The Tumblers

Messy Eater

2010-03-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

Linc is the messiest eater of all my kids. I kid you not, he covers himself from TOP to BOTTOM when he eats. For some reason, as soon as I turn away form him, he grabs handfuls of food and then rubs it all over his head. Maybe he sees Daddy with the hair gel in the morning and thinks it's the same thing? Who knows. But when we're home for the day, I tend to just keep him in a diaper only because otherwise, we'll go through 6 changes of clothes.

So after lunch the other day I was cleaning peanut butter of his head, his ears, his belly, his toes... when I realized I was practically bathing him anyway and would save myself time by just putting him right in the sink. And my teeny tiny little guy still fit right in the sink at 15 months old! (Kaden would have never fit in the sink at that age.) Lincoln thought it was hilarious and he loved playing with the water.

Meal Plan Monday 3/8/10

2010-03-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Sooo... last week didn't go quite as planned. I only ended up cooking one of the meals on my meal plan! I never made it to the grocery store, and just threw created some meals using what I had on hand, and we were lucky enough to have family feed us a couple nights too! And.... ok, we ate out one night. But I even did that pretty cheap, and it was a fun playtime for the kids. So this week, I'm recycling my meal plan from last week. I made it to the grocery store last night and picked up the few items I needed. So this week, my Meal Plan blog is what I made LAST week. :-) I finally made it to the grocery store on Sunday night - for the first time in two weeks!

Being able to make it through a whole week without grocery shopping was nice enough, but to really make my week, about 20 minutes into the grocery shopping Sunday night, right around the time I was losing patience with trying to keep Kaden & Lincoln wrangled inside the shopping cart and after telling them for the tenth time that they could not buy ANYTHING that's not on my list, Kenny snuck up on us in the aisle! He was on his way home from work, knew I was at the store with the kids and my Knight in Shining Armor swooped in to take them all home and get them to bed!! Yes, in my fairy tale, my knight in shining armor sweeps in to rescue me from my own children. Don't judge.

Monday

Chick Fil A :-)

I hadn't made it to the grocery store, the kids were bored and it was already getting late in the evening and they were starving by the time I got it together. And I was about ready to rip my hair out of my head! I have several free item coupons for Chick Fil A, so me and the kids had dinner for under $7 and they ran wild on the play area, while I sat in somewhat quite and let my brain settle down! :-)

Tuesday

*The only recipe from th eplan that I actually accomplished making last week! And this was an absolute FAVORITE! I ended up doubling the recipe & using 3 lbs of chicken (didn't need to double the bread crumbs though) and we ate buffalo chicken wraps for lunch the next day! I'm defintely going to do a large batch of these for the freezer soon!)

Oven Baked Buffalo Chicken Fingers from my friend Leilani - who found it on the Whole Foods website

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

1/4 cup hot sauce

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons tomato catsup

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins

1 1/2 cups dried whole wheat bread crumbs

Vegetable oil cooking spray

Method

Stir together hot sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, and catsup in a wide, shallow dish to make a marinade. Add chicken, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes, or overnight. Remove chicken from marinade and gently press it into the bread crumbs, rolling well to evenly coat chicken all over.

For Freezer: After coating chicken, flash freeze on a baking sheet, covered in plastic wrap until firm. Place flat in a Gallon-size freezer bag.

Prep Directions: Thaw (if from frozen). Place on greased baking sheet, being careful not to overlap them. Spray chicken all over with oil and bake for 20 minutes at 375, or until cooked through and golden brown.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 4oz/103g-wt.): 180 calories (20 from fat), 2.5g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 55mg cholesterol, 710mg sodium, 15g total carbohydrate (0g dietary fiber, 2g sugar), 22g protein

with Ranch & Carrots

Romaine Salad

Wednesday

Fajita Take-out @ Grandma's

Wednesday is Kenny's Sunday. We went to my mother-in-laws house and relaxed outside with the boys by the pool all day. It was gorgeous weather and we had a great relaxing day. Our friend Mikey helped Kenny move a desk into storage (b/c my office is now Kaden's room). Mikey's been away for a long time so it was nice to visit with him and we just had a nice "day off".

Thursday

My sister & her boyfriend came over with there 3 kids and we all spent time outside playing and enjoying the beautiful day. By the time I realized I needed to start dinner, I just started going through the fridge and freezer to see what I could come up with. Here's what I made - that's right, I actually created a recipe! haha, It was certainly nothing gourmet, but it was quick & it was actually pretty good. I even thought I'd use the leftovers to mix in with scrambled eggs the next day for a big breakfast skillet - but there weren't any leftovers, everyone gobbled it up!

Sausage & Potato Skillet

2 Potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces

1 lb. smoked turkey sausage, cut into bite size pieces

4 cloves garlice, minced

I bag frozen Mirepoix Veggies (diced carrots, celery & onions)

1 8oz can tomato Sauce

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp basil

1/2-1 cup water

Saute potatoes, and sausage, until browned. Add garlic, veggies and cook until veggies are hot and tender-crisp, add tomato sauce and seasonings and water as needed, let cook to combine flavors. Would be good garnished with Parmesan Cheese.

Romaine & Carrot Salad w/Cheddar

Friday

Turkey w/Cranberry Sauce

With both of our families all here in Katy (& Brookshire) I realize we are often ridiculously spoiled! My mom called on Thursday and told me they'd cooked a whole turkey and she had a whole turkey dinner, with gravy and cranberry ready for me to come pick up! Woohoo! Love having someone else cook for me. It was a great surprise. I had big plans to make mashed potatoes and maybe even some quick stuffing. BUT, if you haven't noticed a running theme, the weather was great last week, I've been busy and unorganized, so my best plans didn't happen! We had a birthday party to run to that evening, so I made the kids quick turkey dinners and we ran off - no veggies! Shame on me.... but does jellied cranberry sauce count as a fruit? That's almost nutritious right? yea.... ok.

Saturday

Pizza

We had another birthday party, this one was at an ice skating rink. We ALL skated (hoping the other mom has a picture of me on the ice with both Lincoln & Kaden - it was quite an adventure!!) and then we ate Pizza, soda & cake. Yes, this week was definitely our most nutritious!!

Sunday

Turkey Tacos (or we can call it Taco meat and lettuce!)

Okay, seriously, this last meal just goes to show the ridiculousness in my dinner plans last week. After getting by all week with luck & mostly other people spontaneously feeding us, I had to cook something last night. I planned to go to the grocery store, but had to feed the kids first. Grocery shopping with three kids is miserable enough, but grocery shopping with three hungry kids is suicide. So I started the taco meat, and then realized I had 2 corn tortillas left, then realized I was also out of cheese.... and tomatoes... and salsa... oh, and sour cream. I browned ground turkey, seasoned with cumin, chili powder & lots of garlic. Wanted to add black beans, but realized I didn't have any of those either (but, of course!), I did have a can of Ranch style beans with jalapenos. So I half rinsed those (so it wouldn't be too saucy) and added them along with a tablespoon of tomato paste and some water, and served it over lettuce. It was a sad excuse for dinner - but the kids ate it and then I finally made it to the grocery store.

Conversations with a three year old

2010-03-08T07:39:00.000-08:00

Me: DO NOT PUT THAT ROPE AROUND YOUR BABY BROTHER'S NECK!
K: (with jump rope in hand) But Mom. He wanted to go for a bull ride. So please just let me put the rope around his neck. Can I please?
Me: No, you can't ever put a rope around Linc's neck!
K: uhhhh! (B/c I am just the meanest most unfair mother in the world.)

And then he looks at Linc sitting on the couch next to us, jums up, picks him up and throws him onto a pile of pillows on the floor. And I mean, literally throws him. (Fortunately, our easy going baby just laughs. And fortunately, there already happened to be a pile of pillows there!)

Poor Linc. He's either going to be seriously tough, or need serious therapy.

Or both.

Hello Spring!!!

2010-03-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, I am loving this weather. I swear, Winter makes me depressed. I think I have a very real physical need for sunshine, and when I don't get lots of it, I get crazy! The past several days have been so beautiful and we've looked for any excuse to get outside. We've been having a lot of fun!

Bear Creek Park

2010-03-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

The kids & I met up with my best friend from high school, Leilani, this past Saturday. She and I haven't seen each other much over the past few years, and we've been meaning to get together for a while. We finally made a park playdate this weekend with the kids and it was perfect weather. She has a little boy who is 2 and she is expecting (yay!!) baby # 2 in September! It was a nice sunny day, almost warm, but there was some chilly wind. The kids played until they were worn out! It was great catching up with her, and her husband, Ailona, is a wonderful photographer! It was really fun because he took tons of great pictures of the kids, and I've been needing some tips and advice for my camera and suggestions for new lenses or equipment to get. I was really into photography in high school, but it's been so many years and I really need to re-learn a lot about it. Ailona gave me some great tips and got me excited to start playing again. It was a great day and I now have TONS of pictures to share (Thanks Ailona!)

