Menu Plan Monday-August 26

Y'all, it's been forever since I've done a Menu Plan Monday post! I've still been planning our meals they just haven't made it onto the blog. Raising two girls keeps me busier than I ever imagined. :)

I've been reading Nourishing Traditions  and it's changing my thinking of what we put into our bodies. It's A LOT to take in and will take me reading it a few times to really grasp all the information. It's more than a cookbook and much like a workbook full of good information. There are over 700 recipes as well as tons of information about eating real food. Real food is food that grows in fields and on trees, comes from animals and food we can recognize. This book has brought my focus back to making more from scratch using real butter, real fruits and vegetables, whole grains, real eggs, real meat, etc. I know I'll still eat junk and processed foods but if 95% of the time we can eat real food, that would be great!

Another book I bought back in the Spring, that I really love, is by Laura of Heavenly Homemakers, Oh, For Real: Real Food, Real Family, Real Easy. She uses much of Nourishing Traditions suggestions on real food but it's MUCH easier to understand. She's hilarious, love shortcuts in the kitchen but not at the expense of good food, has 4 boys that she home schools and has beautiful freezers stocked full of goodies! I've been a follower of her blog for quite a few years now and she makes me laugh out loud at her posts a few times a week. She's real and knows we're all strapped for time in the kitchen. Read her blog, you won't be disappointed. And buy her book, too. It's awesome!

Anyways, enough of that. I think you'll see more of our real food adventures in the future. On to the menu plan for the week. I have way too much food in our freezers and I'm trying to clean out so we're working on what my mama calls "old" food. :)

Monday- bbq chicken baked potatoes

Tuesday- italian chicken sandwiches, whole wheat burger buns, vegetables

Wednesday- lasagna and whole wheat breadsticks

Thursday-pancakes and bacon

Friday-pizza (I've found a new pizza sauce recipe and it's the best ever! I'll share it soon.)

Saturday- lunch: convenience meals
                dinner: turkey burgers

Sunday- lunch: sandwiches
              dinner: week's leftovers

I'm still following my breakfast menu for the girls and me, for the most part. As for lunches we eat leftovers, sandwiches, noodles, cheese, fruit. It depends on what's in the fridge and since the girls are older and a little more vocal, I let them choose a little more.

What's cooking in your kitchen this week?

Nyla turns 3!

This post is only a month late, but at least I'm getting it done, right?!

On July 13, Nyla turned 3! And I actually made it through the day without weeping uncontrollably. I usually lose it on birthdays. I know that sounds crazy, but it's going by so quick! With each of the girls birthdays come big tears from Mama. I know they're doing what they're supposed to do but I can be a little bit sad. 

Nyla had a big day! The day of her birthday turned out to be KidFest at our church (a block party for the neighborhood to promote our children's ministries). It turned out to be a beautiful and perfect day for the block party. There was face painting, indoor carnival games, a train the kids could ride, petting zoo, pony rides, bouncy houses, sno cones, free hot dogs and chips, the Bartlett K9 unit demonstration, Shelby County K9 demonstration, Shelby County boat patrol unit and Bartlett fire truck and firemen. There was a lot going on and it was awesome! We had quite a few people from the community come and enjoy all the activities. Of all these activities Nyla did every. single. one. This was truly shocking ya'll! She's been scared of everything the past year and we thought we'd go, support our church and be gone in an hour. Turns out she had the best time of anyone. For some reason she got over all her fears that day. I guess that's what happens when you turn 3?! At first she didn't want in the bouncy houses but with a little pushing from Daddy and Mimi (our preschool director, her name is actually Kathy) she went in and loved it! And so continued the day of her surprising us! 

Be prepared for picture overload! We had a busy day.

This picture is out of place but I had to show a close-up of Nyla's birthday cupcakes. I ordered special Sesame Street cupcakes from a local in-home baker and  they were very cute! This is something I decided was fun but fairly pricey. I'll be baking her cake or cupcakes next year. :)

Daddy and Nyla enjoying the bouncy house.

Yes, Daniel loves the bouncy houses more than anyone. And he's not afraid to admit it. :)

The petting zoo. It had a llama, goats, sheep, horses, a donkey, bunnies, a duck, ferrets, turtles,  and chickens.
The baby goat in the cage was about a week old. He or she was so cute!

Nyla petting the ferret. Very surprising!

And Nyla holding the ferret. I flipped when she held it. It was shocked and so proud. This was a big deal!!!

The petting zoo came with the cutest little train that the little ones could ride around in. It was a hit!

The full train.

Enjoying her first sno cone.

Sitting in the fire truck. I forgot how tall they are!

Face painting time! She got a beautiful butterfly

This is pretty much the best picture I got of Naomi. She got a heart painted on her face.

Riding the horse, "Ladybug." Again, shocking!

Naomi's favorite thing of the day were the turtles.

Naomi and I tried to enjoy the puppet show but we left when the camel started talking. It freaked her out.

Beginning of the birthday party pictures!

The birthday girl! She wore an Elmo shirt and a skirt my mom and I made her (it has Sesame Street characters on it and it's so cute) and her birthday crown.

Excited for cupcakes!

