The Party...

Potty training is off to a good start. Last night and today haven't been so great, but really I didn't expect them to be since she had friends over last night and today, and I've been completely preoccupied with having company. Starting was the key, and now I can check that off my list :).

So on to the fun stuff... Alaina's Valentine's Day party was a blast. She really outdid herself with preperations. She had different stations set up for the kids (there were 18 kids in all!!!): one where they made a bag to carry their Valentine's in, one to put together their own heart shaped pizza, one to color Valentine pictures, and one to decorate cookies. Everything looked so festive and fun - especially the lunch table. Kathryn had a ball, and I could hardly keep her awake on the way home - even with the sugar high :).

Here she is decorating her cookies. They ended up being more full of sprinkles than cookie :)

Olivia wasn't too sure about all the excitement, but she was sure that the cookies were pretty good.
These are Andrew & Alaina's cute little boys, the hosts, Patrick & Calvin
The fancy table with heart shaped everything...
This is Emily. She loved Olivia! She kept giving her hugs and kisses, and she was so sweet.
Kathryn has a sixth sense for picking out the grandma in every group. I don't know how she does it. Here she is with Calvin and Patrick's grandma :)
Our hostess, Alaina.... Thank you so much for such a fun morning!!!

This is what we're doing today

I have so much to do. I am so many posts behind. I'm having 13 people over for supper tonight. But for some unknown reason, I decided to tackle this project today. The time had just come, and I couldn't put it off anymore. I won't be dissapointed if we don't fully succeed today, I just had to start sometime, and today was as good as any. We had SUCH a fun Valentine's Day, and the party at Alaina's was a blast. I WILL post pictures... but it will have to be later :). I also owe you and you phone calls and emails and I WILL get to those SOON! I miss talking to you!!!

No, I'm not training Olivia today too, she's just along for moral support :)

The day full of PINK

Valentine's Day happens to be my favorite holiday, not because of the overpriced candy and flowers, but mainly because pink is my favorite color :) - shallow, I know. This year will be extra exciting because the girls were invited to their first ever Valentine's party at their friends Calvin & Patrick's house. Kathryn is beside herself with excitement, asking every day if this is the day for the "birthday party". She and I have been working for the past week making valentines. Seeing my daughter enjoy crafting as much as I do really warms my heart :). She wanted to make them "all by herself" and as hard as it was for me to see her misplacing things, I let her. After about the third one she really got the hang of it and started putting them together a lot better than I thought she would be able to!

The finished product... She was so proud of herself. Every time she would finish one she would turn to me and say, "You never said 'dood job', Mom!!!" :)

Last night Kathryn came running into the bathroom where I was getting ready. She was all out of breath, and she said, "Mom, I have a sensational idea!!! Let's have some TANDY!!!" (candy) WHERE in the world did she learn the word sensational? I don't think I've ever said that word in my life! Crazy, crazy girl... She'll try anything in the world to get candy :)

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: White Chicken Chili (see below for recipe), tortilla chips/salsa

Tuesday: Beef Stew, Rice

Wednesday: Lasagna, Salad

Thursday: Polish Sausage Soup, Cheddar Bay Bisquits

Friday: Homemade Pizza & Breadsticks (we're having some friends over for dinner and I'll probably ask one family to bring salad and one to bring dessert)

Saturday: Brad said not to plan anything :) :)

This week I'll share the White Chicken Chili recipe. My sister Heidi is the one who introduced us to it, but I think it was originally a Taste of Home chili cookoff winner. It is SO good! Actually, this is my first time to make it, so let's hope it's as good as we remember ;)

White Chicken Chili

4 15oz cans great northern beans

1 medium onion

3 tsp garlic powder

18 oz chopped green chile

4 tsp cumin

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp cayenne pepper powder

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 lbs. bite-size pieces chicken

29 oz chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 & 1/2)

16 oz sour cream

1 bag tortilla chips

Cook chicken and saute with onion and garlic Before serving add cream and sour cream. Cook about 5 minutes longer.