Cute kids! (and look at Linc's face here! Priceless!)

Meal Plan Monday 3/1/10

2010-03-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

I have to get serious about getting back in better shape, and Ken and I are going to try out P90x in a couple weeks. So this week I'm really trying to focus on not only healthy, natural, whole food meals, but also on low-calorie, low-fat, high-protein dishes. On top of keeping everything frugal... should be super easy! eek.
I also need simplicity right now. So I'm looking for a few Crock-pot recipes, so I don't have to be in the kitchen, messing up dishes and trying not to burn dinner while the kids run wild wreaking havoc on the house. Several days this week we've been busy in the evening, and then at 5 or 6, I'm rushing home to start dinner and already have starving cranky kids impatiently waiting. So, low easy prep is important too. Those aren't unrealistic expectations, right?
I got yummy stuff from my Organic Produce Co-op this week, wanna see?

The fruits and the avocados are usually used up for snack. We've been getting cilantro for the past few weeks and I'm obsessed with making fresh guacamole with this seasoning called Herby that I bought from the family that runs the co-op. It's an organic seasoning blend made with herbs and spices, and it's got great flavors so I'm putting it on everything now.

Here's my menu plan along with explanations for what I'm thinking when I'm planning and how I try to balance cost with health.

Monday
Oven Baked Buffalo Chicken Fingers from my friend Leilani - I don't know where she got it from. :-)
with Ranch & Carrots (Kenny is crazy about Ranch dressing on everything, and so, of course, are the kids.)
Romaine Salad

Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato catsup
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
1 1/2 cups dried whole wheat bread crumbs
Vegetable oil cooking spray
Method
Stir together hot sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, and catsup in a wide, shallow dish to make a marinade. Add chicken, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes, or overnight. Remove chicken from marinade and gently press it into the bread crumbs, rolling well to evenly coat chicken all over.
For Freezer: After coating chicken, flash freeze on a baking sheet, covered in plastic wrap until firm. Place flat in a Gallon-size freezer bag.
Prep Directions: Thaw (if from frozen). Place on greased baking sheet, being careful not to overlap them. Spray chicken all over with oil and bake for 20 minutes at 375, or until cooked through and golden brown.
Nutrition
Per serving (about 4oz/103g-wt.): 180 calories (20 from fat), 2.5g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 55mg cholesterol, 710mg sodium, 15g total carbohydrate (0g dietary fiber, 2g sugar), 22g protein

Tuesday
Barbecue Pulled Chicken from EatingWell.com
over whole wheat buns, with pickles, sliced red onions & little bit of sour cream
Steamed Artichokes w/lemon butter
*I'm going to reserve 1/4 cup of the sauce for tomorrow's recipe .
This can be made super cheap using pre-made barbecue sauce that is often free or just pennies (how you ask? It goes on sale for $1-$1.19 and a .35 cent coupon triples at my grocery store, which takes off $1.05, making it free - .14 cents!). The bottled bbq sauce is mostly high-fructose corn syrup and full of other yucky preservatives and artificial additives, so I prefer to make my own sauce, like in this recipe. BUT, I'll get a few of the free bbq sauce when they're available because on a busy day, or when I haven't made it to the grocery store yet, I can pull ribs or chicken out of the freezer and a bottle of sauce, plus a bog of frozen veggies (I also get these FREE) and get a quick cheap dinner everyone loves - it's still healthier and less expensive than the alternative of grabbing fast food or eating out. Using the free pre-made stuff it would cost only $4.70 for 8 servings (just the cost of chicken @ $1.88/lb on sale). I'm estimating about $7.50 for 8-servings for the original recipe (I don't have time to calculate the exact cost of each amount of spice :-).

Wednesday
Family Pizza Night
Greek Salad *rolled over from last week - I was busy and went with a few frozen pizzas instead! Kenny's begging for real pizza night, so I'll be getting our favorite toppings this week.

Thursday

Sweet 'n Sassy Flank Steak from Jo Jo Ba on Sparkrecipes.com
served over Wilted Spinach
Frozen Garden Vegetable Medley (Free last week @ Kroger's with coupons)

Perfect recipe for this week! Flank Steak is on sale, this is made in the crockpot, and it uses the sweet potatoes, pineapple, onion (I'll be using red, not white) & spinach from the co-op, plus I have all the other ingredients on hand, and am already making BBQ sauce for the Tuesdays' dinner.
Flank Steak (also called London Broil. Or maybe it's just similar to London Broil. I don't know if they're the exact same cut, but I know they're pretty much interchangeable in recipes) is on sale at Randall's this week for 1.88/lb (usually $5.49, so big savings!) I'll buy enough for this recipe but I'll also buy several extras and mix up a couple marinades (can be seriously simple: a packet of onion soup mix with tomato sauce, a cup of salsa with some garlic, lemon & soy sauce, whatever) and put the Flank Steak into a Ziploc Freezer bag with the marinade and then freeze. Then I've got easy inexpensive marinated meat for another time. Flank Steak/London Broil is a stringy, generally tough cut of meat - so it's inexpensive and it works great for the crock pot b/c slow cooking it all day makes it really tender. You can throw veggies in the bottom of the crockpot, put your marinated Flank Steak on top and in 5 or 6 hours dinner's done.

Friday

Spicy Garlic Lemon Shrimp from epicurious.com
Quinoa Pilaf from Tyler Florence, Food Network
Steamed Broccoli
We like the big shrimp (like 16-25 ct), so I usually buy them when they're on sale around $4.50-$4.99/lb. They're on sale this week and I still have a 2 lb bag in my freezer from the last sale. I have to have pretty substantial sides when I cook shrimp because I need something to help fill everyone up before they each scarf an entire pound of shrimp on their own. We're big shrimp lovers.

Breakfast:
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal from one of my favorite blogs 5DollarDinners.com
I'm going to use Steel Cut Oats, instead of quick oats. Steel-cut oats are better nutrition-wise, of course, the trade-off is that they take longer. BUT, you can put them in boiling water for one minute and then remove them from heat and leave them to soak overnight, then bring them back to a boil in the morning, and continue the above recipe just like you would with quick cook oats.

Snack:
Easy Zucchini Parmesan
I have one Zucchini from the co-op and saw this idea, that might make a great snack for the kids. I'm hoping I can trick Lincoln into eating veggies this way. Picky little guy won't touch anything green lately! I'm going to add some garlic & Herby Seasoning, and use olive oil instead of the butter spray.

Grandma's & Linc's Birthday Parties

2010-03-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

Still catching up.... Lincoln had his FIRST birthday in November! So cute, and possibly my last "first birthday" ever... :-( Sooo, November was a bit crazy for us. Linc has started getting sick just weeks before, so we'd been dealing with lots of doctor appointments and they decided Linc needed to have an upper endoscopy & biopsy, and they suspected Celiac Disease. The biopsy was done the day before his first birthday! The procedure went well, and when the GI Doctor came out to review the procedure with us, he showed us inflammation and damage on the lining of his intestines. He said Pathology would have to confirm the results, but what he saw, combined with Linc's clinical history and symptoms is the same as what he would see with Celiac Disease. He said we should go ahead and start the gluten-free diet and then await the Pathology to confirm. So.... Linc's first birthday treat was gluten-free coconut cupcakes (made with coconut flour & iced with gluten-free, dairy-free frosting.) Oh, and we found out a week later, after fully realizing how crazy the gluten-free thing was going to make our lives, that it wasn't actually Celiac Disease (turns out he has an Immune Deficiency, you can follow the link to find out what it is)... so for his Second Birthday he'll have a full gluten cake! But, I thought the cupcakes were pretty good (ok, the frosting was weird, but the cupcakes weren't bad at all - sort of like a coconut muffin) Cousin Max spit his right out and wouldn't touch it again... haha.... but Linc gobbled them up & Kaden asked for more for days!! Because of how much we had going on at the time, we just did a small party with family.

Frammy gave him this soft snuggle bear, who says The Lord's Prayer when you squeeze his hand. This is Linc's favorite snuggle EVER. Every time he goes to sleep, he wants his "Snuggle Buddy", and it calms him right down when he's upset about going to bed. SO cute!

And Grandpa Willie gave him his first..... Hooters shirt... bwa-wa-wa.... something I've ALWAYS wanted him to have.. haha.

Cousin Max (who always wears his cowboy boots & hat!)

Linc & his Piggy Bank from Frammy (which came with an official Savings Account)

And because the kids aren't spoiled enough.... the Grandparents brought presents for Tayla & Kaden, too...

Aunt Tumma & John

And a few days before that, Grandma (my mom) also had a birthday. My sweet, sweet little brother Ian & sister Summer decided to make a cake for Mom's birthday. They went all out with a FOUR LAYER strawberry & chocolate cake..... very impressive.... until they realized they needed to drive it to moms house, and those layers weren't very stable. Here's the masterpiece cake after it finally arrived at Mom & Dad's house....