The table!
The Ernie cookie jar, on the right, belongs to my sister, Erin. For some reason I started calling her Ernie when we were younger and it's stuck with her all this time. The girls even call her Aunt Ernie, which she loves!
 The lunch boxes on the left we had as well as the little snack boxes sitting below Ernie. I printed out Cookie Monster and taped him to the chocolate chip cookie plate. I bought Elmo napkins and cupcakes and I had the rest of the decor. 

Y'all, she was so excited about everyone singing her "Happy Birthday." She talked about it for two weeks, asking if we would. She really understood that it was her birthday and loved every minute of it. It was fun watching her face light up when everyone started singing to her!

I didn't get a picture of her blowing out the candle but she did it, all by herself. We didn't even practice beforehand either. She did great!

Her friend, L, enjoying a "Super Grover" cupcake. So sweet!

Mmm, Elmo cupcake.

Ernie likes Nyla's birthday crown.

I made the 3 out of two taped together posterboards (green, her favorite color). We wrote some of the funny things Nyla's said this year and put them in the shape of the 3. I had intentions of putting a current picture of Nyla at the end of the 3 but I never got around to it. She's grown so much from her going home picture 3 years ago. *tear*

A bigger view of the dessert/decoration table.

We had a great day celebrating Nyla! Now, I must go cry a little bit. My girl is getting too big!

Our School/Playroom 2013

Since our girls are only 3 and 21 months, our room is more of a playroom than a school room. And that's a good thing! 

In March, we moved into a bigger home and we are blessed to have a separate room for our playroom/school room. Yes, the toys still get taken into all the rooms downstairs but they are mostly contained in the playroom. This is good for my sanity!

You can see how we use our room in this picture, toys!

When you walk in, to the left, this is what you see. I just moved our shelving units together so all our "stuff" can be right next to one another. The white mesh shelves I've had for a long time. In our old house they were split into 6 and 6 and placed in our closets for storage. Now, they hold out of rotation books and toys, as well as in rotation toys, which is what the majority of the boxes are. I recently labeled them all so I know where everything goes. The boxes hold dress up shoes, jewelry, dress-up clothes, blocks, musical instruments, hats, birthday hats and CD's. The buckets on top are from the Dollar Tree and hold craft supplies, play doh and play doh toys and flash cards. The big metal shelf in the corner I bought at Target after we moved in. It holds (from top to bottom) extra craft supplies, the girls "work boxes" (these hold coloring books, basic art supplies, books, paper, workbooks; stuff to keep them busy for awhile) and our craft organizer, puzzles, our farm and animals and our doll house and basket of books in rotation.
To the right is the table and chairs the girls sit at. Above that is the calendar I just got done making. It's so cute and I love it. It's helping Nyla with what day of the month and day of the week it is. I know this will come into play more as the years go by.

This wall holds our US map and our twine with clips to hold the girls artwork. The top is Nyla's area and the bottom is Naomi's. I recently cleaned this off and we're starting over. :)

If you keep moving to the right you'll find the girls kitchen/food prep area. I think this area gets the most use right now; they love to cook!
The chalkboard above is where I write our Bible verse for the week.

And that's our playroom. There's not a whole lot going on as I've taken a lot of stuff off the walls and cleaned our the toys recently. It was too much and driving this minimalist crazy! Plus, I want to make more room to play "school" with the girls, which they love. It'll be fun to see how our room changes shape over the coming years!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

-Ginny

This post is linked to iHomeschool Network for the "School Room Week." Stop by and visit other bloggers rooms!

Puddle Fun

Why splash in a puddle when you can sit in one?

From the Past Week

Some pictures from the past week.

World's Best Photobomb

Oh man. So awesome.

From the Vault: Baby #2 Reveal

Two years ago this week, we found out that our sweet baby #2 was a girl. So I wrote a poem to inform friends and family of this...

Thank you all for coming to the party tonight

Seeing all of your friendly faces really is quite the sight

Before we tell you the gender of baby number two
Here's a little story – told just for you

Many moons ago in two thousand and nine
The results of that test warmed Ginny's heart and mine

As you all know, fine, fair ladies and gents
The big news was that we would become parents

And in the middle of summer, in the heat of July
We heard our sweet Nyla cry her first cry

Indeed with sweet Nyla we have surely been blessed
Even though at times, we have gotten little rest

Now here we are, gathered together again
We'd hoped this would happen but didn't know when

This next line will make you spit your drink in your cup
Because, yep, you guessed it, I knocked Ginny up

Nyla's going to be a big sister this we know
"Well, duh," you're all thinking, "Get on with the show!"

Boy? Or girl? You're just dying to find out!
This poem is going on too long without a doubt!

It's great to be surrounded by such great family and friends
As you can tell I'm stalling for time – the poem never ends

Let me pause for a moment and thank God above
For our parents who showed us all about love

Ok, enough is enough! Let's get to why you're here
I see the crowd smiling, wanting to let out a cheer

The excitement is building; you can feel it in the air
A poet of my talents is really quite rare

As I conclude I just want to say
Thanks to you all for coming today

So now let me proudly announce our bundle of joy

Is a healthy, developing, and great baby…

GIRL!