We had one of the best days ever yesterday! I'm still on a high from all the family time. We are truly blessed.
My parents and sister, and Josh's mom came over early on Sunday morning and we all went to church together. Jacob went to the nursery because, well, he cannot handle sitting still for more than 5 minutes. It allowed us to enjoy the service and soak in the beautiful music and moving sermon. I felt God' presence in that place, and it will surely take me through this week!
After church we came back to our house and Jacob had a little egg hunt in the backyard. The dog helped him, of course.
This little boy would hunt eggs ALL day if we let him! At first he was just putting the eggs in the basket, but after awhile he realized there was actually stuff IN the eggs. We gave him goldfish, Teddy Grahams and 2 Hershey Kisses.
After all the eggs were found, and candy was consumed, we headed back inside to play with his loot from his Easter baskets. Yes, its plural because Jacob has the best grandparents a guy could ask for!
I made a delicious brunch, with breakfast tacos and fruit salad. Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of the table or food. Boo! Oh well.
The day was a success and we all slept really well last night.
I've been singing this hymn all morning. Like I said, I'm still basking in the Glory of God! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and Easter.
Hi, friends!! Happy pre-Friday! Hope you're having a great day.
I'm joining my friend Darci at The Good Life Blog for a super fun Easter Basket Blog Hop!
The rules are very simple- share the above logo, link back to Darci's blog, and share you little one's Easter baskets! So, without further adieu.... here is Jacob's Easter basket...
I have been hiding all this stuff in the garage, and literally threw them all in his basket over naptime. Unfortunately, the lighting 'round here sucks with all these clouds! Ick! So, I apologize for the terrible lighting.
I detailed all of his goodies here, so be sure to check it out!
One of my New Years "Goals" was to go on at least 1 Family Field Trip each month. So far we've been successful, and now that its warming up, I'm sure we'll be doing more and more. Here's a recap of the first four months...
JANUARY San Francisco for Josh & I / CoCo Camp for Jacob
Hi, friends! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, we sure did! We took a trip to the Fort Worth zoo with some friends, and had an absolute BLAST!
We took Jacob to the same zoo almost exactly a year ago, and my goodness- what a difference a year makes! We had SUCH a fun time! And Jacob thoroughly enjoyed himself. He pointed out all the animals, told us what each animal says, and ran totally wild the entire trip. We were exhausted by the end. Here's a photo recap.
This gorilla was waving to everyone from behind the plexiglass. It was so silly and cool! We all stood there for 10 minutes just waving at home, hoping he'd waved back. Which he did several times. He probably thought we were all idiots! Ha!
My favorite part of the trip, and probably everyone else's too, was this lion.
At first he was laying down up above, so we barely saw him. But then he sat up, popped up, walked down to his bowl of water, and then out to this ledge in front of all of us. And then ROARED!!! It was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and luckily- I got it on video. Enjoy...
The Fort Worth zoo has a large bird cage thingy where you can buy sticks with bird seed on them and feed the birds. The dads and kids went in, and totally loved it!
After the zoo, we headed to Fred's Texas Cafe to meet-up with Josh's dad and for some yummy cheeseburgers. Jacob had a lot of fun hanging out with his Grandpa!
And yes, Jacob has a black eye. Ugh. He fell on Friday, and hit his head on a concrete planter. I think I stopped breathing for a few seconds. He cried for awhile, but he's fine now! And looks really tough. Apparently, the chicks dig it...?
Happy Friday!!! I hope y'all have had a wonderful week so far. I'm so so looking forward to a fun-packed weekend, starting with a yummy lunch with my sister today!! Yay!
We're having some family over after Easter service, and I've been thumbing through my brunch recipes trying to decide on the perfect menu.
I've narrowed it down to these options, so I thought I'd share them along with the corresponding recipes...
My french toast casserole is seriously bomb. And the best part is it's EASY! You can make it, pop it in the oven and get on to the egg hunting!
As a kid, my parents made this no flip pancake nearly every weekend. Its so so good. It requires a bit more prep (sifting flour- ick!), but it's sooooo delicious! For the 7 of us, I'll probably make two double batches. It's that good.
Ingredients (for a single batch, which feeds 2-3 people)
6 eggs
1 cup sifted flour
1 cup milk
4 tbs. melted butter
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400.
2) Beat eggs until well blended.
3) Slowly add flour while still blending.
4) Add salt, milk and butter.
5) Pour into greased 9x9 pan (if you double the recipe, you need to put it in a 9x13).
6) Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.
7) Let sit for 5 minutes. Serve with melted butter, powdered sugar and syrup. YUM!!
PS- look at these old school pictures and our OG oven! Woof!
I've been addicted to poached eggs over buttered toast lately. The combo of the runny yolk and butter seriously can't be beat! Poached eggs are suuuuuper easy to make, but they do require attention, so making for a group might not be the best idea.
Here's a quick tutorial on how to make poached eggs.
First- bring water to a boil in a frying pan.
Once the water is boiling, crack desired number of eggs directly into the water and let it cook in the boiling water. You can make multiple eggs at a time- I've made up to 3 in a small frying pan.
While your eggs are cooking, put bread in the toaster. Butter once done.
Next- after a few minutes (maybe 3-5), scoop the eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon, and lay on top of buttered toast.
That's it! Your goal is to keep the egg runny. (I clearly didn't accomplish that this time because the eye doctor called twice while it was boiling- ack!) Sooo yummy!!!
My next option are these scrumptious and simple ham and egg cups. I feel like these would be a good "side" item to go with one of the above (probably not the poached eggs, too much egg?).
