Pumpkin Patch 2014

I am so excited that fall is here! It is one of my favorite season, the leaves changing colors, the cooler weather, the season for soups and pies, the layering of clothing, and the fact that the evening are longer which means we have more "family time" :) It all makes me very happy.

This weekend we continued our yearly tradition and headed to the pumpkin patch for for the corn maze, hay rides, kettle corn, petting zoo and the pumpkin patch. 

We grabbed a wheel barrow and went searching for those perfect pumpkin amidst 100s of pumpkins. 

It was this little guys 1st time at the pumpkin patch, last year this time I was 6 months pregnant with him.

My big kidos. 

Mama and Nico

I am so glad I captured these precious moments at the pumpkin patch this year.

Thank you for visiting, 

8 Month Update

I feel like I have not blogged in forever, which isn't exactly the case- but one month is a long time. 

I never intended to take a break, but with homeschool and life with three kids in general it seems that I never have any free time.  

But I figured I should at least get my little man's update up (even though it is 2 weeks late... oops)

 How is he 8 months old already?! 

It seems that he was just in my belly and now I have a little baby who thinks he is a big kid. I may be biased, since he is all mine, but I think he is the cutest little thing. He has the cutest smile and makes my heart smile just thinking of him. 

Weight/Length: He is 25.5 lbs. I am not sure how long he is (will need to wait for his next dr apt)

New Milestones: As soon as William turned 8 months, he started crawling with his belly off the floor. It's like something clicked, and shortly after he started pulling himself up on everything and waking around while holding on to things. 

He crawls up the stairs (with me behind him off course) I am telling you, there is no stopping this guy. He thinks he can do wherever his big brother and sister do. 

He now has 8 teeth, the last 6 came in at the same time around 7 months. Boy was he miserable. 

Sleep: This little guy started waking up more often during the night to nurse, which probably means he is going through a growth spurt. However, he now take at least 2 naps a day which lasts at least an hour, which is a relief, because during his morning nap, we do most of our homeschooling and during his afternoon nap I get dinner ready. 

Eating: He is still nursing every 1-2 hours. If I pump, then he eats more (4-5 oz) So he is able to go 3 hours. He is not interested in any food from a spoon, even things he used to like, like mashed potatoes, yogurt, apple sauce. Now he just likes to feed himself. So I try and give him whatever we are eating. He loves roasted vegetables, fruit, bread and lots of other things. 

Clothing: He is already wearing 12-18 months clothing. 

Mood: He is a very happy baby especially when you are playing with him or carrying him around. As soon as he sees you, he breaks out a huge smile. I call him my little flirt. When we are out and about, he locks eyes with someone and starts smiling and babbling. He loves attention. 

loves:

• Chewing anything he can get his hand on.
• Bathtime- He has discovered how to splash with his hands and feet.
• Being Outside, stroller rides are a life saver some days. 

Doesn’t Love:

• He doesn't like diaper changes or clothing changes. As soon as I get him down on the pad or bed, he tries to get away. So I need to distract him with something or change his diaper on the bed or floor. 

• What I Want to Remember:

• How excited he gets when he sees me.
• His cute little teeth.
• How he loves his brother and sister. He loves when they play with him 
• How cute he is sitting all on his own and playing with his toys- well mostly chewing all his toys. 

Here is my cute little bunch. They fill up my days with laughter, smiles, tears and tantrums:

Thanks for visiting.

Rita

Chicken Schnitzel

Chicken Schnitzel is a regular in our house, I especially like to make it for Shabbat since it reheats nicely and can be used the next day for sandwiches, salads etc. 

Ingredients:

4 Skinless boneless chicken breasts

Salt/black pepper

1 Cup of flour

3 eggs beaten

Dijon mustard

Panko Crumbs

4 TB butter

Vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves -minced

Parsley

1. Set the flour, eggs and panko in three separate bowls. Cut chicken breasts in half and pound them thin and even. (I like to put the chicken between waxed paper to keep from making a big mess while pounding) 
2.  Transfer pounded chicken to a bowl and season with salt and pepper and minced garlic. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess, then dip in the eggs and coat evenly with the panko.
3. In a large skillet heat the butter and oil. Add the chicken and cook over medium-high heat, turning once, until golden and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel-lined plate/sheet to drain.
4. Once oil has drained, move to serving dish and sprinkle with parsley. 

Enjoy!

Click HERE for Printable Version

Rita's Beef Stroganoff

I have tried a few recipes of beef stroganoff and although they were good, I never loved them enough to repeat, so I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and create my own recipe. 

The result was fantastic. This is how I make this dish now and I wrote down the approximate measurements today as I was cooking since I had some requests. 

We all love this dish, even though the kids pick out the mushrooms (which means more for me!)

they truly devour the rest. It has so much flavor and the meat is very tender.

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef chuck roast

Salt/pepper

1/4 cup salted butter

3 TB vegetable oil

3 green onions (whites only)

1 cup chopped onion

3 cups chopped mushrooms

3 cloves of garlic (minced)

4 TB flour

10 oz Chicken broth (yes I use chicken broth- not beef)

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup of white wine

egg noodles

olive oil

garlic salt

Directions:

Remove fat from the roast and cut into strips. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt butter and oil. 

