Pumpkin Pancakes

We love having breakfast for dinner, sometimes.  Tonight, Emmy and Gabby helped me make dairy-free pumpkin pancakes.  We had so much fun cooking together that it was worth the little-bit of extra mess created by two crazy toddlers!  And the best part, the girls ate all their dinner because they were so proud of their creations.

Creepy Creature Cupcakes

I had the day off today with the girls so I wanted to do something fun.  Last night I made some milk-free chocolate chip pumpkin cupcakes so we could decorate them this morning.  There's nothing like cupcakes and frosting for breakfast!  We found such a cute book at Utah Idaho Supply for $0.99 called Monster Party.  A brother and sister, Mondo and Magnolia, plan the best Halloween party in Monterville history.  Tragically, the bakery runs out of Creepy Creature Cupcakes on the day of their party!  So, they get creative and all the friends decorate their own monster cupcakes at the party.  We read the book together (as well as Gabby would allow) then decorated our own Creepy Creature Cupcakes.  Emmy was so creative.  She named the cupcakes Mondo, Magnolia, Monster Mommy, and Muddles the Dog.  It was fun to hear Gabby say "Eyes", "Nose" and "Lips" and put the candy where she thought they should go.  We talked about different shapes and colors.  Emmy was good at predicting what colors mixed to make orange and purple.

  

Creepy Creature Milk-free Cupcake Recipe

 1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix

1 egg

1 egg white

15 oz can pure pumpkin

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 C Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Pillsbury white frosting

Food coloring to color frosting as desired

We went to Peterson Farms to pick pumpkins last Monday.  The girls pushed child-sized wheelbarrows, played on tractors, took a hay-ride, and picked the best pumpkins ever.

Gabby was very concerned about getting the right pumpkin.  She saw this one from way down the row and kept pointing until we got the right one.  It was bright orange with a perfect round shape.  That's her Daddy's girl!  Emmy, on the other hand, likes the abnormal pumpkins.  She liked the ones that were multi-colored, weird shaped, and scarred.  That's my girl!

 

Silly girls

These two have so much fun together.  I am so thankful they have each other.  Growing up can be tough business but I hope they remain close and are always there for each other.

They sure do make me laugh.  In the past couple weeks, Gabby has created some interesting situations.  Both are the result of her desire to be "grown-up" like her big sister.   Let me warn you, both are potty stories.  If you are disgusted by poop you should stop reading now.  They were just too cute to not document, so I apologize, but here goes...

Last week, after work, I picked the girls up from Gib's parents.  Five minutes into our travel Emmy started screaming that she had to pee.  I pulled over on a side road but couldn't convince her to go in the dirt.  We went another 5 minutes to the nearest gas station.  Gabby was wearing only a diaper because of a series of unfortunate events leading up to our stop at the restroom.  So, I grab my mostly naked Gabby and screaming Emmy and run into the gas station bathroom.  Emmy gets to the toilet before she has an accident.  Whew, crisis averted, right?  Think again.  Emmy is potty-training Gabby.  So, when Gabby sees Emmy on the potty she gets REALLY mad that she can't go, too.  She makes a stinky #2 in her diaper then tears it off on the restroom floor.  Now I have a completely naked 2 year old with a diaper covered in poo.  I can't put the messy diaper back on Gabby, so I clean her up and wrap my arms around her to cover her private parts.  We try to quickly exit from the gas station, but my girls were sucked-in by their marketing skills.  Right near the exit, there was princess apple juice!  There was no way we were leaving the gas station without two princess apple juices.  So, I checked out at the register with a naked 2 year old.  A guy came out of the beer cooler to whistle at Gabby and ask, "Who's the streaker?"  I can laugh about it now.  I will never forget the image of my naked 2 year old, surrounded by strangers, in a busy gas station.  I thought of so many ways I can better prepare to avoid another disaster like this in the future.

Just last night, we were at Chad and Ashley's house celebrating Logan's fifth birthday.  Can you believe he is 5?  Anyway, Gabby loves Marlee's froggy training potty.  While I was playing a quick minute-to-win-it game, Gabby got into the bathroom, did another stinky #2 in Marlee's potty, used her hands to pick up her "nuggets" and put them in the big toilet, used the toilet plunger and the toilet brush to stir the contents of the potty, and spilled a gallon of water on the bathroom floor.  I don't know how it happened so fast!  What a silly girl.  I've got to keep a better eye on her!