1.5.

My girl is 1.5 years old today!  I am a lucky mama.

18 months old and her favorite things are:

1. Buckles and clips of any kind
2. Straws
3. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
4. Datdoos a/k/a crackers
5. Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Dora
6. Her dog Obi
7. Riding in her wagon to the park
8. Taking her shoes and socks off
9. Standing or sitting inside of small objects

 Love her.

New Car!

Penelope got a new-to-her car today!  She had tons of fun pushing it around, getting in and out, and bending over the side of it trying to find rocks to eat.

Crazy static hair...

She will not look at the camera.

 Dirty hands = fun day playing outside.

Toasted Garlic Bread.

I tried this recipe tonight to go with Spaghetti and it turned out very tasty!  Here's what I learned:

1.  Cut the loaf of bread in half lengthwise instead of into individual slices as stated in the recipe.
2.  I used a small loaf of French bread and halved the butter/cheese quantities.  Perfect amount for the 3 of us.
3.  After the last step in the recipe where the cheese is melted I put the halves back together and sliced it up.

The picture doesn't do the flavor justice...

Recipe can be found here:  Toasted Garlic Bread

Slow Cooker Cheese Steaks.

Made this for dinner tonight and it turned out pretty good!  Here's what I learned:

1.  Only cook the meat for 3 hours.  I bought a slightly bigger steak and cooked it for 4 hours.  It was WAY overcooked (BOO!!).
2.  Definitely use white American cheese!  It was so creamy and delicious.  The Target deli had it available.
3.  Add 1 T of red wine vinegar to the meat.
4.  Serve it with some of the leftover juices.
5.  We used the Trader Joe's red/green/yellow frozen pepper blend.  I think it's my new favorite thing.

The meat before we started...

Peppers and onions cooking (skipped the mushrooms)...

Overcooked meat (still tasted okay but would have been better tender!)...

Ready for the oven...

Finished product!

The recipe can be found here:  Slow Cooker Cheese Steaks

Grilled Strawberry Cheesecake Towers and a Birthday Bapa.

I've had this recipe staring at me for several months.  Today was the perfect occasion to give it a try as it's Bapa's 60th birthday!  So the family came over and we had dinner and this yummy dessert.

Here's what I learned:

1.  Using the skewer baskets to grill the strawberries worked GREAT.  I continuously rotated the berries without the need for a grilling utensil.
2.  The berries really only need about 3-5 minutes on the grill to get the tiniest bit of charring.
3.  Definitely take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator several hours early to get it to room temp.  I think this maybe key to the consistency of the filling.
4.  These suckers are big and filling!  I made a half recipe and it easily fed four adults.

Strawberries on the grill...

Pound cake after coming off the grill...

See that picture hanging in the background?  Penelope swears it's a picture of Bapa.  She tells me so every time we walk by it.  Happy birthday Bapa!

Recipe found here:  Grilled Strawberry Cheesecake Towers

Easter Hops.

I speak a special dialect of toddler called Penelope.  And in this language we call bunnies "hops".  It's so cute I can't bring myself to correct her.  So the Easter Hops paid a visit...

When she saw the basket she moved so fast all I caught was a blur of her running towards it:

She pulled each item out one by one and brought it over to show us.  Her favorite was the "Mimi" lovey.

And a bunch of my pretty girl because I couldn't choose just one...

Stop taking my picture and take me to the park dammit!

Running to give mama a hug!

Obi was panting like crazy and Penelope thought it was hilarious...

...so she joined him!

After a lot of running around she sat down in the grass, took off one shoe, attempted to remove other articles of clothing, and that was our cue to head home.

Resemblance.

I have always thought Penelope looks just like her dad.  Same dimples, nose, eyebrows.  And everyone seems to agree.  People are always saying she looks so much like him.  I decided to do a little photo comparison and I think she might have my smile!  Alan has been telling me this all along but I was convinced otherwise.

Let's Go Fly a Kite.

Penelope received a kite in her Easter basket at daycare.  The weather today seemed like perfect kite flying weather so off we went to the park.  The look on her face when she saw it up in the air was priceless!

New Shoes + a Few Randoms.

Penelope had the best pair of Stride Rite hand me downs from B/C/E/A Thelen.  We loved those shoes (THANK YOU!!!) and probably kept her in them a little longer than we should have.  Turns out the girl grew an entire size in the past few weeks!  We took advantage of a Stride Rite sale and bought a pair for now and a pair for the next growth spurt.

Fancy new shoes!

And Obi...

I like this next picture for the following reasons:

1.  Obi's head coming out of the side of the shot.
2.  Baby belly in her Elmo shirt.
3.  Craziness that is my house in the blurry background.
4.  Best of all...the way she holds my fingers when we snuggle.

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes.

I took two separate recipes and combine them into this deliciousness.  I will definitely be making these again!

Recipe:  Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes

Sidewalk chalk.

Who knew sidewalk chalk was messy?  Is it the cheap on-sale type I bought?  I'm new at this.  But in the end my kid had fun so the mess was worth it.