Weekly Menu

Monday: left-overs (make up Mediterranean Chopped Salad for my lunches the next couple of days)
Tuesday: Lighter Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Homemade Sandwich Rolls, Slow Cooker Pinto Beans with Bacon
Wednesday: L & T to make Roasted Vegetable Pasta from the Kids' Fun & Healthy Cookbook
Thursday: Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-dried Tomatoes & corn
Friday: L & T to make Tuna Quesadillas and Carrot Salad from the Kids' Fun & Healthy Cookbook
Saturday: Irish Beef Hand Pies and Buttery Broccoli with Parsley
Sunday: left-overs

Birthday Cupcakes for Miss Dana

Lauren made some cupcakes from her "My First Cookbook" by Paula Deen for Miss Dana's birthday.

Lauren refuses to bake from a boxed mix so both the cake and frosting were made from scratch.

isn't her hair cute?

"seriously Mommy, enough pictures!"

clean-up is very important

the final product

quality controlTyler gives one a try to further ensure yumminess

sometimes Daddy can be a bit OCD regarding clean-up

(notice her "new" favorite red shoes, apparently they go with everything)
Tyler being oh so cute...

Tyler being a boy...

Matt made dinner last night:

Tilapia quesadillas, spicy slaw, black beans and Spanish rice

(I'm one lucky gal!)

Preview of this weekend's project

any guesses?

I had a thought today...Wow!

Seen on the road on our way home from dropping Lauren off at school:

1. a little Honda Accord with the vanity plate “savngas.”
I’m sure the driver glared at me as I gunned it passed him in my Gas-Guzzling, Earth's-Resource-Destroying SUV. Maybe I’ll get a vanity plate that says “wastngas.”

2. Behind the little Honda was a truck with Face of Jesus decals on his side windows. On his back window however, were two well-endowed "sitting ladies". These ladies had wings and halos so I guess that made them acceptable. I’m not sure what I think about that. At first I rolled my eyes but then it got me thinking. (maybe that was his purpose?) His choice of decals are representative of many people and their relationship with God. We go to church every Sunday but we still fall short of the perfect walk with God. And he's not afraid to acknowledge that with some visual juxtaposition.

Ok, I'm done thinking for the day.

the kids can just eat my blog

Well, that title doesn't sound very positive so let me explain. Tonight I'm going out to dinner with Dana and Connie to celebrate Dana turning Way Way Way older than me. I may be the only one celebrating that but regardless, us ladies are going out to dinner. Therefore, I'm not cooking. So instead of cooking I'll take this time to listen to Dr. Laura and Blog.
(get it? the kids can just eat my blog...ha ha, lol...no, not funny?...oh well.)
(however, if you check my weekly menu left-overs were on the agenda anyway.)
(third tacky parentheses: Sorry for bailing, Community Group...I'll be there next week!)

The past few days I've been battling some flu bug that consisted of body aches and a yucky feeling. No other side effects so I hate to really complain. Today I'm feeling better but the flu bug has turned into the common cold. Ick! I don't really mind until at night. I hate trying to sleep with a stuffed up nose.

So enough about me let's talk about the kids (that's what y'all really want to read about anyway.)

Tuesday we had our parent/teacher conference for Lauren. She is still doing superb in all areas of academia. The word “genius” may have been mentioned. (more than likely, however, that just came from my imagination…but the truth is in the made-up details right?!) As for her social development she is doing much! much! better than the beginning of the year but she still struggles a bit. Her teachers are working with her to acknowledge that it is OK to not be able to do everything and that crying is not an appropriate way to react to many situations. i.e. someone taking her play-dough, not being able to zip up her jacket, not being able to write a "5" correctly etc. etc. Now where does she get her perfectionism and sensitive/shy personality? Oh wait...I know the answer...from Both Of Her Parents!! Wow, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree but Matt and I turned out perfect. So no worries. [wink]

Yesterday Dana had a family emergency and asked me to see Shep and Emma off of the school bus and keep them (yes, here in the South we say "keep" instead of "watch.") until their Grammy could take them off my hands. Lauren and Tyler were thrilled to play with their friends Shep and Emma.

I'd like to note that Lauren's PE Coach at school sent a letter home requesting that we encourage our kids to play outside rather than watch TV and play on the computer. With that in mind, this is what Emma and Lauren opted to do during the first part of their impromptu playdate.

My excuse right now is the weather. Come spring, my goal is to get outside everyday.

However, Shep got some arm exercises in by throwing darts in the basement. Honestly, I told him to keep it quiet because I didn't want the girls to get any ideas about playing with sharp darts near my nearly hole-less walls.