Cracks me up. I couldn't stop laughing. And the best thing about this cake was it was a crumbly mess, so no one would even notice if you just walked by and picked out a little piece. I mean, not that I did that or anything. Just saying. :-)

Here's Dad cooking the Birthday Dinner (and being a goofball)

Linc trying to sneak off without being caught

Marme (My mom's mom)

Grandma with Kaden and the BEAUTIFUL birthday card he made just for her

The Bakers & their Masterpiece - with all 40-something candles! Thought we might burn the house down! Ha!

Catching up... November 09

2010-02-28T19:28:00.000-08:00

I'm catching up on editing old photos (now that my computer is back!) and have months of adorable shots I never got to share! I'd never let you miss out on these fantastic beautiful kiddo shots! So, now for your viewing pleasure, we'll start with the first of three months of catch-up photos.....

We love family pizza night. The kids have a blast making their own pizzas with all their own toppings and we usually watch a movie. I think I was working this day while dad was home with the kids. When I came home from showings, everyone was eagerly awaiting the pizza festivities and they'd used every sheet and blanket in the house, to do this to the trampoline....

Daddy and the kids had made a huge tent out of the trampoline and wanted to go "camping" in the backyard. The kids were SO excited.

So we made our pizzas.

Then we took the pizzas out to our "tent" to eat.

We played games...

and Tayla read bedtime stories.

I thought we would play in the tent then move inside for bedtime, but the kids really wanted to sleep in the tent. So, we cuddled up under lots of blankets and all of us slept under the trampoline all night. Before falling asleep I wondered if the sprinklers were set to go off that next morning... fortunately, we did not get a shower on our backyard camping trip!

A couple weeks later the kids & I went to Dewberry Farms with Tayla's Girl Scout Troop. I planned to go, do the camp fire thing, hit a couple activities there and then get home as soon as possible (Ken works weekends, and keeping up with all three kids in big crowded places on my own can be daunting sometimes!) But we had SO much fun, we ended up staying until it closed down! I did, however, lose Kaden.... twice. This is why I avoid crowded places - one of these days I'm seriously going to put that sweet wild child on a leash!

Here's Tayla roasting marshmallows.

Her Troop (and Tayla posing, of course)

I love these pictures! The kids all had such a blast!

So I have Linc in the stroller, and I have Kaden next to me. I tell Kaden to stay "right here" and play on this big dirt pile next to me. I take this picture of Tayla on the zipline, and then turn to the dirt pile to get Kaden..... and he's gone. No where on the dirt pile. I look at the Rope swings next to it, he's not there. And then I freak out. The place is pretty big and it's pretty busy b/w the regular Saturday visitors and all the Girl Scouts in the city. After a frantic minute, I see him.... on the corn cob train.... ALL BY HIMSELF! He saw the train from the dirt pile and just hopped over there and loaded up by himself!

Mr. Independent!

So when I finally settled my nerves and stopped the heart attack that was coming on, we loaded everyone up and had some tokens left that we just HAD to use up.... so of course we stopped in the Sweet Shop and got some homemade fudge. mmmm...

And just because it's so cute... We got home one night from visiting family & when I got home and went to unload the kids from the car I melted when I saw sweet little Lincy-Lou, all snuggled up with his Buddy-Buddy in his car seat!

Oh my goodness!! He's so cute! Stay tuned for more...

Meal Plan Monday

2010-02-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

We're going back to a Cash Budget again (thanks to Dave Ramsey, we're debt free except the house and building our 6-month emergency fund!). So I tried to set the budget amount on the low side, but didn't limit it too much , since I'd not been couponing or stockpiling lately. Since this is the last week of the month, and we spent extra last week (for Crab night, sooo worth it!), I'm down to a very small budget left, so I'm trying to use what we have on hand and prepare seriously frugal meals. Also, the store sales aren't very spectacular this week, so there's not a lot of the whole food we eat at a good sale price, and my Organic Produce Co-op is every other week and this is the off week. So, I'm making due with what I have on hand.

Monday

Rub Grub Pork Chops
Kale, Olive Oil & Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Mixed Vegetables (Frozen)
*This is rolled over from last week. I was tired, and we had lots of leftovers Saturday.

Tuesday

Veggie Burgers w/ Fixins (Cheese, romaine, onion, tomato, pickles)
Sweet Potato French Fries
*HEB has combo deal for Morningstar Veggie Burgers, get Sweet Potato Fries Free. So I'm getting 2 of each and will have an easy dinner for $6.61 plus fixins, that I already have on hand for other meals. Tuesday is busy and it beats the fast food/pizza I might order otherwise!

Wednesday

Whole Wheat Pizza
Greek Salad
*I have everything for the crust in the pantry. For toppings, using Red Peppers, on sale this week, and then leftover meats and veggies and banana peppers. I'll chop up a head of Romaine lettuce and put the extra in a ziploc to make my own bagged salad to use throughout the rest of the week. We have leftover feta & olives. Yum!

Thursday

Shepherd's Pie
*I have made this recipe before (one of my favorite freezer meals) and I LOVE the carrots mixed in with the potatoes. But we always have leftover mashed potatoes, so I'm going to use the leftover Kale & mashed potatoes from Monday in place of the mashed potatoes & carrots in this recipe, and I'll throw in whatever extra veggies I have in the fridge or freezer. I would normally triple this recipe for the freezer, but I'm on the super tight budget this week so I won't be cooking extra. Plus I have frozen veggie coupons that I know will go on sale soon so I can get them for free. I'll stock up and make three of these then. This is a great one dish meal and it's loaded with veggies, so I don't feel guilty about not adding any sides!

Friday

Chicken a la King
served over Frugal Mini Popovers or Pillsbury Biscuits, depending on how the day goes.
Salad (all ready from Wed)
*I don't usually buy Pillsbury biscuits b/c I like to stick with whole grains - but I actually got PAID 75 cents to buy 6 packages of these this week. So for that price, I'll keep some one hand for quick easy meals! This A la King recipe freezes well too, so I might double it and freeze the extra in a ziploc. With the Pillsbury Grands it will make an easy last minute meal.

Saturday

Chicken Curry
over Saffron Rice (taking the easy way out here - just packets of rice with seasoning I already have in the pantry that were free with coupons)
Roasted Vegetables with Soy Sauce & Ginger (which I plan on prepping the night before or that morning)
*I love Curry, and I have all the ingredients on hand, although I'll be using chicken breasts instead of thighs. Ken doesn't usually like Chicken Curry, but a friend made her version for our freezer swap once, and he loved it. It used coconut milk, and she topped it with toasted coconut, and it was so yummy. So I think we'll like this version.

I knew I shouldn't have said it.....

2010-02-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

but I just couldn't help myself, could I?

My laptop is broken. again. I let a sweet little girl use it to play on DisneyChannel.com because she's been begging for days. And now the mouse button is broken. Works if I hit it just right on one corner. Give me a freaking BREAK already!!!!

Thoughts from a 3 year old

2010-02-17T15:43:00.000-08:00

So tonights our big Steamed King Crab Leg dinner!! So excited! Ken wanted to make me a nice dinner for Valentine's and since he works weekends, we made plans for tonight. We're making the kids leftovers and shuffling them off to our room for a movie and popcorn in the hopes that there will be peace and quiet and we can pretend like they're not here! :-)

Ken pulled out all the leftovers for Kaden to pick what he wanted. Kaden of course picks three meats, no veggies. A man right after his daddy's heart, and Kenny says so to him. After finally convincing him to add a veggie, ken tells him he's going to fix up his "combo platter". So Kaden's walking around talking about his combo platter and how gooowd it's going to be. As Kenny starts to take the plate to the table, Kaden looks at Kenny, and very seriously says, "Daddy, are you sure I'm ready for this?" hahaha.

Yes, son, I think you're ready.

Menu Plan

2010-02-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time planning my weekly menus, so I figured I'd share. I try to plan at least one Freezer Meal each week - I triple the recipe, we eat one for dinner and the other two meals go in the freezer. Doesn't usually take any extra time to prep the extra meals, and if I do it regularly, I can keep my freezer stocked. It saves money too, b/c I plan my meals around the weekly sale ads and coupons, so I extend the savings with the freezer meals. I admit, I've really gotten away from this. With my bad tech karma I've really been unable to function. I rely heavily on the computer to plan my meals, pay the bills, grocery shop (all my couponing is done with the help of websites), run my business, and I'm seriously addicted to Google (because without it, how else would I be the fabulous know-it-all that I am!). Lincoln also got sick in October, and we've been back and forth with specialists and testing and procedures for the past several months while they figured out a diagnosis (which we finally know is a Primary Immune Deficiency called Hypogammaglobulenemia, for now. I know, might as well be called Supercalafragalisticexpialodocious!). So for the past few months, my time (& brain) has been consumed with keeping up with the basics, worrying, calling Doctors constantly, and finding any time I could to run to my mom's house to use her computer and keep my business going, while hoping the kids don't destroy her house as I let them roam on their own. But Linc is doing well (he's being monitored by an Immunologist, and his last tests were so good they bumped his follow up from 3 months to 6 months! Hallelujah. I'll have to post more on that later.) and my worry is now way down. I'm starting to get back to normal again and have mental energy for all the other stuff. So I'm working on re-stocking my freezer and getting our grocery budget back down as I get back to my couponing.
So back to the Menu Plan. Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday:

Parsley Parmesan Chicken (freezer meal)
Bagged Ceasar Salad ($1.19 on sale with a coupon!)
I bought 9 pounds of chicken, planned to make this x4 because it's one of my favorite freezer meals. Right before I started, a friend texted that she was in the hospital with her dad waiting for what ended up being a 12 hour surgery!! It was great timing b/c I was able to send one of the meals home with her husband after he got off work, and she wasn't going to be home until late. And I still had enough for us to eat last night, plus 3 meals for the freezer - like loaves & fishes, I tell you! Another reason I love the freezer meals is I have something on hand when an emergency comes up and I can easily take meals to people without stressing myself out if it's a busy time. Oh, and that link is to my Freezer Cooking Blog - which is also in desperate need of tons of updating. I'll get there... eventually. I also try to keep my sides simple on the nights when I'm making a meal for the freezer. I do tend to make a bigger mess b/c of the larger quantities and have more dishes to wash, so I keep the other stuff simple.