Crumble tortilla chips in bottom of each bowl before serving.

(These are all the directions that I got. I'm assuming you just throw all the other stuff in the pot :). Heidi, you'll have to add any "secrets" you have in my comments section.)

Confession

I'm not posting my menu plan this week because mostly I'm carrying over last week's menu. Between eating upstairs with the Babcock's, eating at Mom's, Brad not getting home until too late, and eating a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden with the Falk's, I only cooked two times last week!! As a result, I hardly had to do any shopping this week, so we're going to splurge on Thursday night and make dinner for the Babcock's, Mom & Dad, and Josh & Heidi in honor of Dad's birthday.

Jessica and Rosie both suggested that I share some of my recipes. I'll try to do better at that! I love when people include a new recipe or two with their menu plans! In fact, Amy has linked Emeril's Tortilla Soup recipe on her blog this week, and we will definitely be trying that soon! And of course, Alaina always has great new recipes up on her recipe blog. You can also always search on Organizing Junkie for tons more menu planning and recipe ideas!

Lime Chicken

This recipe came from Brad's Mom, and we absolutely love it! It is so easy to make, and I almost always have the stuff on hand for it. This is one of the girls' favorite meals!

4 Chicken Breasts, salted and peppered - I usually filet mine so they are nice and thin
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
2-3 limes, juiced
1 stick Butter
1 tsp. chives, minced
1 tsp. dill weed

In large frypan, place oil and heat to medium temperature. Add chicken and saute about 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 10 minutes or until fork tender. Remove chicken and keep warm, drain off oil and discard. In same frypan, add lime juice and cook over low heat until juice begins to bubble. Add butter stirring until butter becomes opaque. Stir in chives and dill weed. Spoon sauce over chicken.


Granola

One of our Tennessee friends, Marcie, brought this to us when Kathryn was born and we've been making it regularly ever since. Brad and I love it as a cereal, and the girls love it just for a snack. The great thing about it is you just start with the basic recipe, then use your imagination and add whatever you like to it (or whatever you have on hand :)!

4 Cups Oats
1 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut
1 Cup Nuts, chopped (I prefer pecans or peanuts, Mom prefers walnuts :)
1 Cup Honey
2/3 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
Other ideas: raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, seseme seeds

Bake at 300 for 20 minutes, stir, then bake for another 10 minutes

We take ours out right at 30 minutes because I like mine to be chewy. This is just a crumble kind of granola. You can also make it into bars by pressing it firmly into a 9x13 baker before cooking. It is still a little crumbly, though, so we prefer to just eat it crumbled.

Kathryn Funnies

A taste of my own medicine...

Kathryn: (carrying over pretend food) "Mom, would you like to have a french fry?"
Me: "Oh yes, please!"
Kathryn: "Well, you'll have to eat your chicken first. Do you want some chicken?"
Me: "Yes, thank you" (pretend eating chicken)
Kathryn: "Okay, now you may have your fries."

Practice what you preach...

Olivia: (playing in the bathroom getting out all of the bath toys)
Kathryn: "Olivia, this is a MESS! Do not get out any more toys until you pick some of these UP!!!"

Role confusion...

(on our way home from a shopping outing - last week after our shopping outing we went to Mom and Dad's for the afternoon)
Kathryn: "I think we should go to Mom and Dad's now."
Me: "Where?"
Kathryn: "To Mom and Dad's! You know, to see Nana and PawPaw! Maybe we could eat yunch (lunch) there."

One more role confusion...

