5 Meals - 1 Hour, Week 9

Week 8 was one of my favorite - by far! Everything was new and tasty (except for the one substitution we had).

Here's my rundown of week 8:

Monday - Southern Pork Chops
*Yummy! The only advice I would give is to be sure to use thicker pork chops to avoid drying them out.

Tuesday - Garlicky Baked Shrimp
*We actually made spaghetti this night... I have been super busy (Thank you Lord!) with my new Thirty-One business, so Jamie was a trooper and helped me out this night, since I couldn't find Shrimp within our budget.

Wednesday - Grilled Bacon Chicken
*What's not to love?

Thursday - Ham and Cheese Sliders
*These were FANTASTIC! I would recommend basting the mixture over the tops, rather than pouring it over. The bottom of the sliders got a little soggy.

Friday - Dinner with friends!

I'm not going to lie, this week was kind of nice as there was very little preparation! It's a lot of red meat, but we're trying to use some stuff up from the freezer without making a run to the grocery store. Here's what's on the menu this week:

Monday - Jamie's Famous Spaghetti (requested by Sean) :-)

Tuesday - Breaded Chicken Sandwiches (frozen patties that we found at GFS... nice and thick. Not your typical small, flat patty! And the buns were given to me by my friend Melissa, who had several left over from a party this weekend!)

Wednesday - Meatloaf (MY recipe... requested by Jamie!) :-)

Thursday - Meatball subs (using day-old Jimmy John's bread... mmm!)

Friday - Eat out!

Until next week, happy cooking!

5 Meals - 1 Hour, Week 7 and 8

Week 6 was delicious... lots of our favorites (see below), but last weekend when I would have been preparing week 7, I came down with some kind of sinus infection. Needless to say, after being feeling like crud Saturday and Sunday (and Monday), preparing dinners was the last thing on my mind. So, we decided to wing it. It was a frustrating week trying to come up with dinners on the fly and really energized me for this week!

Here's a quick rundown of week 6:

Monday - Salmon Patties

Tuesday - Meatloaf Balls (we decided to just stick with my meatloaf... even though I used MY recipe this time, altering the type - ball versus loaf - really impacted the taste.)

Wednesday - Jamie's Famous Spaghetti

Thursday - Tater Tot Casserole

Friday - Onion Ring Chicken

Saturday - Grilling out steaks!

So since we skipped week 7, let's move on to week 8! Here's what's on the menu this week:

Monday - Southern Pork Chops

Tuesday - Garlicky Baked Shrimp

Wednesday - Grilled Bacon Chicken

Thursday - Ham and Cheese Sliders

Friday - Dinner with friends!

Until next week, happy cooking!

Yearbook

Today I receive an email from Sean's teacher at ABC saying that she stuck Sean's "yearbook" in Nathan's cubby, so make sure we got it. Since Jamie picked up Nathan today, I didn't get to see it until we got home. Good thing too... talk about waterworks! This was one of the most amazing, beautiful gifts I've ever been given. I know someday, Sean will be able to look back at this and see how much he was loved by everyone at ABC! I am so grateful that he has been so loved, and so well cared for up to this point in his life, and know it will only continue at Judah. But for now, I will read this yearbook often to remind myself how lucky we have been!

Watch out world...

Yesterday was Sean's first day of preschool! And he did GREAT!!! (For the record, so did Mommy... not one tear!) He loved his new teachers, made some new friends, saw a few old ones, and had a fun time seeing all the new "stations" in his classroom. Oh, and of course he loved the playground! The only comment he made, "This school is a long day!" I tried to explain to him that it's the same amount of time as his old school, but ya know... ;-)

Is this not the CUTEST preschooler you've EVER seen?!?



Finding his name on his classroom door




Digging right in

Saying goodbye...

This last week has been really tough for me. Obviously I have known that the day would come that Sean would be leaving daycare and heading to preschool at Judah, and we could not have asked for a more incredible school. But somehow, for some reason, I was a mess. Literally, I think I cried like four times. Parents meeting - cried. Preschool screening with his AMAZING teacher - cried. Wednesday night - cried. Friday (last day at ABC) - cried. In my defense, ABC is all we have known since Sean was 10 weeks old. How is it possible that my BABY is old enough for school?

I wasn't worried about Sean - he is an AMAZING boy who is so laid back and so loving. I knew he would love his teachers, make some fantastic friends, and learn so much. No, it wasn't him I was worried about - it was me. I do not like change. And my baby growing up - going to the school he will attend until he leaves for college... it's almost too much for me.

But I made it through. Sean made it through. And we are now moving on to the next exciting chapter in his precious life. I still get teary every now and then, but I'm SO proud of my little man and the awesome kid he is becoming. Afterall, he'll always be my baby. ;-)

Here are a few snapshots of some of his friends from ABC:












Sean and some of his wonderful, loving teachers

Big pizza and bowling

The day after the Cubs game, we got invited to a birthday party at "Big Pizza and Bowling", or Jupiter's for those of you who know Champaign. Although it always costs us a small fortune in tokens when we go there, the boys love it... and we loved the birthday boy, so why not?

Cubs game

For the second year, our broker at work has given us tickets to a Cubs game. It's about the one and only "perk" I get with my job, so I'll take it! They always offer for our families to go as well, so this year we decided to take them up on that offer and bring Sean, and our nephews Nick and Kyle (who came last year). It was a fun day, perfect weather, and... the Cubs won!!! Love making these memories...

My Birthday - Part 3

The evening of my birthday, my parents came over to babysit so that Jamie and I could go out to dinner with some of our very best friends, Kelly and Mason. We always celebrate our birthdays together and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way! We started at Kamakura for a WONDERFUL dinner, and then headed to Starbucks on campus for an after dinner treat. It was so nice to have time - just the four of us... I honestly didn't want the night to end! Great food, the best friends... what more does a girl need???

The gang



Kelly and Mason



Me and the hubby



Very pensive, no? ;-)



Our chef (really nice guy, trying to look... well... "tough")




The deliciousness

My Birthday - Part 2

On my actual birthday, Sean had a birthday party to go to at the bowling alley (a friend from ABC) - he was SO excited! Although kids were encouraged to dress up in their favorite princess character, Sean decided to just go low key. ;-)

Paige, the birthday girl... I mean, princess.



He had SUCH a fun time, even though the ball just about weighed more than him.