One year ago today, our little boy was born and brought so much joy into our lives. Here he is getting his first bath. 
Tonight we had some icecream cake to celebrate the occassion. He was so excited when he saw the candle on the cake and he tried to grab it.
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I entered my little cutie pie who turns 1 tomorrow in the Parents Magazine Cover Contest and would love your votes. His photo is in the running to become one of the weekly Reader's Choice finalists! You can vote daily until 7/1/2012.
Please use one of my links to cast your vote. Who could resist this smile?  This is one our old favorites. I originally put this recipe on my "What's for Dinner?" page, but it is at the very bottom of the page and it doesn't have a link so it may have never been a blog post. I started Home Ec @ Home two years ago this month, but I didn't even know what a blog was at the time. A couple of months later, I started my blog, The Home Economist. I've come a long way since then and thought I would share this recipe again since we love it so much. This recipe is sweet because of the brown sugar and is great with ground beef or deer. My boys eat it by the bowl full - it's good even without a bun. Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef 1 med. onion chopped 1 can chicken gumbo soup (Light chicken gumbo soup is good too.) 1/2 cup ketchup ¼ cup brown sugar 1 Tablespoon vinegar 2 tsp. mustard 1/2 tsp. salt Brown ground meat and onion. Drain juice and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns.  My 2 1/2 year old will be in preschool 2 mornings a week in the fall. He is supposed to be "mostly potty trained" when he goes. Knowing how long it has taken to potty train my oldest, I am not expecting anything to happen overnight. But I am trying whatever I can to encourage him to use the potty.
He does not want to sit and try, but will sit if listening to a story. I found an old basket upstairs and filled it with a few favorite books and left it in the bathroom near his potty. Both boys have actually been enjoying the basket of books and it is helping my toddler to sit longer. We had some success today so it has been a big day! 
A few weeks ago, we went on a once-in-a-lifetime European vacation with extended family. It was an amazing 12 day adventure through Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. Since we were taking our four year old and two year old, I knew I needed a diaper bag that could hold a lot of stuff and be both comfortable and rugged. The award winning Okkatots Traveling "Baby Depot" Bag was exactly what I needed. If you are traveling this summer with little ones in tow, this bag is a must.
This bag has many special features. My favorites are:
There are many more wonderful features. See more at Okkatots. 
The only con I experienced with this bag was that sometimes it seemed a little big. I noticed this in some very tiny European elevators (I think some of them were 2' X 3'), but most of the time this was not an issue.
I wore this backpack everywhere and loved it. Above left we are at the Pantheon in Rome. This was my favorite building in Rome because it is still beautiful today and it was completed around 126 AD. The boys loved the fountains all over Italy. They ran to every fountain they saw.
Above right we were in the Swiss Alps. We were waiting for it to clear and it never did. It was still amazing. Our boys and my nephew thought it was awesome anyway.
Here is what you have been waiting for...you can win one of these amazingly functional Okkatots Traveling "Baby Depot" Bags in your choice of color. It comes in black, grey, and red. Use the rafflecopter form to enter.
Disclosure: I received a traveling "baby depot" bag for review. I was not compensated for writing this post. All opinions are honest and are my own.
Some things you may like for summer adventures:
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PA Tourism for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine. I love roadtrips. Who doesn't? What I don't like is trying to figure out where we should stay, eat, and the best things to do when we are there. There is so much information online, it can be overwhelming. I just discovered the Roadtrip-a-Matic at visitPA.com. You have to check it out at pa-roadtrips. There is a roadtrip for everyone. Choose from dozens of roadtrips including selections from Spree - the Shoppers Roadtrip, Kidsylvania, and Taste Buds on Tour. If I plan a trip to PA with the kiddos in tow, I will be checking out all the sites to see on the Kidsylvania tours. Traveling with kids is fun, but also a challenge. VisitPA.com has done all of the work for you. They have planned three different kid friendly roadtrips that include fun things to do like visiting the Philidelphia Zoo and the Fairmount Water Works. They have also selected restaurants and hotels with kids in mind. As much fun as it would be to travel with the kids, I would really love to take a trip with just my husband. I would pick one of the Keystone Country tours, "From chow-chow to chardonnay". This trip takes you to Lancaster County and the new Turkey Hill Experience. Turkey Hill chocolate icecream is one of my favorite icecreams I have ever tried. This roadtrip includes a couple of stops at wineries and other agritourism sites.  I don't know why, but I have never thought of creating a maze on the sidewalk for my boys. (Maybe I'm lacking a creative gene.) My super creative husband made some intricate mazes with sidewalk chalk. This was a great activity. Our 4 year old loved the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment when he solved each maze.  The younger boys didn't get into solving the mazes, but they loved being outside.   
Today is my 36th birthday. My sweet sister Rebecca baked me a cake last weekend and gave me this cute apron. She had it embroidered with my website name, Home Ec @ Home. One of these days, I will film some vlogs (video blogs) and this apron will be perfect. Thanks Rebecca!
 My sister, Rebecca, shared this recipe with me when I was visiting with her a few weeks ago. I love how simple and delicious it is. You will need a good quality beef brisket without added seasonings. My sister buys Kosher Brisket at Trader Joe's, but it is pretty pricey at around $8.00 lb. I ordered several briskets from the University Meat Lab for $2.69 lb. Ingredients: 2-3 lb. beef brisket Garlic cloves, peeled Sliced mushrooms Sliced onion Salt and pepper 1. Put a layer of mushrooms and onion in the bottom of your crock pot or just mushrooms if you don't like onions. 
2. Cut slits in the brisket and push garlic cloves into the meat. 
3. Place meat in the crock pot and cover with more sliced mushrooms and onions. Salt and pepper for extra flavor. (Do not add water to the crock pot!) 
4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve alone or over a thick slice of bread au jus. 
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Welcome to Home Ec @ HomeHi, I'm Faith, a former Family and Consumer Science teacher turned work at home Mom blogger. I love God, my family, and food. You can usually find me in the kitchen preparing family friendly, homemade recipes and taking lots of pictures.  Fan Favorites
 Balsamic Roasted Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon
 Dehydrating Pears and Apples in the Instant Pot Duo Crisp
Low Carb Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Casserole
 
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