Bonus fall picture: Have I mentioned Iowa State beat Iowa AGAIN this year? Just thought I would tell you, in case you didn't already know. GO STATE!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Pumpkin Patch 2012
We made a bit earlier (and warmer) trip to the pumpkin patch this year. We're hoping to do it again sometime when it's a little cooler, it's more festive when it's not so hot. ANNNNDDD...we had a bonus visitor come with us this year.... DADDY!
Bonus fall picture: Have I mentioned Iowa State beat Iowa AGAIN this year? Just thought I would tell you, in case you didn't already know. GO STATE!
Bonus fall picture: Have I mentioned Iowa State beat Iowa AGAIN this year? Just thought I would tell you, in case you didn't already know. GO STATE!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
First Day of Preschool
Our first day got off to a rocky start. I had planned to get up early, exercise and be ready before the kids got up and be prepared to start our routine for the year, but my shoulder (I have no idea why) was killing me all night and I didn't get much sleep and I haven't hardly been able to lift my arm all day. THEN when the kids got up they were both...SICK. Not the best start to the morning.
We manage to get some good pictures of Clae.
But these were the pictures we got of Lydia. Crying....
...and running into the house because she didn't want to have her picture taken. Awesome.
However, her attitude about the actual learning part of the day turned out to be much better than Clae's. I was a very happy mommy when naptime rolled around today.
I spent the day Sunday getting all of our material ready. Ahh...I love organizing!
And this is the finished product, for now anyway, I'll be adding more as the year goes on.
Friday, August 17, 2012
A Month of Meals
I have a love hate relationship with meal planning. When I'm on top of it, I love it. When I'm not, it's my biggest frustration in life. I don't love to cook, but I don't hate it. What I really don't like is cleaning up the mess after it's all done!
When Kirby and I were first married I went grocery shopping ONCE A MONTH and got ALL of my groceries for the month. (at that time I was still working in town, so I stopped by the store a couple more times in the month to get fresh produce and milk) It worked out great and I was pretty consistent with it. Then we went to Branson for a year, then I got pregnant, then we had kids, then I had a home daycare and it all just kept going downhill until I was a stressed out mess at the end of every grocery shopping trip. I usually had no plan, no list and I ended up spending WAY too much money and came home with more sugar and junk than actual food!
I had to come up with a new plan. My first plan was to go once a week. With kids in the cart, I didn't have room for tons of groceries, so I thought the once a week thing might work out because I wouldn't need to get a lot each time I went. I thought this plan was working....but it was not. I would end up splurging on things we did not need and that were not good for us and that cost way too much. Our grocery bill kept creeping up until I was spending over $150 a week on groceries for a family of four. YIKES!
Moving on to plan B. Back to making one trip a month. On Monday while the kids were napping I did an inventory of what we already had on hand and then went to town "liking" and "pinning" tons of recipes on Pinterest. It was a little daunting but well worth it. It was the 13th by the time I had time to do this, so I actually only planned about 3 weeks worth of meals not the entire month. My goal is not to have to buy any more grocery items at all until September.
I went shopping that evening (without kids, Kirby and I have decided it's worth me taking time to do this one evening a month to save some money and reduce some stress) I made two trips in and out of Aldi and one trip to HyVee. I spent $240.00, that averages out to $80 a week (for three weeks). I didn't not buy ANY snacks, no cookies, fruit snacks or any of that junk that adds a ton to our grocery bill each month, not to mention turns our kids into sugar addicted brats. I bought four gallons of milk and froze three of them. We're now on a milk ration, milk is ONLY for breakfast, it's not necessary for them to drink milk all day long when water is much better for them anyway.
So....Here is the list of meals I bought ingredients for:
1. Meatloaf (I've started making mini meatloaves in a muffin tin, the kids like them much better that way)
2. Tater tot casserole
3. Lasagna
4. Spaghetti
5. Tacos - Ground beef, shredded beef and chicken - I used the chicken recipe for shredded beef too and it was really good.
6. Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice
7. Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
8. Teriyaki Chicken and Savory Chicken
9. BBQ Beef Sandwiches
10. Crockpot Chicken
11. Bagel Pizzas (for lazy nights or nights were in a hurry. I usually keep frozen pizzas on hand, but I tried not to buy anything premade)
12. Beef and Noodles
13. Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken (instead of making the fried rice I just bought a box of Rice-a-Roni fried rice)
14. Dinner in a Crockpot
15. Tilapia with Lemon Cream Sauce
16. BBQ Pork - I don't like BBQ sauce from a bottle so I make my own with Ketchup, mustard, worchestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and a little brown sugar.
Some of these are an entire meal, some require veggies and sides. I got canned and frozen veggies for when the fresh ones run out. I got some rice packets, cresent rolls, mac and cheese and some simple things to have for sides.
I did not buy any cereal or pop-tart type items for breakfast. We have toast and fruit almost every morning. If my bananas get old I'll make banana muffins. I also make little egg cups: mix eggs, ham or sausage a little milk and cheese, pour the mixture into a muffin tin, bake for 25 or 30 minutes. Put them in baggies in the freezer and microwave them for a minute in the morning. Simple and we all love them.
I spent the next two days after my shopping trip cooking meat and mixing things up to put in the freezer. I now have several meals that I can throw into the crockpot in the morning or meat ready to heat up in the evening and put on a bun or tortilla. It took me three days to prepare three weeks worth of meals, hopefully it will eliminate a little bit of stress!
One more little tip: after I cook my meat, I put it in quart freezer bags, write the date and what it is on the bag, freeze it flat and after it's frozen I store it in one of these cheap bins from wal-mart. It's like a little filing cabinet for my freezer!
I hope I covered everything. If I forgot something or left anything out leave me a comment and I'll get your question answered.
When Kirby and I were first married I went grocery shopping ONCE A MONTH and got ALL of my groceries for the month. (at that time I was still working in town, so I stopped by the store a couple more times in the month to get fresh produce and milk) It worked out great and I was pretty consistent with it. Then we went to Branson for a year, then I got pregnant, then we had kids, then I had a home daycare and it all just kept going downhill until I was a stressed out mess at the end of every grocery shopping trip. I usually had no plan, no list and I ended up spending WAY too much money and came home with more sugar and junk than actual food!
I had to come up with a new plan. My first plan was to go once a week. With kids in the cart, I didn't have room for tons of groceries, so I thought the once a week thing might work out because I wouldn't need to get a lot each time I went. I thought this plan was working....but it was not. I would end up splurging on things we did not need and that were not good for us and that cost way too much. Our grocery bill kept creeping up until I was spending over $150 a week on groceries for a family of four. YIKES!
Moving on to plan B. Back to making one trip a month. On Monday while the kids were napping I did an inventory of what we already had on hand and then went to town "liking" and "pinning" tons of recipes on Pinterest. It was a little daunting but well worth it. It was the 13th by the time I had time to do this, so I actually only planned about 3 weeks worth of meals not the entire month. My goal is not to have to buy any more grocery items at all until September.
I went shopping that evening (without kids, Kirby and I have decided it's worth me taking time to do this one evening a month to save some money and reduce some stress) I made two trips in and out of Aldi and one trip to HyVee. I spent $240.00, that averages out to $80 a week (for three weeks). I didn't not buy ANY snacks, no cookies, fruit snacks or any of that junk that adds a ton to our grocery bill each month, not to mention turns our kids into sugar addicted brats. I bought four gallons of milk and froze three of them. We're now on a milk ration, milk is ONLY for breakfast, it's not necessary for them to drink milk all day long when water is much better for them anyway.
So....Here is the list of meals I bought ingredients for:
1. Meatloaf (I've started making mini meatloaves in a muffin tin, the kids like them much better that way)
2. Tater tot casserole
3. Lasagna
4. Spaghetti
5. Tacos - Ground beef, shredded beef and chicken - I used the chicken recipe for shredded beef too and it was really good.
6. Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice
7. Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
8. Teriyaki Chicken and Savory Chicken
9. BBQ Beef Sandwiches
10. Crockpot Chicken
11. Bagel Pizzas (for lazy nights or nights were in a hurry. I usually keep frozen pizzas on hand, but I tried not to buy anything premade)
12. Beef and Noodles
13. Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken (instead of making the fried rice I just bought a box of Rice-a-Roni fried rice)
14. Dinner in a Crockpot
15. Tilapia with Lemon Cream Sauce
16. BBQ Pork - I don't like BBQ sauce from a bottle so I make my own with Ketchup, mustard, worchestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and a little brown sugar.
