Thanks to pinterest.com (If you haven't checked out pinterest yet, you need to, it is highly addictive.) I have discovered the most delicious snack for both kids and adults around our house.  It is so simple, just what I like!

1 cup plain Greek yogurt + 1/2 cup Nutella

Mix together...simple as that!

Eat as is!

Don't worry if you don't like Plain Greek Yogurt (like me) you can't taste it in this recipe, and if you can, add more Nutella.

...or we added mini chocolate chips on top.

We used strawberries and bananas to dip up the yummy goodness.

Both of the kids devoured it!

And it's even a little healthy with the protein from the yogurt, and of course the fruit.

Give it a try, let me know what you think!

Naptime is coming to an end.

So can you tell that over the last few weeks that there has been a lack of naps at our house for the kiddos? This directly correlates to the lack of blog posts written, sorry.

In one week, Kate will be starting FULL-DAY Kindergarten and Nick will be starting 3 year old pre-school, which is two mornings a week.  Needless to say, we have been working our way out of naps for Kate. Nick still takes a nap most days.

We have been busy getting ready for our first year of school, and it has been fun!

Both kids got new LandsEnd Backpacks and matching Lunch bags with their name on them.

I LOVE THEM!!!  Very high quality, featherlite weight and the perfect size for little people.

What's super cool about these is how the lunch bag hooks onto the backpack, making it so the kids don't have to carry it.

Kate and Grandma went school supply shopping and bought all of the necessities: crayons, markers, glue, pencils, pencil holder and folders.

Kate and I went school clothes shopping at Old Navy and were able to buy a couple new outfits, they are so adorable on her!

. 

Both kids got a new pair of tennis shoes. 

Kate needs hers for gym class, Nick just needed some.

Nick hasn't gotten any new school clothes yet, since his birthday is right around the corner.

Mama got a new coffee maker!  I have had this on my wish list for 3 years now, so I bought it while school shopping!! I think it is a necessity for early mornings! So far I LOVE IT!

A Firefighter with no pants on!

What up Dawg?

That is the name of one of the newest restaurants/bars/deli's/hot dog stands here in East Lansing.  If you are doing any traveling through Mid-Michigan or heading to a MSU football game this fall you must stop by.  The food is delicious!  And the owners try very hard to only buy and use Michigan Made products like Kogels, Faygo, Michigan Only made Micro Beers, Michigan Onion and Potatoes and more.

Mike, the kids and I stopped in for lunch yesterday.

Sitt'n up at the bar drink'n our Faygo pop.

Better grab your own pop from the Faygo Fridge.  $1

Beer Cooler

The few seats that are inside the restaurant.  This restaurant is just a tiny hole in the wall, but man it is good!

Bill, our gourmet hotdog chef. 

 He makes all of the food right in front of you.

My hotdog and fries. 

I went for the Smokey Dawg, a Kogel smoked sausage with bbq sauce, bacon, grilled onions, and cheddar cheese sauce.

The kids each at a plain Dawg.  Kate ate 2 of them!  We couldn't believe it, that is the most she has eaten all year!

The menu is just one page.  Check it out here.  They have deals throughout the week too.

• Tuesday is 2'sDay! $2 24oz Keystone Light, 2 coneys for $2
• Friday is FryDay! free fry with purchase of a dawg and a drink.
• $2.00 domestic bottles all day every day!
• "The Big Dawg Challenge": Eat 1 of each type of specialty dog (9 in total) in 15 minutes and you get to create your own dog for their menu! As well as get your photo on the wall of fame!

Mike Love'n his dawg.  Here are a few of his comments.

"Wow!!" Now that is flavor!

"The flavor just all jams in your mouth then goes POW!!"

You can get your dawgs to go too!

Mike also tried the "Chicago dawg"  This one is a Hebrew National Hot dog with sliced tomato, raw onions, relish, sliced pickle, sport peppers, mustard and celery salt.

Quote of the day, "The Smokey Dawg is for the party palette and the Chicago Dawg is for your business palette.

As I am typing, my mouth is watering and I could only hope that these Dawgs jump off my computer screen and into my mouth!

Silly putty comes in green?

