Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, Conference, and My Birthday!!

On the plate: Slow cooker apple cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal

Soundtrack to cook to:  Mariah Care's Daydream.  A nice throw back to jam to!

Last week was much more laid back with a few things to check off the ol' "To do" list.  Joseph was craaaazy busy with work, so it was the "Nikki, Alex, and William Show" until Friday when Joseph's schedule slowed down for the long weekend and his parents got into town.

On Monday, Alex started his first long day of school from 8:20-3:00 p.m.  He had a great day and enjoyed his time with his classmates.
William enjoyed some one-on-one time with me and we had a lovely lunch together that afternoon.

William singing the "Days of the Week" song.

The next day, Alex's Kindergarten teacher was gracious enough to schedule our conference earlier than normal because she knew we would be busy with our new arrival during the actual conference time.  We were very lucky that she was so accommodating and thoughtful.
Since Joseph couldn't make it to the conference, I took pictures of Alex's sample work to show him afterwards.

Here is Alex's writing sample.  He drew a picture of our
neighbor's house and wrote "BilsHouse".  Our neighbor is
named Bill!  I was really impressed that he was able to draw
a picture and spell words to go along with it.

Then, he had to draw a picture of how he would
teach someone about something.  He chose to draw
a picture about "Dah Vader VS. Yoda" (Darth Vader VS. Yoda).
This kid loves Star Wars as you can tell.

Here's the second picture to go along with his previous
drawing where he said that, "You battle a little bit."
Way to go, big guy!!

This picture made me giggle.  He wrote that his favorite
part of his field trip to Honey Pot Farm was, "Eating the donuts."
That's our boy!!  Lol!

He had a really great conference and he's been doing so well in school.  We're so proud of our hard-working little guy.

Alex wanted to show off his page in his class's book
regarding Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Alex, reading the page that he created in the class book of
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Alex's page in the class book.

Since he had such a great conference and a good day at school (and so did William), I decided to take the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch and some fun.

William and Alex with Chuck E. Cheese.

They loved playing the games together.

That evening after dinner, all of our boys wanted to
snuggle up with me.  Here was my view from the couch
that evening:  A baby bump and lots of love.  :-)

In William's school, they have started using stuffed animals to help teach the students their letters, etc.  Here's William (on the left) watching his teacher and "Renaud le renard" (Renaud the fox).

William, snuggling with Renaud in school.

HA!  As I was getting ready for the day, I put my shirt on and felt a breeze on the bottom of my stomach.  I looked at my profile and snickered to myself.

You know you're getting towards the end of your pregnancy
when your maternity shirt doesn't completely fit over your belly.
HA!

Last week, William's school talked about fire safety.  Then, the kids got to explore a fire truck and learned how to stop, drop and roll from the firemen.

Our happy William in the fire truck.

 Since Alex had his second long day of school last week (he has two long days of school per week, and three short days), I took William on a date to Chipotle for lunch.

Our happy guy loved his chicken and cheese quesadilla,
black beans, and brown rice.
After that, we went shopping and he enjoyed picking out his own clothes.

 Our silly William, wiggling his bottom on the way back home from school.

While both boys were at school, I decided to take a
trip to Needham and enjoyed a cappuccino, cinnamon bun,
and had fun playing around with my new iPad mini that Jojo
got me for my birthday.  Thanks so much, love!

 My in-laws Linda and Elias arrived Friday evening.  They planned on coming a few days early (before baby girl's due date) just in case she decided to make her grand entrance before October 13th.
Since Joseph was home with us over the weekend as well, I decided to try out a new recipe for breakfast one morning.  I found an easy recipe for slow cooker apple cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal.  It was SUPER easy to make and was ready first thing in the morning.  What a wonderful way to wake up with breakfast that was already ready!

Ingredients:

• 2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into little chunks
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup, uncooked steel-cut oats
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp butter (although I'm not quite sure it really needed it)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed (I used ground chia seed)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• *Optional toppings for the morning:  Maple syrup, chopped pecans or almonds, and cinnamon
  
  *I doubled this recipe because I had 6 people to cook for and it turned out beautifully.

First:  Coat the inside of the slow cooker with non-stick spray. 
(If you skip this step, you will need a hammer and chisel to scrape the
oatmeal off the sides.)

Then, pour all of the ingredients into the crock pot (except for the optional toppings).

Stir all of the ingredients together and put the top on your slow cooker.

Allow the oatmeal to cook for 7 hours on LOW.

Mmmmm!  This is what greeted us in the morning!  Spoon yourself
some of this delicious, soul-warming, fall-inspired oatmeal into a bowl
and top it with a little maple syrup, some chopped pecans, and a little
sprinkle of cinnamon.
It is SO delicious, easy to make, good for you, and keeps you full until lunch.

On October 11, I celebrated my birthday by waking up early to the sound of William saying that he needed to go potty.  So, after the bathroom session, Mr. William and I hung out in the basement while everybody else was sleeping.  We enjoyed some snuggle time together.

Me and Weewum :-)

That morning, Joseph and his parents watched the boys while I indulged
in a mani pedi.  Once I got back home, we enjoyed lunch together and I was
serenaded by everyone for my birthday.

 Time to blow out the candles!

After a revitalizing nap in the late afternoon, I began to get ready and my miniature glam squad helped me to get ready for a surprise dinner out with the hubby.

William loves to brush my hair.  He's actually quite
particular about how he brushes and does a good job!

39 weeks and 5 days pregnant!  Ready to enjoy
my birthday dinner with Joseph.

Me and Joseph in the elevator to go to L'Espalier
for dinner.  We love this restaurant.  Thanks for the surprise, darling.

Woo hoo!!  This pregnant lady enjoyed TWO desserts
after indulging in the chef's tasting journey.

Make a wish!

Fun stuff!!!  Our waiter brought a small table to our
table and proceeded to pour some liquid nitrogen
into a small bowl.  Then, he took a chamomile foam and
rolled it in the liquid nitrogen, then scooped up the frozen
foam and told us to eat it quickly.
Here I am, doing my best impression of a dragon and
puffing smoke.  It was tasty and super fun to eat!

Then, as another added treat, they gave us buttered popcorn
and chocolate popcorn macaroons that were on a bed
of the cutest, tiniest popcorn kernels I had ever seen.

A wonderful week and a lovely way to spend my birthday!  Now to wait for baby girl's arrival and our family will be complete.
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki