New Recipe: Butter Dip Biscuits

I have tried several new recipes lately but I haven't been documenting them like was I before. This one was spontaneous and turned out great so I decided to take pictures and blog about it. We were grilling pork chops and I can't remember what our side dish was - baked potatoes maybe - and I've been eyeing this biscuit recipe for a while so I thought I'd give it a try. 

There is one missing because I took the picture after
removing one to cool off for Grant.

Butter Dip Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp. granulated sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. In a microwave safe bowl (or the dish you'll be using for the biscuits) melt the stick of butter in the microwave.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then pour in the buttermilk. Stir until a loose dough forms, batter will be a bit sticky. 
3. Press the dough into the prepared baking dish, on top of the melted butter (its easiest to use your hands). Take a knife and cut the dough into 9 squares before baking.
4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, rotating dish once during baking. If you notice that some of the butter that is coming up to the top is getting brown, you can take a paper towel and dab around the edges. Oven do vary, but basically biscuits should be golden brown on top and spring back to the touch.

Recipe Source: The Country CooK

Notes/Suggestions:

• Brandie at The Country Cook said to use unsalted butter for these biscuits but I don't use enough to justify that purchase. So I used salted butter and cut down on her amount of salt but I didn't cut it out completely.
• I felt like 4 tsp of sugar was too much so I cut it back just a bit and that was a bad idea. The biscuits were good but tasted, to me, like they were missing just a little something and I'm sure it was that little bit of sugar I cut out.
• I am the type of person that always puts something on biscuits. But I ate one and a half of these just plain because they were so good. Grant ate one and the other half of my second one (a bread lover like his Mama) and husband managed to put down two as well. They were well recieved all around. We were all big fans of the awesome crispiness of the outside. 
• These biscuits are soooo easy and really good. They went great with dinner and would go well with a good breakfast or brunch. They are a little spongier than a traditional biscuit but still really good.
• Also from The Country Cook, this fun marshmallow recipe HERE

Trike-A-Thon

On Friday, Grant participated in his first charity fundraiser thing. A trike-a-thon at his daycare to benefit the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Grant raised $200 for the trike-a-thon and then rode his little butt off on Friday. Husband and I took some time off work on Friday to go watch. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Complete toddler chaos! It was a combination of the two's and three's rooms on tricycles, ride-on toys, bikes with training wheels and they even had a wagon that a teacher pulled a couple kids around in. Crashes, kids tipping over, trikes getting tangled. 

It was fun to see what all the kids were riding. There was a little boy on a Big Wheels trike, a little girl on a Hot Wheels 4-wheeler, a boy with a ride-on tractor complete with a trailer, some old school Radio Flyer trikes, but my favorite was the little girl riding the Harley themed trike. She seemed pretty proud of that thing. 

Getting ready to race (while the teacher chases him with the helmet)

He got started going the wrong way but he got turned around

Here we go!

Flirting!

Two-wheeled turn!

Crash!

Pit stop!

I wish you could see the look on this little
girl's face. She was so annoyed!

So proud of himself!

Grant was so happy we came to see him at school!

I was so proud of my little guy! Their part of the trike-a-thon only lasted about 20 minutes or so and Grant did great. They all did great! The teachers did an amazing job keeping the kids where they were supposed to be and Husband jumped in when needed to untangle some kids, keep them going in the right direction, and pick up a little guy that went head first into the pavement off his bike (thankfully wearing a helmet). 

I'm so glad we got to go watch and Grant was so happy to have us there. He was very sad to see us go and cried when we had to leave. But after he got home that night he was obviously proud of himself when ever we talked the "race".

Grant's First Baseball Game

This past Saturday afternoon we made a last minute decision to get tickets to the Durham Bulls game that evening. It started at 5:00 and they were doing a double-header. We knew we wouldn't be able to stay for both games but it was just something different to do. So we went.

While waiting at will-call with roughly 1000 other people, Grant was not shy about letting us know he wanted to go home. I get the anxiety, it was a lot of people and he had never been there. So we get the tickets and get inside to find out seats...we made it there by the 3rd inning.

After finding our seats, Grant seemed a little more at ease but didn't want to sit in his seat. He only wanted Daddy.

We had good seats!

 So, initial anxiety aside, things went well...yes? NO. It was louder than we anticipated and we didn't bring the ear muff things that accompanied us to the hockey game and Monster Jam. So most of the game that we managed to sit through looked like this:

Pitiful, eh?

At one point the Bulls hit a home run. I thought that would be exciting for Grant because we were in a spot to see their Bull billboard thing that has smoke come out its nose and it's eyes light up red when they hit a home run.

