Keeping it Real

I'm taping off and prepping the living room and hallway for my painting party tomorrow and the girls are "helping". If you don't want to be sent into an immediate panic attack... don't come a knocking on my door!
It's a wee bit out of control!

Menu Planner Tuesday

Starting tomorrow I'm going to be busy prepping our living room and hallway to paint and then Thursday and Friday painting. I plan on painting the hall bathroom also but I'm pretty sure that will be a project for next week during MDO. So, a lot of our meals are easy and quick to put together or are a meal in our freezer.


Monday- Left Overs

Tuesday- Thai Spicy Eggplant with Basil, jasmine rice, wilted spinach
My mother-in-law gave me some Thai Eggplant this weekend she got at the farmers market. So I searched the web and found this meal. I'm sure it's not going to be a winner for the girls so I'll have a back up for them. :)

Wednesday- Home made pizza, corn

Thursday- Italian Meatball Subs (from the freezer), green beans

Friday- Baked fish, navy beans, okra

Saturday- Grilled Steaks, baked potatoes, carrots

Sunday- Fajitas using leftover steak, spanish rice, black beans

Thirty!!

Phillip turned 30 years old yesterday! I wanted to do some special things for him to celebrate his birthday and I hope he has enjoyed the past two days!

Ashlyn was so excited about his birthday and as soon as she woke up she came to me and whispered "Can I tell Daddy happy birthday?!?!". She has such a sweet spirit!
We started out the morning making birthday cards. Ashlyn traced and cut out guitars since she knew Daddy loves guitars.


Aubrey is starting to love crafts too. She still gets mad when we don't let her bite the tips off the crayons though. Or rub the glue stick all over her face...


When Phillip got home I cooked him his favorite meal, we ate lots of birthday cake, and he opened his cards and present. Then after dinner we headed out to a fairly new park in town to listen to a band play.

The weather was perfect, it was a great evening to be outside! We ran into some friends who are the parents of our friends from church. They were watching their grandson and the girls loved playing with him.


The kids loved running around barefoot and playing with Hudson and Phillip and I enjoyed chatting with friends. It was a great evening!

This morning I had a big surprise for Phillip. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing for his birthday in fear of him finding out, I was so excited this morning I was about to burst. After eating his favorite breakfast of homemade biscuits and sausage gravy I drove him out to...





the municipal airport where he was going to be able to fly with the assistance of a pilot! He always says he wants to fly and some day get his pilots license so I knew he would love this.

He had a great pilot to instruct him, Greg. He was such a nice guy!


Heading for the runway!


Phillip got to take off with only verbal help from Greg.


During the 45 minute flight the girls and I hung out outside and played with the little wooden airplanes they gave them. They had the best time watching planes coming in and out!


Back from a great flight!

He was able to do all the flying with the exception of landing. He loved it!


Happy birthday, babe! I hope you enjoyed your birthday. I am so grateful for you! You are a wonderful husband and daddy. Thank you for working so hard to provide and care for our family. You are a wonderful wonderful man!! I love you!!

Potty Time

Aubrey likes to sit on the potty seat in the bathroom when Ashlyn is in there. She loves to do anything Ashlyn does. We are always reciting "monkey see monkey do" around here. I kept telling Aubrey that if she went t-t in the potty she would get a treat. Well the other day she told me several times "Aub-ee t-t potty and get tweet". Later that afternoon Ashlyn was in the bathroom and hollered that Aubrey wanted to sit on the potty. So I stripped her diaper off and set her up there and much to our surprise she used the potty! We made quite the commotion and she got her "tweet"!

(Ashlyn loves to be part of the process, she runs and gets the "Elmo book" and wants to give her the M&M's)

I chalked it up as a coincidence and went about our normal diaper routine. Well, today she went in the potty twice. Mind you I asked her if she wanted to sit and she said yes, she didn't come tell me but none the less, she went. I'm wondering if she's getting close to potty training!?! I am a firm believer that the child has to be ready for it to stick so I'm going to take it slow. This week we have a couple of things going on so maybe the following week we will stay home, whip out the training panties, and do "potty boot camp".


It's someone's 30th birthday today! We still have more activities planned this weekend so I'll be sharing about that later. ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Monday... Monday...

