Craft Update (May Day & Fish Bowls)

This past weekend, I did some craft projects. I used to scrapbook all the time but once the kiddos arrived my passion for scrapbooking has been pushed to the back burner. I hope to get caught up soon before little-C is starting school and then I'm 5-years behind.

I thought it would be fun to make May Day baskets for C's friends at daycare. I bought some red solo cups, pipe cleaners, stamps, punch balloons, rings, bouncy balls and bracelets.

I also used some of my scrapbooking paper to make little tags for each of the baskets. I can't wait to hear her expression from her teachers when she hands them out to her friends.

Happy May Day! 

Easy After Work Supper

This is a quick easy meal that your kids are sure to love. 

1 lb. ground beef, browned
2 cups macaroni
2 Tbsp. onion, chopped
1 (16 oz.) can original bushes baked beans
1 (14.75 oz.) can tomato soup
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Brown the ground beef with onion in a pan. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni. Once the ground beef is browned and the macaroni is cooked, combine them with the baked beans, tomato soup, ketchup, chili powder and salt.

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was an extremely busy, yet productive. On Friday night, we took the kids for a walk as soon as we got home. R-man usually falls asleep on the way home from daycare but that didn't happen on Friday. Although, he did take a good snooze on our way to the park. Little-C loves the park and she has discovered the bar above the slide so she thinks she can swing on it. It's all fine and dandy until there is a line of kids behind her but she doesn't seem to mind.

Kids Update - March 2014

My plan is to post updates of Little-C and R-man monthly as an easy way to keep track of some of their milestones, especially R-man's. R-man is 8 months and Little-C is 2. Here’s a quick update from this past month. 

Age:
R-man is 8 months
Little-C is 2 (she turned two in December)

Stats:
R-man is 18.6 lbs
Little-C is 28 lbs

Teeth:
R-man has two bottom teeth that finally came through.
Little-C has a mouth full with 20 teeth.

Clothes:
R-man is in 6-9 months
Little-C is in 3T

Favorite Foods: 
R-man loves puffs, sweet potatoes and squash. 
Little-C loves about anything but she tends to eat casseroles with vegetables and noodles really well.

Milestones: 
R-man enjoys sitting up and reaching for things. He especially loves pulling his sister’s hair.
Little-C is beginning to use full sentences. If we turn around to look at her in the car, she’ll say, “Turn around Mommy/Daddy” and if you ask if she needs help, she’ll respond with, “No Mommy, I got it.” I sometimes wonder where my little girl went.

Easter Weekend Wrap Up

This past weekend was great as we were able to spend quality time with both sides of the family. On Saturday, we thought we would wake up early and get on the road so we could get home early to help on the farm. Well, the kids had a different idea and they slept until 7:30, so Dave and I enjoyed a little extra sleep as well. This put us a little behind once we got everything packed up so we arrived at my parents shortly around 11:30.

After a delicious lunch, my Mom hid eggs for the grand-kids. Since there are 7 of them, she makes each one of them look a certain color of eggs. Little-C had "pink and purple" eggs to search for. She only hid 8 eggs for each grandchild but the older kids had their eggs hidden a bit harder. After everyone found all of their eggs they were given a box of food items for Easter. This year Little-C and R-man received goldfish, applesauce to go, mini club crackers, nutter butters and lil' crunchies. Needlessness, the grand-kids always love to receive their box of goodies! 

Little-C hunting for her eggs.

Little-C almost has all of her eggs.

R-man's Ear Tube Surgery

I am so happy to know that R-man's ear tube surgery is over and that it went well. I am thrilled to know that he will finally be comfortable and pain free with hopefully no more jell-o like fluid in his ears.

Today, our day began pretty early. We were instructed to arrive at the Lakeview Surgery Center in West Des Moines at 6:15 a.m. R-man must have realized that something was happening today because he woke up at 4 a.m. crying and hungry but we were instructed that he not have anything to eat or drink after mid-night. This didn't make for a very happy baby so I tried to distract him by playing with toys. We turned on the living room light and got out his box of toys and played until 5 a.m. Dave and I needed to get ready so we put his Johnny Jumper in the bathroom door for him to jump away while we got ready.

R-man being his normal self before the surgery.

Living on $40 per week (grocery budget) - Week 6

This week, I am proud to say that we managed to stay under the $40 budget - our total was only $32!  The kids will be excited to know that they each get $4 towards their college fund. Well, they may not be excited about the money now but Dave and I certainly are. Every little bit adds up even if the interest rates aren't that great.

Little-C and R-man shopping.

This week we purchased some of the necessities including: bagels, bread, spaghetti sauce, milk, squash, pears, crystal light energy (if you haven't tried these you must do so), lil' crunchies and pasta. Needlessness it was a fun trip with the kids. On Friday, Dave and I rode together to work so we went grocery shopping right after we picked them up from daycare so they were quite hungry. Little-C had to sample two slices of pizza and a chocolate chip cookie. R-man was hungry when he saw little-C's pizza so we had to open the lil' crunchies for him to sample until we were finished shopping.

