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A Wacky Wednesday

Posted on April 25, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Oh my gosh you guys…

So, I just got back from my first adventure in babysitting in over TEN years…and it was so much fun!

Wasn’t I just talking about being a little low on the fund-age recently? Well, I guess what they say is true…things all work out in the end. Some friends of mine called me up the other day and asked if I would be willing watch their boys for the next few Wednesdays.

Knowing that they are some of the best behaved children I’ve ever seen (the exact OPPOSITE of the examples you see in your local grocery store), I happily agreed!

My charges for the evening…we’ll call them Pete (red) and Re-Pete (blue)

I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to call them for the blog…Thing 1 and Thing 2 just wasn’t enough to portray their personalities…plus I may not know anything about kids, but calling them “things” just seems a little off 😛

And believe me, Re-Pete lives up to his name…it’s so cute how he mimics just about everything his brother does!

We started the evening watching a show on the Disney Channel called Kickin’ It…and I’m ashamed to admit I actually found myself asking Pete questions about it as I got sucked in!

After the episode ended, and I was left with only MORE questions about the fate of the adolescent characters with questionable karate skills, we headed upstairs to play. I was introduced to just about every superhero/action figure known to man before Pete asked the golden question:

“Do you want to see my Legos?”

Um, does T-Rex want someone to scratch his back??

OF COURSE I WANT TO SEE YOUR LEGOS!

And see I most certainly did!

Then I realized the boys were looking at me like a weirdo for taking pictures of their Legos, so I cleverly devised a ~~cover-up~~ game…Let’s create Lego men and then take pictures of our favorites!

Which was quickly answered with:

“That’s an AWESOME idea! I like you!”

I couldn’t help but ~~pat myself on the back~~ smile to myself after that. Leave it to a six year old to boost my self-esteem! 😉

Pete’s Scuba Man and Ninja “Dude”…with some seriously mean chops, I might add!

Re-Pete’s knight on horseback who also moonlights as an undercover Navy Seal
See the little yellow thing strapped to his back?
…that would be an oxygen tank!

And I of course I had the princess…who is in desperate need of cataract surgery on that left eye of hers…hopefully her knight/Navy Seal also knows a thing or two about ophthalmology 😉

After Lego time, it was dinner time for me and snack time for the kiddos. I had some sort of hodge-podge I threw together before running out the door (chicken, cottage cheese, pinto beans, green beans, and asparagus topped with nooch…totally not photo-worthy) while the boys enjoyed a little juice and these:

Omg, are these not the cutest things ever?!

Sorry, but I have an infatuation with all things “mini”…Janetha would understand!

And then the REAL fun began…wanna see what happens when you give a kid a granola bar at 7pm?

While Pete and Re-Pete transformed themselves into crazed WWF fighters, I assumed my role as referee/photo-journalist

If I had to pick a winner, I’d have to say Re-Pete pulled some pretty courageous moves…the time he catapulted himself off the kitchen table and landed a perfect 450 splash was epic…I joke, I joke…

And I totally just Googled “wrestling moves” Lol!

After I made sure the glue had dried from patching their limbs back together, it was
bath time!

They were so good about getting straight in the tub when I asked and helping me pick the right soap…I may have let a few “tidal wave” splashes go unnoticed.

And then I helped Re-Pete into his Superman PJ’s which were too cute…and even comes with a velcro cape for the back!

Then we all headed back to Lego Town until the parentals got home and it was time for story time.

Where you as Lego-obsessed as I was as a child?
The only thing that could’ve been better is if they could’ve matched the sizes of Legos to Barbies…ah, that would’ve been Heaven!

Do you have/want children?
This is something I go back and forth on, but honestly, I could see myself having one or two one day…especially after spending the night with these munchkins!

Posted in Adventures in Babysitting | Tagged fun, kids, mini, toys | 14 Comments

K.I.S.S My WIAW!

Posted on April 24, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey boos!

And happy What I Ate Wednesday…the time where we all get together and share the bites of deliciousness that get us through the day! As always, I want to give a big shout out to my girl Jenn for hosting this little shindig each and every week! Be sure to stop by Peas & Crayons and leave her some love!

So let’s get this party started, shall we?

I usually like to have some sort of theme to my WIAW posts…I don’t always plan for it, but most of the time, I can find some common ground in my day’s eats. This week’s theme?

Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Sometimes you just have to appreciate the simple things in life and that includes simple (and delicious) eats!

I’m super proud of myself for continuing with the early morning workouts this week…I can already feel it becoming easier to get up as it becomes more of a habit with each day. I actually got straight out of bed this morning without a second thought. Guess I was just ready for that endorphin rush!

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I know I get my morning “candy” if I get out of bed on time! 😉

PRE-WORKOUT:
A deliciously energizing dried date

After a great Back & Bi’s workout at the gym, I could NOT wait to get home and fix some breakfast!

