Meal Planning Monday (on Tuesday cause it is like Monday)

Week of Monday May 30th

Monday: We had Root Beer Floats for dinner...yep we did!

Tuesday: Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Wednesday: Brats and Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

Thursday: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Recipe (from Busy Woman's Slowcooker Cookbook)
4-6 Chicken Breats
1 onion sliced
1 (16 oz) bottle of BBQ sauce

Place chicken in slow cooker. Top with onions. Pour BBQ sauce on top. Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Shred and enjoy.

We have never tried this...but it has to be good right???

Friday: Tacos

I am really going to try hard to continue to meal plan during the Summer. I do enjoy the laid back, fly by the seat of your pants attitude summer allows, I just don't like the not knowing what is for dinner feeling. So I am going to try to meal plan....maybe we end up eating those meals and maybe we have something different. No biggie!

First Day of Summer Break!

We had a pretty quiet first day of Summer. This morning we ran some very important errands...got our pool passes, picked up some last minute supplies for our weekend project, and toilet paper, sunscreen etc. at Target. Now we the necessities ready for Summer! This afternoon the girls "rested" for an hour, played school, did a craft project, and were Cyclone Superheros where they fought the evil hawkeyes (I had nothing to do with this....they came up with it all on their own!! I swear!).

Ok to the good stuff......



Drum Roll Please!

Introducing SECOND GRADER Ellie Jo!!! WooooHoooo!

And 4 year daycare going ALL STAR Cece Kate!! Hooray!

It is going to be a good Summer!

last day of school!

Today is our Last Day of School! We are very excited to get our Summer started!

Tim got up early today and made us Blueberry Pancakes (from scratch..yep he is amazing like that!!!).

Ellie was a fan...she had 4 pancakes!

Someone (Cece) isn't exactly a morning person....she came around (like always) and plowed down 2 pancakers!




 Off she goes to her last day of First Grade (tear!) Yep I am that dorky parent :)

Next time you see her she will be a SECOND GRADER!! Yikes!!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

a little chin music......

We started Summer off with a bang...

 Literally!

 On our usual Monday grocery trip Ellie slipped and split her chin open on the meat counter glass. She was leaning over the glass and went to stand up and just fell forward. I thought maybe she knocked her very loose front tooth out....nope! I have mentioned before how much Ellie loves needles, so our visit to urgent care was touch and go to say the least! Once she calmed down and relaxed she did wonderfully.  She started off the Summer with 3 stitches  in her chin.

 It doesn't hurt too bad...she could still have a dance party on the front walk!

is it summer yet?!?!?!

Meal Planning Monday

Ok....so I have a few more days of school left (3 to be exact but who's counting...right?) but I am definitely thinking Summer! My cooking goal for the Summer is this...yummy home cooked meals that do not heat up my kitchen! I plan to do this through grilling, crock-potting and simply by eating foods that do not need heated! Last night while the girls played outside I scoured my slowcooker cookbooks for some new recipes. I made a list of recipes I would like to try...plus made a list of other recipes that do not make my kitchen hot...and I think I am well on my way to meeting my goal!

Alright, on to the meal plan!

Monday: Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Tuesday: Southwest Egg Rolls
If you haven't tried these...you have to! So yummy! I am making extra to freeze for quick meals later this summer!

Wednesday: Meat Lovers Pizza Pasta
This is one of the new slow cooker recipes I found.

Thursday: Sub Sandwich

Friday: Brats, Green Beans and Fruit

Saturday: Cheeseburgers and Roasted Potatoes

it's friday...time for some rambling by me

1. Today was the last Friday of the school year...yep the LAST one! We still have 4 days next week, but we are so close to Summer! I am 99% excited about the year being over...there is 1% of sadness mixed in. Because while I am ready for my students to move on to the next grade, I am not ready for Ellie to! She is going to be in 2nd grade! Is that even possible? In the car the other night, I said I am not old enough to have a second grader and she responded you are almost 30 mom!! Like 30 is old! She is just growing up so darn fast!

2. In Health we finish up the school year with "the" unit. And today we started showing "the" video...nothing better than the Miracle of Life! Students who always have something to say are suddenly quiet. Students who are never interested are suddenly attentive. I like it and find it funny. In my class I expect respect and maturity, but giggling is allowed. It really isn't that bad at all...for them and me. I just hope my teaching leads to healthy choices....

3. The last few weeks we have been soooooo busy in the yard. We have planted and planted and planted some more. Pictures of  all our planting to follow. And soon something will be built in our yard! Girls are excited!