Tuesday:
Slow Cooker Meatloaf from Melissa's meal plan
Kale & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes from 101 Cookbooks
Glazed Carrots (I steam them, and sprinkle them with a little bit of brown sugar)
I made the Meatloaf with ground turkey. I almost always use turkey in place of ground beef. It's healthier, and I think I like the flavor better. Especially with the sage in the meatloaf. I love turkey with sage. mmm. I sort of fudged up on the sides and started prepping them too late, so I overcooked the meatloaf a bit and it was on the dry side. But I loved doing it in the Slow Cooker - I prepped it yesterday and all I had to do today was pull it out of the fridge and turn it on. That's how I like doing dinner - and Tuesdays are busy for us. This is a recipe I'll cook again. Would also work well for the freezer! Prep it, but don't cook it, just freeze the raw loaf.
We got Kale from our Organic produce Co-op this week and I've never made it before so I wanted to find a way to prepare it that I thought the kids would really like - who doesn't like mashed potato mix-ins? Looks so yummy! And I already had a bag of red potatoes on hand that I needed to use up. Unfortunately, when I went to prepare them tonight, I discovered that those potatoes had already passed their time and had to throw them out. So I whipped up some mashed sweet potatoes. Then I looked at the stove and realized I was serving carrots and sweet potatoes. Both orange and both sweetened with brown sugar. Not good meal planning. So I threw in a bag of Green peas to try to mix it up. Oops. So I have to run to the store and get potatoes and throw these Kale Mashed Potatoes in on another day. They look SO good, I can't wait to have them!

Wednesday:
Valentine's King Crab Legs!!!
Orange Butter for dipping (got this from a Surf & Turf recipe card I got in a set years ago. It's just melted butter with orange zest in it. SOOO yummy with seafood.)
Roasted Parmesan Asparagus from Marci's Blog
(The kids will be eating leftovers early and going to our room with a movie and popcorn, so we can pretend we have the house to ourselves!)
I'm excited about this meal! Ken works weekends, so he was at work on Valentine's. We don't make a huge deal out of Valentine's, I'm not interested in wasting money on cards or flowers just for the holiday. But we do love an excuse for a nice romantic dinner. Ken told me he wanted to make me a nice dinner for Valentine's which is super exiting ANY time I don't have to cook, but even better when it's crab legs!! Before I dated Kenny I hated seafood. I would occasionally eat shrimp, but often it made me gag! His first choice in Restaurants is usually seafood, and somewhere along the way it grew on me. I worked at Joes' Crab shack for over a year in High School, and I still had never tasted crab until Kenny and I went to Destin in 2007. I had no idea what I was missing! All that time of access to free crab legs, just wasted! mmm.. I can taste it now. Can not WAIT.

Thursday:
Penne with Butternut Squash, Sausage & Sage from Wellsphere
Tomato, Cucumber & Romaine Salad
Another reason I love the Produce Co-op! I've never cooked butternut squash before. I love that the co-op makes me try new fruits and veggies that I don't normally pick up on my own. Ken's not a soup fan (he needs manly solid food), so I had to really look around for a good squash recipe to try, and I wanted something more savory than sweet. I also try to plan meals that use mostly what I have on hand, so I can keep my grocery list and budget down. I have sausage in the freezer (that I got on sale with a coupon for $1.25 a pound!), and I have a green bell pepper I need to use, so I'm going to add that as well (based on a suggestion on facebook from Mrs. Johnson, our friend Mikey's mom - I might even mash up the squash a little more, and bake the whole mixture in the squash shell like she suggested.)

Friday:

Parsley Cilantro Shrimp from Andrea Meyers

Quinoa Pilaf from allrecipes.com
Yep, I got Cilantro in the Co-op this week and have Parsley left over from the last Co-op two weeks ago, so this Marinade was a perfect way to use what I have, and I've got shrimp in the freezer (also on sale at $3.99/lb). I'm really trying to make sure I use up all my herbs, seems like I never use up the whole bunch before it goes bad.
I'd never had quinoa until Cathy made Quinoa & Black Beans for our Freezer Swap - delicious! I learned that it's a Super Grain. It's an excellent source of protein and nutrients. And it's a complete protein. So I'm trying to cook with it more. Healthier alternative to rice or pasta sides. I'm going to add one or two diced carrots to the saute at the beginning for 3 minutes before I add the quinoa, based on another recipe I saw and b/c I have some extra carrots. Also, and important tip I've learned. You must RINSE the quinoa before you cook it. If not, it has a bitter taste. This is why my family loved it when we ate Cathy's recipe, and no one at it when I cooked it the first time. This will be my second attempt at making it, so hopefully this one goes better!

Saturday:
Grub Rub Pork Chops from allrecipes
Mixed veggies (frozen)
*Kale & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes (from Tuesdays plan)
I have Pork Chops in the freezer and was looking for something new to do with them. I love brown sugar on Pork Chops, which I first realized when we tried Morton's Grub Rub. So good! But I'm all out and was looking for a recipe to create it myself. We'll see how similar this is to the Morton's version - but the flavor we love in the Grub Rub is the brown sugar, so I don't think we can go wrong here. Reviews say it's spicy, and we like spicy. I think it will go great with the mashed potatoes that I'm having to roll over from Tuesday.

Breakfast:
I don't plan specific days for Breakfasts. Mornings are crazy in our house and I'm NOT a morning person. Unfortunately my little boys got their Dad's genes and they are very very early morning people. I stopped using an alarm clock when Kaden was born. I'm not kidding. There's not even a clock in my bedroom (which was actually a wonderful thing for my sleep). Crack of dawn. If they even make it that long. So breakfast often entails me sleepily microwaving oats, tossing in raisins and throwing a piece of fruit at them as I grumble about making coffee. Many days, I'm so pathetic that I convince Tayla to pour cereal for her and the boys while I try to convince myself to get out of bed. Then there's usually round 2 after Ken gets back from the gym. Once I've finally woken up and can function, either Ken or I usually make scrambled eggs with some variation of onion, peppers, ham and cheese, sometimes I'll roll it in a tortilla. ooh... ahhh... It's boring and redundant. So when I'm feeling ambitious I like to pick a couple new breakfast recipes I'd like to try and make sure I have all the ingredients on hand. If it's a really great week, I'll actually make them all. I'm for sure going to make the muffins this week.

Turkey Breakfast Sausage w/eggs & pears
Came across this recipe and I love that I can make a healthier version of sausage. I love breakfast sausage, but very rarely make it b/c it's so high fat. The recipe says not to use ground turkey breast b/c it's too lean, but that's what I buy, and have on hand now, so I'm going to try it anyway. I think I'll drizzle in some olive oil, to help them stay moist. Think it will work fine. This could also be doubled or tripled and the patties can be frozen before cooking. I'm using turkey in my freezer, and if you're freezing meals with raw meat, you need to use fresh meat, since it can't be thawed and then re-frozen. So I'll try them out and if it we like them, I'll do them again for the freezer.

Farmer's Casserole *for the Freezer* w/ Oranges slices
One of my favorite recipes! I love that I just have to throw it in the oven as soon as I wake up & it's soo yummy! This recipe makes 2 casseroles.
Moist Morning Glory Bran Muffins *for the Freezer*
Muffins for the freezer are one of my favorite breakfast foods. I LOVE this recipe b/c of all the added fruits & veggies, and love anything I can add flax too. I don't have to feel guilty if I feed the kids just these muffins for breakfast. And Linc's getting picky lately and he's my first kid who won't eat veggies. So I'm looking for ways to hide them. And I got a pineapple and lots of apples in the Co-op this week. Can't wait to try it. I'll probably double it.

