Fun Day With Pop Pop & Mimi!

This morning the kids & I hosted a play date at The Play Place in Trussville, AL. The kids & I are part of a really fun group called The Mom's League of Birmingham. The kids & I have been to The Play Place once so we were excited to get to go again. We were also really excited to have Pop Pop & Mimi come with us!
David & Maggie Racing!

Grace's turn to race!

Playing Ski Ball with Mimi!

Lookout drivers! Grace is on the road!

Cheese!

I caught Pop Pop & Mimi playing some air hockey! :)

After dinner, Grace & Mimi read books in her room.

Pop Pop & Mimi Arrive!

Pop Pop & Mimi arrived today! We are so excited to have them here visiting for the next couple of days! We spent the evening hanging out at home & catching up. We look forward to a fun couple of days!

For dinner, I made a pot roast in the slow cooker, mashed potatoes & steamed carrots.

Pot Roast with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
**This recipe comes from the Fix It and Forget It cookbook. I love this recipe because I always have all the ingredients in the house & it is so yummy! I use the leftover mushroom sauce for gravy.**

2-2 1/2 lb boneless beef chuck roast
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
10 3/4 oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1. Place roast in slow cooker. Sprinkle with dry soup mix. Top with mushroom soup.
2. Cover. Cook on High 1 hour, and then on Low 8 hours, or until meat is tender.
3. Slice. Serve with mashed potatoes or cooked noodles.
Variation: Add cubed potatoes and sliced carrots to beef. Proceed with directions above.

I also made the Bread Machine Buttery Rolls I made earlier this week. For dessert, I made a pineapple upside down cake.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
**This recipe came from my Taste of Home Cake Mix Creations cookbook**

6 canned pineapple slices
6 maraschino cherries
1 cup chopped walnuts, divided
1 package (18 1/4 oz) white cake mix

1. Place pineapple slices in a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Place a cherry in the centr of each slice. Sprinkle half of the walnuts around the pineapple.
2. Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions; spoon batter over pineapple layer. Sprinkle with remaining nuts.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 10 servings

Take me out to the ball game!

After my 5k race this morning, we took David to the Moody City Hall & signed him up for Fall t-ball! Yay! There is Fall t-ball & soccer sign up right now. We talked with David & let him decide if he wanted to play t-ball again or if he wanted to try soccer. He was all about play t-ball again. We are all looking forward to another fun season watching David play t-ball!

Justin spent the afternoon mowing our backyard. He hasn't had a chance to mow since before our beach trip. It was a field back there! I did some chores inside & tried a new recipe. :)

Honey Cornbread
**I got this recipe from Moneysavingmom.com. It turned out really yummy. David is obsessed with honey right now & you can really taste the honey in this cornbread! I split the recipe in half since I was trying it for the first time & I got 12 muffins (see Corn Dog Muffin recipe below).**

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 1/3 cup milk
2 1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 T baking powder
1/2 cup corn meal
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream sugar and butter. Add in eggs, honey and milk and mix well.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, corn meal and salt. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients carefully. Do not over mix. Batter will be lumpy.
3. Pour batter in greased 11x14-inch baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Corn Dog Muffins
**I found this recipe on Moneysavingmom.com. I split the Honey Cornbread recipe in half (since I was trying it for the first time). These turned out so yummy & taste just like a corn dog! I love this recipe because it is a great recipe to freeze. Just take however many you want & let them thaw & reheat...it doesn't get any easier!**

Honey Cornbread Recipe
Hot dogs, cut in thirds

1. Mix together Honey Cornbread recipe.
2. Pour batter in muffin tins.
3. Put one hot dog (third) in each muffin tin on top of the batter.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

We went with some friends to the Birmingham Barron's baseball game tonight. We had a lot of fun & all four kids got to eat LOTS of junk food (it was wild)! haha

David & his best buddy, Carter!

Isn't this how everyone eats popcorn?!

1st 5k Race!

Today I participated in my first 5k race. I took part in the Are U Able? 5k race. It is a race put on by UAB's Physical Therapy department. They have the race every year to race money for physical therapy research.

I started the Couch to 5k program in April. I finished the program the early part of July. I am surprised how much I am enjoying running. I was so excited that I finally got to run in my first race.

