playing 'catch up'

November wasn't very busy around here. nothing major planned, aside from thanksgiving, but with the stuff we DO have planned, that is just a break in the madness. here's how we spent November:

There were many times we spent at the table doing 'art'. They like to make pictures for people, but mostly, they end up as clutter on my counter. Brynlee likes paper and scribbling. She is getting better and drawing circles and lines, but mostly ending in big blobs of color. Fletcher is really starting to make identifiable pictures. Most are of our family, but it is pretty neat to see how he interprets each of us in his drawings.

It snowed. Kind of. The kids were excited. I was not. However, it was minimal so I dealt with it. 

 Adam and Fletcher made some deer jerky from the meat we got earlier in the year. When it comes to helping, Fletcher is right there. He's not a great helper yet, but he sure tries. Sometimes, more often than not, he's in the way, but it means a lot to him to 'be involved'.

Gus made an early visit. There were two children who were behaving terribly, so I thought it would be best if Santa sent our elf early. They straightened up, slighly and were threatened on a weekly basis that there would be NO Christmas if they continued on like they were. It kind of worked.

 My brother and his family came down from Minnesota this year to celebrate Thanksgiving. I have no pictures of the feast my parents prepared, but I do have these to shots of our crazy, line waiting experience to get some cheap deals at the Pre-Black Friday sales. And that line at Target was just starting to enter as we were approaching. The line went all the way around the building and then stretched out along one side of the mall. We hopped in where there was a gap and got in with no problem. My brother got the Ipads he was after and my SIL and I had no problem choosing from a large selections of items we were after.

 My mom took my kids and my niece (and me) to Disney on Ice. The show included scenes from Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, Little Mermaid and Peter Pan. The kids liked it, I wasn't impressed though. I've seen much better shows put on. They get to go again in February as a birthday gift from their Aunt Lindsey...but it's a surprise.

We have a 2 year old

On Monday, my sweet baby girl turned two years old. Time sure has flown by...I type that as she's being good right now.
She sure has taught us a lot. Like patience. And 'don't sweat the small stuff'. And how to survive a night with very little sleep. And how to kind of get sleep with a toddler in your bed, who's kicking and wide awake at 2am. Oh, and she's taught us patience. But really, we're still learning that one.
This kid is a handful, but a good handful. Aside from the naughty things she does, the good and funny outweigh all the bad. She is really tender hearted toward others, but she like to hit too. She loves 'tandy' and 'nacks'. She does not like fruits or vegetables. She loves to copy her big brother and always wants to play with him. Sometimes he's nice, sometimes he's not. She loves books and her babies and cooking up things in her kitchen. And she also enjoys dumping all the toys on the floor, which I do not enjoy. A current favorite is coloring...with markers and eating play-doh. She fights naptime and bedtime with every ounce of energy.
I know that as much as I want some of these battles to be over, I need to cherish the good and the not so good, because some day, I'll want it all back. All of it-the sleepless nights, the blue marker on the lazy-boy, the fights between her and her brother, trying to get her to eat something good and not another sucker. So, as her third year begins, I sit back and take in all of the good and bad and practice working on my patience. Here's to another year sweet girl.

Meal Planning Monday-vol. 3, wk. 6

monday-fajitas
tuesday-chicken and noodles
wednesday-papa john's free coin toss pizza
thursday-crocckpot meatballs
friday-tater tot casserole

last weeks philly cheesesteak peppers were GOOD...only adam and i both agreed that the peppers need to be baked a bit before stuffing. next time i make them, i will put the peppers in the oven for about fifteen minutes first. perhaps i just had really think peppers, but the crunch and pepper taste kind of took away from the yummy-ness of the beef mixture and cheese.
also, the crockpot beer chicken was not bad (no link, but follow the directions under the picture on pinterest). i used a miller high life light (we're cheap beer drinkers), and the taste of the chicken was good. only problem, it was too dry because it cooked too long. my only recommendation-make sure you are ready to eat when it is done, or you'll be feasting on dry chicken.

Meal planning Monday-vol. 3, wk. 5

Monday-tacos with the fixins
Tuesday-Philly cheesesteak stuffed bell peppers.
Wednesday-cheese tortellini, garlic bread
Thursday-crockpot beer chicken
Friday- pizza boat

Last weeks meals were not bad. I did not like the taste of the honey mustard sauce I used for the Aussie chicken, but once cooked and baked in, it wasnt as strong tasting. I will make again, but will alter how I fix it.
I could not locate the recipe I had for the bacon cheeseburger soup, so I took two different recipes and pulled ingredients from both. I was quite pleased with the taste and it too, will be made again.

