Menu Plan Monday: May 31-June 6

Monday: Memorial Day cook out with our next-door neighbors

Tuesday: leftover hamburgers/hot dogs, baked beans, chips

Wednesday: crockpot BBQ pork tenderloin, corn casserole, salad

Thursday: tomato, basil & mozzarella panini sandwiches, chips, cantaloupe

Friday: Wine tasting/anniversary party for my sister and brother-in-law

Saturday: dinner out with friends or leftovers of some sort

Sunday: Cheesy tomato stroganoff, salad, garlic bread

Check out other menu plans here.

Menu Plan Monday: May 24-30

This week is leftover heavy again. Sorry honey!

The highlight recipe from last week was definitely the shrimp and feta vermicelli. It was good stuff, but very spicy. You can omit or decrease the red pepper flakes if you want less heat. We like the heat though.

In other food-related news, one of our favorite local establishments is going to be on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives tonight on the Food Network. Check out Martin's BBQ.

Monday: leftover meatloaf, corn on the cob, green beans, breadmachine wheat rolls

Tuesday: leftover Elegant pork chops, broccoli, rolls

Wednesday: tilapia, mushroom rice, salad, rolls

Thursday: leftover Greek Chicken and vegetable kabobs, salad, toasted pita bread

Friday: Molasses-grilled pork tenderloin, creamy fried confetti corn, wheat rolls

Saturday: Crawfish boil with friends

Sunday: cookout with sister and brother-in-law -- hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.

Check out other menu plans here.

Friday Favorites: My favorite dress pattern

I have made Claire some pretty cute dresses, but my all-time favorite pattern is the Caroline dress. I love this dress because it is very cute and very easy to make. You could probably finish it in an hour if you had uninterrupted sewing time (which I never have).

This dress is very versatile too. It has a matching doll dress pattern that is perfect for preemies (and dolls, of course). Plus, you can use a ribbon tie to tie on both shoulders (or one).

Or, you can use a fabric tie (to match the coordinating band) and tie on one shoulder. This can also be worn as a top or a dress. One of my favorite girl baby gifts to give is a size 0-12 month of this dress. The first year, it can be worn as a dress with bloomers and the next year (depending on baby's size) it can be worn as a top with some cute bloomers or leggings underneath.

It's also perfect for matching sister dresses since it ranges from sizes 0-8. (My friend Krystie's girls. We made three of these dresses in about 3 hours one Saturday.)

I also love this dress because you can wear it year-round. You can wear it as a sundress when it is warm. (I love these Alabama elephants!)

Or you can pair it with a turtleneck and leggings to wear in the colder months.

The possibilities are endless.

Disclaimer: I have not been compensated for my promotion of this product. I really do just love it that much!

The End

Last week involved a lot of end-of-the-year stuff for Claire.

End of the year music program at school. Do you know how hard it was to find a read t-shirt for a girl? Or any read t-shirt for that matter? It was quite the chore for me!

The program was great as usual and Claire did a great job singing on stage. This girl loves to sing!

Making "strong" faces.

The last day of school. Claire's sweet teacher ... Miss Kim. We are going to miss her next year!! I am hoping that David will have her for a teacher in a couple of years.

The last soccer game of the season. Will got to go out on the field and help this game, which made my job of keeping David off the field during the game that much harder.

Goal check ...

Run, run, run. Claire played super-hard this game. She would be at the back of the pack and turn it on turbo and shoot to the front. I think she was extra motivated (and confident) since her Daddy was out there.

After the game ... snack is always the girls' favorite part. I don't think I mentioned this before, but this year, the girls chose "the blueberries" as their team name. Isn't that funny? It was between that and "the blue slushes".

Chop, Chop

I took the kids to get haircuts yesterday ... to a place that was not my mom's bathroom! This was their first trip to the salon.

Claire went first. (Do you like how David was wandering around in the background while I was taking pictures of Claire?) We got about 4-5 inches cut off of her hair.

Finished product ... I love it! After it was over, she said, "Mom, I have short hair like you!" She looks so grown up now. I'm not sure I love that!

David's haircut did not go quite as smooth. Look at that little girl next to him trying to see what all the commotion was about.

This was pretty much his demeanor for the entire haircut. But his stylist (is that the right word?) did not mind ... she was all business.

A rare moment of no crying. The crying started right back up again after this because the clippers came out to trim around his ears and the back of his neck. He did not like that one bit!

No "finished product" picture for David because he was ready to high-tail it out of there and get his sucker when he was released. His hair really doesn't look that different from before ... just a little shorter and more clean-cut.

Menu Plan Monday: May 17-23

Well, the leftovers are ALL GONE so I might actually have to cook something this week!

