Weekly Happenings April 19-25

1.  We had a great, busy Easter!  We started the day with church at the Ford Center, had lunch with Kevin's side of the family, and had dinner with my parents.  The kids were pooped but were in great moods all day.  

(The wind made my dress look like shorts. Darn it.)

My contribution to Kevin's family's pot luck!

2.  I had a blast with the kids all week.  The weather has been absolutely perfect and we spent a lot if time soaking up the sunshine (which seems to be going away next week!). Kevin worked 12s all week, which can get a little rough on everyone, but beautiful weather makes the days go quicker. Everyone's spring colds are going away and most days everyone was in a good mood!

Krissy was ready to go play!

I wanted the girls to try on their swimsuits and Krissy decided to try on boots too!

Allie playing on the swing.

Love CeCes fuzzy head. She got a bath this week!!

3.  I had another super successful day thrifting! $60ish for all this.

These Keds for me are brand new! Need to buy shoe laces for them, but I was so excited to find them!

Boots that I hope fit Allie this winter. They are big on her now.

I found these in a clearance cart at Walmart!  Boots for Krissy for this winter ($5) and sequin Tom knock offs for Allie ($2)!

4.  I cleaned out my van.  It hasn't had a deep clean since last summer.  I cleaned out cup holders (Allies was filled with chewed up gum and Hayden had spilled lord knows what in his).  It took me two hours to clean and vacuum it!  I was 'that mom' when the van door opened, about 10 things would fall out and I had to chase them across the parking lot.  The kids keep commenting on how clean it is!  Another perk of cleaning it was I thought I needed to buy more sippy cups and it turns out I had about a half dozen buried under the seats (thankfully they all had water in them).  I'm going to get my hubs to detail the dash and condition the leather (please, honey), but it's so nice driving a clean vehicle!

5.  Lastly, I found '19 Kids and Counting' episodes on YouTube.  This was one of my favorite shows when we had cable.  This week, I stayed up too late and watched all the episodes from this newest season.  There has been several magazine articles on the Duggars "extreme rules for dating" but after watching the show, I'm a 110% believer in courting vs dating now!  I'm going to preach this to my kids.  I pray it will save them heartache and they enter their future marriages with no baggage! 

Here's an article from the today show about it. 

There's a video below if you'd rather watch than read :)

 

Weekly Happenings April 12-18

1.  I finished the girls Easter dresses on Monday! Huge thanks to my hubby for being Mr. Mom while letting me sew my heart out!  When it was all said and done, I had about 13 hours wrapped up in them.  I'm happy with how they turned out!

2.  Kevin, Hayden, and Kevin's friend Ryan went on a fishing/camping trip to Patoka Lake Sunday.  They were supposed to stay overnight and come home the following evening, but heavy rain storms kept that from happening.  The fish weren't really biting but they had lots of good laughs and got to see a lot of neat wildlife (bald eagles, deer, beavers, wild turkey, and rabbits... Just to name a few!)

3.  Allie has been potty trained since she was about 2.  She didn't have any control over the night time wetting though.  Hayden never had a problem with that, and was waking up dry before he turned 18 months!  Allie's nighttime wetting was very normal for her age.  But I'm happy to report that she's overcome that problem over the last month!  Since she's been dry every morning for the last month, I've been letting her sleep without a pull up for about two weeks.  She woke up Wednesday morning at 4:50 because she had to go.  I was so proud of her for getting up to go!  Two 100% potty trained, two to go!

4.  I ran across a coupon for Portrait Innovations. It was their typical one pose package for $14.99.  Since I hadn't had the kids pictures in their Easter outfits, I thought it would be a cheap way to have that done, plus I've always wanted to try that place out.  I was impressed with how good the pictures turned out but it is a quicky photo place where they don't do any editing other than zooming in.  They take about 60 pictures on several backgrounds, which they have to do (or so the lady said).  It's a great way to sucker you in to buying more and I totally bought it!  I liked that you walked out with your pictures in hand but it isn't super cheap if you buy some of the additional poses. I will definitely go back for the one pose group shots for $14.99.  We may make it our Easter tradition! Here's a look at some of our pics.

5.  Kevin and I left at 4am this morning to go to Barley lake to fish all day!  If I do good, expect to see pictures! :)

Hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!

Weekly Happenings April 5-11

1.  Monday was our wedding anniversary... 7 years!  We celebrated on Sunday with lunch (@ Acropolis),  a movie (Gods Not Dead  -- great movie), and Dairy Queen for dessert {side note: the waffle cone blizzard wasn't as good as I dreamed it would be!  I won't be getting it again!} because Kevin had to work Monday.  We are looking forward to the year!

2.  I gave Hayden and Allie haircuts this week!  I don't keep up with Hayden's as often as I should, but I like when his hair gets kind of shaggy.  I hate cutting Allies because I love it long, but her ends needed a trim to help it look thicker.  They both are ready for spring now!

3.  One of my best friends called this week to ask if my girls would be her flower girls!  I'm thrilled about it!  The wedding isn't until next year but I can't wait to see the girls all dolled up!  We get to travel to New York for the wedding so it will be memorable for us all!  I can't wait!!!