*I seem to be writing these random posts with sporadic thoughts. Maybe it's because I don't have complete thoughts anymore. Life is kinda crazy and random when your raising kiddos.

*The girls and I were sitting on the floor painting our toe nails.
Ashlyn: (Pointing to my big toe) "what's that"
Me: It's called a callous, it's just skin that gets thick and rough when it rubs on something for a long time. Kinda like on Aubrey's thumb, she has a callous where she sucks her thumb.
Ashlyn: Oh... (long pause) Mom, do you suck your toe???

*Ashlyn went in for her 6 month dental cleaning last week. The first time she went she LOVED it, the second time we were rushed by the hygenist and she was terrified and cried the whole time. The hygienist was sweet, she just didn't go as slow since Ashlyn had been there before. So this time I explained to the (different than last time) hygienist our last experience and she was so patient and kind to Ashlyn. Ashlyn came out loving it and can't wait to go back. I LOVE her dentist and their staff!!

*When I grocery shop I use the "big bus" shopping cart. You know the regular shopping cart that has seats attached for kids to ride in. (The one I swore I would never use when I had kids) Kind of like this...

This is the sign that is on the back of the seats at Walmart. Can you imagine pushing around 200 pounds plus your groceries! I'm doing good heaving this thing around with my 55 pounds of cargo!!



*Aubrey will be two in exactly one month! That girls is a spit fire!! When she was a sweet little calm baby I told Phillip she would give me a run for my money when she got big. I should of kept my mouth shut. She is so innocent and quiet around other people, they think she's so sweet and precious. She's precious, I agree, but boy she can let it all out when she wants to!!
She thinks she's as big as Ashlyn and can give Ashlyn a run for her money. She knows just the buttons to push to get Ashlyn to holler.
She doesn't know her colors and can only count to three but she knows all the princesses names. Ashlyn makes sure Aubrey's priorities are straight!

Meal Planner Tuesday... a smidge late!

Here's what we'll be eating this week!

Monday- BBQ Roast Beef for Body Life Group (This is a quick and easy crock pot recipe I'll have to share)

Tuesday- Meatballs with Cream Sauce, egg noodles, steamed carrots

Wednesday- Smothered Pork Chops (a new crock pot recipe), Basmati Rice, Okra

Thursday- Roast Sticky Chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus

Friday- Left Overs

Saturday- Homemade Veggie Pizza & Cheese Pizza, salad

Sunday- Salmon Burgers (I use the recipe off the back of the canned Salmon and cook them in a lightly oiled pan on the stove), baked sweet potatoes, sweet peas

Randomness

*Aubrey seems to be eating better each week. She has added several new foods to her "likes list". I almost fell out of my chair when she ate four green beans at dinner Wednesday.

*Daddy broke the rules Saturday and let Ashlyn come out of her room early from nap time since she wasn't sleeping. I was in the bathroom getting ready to go over to some friends house for dinner...
Daddy: Just don't go pestering mom.
Ashlyn: Why???

Ashlyn: Why did Daddy say not to bother you?
Me: 'Cause I'm trying to get ready to go.
Ashlyn: But I like bothering you!

*It feels good to be out of the triple digit heat! I'm not complaining though, I love summer.

*We always play a little game with Aubrey when she is looking for something. We will say "(whatever she is looking for) where are you" in a sing song voice. As soon as we hit the parking lot coming out of Walmart she will start hollering "Car, are you" as loud as she can.

*Aubrey has two volumes. Loud and extra loud. She hasn't learned to always use her "inside" voice.

*I really want to learn how to decorate sugar cookies. I know I can do it and would enjoy it. I just need to do it. Every time I look at this blog it gives me the cookie decorating itch.

*The schools in our area started back this week. Next year it will be our turn. Say it isn't so!

*We only have two more sessions of swim lessons. Ashlyn couldn't be happier. She hates swim lessons.

*The girls love stringing beads on shoe strings. I am always surprised at how quiet they get and for how long.


*I keep going back and forth on whether or not we're going to do parties for the girl's birthdays this year. I think maybe we'll do something special as a family, but then I don't get to decorate their cake.

*Our living room, hallway, and the girl's bathroom are in desperate need of painting. That flat builder grade paint doesn't hold up well. I haven't figured out how I'm going to paint with "helpers" around though. It's going to be quite the long drawn out process I'm afraid.