(Brad engrossed in the computer)
Kathryn: "Dad, watch this!"
Brad: (no response)
Kathryn: "Untle Bad (Uncle Brad), watch this!"
Brad: (no response)
Kathryn: "Badley Pettes, watch this!!!"
Needless to say, that got his attention :-)

CVS Weekly Deals and Cute Kids ;)

The girls and I just made our weekly CVS run, and came out pretty good this week! After our "big outing" we went to McDonald's and had some double cheeseburgers and fries. This is the second week in a row that we've done that, and I'm thinking that we'll just make that a tradition. After all that we save at CVS, I think we can afford the $3.21 splurge ;-)



CVS Deal:
1 bottle Irish Spring Body Wash
1 bottle Softsoap Body Wash
1 bottle Garnier Fructis Conditioner
5 bottles low dose Aspirin (for Dad ;)
2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste
2 bags of m&m's
1 Maybelline trio eyeshadow

Total before coupons $34.45
-Manufacturers coupons and CVS coupons (8.75)

Total $25.70, and I got $25.43 back in ECBs, so I got all of this for only
$0.27!!!

And now some pictures of some kids we think are kinda cute...

This is the girls' favorite spot to watch T.V. They get these two little chairs and prop them up on the table, then sit up there to watch! Which, by the way, Kathryn thanks God every night for her T.V. when she says her prayers. If she forgets, as I'm walking out the door she'll say, "I never say thank you for the TV!!!", then we have to start all over again :)

I have been so bad lately about posting/taking pictures of the girls! I know most of you don't really care what we're having for supper, or how much I paid for my last brownie mix :). Sorry that my posts have mostly been along those lines lately. I hope to find a balance, but have just been so busy lately that keeping up with my menu planning and budget is all I've had time for!

This is the girls new trick. Olivia discovered it and just thought it was hilarious. Now it's her favorite way to drink :)

My favorite cousin, Shannon ;) sent me this HUGE package last week of all of her scrapbooking stuff!!! It was like Christmas all over again!!! We had just walked in the house on Friday evening when Brad said, "Oh, I almost forgot. Were you expecting a package from Shannon? I went to get our mail today and you had a huge package from her." I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, and definitely wasn't expecting anything like this! She had been doing some early Spring cleaning, realized she hadn't touched her scrapbooking stuff for almost 5 years, and thought I would put it to good use! Well, she was right... I started making cards the next day :). I was absolutely floored at what all she sent! I hope she never realizes the small fortune she gave away :). A set of Creative Memories felt tip pens, 2 albums, a pack of new pages and page protectors, TONS of paper, stickers, idea books, you name it! Thank you, Shannon!!!

Olivia's new favorite book is "drop" - Raindrop Plop. She wants us to read this book to her all day, every day. She has it practically memorized, and it is so sweet for her to read it with me. Here they are reading it for their bedtime story. They're putting up the umbrella :)

Menu Plan Monday

Now that we've been free from throw up for 48 hours, I guess it's time to start cooking again :). Brad is the only one that escaped (so far) the worst stomach flu that I've ever had. I'm SO thankful that we're finally on the mend, and to celebrate, the girls and I finally got out of the house today and did all of our grocery shopping. This morning at breakfast Kathryn asked if she could have some "alligator" to drink... Yes, we've been keeping lots of Gatorade on hand lately :).

Monday: eat with friends

Tuesday: Lime chicken, broccoli, cooked carrots, 30-minute rolls

Wednesday: Beef stroganoff, cornbread, green beans

Thursday: Lasagna, garlic bread, salad

Friday: out to eat with friends

Saturday: Poppy seed chicken, Lima beans, 30-minute rolls

Menu Plan Monday...

...will have to wait until after my kiddos stop throwing up... And while we're on the subject, surely somebody could have come up with a worse name that "stomach flu" for it. That's not nearly dramatic enough. The one thing I can pretty much guarantee will not make the menu is pepperoni pizza :-/.

Meijer & Target steals and deals

I made a quick trip to Meijer and Target yesterday to do most of my grocery shopping for the week. They had a 10/$10 sale going on with most of the products that I bought, and in addition, I had coupons for almost everything that they doubled! I got several things for free, and the other things just for a great deal, or because I needed them. My total before sales and coupons was $39, and I ended up paying $20.03!

