I finally managed to get back to posting Menu Plan Monday after a 6-month plus vacation. Yikes!
I have been cooking a lot and menu planning during this time despite my lack of hosting. We had meals from our awesome Sunday School class for several weeks after Luke was born, then we hit the holidays and Will and I have been dieting since the first of the year.
After a weekend visiting the in-laws in Alabama, I am ready to jump back on the diet band wagon, so this meal plan is South Beach Diet friendly.
Speaking of SBD, my friend Holly told me about this AWESOME website that has great lo/no carb recipes. I have tried several recipes from this site already and they have all been delicious.
(Sorry for the lack of recipe links ... if a meal is really good, I will link up the recipe later.)
Monday: Turkey burgers (wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun), asian slaw
Tuesday: Baked pork chops, vegetables
Wednesday: Leftover turkey burgers, asian slaw
Thursday: Honey Pecan Chicken, vegetables
Friday: My birthday dinner at my parents' house
Saturday: Southwestern Egg casserole (breakfast), dinner out with friends (adults-only)
Sunday: Penne Florentine, salad (lunch), dijon tilapia, brown rice and asparagus (dinner)
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Monday, March 21, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Luke: 6 months old
Sunday, we celebrated Luke's half-birthday by staying home from church because all of us (except him) had a horrible allergy attack. Oh Tennessee, why do you do this to me every Spring and every Fall?
But, back to this cutie-pie ... I cannot believe he is 6 months old. Where has the time gone?
So what is going on this month?
-Luke is all about grabbing things ... any toy within reach, earrings, necklaces, hair. And once he gets it in his sweet little hands, it is going straight in his mouth.
-He is wearing 6-9 months clothing and size 3 diapers.
-He is eating 6 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours, a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and a fruit or veggie (maybe mixed with oatmeal) for dinner.
-He is sleeping from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. (That's 12 hours y'all!)
-He does not like bananas at all. And who can blame him? Baby food bananas are pretty gross.
-He is rolling all over the place (both directions).
-No teeth yet, but I expect one to pop thru any day now.
-He recognizes his name.
-He smiles when he sees a familiar face.
-He is almost sitting up unassisted.
-He is started to put his knees underneath him in the crawling position. Crawling will definitely change life as we know it!
-Favorite toy is definitely the jumper (the kind that hangs in a doorway). He will play in that thing for a long time. At least he is getting good exercise.
Some of my favorite photos of the month.
Sweet smile!
Sitting up ...
... then falling over. Are you trying to crawl??
Look at those thighs! Keep on jumping baby!
Loving the jumper.
Hanging out with the big kids.
Open mouth, insert toy. That's my mantra.
Even better ... open mouth, insert foot.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
But, back to this cutie-pie ... I cannot believe he is 6 months old. Where has the time gone?
So what is going on this month?
-Luke is all about grabbing things ... any toy within reach, earrings, necklaces, hair. And once he gets it in his sweet little hands, it is going straight in his mouth.
-He is wearing 6-9 months clothing and size 3 diapers.
-He is eating 6 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours, a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and a fruit or veggie (maybe mixed with oatmeal) for dinner.
-He is sleeping from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. (That's 12 hours y'all!)
-He does not like bananas at all. And who can blame him? Baby food bananas are pretty gross.
-He is rolling all over the place (both directions).
-No teeth yet, but I expect one to pop thru any day now.
-He recognizes his name.
-He smiles when he sees a familiar face.
-He is almost sitting up unassisted.
-He is started to put his knees underneath him in the crawling position. Crawling will definitely change life as we know it!
-Favorite toy is definitely the jumper (the kind that hangs in a doorway). He will play in that thing for a long time. At least he is getting good exercise.
Some of my favorite photos of the month.
Sweet smile!
Sitting up ...
... then falling over. Are you trying to crawl??
Look at those thighs! Keep on jumping baby!
Loving the jumper.
Hanging out with the big kids.
Open mouth, insert toy. That's my mantra.
Even better ... open mouth, insert foot.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Honey Bee Tees
Look at these silly kiddos. Look at their cute tees.
This is David's new picture smile. Not sure why he insists on squinting his eyes.
These tees are so soft and comfy ... and super cute with hand-drawn pictures printed on front. Go purchase your own here.
Note: this is not a paid advertisement ... I simply love these tees. I might even get one or two for myself.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
This is David's new picture smile. Not sure why he insists on squinting his eyes.
These tees are so soft and comfy ... and super cute with hand-drawn pictures printed on front. Go purchase your own here.
Note: this is not a paid advertisement ... I simply love these tees. I might even get one or two for myself.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, March 14, 2011
St. Patrick's Day crafts
We have been very crafty over the weekend and the kids have loved it. Here are some fun, quick and easy St. Patrick's Day crafts and treats.
(1) Mosiac rainbows.
(1) Mosiac rainbows.
