It's 10:54 PM...

And this is what Emma's doing:




Coloring with her new 64 box of crayons. Why? Because I let her nap today - for 3 hours - and now she's wide awake. It's okay though, I got a nap in, too. :)

PS, we picked up the crayons tonight at Target, when we went to get her new big girl underwear. Dora, of course. The crayons were a potty bribe. Depending on how tonight goes, we're done with pull-ups. Although I will say, it is just a tiny bit annoying to be in line at Sam's Club only to have to get out of line, get Mackenzie out of the cart, all go in the bathroom, hold Mackenzie while holding the stall door shut for Emma while she goes potty. Don't get me wrong, I am soooo happy she's potty trained and that I'm not changing her diapers anymore. And I'm very pleased she told me she had to go instead of having an accident in the store and very proud of how well she's doing. But, let's all be honest, when the potty break comes at an inconvenient time, who hasn't sort of kind of wished for a pull-up. :)

Somewhere, under all this snow...

is our deck.

Ten on Tuesday.

So, apparently, my Ten on Tuesday posts need pictures because last week there were none and it seems people only comment when there are pictures. I now present to you a very picture heavy Ten on Tuesday post. :)

1. We signed Emma up for preschool Sunday. The preschool had an open house and Emma loved it. Not that we were surprised by that. Nor were we surprised that she didn't want to leave. This was her trying to get as far away from me as possible when I told her it was time to go.


2. We were at my mom's last week when I took this picture of Mackenzie. Check out her bruises. Is it bad that we have no idea how she got them? She got the one on her cheek Tuesday night while I was home and the one between her eyes Wednesday night when Michael was home. Neither of us saw what caused them. Oops.


3. Again at my moms. Please note the amount of macaroni and cheese on the seat. Also note that this picture comes after the bath picture. That's because she ate (used loosely) the mac and cheese after the bath. Next time, bath after lunch because I ended up putting her right back in the tub.


4. Yep, still at my mom's. See the whole vanilla wafer in her mouth? My children have recently discovered vanilla wafers and love them. Don't even bother to bite them, just eat 'em whole.

5. Emma can write her name now. Which means she's doing so all the time. On the magna doodle, in the bath, in her coloring books. This picture is the first I took, she was very proud of herself. But there's a glare.


Three pictures later I got this, but she'd lost a bit of the excitement. But no glare!


6. Anyone read JA Jance books? She was at our library for a book signing earlier this month. She's pretty funny. And tall. And there's my bad hair.


7. Emma got a Color Wonder book for Christmas from Michael's parents and it's her new favorite thing. We had to get another one because she filled up the first pretty quickly. Here she is teaching Mackenzie to color. Poor Mackenzie, she really just wanted to do it on her own but Emma had a death grip on her hand.

The color wonder book got taken away last night because Emma was coloring on the table. Good thing they only color in the books.

8. Mackenzie is now sleeping with a lamp on and, so far, has not had a bad night. No more crazy crying. Apparently, she's afraid of the dark.

9. Mackenzie would walk around with a tooth brush all day long if she could. It's real ugly when I take it away. Major fit gets thrown.

10. At Pizza Hut on a snow day earlier this month. Mackenzie thought she'd just climb up on the table. That's what they're for, to climb on, right?

Menu Plan Monday and chicken muffins

orgjunkie.com

Not much of a menu this week.

Monday - I was scrapbooking tonight with friends and my in-laws were here, so Michael and the girls ate with them.

Tuesday - Michael won't be home for dinner and I haven't quite decided what I'm doing.

Wednesday - same as above

Thursday - Chicken muffins and lima beans. We ended up going to Michael's parents for dinner last Saturday, so I didn't cook

Friday - famous pork chops, cheesy potatoes, a veggie

Saturday - not sure yet, I'm cleaning out my freezer tomorrow, so I'll see what I can come up with.

Sunday - pizza.


Last week's menu update:
So the chicken/broccoli/rice casserole that wasn't really a casserole last week wasn't very good. None of us liked it too much. Not even Mackenzie and she eats everything. And my french onion soup wasn't very good either. I think I'll stick to just eating that when I'm out.

But my mom's spaghetti and meatballs? YUM! The second try worked. It was soooo good.


Here's the chicken muffin recipe, courtesy of my SIL, Abby.

1 7.5 ounce can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 cup (5oz) cubed cooked chicken
1 10.75 oz can cream soup (chicken, mushroom, etc)
2 1/2 ounce shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp pepper

Line ungreased muffin pan with biscuits. Combine other ingredients and divide into cups. Bake 12 - 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

How I make it: I break the biscuits into pieces and press them down into the muffin pan so there's an even amount in each. Doesn't matter if they don't look pretty, they get covered anyway. I usually shred my chicken, just because I like it better that way. I use cream of chicken soup. I don't measure the cheese, just dump it in until it looks good. :) Oh, and I usually grease the pan, because they do stick a bit coming out. They're quick and easy to make and we all really like them. Let me know if you make them and hopefully you'll like them too.