I've got bad tech karma

2010-02-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Sooo...... I posted saying that my new goal was to blog more regularly. And then the very next day, Kaden and a garden hose met my laptop. No good. Yes, I know... Why was the laptop outside with the garden hose? I don't want to hear it ok. I mean, what's the benefit of having a laptop and running a business from home with the kids if you can't get work done on a beautiful day while the kids play in the backyard? Made perfect sense to me. And in his defense, he wasn't trying to hose down the laptop. I got a call and stepped away for a minute (stupid phone!) and he thought he'd be a dear and wash the windows for me.... the windows right behind the laptop.
It took THREE freaking months to get the laptop back. I bought Accidental Damage coverage from Safeware. Took them 2 months to get it back to me, and when they sent it back UPS lost it for 3 days and I had to drive an hour to the UPS center and pick it up myself. Then I opened the box and they sent it back with a broken A/C adapter! So Toshiba said they'd send me one in 6 days - a month later, I finally got the a/c adapter. oh, and it now has malware, that it didn't have before, and there's a problem with the hard drive. Toshiba told me to send it to them to fix it. Uh, no thanks. I'm done. So after three months I finally have a functioning (although, somewhat slow) computer, and when I have the emotionally energy to deal with it again, I'll have a tech guy come to the house and look at it. Tip - Don't buy Safeware insurance. Spend the extra money and go with Best Buy's plan. I won't be shipping out a laptop for repairs ever again.

UGHHH!

And it's not just the laptop. EVERYTHING is breaking or getting lost. In one week, the dishwasher broke, the disposal broke, the vacuum broke, the washing machine flooded the entire front of my house. My cell phone is half functioning (Lincoln threw it in the bathtub... see a running theme here?.) My camera is lost, spilled coffee on my GPS, and now there's liquid damage on the screen. I also narrowly avoided a wreck the other day swerving to miss the car that pulled right in front of me, by an inch, and then 2 hours later, hydroplaned and flew right off a back road, narrowly avoiding the massive ditch on one side and then finally stopping inches from the edge of a 3 foot drop off on a gravel path. I'm telling you, I'm just a mess. It seems like right now, whatever can go wrong, will. I think I'm a nice person. I try to do as much good for other people as I can. But my Karma is bad right now. I don't know what I did. Upset the tech gods or something. The other day someone said to me, well, everything happens in threes.... but I'm on like my 5th set of 3 right now!

So, even though I know I shouldn't say it.... I will regret it, and I'm sure something else will go wrong with this computer once I say this. I'm going to take my chances and say one more time, I'm going to get better at this blogging thing.... (I think I just heard lightning strike somewhere nearby...)

So here's cute pictures of my kids. We went to San Antonio for a few days in December. We really needed a vacation, and we haven't been on a family vacation in a long time. Mostly because we haven't wanted to, to be honest. "Vacation" doesn't really apply with 3 little kids. Staying somewhere other than home is usually exhausting - things aren't baby proofed and the stuff. Oh my goodness. The STUFF needed to take 3 kids anywhere is ridiculous. I need a vacation after a vacation with the kids. But this time was so much fun! They're getting a little older (ok, Kaden's getting a little less "terrible two") and we just had a 3 hour drive. I wasn't sure how much there would be to do with the kids in San Antonio, but there was tons of great stuff to do, and I'm really looking forward to going back again soon. We have a Wyndham timeshare that we were stupid enough to buy several years ago (rip off of an investment and impossible to get rid of, but great places to stay at) so we stayed at Wyndham La Cascada in a nice big Suite. We did the river walk stuff (fortunately we went the week before Christmas Break and we went midweek, so there were no crowds anywhere - I'm sure with crowds that Kaden would get lost and fall into the River!), went to Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, which the kids loved. We hit up free night at their Children's Museum, wandered around the Alamo, saw a 3-D movie, ate dinner at a fancy restaurant, Tower of Americas, one of those tall tower restaurants way up in the air that spins. I think the absolute best part of the trip was the Wild Life Park. You drive through this whole wildlife reserve and feed the animals out of the window. I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard. The zebras nearly climbed into the car! The kids were freaking out. Ok.... I was freaking out. It was just nice to have a few days with Ken off work, and do nothing but relax and play with the kids. Ken works weekends, so his days off are during the week when the kids are in school, and he has late hours and a long drive, so he really only gets about an hour with the kids before bed each night, if he actually gets out of work on time. So the kids loved having all that time with him.

Yes, this is Kaden blowing his sister up with a cannon. The kids are a little morbid!

Tower of the Americas - the Restaurant is at the top of a 750-ft tower and it spins while you eat. The kids loved it.

Oh my gosh, he's really just the cutest thing ever.

That's me actually reading. I thought I'd forgotten how to!

Pumpkins

2009-10-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

But of course... the obligatory pumpkin pictures...

This past Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market at La Centerra. I wanted the kids to pick out pumpkins and I love getting fresh produce from the local farmers there, and there's always some yummy homemade jams or bread. Kaden saw the pumpkins as soon as we walked up, and ran straight for the "big, huge, giant one."

"I want this big, huge, giant one mommy!" He could not get over that big pumpkin. I was really tempted to get it for him, as happy as it made him. I asked him what we would do with a pumpkin that big and he said, "We can get lots of seeds from it!" I'm still tempted to surprise him with one. And in that case, I'll be baking pumpkin pies for everyone we know and we'll be eating pumpkin seeds for months! Look how happy that pumpkin makes him!

And amazingly, I actually got a shot with all three kids smiling!

I also found a treat for myself at the Farmer's Market. I joined an organic produce co-op. I've been wanting to join one for a long time, but it seemed so complicated. But it turns out there's one that brings the orders to La Centerra every other week. The Co-op works where you get organic food at better prices, and you get a selection of whatever fruits and vegetables are bought locally for that week. So, you find out what you're getting the day before. It'll be good for us because we like lots of variety, and it will help introduce me to some new veggies I haven't tried to cook before. This week, for example, they had bok choy. A friends sent me a yummy recipe to use it with shrimp and vermicelli pasta (something else I've never cooked before) and it was so yummy. Incredibly, all the kids loved it. Even Linc, who has been avoiding most vegetables lately. I love how fresh the produce is, knowing that it's locally grown and that it's all toxin-free. We'll see what other food adventures I have with my next order in 2 weeks. We ran into Bama and Great-Grandmother Carol at the Farmer's Market. GG Carol laughed at me as I fed Linc a chocolate chip cookie one of the vendors gave to the kids, while paying for my healthy organic produce. Linc enjoyed every bit of that cookie - well, the bits that didn't end up on his face.

Last week, my friend Erin took Tayla along with her two daughters Avery & Charli to Enchanted Gardens to take pictures with the pumpkins. Look how great they turned out! Thanks Erin!

Then Saturday night we had a Halloween Party at the Smith's. Here's a sneak preview of the cutie patooties' costumes this year...

our "Glam Witch" (but, of course), Hulk (this would be the 2nd year he's been Hulk - what can I say, the kids loves big muscles, like Daddy), and our adorable little skeleton.

I mean really, have you ever seen a more adorable skeleton? I love him in this costume. He wasn't really sure what to think of everyone in their costumes - but he did LOVE my wig.

I was The Octomom... really didn't have to add that many kids to play the part. :-)

We had a nice lazy Sunday. We played at the house, then went to the park.

I LOVE this picture of Linc. He was having so much fun putting on his construction hard hat and using his little saw.

While Kaden cozied up and watched Caillou.

Then it was Kaden's turn to play...

while Linc cozied up.

Tayla had her first Brownie meeting that afternoon, then we went over to Frammy's house for dinner. The kids love playing at Frammy's because they get to spend hours on the four-wheeler and now they also have her new golf cart to ride around on. Tayla got to drive Kaden in the golf cart all by herself - Mom and Bama were a little unsure about that idea, but Frammy was sure it was just fine. Turns out, Tayla's not a bad driver and she avoided crashing into a tree or throwing her brother off (fortunately the golf cart doesn't get going very fast!) Here are some pictures of the kids running around outside and Linc exploring on the golf cart.

Linc found this tiny acorn and he threw it and chased it around over and over again for the longest time. He was adorable as he'd run around looking for it.

Linc loves his big brother and he's starting to want to do everything Kaden does. Outside, Kaden would run around in circles, and Linc would just follow right behind him, not quite understanding the game, but knowing that if big brother was doing it, it must be cool.

Oh, hello again!

2009-10-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

I envy all those moms with their cute pictures uploaded and blogged every day. I tell you, these kids I've got here are so stinkin' cute, and I know the entire world wants to ooh and ahh every their every milestone each day. I just haven't been able to make it work lately. So here's a quick catch-up!

4th of July - What a cute bunch!

Tayla's 1st Day of School

Our beautiful 7 year old.

Linc started walking at 9 1/2 months, he learned to say Dadda at 10 months, wave bye-bye and snap. That's right. At 10 months old, our baby genius started snapping. I'm sure there's a huge future for a child snapping-prodigy. All of these things I have adorable videos for. Yet, I think Blogger has changed and now I can't figure out how to upload videos. Hmmm... next post I guess.

