Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Toys and Clothes?

We are having a new heating system put in this week... so we had to clean out the basement and that turned into emptying the attic.

This is all the kid stuff we don't "need":





Monday, March 30, 2009

Daddy is More Fun Lesson 18

Cause no way would mommy allow this...






Sunday, March 29, 2009

Plan for the Week


We are trying to get better at planning and reducing our grocery bill. In that vein, I put together a 2 week meal plan, hit a grocery store having a grand opening sale, and hopefully, except for milk and fruit, we won't need to grocery shop next week... and only spent 100 bucks. And I really did buy meat for 12 meals... which is kinda crazy.

Also some recent tips I have enjoyed:
  1. When making meals for other people - which I start to do when ever anyone in the family gets sick or is having surgery - use a dish that most people have in their kitchen. I use my Pyrex square 8x8. Line it with parchment paper, put the dish together, freeze. THEN take the parchment paper with the food OUT - it will slide out if you put Pam down first. Now you don't have to worry about getting your dish back - they just put the item in their similarly shaped dish and go to town. This also takes up less room in your freezer.
  2. The girls and I made a bunch of these for teachers, hostess gifts, etc. Easter Bunny S'mores - I tried the modified directions and couldn't get it to work, but using the original instructions worked perfectly and the girls got to do a lot of this.
  3. I used scrabblog.com to make the tag to accompany the above :
  1. I can't figure out how to have the numbers continue... But if you spray a tupperware dish with Pam prior to putting a red sauce in it, it shouldn't stain... it works! Even on the Gladware.
  2. I am making a couple of these to take to a wedding the girls are in, they are SUPER easy! http://lipstickandlaundry.blogspot.com/2008/11/crayon-note-book-cozy-tutorial.html
  3. I am also going to try to make the following 2 recipes to try out:
Anyway, that's what we are up to, what about you?

Friday, March 27, 2009

Window Into Max's World


Every day Max sits in the office and looks out this window.
Recently with the weather change, the birds and squirrels have been enjoying the seeds we have put out for them.
And Max has been going CRAZY.
And we thought that was funny...

Until....


He broke 2, I repeat 2, of the windows in the front of the house.
He did this by JUMPING into the window from inside the house.


And now we look like rednecks living in the country with boarded up windows.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

I Love a Rainy Night

It is a rainy spring day, one of my favorite types of days, and it reminded me of this song:

Samson is 1!

Are you going to the party?


I got this in an email today, but thought I would share!

We are going to be there - weather and illness permitting, you?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Outtakes






ALMOST!


Finally, someone posed nicely.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patty's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everyone!

I don't know about you but those Leprechaun's really made a mess at our house, they left footprints in the upstairs hallway, they left green sugar trails all through the kitchen along with knocking over the jelly bean jar (and biting into all the green jelly beans), the cookie jar, and some other items.

On top of that they dumped all the clothes out of the girls dresser drawers!

And if that wasn't enough they turned the milk GREEN!

I hope the Leprechaun's were less destructive at your house... or not if you get to see your kids as excited as ours were this morning!

It is great to see a little magic that doesn't involve presents and that the kids can have the same level of excitement (Aubrey was up before 6am wondering what those Leprechaun's had done!).

I did add an owl shirt picture to the previous post :)

Monday, March 16, 2009

The Owl Shirt


Molly and the Owl Shirt

My Nana made the girls lovely pink skirts for Christmas, and with each skirt she paired a shirt. Molly's shirt has an owl on it.

Molly wants to wear her owl shirt and pink skirt every single day. And she will not wear the skirt without the owl shirt. When I explain to Molly that the shirt is dirty, I have to wrestle it off of her and she will then run it upstairs, put it in the washing machine, slam the door shut and say, "Mommy push the buttons" with a very demanding face.

Doug thinks the owl shirt should be retired and framed at some point so we can present it to her on her 18th birthday.

Aubrey loves pink clothes but never had an attachment to ONE OUTFIT like this.

So if anyone sees the owl shirt in the store, please buy 4 of them for me, I am tired of washing that outfit 7 times a week.

Thanks.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Random Milestones

On Wednesday I took Aubrey to the clinic at Target after picking her up from school and seeing she had a fever and she mentioned her ear hurt. Sure enough, ear infection. We were given a big 'ole bottle of Amoxicillin and sent on our way. I was to give Aubrey 2tsps every 12 hours for the next 10 days.

If you have young children you can relate when I tell you I was not looking forward to this.

I gave Aubrey the first dose in the car, and she really didn't like it, but took it all.

The next morning as I was pouring out her dose, the unthinkable happened. She said, "is that the medicine I don't like". I said, "yes, honey, it is".

And she said, "OK, but I can do it myself". She took the syringe with the nasty orange liquid and took all of it by herself. No complaining, no gagging, just took it and said, "see, I can do it".

