Come Play With Us

My Daddy-By Big Sis

Big Sis and I did a project for Daddy for Father's Day.  Her answers were so darn cute, that I thought I should share.
My Daddy

My Daddy is  __3 __years old.  His hair is    brown but his hair is not blue.    My Daddy's eyes are ___blue.      My Daddy likes to wear ___boy clothes.        My Daddy loves to eat    basanga wis some red sauce.  But some red sauce makes me itchy.  I have poison ivy on my neck.    My Daddy is smart because he knows   how to do everysing.    My daddy works hard on    his wowter table.    Daddy always tells me    sings and naughty sings.  Nice words.  He say "Hi". (spoken in a deep daddy voice)      I make my Daddy happy when I    play and give him smiles.  That makes him happy.   I read stories with Daddy like    Cookie's Week.  Berenstein Bears.  I like that one too.     If I could give my daddy anything, it would be     a big family hug.  Hugs and kissies.     I really love it when Daddy    hugs me.       My favorite thing about my Daddy is     play, play, play!      

The Sweetest Ending

Some days as a parent are more challenging than others.  Anyone with kids knows this.  

Today I had a crazy busy day at work, so I arrived home a little short on patience.

Our nanny told me when I got home that Big Sis had pushed Little Dude down on the sidewalk.  Big Sis has really been pushing the limit lately on almost everything.  

My dinner menu told me that we were supposed to have soup and sandwich this evening.  I haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping this week thanks to work (usually Monday I shop).  

Both girls were in pretty grouchy moods and not interested in eating the "sandwich sampler"& leftover green bean dinner I threw together.  There was a lot of whining going on.

After three rounds of wrestling and 5 minutes of hysterics, I finally had Little Dude in her jammies.  It was 10 minutes before bedtime for her, but the poor thing was really tired.  So I left Big sis in my bedroom watching Man vs. Food (one of her favorite shows), and put Little Dude to bed.  

***My little one isn't always much of a cuddle bug, but tonight she just nestled right in, grabbed my hand and started rubbing it on her cheek.  She was out in about 2 minutes.  

I went back to my room to find Big Sis tormenting our cat, Vern, who seemed to be running low on patience himself. 

So we watched the rest of the M v. F episode and it was off to bed with her too.  Since she moved into a twin bed a few nights ago, I have been cuddling up with her and reading her stories with her in bed.  We read Annie Bananie and Noisy Nora tonight. 

Then I shut off her light and she tells me:

BS:  Sank you, Mama

Me:  For what?

BS:  For all da wonderful sings you did to me

Then she grabs my hand and smells it.

Me: What are you doing?

BS:  Smellin your hand.

Me:  Why?

BS:  Because you smell like you, Mama.  Because you smell so nice.

I swear, whenever I have  a hard day and struggle with patience and parenting, then night ends up having the sweetest ending.  

 

15 Reasons Why I Love My Husband

1.  He loves his girls more than anything. (all of us)

2.  He works so hard for his family

3.  He is my "Handy Andy":  He can build me anything I ask for.

4.  He tries to fix Big Sis's hair, even though his hands don't really work that way.

5.  He started reading books for leisure after he met me.

6.  He makes me breakfast sandwiches that are SO good.

7.  He supports my crazy money saving/earth saving/chemical reducing ideas.

8.  He doesn't play Fantasy Football.

9.  He is the kindest person I know.  

10.  He makes sacrifices every day for his family. 

11.  He has the most gorgeous eyes.

12.  He never does anything half-way, and always does things they way they should be done.

13.  He does the dishes almost every night.

14.  He has a Hockey Taz tattoo. 

15.  He makes me laugh.

 

MTM-Rainbows

It is Monday, and at our house, that means Muffin Tin Monday!

We did a Rainbow theme today.  

1. Red:  Ketchup with Venison strips

2. Orange:  Honey Glazed Carrots

3.  Yellow:  Pineapple

4.  Green:  Salad with Cucumber

5.  Blue:  Blueberries

6.  Purple:  Grapes

A bonus M&M rainbow in the middle (used brown instead of purple-oh well).  The girls both ate their M&Ms and most of the fruit.  C ate all of her venison too.  E liked the carrots, but C did NOT, and gagged after 3.  I thought she was going to lose her supper...Yikes!

Daddy took the girls outside to play in the snowbank and the swingset today. It was a pretty warm day, around 35 degrees or so.

We also did a bonus MTM last Friday that was mainly just to use up a bunch of leftovers:

Yogurt, Kiwi, Chicken noodle soup, Green beans, Macaroni and Cheese, and Avocado.  

I am linking up over at Muffin Tin Mom.  Go check it out for more great MTMs!

Princess Wishes

C and I had a "Mommy and Me" afternoon today.  I was able to get discounted tickets to Disney on Ice Princess Wishes through my work, so I planned us a little afternoon date.

We went to Leo's Grill and Malt Shop for lunch and shared a super yummy Chocolate Banana shake.  I had a cheeseburger and chips, and C asked for chicken nuggets and fries.  The burger and shake were great, but a little spendy I thought.

Then it was off to the big city to see Princess Wishes.  

Normally, C always wants to watch a movie on long car rides, but today she spent the whole hour in the car looking through her Barbie and the Diamond Castle book.  