I haven't actually made these yet. They look pretty easy though, and I think you could add hashbrowns to the bottom, instead of serving on the side. Here's the original recipe.
What are y'all planning on making?? Any good ideas? I love a good brunch recipe!!!
With Easter less than 2 weeks away (how is this possible??), I thought I'd share all the goodies Jacob will be getting this year from the Easter bunny!
Hoooowwww cute is that Boo?? Jacob is obsessed with Boo. He has the large one, and another small one with a "bear hoodie." I thought this one was sooo cute and perfect to kick off spring/summer.
The Etch-a-Sketch is really my next attempt at "arts and crafts" with Jacob. He either draws all over the house or has NO desire to do it. So, I thought maybe he could draw on this?? We'll see.
I'm not entirely sure how appropriate a gun is for Easter...but this Bubble Gun will surely be the key to my sanity this spring. I am already soooo sick of blowing bubbles. God help us!
And of course, Easter books! He already has many religious Easter books (this, this and this are my favorites), so I thought I'd get him some mainstream books.
Age: 22 months Height: we don't go back until he's 2! Weight: we don't go back until he's 2! Milestones: Jacob's vocabulary and communication has really improved by leaps and bounds this past month. It's actually pretty incredible! He repeats everything, so we can now actually start learning our numbers and alphabet. He doesn't say it on his own, but he'll repeat "ABC" or "123." He's also been "singing" into his broom and dancing around- it's one of the cutest things I've ever seen! He looooves Justin Bieber's "Baby"; I used to sing that to him when he was a itty bitty baby, so I wonder if he remembers it?? We also started swim lessons this past month and he's really come around in the water. At first, he didn't really like it, but now he's really having fun. He's learning water safety (how to grab the pool edge and move side to side, and how to pull himself out), how to jump into the water, and how to hold his breath underwater (each week we increase the length of time by 1 second- he's up to 4 seconds!). Sleep: Still really good! He still sleeps 11-12 hours straight at night (usually 8pm-7/8am), hardly ever waking up in the middle of the night and when he does we just let him work it out himself. He naps for 1-2 hours each afternoon, starting around 1pm. Eating: He's been eating better lately. I let him graze at breakfast and lunch, which is really working well for us! I've heard that its not recommended because they can choke or they get used to not sitting and eating, but we honestly haven't had either of these issues. On the weekends, we will occasionally eat breakfast/lunch at the table as a family and he joins us just fine! I do, however, make him sit at the dinner table for dinner with the family every single night. Clothes size: some 2T, but starting to buy warmer weather clothes in 3T! Diaper size: Size 5 Cruisers Teeth: 12 total, and I think his canines are starting to move now. Favorite toy: Still really loving all his trucks and being outside. He's also starting to show interest in movies, which I'm so excited about! I hate him watching TV, but feel like movies are a little more acceptable. He loves Cars, Toy Story and Monsters Inc. Personality (I'm adding this one this month): Jacob has the sweetest personality! He's so kind and affectionate, but he's still soo boy! He shows caution, especially when doing things he's already done before (and he knows it can/did hurt him), but when he's doing something for the first time- he's ALL about it! He runs and falls alllll the time. He currently has 2 skinned knees. Ugh! If he accidentaly hits me, and he sees that I'm in pain, he quickly comes to my aid and gives me a huge hug and kiss. He also looooooves his dogs, and is constantly giving them hugs and kisses. Although that doesn't stop him from chasing them around the house, too. He's also a total goof, and loves to make people laugh. I just can't get enough of his "cheese" smile (see below). Best Moment: swim lessons, Josh's birthday, our March Madness 5-day weekend, our ride on Thomas Worst Moment: nothing Looking forward to: Easter fun!!
Easter is one of my favorite holidays to decorate for. Not sure if it's because it coincides with spring cleaning (and we all know I love a good deep cleaning) or if it's just the general uplifting feeling that spring brings- sunshine, warm temps, flowers, bright colors, etc. Either way- I'm totally game!
This year I decided to spruce up my Easter decor and try to do it on a budget. I think I nailed this one.
Easter egg explosion at Casa de Sokolewicz...
I went to the Dollar Store and grabbed about 8 tubes of Easter eggs (4 of the pastel colors and 4 of the brighter colors, 24 eggs in each tube). I'm no math major, but that's like 200+ Easter eggs.
The Dollar Store eggs are awesome for crafting because they have holes on both ends, so you can easily string them.
I literally took 24 eggs, strung them on fishing line and hung them on my little nails on my mantel and called it a day. This little pop of color really does make a huge impact in our family room!
For each holiday/season, I fill up this vase on our dining room table with various items. I love that its one of the first things you see when you walk in our front door, and it just sets the tone for the entire house. I actually got those little wooden baskets at Emporium Pies (they put their to-go slices in them- how cute, huh??), but I found similar ones here. Just fill them with some Easter grass and you've got some adorable placecards or, in my case, a little Easter goodie for Easter brunch! (more on that later)
I can't even count how many times I've said this, but no holiday/event/season is complete without a wreath! I'm seriously in love with this one. I first hot glued eggs (probably 70-80 eggs, y'all) to a foam wreath form. Then just used some Easter grass to fill in the spots where you could see the wreath form. There weren't that many spots, but I had to add some more to even it out. I'm so glad I made this guy. Love it!
I took a little LBG inspiration on this chalkboard, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out!
I'll be back next week with Jacob's Easter basket and some ideas for a yummy Easter brunch!
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