Here we are, back again.  I’m even managing to get this Sunday night.  I’m pretty amazed!

Monday

LO Mexican Lasagna
Matthew’s 2nd week of school.  His first week went very well.  Let’s hope this week goes the same.

Tuesday

More Mexican Lasagna
I cut the recipe down by a third.  It still made a 9×13 pan, filled to the brim.  I froze half of it, so it should be done after this evening.

Wednesday

Chicken stir-fry, rice, egg rolls, potstickers
We got some veggies from my family last week, so we never made this one.

Thursday

leftovers

Friday

Coconut Shrimp or Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia
I’ve got both of these in the freezer.  We’ll see what we feel like having that day.

Saturday

No idea for this day.  We may be home, we may be gone.  I’m sure I can find something to make.

Sunday

BBQ ribs

Technorati Tags: Menu Plan Monday

10 years is a long time.

10 years goes by so fast.

So many things have happened in 10 years.

An apartment, a townhouse, and a house with a yard.

A fuzzy princess named Baili.

Two beautiful babies.

And so much more.

Laughter and tears, extreme joy and sadness.

It’s been an amazing ride and I can’t wait for the next 10 years.

I love you!!!

Technorati Tags: 10 year anniversary

Today was the big day.  Our little boy went of to his first day of school….preschool.

He goes 2 days a week, Mondays & Wednesdays.  Today seemed to go quite well.

This week is farm week at TLC.  Today for lunch they had hot dogs and corn on the cob.  Corn that each child husked before it was cooked.  There was watermelon for afternoon snack.  He painted a pig pink.  This Wednesday they are asking each child to bring in an ingredient to make vegetable soup for lunch.

So far, school seems to agree with him.  He even took a nap.  Which he desperately needed after our vacation.

To celebrate Matthew’s first day of school, we all went out and had a family dinner at Old Country Buffet.  Matthew was able to eat as much mac & cheese as he wanted.  And he topped off his meal with a bowl of ice cream and gummi bears.  Yum!

Technorati Tags: 1st day of school, preschool

Well, after being gone for quite a while, I’m trying to get back into this.  And as you’ll notice, I’ll have made it with less than an hour to spare.

Now that vacation and birthdays are behind us, things can get back to normal…well as normal as they get for us.

Monday

Old Country Buffet
It was Matthew’s first day of school, so we went to celebrate.

Tuesday

Spaghetti

Wednesday

Chicken stir-fry, rice, egg rolls, potstickers

Thursday

leftovers

Friday

Out
Friday is our 10 year anniversary.  We’re not sure what we’re going to do yet.  And really, we could go out on Saturday.  It depends on if we can get someone to watch the kids.

Saturday

Mexican Lasagna
Tell me this doesn’t look good.  Go ahead.  I dare you!  And if you don’t like Mexican….what’s wrong with you???

Sunday

LO Mexican Lasagna

Technorati Tags: Menu Plan Monday, Pioneer Woman

Well, I’ve been missing for a while now.  The end of July and the first half of August have been very busy.

If you read my other blog, Emma’s Grace, then you probably already know that Emma had a pretty major seizure July 18th.  It lasted for at least 45 minutes and several times she became so congested in her throat that she couldn’t breathe well and her lips turned blue.  We had an ambulace ride to the nearest hospital and then a transfer to Children’s Hospital of Michigan.  She spent 3 days in the hospital.

While we were doing that, Jon was supposed to fly to California.  He still managed to go, but caught a later flight that Sunday.  Matthew spent the time at Grandma & Papa’s house.

August 2nd was Matthew’s birthday party.  He was thrilled with everything.  He ended up wanting a Batman party, so that’s what we went with.  My mom, being the master of all cakes, pulled off a Batman cake for Matthew.  I’ll post pictures when I can get them all together.

August 6th, we all flew out to California.  Jon had another business trip and we tagged along.  This was Matthew’s 2nd plane ride and Emma’s first.  We came home on the 16th.  We had lots of fun and took lots of pictures.  I’ll give a run down in the next couple of days.

We’ve spent our Sunday trying to get used to the time change again.  It’s been a pretty quiet day for us.

Monday will be a big day for all of us.  Matthew starts preschool.  We’re hoping that he does well, despite being on vacation and how tired he’s been, even though he denies it.

So, I have a pretty free day on Monday while Matthew’s in school.  I’m hoping to get our vacation typed up as well as lots of pictures.

If I were you, I wouldn’t hold your breath.  Something’s bound to come up and I don’t get it done.  But I’m going to try.

Technorati Tags: vacation

Today is the day.  At 2:28 pm today, Matthew will officially be 4 years old!

He’s turning into such a big boy!  Sunday, Jon took him to Toys-R-Us to look around.  Jon came home and was telling me how great he was at the store.  And really, I love taking him to Toys-R-Us.  He doesn’t whine and scream to buy stuff.  He likes to look at the toys and then is fine putting them back on the shelf.  He occasionally asks, but doesn’t have a problem with being told no.  His biggest concern is whether or not he gets to sit in the Spiderman helicopter ride on the way out.  It doesn’t need to go, he can pretend.