Ten on Tuesday

1. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow. I really thought I'd be able to stick to growing it out, but I don't think I can take it anymore. I hate it. It's awful. Ugly. A pain to do. Please, chop it off now.

2. I added the Followers gadget over there on the left. Feel free to follow. I'd love to have more than 2. :)
3. Got some new workout clothes. I said I'd never wear pants while working out. One, not so attractive on me. Two, I get hot. But after kickboxing and feeling like people could see my butt up my shorts, I decided maybe pants weren't so bad after all. So, I got a cute pair of foldover yoga pants at Old Navy (bonus - they hold your gut in) and another pair at Kohls. Plus some new workout shirts and a new sports bra.

4. Reason #2 for the new workout clothes - I have this theory that if I wear these cute, albeit a bit form-fitting, workout clothes, I'll be more motivated to workout and eat less crap and drink less dr. pepper so that I'm not so scary in them. Like I said, they're form-fitting yoga pants and form fitting-fitting shirts versus my not-so-form-fitting Chagrin baseball shirts.

5. I think I'm becoming addicted to Zumba.

6. I can't believe I haven't posted a picture yet.

7. Potty training is going very well. Emma seems to be getting #2 down pat, she's gone 4 days in a row! Woo hoo! And she had her first accident in well over a week today. She said she had to got potty but just couldn't get there in time. Seriously, she said it and one second later she was peeing. But the good thing is, she stopped it and held the rest until she got to the potty.

8. We've totally been bribing her, by the way. Right now she's working towards a 64 box of crayons.

9. Last week I cleaned out all my kitchen cabinets. Well, I still have the top shelf of one to go and two desk drawers. I've got two boxes for the garage sale. And last week Volunteers of America picked up three bags of clothes. Feels so good to purge and clean and then donate and/or sell at the garage sale. Hoping to make more than 75 cents. Yes, two years ago I made a whole 75 cents. I sold 3 CDs. Seriously, if I don't make more this year with all the stuff We've collected over the past two years...

10. Have I mentioned Mackenzie's the worst sleeper ever? Ugh.

Menu Plan Monday

orgjunkie.com


I've decided that menu planning works best when you realize it's flexible. As in, I've never completed an entire week like I've planned! I did pretty good last week, stuck to the schedule Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday then Thursday I substituted swiss steak and noodles and we had leftovers Friday. Saturday we didn't have the pizza because we ended up having pizza for lunch Friday. So, I've resigned myself to the fact that at least one night each week will not follow the plan and I'm good with that. :)

Monday - broccoli and chicken casserole from last week
Tuesday - leftovers plus french onion soup. Yep, still haven't made it. Good thing the bread needs to be hard for the soup so it won't dissolve because I bought the french baguette last Thursday.
Wednesday -meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn
Thursday - going to my mom's
Friday - TBD Michael has a game and if we go to that, we'll eat out so nothing planned just yet
Saturday - chicken muffins, lima beans
Sunday -mom's homemade spaghetti and meatballs.

If anyone would ever like a recipe that I don't link to, let me know. I can post them if you'd like.

She makes it her own.

Just a little Emma twist on an old classic...

Goodbye, Simple. We'll miss you.

If you haven't heard the news already, the May/June 2009 issue of Simple Scrapbooks will be the last. You can read about it
here and here.

I love Simple Scrapbooks magazine. I love their philosophy, their staff, the wonderful experiences I've had working with them over the last few years and being a 2008 Simple Gal. I'm happy to know that Simple will live on in some form within Creating Keepsakes, but sad that the magazine I know and love will no longer exist as it is now.

Ten on Tuesday

1. This past Saturday my niece Rachel spent the night with us. My sister and brother-in-law drove her over in the snow storm. Which really, by the time they came, had slowed down a bit and the roads were better.

Side note - I went to Zumba that morning but I didn't drive, Lisa did. (I actually called to see if they were even having class, it looked that bad out.) I was certain she wasn't going to make it up the hill to her house after dropping me off, the road was terrible. I thought for sure we'd have a repeat of this, mean tow truck driver story ,but we didn't. Although that incident did come up when we were talking to our neighbors. One of the Craziest. Thing. Ever.

Anyway, some pictures:



2. Mackenzie was moving around quite well in her snow suit. She loved it.


3. I know this is blurry, but I love the looks on Caroline and Emma's faces while Beth (Caroline's mom) pulled them on the sled. Pure joy.


4. I'm so not into American Idol anymore. Although I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date. Like when it's the Top 10. Maybe.

5. But I am in to 24. I really enjoy Jack Bauer. He rocks. I haven't yet watched yesterday's episode. If only Emma still napped. But we all know what happens when she does. It's not good.