This is a good way for me to get rid of all of my scrapbook paper scraps that I save and rarely ever use. I drew a rainbow pattern on a piece of cardstock, put some glue on each row and let the kids get busy.
So proud of her finished product. David (age almost 3) needed just a little help on this project, but Claire (age almost 5) did it all by herself.
(2) Shamrock garland.
So proud of her finished product. David (age almost 3) needed just a little help on this project, but Claire (age almost 5) did it all by herself.
(2) Shamrock garland.
My kids love to paint and I hardly ever let them because it is so messy, but this time I caved. These are made from coffee filters painted with shades of green watercolors. After the paint dried, we added some glitter glue and then I traced and cut out shamrocks from the painted filters. I stapled them to a string and ... voila. A lovely garland to go on the window over my kitchen sink.
(3) Mosiac shamrocks.
Another good paper scrap-buster project. I found a shamrock coloring page online, printed it out and let the kids get busy with green paper scraps and glue. After the glue dried, I cut out the shamrock and glued it to a sold piece of paper.
(4) Sponge-painted shamrocks.
I know. The green crafts are getting a little out of control. But I promise this is my last one.
David needed a little help with this one, but Claire did it no problem once I showed her how it was done. I cut a heart shape out of a sponge, squirted some green glue on a paper plate and stamped three hearts together to make the shamrock. I drew them stem with a green marker.
We also sang a little song that I found here to help the kids learn about the Holy Trinity. (Did you know that St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach people about the trinity ... God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three in one.) The kids loved it and I actually felt like I taught them something.
(5) Rainbow rice crispy treats.
This was my favorite activity ... and we made it out with only a few minor burns where the kids touched the hot pan. Oops! Nothing some cold water and a band-aid won't fix.
Here are the instructions. Separate bag of colored marshmallows into four separate bowls. (I took this picture after I had already used the orange marshmallows.) The marshmallow sorting kept the kids busy for about 10-15 minutes while I unloaded the dishwasher ... and it helped them work on color matching ... something we are really working on with David right now.
For each color layer, used 1T. butter, 1 bowl of marshmallows (a little over 1 cup) and 1-1/2c. rice krispies. Melt butter and marshmallows over low heat and stir in cereal. Layer in greased 8x8 baking dish (pack firmly). Repeat for remaining three colors.
The kids hard at work (before the burned fingers). I'm not real sure what David is doing other than being silly!
(3) Mosiac shamrocks.
Another good paper scrap-buster project. I found a shamrock coloring page online, printed it out and let the kids get busy with green paper scraps and glue. After the glue dried, I cut out the shamrock and glued it to a sold piece of paper.
(4) Sponge-painted shamrocks.
I know. The green crafts are getting a little out of control. But I promise this is my last one.
David needed a little help with this one, but Claire did it no problem once I showed her how it was done. I cut a heart shape out of a sponge, squirted some green glue on a paper plate and stamped three hearts together to make the shamrock. I drew them stem with a green marker.
We also sang a little song that I found here to help the kids learn about the Holy Trinity. (Did you know that St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach people about the trinity ... God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three in one.) The kids loved it and I actually felt like I taught them something.
(5) Rainbow rice crispy treats.
This was my favorite activity ... and we made it out with only a few minor burns where the kids touched the hot pan. Oops! Nothing some cold water and a band-aid won't fix.
Here are the instructions. Separate bag of colored marshmallows into four separate bowls. (I took this picture after I had already used the orange marshmallows.) The marshmallow sorting kept the kids busy for about 10-15 minutes while I unloaded the dishwasher ... and it helped them work on color matching ... something we are really working on with David right now.
For each color layer, used 1T. butter, 1 bowl of marshmallows (a little over 1 cup) and 1-1/2c. rice krispies. Melt butter and marshmallows over low heat and stir in cereal. Layer in greased 8x8 baking dish (pack firmly). Repeat for remaining three colors.
The kids hard at work (before the burned fingers). I'm not real sure what David is doing other than being silly!
The finished product.
You can see the layers better here ...
... and here.
Yummy! Claire ate about 3 bites of this and decided that she didn't like how the green ones tasted. (These marshmallows are fruit flavored.) I was happy to finish it off for her!
I really want to make these rainbow cupcakes, but I am just not sure I have the energy! I'll be sure to take pictures if I do.
Oh yeah ... most of my craft ideas came from this great website (with a little modification).
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Finishing February
I know I still owe ye ole faithful blog readers a post about Will's South Africa trip, but that is going to take me a while to process! In the meantime, here are a few more family things to wrap up the month.
(1) Another round of snow. 1-2 inches to be exact and two more days out of school.
(2) Future astronaut?
David loves to play dress-up with Claire. After Halloween last year, I bought him a couple of boy costumes at 75% off because we were getting a little concerned about all the dressing up in Claire's princess dresses. (Not really!) He loves the astronaut costume. He also loves the moon. He can spot it anytime it is out ... even in the daytime when it is barely visible.
