Thank you sir(s) and maam(s)...

Thank you sir and maam. Yes, you who sat in a sand dune yesterday or in a transport vehicle or in a tent while we watched fireworks. You who didnt sleep last night due to enemy fire, while I enjoyed time with my family. You who had a barbeque with your friends and talked about life and friends who are deployed or even being deployed yourself. You who report to a base for work each day.

Yes, thank you. All of you who have pledged your allegiance to the military of this beautiful country we live in and love. Thank you for being willing to lay down your life for our freedom! Wherever you are, whatever you are doing.... my family is aware of your sacrifice and blessed by you!!

Family Constitution

Octamom is giving away a GREAT book about communication and consistency with your children!! Head over to check it out and enter to win!!

WW- Fountains

Not Me Monday

It's Monday again! Time for Not Me Monday. Head over to McMama's to play along.

Liv was picked up Friday by her dad and is spending this week with his mom. Then he has her for the weekend. I am not praying that her dad's dad doesnt call to say he'll take her Mon and Tues so she can come home Sun. (I am not missing her a TON!)

I did not let Josh play on the floor at 3am while I mindlessly watched TV because I was so tired I couldnt hold him well.

I also did not laugh when he got his foot stuck in the hole of the laundry basket while spinning himself around on the floor. Not me!

I did not shout for joy two days ago when Gabe decided all on his own that he wanted to sleep in his toddler bed! I have not been jumping for joy each day since as he takes his naps and starts his night there!!

Menu Plan Monday

I've been menu planning for awhile now, so I thought I'd play along this week! Head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie to play too.



I love menu planning! It helps me make a detailed list (and stick to it) at the grocery store and it helps us not eat out! I can plan cold meals or crock pot meals for days or nights that are busy and meals Liv wont eat for when she's at her dads.


This week we're having:



M- Chicken and Black Bean Burritos
T- Pot Roast, egg noodles, carrots
W- Cold Rice Salad
Th- Crunchy Chicken pitas
F- Tabouli, grilled pork
Sa- we're going to a Pig Roast
Su- Adventure in the Crock

What about you? What are you having this week?

My summer go-to lunch (Grilled Veggie Wraps)

When I was in college (at Kent State) they opened this great little food stop in the Student Center that sold fresh fruit and healthy drinks.They also made the best salads and wraps. One of my favorites was their grilled veggie wrap. Ive adapted it a bit, but during summer when we have lots of veggies in the fridge, I take advantage.

You will need:
-whole wheat or spinach wraps (I use whole wheat pita for the kids)
-Grilled veggies (or pan cooked if you dont want to fire up the grill). Ive used: squash, zucchini, mushrooms, eggplant, greenbeans.
-balsamic dressing
-spinach or another dark green that you like
-feta or mozzarella if you want cheese

1) grill veggies or warm up leftover ones if you have them
2) lay wrap on plate
3)put spinach or lettuce on wrap
4) pile on veggies and cheese
5) drizzle with dressing
6) wrap and eat!

For the kids I make a plate of piles: veggies with dressing/pita/cheese. They dont like it all together but eat it well seperately.

ENJOY!

Wordless Wednesday- Hats

Happy 2nd Birthday Big Boy

Dear Big Boy,

You are two now. Looking at that first picture makes me so amazed to see where you are now. You are trying to run and are learning new words each day. You are working so hard on using silverware butfeed yourself well with your hands. You still have an OT and Speech Therapist that come to the house and you continually amaze both them and me.

You love Elmo, Barney and Thomas and can play with your choo choos forever. Your other favorite toys are tinkertoys and blocks. We've spent as much time outside this year as possible and you keep up on a hike better than your sister despite your asthma. You love trucks and we took you to see them for your birthday! I have pictures so I can show you how excited you were. You are fearless and will try anything once. You scare me when it comes to swimming.

You have recently decided that yor nose is a storage space and yesterday you shoved a fry so far up there that I had to take you to urgent care.They couldnt get it out, so we had to go to an ENT today. They were able to use suction and tweezers to remove it and you were SO well behaved that EVERYONE complimented you.