*Aubrey wants a pony tail now. Normally she panics if I try to put anything on her head, a headband or clip. She twists the top of her hair when she sucks her thumb. Maybe it makes it easier to twist.

*Daddy thinks the ponytail is rediculous and was embaressed when I wanted to take her out looking like that. Us three girls think it's cute, he was out voted.


*I am so blessed to have a husband who works so hard to provide for our family, helps me with the kids at home, loves me more than anyone else in the world, and plays silly games with his two little girls! He's a keeper! ;)

Food Products I'm diggin'

I love discovering new products that are a healthier alternative to what we are already eating. My goal in the kitchen is for my family to enjoy what I cook, but I want what I cook to be healthy. I don't deprive us of treats and little indulgences, we eat dessert and drink sodas (although that's on my list of things to toss, I just don't quite have the will power yet), but we eat healthy and nutritious foods throughout the day so we can have those treats.


This is not a new product to our house and I may have already shared about it but we really like Olive Oil Mayo. It has half the fat as regular mayo. My mother-in-law says it tastes funny to her but we can't really tell a difference. It definitely doesn't taste like low fat mayo though, ick! Have you tried it?



Another healthier version of a classic food are these whole wheat hamburger buns. We eat Nature's Own bread because it is one of the few whole wheat breads our store carries that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup. A couple months ago when we were going to grill burgers I spotted these whole wheat buns. I closed my eyes and grabbed the bag knowing it was going to be a total disappointment but we were really pleased! They were actually quite moist and soft, not cardboard like at all, and weren't over powering in the least bit. I have actually bought them a time or two since then and they freeze well too.



And lastly, I have been on the hunt for a ranch dressing that didn't have preservatives or MSG. Being ranch dressing lovers we were hesitant to turn away from our beloved Hidden Valley Ranch but we found a good competitor. I get this in the refrigerated produce section at Walmart. It's actually pretty good and you can read all the ingredients on the bottle. I just picked up a light version this week so we'll try it out and see how it compares to the "full fat" we have been eating.



Do you have any new healthier food products your diggin'?

Meal Planner Tuesday

We had a great but very busy weekend. One of our great friends, Cameron, got married this weekend in Little Rock. Phillip started to mentor him when he was about twelve years old and they have had such a close relationship over the last 9+ years. Cameron is one of the sweetest, talented, and most genuine young men I know and his new wife has the sweetest spirit about her. Their relationship is just so sweet and pure and it was such an honor for Phillip and I to help out in their wedding!
I keep thinking our little world is going to slow down soon but when I peek at my calendar it says something different! Oh well, maybe after the holidays and we are snowed in for most of January and February we'll kick back and relax!
Enough rambling! It's Tuesday so that means our updated menu for the week. Enjoy!


Monday- Grill burgers, Romain and Carrot slaw, sweet potato fries (Moved over from last week)

Tuesday- Pinto beans, baked potatoes, corn bread

Wednesday- Chicken and Pasta skillet dinner, Green beans

Thursday- Meatloaf with sweet bbq sauce, mashed potatoes, okra

Friday- Soft Tacos, spanish rice, black beans

Saturday- Dinner: Dinner at friend's house

Sunday- Dinner: Baked beef, bean and cheese burritos (using left over ingredients from Tacos), salad, corn

Menu Planner Tuesday

This week is a light menu. We have a very busy weekend so we will be eating out or I'll pull something from the freezer.

Yesterday was my grocery shopping day but when I got in the car it wouldn't start. Apparently the 100+ temperatures the past few weeks took it's tole on our not so new battery. I planned on making Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese and 7 Layer Salad for our Body Life group but had to improvise and use what I had in the cabinet. It all turned out well in the end. I got a lot accomplished around the house while stranded at home and Phillip was able to get off a bit early to buy a new battery and install it. So my small grocery list is cut even smaller. Woo hoo for eating what's on hand and saving a bit of money! :)

Tuesday- Grilled Hamburgers, Romain and Carrot Slaw (This is a new recipe, I'll let you know if it's a keeper), Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Wednesday- Creamy Tomato and Spinach Fettuccine (Another new recipe), Cauliflower

Thursday- Left Overs