Dana, bless her heart, left a bag of Emma's outgrown clothes at my door. Lauren and I both love to get new (yet previously loved) clothes. Below is Lauren loving some "new" PJs.

This morning Lauren saw so many "new" outfit ideas in her drawers and closet that she changed her school outfit 3 different times. She finally decided on a "new" pair of light blue-ish green corduroy pants, with a darker blue Roswell, New Mexico alien-clad t-shirt, paired with baby blue socks dotted with yellow ducks; and to add some pizzazz she finished it with a "new" bright-red pair of Mary-Jane Keds. (I really wish I'd taken a picture.) I assured her she looked beautiful. Punky Brewster-ish and Beautiful.

Dinner was pretty simple (yet tasty) last night, which was good since I still wasn't feeling quite up to par. We had Broccoli and Cheddar Soup. Lauren cleaned her bowl and even Tyler ate a couple bites. I wasn't sure if my freezer Biskits would be enough so I found a recipe for some Cheese Crispies. I re-sized the recipe to serve 5 and also used pepperjack instead of cheddar cheese since that is what I had. I thought these were great. The kids, not so much.

I've been stressing about planning the kids' birthdays, both of which are in March. We really don't have the money to spend on a big huge birthday extravaganza so I came up with...no! scratch that!...Google Search suggested I have a "Faux Slumber Party" for Lauren. Kids come in their PJs, bring a pillow and sleeping bag and we do all the fun birthday/slumber party stuff but the kids still get to go home at night. (which is age appropriate for 4 and 5 year-olds don'tchathink?) So last night I/we (Matt helped with the glue-ing and facial features) made up the birthday party invites.

(it's a Sleeping Bag...but you could tell right?!)

here's the inside...

with my address & phone number blanked out

I can't have all of the internet stalkers just showing up un-invited to the party. [wink]

(not important: but I feel I must apologize for the redundancy error on the invitation.
I said "RSVP Please"

and am so embarrassed for it. Sorry.)

But anyway... Cute, eh? I'd like to take credit but I followed it word for word from the MomReady website. For some reason I can't link to the exact page...it says the site is under maintenance. If you want...you can just pretend that I'm creative enough to come up with the idea myself. =)

To close, I'll give you a Tyler Potty Training Update: Progress 0% (well maybe .05%...you decide)

Tyler will quietly walk up to me and whisper, "Mommy, change my diaper."

Me: "Ok" (I change his diaper)

Tyler, 15 min. later: "Mommy, change my diaper."

Me: "Did you go tee tee or poo poo?"

Tyler: "just tee tee"

Me: "Let's just wait until you go poo poo. If you need to go tee tee you should go on the big boy potty"

Tyler (crashing face down on the floor and wailing:) "Nooooooo, change my diaper, change my diaper"

Me: "Ok" (I change his diaper)

Tyler, 15 min. later: "Mommy, change my diaper."

Me: "Did you go tee tee or poo poo?"
Tyler: "just tee tee"
Me: "Let's wait to until you go poo poo. If you need to go tee tee you should go on the big boy potty"

Tyler (crashing face down on the floor and wailing:) "Nooooooo, change my diaper, change my diaper"

Me (inside my head): Aaaaggghhhhhh!

Moral of the story: At least he is recognizing AFTER he goes tee tee (potty for all you West Coasters.) that he's uncomfortable and wants to be dry. Hmmmm.

Weekly Menu

Monday: left-overs
Tuesday: Chicken Marsala with Roasted Potatoes

Wednesday: Broccoli and Cheddar Soup & freezer biskits

Thursday: left-overs (Christine to go out to celebrate Dana's birthday.)

Friday: Grouper Quesadillas (Matt is making these and in true Matt style there Is No Recipe. ...He's That Good!)

Saturday: Filet Mignon, Risotto with Caramelized Onions & Spinach, Grilled Ciabatta Bread Salad

Sunday: Lasagna Rolls and Garlic Italian Bread and Italian Salad.

The Chicken Marsala with Roasted Potatoes was super delicious today. I really loved the thick Marsala sauce that accompanied the chicken. Holy Yum.

mostly food and a little fun

Look at this beautiful plant my Secret Mom left for me. She is awesome and makes me want to apologize (once again) to my own Secret Mom who does not recieve gifts as beautiful as these.

This past week I made a lot of meals from my latest Everyday Food Magazine. Most of these weren't published on the internet and I didn't take the time to write out the actual recipes. They All Were Good though so if you look back to last week's menu and want to get a recipe, please just let me know.

On Sunday morning Matt made his Matt-Fabulous Perfect Pancakes. Just look at these beauties. The kids devoured them and then wanted more.