Cheesy Beef Casserole

1 lb. ground beef
2 Tbsp. onion, chopped
3 cups egg noodles, cooked
12 oz. VELVEETA, cut into cubes
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of celery soup
1/4 tsp. ground
black pepper
1 Tbsp. Parmesan & garlic seasoning (I used Pampered Chef seasoning)

Brown meat and onion in large skillet; then drain. In the saucepan, melt the Velveeta, celery soup, black pepper, parmesan & garlic. Stir until the cheese melts then slowly stir in the cooked egg noodles and ground beef.

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was a very productive and family oriented weekend. On Friday night, we went to get groceries as a family. The kids loved it because they could drive the car. R-man was extremely excited about his new adventure as we have never let him sit in a cart like this before.

Little-C excited about her pizza and R-man excited to be driving the car.

R-man a bit excited about shopping!

Little-C was all concerned about the food samples. She had two slices of pizza and a little chocolate chip cookie. When R-man saw her food he realized he was hungry too so we had to pick up some lil' crunchies so he could have a snack while shopping too.

Little-C feeding R-man some lil' crunchies! 

Happy National Sibling Day to the Greatest Siblings I Know

Today is National Sibling Day. The siblings bonds are life-long relationships usually lasting from cradle to grave. It is usually the longest relationship of a person’s life and typically much longer than a mother’s and father’s relationship. For those that don’t know me well, I have two sisters and three brothers. In school we were often called the "Brady Bunch" because there are three girls then the three boys. Still not quite sure how my parents did it.

Becky, Janet, Linda, Ray, Randy & Jason

My siblings were my pals growing up, well kind of. We did have our fair share of arguments but overall we tended to get along quite well. Although, our parents my think differently at times.

Living on $40 per week (grocery budget) - Week 5

Wow, it's week 5 of this $40 grocery budget already? It's gone kind of quick and I would say I have really enjoyed keeping myself in budget check. With us possibly building a new home, I probably need to do this more often!

R-man loving his lil' crunchies

This week, I was able to keep my budget around $30. Kids, you should thank mama because you each get $5 this week. We all know you'll need way more than the extra grocery budget once you start college but as my parents used to say when I was a kid, "Every little bit helps."

I purchased the necessities this week so that is how I was able to keep it under my budget. I purchased two gallons of milk (it's cheaper at Fareway), bread, celery soup, frozen peas, sprite and a few snacks for little-C and R-man. They might as well be spoiled every now and then because let's face it...kids don't stay little forever. This week I made Salisbury steaks for the family. They are quick, easy and delicious! I paired the Salisbury steaks with squash and cubed potatoes. When I'm making something, I always make something that's quick, easy and that little-C will eat!

R-man has some delicious lunches this week. This week he's eating:

• Carrots & squash
• Squash & peas
• Apples & blueberries
• Apples & peaches
• Crackers & puffs 

Salisbury Steaks

Salisbury Steaks

Hamburger Mixture:
1 lb. ground beef, thawed
2 Tbsp. celery, chopped
2 Tbsp. onion, chopped
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. bread crumbs
1 egg

Sauce:
1 can (10.75 oz.) celery soup
1/2 can water

Combine the ground beef, celery, onion, pepper, egg and bread crumbs. Mix together then form into patties. Each patty will be about 1/4 pound. Brown on both sides then pour over sauce and cook for about 20 minutes until thoroughly cooked.

These are a great recipe that's quick and easy!  Plus, little-C like them dipped in ketchup, yup she's just like her Mom!  

What is hand, foot & mouth disease?

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common viral illness that usually affects infants and children younger than 5 years old. However, it can sometimes occur in adults, I know because I've caught it once and let me tell you, it's extremely painful as an adult. Symptoms of hand, foot, and mouth disease include fever, blister-like sores in the mouth, and a skin rash.

Blisters on R-man's chin. 

There are no specific treatment for hand, foot and mouth disease. However, some things can be done to relieve symptoms, such as:

• Taking over the counter medications to reduce the pain and fever
• Take a bath in baking soda water to dry up the skin rash
• Use calamine lotion to dry up the blisters, make sure the skin is dry before applying
• Apply a thin layer of  lotrimin antifungal cream then Boudreaux's butt paste (to keep the moisture out) 

Living on $40 per week (grocery budget) - Week 4

I must admit, living on a $40 per week grocery budget is getting a lot more difficult as the weeks progress. Part of me will be glad when lent is over but the other part of me is glad I started this process to put myself back into a "budget" check! I was always one of those impulsive shoppers but this budget process has made me stop and think before putting something in my cart.  Now, I often ask myself, is this a need or a want?  More often than not the products used to be just a need.

This week, I did go a bit over my $40 budget! I tried not to but I couldn't help it. I went shopping on Friday evening after work and got a few snacks for the ISU basketball game. Our entire family was hoping that ISU could beat Connecticut. Even though we were all cheering the Cyclones came short of pulling out a win. 

Cousin B, Little-C and R-man cheering on the Cyclones!