 Wrong again, Mama. It does not matter how much excitement you inject into your voice when talking to your petrified toddler. Grant saw that Bull and started crying harder like it was about to charge us any second. We left after the 7th inning. 

We did manage to get Grant to eat a little something there which kept him calm for a bit. Much like me I guess you can distract him from unpleasant things with food. 

So we only managed 4 innings but we were ok with it. I guess you could call it a learning experience and did have some fun. When we got up from our seats (food & bathroom breaks) Grant did great because it was quieter. He even cheered when they got a run while we were standing in line.  We will likely try to take Grant to another one and remember to bring the ear muffs. I'm thinking things will be calmer that way.

Grant wanted to sit on the bull outside the stadium.

Plus I got to wear my Mom's Yankees shirt to a baseball game :)

Potty Training

This is not, by any means, going to be a how-to post on potty training. No ma'am. Or sir. This is merely a Mama's rambling about our potty training experience. 

We decided around Christmas/first of the year to really give potty training a go. We'd been toying with it for months. We both knew from signs that Grant was ready...but Grant didn't know he was ready. And as our pediatrician said, when it comes to potty training...he was in charge. But he was pretty ready.

Potty training is maybe the most frustrating thing we've done to date. At least in my opinion. And this coming from a woman who hated breastfeeding with every fiber of my being. I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I stay away from parenting books, magazine, articles, etc. It's not that I'm above them, it's that I think they're boring and opinionated and I want to be my own kind of parent and not one that a book tells me to be. But I read about potty training and you know what I learned? No one has any idea what they're doing but everyone has an opinion.

Noisy training pottys are distracting; regular training pottys aren't enticing enough; do a potty training "boot camp" weekend; don't put pressure on them; use the regular toilet from the start; the regular toilet is too intimidating; don't use pull-ups they're just a diaper; use normal undies and just let them pee all over

We heard it all. Some stuff was helpful. One thing I read that I paid attention to said that if you're frustrated - or your child is frustrated - just back off. Throw a diaper back on or a pull-up. Give it a day or two and take a break. We had to do that once because I was frustrated beyond frustrated. I was ready to just buy depends and let him go in his pants for the rest of his life. 

I honestly can't tell you how we got from that point to where we are today. Where we are today is basically potty trained with peeing and even the pooping is getting better (see THIS post about the poo problems). Grant goes pee when he as to, usually announcing it to us if we're at home but tells us he doesn't want help. We know he's done because he waddles all over the house with his undies around his ankles yelling "I pee! I pee!" He goes in the potty when we're out somewhere, even if he's wearing pull-ups and not undies. Pooping is still an issue but after some success in that department in the last week, I think he's slowly realizing it's not so bad.

What I have learned through this process:

• Grant really was in charge. Nothing was going to happen in that potty until he wanted it to. 
• Pull-ups are just glorified diapers...but they were a necessary item.
• One tip we were given was to reward Grant with an M&M for going in the potty. At first, I despised the idea of rewarding with food and I judged myself for doing it. But I have since found out that a lot of people have done it, it worked for us and now Grant doesn't always need one after he goes. So I'm hoping it'll be an easy habit to break *fingers crossed*.
• Not everyone wants to talk to you like they're the superior parent. Some people do want to give you helpful advice.
• After reading that noisy pottys seem more like a toy and are distracting, we bought a "regular" training potty (this one). But, for Grant anyway, I'm not sure the type of potty we got really made a difference. I don't know that one with music and lights would have made a difference. I am, however, glad that we decided on a potty that doesn't require us to change batteries.
• Playing up the "big boy" aspect of going in the potty was key for us. Grant can be very independent and loves to feel like a big guy. So telling him he was such a big boy or telling him that big boys wear real underwear I think motivated him.
• DAYCARE. Bless them. They were ready when we jumped on the potty training band wagon and super helpful. At a certain point they told us to bring underwear and multiple changes of clothes. That way Grant would be wearing underwear, pee on himself, and realize that he had to go potty and how yucky it feels to wear pee soaked clothes. It involved a lot of patience from them and a lot of laundry at our house, but it really helped.
• We had to let go of the "It's ok buddy, accidents happen". If it was truly an accident, it was ok. But if he peed all over and then said "I need to change" without remorse, we punished him (like the time he peed in his car seat after I asked him 100 times to go before we left daycare). Through this whole process we've always been ready to rush to the potty when needed, so sometimes it was just laziness.
• This takes time. I was always under them impression that potty training happened quickly. And I'm sure for some it does. But this for us has been quite a process.
• My least favorite thing learned: someone out there will have done this better than you, had a better idea or system, their kid did it sooner than yours, or they did it in a matter of days or WHATEVER. You have to let it go. POTTY TRAINING is hard enough! Raising a child is hard enough with the pressure you put on yourself. Who cares who did it first?

