Food Food Food

We survived another big cooking day and our freezers are stuffed!  This was one of our most ambitious menus since there were a lot of steps and prep and assembly for many of these recipes, but everything looked so good and I know it'll be worth it as we enjoy all this good food for the next month or two!

Danielle, Stephanie and I for a rough End of the Day shot... and a third of the meals aren't even in this picture!

Not counting the time we spent planning/shopping/prepping, we cooked from 8:30 AM-6:30 PM yesterday.  Talk about tired feet last night!  I was so happy to go out to eat at Gringos down the street when I got home. 

Here's what our hard work and 140 bucks got us (most meals serve 3-4, but a few are bigger):

-20 Breakfast Burritos (ham,sausage, & bacon)  
-12 Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps  
-16 Pizza Roll-Ups 
-2 Spinach Artichoke Dip 
-2 Spicy Sweet Potato Soup 
-2 Beef Manicotti    
-2 Chili       
-2 Bourbon Pecan Chicken    
-40 Chicken & Cheese Pasta Shells     
-2 Pork Carnitas
-2 Martha Stewart's Mac & Cheese
-2 General Tso's Chicken
-2 Beef & Barley Soup
-2 Chicken Pot Pie
-2 Ham & Potato Casserole

Fun, productive and exhausting... but well worth it!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

I spent 26 years of Valentine's Days single, so I've enjoyed making the most of it ever since Mike and I got together.  We had our 2nd annual Valentine's Breakfast this morning.  Between last year's leftover plates & napkins, and these red & white decorations I found at Target for 90% off after Christmas... the whole scheme might have cost me about $1.20.   :)  I made strawberry heart-shaped pancakes with real maple syrup and strawberries, eggs & turkey sausage.... oh and Josiah had a pack of smarties from his little goody bag.  :)  It was fun and simple, and even if I do live with boys, I enjoyed a little bit of creativity and some pink!

Then Josiah and I spent the morning with some of his Storytime friends at Lynnhaven Mall for one of the boys' birthdays.  It was Josiah's first time riding the carousel so that was a treat and they got these fun punching balloons too. Getting them all still for this first photo was quite the feat... and as you can see there was still a balloon in front of one boy.  The second picture was more what they had in mind :)

Tonight, Mike said he's shopping, cooking and cleaning for dinner, so that should be fun!  The only thing I know is that crab cakes are on the menu. 


Mike and I did celebrate with a long-overdue date on Saturday night while Josiah had a sleepover with Grandma & Grandpa.  We had a delicious dinner at Mahi Mah's at the Oceanfront, while watching the little flash-blizzard swirl snow around on the beach, covering the sand & boardwalk.  Then we went to see The Vow, which was a sweet movie.  We sat in the very front row (never done that before, and never again) since even though we had pre-purchased our tickets, the show sold out and those were the last seats left.  Not ideal, but it was better than going back out in the snow and driving 20 minutes to another theater.  Then for the same price as one slice of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, we picked up a whole chocolate mousse pie at Harris Teeter and brought it home for dessert.  :)  And there was enough leftover that we've had it every night since...and CONFESSION: I just might have had a little sliver just now as I typed this blog too.

Hope you've had a great day today too! 

February Photos

Here are some pictures of what Josiah has been up to this month.   Playing at the park with the sweetest little girl ever, Charlotte Barger, a little Valentine's Day photo shoot, making crafts (he's not exactly into getting super-creative since he is more of a perfectionist, but he really enjoys it, as long as we do it just right), getting "extra-cise" at Mt. Trashmore, his beloved pacy's, fun at the Aquarium with the Perkins' kids, and finally some winter weather - a light dusting of snow this weekend.  

 

 

 

And perhaps the most exciting thing (although I have no picture), is that Josiah is officially potty-trained!!  Woohoo.  No more diapers, no more pull-ups, just big boy underWEAR (if I call them undies, he emphatically corrects me)!  

 

Summer in January?!

My parents invited us to join them at Massanutten last week and we were excited about going skiing. I LOVE to ski but haven't been able to go in five years and this would have been Mike's first time.

Well the 60 degree weather just wasn't quite cutting it so we decided not to bother with the man made snow and we just enjoyed a relaxing warm long weekend in the mountains.

We went to a children's museum, lots of antique shops, a playground, Grand caverns (excellent by the way!), Massanutten's awesome indoor water park, and ate lots of yummy food. Josiah loved all the extra attention from Grammy, Gramps and Justine and I think we all had a great time.  

I forgot my camera, so these are all from my iPhone... so excuse the occasional blurriness.

Friends

Quick post but I just remembered that I had these pictures from last night. We met up with our friends at Chick-fil-A for some ice cream... These are my friend Jessica's kids that I babysit every other week. Luke (almost 3) and Josiah are best buds. Eliana is 6 and Liam is 17 months.

