Category: Uncategorized (Page 28 of 201)

Tim was getting popcorn when we took the picture… tee hee!

Tim and I took the Big Kids to see “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” this past weekend. We are very big How to Train Your Dragon fans in this house, so we had purchased our tickets weeks ago to see it on opening weekend.  Jen was kind enough to come and watch the Littles so we could all go and enjoy it together.

It was soooooo good.  A wonderful end to the trilogy.  I admit I went into it expecting to cry, so I brought kleenex along… which I did end up using.   The animation was just stellar.  There were moments that even looked like a real photograph.  I was impressed.

Now we just have to wait months and months for it to come out on DVD so we can see it again! Ha!

You know you are officially a well adjusted adult when getting new pots and pans is thrilling.   And boy am I thrilled!

We have been using the set from my parents from when I was in college–which is a lot of years ago.  😉  They have been wonderful and helped me learn how to cook.  From the days of newly-wed-life and burning almost everything on our first stove (I wasn’t used to electric, so I would leave the pot on the burner when I was done… oops!) to having kids and gradually using more and more of our pots as our family grew.  And finally now, to where I’ve learned to make lots of foods and love the idea of trying out a new recipe or tweaking an old one.  (And only once in a blue moon do I burn anything anymore!)

The requirement for our new set was: 1) must be stainless steel so we can use our metal utensils, 2) must have the thicker/reinforced base and 3) must be able to go in the dishwasher.  I know, not all of you put your pans in the dishwasher (or even have a dishwasher!) but for me that’s a deal breaker.  With the amount of cooking I do and the fact that the kids are in charge of helping with dishes, I wanted the pans to be able to be taken care of by all of us.  The idea of having a sink full of hand wash pans at the end of every day is a bit aggravating for me.

After looking for a while we found a good deal on a set at Kohl’s and this weekend we had a coupon and some gift cards and scored a great deal on a nice set.  I’m so excited to cook something now!

I’m on day 5 of the 21 day fix.  It’s going very well.  I think this is my third time through this program, so I feel like I know what to expect.  It’s A LOT of water, better portion control, and more veggies.  I especially like the workouts that go along with it because they are only 30 min. and focus on different areas (arm day, leg day, cardio day, Pilates day, etc.).

Since I’ve been eating better (but less food) I’m making an effort to enjoy the food I eat–as well as make it pretty.  See?

So fun, right?  This was my breakfast.  Nom, nom.  And then I even made stir fry the other day with some of the leftover heart carrots from valentine’s day.  Doesn’t it look so cheerful?

This weekend I’m going to try making a beef stew in the instant pot that works in my eating plan.  I’m very excited!

We have officially broken the record for the most snow in February since 1962.  The last record was 26.5 inches and as of today we have had 31.7!!!  Annnnnnnd… there is talk of another batch of snow coming this weekend.

Yowza!

That’s a lot of snow in one short month. Chloe has been LOVING playing outside.  They are currently working on building a snow house (more like a open hole) with side rooms.  She even dug out a path from our yard to the neighbors yard so they could play together without having to walk in the street.  I love it!

I’ve tried to take a few pictures, but it’s hard to capture because it’s so bright…

And here is the path to the neighbors house…

It has come to our attention that Levi is not very good at sitting for pictures.  I know, I know, I expect a lot from my kids when we take picture.  I expect them to sit still and smile a genuine smile.  🙂  HA!

We’ve worked very hard with every kid to get them acclimated to taking pictures and smiling (or at least looking decent).  So, I guess we need to take more intentional pictures of Levi.

Here I go again!  I decided after Christmas that I would start back into Slim in 6 followed by a round of the 21 Day Fix.   I wasn’t able to finish the Slim in 6 as strongly as I hoped.  I thought I would be able to incorporate small changes but apparently I don’t do well with that.  I’m more of an all or nothing kind of gal… so I’m going all in for the next 21 days.

Off we go!

….Piano tuning day!

Yippie!  It’s getting tuned right now.  It’s such a funny sound–so awful in the process of being tuned, but knowing that it will end up glorious in the end.

Speaking of piano, I have found my favorite songs of the month to play.  It’s a set of 3 songs by Melody Bober.  The title of the collection is “Postcards from Iowa.”  It’s so much fun.  The first is a sort of circus sounding song, the second is a lovely melodic piece and the third is a big off-beat one (starting in 7/8 time signature into a 4/4 poundy middle section).  I can’t wait to assign them to someone!

It’s one of my favorite days–Valentine’s day!  A day where we strive to do everything in pink and hearts.

This year was a little more chaotic than normal, but we were able to squeeze in our fun just the same.  We made pink heart shaped pancake for breakfast, I made everything in their lunch into hearts (hot dogs, carrots, and bread with pink gogurt) and included Valentine’s jokes. I also made pink muffins for snack and Tim made his famous heart shaped pizza for supper. Oh and I picked out cute red/pink outfits for everyone!

So. Much. Fun.

What made the day more chaotic was that I had early lessons, and then I was a chaperone for Josiah’s field trip!  Then home again for more lessons.  🙂  All the first graders went to Stages Theater to see “The 3 Snow Bears” and I was the parent helper from his classroom.  He was thrilled.  No.  He was BEYOND thrilled to have me come along.  It was so cute.

And to cap off a great day, I had to take a picture of the girls in their matching heart jammies.