I love you so much!! You love life SOOO much! You are curious and so smart. You are carefree and genuinely love people. I am so proud to be your mommy! Life has thrown you some major challenges and each time you adjust and find a way that works for you. You just keep going and keep smiling and I admire your strength!

Happy Birthday Sweet boy. Mommy cant wait to see what the next year brings.

4months and 2 years

Josh was 4 months on the 5th and Gabe will be 2 on the 19th. I took them to the dr yesterday and here are there stats.

Josh
height: 25 in (50th) he was in the 35th
weight: 15lbs, 8oz (60th) he was in the 25th
head: 17 1/2" (90th) he was in the 70th

I was telling John that we may have to come up with a new nickname for him as he's not really a
tiny tot anymore.

Gabe
Height: 35" (75th) he was in the 90th
Weight: 33lbs (90th) he was in the 100th

We are going to a dairy free diet to see if that is whats bugging him. He had a pulminology visit today and they upped his inhaler dose and he has to see a new allergist and may need to see a GI.

He's still a big boy, but is starting to thin out.

In which we talk about cooking

I LOVE to cook! I love to try new recipes (always by the book the first time and then I add my touches to it).

There are a few places I automatically go for new recipes:

Kraft foods - I dont always use the name brand products they suggest, but I love how easy most of these dinners are.

$5 dinners - I LOVE these dinner options!! Most of these have GFCF (Gluten free-casein free) options as well if you need those.

Chop.Stir.Mix - I have to admit to only trying one recipe from this site, but I just remembered it was there and will be using it soon!

I also love my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It has a FABULOUS french toast recipe in it as well as my tried and true cookie recipes.

I will also be making this in the coming week! ANYTHING with Nutella in it and PB must be YUMMY!

What about you? Where do you go for recipes? What do you love to make?

Wordless Wednesday- As Easy As

One
Two

Three

An Award

I was given this award by my friend Jenilee over at Awake Young Moms. You should head over there and read the blog if you're a mom. There are some very thought provoking posts as well as encouraging words.

It's always nice to pass awards on, so I'll give it to:

Octamom - her blog layout is beautiful as are her eight kiddos and her stories about life with them.

and

LeeAnn - She juggles life with 5 kids while going to school and working so amazingly and I love her pictures.

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday is hosted by Mckmama. Head on over there to read about it and read other Not Me Monday posts.

I did not add margarine to an already calorie laiden pb&j last night so I could grill it in order to make the pb warm and gooey.

I definately did not make a second one because the first one was so good. No not me.

I absolutely did not ply my almost 2 year old with skittles to get him to stop asking for his Nana and PawPaw on Saturday.

I also did not let him call them at least 8 times and talk their ears off as they ran errands and went to graduation parties.

The Princess's new carriage

We promised Liv that when we moved and the weather got warmer, we'd go and get her a big girl bike. One that she could ride for a few years to come and that didnt have training wheels. We got our bonus today and she's been sick with a sinus infection, so I thought a trip to Target would cheer her up. We tried all the girly bikes they had in 20" and she decided on this one because it has a hot pink seat and streamers coming out of the handle bars. The sales guy assured me that I can order training wheels for it if she decides that she needs them. She rode it in the store with my help and then we just had it out for pictures.

Our goal for the summer: learn to ride without training wheels.

Dump Cake?

Am I the only one who hasnt heard about this YUMMY creation?? John's grandmother made it for Memorial Day and it was AMAZING! When she told me the recipe, I knew I'd be making this at least a million times as it's SOOOO easy.

FYI: It's called "Dump Cake" because you just dump the ingredients in.

1 Can crushed pineapple
1 Can cherry pie filling
1 Yellow cake mix
1 stick margarine/butter

-Preheat oven to 325
-Dump pineapple into 9x13 baking dish and spread it out
-Dump cherry pie filling on top and spread out but do not mix
-Pour yellow cake mix on top and flatten but do not mix
-Slice butter/margarine thinly and place on top of cake mix
-Bake 35-40 minutes

Supposedly really good with ice cream or cool whip, but it's fantastic alone!