Happy 4th of July!

This year 4th of July was kind of a weird holiday. To begin with, it fell on a Wednesday, which was just wrong. We went to Wisconsin to spend time with Matt's family from Saturday until Wednesday, but came home on the 4th since both of us have to work on Thursday and Friday. Traveling coupled with our kitchen being torn apart (yes, we are finally redoing our kitchen!) and this crazy heat wave just made the 4th feel weird and not so festive. In fact, I was pretty much ready to scrap the whole thing and just call it a regular Wednesday.

But we decided to do something low key instead. My sister, bro-in-law, and adorable nephew met us at my parents' house who weren't home (the mature version of the kegger). We had dinner and then most of the party walked down the street to the local fireworks display. I willingly stayed back as B was sleeping and a little quiet time out of the heat sounded really good to me.

I know sometimes we run around like crazy, pile too much on our plates, and need to learn to relax more often. This just wasn't the day. After all, often when things don't sound great to mom and dad it means they're going to be really great for the kids and is worth the rally:

"I loved the red one because it made the whole sky turn red!"

W's first glow stick, which he insisted on bringing to bed.

Meal Planning: Week 5 Thanks to Artizone

Boxes full of goodness...

I ordered groceries for the first time ever and I think I'm in love. Chicago has a great new grocery delivery service called Artizone. They deliver fresh food from specialty, independent, locally owned shops to your door. I was super excited to get my first delivery on Friday night (right on time and a nice delivery man!), which had lots of good stuff for our meals this week:

Monday: Roasted vegetables and amish chicken
Tuesday: Pasta with shrimp, shallots, and lemon
Wednesday: Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin and butternut squash risotto
Thursday: Wild mushroom pappardelle and a salad
Friday: Dinner out for my birthday!

We also ordered some salmon, which I made on Saturday and was possibly the best salmon we've ever had. Also, we have come Cowda cheese in the fridge just waiting for us...

Have you ever had your groceries delivered? It's pretty amazing and I'd recommend trying it. Artizone is offering free delivery until February 15th, so you might want to give it a whirl. I still had to go grocery shopping today to fill in the pantry and some staples, but I'm a firm believer that fresh, finer ingredients are worth the extra money and I continue to be disappointed in what I find at any chain grocery stores in my area. Ordering through Artizone saved me some mileage and time this weekend and made my meal plan a ton easier.

Disclosure: I attended the Artizone kick-off party recently where I received a $30 coupon with no obligation. Opinions are my own, as always.

First Annual Packers vs. Bears Party (and a recipe)

Matt and I have a mixed football marriage. He is a Packers fan, I am a Bears fan. Today we hosted the First Annual Hanneman Packers vs. Bears party and decided to feature Wisconsin and Chicago foods and drinks. We had a Wisconsin cheese platter, homemade queso dip, Gino's East pizza, beer boiled brat bites with sauerkraut and stone ground mustard, pretzels, buffalo chicken dip, and a selection of New Glarus beers and Stump's bloody mary mix and hot olives. And then our friends all brought plenty of other good stuff. (New Year's resolutions start tomorrow, right?)

Packers won. So, that means at next year's party W will be wearing a Packers t-shirt (ugh), which is the deal we've agreed to: W wears winning team's t-shirt for the following year's party. Consider this your save the date.

Happy little Bears fans (and one half fan).

Can you tell the majority of guests were Bears fans and wouldn't even touch a Packers cookie?

Here is the recipe for the queso dip I made. It's scary good. My mother-in-law got it from her former hairdresser way before Southwestern food had made its way to Wisconsin. She's been making it ever since and it's pretty incredible. I recommend using a fondue pot (this is the only thing I actually make in ours), but you could use a non-stick pan.

Queso: Melt 2 T butter and add 1 chopped onion, a 4 oz. can of chopped green chilies, and 3-4 finely chopped jarred jalapenos. Saute until tender. Add 15 oz can of tomato sauce. Then mix in 1/2 lb. of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 lb. of shredded swiss cheese. I've also added monterey jack. Stir often. Delicious.

Withdrawal Symptoms

I had some serious kiddo withdrawal after this weekend. Seriously serious. Matt took the little guy to Wisconsin to see his grandparents and cousins, but I stayed here for bridal shower bonanza for one of my brides-to-be. The showers were fantastic and I got in some major quality time with my BFF and even snuck in a sleepover (she is still a major bed hog). I also managed to wash the sheets, hit the grocery store, vacuum two rugs, pick up a bridesmaid dress, and get my haircut while running in and out of my house in various directions. I might have sat down for about 15 minutes.

Seeing as I had no down time, it wasn't until I was in the bathroom after the shower ended yesterday afternoon and saw a mom with her own little guy right around William's age that I realized how much I missed him. Of course I missed him all weekend, but I never had a chance to really MISS him. I checked in with Matt all weekend, but always as I was on my way to one thing or another. In the bathroom I was finally in a quiet moment where I wasn't thinking about where I was going and I realized that the only place I wanted to go was to see my little man.

Matt and I got home right around the same time and I was greeted by a very excited toddler who let me give him as many hugs and kisses as I wanted to. (Every time I asked, "Where's my hug?" I received an enthusiastic "Right here!")

I have a lot more kiddo-missing coming my way... June and July weekends are full of stuff that will keep me busy and away from him on the weekends. All good stuff, but we're really going to be missing each other.

Baby Lambs

When we were in Wisconsin last weekend we went to a little petting zoo at the local garden store. You know our little guy is a bit obsessed with farm animals, right? He really wanted to see baby lambs and told us so again and again and again. I shared the good news that we'd get to see them.

So, we walk up to a pen with sweet little furry babies jumping around....

Lisa (in high pitched voice): "William, baby lambs! Matt, get him in there. They're so cute. Awww, look at the baby lambs. William, look! Do you see them? Aren't you excited? Baby lambs!"

Matt: "Um, Lisa, they're goats."

E - I - E - I - O

William's first 4th of July. Due to his surgery, we skipped the Baumrucker Family party in Michigan and cleared the calendar, in case he didn't do well. Grandma and Grandpa H came in for moral support/fun (depending on how everything went). Since William was doing great, we decided to have a last minute BBQ for the 4th and make a morning trip to Wagner Farms in Glenview. It's a pretty cool working farm that I've been excited to visit with William, plus it's free. I really thought he would be excited, and he was... As long as the animals made noise. So, chickens and lambs were a hit. Pigs and cows, not so much. Maybe when he's older and has a better attention span.

I have to admit that I did learn something from the farm visit. Not about animals, of course, but about being a parent. We say that we do things because we think the kid is going to love it, but really I think it's because we want to see our kids love doing it. Looking back, I really didn't think William would love the farm, but I so wanted to see him love it. He didn't, but luckily we were just ten minutes from home. I would have been really frustrated if it was a further trip.

Here are the highlights:

"I don't want to be a farmer! Stop trying to put me on this tractor. Geez, I just had surgery."

This baby cow takes his bottle with nearly the same enthusiasm as William. Sometimes I have to pull back with two hands, too.

The look on William's face: "What's that smell??? Kinda smells like my diaper after eating lots of green beans."

And here is his answer... Spooning pigs.

This is about as interested as we could get him, didn't last long.

First Time in the Dental Chair

A few weeks ago we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hanneman in Wisconsin. We made a quick trip to Grandpa H's office so he could show off the Little Man and take a look at Matt's teeth.

What a brave boy... No tears in the dental chair.

And, what a brave Grandpa... His desk doubled as a changing table.