4. My yoga masters are so into yoga right now. They might be the cutest yoga girls ever!

5. We have great news!!!! My sister, Emily, got a new teaching job......20 minutes from my house!! Lots better than the current 4 hours! We are SO EXCITED! Now prayers for Noah's job hunt!

6. In a couple weeks I will be running the Dam to Dam 20k run. Becca and I have been up and running at 4:45 am since February....(well really since last fall...we never really stopped..we just walked instead of running during the winter). I am feeling good and am ready for the race! Should be a great time...Emily is running with us again along with my sister-in-law Tina, cousin Jill and cousin Josh.

7. Drum roll please....I started pinning on Pinterest. It is so addicting! I love being able to organize all my likes.

8. Plans for this weekend include naps, sewing, 7 year old birthday party planning, and just relaxing...perfect plans for a rainy weekend!

9. The current debate is which type of ponytail holder is best.....

a soft one or a hard one?

Ellie and Cece lean towards soft....something about it not hurting their hair. Mommy leans towards hard...because they actually hold the hair in a ponytail. This might be a pick your battles moment for me:)

,

so a couple of my favorite bloggers {Heidi} and {Lisa} took this quiz....so I just had to too....

Here are my results....

You Are a Comma


You are open minded and extremely optimistic.
You enjoy almost all facets of life. You can find the good in almost anything.


You keep yourself busy with tons of friends, activities, and interests.
You find it hard to turn down an opportunity, even if you are pressed for time.


Your friends find you fascinating, charming, and easy to talk to.
(But with so many competing interests, you friends do feel like you hardly have time for them.)


You excel in: Inspiring people


You get along best with: The Question Mark

now you know so much more about me:)

Meal Planning Monday

Despite the rainy, cold weather....we had a great weekend. We had a great get together with friends on Friday night. Ellie and I ran the Get Up and Get Fit 1 mile Fun Run on Saturday morning, she was quite the trooper despite the not so pleasant weather. Then we all took off for my parents house. We stopped at the Nursery in my hometown to buy trees...very excited!! Then the girls and I helped make mints for Joy's graduation party. We spent the afternoon hanging out with my parents. My grandparents came over for dinner. On Sunday Em and I ran to the outlet mall for a little shopping. Then we all had a wonderful time at Joy's graduation party! Lots going on, but lots of fun!

Ok...back to the meal plan!

Week of Monday May 16th

Monday: Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches and Salad

Tuesday: Cajun Chicken Pasta
*carryover from last week

Wednesday: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Thursday: Texas Lasagna

Friday: Cheeseburgers and Roasted Potatoes

Saturday: Pizza

Meal Planning Monday

on a Tuesday.....whoops!

Monday: We had Vegetable Lo Mein
*carryover from last week
Tuesday: Taco Pizza
*carryover from last week
Wednesday: Dinner at Church

Thursday: Cajun Chicken Pasta

Friday: We are having a cookout with some friends...we are taking Hot Dogs and Jello Jigglers. The girls are super duper pumped!

Saturday:??

Sunday: My cousin Joy's Graduation Party...should be lots of family, good food, and excellent cake!

randomness on a friday

1. The sunshine we have been having lately makes me VERY happy! It makes me feel good, we have longed some hours outside playing, we have been able to work in the yard, and most importantly my dad and randy have been able to get some work done in the fields! That is always great news!

2. What felt like a very loonnnng Friday at Middle School had a pretty crappy (literally!) ending. We step into our office after school excited to break out for the weekend into the sunshine and what do Becca and I find? Yep! Sewage! The sewer had backed up into our office! A very crappy way to end a Friday!

3. I was doing my usual blog-surfing and saw this recipe. Caramel Fudge S'more Nachos! This is something we just have to try! Like tomorrow!

4. Tim has been in Dallas since Wednesday, he should be home soon (like within the hour!), and we are ready for him to be back! We get along well when he is away (we have practice!), but we much prefer he be home! The girls and I do have a pretty good routine when Daddy is gone. Things do change a little while he is away....we eat simpler meals like smoothies, cereal, cheese quesadillas.. We really try to work as a team. And the biggest change, the girls get to sleep with me. I think this works well for everyone. They think it is way cool to watch cartoons in bed at bedtime. And I like having them close by because well I am a bit of a scaredy cat.

