Caramel Apples

My kids LOVE the caramel apples from Lagoon. They especially love the ones with candy toppings on them.  So I figured it would be a fun family night activity to make caramel apples. I thought - how hard can it be?!? You melt caramel and dip apples into it, right?

So we got some caramels and I got to melting them on the stove.

The hardest part for sure was trying to the get the darn caramels out of the wrappers. 

I was very proud of my kids for staying determined to get the candies out. 

Kylee unwrapped quite a few.

Cannon had a much harder time, and when he would finally get a caramel out...

he would just eat it.  :) 

But after much work and melting we were able to dip.  The apples turned out cute, but I quickly realized the caramel was not going to stay on the apple.  Blame it on gravity and probably having too thin of caramel sauce, but the caramel was just sliding right off the apple. 

I encouraged the kids to hurry and eat them and they happily agreed. 

They didn't look as pretty as the ones we get at Lagoon, but they did taste wonderful. 

Plus, we had a lot of fun making them together, and that's what really matters, right? 

Yet...Another Mess

I knew when I became a parent that kids can be disobedient and destructive...but I really had no idea until just recently. You've seen the little messes Kylee has made, and although they have been a little frustrating and time consuming, I've been able to laugh about all of them so far....until this one.


Curtis had left early for work and Kylee woke up before Cannon and I did. Somehow she found a black sharpie marker. Don't ask me how, because I HONESTLY didn't even know we owned one. When I was awoken by her, she had drawn all over her legs. I knew there had to be some more damage somewhere, but looked all over the walls and LUCKILY, none of them had marker on them. I was actually quite satisfied and relieved the marker was just on her. Sure, it would take a few washes before it came out, but no big deal. We had a nice little talk about how we only write on paper and I was feeling like a good parent.

Then I found this...
This is the cedar chest my parents bought me when I graduated from High School. It is beautiful and one of my prized possessions. She had also drawn on the side of our bed and one of my nightstands. I cried and seriously could not even look at Kylee. I have never been that mad at her before. I kept trying to remind myself there are just material things, but my emotions didn't feel the same way.

I called my mother who was sympathetic (although she also laughed at me) and calmed me down. Then when Curtis came home he worked his magic and was able to take it off with some chemicals he uses for work all the time. He literally saved the day.
It is pretty much as good as new. The nightstand and bed also survived the attack. This was a wake up call to me that I really needed to make it a little less easy for Kylee to get into things she shouldn't. We have a baby gate at the top of the stairs and covers over all the electrical outlets, but had never really done any other baby proofing...so off to the store we go.

Another Mess

I've never been one to buy hair product from the salon. I've always considered it a "luxury" and maybe even a little bit of a rip off. (Mainly because I expect the product to just make my hair beautiful without me putting any effort in, and am usually disappointed it doesn't.) But this last visit I decided to buy a small bottle of some hair creme that is supposed to help the new natural wave I all the sudden have in my hair (thanks to pregnancy I guess).

I haven't had much of a chance to try it, but Kylee has. She managed to get the lid off and I don't know how she knew just what to do with it, but she did.

Luckily there is still about half the bottle left, but it makes me sad to think of all the wasted product I washed out of Kylee's hair that night.
It took some serious scrubbing with the shampoo to get it all out of her hair. Oh well, no use crying over wasted hair products.

Mascara!

I have been pretty blessed with very good children. Both Kylee and Cannon have been the sweetest babies and slept well early on. I get about 5 hours of sleep before he wakes up and he just is so content all the time (unless of course he's hungry).

As Kylee is getting closer to being 2 she is starting to be a little more defiant, VERY independent, and seems to test my patience more each day. I've never worried too much about her getting into things because she's always been really good to just play with her toys and listen when I tell her no. But now...if I can't see or hear her, chances are, she's into something she shouldn't be.

A while ago she unrolled toilet paper, dipped it in the toilet, and had SPIT BALLS (or toilet balls in this case) all over the wall, floor, pretty much the whole bathroom. Luckily the toilet had recently been cleaned, but still that is REALLY gross!

Then the other day I had put Cannon in his swing and Kylee was in her room playing with toys, so I thought it was the perfect time to get emails and such done for work. I could hear her in Cannon's room saying "pretty" and thought I'd better go in and check to make sure she wasn't poking him in the eyes or something...and this is what I found.

Kylee had got my mascara out of the bathroom drawer, figured out how to twist the top off, and made this attempt to make herself pretty. When I found her she just kept saying "pretty mama." And being the thoughtful child she is, she decided to share with Cannon too.
Poor sweet Cannon, he just sat there and took it. He didn't fuss or anything. Luckily I found her before too much damage had been done.

Just One Oreo

Those who know Curtis and I know we love our junk food. Trying to be a good mom, I really wanted to limit Kylee's knowledge of the "evil" stuff until she was much older. Curtis went and spoiled that plan by teaching her words like "chocolate" and "cookie." However, she also loves to say "string cheese" and "gogurt", which are at least a little more healthy for her. I usually don't cave in like daddy does to giving her lots of sweets (she is going to like him way more then me when she is older), but recently I decided one little oreo wouldn't hurt, so I gave it to her and walked down the hall. I came back to a wonderful mess. I couldn't believe one little cookie could do so much damage. :)

Who cares about the mess...look at that face. :)

Then once I got her all cleaned up, she decided to chew on her toes? She's teething and chewing on anything feels good right now.

I thought this video was pretty cute. She loves to play with the camera so much. It's getting harder to get videos or pictures because she wants to be the one to do it. In fact, it's pretty much like that with everything. :) I have a feeling a 2 year old monster is just dying to come out of her. But still, I'm so lucky!