Warning: Picture/Cuteness overload!

I FINALLY got around to downloading some pictures off my camera, so now we get to backtrack to July! :-) Here we go... enjoy!

I received a flier in the mail, that our local Toys 'R Us/Babies 'R Us was going to have visitors. Plex and Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba and Geoffrey the Giraffe! I thought it would be fun to take the boys since they are fans, so my friend Amy (and her boys Will and Jack) joined us. Sean was SOOOO excited to meet them... until we got there. Then, he would not get out of the cart! Go figure. ;-) Needless to say, he wouldn't even let me take his picture, so here are some great shots of Nathan.








The end of July was my God son, Kaleb's, birthday. I cannot BELIEVE that he is SIX! He's growing way to fast! He's such a sweet boy who is always full of hugs for me. Who wouldn't love that! Here are some pictures from his birthday party.



Kaleb ready to blow out his candles



Hmm, they must be TRICK candles!



Kaleb's Daddy (Mason) stepping in to help out





Owen (Kaleb's brother)



Nathan being "big stuff"




Sean and his friend Savannah (used to go to daycare together) :-)

Updates - October

I must say, I've become bad about keeping the blog up to date! Let's just say The Lance's busy season has begun!

Although we are LOVING Judah, I do miss some things about Sean's class at ABC. The teacher in his class there, Ms. Alicia, planned an "ABC Reunion" for all the 2011 "Graduates" (those who moved on to Kindergarten this fall... and Sean.) Since Sean is the same age as the others that left, and also moved on to a new school, he was included in the reunion. We all met at a local park where the kiddos got to play, and the parents got to catch up. Ms. Alicia had drinks and snacks for everyone, and had all the kids talk about their new schools/classes and what they are doing now. It was SO neat! I just love that she truly cares so much about the kids. Here is a picture of the "Graduates". (Note: Sean is upset because we told him we had to leave after the picture.) :-)



September ended and October began with a house full of sickies! It started with me and then moved on to Sean. One morning, he literally woke up and just wasn't acting like himself. Then, the barking cough set in... yep, croup. We managed to last about four days before Nathan's bark set in... croup #2. It was a LONG two and a half weeks, but I think every one is finally on the mend. Nathan still has a lingering cough, but NOTHING like it was.

Here is a picture of Sean feeling his worst. (So sad isn't it?)



The boys are on the mend (can't you tell???) :-)





Two weekends ago, while Nathan was still working on feeling better, Sean and I went to the Pet Fair Extravaganza at Prairieland Feeds in Savoy. Although there wasn't a ton to do, it was a free event and provided a nice little outing for us! We got to see a tiger, lots of exotic birds, feed some goats (and a camel) and ride the horses. Please excuse the quality of the pictures - they are from my phone.







This past weekend was super busy, but SUPER fun! Jamie has really been enjoying his birthday present from me and the boys - Season Illinois Hockey tickets! Although they aren't having the best year, he has a great time at the games. Friday, Jamie and his friend, Joe, took our youngest nephew, Kyle, to one of the games. My brother-in-law knows the coach and was able to get Kyle in to meet a few of the players beforehand. They even gave him a signed hockey stick! He also caught TWO pucks during practice! He had a BLAST watching the game with Uncle Jamie... it was a pretty amazing memory for Jamie too! ;-) I had a pretty fun evening too! Joe's wife (Amy - a great friend of mine) and their boys (Will and Jack) hung out with me and the boys. It was a fun evening of watching them run around like crazies! I love it when we get them together to play. :-)



This past weekend, my work hosted a family day at Curtis Orchard. Unfortunately, these type of events tend to fall right at Nathan's nap time, so he wasn't able to join in on the fun. Jamie was kind enough to stay home with him (I'm thinking there was a nap in there for him too!), so that I could attend with Sean. We had such a fun time playing on the playground, bouncing in the bounce house/maze, riding the ponies, going on a tractor ride, etc. He didn't want to leave but Mommy was BEAT! I didn't get many pictures, but here are a couple of him on the pony.




The weekend was capped off by my friend Melissa's Thirty-one party! It was a GREAT party and we had a really nice time. While I was away doing that, Jamie and the boys raked all the leaves in a big pile and played in them for about an hour. Sean has been begging to do this since last Fall, but the leaves are finally perfect for doing just that. I think we'll be outdoors a lot the next few nights! I have the CUTEST video of them I'll have to post later. :-)




That's it for now! Until the next post...

5 Meals - 1 Hour, Week 10... and a confession

So I have come to a conclusion... I'm lazy. Yep, there, I said it. Although I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our 5 Meals - 1 Hour, it does take up time on my weekend. First, I have to really start the week before planning my meals (based on what's on sale), get to the grocery store (which I do anyway), set out any meat that needs to be thawed on Saturday (this is the kicker), and then prep it all Sunday. Really, it's not that much work, but sometimes I just get lazy. Now that football has started, you can bet your bottom that this plan is not going to work (I cherish that time relaxing with my husband, cheering on our teams, while the kiddos rest). So, after a great deal of thought - we are quitting this plan. Sort of.