I never imagined that someone so small could make me laugh so much.  He’s so exact.  He won’t let anyone say he’s 4 until after his birthday.

I smile as he walks down the hallways and tells his pretend friend, Jack, “Excuse me” because she’s standing in the middle of the hallway.

He loves his baby sister so much.  He loves to lay on the floor with her and lay his arm around her.  He’s always giving her hugs and kisses and trying to get her to look at him.  He’s been amazing through all of the things we’ve been through with Emma.  He doesn’t notice that she’s not “normal.”  He doesn’t care that we have to go to therapy on so many days.  Though, he does think it’s not fair that Emma gets to go in the PT pool and he doesn’t.  I’ve asked him before if he wished he didn’t have a sister, and every time he says no, she’s part of our family and he loves her.  In fact, he tells me that he wants more baby sisters…and maybe a baby brother.  After he changed his mind about baby brothers.  For a little while, he would tell me that he didn’t like baby boys.

He’s potty trained now.  Well, I don’t count the night time.  That will take time.  I’m just happy that he goes during the day.  We’ve had our accidents.  But who doesn’t.  He even goes when we’re out at the store or restaurant.

Next is preschool.  We’re going to an open house for a preschool on Tuesday evening.  We’re hoping that we can get him to go 2 or 3 days a week, maybe starting the end of August.  I know he’ll love it.  I think he’s been ready for it for a while, but there was that pesky potty training issue.  Now that we’ve conquered that, he can move on and have lots of fun with other big kids.

Today we’re going to the zoo.  We’ll walk around, enjoy the animals, hope the butterflies land on us, eat junk food, and maybe go to the beach afterwards.

At 2:28, the alarm will go off and we’ll sing Happy Birthday to Matthew.  If you’re free, join along.  If you do, let me know.  Matthew would be thrilled to know that everyone was singing with us.

Technorati Tags: 4th birthday, toledo zoo

Well, I obviously didn’t get this up Monday evening.  Busy week.  And it’s not over yet.  *sigh*

Thursday is going to be bad.  Only because Matthew gets his 4 year old check-up.  And he’ll be getting 4 shots in his cute little thighs.  Emma also needs her 1 year old shots.  It’s possible that she’ll get them tomorrow.  Hopefully it all doesn’t go as bad as I’m picturing it.

This is probably the most exciting MPM post I’ve ever made. (Note the sarcasm here.)  Enjoy.

Monday

LO tacos, blueberries

Tuesday

homemade chicken & rice soup, blueberries

Wednesday

parmesan crusted tilapia, broccoli cheese rice, Cold & Creamy Banana Pudding

Thursday

LO soup

Friday

??
Something I pull out of the cupboard.

Saturday

out

Sunday

??
I’m feeling uninspired this week.  We’ll see what else I come up with.

Technorati Tags: Menu Plan Monday

Brakes!  The van needs front brakes.  Which I suppose we should have.  It would be a bad thing to not be able to stop, right?  Why do they have to cost so much?  $200 for 2 brake pads and to rotate the rotors.

Blech!

Technorati Tags: Chevy Uplander

I’ll try and get the menu plan up tomorrow some time.

We’re taking the van in for some service work tomorrow.  It’ll take a minumum 4 hours to get it done.  I can’t sit in the car dealership for 4+ hours with a 4 year old and a 13 month old.  I’m going to drop it off and Jon’s gonna give us a lift home.  We’ll pick it up when Jon gets home from work.

I hate not having a car.  I don’t need to go anywhere tomorrow.  I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.  We’ve got enough stuff planned for this week* that I don’t want to go anywhere tomorrow.  It’s that “unknown” factor.  What if something happens?  Nothing is going to happen.  I know better.  We’ll be perfectly fine.  But with 2 kids, you just never know.

* Tuesday (Early On appointment, physical therapy), Wednesday (EEG, jujitsu), Thursday (doctor appointment for Matthew, 4 shots!)

Ok.  So we’re done with the baby shower.  And as everyone kept saying, “We don’t have to do that again.”  At which point, I would tack on, “At least for a couple of years.”  Crystal didn’t appreciate it.  Just a little big sister humor. 

Now, we’ve got to plan a birthday party for Matthew.  Boy the time is flying.

I’ve been getting way behind on recipe reviews.  I’m hoping to do a bunch this week.  For now, here’s the menu for the week.

Monday

ribs, baked beans, potatoes, broccoli
Crystal and Eric are coming over for dinner.

Tuesday

LO ribs or sandwiches

Wednesday

tacos

Thursday

nachos

Friday

Bruschetta Chicken

Saturday

homemade chicken noodle soup

Sunday

LO Bruschetta Chicken

Technorati Tags: Menu Plan Monday