Some of these are an entire meal, some require veggies and sides. I got canned and frozen veggies for when the fresh ones run out. I got some rice packets, cresent rolls, mac and cheese and some simple things to have for sides.
I did not buy any cereal or pop-tart type items for breakfast. We have toast and fruit almost every morning. If my bananas get old I'll make banana muffins. I also make little egg cups: mix eggs, ham or sausage a little milk and cheese, pour the mixture into a muffin tin, bake for 25 or 30 minutes. Put them in baggies in the freezer and microwave them for a minute in the morning. Simple and we all love them.
I spent the next two days after my shopping trip cooking meat and mixing things up to put in the freezer. I now have several meals that I can throw into the crockpot in the morning or meat ready to heat up in the evening and put on a bun or tortilla. It took me three days to prepare three weeks worth of meals, hopefully it will eliminate a little bit of stress!
One more little tip: after I cook my meat, I put it in quart freezer bags, write the date and what it is on the bag, freeze it flat and after it's frozen I store it in one of these cheap bins from wal-mart. It's like a little filing cabinet for my freezer!
I hope I covered everything. If I forgot something or left anything out leave me a comment and I'll get your question answered.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Visiting Friends
The kids and I took a day trip this past week to visit one of my dearest friends from college. The kids had fun playing with their new friend Cael, playing with some different toys and swimming in Darcy's pool that was JUST the right size for them. And of course Darcy and I had a great time just talking, and talking, and talking, and talking a little more. It was so nice to catch up.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Fun on the Fourth
We celebrated the 4th with all of the cousins.
Slim, Slick, Smiley, Peachcake, Curly and Chip
The red team and the blue team.
A little swimming to beat the heat.
We can see the fireworks from my mom and dad's yard so we watched from there.
This was what Lydia did the whole time
Clae was VERY impressed with the fireworks. I've never seen this kid so excited.
This was his face the entire time.
By the time it was all over they all ended up in the back of the Suburban
My kids stayed at grandma's that night. It was a fun day and a late night. The kids (and grandma) were very tired the next day!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Date Night
Kirby took Lydia out on their first date night last night. Having regular "dates" with our kids is something we've always planned to do when they got a little bit older. Lydia has been having a bit of an attitude lately, and has been very clingy to mom, so we thought it would be good for her to have some one on one daddy time and start our date tradition.
They went to McDonalds, he took her to Wal-mart and let her walk around and not have to ride in a cart, something I never let her do, and they played in the park. They didn't get home until after 9:00, so they had some good quality time together. She was happy and talkative when they got home, despite the fact that she had not had a nap all day. Date night #1...a success!
When Clae heard Daddy and Lydia were going on a date he asked me, "can we go on a date to the restaurant?" Meaning the Village Cafe here in town. I said, "sure." So, we drove the tool truck to the Village Cafe and split a tenderloin and fries. Then we went and played at the park and came home and watched a movie. We had a nice little date of our own.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Lydia's 3rd Birthday
My baby girl turned three on Monday. THREE YEARS OLD! It seems like yesterday that she was born.
We had Kirby's family over to celebrate on Friday night. We did a zebra theme this year. I made the cupcakes and got this dress at Hobby Lobby. I added the pink bow to it using fabric tape. I didn't take in to account the fact that the ribbon would not stretch, so we couldn't get the dress on her. We ended up cutting the ribbon on the sides but still had to struggle to get the thing on her. Add that to the fact that she really didn't want to wear the dress in the first place and she was just plain mad by the time we got it on. Needless to say, a mad, crying, clinging little girl doesn't make for the best pictures. This is the only decent one we ended up with on Friday night. She did get in a better mood later, after we let her put shorts on, but I was so stressed by then that I didn't even think to get the camera out. She got a bike from Grandma and Grandpa Cass which she can ride like a champ. I didn't get a picture of it but I'll get one before the summer is over.
Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with her!!!
Monday morning on her actual birthday. I got this little tote for her from a Thirty one party I went to. It's so handy, we've used it a ton already.
We celebrated with my family on Monday evening. She's a much happier girl when we let her wear what she wants to wear.
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