My Birthday - Part 1

Well I'm FINALLY getting around to updating the blog... so let's backtrack a little to my birthday! It was a wonderful month (yes, month) of celebrating! On the Friday before, my Girls Night group headed to Dos Reales for some delicioso mexican food and then went to see Friends With Benefits (cute movie). It was so much fun and I'm so blessed to have such an amazing group of girlfriends that celebrate with me every year! Love you guys!

Waterpainting fun

I'm not sure how much water the actual paper got on it, but the table sure got a lovely "drink". ;-)

5 Meals - 1 Hour, Week 6

Well, week 5 was kind of a bust. Nathan and I kind of shared some kind of stomach bug, so food wasn't really all that appealing to us. For example, sadly I cannot tell you how the Parmesan Tilapia was, as I just couldn't stomach the thought of fish! So, here is my sad review of week 4:


Monday - Parmesan Tilapia
I still am not sure if I could stomach this, this week. :-(

Tuesday - Frozen pizza
Umm, always good! ;-)

Wednesday - Bourbon Marinaded Pork Chops
Delish, but we discovered this week that these really need to be done on the grill.

Thursday - Onion Garlic Pork Roast with potatoes, carrots and onion (crock pot)
This was really, really good (I thought), but Jamie is just not a fan of pork in the crock pot.

Friday - Leftovers

Now that we are all feeling better, here's what's on the menu for week 6:

Monday - Salmon Patties

Tuesday - Meatloaf Balls (the name cracks Jamie up... I'm using MY meatloaf recipe and the concept from the post here.)

Wednesday - Jamie's Famous Spaghetti

Thursday - Tater Tot Casserole (two cans of cream of mushroom soup make this soooo good!)

Friday - Onion Ring Chicken

Saturday - Grilling out steaks!

Until next week, happy cooking!

5 meals - 1 hour, week 5

Well, I cannot tell a lie. I enjoyed taking a week of from cooking. I mean, it was my birthday week after all... a girl should get a break on her birthday, right? ;-)

But, it's a new week and I'm back at it! So without further ado, here is what's on our menu for the week:

Monday - Parmesan Tilapia

Tuesday - Frozen pizza (don't judge... Jamie is working in St. Louis this day, so it's just me and the boys!)

Wednesday - Bourbon Marinaded Pork Chops (I'd like to say that I have a wonderful recipe for these, but in all honesty, they are straight from our local grocery store. I stock up when they are $1.00 each. YUM!)

Thursday - Onion Garlic Pork Roast with potatoes, carrots and onion (crock pot)

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday we have a birthday party to go to over the dinner hour, so that means no cooking for me! And, I'll count that as our one day this week to eat out. Talk about an easy week!!

Three more weeks

I can hardly believe it, but Sean will start pre-school at Judah in three weeks. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??? August 15th is his first day of school, and he is so excited!! We know he is in the Charity class, and will have a meet and greet with his teachers in a week or so. In the meantime, we have been shopping for school clothes (limited dress code: no Spiderman, Batman, Transformers, etc.) and a new backpack.

So, here is what my big boy picked. I'm sure you'll all be SO surprised! ;-)

If you build it, they will come...

A couple of years ago, Jamie built a swing set for the boys... it was really nothing more than that. Two swings. But, he always had the intention of adding to it making it a huge, fun play structure. However, we ended up getting a shed and it kinds of blocked the plans of adding on to where we currently have the swings set up.

Since Sean has finally outgrown the infant swing, we decided this was the time to finally start building the new structure. It's just in the beginning stage, and only has one swing so far, but Sean is loving it! (Plus, he's just like his Daddy... always happy when he can use his toolbox!) :-)

Nathan's 2 year old pictures

We FINALLY got Nathan's two year old pictures!!! We will be ordering prints soon, so let me know if there is one in particular you would like. Also, we have rights to the pictures, so let me know if you would like me to email you the file to have printed yourself.

I like to call this his, "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?" face



This kiddo was not having the pictures that day. So what do we do to make him happy? Feed him muffins. Yep, he is the muffin man. I'm okay with it being in the pictures though - that's really how he is at this stage and I love it! Is he not just the sweetest thing ever???

What we've been up to... (all in one post!)

Well I'm REALLY behind in updating the blog, so be prepared for LANCE FAMILY OVERLOAD! Let's back track to the beginning of the month:

Jamie's Aunt (Wendy) and Mom (Becky) came for an extended weekend over the 4th. They drove all the way from Colorado just to spend some time with the boys (oh, and us)! It was a WONDERFUL visit (although I'm sure they were glad to be home... keeping up with the boys is tiring!) Being the horrible parent I am, I failed to get ANY pictures of the boys with Wendy and Becky, but here are a couple of pictures that Becky took while here.





