave all of my projects out without little boys getting into them. I could set up my computer on a small desk, and in the evenings when the boys are asleep I could sew, make bracelets, and possibly learn to knit. Maybe one day…

Do you have an ideal room for your projects, or are you day-dreaming of that perfect space like me?

Aug 3

11 For July

As you might have read, I’m trying green my driving routine by not driving (or riding) in a car at least one day a week. Last month I decided that I would put a gold star on the calendar for every day that I didn’t drive. On the first day of August I totaled the stars, and I had 11 for the month of July! I was really shocked that for 1/3 of the month, I didn’t drive.

Strangely, I didn’t miss driving that much. I thought that I would feel stuck, bored, and miss out on all of those little trips here and there. It was fun though, I planned my errands and shopping trips wisely. I also found several places close to home that the boys and I could walk to. We would wake up early, and walk to the Post Office or Farmer’s Market before the weather became too warm. Getting out and walking became a fun way to connect with my kids, and they got to see a little bit more of our town.

I would like to continue this trend of Gold Star days for August, and see how just many more days I can go without driving. If I can make it 10 days this month I’ll be really happy, but even a few here and there will help a bit.