Really Really Random

As I sit here, both of my boys are intently playing Angry Birds. Josiah has my new phone and Mike has his. They crack me up. And I just gave them both a haircut so Josiah looks especially like Mike's little mini-me.  I'd take a picture, but like I said, Josiah has my phone. 

It's a week into 2012 and our Christmas tree and stockings are still up and it actually doesn't bother me a bit. Maybe it's the white tree that seems more like winter than just Christmas... I don't know but I guess we'll take them down this weekend.... Or better yet, maybe we could just leave all the red and pink ornaments and let it be a Valentine's Day tree. Hmmm.... that's actually tempting.

So I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions.  Honestly... it's because I have learned that goals/rules/expectations and pressure do NOT motivate me.  I often wish that they did, but they seem to have the opposite effect.  It's like they bring out the rebel in me that subconsciously says "who says I really have to do this anyway?!"  It would be really nice if I could just be determined to do something and really go for it, but I have a serious lack of discipline and/or willpower when it comes to dieting, exercise, getting up early--- you know, all those fun things.

But it's not like I never accomplish anything... it's just all in how I look at it.  I can sometimes trick myself into not thinking of things like a goal or rule, and rather like something I just really want to do... and then it works.  For example, I love finding good deals on food and then prepping a bunch of meals to add to my already full freezer.  Or speed cleaning every square inch of my house because we have company coming over.  Or organizing Josiah's entire room and closet the day after Christmas so that there is a place for everything.  And just tonight, Mike and I came up with a doable way to exercise... there is a workout room in the clubhouse of our neighborhood - and we can alternate days going over there after dinner.  Just don't ask me how it's going in a few days... you know, it's that pressure thing.  I'll give up.  :)

In 2 year old news.... I had the most exhausting day of potty-training yet.  5 trips to public restrooms while we were out for all of 2 hours this morning. (Which means lifting 37 pounds in and out of shopping carts at least that many times... not an easy task) 2 cashiers who heard more than they probably wanted to about him telling me he needed to go poopy in the potty.  3 times over the course of an hour of trying to put him down for a nap, each time I'd hear him insistently yelling "Mommy I need to go potty!!" over the monitor. I think we just need to stay home in the mornings for a while. 

Well, that's enough random rambling for tonight.  I need to go get a little sleep so I can be out the door by 6:30 tomorrow morning to sub.  Why oh why must Virginia Beach high schools start so early?!!

Is it still Christmas-time?

This was our first year without a real Christmas tree... and we went crazy and let Josiah pick out the new tree.  Of all things, he fell in love with this white tree with colored lights (which I begrudgingly consented to after trying to sway him towards all the classier, more natural ones).  He woke up every morning to come see the tree and would say over and over "I really like my white Christmas tree!"  Although it took a little while, it eventually grew on me too.  In fact, now I don't want to take it down! 
 

Making a gingerbread house (a first for all 3 of us!)  Josiah has had very little candy ever, and as soon as we poured the candies out to start decorating, he grabbed as many as he could and wouldn't stop eating them!  It's a wonder there was any left for the house!

We spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family...   First at Nana & Papa's house (where I didn't take any pictures), and then on to my parents house.  We had a delicious fried turkey (thanks to Mike), seafood lasagna, beef brisket and a bunch more yummy food.  Josiah and I made sugar cookies while we waited for dinner, and then we all headed upstairs to spoil each other rotten with presents. 

A snowboard for my 2 1/2 year old?!!   Grammy of all people did this one... we're going together to Massanutten in a few weeks, and I guess she couldn't resist :)

We spent Christmas morning at home with just the 3 of us.  I had all intentions of trying to keep it to a modest 3 presents for Josiah, but once we found a fourth gift, we just somehow kept going.  Nothing too elaborate, but he had lots to open and he's enjoying his Ikea easel, Jungle Junction toys, Chuggington trains, and Little People amusement park. 

The rest of Christmas Day was spent with Mike's side of the family.   Once again, Josiah got lots of fun new toys (including an electronic drum set, picnic table and lots of cool cars).  Mike even got some toys of his own, and we had another delicious fried turkey and a great day with family.

The one thing I don't have pictures or video of, was probably the best part of our Christmas season:  reading our Advent book together each night.  Josiah really learned the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, and he amazed us by his ability to recite much of it himself.  He also really enjoyed giving gifts to people, and since he was with me when I did most of the shopping, I had to remind him not to spoil the surprise by telling people what we bought them (which he did anyway on several occasions).   I hope the rest of you have had a wonderful holiday.  As always, it goes by too fast!