4.  Krissy had her 18 month checkup on Wednesday.  She weighed 21lbs 3oz (26%) and was 70% for height.  The doctor commented on how active she was and we talked about the possibility of her having lactose intolerance.  She got a clean bill of health (no ear infections!!) and had her last shot until her kindergarten ones!  She can be the happiest little girl, but her scream is still ear piercing!  She's learning more words everyday and is starting to show some interest in the potty!  She's quickly shedding everything baby and turning into a little girl.

5.  Hayden broke out the K'nex this week.  He found instructions for lots of cool things he wanted me to make.  I loved playing with them when I was younger so I was actually excited to jump in and help!  I made a jeep and space shuttle, then Hayden asked if I'd make him the cement truck.  I was on a roll and said I would... I just didn't realize how long it would take!  I spent an entire nap time (@3 hours) making it!  It was nice to drop everything and play with the kids for that long.

This week:

I made a cake for my dad's birthday

And made a yummy beef tip recipe!  I'll post the recipe in a few days.

I also got the girls Easter dresses cut out and will be sewing them this week! (Nothing like waiting till the last minute!)

Hope you have a great week!!!

Weekly Happenings March 29 - April 4

1.  I hit the jackpot on kids clothes while thrifting on Tuesday! Here's a look at what I got!

For Allie:  Levi denim skirt, Crazy 8 cat shirt, Gymboree overall dress, Lands End button down shirt

For Allie:  Polka dot skinny jeans from Target, Gap long sleeved/hooded graphic tee, Levi heart pocket jeans, cream cardigan, and a Children's Place long sleeved tee

For Hayden:  Children's place jeans, Osh Kosh tshirt, Children's Place half zip sweater, and and Old Navy Angry Birds tee.

For Hayden:  school shirts from several places

For me :):  Tommy Hilfiger green/white button down, pink tank from Limited, stripey shirt from the Loft, and Levi jeans (that I'm going to turn into capris!)

Top 2 shirts are for my niece Addison (both are Gymboree), polka dot capris for my sis, and the bottom two shirts are for my niece Olive (Gymboree and Chaps)

Krissy got this cute heart dress from Gymboree and a green Polo sweater (not pictured)

2.  Austin took his first trip to Christmas Lake last weekend!  Kevin, Hayden and Allie did some fishing, Krissy (and her cousin) and I took a walk with my mom, and my dad hung out with Austin while he slept!  It was a fun visit!

Poor minnow...

Their big catches

Cousins take a stroller ride

Hayden checking out some "treasures"

3. Kevin and I went on a double date last weekend with friends of ours!  We planned on dinner and a movie (Gods Not Dead).  We showed up to the theater about 30 mins before the movie started and it was sold out!  We didn't have a plan B, so we decided to go to Starbucks.  We decided we'd go bowling and when we arrived it was so busy there was a 45 min wait for a lane!  So, plan C, we decided to try Bob Walthers.  We stayed and played games for a good hour.  We had a lot of fun :)

4.  Ive been trying to make some healthier side dishes.  I made some cinnamon/honey roasted sweet potatoes and they were good!  I'd recommend cutting them smaller than the recipe suggests because I liked them a little crispy!  We have also been on a smoothie kick!  Berry based ones are our favorite, but we branched out and tried some green ones that the kids scarfed down!

 

5.  Hayden finished his first year of homeschool on Tuesday!  I really enjoyed being the teacher this year.  I had to overcome lots of mommy/teacher guilt, but we both learned a lot since July!  There were lots of challenging days but it was the right decision for us last year and I'd do it all over again.  We have decided to give Castle a try next year and we did some evaluations with the school to see where he's at compared to their kindergarteners.  He scored right on track with their current group of kindergarteners so he will be going to first grade next fall!  I'm proud of my boy!

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

These little cinnamon rolls are such a treat!  I found the recipe on this blog (she has step by step pics if you need them).  As I mentioned earlier, these are so so so good!  No dealing with yeast, no waiting on dough to rise, how can you go wrong?! I made a double batch and I ate way more than I should have.  Each one is 1 WW point+.  It's hard to stop eating them!  I think next time I make them, I'll just do 1 batch (which makes 20 tiny rolls) and that way we all just get a few.  Pair them with some fruit and it makes for a yummy breakfast!  They are even good later in the day.........which is when I finished them off.

One recipe yields 20 mini rolls

The ingredients:

• 8 ounces reduced-fat crescent rolls (I used Great Value because they didn't have Pillsbury and they were just as great!)
• 3 tsps sugar, divided
• 1 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons skim milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*
2. Open the dough and separate into two sections (4 crescent rolls per sections).  Press together the perforations.
3. Sprinkle half the sugar and half the cinnamon on the dough.  (I added a little more cinnamon just because I like cinnamon!  I know it doesn't seem like much sugar, but it's enough)!
4. Roll the dough up starting on the long side.  Cut into 10 mini rolls.  
5. Repeat for the other section.
6. Place rolls on greased cookie sheet and bake 10-12 mins.
7. While baking, stir together powdered sugar and milk.  
8. When rolls come out of the oven, immediately pour icing on top.  
9. Enjoy!!!