6. Lost comes back soon! Very excited about that. I'm ready to be even more confused than I already am.

7. Thursday is Grissom's last episode on CSI. Very sad.

8. Do you watch Burn Notice on USA? Fabulous show. I really enjoy Michael Weston. Maybe even more than Jack Bauer because he's funny.

9. Apparently this is the TV edition of Ten on Tuesday.

10. I've been cleaning out and re-organizing my kitchen cabinets all week. I've got two boxes of items for the garage sale this summer. I've got a few more cabinets to go and then I'll be done. I threw out some things from 2005 today. They were a tad expired.

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com

Well, due to me being sick last week the plan got messed up a bit, things were either moved around or moved to this week.

Monday - Lasagna
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - the crockpot chicken recipe from last week - I found the recipe today. :)
Thursday -famous pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn
Friday -homemade pizza
Saturday -french onion soup
Sunday - chicken, broccoli and rice casserole

So I now realize that I only made two of the seven meals from last week. On one hand, bad job on the cooking meals for my family last week...on the other, makes planning this week's meals quite easy!

two things about emma

I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned this on here, but it's worth repeating: only give Emma a nap if I'm prepared to stay up late with her. As in after midnight. As in, here she is coloring around 11:30 while I scrapbooked.

She took a nap yesterday afternoon, which I really needed her to do because I was very sick Tuesday and still not feeling great Wednesday and I wanted to nap, which meant she needed to nap. I tried putting her in bed at 9. She played. She stayed in her room for a bit, then sat in bed with all four of us after Mackenzie woke up crying. She got silly. Very silly. She had a snack. I thought she'd finally gone to bed when she came downstairs to show me that she'd stuck her mini-Barbie's legs on her nose pinching it shut. Michael said he was asleep in bed when she came in sounding funny and saying her nose was stuck or something like that. He was certain she'd shoved something up her nose. Nope, it was just mini-Barbie. So, Michael went back to bed and Emma stayed down here with me. We went upstairs around midnight where we laid in bed and watched House Hunters. When I shut the TV off at 12:30am she stayed for a few minutes then said she was going to bed. She was up at 8:30 this morning. No nap for sure today, which made for a fussy almost-three-year-old who again, didn't want to go to bed tonight, this time because she was over-tired. And that, my friends, is why she can't take naps. Unless, of course, I really really need one. :)


She's also really into peanut butter. Specifically, licking all the peanut butter off her crackers, then leaving a stack of soggy crackers she usually won't eat.


Today, to avoid the mess I captured a few days ago, I just gave her a spoon full of peanut butter and she was happy.

Menu Plan Monday

orgjunkie.com

Monday - pepperoni roll

Tuesday - fajitas

Wednesday - Famous Pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn

Thursday - this crock pot chicken recipe that I can't quite find. But I'm confident it'll turn up before Thursday. It's really good, with carrots and onions. Sort of like chicken pot roast, if that makes sense. With either risotto or Kay's Roasted Potatoes from the Pioneer Woman's site (tried linking, won't work).

Friday - chicken, broccoli and rice casserole

Saturday - french onion Soup for me and my niece, grilled cheese and veggie for the girls. Michael has a game.

Sunday - 40 clove chicken. I still haven't made this, I'm determined to make it! With either risotto or the potatoes from Thursday.

Happy New Year

New Year's Eve day we were with Michael's family celebrating Christmas, I'll get those pictures posted soon. The girls fell asleep on the way home, so of course they were wound up when we got home around 9. We let them stay up until 11 or so. Lots of wrestling going on. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly considering Mackenzie's personality, Emma wasn't always the instigator.



We stayed up to watch the ball drop as well as see Robbie Madison do this:



Crazy.

Today we've been in our pajamas all day. Had pancakes for breakfast, ordered pizza for lunch and I made spaghetti for dinner. The Christmas decorations are down, the ornaments are off the tree and we'll take it out tomorrow.

I've got 3 goals for 2009.

1. Start to play the piano again. I took lessons for 8 years growing up, from 8 - 16. I rarely play anymore. But I'd like to. I sort of stink now, though. I can play a few songs, but my sight reading skills are not so good. I need to start practicing more and also get some new music. Last thing I bought was probably November Rain by GNR. (Yeah, that long ago.) I have a few things in mind I'd like to learn but I'm going to have to find some place to buy the sheet music. I used to go to the music store at the mall to get the sheet music, but I don't know if they carry it anymore. I'd love for the girls to take lessons one day. And while I don't intend to teach them, I'd like to be able to help them, which means I really need to brush up on my skills.

2. Read my Bible, study it, learn from it. Pray more - both by myself and with Michael and the girls. Teach my children about God and Jesus. Mackenzie obviously isn't really going to understand anything, but Emma's been learning in Sunday School and I want to expand on that at home. I'm thinking I'll keep the lesson she gets each Sunday and we'll go off that for the week.

3. I forget. I thought of a third one earlier today but I don't remember it now. Maybe #3 should be "work on my memory".