I ran the 5k in 32.38 minutes. I know it's not the best time but it is my time & I am proud of it. I hope to get faster and run in another race soon.

Honey Pizza Dough

Today Justin had the day off. We took the kids swimming at the YMCA & then ran some errands. Fun!

Justin wanted to have a "Guys Night" with David so the two of them went to the Birmingham Barron's baseball game. Justin & David had a "Guys Night" last year & David just loved it. He talked about their night for months. I am excited to hear all about the game in the morning. Grace & I had a "Girls Night In". She didn't have much of a nap today so she was pretty lazy and tired this evening. She had a bubble bath (all to herself) & then we snuggled on the couch watching Tinker Bell (her favorite movie right now).

For dinner, I made homemade pizzas. I found a recipe for Honey Pizza Dough. David LOVES honey right now! He is constantly asking me for honey sandwiches. When I found this recipe I knew it was David's kind of pizza!

Honey Pizza Dough
**I found this recipe at simplebites.com. The recipe makes 4 portions...it is meant for freezing. I split the recipe in half (since I had never made it before) & we ate one pizza & I put the other dough in the freezer for another day.**

1/2 cup warm water
2 T dry yeast
5 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups cool water
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T honey

1. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, stir the yeast into the warm water until dissolved. Let stand.
2. Add the flour, the cool water, salt, olive oil, and honey into the yeast mixture. Knead with a dough hook for about 5 minutes or by hand for 7 minutes.
3. Place the dough in a large greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
4. Punch down dough and divide into 16 portions (for individual pizzas) or 4 portions (for 16-inch pizzas). Coat each ball of dough in olive oil, wrap in plastic wrap or place in resealable bag and freeze.

To Use: Remove from freezer 8-12 hours before using. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator. Let rise until doubled in size, then punch down and make your pizza.

It's Friday For the Wagners!

Today is our Friday! Justin is off work Friday & Saturday. Yay!

We spent the morning at the YMCA. After Justin & I worked on our fitness, we took David swimming. We were going to take both kids in the pool but we forgot Grace's pacifier at home. It seems like lately she get fussy in the pool without her pacifier. She loves the pool & loves to swim but she seems to need that pacifier to be happy. Oh well, she stayed in the nursery & David got his Mommy & Daddy all to himself for an hour & a half. :)

Two happy boys to be in the pool!

My Water Baby!

This afternoon I had an eye appointment at 2:30pm for my yearly check up. I wasn't very smart when I made this appointment because it is right in the middle of nap time. I don't know what I was thinking. Luckily, Grace fell asleep on the living room floor after lunch (see picture below). Both kids were so well behaved at the doctor's office & were in good spirits this evening.

Bread Machine Buttery Rolls

The day started out with a bang! I got a root canal done back in April for one of my molars. It had been bothering me for almost a year when I got the root canal done. Well, I have still been in pain since the root canal. Boo! I was sent to an endodontist. I went a couple of time already & he adjusted my bite. We thought a month ago, this had fixed the problem but no, it can't be that easy! I have another root canal scheduled for August 31st. Hopefully, this time & with a specialist, the problem will finally be solved (I haven't been able to chew on the left side of my mouth for over a year)!

After my appointment this morning, the kids & I met up with some friends we haven't seen in a while. It was fun to play for a bit & catch up. We had to leave early because David had "an accident" and Mommy forgot to pack extra clothes. I'm still waiting for my boy to get over the fact we are no longer at the beach or Grandpa & Nanny's house. :(

David sliding

David swinging

Playing tag

Peek A Boo! Grace

Strike a pose...

Snack Break

For dinner, I made pork chops with milk gravy. I had some milk gravy in the freezer from the last time I made it. I found a new roll recipe online so I gave that a try.

Bread Machine Buttery Rolls

**I found this recipe on Moneysavingmom.com. They turned out really yummy! I put the honey butter spread on the rolls & it came out really good.**

1 cup warm milk (70-80 degrees)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1. Add ingredients in the order listed into your bread machine. Run on dough cycle.
2. when dough is complete, divide into 20-24 portions and shape into balls.
3. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 13-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Option: Brush the rolls with a honey/butter mixture as soon as they come out of the oven.