I really just went to target for butter, but ended up getting the coffee for free (with coupons) and the Cream of Chicken soup for $0.20/can with coupons, so I got all of this for $3.14! I didn't have a ton of things I needed this week because I had lots of potatoes left over from the $0.50 bags last week, chicken left over because we only used 1/2 a package, 1/2 of my pizza toppings left over, and a couple of meals that we didn't get to. I'll just tuck my "left-over" $$ in case I need extra next week.

Here is Kathryn enjoying her favorite meal: waffles with "chocate" - she asks for these every day, for breakfast, lunch, and supper :)

Here are the girls playing church. Kathryn found this sheet music of her daddy's, and they were both singing away! Kathryn always has to "blow the note" before she starts singing, and if you start singing without her blowing the note, she'll stop you and say "I never blow the note!!!". Anything round constitutes a pitch pipe :)

Menu Plan Monday

First to make some clarifications. Several people have asked me to "share my secrets". First off, they're not mine, second, they're not secrets!!! I get almost all of my tips from Money Saving Mom's blog. She is the one who started the $35/week menu planning, and she has several menus stored on her site to give you some starter ideas. The main idea is that you buy things for the week that are on sale and that you have coupons for, and you plan your meals accordingly.

Yes, I really do go to "all those stores" :). Our Wal-Mart does price match, but they don't do double coupons, so, for example, this week I have a coupon for Totino's Pizza Rolls for $0.40 off. Meijer has those on sale for $1, and they double coupons, so I can get them from there for $0.20. If I went to Wal-Mart, they would be $0.60 - not a huge deal, but since I have several items like this, it's definitely worth my extra stop. All of these stores are in a strip, so I go to all of them in one day, head to the one that's farthest away, then work my way up. (They are all on the same street).

One more clarification before I start: Brad and I are trying to stretch our $35/week to cover personal care items and paper goods. We started doing this because we were getting most of these items for free or almost free from CVS anyway, and since we bought a quarter of a beef last year, we knew we wouldn't have the expense of meat to add in, and figured they balanced each other out. If at any time we see this not working, we will simply change the $35 budget to cover food items only. And, by the way, Money Saving Mom is also the one helping me with my CVS trips. Over to the right on her blog is a tutorial explaining way better than I could how it works :).

My breakfasts and lunches will basically be the same things that I posted last week, mixed and matched, so I'm not going to plan those unless something special comes up - I'll just make sure I have things on hand for them.

Monday: Spicy Vegetable Soup, Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Tuesday: *eating at some friend's house

Wednesday: Poppyseed Chicken, 30-minute rolls, peas & carrots

Thursday: Pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and green pepper (had 1/2 left over from last week), Breadsticks, Salad (I'm making this meal to share with the Babcock's)

Friday: Tacos

Target specials this week

No, I didn't buy all these in one trip, they just kinda... added up after our 6 trips to Target last week. Needless to say, Target had a pretty good deal on Huggies wipes this week, and in keeping with our budget plan for the year, we decided to stock up. Yes, it is nothing short of obsession, but if you could have gotten 2 years worth plus of wipes for $13, would you not have done it too???

Menu Plan Monday posted on Thursday night :) (but planned last Sunday :)

I've never been a big resolution maker when the New Year hits. I've always tried, then fail by the end of January. So this year, I resolved to make changes as they needed to be made - not because it was January 1st :). I did, however, decide to jump on board with the $35/week meal planning, and since things have been so crazy since Thanksgiving, the obvious time to start was the first of the year. This is our second week now, and so far, so good! I do plan to post my menus every week, and wanted to go ahead and post this week's even though it's almost over :)

Breakfasts:

fresh fruit every morning

waffles ( this lasts us for 2 mornings)

banana bread

pancakes (this lasts us for 2 mornings)

omelets (use leftover green pepper and sausage from pizza night & cheese)

