Adventures in the Sherman Kitchen

One of my New Years Resolutions was to cook more. On the weekends I try to plan out what I'm going to cook during the next week. I then make the dreaded trip to the grocery store to fill up the pantry and fridge.  Some might think of grocery shopping as "fun" but I think it's a chore.  Anyways, some of my friends created a cook book in December and I'm enjoying trying out some of the new recipes.  When we got the book, Jeff sat down and picked out some recipes that he wanted me to try.  Last night WE made strawberry bread.

The recipe called for a "well" in the dry ingredients.

Yummy strawberry goodness before being cooked.

We got this mini stone loaf pan for our wedding over 6 years ago and I think this is the first time that I've used it.

The recipe said that it would create 6 mini loaves or 2 regular ones.  I only had one regular pan and 4 mini - so that is what we used.

This is another pan that we got for our wedding that I've never used before!  It's a Tupperware Magic Baking Form. I was disappointed because it completely burned the bottom of the bread.

The mini loaves turned out super yummy.  We made these last night and 2 mini loaves are already gone!

Harper approved!

Thanks Lindsay for the yummy recipe!

The miracle plate?

Harper is pretty hit or miss when it comes to meal times.  I can always count on her eating a good breakfast.  I think it's because it's been 14 hours since she ate dinner! Lunch and dinner are usually hit or miss.  One day she will love a grilled cheese sandwich and the next day she will turn her nose up at it.  One day she will eat veggies and the next day she won't.  I don't get it.  While wandering the aisles of target last week I picked up a little plate with dividers in it.  Up until now, I have just put all of her food on her high chair and she would mix it around and eat some of it.  I served her dinner on her new plate last night and divided up her food into the little compartments.  She ate everything!! I tried it again tonight and she ate everything again.  We might be on to something here.  I guess she was just ready to start using an actual plate!

I've tried to give her chicken nuggets before but she hasn't really liked them that much. Tonight I gave her ketchup to dip them in and she loved it! 

Here's Harper eating her dinner with her new divider plate.  Maybe the new plate will turn her into a good eater!

Harper LOVES blueberries.  She usually eats them for dessert.  I think she might be able to win an eating contest with this speed!

Sonic Drink

I recently let Harper have a sip of my Lemon Berry Slush from Sonic.  Well - that was a mistake because I can't drink one now without her begging me for it.

Probably not the healthiest thing that she could drink before dinner.

Yum Yum!

Playtime in the tent

My sweet friend Kelly has a little pop up tent in her living room.  It's so cute because it stores Collin's toys and the kids had a great time playing in it today.

Harper & Collin in there velour jump suits. Collin is 2 weeks younger than Harper and such a cutie!

Snack time in the tent.

Collin has this cool Davey Crockett hat that he likes to wear.

He wanted to share his hat with Harper.

Thanks for letting us play Kelly!

Harper goes to the Zoo!

This week Harper and I headed to the zoo with Amanda and Noelle.  Noelle is 6 months old and such a little cutie. The weather was perfect. Harper had never been to the zoo before and she loved looking at all of the animals. Noelle and Harper eating their picnic lunch.

Looking for a snack out of the vending machine

Mommy and Harper checking out the elephants.

She got a little tired so she decided to just lay her head down on her stroller. 

"Look Mom - can you believe what that animal just did?"

Another snack break.

Not so sure what to think of the Gorilla!

I haven't been to the zoo in forever.  In was fun to see it through Harper's eyes this time.

Baby Einstein

Harper is not too interested in TV yet.  Sometimes if I have it on she will stop and watch for a minute or two but nothing really holds her attention for long. Baby Einstein is the exception though.  When she was a baby I would put her in the swing and turn on a little Baby Einstein and she was mesmerized.  I tried a new one called World Animals and she loved it. She climbed on her little rocking horse and watched it for at least 10 minutes. This is a record for little Miss busy body!

Cowboy's or Yard Work?

This afternoon Harper dressed in her Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader costume to cheer on the Boys.  I guess she and her daddy didn't cheer hard enough because by half time we were losing so bad they were out doing yard work.  I knew the game had to be really bad if he was raking leaves instead of watching it!  Harper loves being outside.  

Helping Daddy put leaves in the lawn bag.

Trying to figure out how to put mommy's dirty glove on.

Maybe just maybe football season will be over in our house now!

Miserable 24 hours

It's been a rough few days around here.  Thursday morning Jeff left for a Baseball conference in Waco.  My mom came over to help while he was gone.  I had grand plans for us to paint more of the house, paint the furniture still in the garage, and a few other home projects.   Well, Thursday night I started feeling bad and I came down with a miserable stomach bug that lasted about 24 hours.  Jeff was in Waco and he got sick as well.  Thankfully my mom was here to help with Harper while I recuperated.  I felt better yesterday and Jeff is starting to feel better today.  YUCK! Luckily, this little girl didn't get it!

She loves being outside.  This last week was still pretty cold but hopefully this next week will be warmer.

She is so inquisitive and loves to explore outside.

Picking up acorns.

Playing with acorns.

Afternoon shopping outing

Yesterday my family came to Dallas for a fun afternoon of shopping.  Aunt Carol stopped by that morning and managed to dress up Harper in her hat and coat.  We met my parents and Rebekah at Uncle Julio's for lunch.

Aunt Beka leaves tomorrow for a semester abroad in Spain.  We will miss her!!

Harper enjoyed the yummy sopapilla's that we had for dessert.

Harper's hair has gotten pretty long in the front and she will not keep a clip or bow or headband in it.  I decided to try for pigtails.  My dad said they looked more like antennas.  She wasn't so sure what to think of them and kept trying to pull them out. 

Such a little ham!

After our yummy lunch, we headed over to the Allen outlet mall for a little shopping. This was my first time to not take the stroller into the store.  She enjoyed walking around the aisles with my mom.  She helped us pick out shoes.

Helping mommy find a scarf in Banana Republic

"Look mom - this one is on sale!"

Checking out the jewelery selection

"I think that you should buy this one!"

She learned that shopping can be quite exhausting and decided to take a little break.