5. A few weeks ago my friend Missy blogged about saying yes more often to her children. I liked the idea. The next Sunday in our small group at Church, which is doing a parenting study, the lesson talked about putting on a yes face. It was one of those "ok God I really hear you on this one!" moments. I was definitely feeling the nudge to say yes more. The idea is that we need to say yes more to our children because the world will tell them no plenty. Really they actually just need to hear no less...this doesn't mean every time they ask for something it needs to be an automatic yes....but maybe instead of no to something like asking if they can where a swimsuit outside in 40 degree weather you respond with a "do you think that is a good idea?" Or "I like your thinking, but isn't it kinda cold for that?" Even a 3 year old knows that answer (though they may not admit it!). Over the last few weeks both Tim and I have put a conscious effort into less "nos" and more "yeses". I have came to these conclusions....as a parent it just feels good to say yes AND I don't feel like they are taking over and just doing whatever they want. I still have control, they just have a voice. Everyone wants to have their voice be heard...even little ones. As a result there have been fewer fits--maybe its the yeses and maybe its just coincidence:) I like simple changes that make a big difference. So, we are definitely going to keep our yes faces on!

6. Since we moved into our home almost two years ago (can you believe it two years!) we have been debating where to plant trees. We have very odd shaped lot. Well we finally have a plan and know what we want! We are so excited to get our yard all put together. In the next few weeks we will be planting a few new bushes and trees and putting in a garden. I am so excited. I am going to follow along with the KinderGARDEN 2011 series over at Inadvertent Farmer. Should be a fun Summer!!

7. My almost 7 year old is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO into High School Musical right now. It is just something about the singing and the dancing. She loves it. She has even started to choreograph her own musical numbers! So sorry to the rest of the residents of our community who might want to check out High School Musical 2 and 3 from the library...we have had them for 3 weeks. She just keeps renewing them and is very worried about having to take them back next week!

friday favorite: Thomas Panties

When Ellie was two and we were beginning the whole potty training process, I took her to the store to pick out some new panties. With all kinds of choices she picked Thomas Undies. Boys underwear! I wasn't sure what to do...so I did what anyone would do...I called my mom. My mom advised me that it was no big deal and that I should just get the Thomas Undies. So I did. Ellie loved her Thomas Panties as we call them. When they got too small they were packed away.

About a year ago it was Cece's turn to start the potty training process, so we pulled out the panties. I bet you can guess which pair Cece was instantly drawn to...yep the Thomas panties. She wears them ALL the time! She loves her Thomas panties. Soon they will become to small and will be packed away. But right now she wears them with jeans, dresses, shorts, skirts, and even tutus!

Cece told me she was dressed "fancy" and wanted me to take her picture! Isn't she lovely!?!?!?!

good stuff

the past few days have included lots of good stuff like.......

sunny afternoons playing at the park

senior prom

My cousin Joy had her senior prom this past weekend...here she is all gussied up with her mom (my aunt Cathy) and her sisters Jenny and Jill.

 I have to explain this picture....when we all got to Grandma's house on Saturday she said we could go down into the basement and do whatever we wanted to! So we did! You have to know that Grandma's basement is straight out of the 70s. We thought it would be a great idea to have Joy lay on the shag carpet and have Jill feed her some fake grapes. We can be pretty silly.

 Cece's desire to do a handstand was a little nerve wrecking considering all the breakables pretties Grandmas has.

 Grandma, cousin Joy and second cousin Taylor. Aren't they all beautiful!?!?

Grandmas stayed up all night to watch the Royal Wedding. She said the time just went by so fast! Isn't that the cutest thing! It made my heart happy...I hope I am doing silly stuff like that when I am her age!

new baby calves

 Becca and Josh petting the baby calf.

 Cece was so excited to go see the baby calves, but when the moment came she wanted nothing to do with them. If you ask her about it now it was amazing! Silly girl!

 moo

playing outside

Running in the feed bunk with cousin Jenny. I think they were doing a tiger race....

digging in the dirt

good news
Becca getting transferred to Prairie Ridge so we can teach together...forever!!

the whole Bin Laden thing...it feels really strange to be happy about someone dying...I just hope the world is a safer place and I am proud of our soldiers--it has to feel really good to accomplish that goal.

Casey's Breakfast pizza
sorry no picture...it just is amazing!


and one bad thing...

sick ellie

She said she had the worst stomach ache ever and she wasn't lying! When we got to Grandma's house she puked out the car door into the street! 24 hours later she was as good as new! No fun being sick on a nice weekend at the farm.

Hope your days have been filled with plenty of good stuff!

Meal Planning Monday

Week of Monday May 2nd

Monday: Brats and Roasted Potatoes

Tuesday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches and Salad

Wednesday: Taco Pizza

Thursday: Quesadillas and Layered Taco Dip
*I use a recipe similar to this....my secret I add a layer of taco sauce on top of the sour cream!

Friday: Vegetable Lo Mein

Saturday: Breakfast-Breakfast Burritos
*Ellie’s request!