Stay At Home

Have I told you how much I love being a stay-at-home mommy? No? Well, I LOVE IT!! I feel more fulfilled playing with my son, teaching him things, and watching him discover and explore than I think I ever have or will professionally. Kindof stinks when I have to have a job. At least with teaching, I get summers off and have almost 3 whole months to spend with my boy!

Today, since we finally get to stay home all day, without having to run any errands or anything, I decided it would be a good day to get the pool and sprinkler out and play outside. Colin cried and cried when I went outside to put the pool out and get the water running. Then he cried some more when I had to sunscreen him all over and put on his swim gear. You'd think I was the meanest mommy in the world!

He LOVES being outside. We got a new pool that is a little bit bigger, so now I can go in with Colin. He really likes me being in water with him. He also loves the sprinkler because he can run all over the yard but still get wet when he gets hot. The boy loves running. He would rather run around than get on the swing or go down slides. It pretty cute.

He is knocked out now from the excitement from the pool and is sleeping in his crib now. Its nice to have the quiet time and I think I am going to try out my new sewing cabinet that Keith got for me and put together last night. It is a pretty cabinet, holds my machine, and then folds away, so it doesn't take up the whole room. We are working on redoing the guest room to be a sewing/craft/playroom. I think it will be neat. I will post some pictures when its done.

I hope everyone else is having as good a day as I am!

Blueberry Muffins and Pool Day!

I was walking though the grocery store and they had samples out of blueberries, so, of course, I had to try them and so did Colin. They were so sweet and plump, that I couldn't resist. I NEEDED to buy them. Colin and I ate blueberries for breakfast, blueberries for snack, and blueberries for dessert. That is, until I discovered that Colin was allergic to blueberries. I think I already told you that he got a huge rash all over his face and in his diaper area. I was so sad. Needless to say, needed to find a yummy recipe to use the blueberries in because, now, I was the only one that was going to eat all these things.

So, I searched for a recipe for muffins, and adapted this recipe from Emeril Lagasse's on foodnetwork.com.

Topping:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Muffins:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 3/4 cup coconut

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
To make the topping, in a medium bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the melted butter. Mix the milk and vinegar in a small bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes. Add the milk and vinegar mixture and lemon zest and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just to combine. (Batter will still be somewhat lumpy; do not overmix.) Gently fold in the blueberries and coconut so the berries do not break open and pour into the prepared muffin tin. Crumble the streusel topping over the muffins and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
Let cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on wire racks
Makes between 18-24 muffins.

They were really good. Here are a few pictures of my finished muffins.

This afternoon, my friend Rebecca and her daughter Kimberly came over. Colin was so excited. I think that he really misses being around the kids from school. He and Kimberly were playing and laughing almost before Rebecca and Kimberly got in the door. We took the kids to the pool and got to use Colin's new wagon in the process. Well, I guess the wagon wasn't that new, he got it for his first birthday, but I just got around to putting it together. Here are a few pictures of the little ones in the wagon.

It was really fun and the kiddos really loved the pool and swimming!