Update

I thought today would be a great day to do a little update on what's going on with us.

Andy
Andy pretty much loves the summer weather. He is like a lizzard and prefers to be outside even when it's miserable out. He even runs outside over his lunch hour (yuk!). He works out at Gym FX downtown which has really worked for him since it's close to work. He can workout over his lunch as before work and after work doesn't work for our schedule. He takes Brady to daycare every day...for multiple reasons. I work earlier and Brady has a meltdown when I drop him off. Andy has been busy doing projects around the house. So far this summer he has put up Brady's swingset, done lots of landscaping outside, put up a new ceiling fan, painted our master bathroom vanity and his next project is a deck expansion...more on that later!

Mindy
I have still been doing Farrells. I usually go before work (5:15 class but this morning I did the 4:20 a.m. class...a little too early for me!) and I still love the kickboxing days...I'm finally getting back to going on the resistance days. I really love my job! Grand View is an awesome place to work. I get a good mix of both adults and students. It's like a little family here and I love it, plus I love the flexibility I have. I have really gotten into baking (even more than before). I have a soft spot for cupcakes and have made lots of them lately. I bought some equipment for decorating and have lots of new recipes I want to try. I'm also going to go to a cake decorating class to learn a few new things. I'm exited about that. Is it a contradiction to work in the fitness world and bake cupcakes? Ha ha! I also have a new venture that I'll post more on later!

Brady
Brady loves being outside just as much (if not more) than his daddy. He would be out there all night if we let him. He is really talking more and more and we're actually able to understand him. He is counting to 15 and is infatuated with colors right now. He points and says the color of everything. Just this morning I was dressing him and he said 'No Ma, Purple shirt' and went over to his closet and wanted his purple UNI shirt...of course this made Andy's day! He is loving cars right now and has a few favorite Matchbox cars (his favorite is his Cadillac...although he says it more like 'Cad.e.yak'), he loves the 'Cars' movie and refers to pretty much all cars as 'Police cars' still. He still loves playing ball of any kind. He can kick for hours. He is loving sweet corn and strawberries. He is just growing so fast!

Future Soccer Player???

Just maybe...he got lots of kicking practice with Grandpa the last time we were back...he could do that all day long, he just loves it!

This Weather!!!

We had big plan for Saturday...a Family Fun Day! But then mother nature had other plans. We were going to head to Polk City for their 4 Seasons Festival and parade...well it poured during the parade (while we sat in our vehicle somewhat watching the parade) but once the parade was over it cleared a little. So we walked around town a bit but Brady fell and got all muddy so our fun was over. We were also going to go to the pool but the on/off showers didn't cooperate. Oh well! We were able to get lots of stuff done around home so it wasn't a total bust!

Fun Foto Friday

Sometimes it's just easier to eat strawberries and yogurt in just a diaper...

Who needs the police around???

When this guy is patrolling the streets...

Wordless Wednesday

He still loves that monkey!

A Nice Surprise

Andy brought these home to me after work on Friday...it was such a nice surprise! Thanks honey...Love you!

Night Night Daddy

Yesterday when Andy came in after working outside for a while, he laid on the couch (after cooling off and toweling off his sweat!) and Brady thought Daddy was gonna go night, night. So, he gave Daddy his monkey and said "I be right back". He ran upstairs to get his 2 favorite books (the same 2 we read to him EVERY night) then proceeded to sit on the floor by daddy and 'read' daddy his books so he could go to sleep. It was so cute! He keeps us so entertained!

Fun Foto Friday

Brady, I think you have a little something on your face...ha ha!

Mr. Potato Head???

When left up to Brady, here's what Mr. Potato Head looks like...




Perhaps an Anatomy lesson is in order...

A Little Morning Funny

This morning when I went to get Brady up, I noticed that 'Monkey' was a little wet and after further evaluation, realized that his sheets were a little wet as was his shirt...So, here is my conversation with Brady about it:

Me: "Oh, no...did you pee the bed?"
Brady: "No, Ma...Monkey pee bed"
Me: "Brady, Monkey didn't pee the bed...I think maybe you did"
Brady: "No Ma, Monkey and Bear pee bed...Naughty Monkey"

Ahh...already making others take the wrap for him! Apparently we gave him too much to drink too close to bed time...he peed right through his diaper!

B & C

Brady and Cadence are so close in age and have lots of fun playing together! They got to play in the pool and water and watched some movies together. Can't wait to see them grow up together!

Wedding Palooza continues!

On Saturday my second cousin Hailee got married back in Elk Horn. So we headed back for my parents in the morning. Brady and Cadence were able to play together all day. We left Brady at my parents with JoAnna (my brother's girlfriend) for the wedding so we could actually enjoy the wedding then went and picked him up for the reception. The reception was great. It was so nice to see some family that we hadn't seen in a while. Brady had so much fun dancing with the other kids. It was so cute to see him interact with the other kids. He wasn't shy at all, he'd just go sit by any kids that were on the dancefloor and once one kid would dance, Brady would copy his moves. It was so funny. He was a sweaty mess by the time we left! It was a great time!

