Maggie

We got to pick up Maggie on Friday. She's 3 pounds of sass so she fits into our family well. :) We are really enjoying her so far and she's been a good puppy. We're working on the potty training right now, but I am extremely happy to say that she has not peed in the house once! We take her out every 1 1/2 - 2 hours and she always goes right away. She and Grace are becoming fast friends which we can't be happier about since Grace was afraid of dogs before. She only liked them from a distance, but now she's always wanting to pet Maggie, has to give her a kiss before she goes to bed, and wants to come with us to take her to go potty. The worst conflict we've had between the two was when Maggie got a hold of one of Grace's sandals and started chewing on it. It was fun to watch though! :)

This is completely off the subject of our new puppy, but I made a new recipe last week that was a big hit around here. I didn't take a picture, but here it is if you're interested:

Chicken-Etti

Cook 1 pound spaghetti until tender. Mix with:

3 to 4 cups chicken meat (I used the canned that is already precooked)

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 pound grated Velveeta cheese, keep 1 cup aside to put on top.

Put in casserole (9x13) and top with cheese. Bake at 350˚ for 40-45 minutes. 

(You can easily cut this recipe down - it makes a ton! I will also admit that grating Velveeta cheese was not a ton of fun but it was worth it...maybe you can buy it already shredded...I've never looked.)

I'm thinking you could try this using turkey or ham instead of chicken. Let me know how it is if you do! :)

Family Vacation to Cincinnati

Get ready for a huge post...I'm doing this mostly as a journal for me to remember our trip, but hopefully you enjoy some of the pictures as well! Steve, Grace and I went for a 3-day vacation to Cincinnati. We had so much fun that we were tempted to stay an extra night but Steve has to work tomorrow so we couldn't. I guess it's better to leave wanting to stay longer than leave dying to get home. We left on Saturday after the C.J. Open and got to our hotel around 5 Saturday evening. We stayed at a Residence Inn in Erlanger, Kentucky. The hotel was really nice and we had a small kitchen and living room which was very helpful. 

The whole way down Grace was excited to "see vacation." I tried explaining that vacation is not something you can see, but something that you do. Hard concept for a toddler! :) When we got to the hotel we got settled in and went for a short swim. Here's a picture of Grace mid-jump. Then we went and got cleaned up and had pizza delivered to our room. 

Sunday morning we went to the Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky. It was really neat and I'd be ready to go back already. Right when we got there we were pleasantly surprised with a "penguin march." 

These fish were a little bizarre. They would swim with their eyeballs sticking out of the water. Those things on the surface of the water that look like bubbles are actually their eyes. Weird!

The turtle was a big hit!

This picture just cracked me up because Grace had to sit like Steve even though the tank was at her eye level while she was standing.

The two alligators on the left got mad at each other and the one in the water tried to bite the one on the log. The one on the log swished his tail and knocked the poor turtle about halfway across the tank. The turtle survived but was highly irritated and swam to the complete opposite side of the tank to nap. It was fun to watch. :)

They had tunnels that you walked through where the aquariums actually went all the way up over your head. This is a picture I took while looking up in one of the tunnels.

The jellyfish were another favorite.

After we left the aquarium we went back to the hotel for a short nap. We grabbed a quick lunch and then it was off to the Reds/White Sox game. It was miserably hot but we still had a lot of fun! Our seats were really good which was a pleasant surprise. The Reds lost (poor Steve), but it was great to get to a game. He dealt with the razzing from Dad and David well. :) 

We knew that it was going to be a jam-packed, exhausting day so we had told Grace in the morning that if she was patient and behaved all day we would come back and swim again after the game (ah, bribery). :) She was as good as gold all day (a bit surprising since she only got a 45 minute nap) so we went out to the pool once we got back from the game and had it all to ourselves. Quite the treat! All day she kept telling us she was going to see fish and go to a ball game and go swimming. She was as excited as we were if not more so. I purposely did not put a picture of me in the pool on here because my maternity swimsuit did not arrive in the  mail before we left so I was squeezing myself into my tankini from last summer. It didn't even cover my belly button. It was not a pretty sight (which made it even more exciting that we had the pool to ourselves)! :)

Monday morning we got up, packed up, and made our way to the zoo! We had never been to the Cincinnati Zoo so we were really excited. It was a great zoo! 

The "steam" is actually dust and dirt that the two elephants were throwing at each other. They were one of Grace's favorites.

These guys were fighting the whole time we were there. They kept head butting each other. I had to laugh when I overheard this conversation between a little boy (probably 3) and his mom:

Boy: Mom, the giraffes are fighting!

Mom: Yes they are, it looks like they need a timeout.

Boy: They sure do!

I love the pictures of the polar bear. He was just chilling in the pool. I think he looks pretty exasperated in this bottom photo!

After leaving the zoo we stopped for a quick lunch to go. Grace couldn't even keep her eyes open as she ate her chicken nuggets. You can't really tell from this picture but she is chewing a nugget and pretty much sleeping at the same time. Very exhausting but fun weekend. We can't wait to do it again!

Summer Fun

Cappuccino Muffins

(I don't think the picture does them justice)

Spread:

(I didn't make this because I didn't have any cream cheese but it sounds good!)

4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Muffins:

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a food processor (or using a hand mixer), combine the spread ingredients, cover and process until well blended.

2. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

3. For the muffins: In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir milk and coffee granules until coffee is dissolved.

4. Add butter, egg and vanilla; mix well.

5. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

6. Fold in chocolate chips.

7. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

8. Bake at 375˚ for 17-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. 

9. Serve with espresso spread. 

Steve went with his brother and dad to state baseball last weekend so I decided to pack up and head down to Jill and Eben's for a few days (man I love summer). It was beautiful weather and we had fun just hanging out. We took the kids swimming 1 afternoon. They both thought it was fun to jump in off the sides. I wish I had pictures of that but Jill and I had our hands full just making sure we were at the edge to catch. :)  

The joy of sundae cones!

Fun in the sprinkler. 

This picture makes me laugh because Grace is into the habit of saying "huh" all the time. I tell her that is makes people sound unintelligent when they walk around saying huh all the time and that it's a bad habit.  Her expression in this picture is the one that commonly comes with her "huhs"...oh Grace. :)