Meal planning monday-vol. 3, wk. 4

as i post this on a tuesday, i reassure you that this was typed out on saturday evening on my phone. i have to plan ahead for what i'll be eating the following week, you know. here's what's on the many lists reminding me what i'm going to be grubbing on.

Monday-we had chicken quesadillas
Tuesday-per request of little boy, it's pizza night
Wednesday-Aussie chicken (search on pinterest for recipe)
Thursday-bacon cheeseburger soup (carry over)
Friday-tuna cakes (carry over)

Last weeks Tuesday meal, Italian layer bake, delicious. I was very pleased with the taste and Adam didn't have anything to say about it, which means its good. The kids even ate it, minus the peppers.

There was a bit of sickness in the house early in the week and we were gone Friday evening, so that's why we have a few carry over meals this week. I'm kinda excited to try the soup on Thursday this week and look forward to making (and eating) it.

My hospital date

A slow week in blog land for me, so as I sit here trying to get baby girl to sleep, I will share some fun pictures from my evening with my princess of a niece, camryn.

My sister and her husband were taking the twins on a date tonight and needed someone to sit with cam while they were gone, so I volunteered.

I was recruited to be the bad person and make her do her spelling words and practice reading her books. I'm a good negotiator, so it wasn't that bad.

We had some visitors while I was there which made the time go by a little quicker. I also got to be on poop patrol as they needed to 'collect a sample' and needed to let the nurses know if anything happened. I'll just say that she needed to change her undies :)

There was some game playing, face making and sister dancing going on. You would have thought we were at a party, rather than a hospital. The kid seriously has way too much energy, but I honestly wouldn't want it any other way.

Meal Planning Monday-vol. 3, wk. 3 & a confession

January 14-18

monday-taco pie
tuesday-italian layer bake
wednesday-chicken spaghetti with lemon garlic sauce  (click on top right photo for recipe)
thursday-bacon cheeseburger soup
friday-tuna cakes

confession~last week i was in a slump. truth is, i'm still not out of it. last weeks meal planning did not go as i had hoped. although i did make 4 of the 5 recipes, but they were not made on the days posted. with adam's 'new' job, he isn't getting home until 6:30 or 7, the weather is sucking all the energy i have and i just don't feel like doing ANYTHING.

 also, the bubble up pizza recipe....not fantastic. the topping was not very appealing to me, but it was edible. i will either not make it again, or i'll find something else to put on the top. maybe some little canned biscuits could do the trick. 

Meal Planning Monday-vol. 3, wk. 1 & a new planning method

January 1-4
tuesday-three cheese chicken and pasta
wednesday-pepperoni pizza and cheesy bread
thursday-blueberry waffles, scrambled eggs
friday-baked chicken, veggie saute

after this week, i'm going to try something different with my meal planning monday. i have designated certain days with a theme, in hopes of helping me come to a quicker decision when planning. i have a recipe box (and pin boards) full of recipes that have not been tried, but we also have our favorites that will be made often. with adam traveling back and forth with the 'new' job, this will make it easier for both of us to anticipate what we're having and i won't be waiting until he gets home (round 6:30p) to see what he feels like. here's hoping it works for me and that it will make it the whole year.

Mexican Monday
New Recipe Tuesday
Pasta Wednesday
Slow cooker Thursday
Whatever Friday

the last five months-august

august was packed full of fun. we had to make sure we did all the last 'summer-ish' things before school started for flether and our days weren't so open. 

one day in early august, adam's dad was up doing some things to the house (we were still moving at this point) and he heard some music in the distance. when he caught sight of what it was, he came inside to see if the kids could have ice cream. this is a very rare occasion so all three of us joined him outside to get a treat. 

in the middle of the month, my parents had my niece and nephew (brother's kids) for a few weeks. they decided to make a trip to the omaha zoo and the kids and i were asked if we wanted to tag along. since adam was out of town (big surprise), we did. we were only gone for one 30 hours, but we were on the go. we headed to the air and space museum to check out all the old planes...four kids and two adult females were bored out of our minds, but my dad sure enjoyed it. 

when we left the museum, we drove next door to mahoney state park where we were staying at the lodge, checked in and then thought we would go to the water park for a bit. this was a major hit. 

checking out the map of the grounds. there is so much to do that they want to come back. 

the following morning, we got the crew ready for a day at the zoo. 

the iowa state fair starts the second thursday and goes for the next 10 days. it's kind of tradition for us to go and do certain things every year. the kids are getting older and having more fun seeing the animals and doing  some of the activities 

camping at camp pops and nana's

my grandpa's 89th birthday. we had a family party for him and all of his kids, grandkids and greats were in attendance. 