A Tooth!!

2009-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Lincoln cut his first tooth today! We were sitting on my Mother-in-laws patio chatting, when he started chewing on my hand, and suddenly something sharp grazed me. I looked and his bottom right tooth had cut through. Yay! It's no wonder he was so unbelievably needy the last two days and not sleeping through the night anymore. I'm happy it's just the teething, and hopefully we'll go back to sleeping a little more normally again. Although, I think the tooth next to it might be working it's way up next.

He's also started pulling up to stand on everything! So cute b/c he's so tiny. And it's the saddest thing ever when I put him down for a nap, and go back in to check on him and not only is he crying, which tugs on my heart, but now sometimes he's standing up, holding the bars, tiny little legs wobbling as he cries to please rescue him from his prison! Almost impossible not to swoop in and pick him up when you see that! He's also started standing on his own for several seconds at a time. He gets so excited, and he knows he's doing something cool.

Ah... the Beach!

2009-05-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Splash Day @ Preschool

2009-05-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

Kaden's Preschool had Splash Day on the last day of school. This is RIGHT up Kaden's alley. They had a table covered in shaving cream - so simple, but I think I've now found our go-to Summer Activity. He LOVED it. He's always getting into Shampoos and Lotions and Creams at home, dumping out whole bottles and rubbing them all in his hair and on his belly. This was perfect for him b/c he could cover himself in slimy stuff and not get in trouble!

They also had sidewalk paint, Kiddy pools with tons of toys. Kaden didn't pay much attention to all that though - he was content to spend the entire time covering himself with Shaving Cream and Blowing Bubbles. He LOVES bubbles. Going to have to get him one of these huge bubble wands.

And what a better end to the day, than a popsicle with all his friends. Perfect Day for our little Kaden and a nice end to his first year of Preschool. He loves his teachers Miss Jennie and Miss Susan and he'll miss them. His favorite parts of preschool are recess & music time - he's always coming home singing songs, and I can't always tell what the words are, so I was happy to see that the music teacher gave all the kids a CD with her favorite songs from the school year. Kaden loves it and we dance and sing to it all the time now.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

Ken was working, as usual, so I took the kids to dinner with several girlfriends at Clay's Restaurant. They have a sandbox, and tons of animals, and a big open field to run around it, so Kaden was loving it.

Here are our 2008 Babies - Lincoln, Brooklyn & Avery, they're all just a few months apart.

My friend Shanna, with her sweet baby girl Avery, and Me with Linc. Shanna and I saw this picture and realized we look a lot like sisters here!

Little Miss B trying on the worlds largest bow!

Miss B, Kirsten & Sara

Buddies

2009-05-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

We had a really nice day Monday, playing at the park. We took a break to relax in the shade and it was so fun watching the two of them start to play together. Lincoln is developing such a little sense of humor, I think he will be our little comedian. He's always so happy, and laughing. He thinks his big brother is hilarious. This video has me cracking up every time I watch it. Almost as funny as Lincoln's reaction to Kaden, is me - panicking every time b/c I think he's going to get hit in the head, but then not stopping it b/c he's laughing SO hard. Fun over safety, I guess!

He's mobile!!

2009-05-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

Lincoln turned 6 months old 3 days ago, and today he is crawling!!! Yay!!!

But Daddy says...

2009-05-15T20:35:00.001-07:00

I took Kaden to the park today. We walked there with Lincoln in the stroller, Kaden and I enjoying our Otter Pops. I sat Lincoln down on a blanket in the grass, while I read a magazine and Kaden played. Ahhh... the first of many idyllic Summer days.
Suddenly, I noticed Kaden coming towards us, near the grass. I looked up and as it hit me, I yelled "No, no, no!!!" Then I realize there is a mom and her teenage daughter walking past the park and I am drawing more attention to the situation. Kaden has his pants and underwear at his ankles, hands on his peeny-weeney on full display in the middle of our neighborhood, white little booty wiggling as he shuffles (remember, pants at his ankles) over to the grass. I say, (b/c I've now calmed down from screaming) "Honey, we don't pee at the park. Other people don't want to see our privates." while rushing to get everything covered back up. He looks at me and says "No, daddy said I go pee-pee in grass!!". I have Lincoln in one arm, as I struggle to pull up Kaden's underwear with the other, and I'm saying, "No, honey, you have to put your pants back on, we do not go pee-pee at the park!" all the while, very aware that the mom and her daughter have GOT to be watching... and laughing, no doubt.
Then, as loud as he possibly can, he screams "NO, DADDY TOLD ME GO PEE-PEE IN GRASS!!!!"
Thank you Daddy. You thought it was cute in the backyard. But you're at work during the day. It's REAL cute now. Thank you!

Mothers Day & Baby Dedication

2009-05-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

My Mother's Day was wonderful this year. I got Breakfast in bed... at 7am... but there was coffee, and at least I was still in bed at 7 am, instead of rambling around in a daze, trying to get children dressed and get "Pat, Pat" (Little Einsteins) on the tv. Tayla brought me a beautiful and very creative card she made and a little book she also made for me at school. 10 Reasons Why I love my mom... She loves me because, I make her dinner, I'm sweet to her, etc. Oh, and Reason #3? "I love my mom because she's sometimes in a nice mood."
Nice.
Well, at least she looks for the positive in life! (on a side note, I'm not sure which is better, this, or my friend Erin's book, written by her 2nd grader, which says "My Mommy loves my daddy because... he has big feet!")

We tried to take a nice family picture, but this is the best we could get. Kids are so cooperative!

We also had the boys Dedicated on Sunday. Our Church does a Baby Dedication, a scripture is chosen for each child and then the church prays over them, and the family. All the Grandparents came and my brothers and sisters. It was fun having all the family in church with us and a nice way to spend Mother's Day. I was concerned about how our active little Kaden would do up on stage in front of the entire church. This is his first thought about checking out all the fun wires and equipment for the sound system. But once Daddy he held him he was a perfect angel. He waved to the church and gave the pastor a five.The boys were each given their own Bible and Certificates with their scripture on them.
Lincoln's scripture is "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." 1 Corinthians 16:13
Kaden's scripture is "The child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." Luke 2:40
I think both are very fitting. I hope desperately that Kaden will grow and be filled with wisdom and grace! And Lincoln's made me smile where it says "Be strong." I'm sure he'll get that sentiment often. Kaden likes to walk up to me and start playing rough, and when I say, "Ow, that hurts," he says "Be tough, mommy, be tough!"

The Dolan Clan (Kelly's family)

The Glass/Cole/Thom Bunch (Ken's family)

After church both my family and Ken's family had Spaghetti dinner at my Mother in law's house. Ken and I are spoiled. We have the greatest in-laws! My parents and his parents all get along great so we get to do holidays and family stuff together with everyone, and we all enjoy the crowd.

Yep, that's a tattoo on our 6 month old baby.
Once Daddy put Lincoln in this outfit, he just knew it needed some tattoos. He's got a dragon on the left shoulder, just like daddy, and another one on the right.

Daddy & Lincoln

Tayla & Kaden with Cousin Emma.
They love getting in the hot tub at Frammy's house.

Grandma & Lincoln

Kaden gets naked any chance he can find!
I'm pretty sure he's watching to see if Frammy is going to feed the horses.

Ken's brother, Gary & his wife, Erin came in town for the weekend to surprise Mom.

Ken cuddling with his momma - and is that him sucking on his thumb??
Be sure to tell him you saw this picture. He'll thank me ;-)

Muffins with Mom

2009-05-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

We had Muffins with Mom this Tuesday at Kaden's Preschool. We got to eat muffins and juice together upstairs and then we went back to the classrooms where the kids sang a song about moms, and then Kaden gave me a flower in a pot that he had planted, with a cute picture of him and a heart-shaped pin he made for me to wear, that he had decorated all by himself! I think Kaden's favorite part was the chocolate muffins (because of course anything food-related is his favorite!) but I must say, my favorite part was the singing. Kaden was the best singer there!

Working with Daddy

2009-05-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

When Kaden was about 18 months old, Kenny was home with Kaden one day while I was out. Ken really wanted to get the lawn mowed, but he had to figure out someway to do it safely while watching after Kaden - who was VERY mobile and VERY attached to daddy at the time. Kenny's solution was to put Kaden on his shoulders. He mowed the entire lawn with that kid on his shoulders and Kaden LOVED it! I remember Kaden could hardly sit up on Daddy's Shoulders by himself, so Kenny would hunch over makign it easier for Kaden to balance. Well,Daddy had no idea what he started! After that, every time Kenny got out the mower, Kaden wanted on his shoulders! I think it was his absolute favorite thing to do. We couldn't even walk through the garage without Kaden running over to the lawn mower, saying "Daddy mow! Daddy mow!"

So Kaden hs gotten bigger and after a year of adding 30 lbs to his weekly mow, Ken decided it was time to find a better solution. Here's how they mow the lawn now!