Rather than making everything on Sunday, we are planning out the meal for the week, and then thawing what needs to be thawed. If there is something small we can do to speed things up, then we'll do that. But for the most part, we are "prepping" the meal the day of. This still is a pretty good deal for us, as the most frustrating part is trying to come up with what to eat. So, with our modified plan, here's what's on the menu! Do you have any good, easy recipes to share???

Monday - Onion Garlic Pork Roast (Pre-marinated - by Hormel)
*This is in the crock pot with golden potatoes, onion, carrots, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and one jar of beef gravy. SOOOOO good!

Tuesday - Poppyseed Chicken
*This is one of my all-time favorite foods!

Wednesday - Frozen Pizza
*Church night... nice and easy :-)

Thursday - Hamburgers, Sweet Corn and French Fries (baked)
*It's perfect grilling weather!

Friday - Jambalaya (Thank you Zatarain's!) and French Bread
*Add some sausage and chicken and you have a meal!

Hi - my name is Jenn

I wasn't sure you'd remember since it's been SO long since I've posted. But lucky you, I'm back! Things have been SUPER busy in the Lance household, so let me try to catch you up.

September has kept us busy with the wedding of Kristen, a girl, (I mean, young woman), I used to babysit. It was a beautiful wedding and I'm SO happy for her and Jake as they begin their life together. But talk about making me feel old! Kristen's Mom used to babysit me and Elaine, so I imagine that is how she felt when WE got married!

The second weekend of September took Sean and I to Colorado! One of my dearest friends, Amy, and her family live in Fort Collins. For my birthday, Jamie bought a plane ticket for me - and one for Sean - to go visit. The last time I was out there was after she gave birth to her second child, Lauren - who is now 14 months! Their other daughter, Natalie, is just a little younger than Sean. They had a BLAST together and I LOVED watching them interact. Will, Amy's husband, was even kind enough to watch all three kiddos, so that Amy and I could spend the day shopping. When they lived in Illinois, we would often head down to Tuscola to hit Carter's and other places for the kids. We always had such a fun time chatting and just spending the afternoon together. I cannot go to the outlet without thinking of and missing her! It was a WONDERFUL visit and we cannot thank them enough for their hospitality. Amy and I both were frustrated with the lack of pictures we took, but at least we got a few! We were fortunate enough to spend a little time with Jamie's Aunt Wendy and Uncle Wade (Wendy was kind enough to pick us up from the airport), and his Mom, Becky, and niece Reagan. Although our visit with them was short, we were glad to get to see them and catch up!

Natalie and Sean




Last weekend was Jamie's birthday, and we were on the go non-stop! We had our annual tailgating weekend with our fab friends, The Divelys. It's something we look forward to every year, and it did NOT disappoint! The weather was perfect, and the company was even better! And as a little bonus, Illinois even won!! After tailgate, we headed over to our friends Steve and Ashley's housewarming party. Talk about some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G food! They have really done a lot to their new digs and have made it a beautiful home! After leaving their shin-dig, we headed out with our dear friends Joe and Amy to finish off the night celebrating Jamie's birthday. I swear we never laugh as hard as when we are with them. It was a fantastic day! Oh, and I think Jamie was very pleased with his birthday presents from me and the boys... Illinois Hockey season tickets, and a Blackhawks jersey! The next day, we headed to Jupiters to celebrate with my family. Pizza and games with the family - does it get any better???

The birthday boy



Me and Kelly at tailgate



I have been super busy with work, which is good! But I'm ready for a little less travelling in the upcoming months. Although the furthest I've been lately is Peoria (which has it's perks... I get to meet my bestie Jodi for lunch!), it does create quite the pile on my desk when I return. :-)

This weekend I will be SUPER busy with more Thirty-one parties. I am in my second full month as a consultant, and am just so blessed to have this opportunity. My Mom and sister, friends Kelly, Amy, and Heather have all hosted parties for me, and I had one who booked a party off of my sister's show. This weekend my friends Jodi and Val are having one too! I've already booked three for October and have a couple more in the works. This company and this opportunity have been such blessings for me and our family. I have never felt so good about a company and what it stands for, and am so proud to be a part of it. If you are not familiar with Thirty-one, you can read about it here. My sweet nephew, Kyle, wanted to do something to help with the party at my sister's. So he put on his clown costume, made a sign, and stood in the driveway to let the party attendees know where to turn! I love this kid.



Sean is keeping very busy with school and is just loving it! I love that he is making some great friends, and am so amazed at how much he has learned. Nothing melts my hear more than hearing him say, "Mommy, I can't wait to go to school. I'm going to obey on the first try, because God loves my heart." Couldn't you just melt? Judah Christian is an AMAZING school, and we are so fortunate to be a part of it!

Bedtime shenanigans



Sean "cold" as usual, in Jamie's sweatshirt (with a few alterations)



Nathan is starting to really talk up a storm which is SO much fun! His "terrible two" phase is starting to mellow out (THANK GOODNESS), and I find myself just delighting in the sweet little boy he's becoming. Here is the silly monkey at daycare... he's always the life of the party!



Nathan at "monkey game" (aka - Buffalo Wild Wings)



Here are a couple of random pictures from the last month. Until the next post...

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