Kiddie Parade

This past weekend was Ankeny's Summerfest...so on Friday we headed uptown for the Kiddie Parade. This parade is great cuz it's just kids, it's literally like a block long, lots of candy and police cars! Brady was in heaven! We met the Waters at HyVee for some dinner before the parade then we headed over for the action to start! I think the boys had fun!

Splish Splash

On the 5th our daycare was closed so Andy took the day off to watch Brady. They had a fun day together. Here are some pics of their time at the Splash park. Brady loves it!

4th Recap

I'm a little late updating from the 4th...but here goes. We headed up to Gowrie on Saturday morning and kind of laid low for the most part. The kids played in the water outside and had lots of fun together. Then on Sunday we went up to the carnival so the kids could ride some rides (which Brady loved riding the cars)and that night Andy went uptown for the street dance. Then on the 4th Andy and I got up and ran the Gowrie 5K. It was the first year for it and they had a great turnout. It was a great run! Then we went to the parade (which was smokin hot!), came home and ate a great lunch, Brady napped and then it was time to head home. It was a great weekend.

Snickers Cupcakes!

We have a new favorite cupcake in our household. I've made these cupcakes a couple of times and everyone loves them! The great thing is that you can really make this recipe with any kind of miniature candy bar...the sky's the limit! So here is the recipe!!!




For the cake:
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs; lightly beaten
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
24 frozen Snickers Miniatures

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line (2) 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and water.
4. Evenly divide the batter amongst the prepared pans. {I use a large cookie scoop from OXO to scoop my batter; it holds 3 tablespoons}.
5. Gently push a frozen Snickers Miniature bar into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy bar with batter.
6. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.

For the frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup caramel topping; plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method
1. Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.
2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, give it a taste and decide if you want to add in more caramel syrup. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.

Garnish with chopped Snickers bars and a drizzle of caramel of caramel syrup.

Enjoy!

A Few Things...

This week has been a usual week in this Cathcart household. We have been busy and trying to keep cool (I think Summer is officially here). We go through the daily motions and sometimes forget just how blessed we are. With a 2 1/2 year old, life is never boring and we definitely find ourselves yelling more than we should, taking things too seriously and not enjoying this stage of Brady's life as much as we should. We tend to get wrapped up in the moment of when he's naughty (which happens a lot!) and can easily forget when he's the loving, kind and polite little boy he can be. I want to remember this stage in his life as a positive one so I thought that today I'd blog about the little things that I love so much about our little boy.

1. He is polite and uses his manners. This is something we instilled in him from the time he could even mutter words...and maybe it's because I work in a University and see just how rude kids can be and I vowed that my son would not act so entitled and rude. I love how whenever we get something for him, he always says 'Thank you Ma' or 'Thank you Da' (although it sounds more like 'Dee-Doo') and always asks please if he wants something. This is one trait that I hope he continues to have.

2. He is a Social Butterfly...He LOVES playing with other kids...the moment we get home, he asks where Luke, Joel and Jackson are and the second he sees them outside, he runs to the door and begs to go outside. He loves being social and around other kids no matter where we are...he tries to put himself right in to the group (even if the kids are years older than him).

3. He is VOCAL!!! Brady has some lungs on him and talks pretty much non-stop. But I love to hear him when he goes outside and sees his friends...he YELLS 'Hi Jack', 'Hi Joel', 'Hi Luke' and he keeps saying it until they say it back (and even if they don't, he keeps on saying it). :-) Everyday when I pick him up from daycare, he tells me this super long story (and usually I don't know what he's saying except for a couple of words) about his day and it just cracks me up. He also loves talking on the phone and I know all of his grandparents have heard quite a few of his 'stories'...

4. He is a Mama's Boy. I know this probably won't last too much longer but I am soaking it in right now. Whenever he gets done with his bath (which daddy usually does), he comes running in to our room looking for me. If he gets an 'owie' he has to have me kiss it...I'm gonna miss it when he prefers dad... :-)

5. He is compassionate. Whenever me or Andy have an 'Owie' he comes right over and kisses it. He can't stand to see other kids cry. When he's in the church's daycare and a kid gets dropped off and is upset, he goes over to the kid and gives them a hug and whatever toy he is playing with. Sometimes he 'over-shares' and continues to give other kids all the toys but I'd rather him be that way than not sharing. But don't get me wrong, he has issues with sharing just like most 2 1/2 year olds...he is no angel but we do see glimpses of it from time to time. We do our best to instill sharing and it is a work in progess.

So there's a small list of why our little guy is special to us. There are many more things we love to pieces about this litle boy but to keep this post short, we'll go with the Top 5. :-) I'm excited to see what else the 'Terrible 2's' will bring us. Although it's not that terrible (and I've heard 3 is worse! ha!) and we're enjoying the journey!