Tayla's Birthday

2009-04-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

I can not believe my baby girl is 7. It's weird that it has actually been that long. I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with her (September 11, 2001, actually) and it doesn't seem that long ago. Yet, at the same time, a LOT has changed. Tayla was the sweetest little baby. She was only 6 lbs when she was born and she has stayed teeny-tiny. Everywhere I went people would ooh and ahh over her and those BIG eyes. Bias or not, she really was a beautiful baby. And she's still as beautiful as ever. She's developing such a big personality. She's every bit a "Girly-Girl", as she calls it. She loves fashion, and is very serious about choosing her clothes. I've already been told in no uncertain terms that my fashion knowledge does not stand up to hers!

Here's my Birthday Interview with Tayla:
What's your Favorite Color? Red
Favorite Food? Mom's Spaghetti
Who's your Best Friend? Bailey (from her class at school)
What's your Favorite Thing to Do? Dance, I mean Sing! Ok, Sing & Dance!
What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? a Teacher
What Grade? First
What's the best thing that happened this year? My Birthday

Tayla celebrated her Birthday on Sunday at Incredible Pizza. She had a blast! I had.. um... stress (they were so unorganized). But all in all it was a great day and the kids really loved it. It's a huge play center with arcades, go-karts, bumper cars, huge buffet and several themed dining rooms. Her favorite part was the Go-Kart race, where she teamed up with Mommy and we won 1st Place!!!

Old School

2009-03-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I wish I had more time to sit down and blog. There are all sorts of things that I would love to blog about, but there's not a lot of free time to sit down at the computer. Computer time must be limited b/c I can't leave Kaden running around the house on his own. There's lots of exciting new stuff happening in the Glass house this week, but I'm sure I'll only have time to tell about a few.
Kenny called me this week while at work and told me that his GI bill would expire in August, so if he didn't enroll in classes before then, he'd lose it. The GI Bill is a wonderful benefit of military service. It will actually pay him monthly income in addition to the actual cost of tuition. You just can't let an opportunity like that go! It's funny b/c he's talked about using his GI bill for years, but we've always been "too busy". I guess we thought life would get less busy than it is in your early 20's as you're just starting out a family? So we were too busy then, but NOW, with a 6 yr old, and a very "high maintenance" 2 yr old and infant, we've got all the time in the world! haha We might be crazy. But I'm happy that he's choosing to do this now. There will never be an easy time to go to school while supporting a family, but if anyone can manage it, Ken can. He's Super Daddy.
And in other big news, Kaden is Potty Trained!!! YAY!!!! This is probably one of the most exciting times in my life! He finally just gets it. Hallelujah. Two kids in diapers is ridiculous. I'm happy to be down to just one. It's certainly streamlined my diaper bag issue - I'm constantly switching b/w anywhere from 1 to four bags, depending on what we're doing and if the boys are staying with me, or going to grandmas, or different classes at church. I have to have two of everything. But now, I've been able to send Kaden off on his own with no diaper bag! Love it!!

4 Months! Hooray!

2009-03-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Lincoln turned 4 months old yesterday. It's amazing how much faster things go, the more kids I have! It has just flown by. I feel like I'm missing stuff. Not marking enough milestones, taking enough pictures. He's such a sweet baby. He seems to be a little more temperamental than the other two. He's easily bothered by loud noises, and he likes toys with bright colors and lights, but only for very short periods of time, and then he melts down. Poor little man gets overstimulated. Up until just recently, he couldn't stand toys that make noise. Like his bouncer that sings songs and plays music. He would get hysterical if I turned the sound on.
Another fantastic milestone here at 4 months - this one for mommy. Today, I am wearing my good old size 2 jeans again!!! Yay!!! And they look pretty good, I must say. I thought size 2 would never be back again, so this is a big big day for me! I've still got lots of toning to do, but it was a surprise today when it occurred to me that my size 4's have been nearly falling off for weeks, and pulled out a brand new pair of size 2's - and they fit!! I bought jeans while I was pregnant - Old Navy had a $7 jean sale, didn't want to pass up on the great price, but wasn't sure what size I'd be after the 3rd baby, so I bought 2 pair size 4 and 2 pair size 2, realizing the size 2 would probably collect dust forever or until they were completely out of style. (P.S. If anyone wants 2 pair of cute size 4 jeans for a steal, let me know!!) So I'm back to me again. It feels good. My pants finally fit, and now I'm ready to go shopping! During the pregnancy I also cleaned out my closet, got rid of everything I've been keeping in their for years, all the clothes that are too worn out or out of style. I was left with like 8 shirts. Spending 2 years being pregnant over the last 3 years, pretty much everything needed to go. So I need to start fresh now. I refused to go buy a whole new wardrobe until I had gotten rid of the baby weight - but looks like I can at least buy my normal size now! Who wants to go shopping?? Sorry Ken - Better get selling!!!! ;-)

Okay, let's try this again...

2009-03-12T20:59:00.001-07:00

So I started a blog. And then I couldn't figure it out. I know. What's there to figure out? It's not that complicated. But I was at the end of my pregnancy, exhausted, super busy trying to keep up with Kaden and keep my house from becoming officially zoned a disaster area and grumpy. I didn't have the time. I like to write. I don't think I'm great at it. But I have lots of thoughts and ideas I'd like to share all the time, so I think Blogging is a good hobby for me. Although, I don't really have time for any hobbies right now. I make hobbies out of the things that need to be done. Cooking, for example. These kids keep wanting to be fed... every day... multiple times a day! It just never ends. So, I'm learning to make that a hobby. My hobbies used to be laying out at the pool, shopping, regular manis and pedis, shoes... oh how I loved buying shoes, dancing, margarita and fajita tasting. I had some nice hobbies. But these days... well, let's just say having the clerks frown at you as your 2 year old pulls shoes of the shelf box by box, kinda takes the fun out of it. So I have new hobbies. As I said before. I think Blogging is good for me. I can be interesting sometimes. I just don't know how much time I'll have to keep up!! Can you Blog from a Palm phone? If that's possible, I think I can make this work.
So back to my original point. I started this blog, and then didn't want to spend the time to figure it out. But I recently began a blog for a Freezer Cooking Group I organized, and I spent a little time figuring it out, and now i want to learn more. As I've started reading other peoples blogs, turns out everyone I know has a bog, and I didn't even know it! So to Jenny and Laura and Katherine who commented on my previous posts: I never knew you had commented until now! Katherine - so excited to see your blog, you're just the cutest happiest thing! And Laura, I didn't tell anyone I had a blog yet b/c all I had figured out to do was post! I didn't even know how to share the blog. Children are making me slow... :-)
So, here's the a new start to my blog. Tomorrow I will learn how to add pictures. I have tons of cute ones of these babies!!

New Years!

2009-01-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

What a year 2008 has been! My resolution for 2009, figure out this blogging thing! The kids are always doing or saying the cutest things and I think to myself, "I need to write that down!" and yet, I never do. I don't know that I'll ever have time to do the elaborate and gorgeous scrapbooks that my mom does, but in the meantime, I can blog, and record all the fun memories. So for my blogging friends - HELP! I need a lesson and some tips. I don't even know how to put pictures on here!
This year Kenny and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary, Tayla turned 6, Kaden turned (and Kenny and I learned truly where the term "Terrible Two's" comes from, we didn't get it with Tayla), I convinced Kenny that we were ready for another baby and little Lincoln arrived in November. Kenny and I learned to live on 1 hour of sleep, achieved in brief 15 minute periods over the night. We changed 100's of diapers, we've cleaned thousands of messes, and we've laughed and laughed over the adorable things these kids do.
We celebrated at home with the kids. We made our own pizzas - Mommy and Tayla topping ours together and Daddy and Kaden topping theirs. Ours had lots of olives b/c Daddy and Kaden do NOT like olives, but the girls do. Then we went outside to watch the neighbors pop fireworks. Tayla was TERRIFIED. She refused to come outside, which was funny b/c the last time she was scared of fireworks was when she was 2 years old! We toasted to the New Year along with Rio (at 10pm our time!) and Tayla got to toast her sparkling grape juice in a crystal Champagne glass. Then we all went to bed! It was a nice way to spend the New Year.

Appauling

2008-10-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

I watched this and was appauled!! But I'm always very careful to be sure of facts before I make opinions, especially in politics, b/c things are so often twisted and skewed one way or another. I wanted to see the facts on Obama's actual vote here, and see what moer there is to the story. Now I've looked at the facts and now I'm even more sure of where I stand.

