No Rainy Day Blues Here

Can I say rain without driving anyone crazy? Boy have we had some really good rain lately. After it let up a little bit the other day, we went outside to explore. First thing Rocco did was put his head under a stream of water coming down from the roof. Nothing wrong with getting a little wet as long as you can come in and warm up under a warm blanket when you are done.

Family Recipe - BBQ Spareribs

One of my favorite dinners that my mom made was Spareribs. We usually had them on Sundays. I can't believe I have never made them before. So I called my Mom for the recipe. She was traveling and said my sister Stacie makes them and to ask her for the recipe. When I called she looked the recipe up in the book that my sister Stephanie made for the both of us. This book was given to my sister Stephanie from my Aunt Lynn when she married back in the early 90's. Stephanie was kind and loving enough to us copies. This book is so big and filled with so many recipes, I asked her what section was she looking at, so we could look at it together.

Long story short, the frozen meat that Jared took out that I thought was the spareribs was baby back ribs. So I made them anyways with the sauce that I already made. I baked them for just under three hours at 225. I had left over corn bread from the night before and steamed some broccoli for the greens. I always forget to take the picture before I start eating, so some of the broccoli is missing. I swear, there was more on the plate when I started. Rocco liked the dinner and I think the corn bread was his favorite. Next time, Spareribs!

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup catsup

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 tsp salt

2 garlic gloves, minced

2 tsp powered ginger

Train Surgery

One of Rocco favorite things to play with is his trains. We recently got a new train from the Thomas collection who's name is Salty. We thought he didn't work at first, but after a little inspection and Rocco figuring out the magic combination of clicking the button twice; once for taking and twice for moving, he was good to play with the other trains.

Of course Rocco was in heaven during the inspection since he loves to help Daddy take things apart. He runs to go get the screw driver, helps with taking things apart and loves when it involves batteries.

Sweet Potato In What?

I have been on a sweet potato click lately. I love making baked sweet potato fries with coconut oil and a few spices. YUMMY! So I made these the other night and thought, gosh I don't want Rocco to get sick of these, how can I switch this up. I had fresh corn tortillas and marinated flank steak in the oven and ended up making a special quesadilla filled with flank steak, sweet potatoes and cheese. They turned out so good. Rocco did his usual turn and look at me with a "It's Good."

The sweet potato: This food is low in Sodium, and very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6 and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Manganese.

What's In Your Blender?

We were watching some TV before going to bed and an infomercial came on about a baby food making system. It had a steamer and a blender. I was talking about the items to Rocco and he said, blender? I said yes, it is making baby food. You used to eat baby food. Later that night while I was laying with him to go to sleep, he started talking as soon as his head hit the bed. "The blender goes vuvuvuvu and baby food" then he says, "mommies blender - ice cream."

Ok, so we make milk shakes once in a while.

Fishing Lessons With Dad

Jared went fishing with his Uncle Markus last weekend. What happens before you can eat the fish you catch? You have to clean them. Rocco watched on while holding his Great Papa's fishing pole. This pole has no real or hook, it just one of his favorite things to carry around the yard, or stick in a tree, or scrap along the car, or almost jab you in the eye if you aren't watching.

Rocco watched Dad and I got to watch Rocco.

Thomas On The Tush

These pictures crack me up. Rocco wanted to put on his underwear the other night so I put them on over his pjs since we were all ready for bed. I showed him in the mirror that Thomas the Train was on them. He would bend down a bit and move his tush towards the mirror to get a good look. We were playing in the room while Dad was getting ready for bed and Rocco was showing us his new move.

In the bath the other day Rocco turns to me while I was pinching his tush and said, "no touching my tushie."

My Fishing Pole

Rocco has a couple of different fishing poles now. He has his Great Papa's pole that he loves to walk around the yard with. He has the one Dad bought him for his second birthday and now he has one for the bath from Grandma. Fishing poles are kind of in around here lately.

Mini Pop Lights

When Rocco is in Mimi and Pop’s yard, he is probably pulling Pop’s lights out of the dirt to check them out. So when I saw mini versions of Pop’s solar lights at Target yesterday for $2, I couldn’t resist. We put them in a flower pot on the porch. He wanted to turn them on and I told him we have to wait until the sun charges them. They don’t have any batteries. We waited until it got dark and checked on the lights after bath time. They were ON! So cool. I think we just might need a few more of these.

To Cool For School

Took Rocco to the elementary school in Willow Glen after picking him up from Jill's on Friday. We ran around and played for an hour and then went to meet Mariana for an early dinner. It was nice to check out a new play area. We have been hitting up the Campbell park on a regular basis and I think it is time to start exploring new areas.

There was an area at this school that had an after school daycare going on. It had around 15 kids outside playing. I told Rocco we couldn't go into that area because it was older kids. He looked and me said, "we can try." I said I don't think we are allowed in there. Again, he looked at me with his hands out, "we can try." We tried, we got in for a quick play and went on our way. It was an interesting look into after school daycare. I caught myself thinking, I don't want Rocco to grow up. I just want to keep him small and protect his world.

My Favorite Time Of Day

My favorite time of day is the morning. Wether it is drinking a warm cup of coffee walking around the yard on a cold morning, getting out before the sun warms up the day just a little too hot or sitting on the kitchen floor with Rocco drinking out of our mugs - I LOVE THE MORNING. Night time is for sleeping.

Picture I took in the yard after a rainy night and during a beautiful morning.

Vacuum Sword

One of Rocco's favorite things to play with is the vacuum sword.

The Heart At The Beach

We went to the beach last weekend with Mimi and Pop. The weather was wonderful and although me and Rocco didn't get the chance to push Daddy in the water, the day was great. We shared a pizza, walked along the edge of the world and enjoyed the beautiful world we live in.