Beach, More Ellie & Ellie Giveaway!

How was your weekend? We had a family filled weekend and it was great. After teaching Step on Saturday, Josh and I headed to the beach with Kaylin:          

 

She loved being near the water, but wasn’t too sure about the sand:

 

She also liked the swings:

 

Are you a beach fan? I love listening to the ocean- so peaceful! But…I prefer swimming in a pool.

Outside the beach trip, we went to dinner with Josh’s parents, and went and visited my parents for lunch on Sunday. I also fit in a nice outdoor run on Sunday.

I’ve said it before, but I really like the new Ellie clothes (disclaimer: I received these for free!). They wear and wash great! The customer service with the company has been amazing. The first top I received was a little too large, so they sent me two tops to replace it. Here is the first, the first with my Ellie capris (notice Kaylin running around like nuts):

and my second top:

I wore the top again for our Attack launch this morning:

Giveaway time! I am giving away the first top I received that was just a bit too big for me. It fits like a medium and you can see it here on Annette’s blog. If you’re interested in the top, just let me know in the comments! I’ll leave this giveaway open until Friday, March 15 at noon. You DO NOT need to have a blog to enter!

Also- I will be having a second giveaway on Wednesday to celebrate my 5 year blog birthday!

Date #4 & Brussels Sprouts Pizza

Happy Friday! Are you having a good day? So far, my day has included food shopping, cleaning, cooking, and Kaylin had her fourth date with Ryan. Now that they’re getting older, they’re interacting so much more. Its fun to watch. Amy (Ryan’s Mom) and I took the kids for a walk. After, we played bubbles:

  the kids played peek-a-boo:

    

and played toys:

and then Kay crashed:

While she slept, I got a few things done around the house. I also made dinner (I’m teaching Attack tonight and its always easier to cook ahead of time). I decided to make Brussels sprouts pizza. I couldn’t remember where I saw this idea, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind (once it was in the oven, I realized it was Jessica’s brilliant idea).

 

Since I couldn’t remember the source pre-bake, I came up with the following:

Ingredients:

• 10 oz Brussels sprouts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + more for drizzling
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• desired quantity shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese
• diced pepperoni (optional)
• raw pizza dough (enough for 1 crust)
• Italian or garlic & herb seasoning (optional)
• Cornmeal

Directions:

Two options on cooking the Brussels, you could dice them up and cook them on the stove top in oil  and diced garlic until just starting to brown OR you could steam them first, slice them, and then cook them up in the oil/garlic (this is what I did).

In the meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 475 degrees F. Stretch out your pizza dough and place it on a pan or pizza stone covered with cornmeal. Bake pizza crust ~5 minutes until just starting to brown. Remove crust from oven. Top with Brussels sprouts/garlic/olive oil mixture. If desired, drizzle additional olive oil on top. Add pepperoni, cheese, and top with Italian seasoning. Put back in the oven and cook until desired level of crispiness is achieved.

Just after adding the Brussels, olive oil, and pepperoni:

Cheese:

 

Finished product!!

   

What are you up to this weekend? I’m teaching Step tomorrow morning and then we have a fancy pants dinner planned. Sunday, I may fit in a run and otherwise??