When we got to the event, I bought C a ridiculously overpriced snow cone ($12--ugh I am embarassed to admit), and then we went and found our seats.  

We had a really great time and it was SO much fun seeing how excited C got each time a different Princess came out.  

I asked Andy how his evening was with E, and he said they had a nice time, he took her for a walk, and played on the swings for a little while.  He did say that she was looking for her big sis, and went into C's room and was looking in the bed for her.  

The first thing C said when we got home was "Where is my little sister?"  

It isn't very often that our two girls are apart.  They are absolutely best friends, but I do think it is good for them to have separate time with Andy and I.  

Menu Plan 3/5

I really stocked up on Frozen foods and other stuff a week ago at Target, so I am trying to get by the rest of March with only buying Produce, Milk, other Dairy, and necessities for the menu.  I will have to make a run to the store later today, but plan on not spending more than $50 on groceries this week.  I am also making a big effort to reduce the amount of food waste we are making as a family.  

Here our Menu for this week.

Today

B: Oatmeal and grapes

L:  Sliders, french fries and applesauce

D:  Spaghetti and garlic bread

Sunday

B:  French toast and sausage

L:  Crackers, cheese, salami and grapes

D:  Cora and Mommy Date, Daddy and Elin Date

Monday

B:  Scrambled eggs and hashbrowns

L:  Tuna sandwich, banana slices

D:  Muffin Tin Monday

Tuesday

B: Oatmeal and fruit

L:  Frozen Pizza and Peas

D:  Apricot Drumsticks, Mashed Potatoes and Corn

Wednesday

B:  Cereal and fruit

L:  Fish Sticks, Sliced Peaches

D:  Chicken Stir Fry, Brown Rice

Thursday

B:  Yogurt and Kashi Cereal Bar

L:  Grilled Cheese and Chicken Noodle Soup

D:  Pan Fried Walleye, Green Beans, Rice Pilaf

Friday

B:  Jelly Toast and Applesauce

L:  Cheese and Corn Quesadilla, fresh fruit

D:  Leftovers or takeout (depending on how much leftovers there are)

 

 

Winter Fun

Just thought I would post a few pictures from last weekend and the unseasonably warm temperatures!

Climbing the steps on the swingset

Oh how we missed our swings

Daddy pulling C in the sled

mmm, hot dog cooked over the campfire

 

Sliding down the BIG hill

Treat after lots of fresh air: Strawberries and whipped cream

E is really loving this!

 

MTM-Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  We celebrated all together this evening with Muffin Tin Monday, and Valentine themed dinner.  This was E's first MTM with an actual muffin tin, and she actually did quite well with it.  

So both the girls had:

1.  Grape tomato

2. Pineapple hearts

3.  Watermelon hearts

4.  BBQ sauce with ketchup 

5.  BBQ Chicken heart pocket

6.  Berry applesauce with sprinkles, served with a straw.

They both went straight for the applesauce.  That is definitely a favorite!  Most of the fruit was eaten, E was dipping her pineapple in her BBQ sauce.  Neither girl was into the chicken pastry.  Oh well.  I wasn't that into it either.  Check out more fun muffin tins here.

Here are the girls in the valentine shirts that C and I made last week.  I was glad Daddy remembered to put the shirts on them this morning!

Andy and I agreed to do only homemade gifts for each other this year.  I came home to a card that had the following poem written in it:

'Roses are Red

Violets are blue

We love you more

Than dessert.'

This means a LOT in our house!  

Andy's gift was a really great cherry cake from TidyMom.  Recipe is found here.

I made the buttercream frosting with soy milk, so E could enjoy it as well. 

Andy's comment about the cake was, "You can definitely make this again!"

 

Valentine's Stuff

C and I talked earlier this week about how Valentine's day is a special day to show the people we love how much we love them, even though we show it every day.  I asked her if she had any ideas of how she would like to show her daddy and E how much she loves them.  She told me that she would like to make her daddy a cake, and that she would let E play with her barbies.

I picked up a little wooden heart picture frame for a dollar at Michael's on Tuesday, so C painted it and put some glittery heart stickers on it for her daddy for Valentines.  I have to get a picture of the girls to put into the frame for him.  

I am interested to see where daddy decides to put this spangly picture frame :)

We also made some really cute Valentine's shirts for the girls.  I had picked up a couple plain long sleeve shirts at Target on clearance. We used fabric paint and painted on some paper heart shaped doilies, and then pressed them onto the shirt to make a lacy heart print.  

I was supposed to wash the shirts first, but didn't, so hopefully it holds up to a wash.  I meant to take a few pictures of the process, but was didn't really manage that because of trying to keep the paint from getting EVERYWHERE.  

So here is the final product.

C's:

She looks so proud of herself!  Here is E's shirt:

I will share a picture of the girls in their V-Day shirts coming up!

 

 

UGH

So I have not been keeeping up very well with my goal to post more regularly on my blog.  Not to be all excusey, but I have been SO busy!

The hubs and I decided it was time to get off our fat butts and do something about it.  We started P90X a week ago.  It has kind of thown our whole world off kilter as we adust to going from not working out at all to working out an hour a day.  We have been tired, sore, tired, sore, tired....ok I guess I get my point across, right.  Ugh, I am so sore.  

Tony Horton, I hate you.  Thank you for helping me get in shape.  And stop saying Bring It.  Please.