For dinner Sunday night we had Smokey Beef Tacos, Cumin Rice and Pineapple Salad. These were so good and we've been munching on the left-overs for the past couple of days. Let me know if you want any of the recipes...they were SO good.

Tonight we hosted a big "stuffed animal" slumber party. Lauren and Tyler provided the blankets for all their friends.

I hope y'all have a restful night of sleep just like our babies/animals in the living room.

Weekend Activities

Tyler is ready to go!

On Friday I hosted our impromptu play-date with Abigail and Isabella. Unbeknowst to them I also invited my neighbor Miss Maria and her 3-yr-old daughter Lea (pronounced LAY-a) to attend too. Unfortunately, Miss Claudine and Isabella weren't able to come but we managed to have a good time regardless. Please check out Claudine's latest post to get more information about a previous play-date of ours. And now back to the play-date: Our kids have all reached the age where they can play and play and play. So us parents got to talk and talk and talk, with minimal checking in going on. It was a lot of fun.

Abigail's Mom is a 911 operator and her husband is a policeman so of course she is a wealth of information regarding local news and happenings. I actually broke out a pen and took notes on some of the great suggestions she had. (i.e. Blue Ridge is the place to camp in Georgia, and City Cafe is a great place to eat in Fayetteville. What's not mentioned are the hilarious stories we hear from her job as a 911 operator. However, I do not feel it's my place to repeat any of those stories. [grin])

Saturday was Kylie's birthday party. (Kylie is a friend from Lauren's school.

She is in the pink pants, while Lauren is in the tan, hand-print-turkey-Thanksgiving-T-shirt she made at school...she is all about picking out her own outfits these days...and I LOVE IT.)

The kids are ready to Jump To It!

Tyler got to play too although...

it was during his nap time so he felt "anti-social" at times


Lauren, on the other hand, had a blast playing with her friends. Even better was the cake and presents in the party room.
Unfortunately there was cake and other Mommy's to talk to so Lauren's Mommy didn't get around to taking any more pictures.

That night we were invited to dinner at Matt and Kelli's house. Kelli is Mr. Mike's sister so Tera and Tyler were there as well. Mike and Kelli have 3 kids, Hayli, Cole, and Aaron. Lauren and Tyler LoVe to play with Cole and Aaron who are about their age.

Here they are watching some Igor movie. (they are EnThRaLlEd, but I have yet to see the movie and am skeptical.)

(l-r: Tyler, Cole, Lauren, Tera and baby Aaron is down below looking at the camera.)

After the kids lost their interest in the movie they headed up-stairs from the basement to hang out with us adults.

Daddy and Tyler enjoy a sucker.

Kelli and Cole enjoy some one-on-one time
Lauren, Tera and Tyler act goofy with suckers.
Lauren and Tyler play with baby Aaron under the bar stools. It was a fun night for all.

Sunday was a day to relax and get everything ready for the week to come. I made up the weekly menu (soon to be mentioned in a post) and Matt was kind enough to go grocery shopping for me since I was starting to feel a bit under the weather. More to come as soon as I can get it posted.....

Remember Fun Dip?

Remember Fun Dip? I used to walk myself the 6 blocks to the local Dairy Mart to spend my 30 cent allowance on the stuff. Well Lauren got a couple packs for Valentine's day and she was nice enough to share one with Tyler. That stuff is the best.
Instead of one of us hosting playgroup this week we (us Mom's Club Playgroup) all decided to take a trip to Linda's Playhouse. This was a lot of fun despite the fact that it is still fairly new and seemed a little scattered. There is a ton of potential for learning and experiencing. I just think it needs some finishing touches. Here are the kids peeking through the puppet show window.

and here's Tyler making a phone call on a very vintage phone.

They even had a dress up area with a full on stage and curtain.

"ta-da"

"ta-da"

Last night our weather radio started going off with alarm after alarm. Apparently the "severe weather" season is already among us. A few tornados ripped through Georgia last night but thankfully they opted to avoid our little neck of the woods. Here is a view of our woods when the weather started to turn ugly. (from our back deck) Ominous, no?

While the storm was going on and the house was being pelted with golf ball sized hail we were all hunkered down in the basement. Lauren and Tyler were cooped up in the basement bedroom watching some Thomas movies.

We survived the storm since it decided to send the brunt of it's force either just North of us or just South of us.

This morning Lauren had her dentist appointment. She did WONDERFUL. Everyone complimented her on how well she did. Not only did she let them completely clean her teeth but she followed directions and let them take X-Rays of her teeth. I'm so proud of her. (The Little Mermaid being played on the ceiling TV did wonders too.)

Tyler took this opportunity to just observe the procedure since I scheduled his first dentist appointment for the end of March. At this point I don't think Tyler will do very well. But time will tell.