BREAKFAST:
A bowl of hot vanilla protein oats topped with grilled bananas and a cup (okay, two cups) of black coffee!

MORNING SNACK:
A bowl of carrots to be dipped in some creamy sunbutter

Next to carrots dipped in coconut peanut butter, sunbutter is my FAVE!

A few hours later it was time for lunch…and man, was I craving my leftovers!

LUNCH:
1/2 of my grilled swordfish fillet and a TON of roasted brussel sprouts…yum!

To tide me over until dinner, I grabbed up an apple…it was good, but I’m definitely missing my glorious honeycrisps right about now! 🙁

AFTERNOON SNACK:
Gala apple straight up!

Then I got to work on dinner. I made a special trip to the store on my way home from work so that I could restock my veggie stash, but more importantly, so I could grab some chicken. I have been craving a grilled chicken breast for WEEKS now and finally satisfied that craving…

DINNER:
Grilled chicken breast, steamed green beans, and roasted fingerling potatoes drizzled with a bit of ketchup

This plate was full of EXACTLY what I was wanting and it was SO filling! Actually, I was a bit surprised when I started to get hungry just before bed. I decided to go with a light snack inspired by this week’s Pancake Sunday.

BEDTIME SNACK:
Lowfat cottage cheese with NuNaturals lemon stevia and poppy seeds and a few juicy strawberries!

How did/do YOU plan to keep it simple today?

What is your favorite thing to dip a carrot in?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged bananas, brussel sprouts, carrots, coffee, cottage cheese, nut butter, oats, seafood, strawberries, veggies | 22 Comments

Flowers, Fish, and Snakes…Oh My!

Posted on April 23, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys!

So, it sounds like you all are a lemon-loving bunch! Thank you for all the comments on the Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes from yesterday…I just wish I could take credit for such deliciousness!

I can’t wait to finish up my review of the other nu new NuNaturals product, their orange-flavored stevia, so I can get a chance to share some with you guys! Notice I used the term “guyS”…

That’s right, there will be a chance for not one, not two, but FOUR winners on this giveaway! Yay for free stuff! 😉

I know, I know…I’m hurrying!

Anywho, how about that post title? I thought it seemed appropriate after yesterday’s Wizard of Oz reference…believe me, I’m trying hard to resist the urge to belt out “Over the Rainbow” right now!

So while I could have been in the kitchen all day yesterday, plotting delicious plans with my stevia products, I chose to spend the day in the great outdoors, exploring with BB. We left the ever sexy Mistress of the Road at home, and decided to take BB’s baby out for a little fun instead:

Sadly, she was nameless until yesterday when I dubbed her:

Regina the Ranger!

Her middle name is 4×4 for those interested! 😉

It was a cool and windy day yesterday, so most of our adventure was of the off-roading, jolt-the-spine-out-of-your-back variety, but Fern did a pretty good job of navigating us over hills and through ditches to find some hidden gems.

And of course, I have photo documentation:

The purple flowers are Wisteria…and after smelling them for the first time yesterday, I’ve decided I want to plant like TWENTY of them in my backyard!

After a while of jumping in and out of the truck/hanging the camera out the window to get some shots of all the scenery, we came across a man-made beach and decided to get out and walk around.

Luckily, the clouds decided to part around that time, so we had a few warm minutes in the sun. We found a man-made beach and explored a bit right at the shoreline:

See that little guy at the top right? That’s a skeleton of an Alligator Gar…but just a wee one as it isn’t uncommon to see them get to 6.5 FEET in length!

Just a little bit of fish trivia for ya…BB is FULL of fun little facts about nature and wildlife and I’ve realized the more I hang out with him, the more it rubs off on me.

So keep us in mind if you ever need a lifeline or anything! 😉

Of course, like many of our nature outings, I get click happy and take about 500 pictures of plants and flowers, while BB goes on a hunt for wildlife.

Remember that time he caught a rattlesnake?

Well, it seems I’m dating a regular Steve Irwin:

And in BB’s impromptu nature show, we have:

1. A stinkpot turtle…believe me, he has that name for a reason…stiiiiiiinky!

2. A diamondback water snake …don’t worry, he’s not venomous!

3. And a crawfish (or crawdad, or crayfish…to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to)

After a small presentation of each followed by a question and answer period, BB was patient with me as I asked him, “will it bite me?” before I petted each animal…

Unfortunately there were no stickers, candy, or balloon animals.

Obviously, BB needs to up his game if he ever plans on making a living out of this. Luckily, he was able to win me over with a little hand holding…

And the promise of a good meal!

Once we got back to Casa de Broccoli, I roasted up some MUTANT brussel sprouts (seriously, these things deserve their own zip code!) while he got to work on grilling up some swordfish!