I've known that Obama voted "present" 54% of the time in the Illinois Senate, but I didn't fully understand the importance of it. Sounded to me like he's just not doing anything - but it's even worse than that.
"Because it takes affirmative votes to pass legislation in the Illinois Senate, a "present" vote is tantamount to a "no" vote. A "present" vote is generally used to provide political cover for legislators who don't want to be on the record against a bill that they oppose." (from RealClearPolitics.com article). Not to mention that as a Senator, and certainly as a president it is your elected position to look at issues, determine what your constituents want and vote on their behalf!!
When you look at all the many issues that he voted "present" on - it tells a lot about the politician and "leader" that he is. He essentially voted No on really important issues, while hiding behind a "present" vote, so he wouldn't have to upset any sides or make any stands. But then Obama himself says this in his announcement speech "What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics - the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions,"

The Born Alive Infant Protection Act is one of the issues that he opposed by voting "present" to 3 times! Even after it was passed by every other democrat and republican in the House of Representatives! It really disgusts me that people will be so ignorant to vote for this guy without really looking into what kind of a job history he has so far, and the kind of political leadership he's provided - the president can't vote PRESENT! He voted against protecting infants, but didn't even have the leadership to stand up and say "No I'm against this and here's why!" He simply hid in the corner refusing to be pinned down on making any change! I guess if your strategy is to get into the Presidency and then make drastic changes that the majority of Americans would never support, the best plan is to stay under the radar, don't stand for or against anything that's not mainstream, then you can spout lots of fluff and give great speeches and deny any and all beliefs so no one can disagree with you. Great Leader. Great.

Someone who is voting for Obama, PLEASE explain to me why. I started out very open minded, I listened to him at the Deomcratic National Convention and I agreed with much of what he had to say. I thought, I may be able to support this guy, he's hitting on great points, he sure looks and sounds like a phenomenal leader! But then I started lookign into the facts, his history, the focus and direction of his political career thus far. The direction he's been going for the 3 years he's been a politician is horrifying! I hear peopel say they like Obama b/c he's going to bring Change. It's a great political slogan, but what the hell does that mean? Anyone will bring change - but how? What kind of change has he brought so far? NOT GOOD change. He worked closely with Acorn, who was one of the primary organizations responsible for so many of these sub-prime loans - they sued banks who would not offer loans to people who couldn't afford them, and now Obama is cursing the evil banks who took advantage of Americans by offering sub-prime loans. He was the attorney suing them when they wouldn't!!!!
I could go on and on, but I have other things to do. Before anyone goes out an votes for this guy, I hope you fully understand his work experience, and his political positions and support and that you have researched who is backing him and where his campaign money has come from. Look at what those supporters would have to gain from those huge contributions. You don't think those are smart business decisions for those investors? They're not doing it b/c he's going to fight against them and help you.

36 Weeks!

2008-10-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

I'm 36 weeks today! That means I'm Full term (The baby's lungs should be developed by now and if labor started now, we wouldn't be worried about his development) - this is also a good milestone b/c it means we're on track for my homebirth. Anything sooner than that, the risk is higher, and I'd go to the hospital. We're now ready for a healthy and natural birth whenever the baby is. I hate still calling him "The Baby", but we've yet to find him a name. I'm runnign out of time quickly, so we're trying ot get a short list. Right now my short list has about 30 names, and I'm not even sure if I really like half of them! His middle name will be James, after my dad and grandpa, but that's as much as we have. Kenny and I are struggling to find a name we both like. I think boy names are much mroe difficult than girl names - especially for me b/c I don't want the traditional names. I'm hoping that by the end of this week I'll have it narrowed down to 5 names, and then if I can't decide further, maybe we'll get some inspiration from him when he's born.
I got my birth kit in the mail last night, and that's exciting for me! It's just another marker that we're almost there. The Birth Kit is supplies that I order that we'll need on hand for the birth (bulb syringes, sterile gloves, blue waterproof pads to protect floor and bedding - pretty much all the supplies that you "use up" in the hospital). All the equipment like the dopplers and oxygen, the midwife brings. The only other things we need to be ready to have this baby tomorrow is a birth tub (which we rent, we jsut have to pick it up this week) and a couple minor supplies I need to gather up. So I'm just about ready to go and I'm excited!
I'm starting to get braxton hicks contractions quite often this week. I love it, it's such a weird feeling when it tightens up so much and it just reminds me that my body is getting ready. At my midwife appointment this week she tested me for Group B strep, while she was down there I asked her to see if I'd started dilating at all, we had just looked at my chart from Kaden's birth and seen that at this point with him I was dilated 2 cm (it was 5 more weeks until he was born), so I wanted to compare. I am 1.5 cm dilated with this one. So I'm going to keep planning on at least another 5 more weeks, but no matter how hard i try, I can't help but hope that he'll come sooner. With Kaden I thought I was in labor at one point b/c I ws having really regular contractions, but they didn't hurt. I dilated to 6cm adn then things pretty much stopped. I was at 6cm for 3 days before real labor started. So I realize that my body likes to start preparing ahead of time. I'm going to try not to get excited as I dilate more!
Next week I have my Home Visit with my midwife. SHe'll come ot the house adn we'll make sure we have all the supplies we need and talk in more detail about what I want for the birth. This is my favorite part of homebirth - I tell everyoen else how I want things to go, instead of the doctors telling me how it will be. Who do I want there, where do I want to do it, Do I want music, dim lights, do I want my water broken or left alone, do I want food and if so what do I want. It's one time where everything is really completely all about what I feel is best. I have lots of decisions to make this week too...
Kaden's up from his nap, so I'm done here. I'll post more soon!

Grocery Shopping

2008-09-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ugh. I'm planning our menus for this week - something that I've found cuts back on our grocery bill quite a bit and makes my week so much simpler b/c i know what to cook and have everything I need. But sometimes, like this week, it's just a pain in the butt. I've used menu planning websites and cookbooks that do most of the planning work for you and I love that. However, sometimes they don't quite fit into our healthy eating diet. So I've been planing menus one my own lately. Kaden is lactose intolerant. A specialist said he was ok to have cheese and yogurt b/c the amount of lactose is so low in those. However, he's still been getting sick, so now we're back to strictly no dairy at all. There's dairy in everything. I have to really be conscious of it when cooking dinner b/c so many recipes we love have dairy in them. Now it turns out, I'm on a NO-CARB diet for the rest of my pregnancy. Great, so I have to plan meals that the whole family will like, using no dairy and no carbs, while not getting completely bored of grilled chicken and veggies. And good luck finding someone elses weekly menu plan that doesn't include dairy or carbs. Ken doesn't know yet that I'll be cutting carbs from my cooking yet. We already eat only complex carbs, and I guess I could still cook brown rice and stuff for the rest of the family. But at least for now, while I adjust, I'm not going to be able to cook it without eating it. So my shopping list this week consists of chicken, shrimp, some canned beans, lactose free milk, eggs and 18 different kinds of vegetables. Just one more complication to a chore I don't particularly love - Except for when I'm getting FREE stuff with my coupons!

09/19/08
I'm 30 weeks now, so ten more weeks to go until we become a family of five. FIVE! Wow. That sounds big. All and all this has been a great pregnancy, once I got past the first 3 1/2 months. I remember full well that it's the last two months that are really difficult, and about this weekend is when I've started to really feel very LARGE. He's getting big and I'm noticing it more and more.
This past weekend we were just North of Austin at our friends Erin and Brad's Lake house. We weren't plannign to be evacuees, but Ike came in teh same time we were plannign ot head out, so it worked out well for us. I feel a little guilty to say that I spent the weekend on a boat, getting a tan and relaxing with my husband (who, thanks to Ike, got to take a weekend off and come with us!!) Saturday night while we were there, I woke Kenny up to my sudden cry of pain - I was jolted from my sleep when the baby kicked me and the pain was so sharp and sudden I felt like I might throw up. Like he's holding knives between his toes in there! There were a few other times when he moved past that spot and again, it hurt. I was worried Sunday morning, but we were leaving the Lake House and had packing and cleaning and driving to do, so I tried to ignore it. By that evening I was getting myself stressed out about it, imagining the pain was from my placenta tearing away and becoming more and more convinced that he was moving less than normal. I called Cathy, my midwife, and after describing everything, she told me that it was not anything to panic over - apparantly he bruising me from the inside out! Not a fun feeling. I swear he likes to stretch out completely in there. Sometimes I'll feel him pushing his foot out so hard, I have to actually put my hand there adn push it back to keep him form hurting me. Cathy says it's not extremely common, but it happens, and she's even had women who have gotten cracked ribs from babies kicking so hard!! I'm starting to think this little guy and Kaden are going to have a lot of fun together!
Which reminds me - we had our 4D ultrasound last week! It was so fun. I'll be sharing those pictures soon! We have the whole thing on DVD, so I'm going to get someone to help me edit out a few scenes and post them. He opened his mouth and started chewing on his fist. The 4D ultrasound is amazing, you can see his tongue, he even opened his eye and you can actually see the iris! We saw fuzzy hair on his head, and got some great shots of his face and despite all my hopes that one day I'd get a child that looked anything like me - he looks EXACTLY like Kaden, same mouth same nose. So, I'm preparing myself for another little Mini-Kenny. Ah... guess this just means I'll have to try one more time! Just have to see if I can convince my sister to carry the baby for me - I'm not up for doing this pregnancy again for a LONG time!