And she has, each time she asks if it is the stuff she doesn't like, but she takes it - by herself.

After over 4 years of fighting meds when needed, this is a milestone I didn't think about but am glad is here!

What other random milestones have surprised and delighted you?

Friday, March 13, 2009

Breakfast and Lunch

I feel like I am in a rut related to breakfast and lunch for the kids.

Aubrey needs her lunch packed 2 days a week, I am tired of the Peanut Butter sandwich but worried about any other type of food in case she feels picky that day, thoughts? Ideas? Do you think she would be more willing to try something with me not sitting there :)

Breakfast in our house ranges from toast, to eggs, to cereal, to bagels and although Doug tries to make us all sit down to eat before we leave the house, sometimes I do have the girls eat in the car.

I am going to make the following this weekend in a big batch to see if this helps get the girls eating a better/quicker breakfast:
Breakfast Burritos
12 eggs
Roll of Breakfast Sausage
Cheddar Cheese
Onion - chopped
Green Pepper - chopped
Flour Tortillas - small ones

Scramble eggs in large skilled
Cook and crumble sausage in another skillet

In large bowl, combine scrambled eggs, sausage, onion, pepper, and cheese.

Roll about 3 Tbs mixture into flour tortilla, if freezing, line side by side on pan. If you put them upside down they will freeze shut. Once frozen, place them in freezer bag, pull out what you need in the morning and pop in microwave for 40 seconds each

I got this off of this site: http://mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com/

How do you keep breakfast and packed lunches fun?

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Free Labor

In our house our girls are expected to do the following things:

1) Set their place at the table- get their own plates, cups, bowls for snacks, meals, drinks
2) Put their dishes in the sink after dinner (we help Molly with hers to reduce mess)
3) Let Max out and in when asked
4) when they walk in the door put their coat and shoes in the foyer (slowly moving to actually putting them IN the shoe holder, but one step at a time)
5) Putting their dirty clothes in a hamper
6) Helping clean their rooms and their toys

There are extra things that they are asked to do that results in a reward (we try to make sure the reward is not used to get them to do it, but offered when they do as asked without fighting it or telling their sister to do it).

Do you have tips and tricks for developing good habits in your household?
Do you have other chores you have your kids do?
How do you reward?

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Music In Me

I love music. I love to sing. My kids now love music and love to sing.

I had the opportunity to take Aubrey to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang earlier this year, and a few weeks after the show I caught her singing one of the songs at breakfast. I immediately went and downloaded the Broadway soundtrack and burned a CD for us to listen to in the car. Now both girls ask for it all the time and sing along. Aubrey remembers each song and will explain to Molly what happened in the show - a great way to practice sequencing!

At the library last week, I picked up the Cats Broadway soundtrack, and the girls again LOVE IT! I was looking for Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ SuperStar, so they ordered those for me so I can get those in the car sometime soon.

Annie is coming to the Hippodrome this year so I am going to try to get the girls to that.

----------------------------------------

In other news, the Maryland Zoo is opening this weekend! We will be there at 10am on Saturday morning - weather and illness depending. I love going to the zoo, we have been members for 4 years, and it is the perfect size outing for our family, and a great place for a picnic.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Tips and Tricks

After not blogging for a while I get caught up in "well, that isn't interesting enough to blog about" and then keep putting it off. Well, blah, I am going to blog anyway.

Here are some useful tips.
  • Throw your car floor mats in the washing machine, you will be shocked how "like new" they will be!
  • I put a couple chicken breasts in a crock pot yesterday morning, tossed in a packet of taco seasoning. When I got home I used a fork, and shredded it right there in the crock pot, put some taco shells in the oven for 5 minutes and DINNER! And the girls LOVED it.
  • I recently put a basket on the wall of the kitchen that holds all of the girls hair ties, ribbons, barrettes, conditioner, and brushes. Makes it easier to get it done in the morning and not be looking everywhere
  • I added socks to the shoe cabinet in the foyer downstairs to save time as well
  • I have started carrying a small notebook around to write down lists or ideas of things I want to do with the kids or projects I find online and need supplies
Cute things the girls have said:
Aubrey with her Aunt Erica:
Aunt Erica was showing Aubrey the house of her dreams and told Aubrey that she wanted to buy it.
Aubrey says, "But Aunt Erica, how will you get it home"


Molly with me:
Last night while doing "Rock a Bye" with Molly - which she demands each evening, she asked, "Where Maxie go?".
I said, "Maybe he is in the bathtub".
She said, "Nope, mayyyybeeeee Maxie in my closet"
I said, "Maybe at the zoo"
She said, "Nope, maybe Maxie...."
And this went on for a good 15 minutes.
It was so fun to see her use her imagination and her words - without interruption!


The two of them have been such good friends lately! They play well, they enjoy wrestling with each other and they really do get along more than I could have ever hoped!