Tuckered out

I think lauren has only fallen asleep in the living room once or twice before. Playing in the snow tires you out!

Our little angel

Lauren's first Christmas program. Everyone said she stole the show as the littlest angel.

Santa Claus is coming to town 2012

Santa came to visit us today at the Mead Library! Lauren has really started to understand Santa and was super excited on the way up and while waiting for him.

Once he arrived she was shy and took her cousins lead in hiding. 

I reminded her she had something to ask him and then she realized, "Oh yeah, I do want to talk to him."

So she went over and did a little quiet talking but wouldn't get too close. Even to get her "special treat".

When we left she said hi shyly to him but as we were getting in the car he walked out to go visit the bank and she got all excited again and waved and yelled "Bye Santa!"

She has been loving looking at these pictures and telling me all about it :)

Kate of course cried as soon as I got too close or set her on the floor. 

Two little crackas...

...enjoying their "crackas". ("cracka" as stated by Kate)

Organizing Children books

Lauren's books have been piled in her armoire for a while now and sorting through them can be frustrating. Now that she is FINALLY interested in books, I like to switch them out regularly for each holiday or season or just when we get tired of looking at the same ones. We get new books regularly as gifts, garage sales, second hand stores and mostly from our local library that purges kids books as they start to show wear.

This is her book shelf that we set the "current" books. I got this for $1 at a garage sale and it is SO worth it. Her interest level in books increased immediately when she could see the covers and not have to sort through them herself.


Right now, it contains summer/zoo/flower type books along with a some other ones such as the Mercer Mayer dentist book because she is going to have her first dentist visit soon!

Next to her chair is a special basket....Dora! This is pretty much all we get to read these days.


In the bottom shelf of the bookshelf is bedtime and nursery rhyme books. In the basket is board books and ones she can play with.


Next up is the rest of the books we own. They stay here and like I said before, get rotated out.


We have a basket for Dr. Seuss. We got a bunch from Adam's grandmas house and have added a few more over the last couple of years.


The next basket is Disney/ tv or characters she knows. (Her middle name is Olivia so grandma has started her a collection of Olivia books).


Then there are two baskets next to that that contain a mix of random books.

The next basket is themed books. Each theme gets its own ziplock bag. We have Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Winter.




Down below we have some bigger hard cover books and also books that do things such as pull out or make noise.

Beside that we have another basket with ziplocks. These ziplocks contain Mercer Mayer books, Berenstain Bears, and Golden books.




Now, hopefully they stay this way!

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MPM 2/27

Monday: Hot dogs and sweet potato fries

Tuesday: Jambalaya for Mardi Gras!

 Wednesday: Shredded beef enchiladas (leftover roast from last week)

 Thursday: Leftovers

 Friday: BBQ Chicken Pizza

 Saturday: Breakfast casserole for supper

 Sunday: TBD

I'm going to make some pretzel bites, some taco/onion soup/ranch seasonings, and some 6 week muffins (my great-grandma's recipe that were her favorites)

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MPM 2/20 - 2/26

Monday: Buffalo Chicken

Tuesday: BBQ Meatballs (x3 - one for freezer, one for family in town)

 Wednesday: Roast

 Thursday: Leftovers

 Friday: Chicken Pot Pie

 Saturday: Chili

 Sunday: Homemade Chicken Nuggets (plus some for freezer - didn't get to these last time)

This week I'm also going to make some Vanilla muffins with cinnamon crumb topping, possibly some raspberry crumb bars, and I need to make some homemade taco seasoning. Hopefully this will be a minimal grocery week with only a few basics to buy.

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MPM 2/6 - 2/12

Monday: Meatloaf w/ Green beans and baked beans 

Tuesday: Whole Chicken with leftover sides

 Wednesday: Chicken Noodle soup with Quick Potato Dumplings

 Thursday: Leftovers

 Friday: Taco Potatoes

 Saturday: Chicken Fiesta

 Sunday: Taco Ring

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Mpm

Monday: Sante Fe Five-Bean Soup (Page 38, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Fast-Fix Family Favorites)

Tuesday: Tacos as Lettuce Wraps with Black Bean and Corn Salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Turkey Wraps with Chipotle Mayo and probably leftover black bean and corn salad

Friday: Sweet and Spicy Bacon Chicken and sweet potatoes

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Chicken with Peanut Curry Sauce (Page 94, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Fast-Fix Family Favorites) and rice


Last week we ate:
Spaghetti and garlic bread

Mac n cheese (mom at MOPS)

Homemade Buffalo Chicken Strips and Sweet potato fries (didn't eat any the week before)

Steak and Mashed potatoes (didn't get in the week before)

Pizza (Pizza Hut the no cheese pizza so I ate bone out chicken with honey bbq sauce)

Spaghetti Feed at high school

Everyone ate something different :)
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MPM 1/8 - 1/15

Sunday: Steak and potato patties

Monday: Baked ham and pasta salad

Tuesday: Biscuits and Gravy (using rice milk or maybe soy milk)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Coca cola chicken and steak fries

Friday: Sweet and sour meatloaf

Saturday: Burritos (no cheese for me)

Sunday: Homemade chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries

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