So there we are. Another milestone...my little guy growing up. I'm so proud of him :) There is talk at school of Grant moving up to the three-year-old's room. That news threw me a little. He's just getting so big.

I won!

A lot of the blogs I follow hold giveaways that I always enter and never win. But guess what? I won one! Thanks to Two Peas & Their Pod I won $200 to spend at Albion Fit! 

You want to know what I picked?

They have some REALLY cute swim suits so I knew I had to get one of those. I decided on this one:

{click the picture to shop}

I had THE hardest time deciding. Ask anyone. I think I was pretty annoying about it. I even annoyed myself a little. They have an emerald green color in that suit that is gorgeous and after finally narrowing it down to that style...I agonized over the color for days. But I love love love the red.

I also spotted this cover-up that just looked so pretty and perfectly beachy (to me) and I decided I had to have that too.

{I couldn't get this picture to link. If you like it, go HERE}

They also have these long sleeved shirts that look so super comfy and...they have thumb holes. Don't ask me why I'm so intrigued by this but I am.  So I added that to my list.

{I couldn't get this picture to link. If you like it, go HERE}

So I'm actually getting two of those because they sort of look like I want to live in them. One in that pretty pink color and one in purple.

I debated on some exercise gear since I've actually been excercising BUT even though their yoga pants and running tops are cute (and probably quite comfy), I wanted other stuff. I'm so excited and I can't wait to get my stuff (which should be soon because I only ordered yesterday and it's already shipped)!

Conversations With My Toddler: Husband Edition

I overheard this conversation between Grant and Husband last night while Grant was getting cleaned up...and Husband was cleaning out Grant's "undiewear". 

Grant: I have to have a bath tonight?

Husband: Yes. Because you pooped on yourself. You pooped in your pants.

Grant: I poop in my pants? (Like he was not aware this happened less than 5 minutes ago)

Husband: Yes. 

Grant: That's disgusting.

Admittedly, it took me a while to compose myself. I found Grant's end of that conversation absolutely hysterical. Husband, being the one to clean out the poopy underpants, did not seem quite as amused as I was.

Side note: Grant is basically potty trained as far as peeing goes. He even goes in the potty when we're out and about. Accidents are few and far between. We've even made some improvements in the "#2" department and are not quite so frustrated with it - despite this post :)

Easter 2013

As usual, I'm late posting about a holiday. I almost scrapped it, but as a friend pointed out...it's my blog and I'll blog when I want to :)

So, the Easter Bunny went a little overboard this year. The problem was that the Easter Bunny started early picking up little things here and there...and forgot how much she'd accumulated. Then the Easter Bunny's husband brought home stuff too. So the EB ended up leaving two baskets for Grant.

The basket on the left is his usual basket (one my mom had
sent me a few years ago) and the Lightning McQueen one
is new for our lover of all things Cars.

When Grant woke up Sunday morning he had completely forgotten about the Easter Bunny, which he'd been talkinga bout all week. So I had to direct his attention to the note taped to his bedroom door. You see, the Easter Bunny had left a note explaining to Grant that he's done so well with the potty that he left two baskets hidden in the house. It made me feel a little better about the overboardness. 

He found Lightning first and deposited him in the living room, telling him "I be right back Lightning" while he went off for his other basket. Which he found soon enough...the Easter Bunny was a little lazy with his her hiding spots.

El Toro Loco...lets just keep growing that truck collection

Lollipops - a favorite treat

A new big boy cup with Spongebob on it (from The Funky Dot)

 

Bubbles!

Pretty jazzed about his new books.

 Grant was allowed one piece of candy pre-breakfast (he picked a little chocolate bunny) while I cooked and after that we headed over to my in-law's house for Easter lunch. Grant loves holidays because he gets to see everyone and play with them...which I love because that's what the holidays should be about.

How cute is that outfit?

The Easter Bunny stopped at Grandma's too!

His first poster for his room

I may have had some fun with the basket goodies

He definitely has fun at Grandma's

Grant's LOVES to play with Aunt Debbie!

Nothing quite like topping off a big meal
with a go on the trampolene...

It was a great day, as usual. Great company and yummy food - Grant even helped me with a couple of the dishes we brought!