This picture is Nathan in a nutshell:



I didn't get any pictures of the boys on the 4th of July, so you'll have to take my word that they were adorable in their outfits! We spent most of the day poolside at my folks, of which my incredibly pale skin did NOT like. Sean amazed us as how much braver he is this year! He LOVES jumping off the diving board (fully suited up of course), but is such a big boy! Jamie is loving it! ;-) Nathan is still a little unsure of the water. He still prefers being in a bathtub over the pool, but we're working on it! Speaking of my munchkin, here he is at his 4th of July party at school.




Last week was VBS at our church... and what a week it was! It is crazy for a working Mom to rush to pick up the kids from daycare, get them fed, and head out the door - but we did it! And it was worth it. Sean had a WONDERFUL time, and I loved seeing his faith grow. Hearing him sing songs about God, talk about the lesson, and even do amazing crafts was, well, heartwarming for this mama! I was a volunteer for the week in one of the 3 year old rooms. Holy exhausting! 12-15 three year olds every night for five nights was enough for me. It was rewarding - for sure - but exhausting! Props to ALL the teachers out there!!! Here is Sean after one night of VBS:



Finally, this past Saturday we finally took Sean to see Cars 2, while Grandma and Grandpa let Nathan nap at their house. Sean was so excited to finally get to see the "BIG" movie (see below):



He really enjoyed it, as did we, although it doesn't hold a candle to the first one. That evening, we went to dinner with our friends Erin and Nathan Hanna, to celebrate her birthday (as well as mine). We went to a new restaurant downtown called Destihl and had a wonderful dinner - But the company really made the night for us. SUCH a fun night! Here is our delicious birthday treat from our waiter (S'mores... of which my husband so nicely pointed out to everyone that I say incorrectly!) ;-)



The beautiful Mrs. Hanna getting ready to make her wish, modeling the bracelet we got her for her birthday. The waiter was so nice and came back with another candle so I could make a wish too. What you don't see, are the beautiful earrings Erin gave me!



Well, I think that's about it for now... this weekend Sean has TWO birthday parties, so I'm sure I'll have more pictures for you all soon!

5 Meals - 1 Hour, Week 4

Did you miss me last week? We had to take a small break from our awesome new meal plan due to VBS. It started at 6:00, and since I was a helper, I was supposed to be there at 5:40 (I never made it there by then)! Considering we don't get home until 5:30, that didn't give us much time to even cook. Jamie - the rockstar this past week - would have dinner ready and waiting for Sean when we got home. I would change my clothes while he ate, and then we would fly out the door!

But, it's a new week and I was ready to get back on track! So what's on our menu this week?

Monday - BBQ cups (So good and so fun! From my 4-ingredient cookbook.)

Tuesday - Parmesan Chicken Tenders

Wednesday - Jamie's Famous Spaghetti (I precooked the meat Sunday)
*Here is a picture of Nathan enjoying Daddy's spaghetti.



Thursday - Grilled Italian Chicken (chicken breasts marinated in Italian Dressing)

Friday - Eating out

Since we are under an Extreme Heat Watch and will have heat indices in the 115+ range, we are going to try to limit the days we use the oven. Which fortunately is only Monday and Tuesday (the hottest days are supposed to be Wednesday and Thursday). Friday night, we are going out to dinner to celebrate my birthday, my friend Amy's birthday, and our friends (Steve and Ashley) engagement! Fun!

Stay cool!

5 Meals - 1 Hour, Week 3

Well, we made it through week 2. I'm still LOVING this concept... my latest reason for loving this plan - less dishes! Don't get me wrong, there are a TON of dishes on Sunday while I'm preparing everything, but there is usually only a dish or two to wash the night of dinner. Less dishes = happier Mommy!

Here is my review of last week two's menu:

Monday - Creamy Bacon Fettuccine
*Absolutely, without a doubt yucky. I am in love with the idea of the new Philadelphia Cooking Cremes, but this recipe just did not deliver. It lacked flavor, the bacon was chewy, and the herb flavor was way too overpowering (which is odd since there was little flavor!)

Tuesday - Meatloaf Pie
*This was really different... It was edible, but I still think I like MY meatloaf recipe the best.

Wednesday - Onion Ring Chicken
*We love this one! I've made it before and will make it again. YUM!

Thursday - Caramelized Beef Skewers
*Not bad, not bad at all! The key to this recipe is to beat the steak to make it thin and tender (if you have a meat tenderizer, use it! Plus, if you're having a bad day, this is great therapy). ;-) Really, really yummy!

Friday - Eat out!
*Need I say more?

So what's on my menu for week three? It's a short week for us, so only three meals.

Monday *Happy 4th of July!* - Tater Tot Casserole
*Note: I use TWO cans of cream of mushroom soup, and add a little salt, pepper and garlic powder on top of the meat before adding the soup.

Tuesday - Poppyseed Chicken
*Note: I mix the poppy seeds in with the soup for better distribution within the casserole.

Wednesday - Schwan's Penne alla Vodka with Chicken

Thursday & Friday - I'll be out of town for work, so the boys will be on their own! I'm guessing pizza will be on the menu. ;-)

Happy Cooking!