On-the-Go Weekend

Happy Friday! I don't know about you, but for whatever reason, this week has felt like an eternity to me. I am so glad that the weekend is finally upon us. We have a very busy couple of days in store for us this weekend! We start tomorrow off with a pancake breakfast to celebrate the end of soccer season for Jordan, followed by his last soccer game at 11. Hopefully, the weather cooperates enough for them to be able to play. They have been rained/snowed out this year for almost as many games as they have actually been able to play!

Here Jordan is with dad at one of his very 1st soccer games 

Next, we have Aly's end-of-the-year dance recital at 1, and have to have her dressed, with hair and makeup done, and at the auditorium by 12:30. That one should be a bit of a time crunch, but I am sure we will make it happen! She is so excited for her first recital- I know she is going to do great!

Aly all ready for her pictures in her dance costume

Once the dance recital is over, we have a lot of preparation to get ready for Aly's 4th birthday party on Sunday. She has requested Rainbow Chip cupcakes with Rainbow Chip frosting, so although I do not get to experiment much or add anything to them like I normally do, I am really excited about: 1) the simplicity, and 2) the DELICIOUSNESS. Rainbow Chip is pretty hard to beat; the flavor is just fantastic the way it is, and I have yet to meet a child who does not love it. We are also going to barbecue for her party, so we will have pasta salad and frog eye salad to make and get ready, plus breakfast muffins so that we have an easy, ready-to-eat breakfast on Sunday morning. That will help give us more time to get everything ready for her party at 1. 

My brother is coming down for the festivities, and as always, he has requested our favorite banana bread to be made fresh for him, as well as a loaf to take back home. He is so spoiled... The recipe originally came from The Neely's on Food Network, and by far, this recipe is the best banana bread I have ever had. I am thinking I want to try it as muffins this go around and see how the mix will do in that particular form. I also found a recipe on Picky Palate's blog for blackberry cream cheese muffins that I am dying to try, so it will be interesting to see which flavor we decide to go with for Sunday's breakfast. Maybe I will try to make both.... Guess we will have to see how much time we end up with! Sometimes I get a little over-ambitious and it kicks my butt in the long run... Oops.

More than likely, you can look forward to a muffin post of some sort on Monday. Things will be entirely too busy this weekend with all of our activities and family being here for me to even try to get something written here, so on that note, have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully Mother Nature will decide it's actually Spring and will give us some sunshine and warmer weather instead of continuing to inundate us with rain, snow, and everything in between... Here's hoping for sun!

Brooklyn is ready for the sun, too! 

What the Kids are Eating...

As mentioned in our introduction, our children are very picky eaters! We are constantly striving to find recipes for them that both taste good and are good for them. Not always an easy task. They are clever, and often figure out where the hidden vegetables are. Other times, they actually choose an early bedtime over eating what we fixed. So frustrating, but I also know that this is an issue that probably some 90% of parents deal with on a regular basis. And who am I kidding? I am not a huge vegetable fan myself! I am trying though... Have to set a good example, right?

For awhile, it seemed as if our youngest child, Brooklyn, who is only 14-months old, was going to be our household "exception to the rule" of picky eaters. She used to eat just about anything and everything she could get her hands on, including a variety of items not meant for human consumption (most of which were rescued from the depths of her mouth before she could actually swallow them). Aside from all of the undesirable things she was deciding to try and eat, she had a really healthy appetite and would eat fruits, veggies, pasta, chicken, tacos, etc. Literally, she never turned down a meal we put in front of her. Until recently. Now, we struggle to get her to eat what we are eating. Disappointing, but we are working to adapt. Looks like it will be an ongoing battle at the Klemt household: parents vs. children, vegetables vs. potato chips, well-balanced meals vs. macaroni and corn dogs. Such is life! We WILL win eventually- whether they like it or not! :)

I will have a new recipe for you tomorrow, but in the meantime, take a look at what Brooklyn has decided she would rather eat than her dinner.

Blue and purple Crayola Magic Marker. Go figure. She actually bit the tips off of both markers and swallowed them! Good thing they are non-toxic, but it looks like she won't be playing with those again anytime soon!!!