Add the beef strips and cook until browned, stirring often. 

Add the onions, garlic and mushrooms- sauté everything together. 

Once the onions and mushrooms are browned, add the flour with the juices and stir well. 

Add the chicken broth and mustard and bring to a boil. 

Turn the heat down to low and cover and simmer for one hour or until the meat is tender. 

Then bring the heat up to medium and add the sour cream and wine. Heat and stir. 

Add salt and pepper to your desire.

Boil water and cook the egg noodles to package directions. 

Drain noodles (do not rinse) toss with olive oil and garlic salt. 

Spread the noodle in a serving dish, add the Beef Stroganoff on top of the noodles.

Enjoy!

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE VERSION

7 Month Update

Baby William is 7 months old already! Its hard to believe that in less then 5 months he will be a year old already. Time is flying by and he is growing so fast. Somedays I still cannot believe that not only is he here, but he is already 7 months old! It feels like just yesterday he was in my tummy. It feels like he has completed our little family, we can not imagine life without him. 

Weight/Length:  He is a big boy! At his 6 month check up last month, he was 22 lb 8oz and 29.33" long, that is in the 100th percentile. I am not sure how much he is at this moment, it is probably a little bit more now. 

New Milestones: He is rolling over, turning around and scooting around the floor by wiggling and grabbing the carpet! He will get on all fours, but does not actually crawl yet.  He sits really well on his own now. He has learned how to walk on his walker really well, which means if he gets in a corner he knows how to back up and get out.  

Sleep: He still sleeps very well during the night and wakes up anywhere from 6:45-8am. He doesn't do so well with naps. Some days if I am lucky he will nap for an hour, most days it is just 20-30 minutes. I noticed that if I pump and give him 405 oz before nap time, he will sleep longer. 

Eating: He is still nursing every 1-2 hours. If I pump, then he eats more (4-5 oz) So he is able to go 3-31/2 hours.  
He was excited for solids last month, now he has no interest at all. He won't eat any mushed up food. He is more interested in big chunks of food like a whole strawberry, pickle, toast and such. 

Clothing: He is already wearing 12 months, although some 9 months fits yet is snug. 

Mood: He is a very happy baby especially when you are playing with him or carrying him around. As soon as he sees you, he breaks out a huge smile. However, he has been a little miserable because 5 of his teeth just came out. Poor little thing.

loves:

• Chewing anything he can get his hand on.
• Bathtime- He has discovered how to splash with his hands and feet.
• Playing peekaboo.
• Being Outside.

Doesn’t Love:

• He doesn't like diaper changes or clothing changes. As soon as I get him down on the pad or bed, he tries to get away. So I need to distract him with something or change his diaper on the bed or floor. 
• To be put in his crib. I used to be able to leave him in there to play for at least 20 minutes, now he starts crying right away. 

• What I Want to Remember:

• How excited he gets when he sees me.
• How he opens his little mouth when I kiss his face.
• His cute little teeth.
• How he loves his brother and sister. He loves when they play with him 
• How cute he is sitting all on his own and playing with his toys- well mostly chewing all his toys. 

Thanks for visiting.

Rita

First Day of School 2014

Our 2nd year of Homeschool has started today!

 It was much anticipated and went by so quick. We are using Sonlight this year, which is so exciting. Even though I have to admit- I was very intimidated with the huge binder from Sonlight, but I do love that everything is written out for me in such detail.  Surprisingly we were done with school in less then 2 hours today-- Which is great when you have a little baby attached to your hip.

Often, people tell me that they would never be able to homeschool, and that I must be a very patient person. Let me tell you something- I am not. I am not patient at all, and I feel that God is teaching me patience, grace and how to let things go- things that don't really matter. 

I love spending time with my kids, even though there are those days which are filled with tantrums, fighting  and tears and mommy needs some quiet time. We all have those days. Which usually result in taking some time to myself after hubby gets home. Weather it is a trip to Target on my own or a long hot shower. 

I also keep reminding myself that time flies by. Just yesterday I was looking at my wedding pictures from our big day 9 years ago. Now I am a mom of three! My oldest is already in 1st grade!

Soon they will all be in elementary, or middle school- in a blink of an eye. 

People also ask me how long I am planning on homeschooling. The answer is: I don't know.

I don't know what Gods plan is for tomorrow. I just have to trust him. 

I will do what feels right in what ever situation we are in. It may be home schooling, public school or even private school. I am not opposed to any of them. We are just doing what we feel is best for our family now. 

Now that we got all of that out of the way, lets take a look at our first day back. 

Emily also started gymnastics. She is so excited. She wanted to start gymnastics for over a year now, but we waited until after her eye surgery.  Now that she has mostly healed, we thought it would be appropriate to start. I am still worried, since she doesn't have 3D vision,  her ophthalmologist said that kids adapt really well. She also is hoping that Emily will get her 3D vision within a year.

Well this is how our day looked like. Lots of learning, playing and laughing. 

Have you guys started school yet? 

Thanks for visiting,