Mike surprised me a day early on his arrival home from his genealogy trip.  I was shocked (and ever so thankful) last night at 9:30pm when I pulled in the driveway coming back from my parents house and from running a few errands to see Mike's rental car parked in front of our house.  Especially since I had just called him 45 minutes earlier from Office Max furiously mad at Kate for putting green silly putty in her hair.  YES! Let me repeat, KATE PUT GREEN SILLY PUTTY ALL OVER HER HAIR, and it all stuck together and turned into a big rats nest!  In fact, I think once it was in Kate's hair, it multiplied, because seriously I didn't think there was THAT much putty in those little eggs. She knows better, she is FIVE, what was she thinking?  

"It just attached there," she said innocently.

"Yea right, you put it there!!!!," I snapped back.  "Silly putty doesn't just jump out of your hand and land in your hair, what were you thinking?"

"No I didn't do it, it just went there", she repeated.

"Well, I guess we'll have to go GET ALL OF YOUR HAIR CUT OFF then, cuz  that is not coming out by itself", I yelled back at her.

"Now, you need to call your Dad and tell him that we are going to get your hair cut to take care of this."

"WWHHAAAAAHHHHHH," Kate cried.

A small part of silly putty in Kate's hair.

Kate tried to call Mike, but was too upset to talk to him so I grabbed the phone and explained what happened and that I was sorry to tell him, but we would have to get Kate's hair cut. He said, "how short?"  I said, "well, the silly putty is all over, so probably up to her eyebrows!"  Bye

****Sidenote**** We have been growing Kate's hair out for over 2 years now since the last tragedy involving a toddler and scissors.

30 seconds later, really, 30 seconds later, Mike called back and said, "before you get all of her hair cut off try hand sanitizer."

Hand Sanitizer? Really

So, I walked around Office Max until I found a $5 bottle of hand sanitizer, then continued into the bathroom at Office Max and squirted Hand Sanitizer all over Kate's hair and the silly putty.  MAGICALLY, the hand sanitizer almost instantly dissolved the silly putty!  I couldn't believe it. 

This stuff is magical!

Kate's hair was saved, but she is grounded from playing with silly putty for THE. REST. OF. HER. LIFE!

The best $3.50 I ever spent, although it was short lived.

The kids and I have been riding solo for the past week.  Mike and his Mom have had the wonderful opportunity to take 10 days to travel together on a genealogy trip to discover facts about their family.  They have traveled from Michigan down to Decator, Alabama through Nashville, Tennessee, back to Evansville, Indiana and still have 3 days left of their trip.  I hope that they are having a blast together!

In the mean time, I might not have any hair when he returns!!!

Its been just me and the kids, JUST ME and an ever so sassy 5 year old and an active 2 year old!  I think I have cleaned the house 592 times--a day, how does it get so darn messy so quick? It's getting VERY OLD, I am very tempted to just fill up the trash bin! I am ready to have another adult in the house again, HUBBY COME HOME! I have had to stretch my creativity to find cheap activities to keep the kids entertained for 13 hours a day.  We have been to the park, taken bike rides, mowed the lawn, read lots of books, pulled the wagon, played choo-choo, done some shopping for school, made crafts, went to the movies to see Cars 2, done some GeoCaching, cleaned the garage, ran around a baseball diamond, and much much more in the past week.

While out shopping I stumbled upon the clearance racks at Bed, Bath and Beyond (I know, the best, right?)  This is what I found...



Valued at $39.99 (Yeah right, who would pay that?) On sale, then clearanced out for $4.99.  Of course I had a 20% off coupon, to make it even cheaper.  We grabbed it, then I stashed it away for a rainy day, errr, I mean hot and sunny day.

The kids loved it!

They ran through the "rain", and plugged their noses as they dove in...

...and just burned off some energy.

We were able to get 2 days of fun out of my $3.50 purchase, before it broke (for sure well worth it!).  I am thinking the hoses inside of the ball busted apart, cuz today water was only com'n out of one hole instead of 6. 

Oh well. :(

 

The Discover Kids water beach ball found a new home.  Hopefully the garbage man comes tomorrow morning before the kids wake-up and see their new toy in the trash!