grandma and grandpa with the greats. seven kids, nine and under...oh, the joys. 

the last five months-july

in july, we did stuff. some memorable, some not so much. 

july 3rd at prairie meadows waiting for the firework display. someone also discovered her nostrils. 

introducing the littles to 'snakes'. 

we celebrated adam's niece's wedding, two days after we celebrated our 4th anniversary. 

the daughters of four of the original neighbor girls. these four are all within four months of each other. 

ellie, nov. mckenna, dec.  brynlee, feb. zoey, march

the kids took swim lessons. they loved it. the bottom picture is distorted if i make it bigger, but im sure you get it. 

we met some friends at the pool one afternoon and then headed to have froyo afterwards. 

we attended camryn's first annual christmas in july toy drive. 

practicing for saturday night live. an old tradition that my parents and their neighbors did when i was young. now when all the 'kids' are in town, we all partake as our littles run and play like we used to. 

not your average birthday

i was dreading my birthday this year. ever since i turned 30, i've kinda hated my birthday. no real reason other than being another year older. people like to celebrated 'me' and i enjoy it, but then it all hits me that i'm  'getting old'. 

yesterday was one of those emotional days. i was getting 'old' and we were awaiting some news that had the possibility of not being happy. brynlee and i were at my mom and dad's house since the boys were hunting, so i was hoping i would be able to hold it together a bit better, but NO. brynlee has hit the terrible two stage a few months early and was being an absolute terror. adam was coming to deliver fletcher, take me out for lunch and then head out of town for the week on a work trip, so i would be doing some single parenting. oh, and we were waiting for 'the phone call'. 

adam and i enjoyed a nice lunch at applebee's and he got me a kindle fire, on top of the new laptop he had already given me. once we got back to the house, my mom and fletcher had made cupcakes while we were gone, which was a nice surprise. and she had a nice package wrapped, waiting for me...a magic bullet blender.  i said good-bye to adam and about 10 minutes later, my sister was calling. i could tell from the questions my mom was asking, that it wasn't good news. 

after kicking icky cancer's butt once, camryn was going to have to do it again. this time, the spots are small and her body is 'healthy' and strong. the team of doctors already have a plan set out for treatment, so she was admitted last night and began chemo. she tolerated it well and was doing great today and is going home to do the rest of the treatment at home. 

with all the attitude, spunk and strength this little girl has, i have no doubt she'll be whoopin' some ass once again. 

. 

so, with that news, the joy that i was allowing to fill the day, was drastically stomped to the floor. in 33 years, i've never celebrated a birthday so sad. a redo is in place for next year, where i will be celebrating 33 again, with only good news allowed. 

the last five months-june

i was looking forward to june. the sun. the trips to the pool and zoo. staying up late. grilling and having summertime beverages. weekend adventures. our summer started out great, but by the end of the month, our summer took a major turn from fun to stressful.

the beginning of the month, i wanted to get the kids pictures taken. and because i'm am 'tight' with my money (in certain areas), i decided to play photographer mommy. with the help of my helpful assistant (my mom), we headed to the neighbors backyard to try and get a few decent pictures. fletcher was a ham. brynlee, not so much. i did end up getting a headache, and few that were frame-able. 

back in april for fletcher's birthday, he received a fishing pole from his pops and nana. ever since, he has really been into fishing. adam took him a few times. they also went to uncle dave's pond and did some fishing. fletcher is very impatient (inherited trait), and not quiet, so there was little catching going on.

on june 23rd, adam played in the alumni football game again. this year, he was joined by his step-brother nate, his friend iffy, and the oldest player on the team, his dad. this years game was not enjoyable at all. after the first three minutes of play, it started pouring. so hard. there was no rain in the forecast, and for the games entirety, it rained. stopping right as the clock ticked to 00:00. i have a lot of pictures of the game, but it didn't really get to watch any of it. albia lost again this year, but it was closer during the whole game. he's already signed up to play next year.

 {fletcher and cousin kate}

after the game weekend, we stayed in albia until monday morning and then left from there for our family getaway to kansas city. we were headed to great wolf lodge for a few days to relax. we did a lot of swimming, arcade game playing and cub club crafting. one afternoon, we escaped to crown center and explored a bit. we went to fritz's, a dinosaur exhibit and the crayola store. 

     

                  

              

and this happened. this was a big decision for us to make. at the time, it was the right thing to do but as time went on, we realized that by moving away from everything we have and the things that were currently happening with our family, that we would stay put and deal with the consequences. at this point, things are going well with the final decision to stay. there may be more to share about this in the next few weeks.