Another boy costume ... Ninja fighter. (Please disregard the mess in the background. We had a few baskets of clean clothes to be put away, several bins of old clothes being priced for a consignment sale and the kids had emptied several bins of their toys from the playroom out in my bedroom floor!)
(3) Pajama day at school.
To celebrate the letter "P", Claire got to wear pajamas to school and eat a pancake breakfast with pink milk! There was absolutely no question that she would be wearing her Kitty White pajamas!
(4) Spiderman.
We celebrated Claire's friend B's birthday at Pump It Up complete with an appearance from Spiderman. He was a big hit with all the kids. Notice how we have finally progressed to having our pictures made with the characters. (David isn't quite there yet.)
Claire and the birthday boy.
The whole gang with Spiderman.
(5) Meme's birthday brunch.
We had my family over for Saturday morning brunch to celebrate Meme's birthday. I think this is our first time all together since Christmas.
My sister and I with Mom.
My mom and dad (aka Meme and Poppy).
All the grandkids.
(6) Just hanging out.
Claire and David love playing with Baby Luke on the floor. They are a big help to me. They better watch out because I have a feeling he will be crawling soon!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
(1) Another round of snow. 1-2 inches to be exact and two more days out of school.
(2) Future astronaut?
David loves to play dress-up with Claire. After Halloween last year, I bought him a couple of boy costumes at 75% off because we were getting a little concerned about all the dressing up in Claire's princess dresses. (Not really!) He loves the astronaut costume. He also loves the moon. He can spot it anytime it is out ... even in the daytime when it is barely visible.
Another boy costume ... Ninja fighter. (Please disregard the mess in the background. We had a few baskets of clean clothes to be put away, several bins of old clothes being priced for a consignment sale and the kids had emptied several bins of their toys from the playroom out in my bedroom floor!)
(3) Pajama day at school.
To celebrate the letter "P", Claire got to wear pajamas to school and eat a pancake breakfast with pink milk! There was absolutely no question that she would be wearing her Kitty White pajamas!
(4) Spiderman.
We celebrated Claire's friend B's birthday at Pump It Up complete with an appearance from Spiderman. He was a big hit with all the kids. Notice how we have finally progressed to having our pictures made with the characters. (David isn't quite there yet.)
Claire and the birthday boy.
The whole gang with Spiderman.
(5) Meme's birthday brunch.
We had my family over for Saturday morning brunch to celebrate Meme's birthday. I think this is our first time all together since Christmas.
My sister and I with Mom.
My mom and dad (aka Meme and Poppy).
All the grandkids.
(6) Just hanging out.
Claire and David love playing with Baby Luke on the floor. They are a big help to me. They better watch out because I have a feeling he will be crawling soon!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Sew What: February 2011
Even though it is March ... who knew I would have another sewing post up so soon? Not me for sure.
Claire is "modeling" an outfit I bought from a friend. It is Castles & Crowns and still had the tags on it. It was size 2, but I think it was totally missized. We tried to wear it last year, and the pants and shirt were still HUGE! Well, this year it fit, but the pants were just barely too short.
Claire is "modeling" an outfit I bought from a friend. It is Castles & Crowns and still had the tags on it. It was size 2, but I think it was totally missized. We tried to wear it last year, and the pants and shirt were still HUGE! Well, this year it fit, but the pants were just barely too short.
REMEDY? Add a ruffle. I went to my favorite children's fabric store and found some cute polka dot fabric to match and added a ruffle.
Easy-peasy.
A close-up of the ruffle.
Meme came over one day and Claire put her to work making a doll dress. I'm just going to go on the record here and say that I will never make doll clothes. I hope I don't eat those words one day!
This top goes with the pink polka dot pants I made here. Love the butterfly corduroy fabric and the pink polka dot sash! This is the Louise pattern from Children's Corner that I shortened for a top.
I've had this super-cute asian inspired fabric for ages to make something for Claire. She loves it! I decided to make a tunic top to match some black leggings that she had. This outfit seriously took about an hour to make. I modified the Mod Kid Nina pattern long-sleeve top to add the red band and make the top a little longer. I also added bands on the sleeves. I will definitely make this again. So easy and so cute!!
Lastly, Claire loves this mermaid fabric and everytime she sees it she asks me to make her something. I found this cute pattern on etsy and made this dress in a size 5 (she probably won't wear it until next year). It was also easy to make once I figured out the somewhat confusing pattern instructions for making the ruffle around the neck. You can purchase the pattern here.
That is all for now. Coming soon ... Easter outfits!
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Tuesday, March 1, 2011
project SCRAP 2011: February
Personally, I am shocked that I finished my two layouts for February on March 1st. That must be some kind of record or something. But, I am on a roll ... and Photoshop is so much easier to navigate when you use it frequently (not once every 6 months to make Christmas cards and birthday party invitations).
Layout #1
Layout #2
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