Lunches:

note: Brad will be at an audit job all week and will be eating all of his lunches out

The girls and I will mix and match these things all week:

peanut butter and crackers (peanut butter was free after coupon at Meijer's this week and crackers were free at CVS after coupon this week!)

crackers and cream cheese (Mom had bought 6 lbs of cream cheese at Sam's and offered me a pound)

fresh fruit (my sister Christi brought tangerines from FL when she came home for Christmas - plenty for this week and next. I found a bag of apples at Meijer that were reduced to $1)

yogurt (manager's special at Kroger $0.50)

Kashi cookies (this may sound more like dessert, but trust me, it is nothing but WHOLE GRAIN all the way! I actually feel really good about giving these to my girls for lunches!)

Kashi snack crackers (the Kashi products were $0.50 at Target after coupons)

Carrots and broccoli with Ranch dip

Dinners:

Sunday lunch: potato soup (potatoes were $0.50/5lb bag at Target), fresh fruit, carrots and dip

Monday: Lime chicken (chicken $1.88/lb at Marsh), 30 minute rolls, cooked carrots, peas

Tuesday: *went out to eat with Mom and Dad

Wednesday: Pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and green pepper

Thursday: Chili, cheddar bay biscuits

Friday: *going to eat at some friend's house

Saturday: Parmesan chicken, fettuccine (have whipping cream I need to use up :), frozen veggies

Sunday lunch: Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls

I probably won't be this detailed every week about how much I paid for everything that we're having, but wanted to do that this week so you could see how it was possible to only spend $35/wk! This budget will also include our personal care items (which I plan to get mostly for free at CVS every week - more on that later), paper goods, and diapers/wipes.

Christmas was the best ever

Do I say that every year? I do think it gets better every year. As the kids get older, it just gets more and more fun. We started the festivities at Brad's aunt and uncle's house for the annual "Stocking Stuffer" party. His extended family gets together usually the last weekend before Christmas and does stockings for all the kids. The girls were SO excited to see Grandpa and Gramma and had such a fun time getting to finally open some presents.

We were so excited that we got to hook up with Brad's cousin Luke and his wife Shannon on Christmas Eve, even if it was only for an hour at McDonald's.
Then it was off to Opryland Hotel to check out the lights and eat supper
This was the best food I've ever eaten at a restaurant. It was absolutely amazing! I kept willing myself to not get full so I could try more things :)
When we woke up the next morning, there was no denying that Santa had been there! He brought the girls this terrific wagon! Unfortunately, there was no room in the truck for it, so we haven't gotten much of a chance to try it out yet. Gramma and Grandpa are going to bring it up when they come, and hopefully we can try it out at the Children's Museum :)

After presents Gramma made the best breakfast ever - Brad's favorite! Then for supper she went all out with our annual beef tenderloin dinner - amazing!!!

Olivia watching for Pheobe :)
Kathryn got to help make breakfast with Gramma every morning while Mommy and Daddy slept in :)

Many thanks to Brad's parents, for not only putting up with us for an entire week, but for treating us like kings and queens! It really was the best Christmas ever!

Christmas Craft (and other traditions)

The first year Brad and I were married I wanted to start a special tradition - something that just our family would do together every year, and something our kids would one day enjoy doing with us. We decided to do a "Christmas Craft". The first year we made a Sugar Cube Castle and second year we made a Gingerbread Village with Gumdrop Trees. The next years have kinda all blended together, and since my pictures are all in storage, I can't get them out to remember exactly what we did, but you get the idea.

Since this was the first year that Kathryn would be able to help at all, we set out to find something simple, and not very time consuming, so she wouldn't lose interest before we even got everything set up. We decided on these Candy Trains. It turned out to be a hit! Brad picked up a pizza from our favorite local joint and we ate in the living room while we watched "The Polar Express", then we set to work on trains of our own!