Conversations With My Toddler

Over the weekend on the way to our shopping excursion, I was exiting the interstate and I accidentally ran over the rumble strips for a minute. I looked behind me at Grant really quick with a dramatically shocked looked on my face thinking he'd be smiling.

Grant, clearly surprised: What was that?

Me: Was that funny?

Grant: No.

Me: I'm sorry.

Grant: Don't do it again.

Me: Did it scare you?

Grant: Don't do it again, Mama. You scared my butt! Don't scare my butt again!

Weekend Review

It was just a good weekend. It was the kind of weekend that when someone asks how my weekend was, I don't feel compelled to say it was too short. Because it was good and enjoyable and sunny and happy.

Cheesy, huh? I don't care. It was a good weekend and we've needed one of those lately.

I'm not a person to hate winter. Actually, I'm usually a summer-hater. But I didn't realize until this sunny, great weekend just how tired I was of cold weather. 

Saturday morning we had plans to meet Husband's family for breakfast. The promise of Gramma, Grandpa, Aunt Debbie, and pancakes on Saturday morning is the perfect start for Grant. We had to make a quick stop for some cake supplies I needed and Grant found some treasures of his own there:

Grave Digger and Lightning McQueen rings.

Then on to breakfast and some unsuccessful but not unenjoyable shopping (I did score some cheap ties for a sewing project I need to make time for).

After all that, we stopped off at Lake Wheeler Park to see some ducks, play on the playground and just walk around on a sunny day. 

Family picture!

Grant and I shared a snow cone! A yummy treat!

Checking out the boats and the ducks

We hadn't been out to Lake Wheeler in a while and I had no idea how nice it is out there. We're definitely doing a picnic there soon.

Since we had a late breakfast/early lunch we ate an early dinner and then had family movie night! Redbox was out of the good stuff so we watched Finding Nemo (which we already had but Grant hasn't watched). I made a big batch of popcorn on the stove and we lounged on the floor with just about every blanket and pillow we own. It was great :)

Sunday was kind of lazy. I cooked breakfast and we hung around the house so Grant could take a good nap (Saturday's nap was brief and in the car). Then Grant and I went shopping for some spring clothes and Husband ran some other errands. He surprised me with some new chairs for the deck and a little one for Grant too...so we ate our dinner outside last night - something we've never done in all our years of having a deck. I really don't think we could have ended the weekend any better. 

I hope everyone's weekend was as good as ours!

Everyone Poops...Except Grant

Last year while browsing books with a friend, we came across the book Everyone Poops. She went a little crazy when she found out that I'd never seen the book before. Honestly, I thought it was made-up. Turns out...not so much.

There's a whole lot of pooping going on in that book and I thought "No way I'd buy this". Now I'm thinking I might need it. Or maybe it won't help at all. I don't know. All I know is that potty training for peeing is going great. We've even had outings when Grant wears real underpants (or undiewears as he calls them). But does he poop in the potty? No. So he poops in his, right? No. He just doesn't poop. And that's creating a whole slew of issues that I won't get into (but they involve me shopping in an aisle of the pharmacy I didn't think I'd need until I was eligible for a senior discount). 

Just to get him to poop we've put on pull-ups (which are pretty much only used at night now) and told him to just go. He won't. I've bribed him (you can have two M&M's - our potty treat of choice, you can have a [temporary] tattoo, you can have a popsicle, you can eat a lollipop while you're on the potty, you can have my phone and watch a movie on the potty...ANYTHING) but nothings working. And, yes, he has even seen us go because we heard that helps. Again, nothing.

So that's how that is going. I've heard plenty of people say that #1 happens faster than #2 and I get that. It's all a new thing. But I didn't think he'd just hold it for days! 

FYI to anyone who feels compelled to tell me that they potty trained their kid in a few days, that they potty trained their kid young, that they just let day care (or care provider) do it, or that girls are just sooooooooooo much easier to train than boys...SHUT UP. Seriously, your condescending comments are not the least bit helpful. I am, however, entertaining helpful suggestions. Thanks in advance :)

Conversations With My Toddler

One morning while getting a very pissy Grant ready for school, he mumbled something I couldn't understand. I figured he was just mad about having his hair brushed...or because he was awake. But he mumbled it again.

"What did you say? I can't understand you." I said.

In the whiniest voice I've ever heard, Grant said "I like to move it move it."

I laughed hysterically. It totally made my morning. Husband heard and tried to say it like its supposed to sound but Grant wasn't having it.

He looked at his Daddy and said "Hey! That's MY favorite song!"

The above video from the movie Madagascar is where this new obsession came from. Grant actually calls the movie "Move It Move It".