Monday: Elegant pork chops, English peas, rolls

Tuesday: meatloaf, corn on the cob, green beans, rolls

Wednesday: frozen pizza, salad (or leftovers)

Thursday: Shrimp and feta vermicelli, salad, garlic bread

Friday: Date night

Saturday: Greek Chicken and vegetable kabobs, salad, toasted pita bread

Sunday: lunch with the in-laws, leftovers for dinner

Check out other menu plans here.

Rainy Saturdays

We have had several rainy Saturdays over the past few weeks. Will and I have taken this opportunity to clean out a bunch of junk and clutter in our house to make room for our new baby. The kids, fortunately, have found some fun ways to keep themselves entertained.

Reading books ... to themselves. I love to read to the kids, but they both got TAG readers for Christmas (David got the Jr. version) for those times when Mommy and Daddy are too busy to read. It's nice that the kids can still look at their books and hear the story.

Apparently, the laundry basket is a hot seat. There were several skirmishes over who got to sit there, but it looks like big sister won out. Don't you dare think that David didn't try to sit on top of her a few times.

You'll notice how we like to stay in our PJs on rainy Saturdays.

David's new favorite activity is working puzzles. This love of puzzles began when he got some wooden puzzles with interlocking pieces. He will sit and work these things for hours ... okay, maybe not hours, but a lot longer than he will sit and do anything else.

It is rainy and cloudy today too. I think I hear some closets calling my name ... . Don't worry. I won't bore you with pictures of that!

Swim Lessons: Take 2

This starts our second summer of swim lessons. Last year, we just got friendly with the water and learned the basics of paddling our arms and kicking our legs.

We started Claire off with a round of group swim lessons. Now that we have finished those up, we will start private lessons and hopefully learn to swim very quickly with all of that one-on-one time (especially since we pay by the lesson)!

Waiting for class to start on the first day.

We were excited to find out that Claire's friend Kathryn (from preschool) was also in her class. I think they were good motivation for each other. Claire inspired Kathryn to wear cute swimsuit cover-ups to/from class (which she normally won't do according to her mom) and Kathryn inspired Claire to put her head under the water ... voluntarily.

The whole group out on the platform in the pool.

Claire solo swimming to the rope ...

... and back. With a little lift from her teacher of course.

This girl loves the water. That is for sure!

"Macy Giggles" dress

On Saturday, I treated myself to an early Mother's Day treat and spent the day at my favorite little fabric shop taking a sewing class. Even though I was making something for someone else, it was fun just to have some peace and quiet to practice my craft. (And the sweet ladies that own the shop always provide the best lunch!)

Finished product is below. This dress is too cute! I love all the fun spring colors. The lighting in these pictures does not do the dress justice.

This pattern is by Izzy & Ivy Designs. I've never made one of their patterns before, but it was fairly easy to make considering all the bells and whistles on this dress ... gathered shoulder straps, pockets, button loops, etc. The instructions weren't always clear and I was glad that our instructor had made the dress before to work out all the kinks.

The front.

The back.

Look at these cute covered buttons!

I can't wait to see little Miss Claire in this dress.

Baby Coston

Last weekend, I helped host a baby shower in Alabama for our sweet friends Laura and Courtney. Baby Coston is due to arrive mid to late June. This will be baby #3 for their family.

Look at these cute decorations. The nursery is pale blue and green with kind of a jungle theme, so we carried that over to the shower.

Our guests of honor in by the dessert/gift table. The hanging baby items are the ones I made here.

Look at this spread of food. We were all stuffed afterwards, with plenty of leftovers!

Look at this cute diaper bag. I love it!! Laura's mom had it stuffed full of cute baby things. They got a bunch of other cute things too, but I didn't manage to get any pictures because some little boy was sitting in my lap eating a cupcake and using my black pants as a napkin.

And here he is ... how cute are those red keds? These are his first lace-up shoes and I bet he untied them about 20 times before we finally took them off and let him go barefoot.

My cute kiddos, who can't manage to look at the camera at the same time. At least they are both looking forward.

Laura and me. I think this is the first time we have been pregnant at the same time with any of our kids.

The swings were a big hit with the kids.

David loved the slide.

RiRi swinging with the kids on the big swing.

Uh-oh. Claire pushing David on the swing. This could be trouble.

Mattie and Anna Kate on the trampoline. I was walking by and Anna Kate told me to take her picture.

The hostesses.

All the couple friends.

All the big kids. Jacob, Kylie and Emma were already asleep. David just refused to get in the picture and at almost 2 hours past his bedtime, I did not fight him.

Good times!