Both the girls were most interested in eating the candy, but once they got their fill, Kate was very interested in making her very own Polar Express.

On the subject of traditions, we also have a few recipes that are holiday favorites. One of my favorites is English Butter Toffee. My brother used to make this every year when he would come home for Christmas. Now we can't have a Christmas without it.

English Toffee

1C Sugar
1C Butter
3T Water
1/2 t Salt
1 t Vanilla
1/2C Chopped Pecans
1 Large Hershey Bar or 4 regular size

Bring sugar, butter, water, and salt to boil, and boil until it reaches 300 degrees on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into cup of very cold water separates into hard, brittle threads. Remove from heat, but keep stirring. Immediately pour into ungreased 9x13 pan. Spread Hershey bar(s) over the top and sprinkle with nuts. Cool before breaking into bite sized pieces.

The next is Brad's and my tradition of home-made caramels. I stumbled across this recipe in Betty Crocker's cookbook, and we've never had any that we like better. I made them the first year we got married and have made them every year since.

Caramels

Cut little rectangles of waxed paper ahead of time, so when you're ready to wrap, you're ready to go! Here's another secret - cutting the caramels with scissors is quicker and easier than using a knife.

2C Sugar
1/2C Butter
2C Heavy Whipping Cream
3/4C Light Corn Syrup

1. Grease bottom and sides of square baking dish, 8x8 or 9x9, with butter

2. Heat all ingredients to boiling in heavy 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook about 35 minutes, stirring frequently, to 245 degrees on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into cup of very cold water forms a firm ball that holds its shape until pressed. Immediately spread in baking dish. Cool completely, about 2 hours.

3. Cut into 1" squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper or plastic wrap; store in airtight container.

The last is a classic, super easy, hard to stop eating, peanut cluster. My sister Heidi always makes these, and they are so addictive! It's great to always have this stuff on hand to take to a Christmas party that you don't have much time to prepare for.

Peanut Clusters

12oz can of salted peanuts
6oz Nestle's chocolate chips
6oz Butterscotch chips

Melt chips in microwave. Stir in peanuts. Drop on waxed paper.

Fun at the Children's Museum

On Thursday we crashed the Dehut's "Grandparent's Day" and went with them to the Children's Museum. I've been wanting to take Kate ever since I heard about the "Yule Slide", and when I heard her friends from church, Cianan and Cooper, were going, I thought it was the perfect time to invite myself to go along :).

The kids all had so much fun! Of course, the slide and the merry-go-round were the favorites, but there were lots of other fun things to do too. We actually had a more-adults-than-kids ratio, which was super nice! Each child had an adult to look after them, plus an extra adult to pull the wagon :).

They were all so worn out by time to go. Olivia was asleep before I even got out of the parking garage, and Kate fell asleep with a cracker in her hand. Many thanks to Jeremy and Anna and their sweet boys for such a fun day!

Snow Day!

There were at least 4 very happy campers this morning when we woke up to this beautiful blanket of snow. We were supposed to get around 5", and I would say we got every bit of that. Kathryn's first question of the morning was, "Can I walk in the snow?" She loved it! Neither of the girls were ready to come in, but Mommy was tired of pulling the sleigh (a team of reindeer would have come in handy).

As soon as we got out of all of our gear Kathryn helped me make hot chocolate. Olivia drank hers in a most nontraditional, but spill-proof way :).

Kathryn has been singing "Jingle Bells" and asking if we can go "walk in the snow some more" ever since we walked in the door. What a great way to start our day!

Now we're even

This little one will be the 20th grandchild on my side, so since there were already 10 boys and only 9 girls, it just seemed fitting that we evened things out. So, we decided we'd have another little girl.

Of course, as far as Brad's side is concerned, it's really starting to tip a little tooooo far toward the girl side to even out ;). It's always good to be outnumbered by sweet little girls, though.