Valentine Memories...

I know Valentine's Day was four days ago, but I have two babies so please forgive the tardiness of this post.

We had a wonderful weekend!! Eric even went grocery shopping with me on Saturday and took Olivia to the toy section so I could shop in peace. I will admit that we spend more when I take him shopping with me, but it is worth it just to spend time with him. :-) He is a lot of help and takes care of the fun job of loading and unloading all the grocery bags.

After Olivia's nap and Noah's feeding that afternoon we dropped them off at my MIL's and went to Chili's (we had a gift card) for a Valentine's date night. Then the poor guy suffered through another hour of shopping with me. I come home with a really comfy pajama set but I'm afraid he only received a headache from the whole experience. :-) As you can see he is one in a million!!!

Olivia and I spent the early part of the week attempting to make homemade Valentines

but my artistic abilities and craft supplies are low so we bought these instead.

We did make Valentine cookies though and shared them with coffee Sunday morning at church.

My stinker of a husband surprised me with this for Valentine's. (after we had agreed not to exchange gifts)

I bought him something to but it did not compare to this at all so I have chosen not reveal my cheap  little gift to you. :-) He even picked up a card from the kids too. I love that man so much!!

 Just because this is to cute to not share...

Oreo mustaches are the best and I would tend to agree being that she is a girl!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Baking Day: Day 1 Finished!!!

Well here is the finished products of yesterday's freezer cooking/ baking day. The only thing I didn't finish on my list for Wednesday was the waffles. But after many hours in the kitchen (plus some house cleaning I also accomplished) I decided to call it a day. I plan to make waffles for supper soon so I will triple the batch then and freeze the extra. Having a 1 year old and being 34 weeks pregnant can definitely drain you so I had to pace myself. I plan to be back in the kitchen tomorrow doing a little baking for our Thanksgiving dinner with my family this weekend!!

November Freezer Cooking/Baking Day

It looks like everyone is cooking up a storm this week!! Crystal at Money Saving Mom and Jessica at Life As Mom are hosting a Freezer cooking/Baking day today and tomorrow. While everyone else is starting their freezer cooking today, I'll begin mine tomorrow and finish Friday. I did my shopping for the month today so my pantry is stocked and ready to go. Here is a list of what I hope to accomplish.

Baking List:

1. Pinto beans for the freezer
2. Refried beans for the freezer
3. Rice for the freezer
4. Waffles for the freezer (x 2)
5. Cooked chicken for the freezer
6. Cooked hamburger meat for the freezer
7. Hamburger patties for the freezer
8. Chocolate chip cookies
9. Heath bar cookies
10. Peanut butter cookies
11. Deviled eggs

Master To-Do List:

Wednesday-

1. Soak beans overnight (Tuesday night)
2. Soak rice overnight (Tuesday night)
3. Put beans in crockpot
4. Put rice in rice cooker
5. Put chicken in crockpot
6. Mix up waffle batter
7. Start baking waffles
8. Fry up hamburger meat
9. Make up hamburger patties and flash freeze
10. Do a quick clean up
11. De-bone chicken and chop up
12. Make refried beans
13. Bag everything up for the freezer
14. Clean up

Friday-

1. Defrost cookie dough in freezer (Thursday night)
2. Boil eggs
3. Mix up chocolate chip cookie and start baking
4. Mix up peanut butter cookies and continue baking
5. Prepare deviled eggs
6. Put everything in airtight containers and clean up

All of Friday's cooking is for Thanksgiving dinner with my family on Saturday.

Menu for the Month of September

One of the items on my Master To-Do List that I posted last week was to try menu planning for the month. Sunday afternoons are my weekly planning time and trying to come up with a menu, make a grocery list and plan out my weekdays is a bit overwhelming. I also know that after the baby comes those afternoons will probably be spent napping. :-)

September Menu:

1. Homemade Pizza
2. Fried Rice
3. Oven Fried Chicken
4. Chili
5. Waffles
6. Dinner at a Friends
7. Labor Day/ Hamburgers
8. Parmesan Chicken
9. Loaded Baked Potatoes
10. Tuna Patties, Beans and Cornbread
11. Steak
12. Breakfast (eggs, biscuits, gravy, etc)
13. Frozen Pizza or Sandwiches
14. Out for Anniversary
15. Crock Pot Chicken w/ honey mustard sauce
16. Red Beans and Rice w/ Polish Sausage
17. BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
18. Out of Town
19. Out of Town
20. Church Potluck
21. Spaghetti
22. Leftovers w/ Grilled Cheese
23. Chicken Noodle Soup
24. Mexican Chicken
25. Sloppy Joes
26. Olivia's B-day Party/ Homemade Pizzas w/ large tossed salad
27. Sub Sandwiches
28. Fajitas
29. Grandma's Birthday ???
30. Cheesy Potato Soup

I will still post my weekly menu each week and don't be surprised if I change meals around a bit.

Pregnancy Nesting 101: Master To-Do List

I will soon hit the 24 week mark of this pregnancy and already the nesting has started. I was up till midnight last night working on a to-do list I hope to accomplish before our baby boy arrives. When I was pregnant with Olivia the constant nausea and tiredness along with it being my first baby kept me from having a lot of "plans" before her birth. This pregnancy has been so easy and I am hoping the energy I have now remains till this baby arrives.

So as I have said before posting my to-do list in this blog gives me some accountability and encouragement to finish the task before me. This is just a list of random ideas and task that may or may not be a priority for me later on so please don't blame me if I leave a few undone. As this pregnancy continues I will most likely add a few more things to this list. Feel free to comment if you think of anything that helped you post-baby. I would also love to hear of any meals that our freezer friendly for my stockpile I hope to prepare.

Master To-Do List:

1. Budget for the months of September 09-March 10
2. Set up and Excel spreadsheet to keep up with our budget
3. Menu plan for the month of September ( I am going to try menu planning for the month instead of just a week and see if I like it better.)
4. Start a Price List for the best sale prices
5. Start a stockpile for my pantry and freezer (For after the baby as well as a 3 month emergency supply)
6. Prepare freezer meals for after the baby ( I plan to post my list of meals later... would love to here your ideas!!)
7. Deep clean (fall cleaning) each room in the house (Living room, nursery, master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and laundry room/office)
8. Store away all of Olivia and Eric's summer clothes (October project)
9. Store all of Olivia and Noah's clothing in one dresser ( Right now I have the dresser and two plastic storage drawers full of clothing. I plan to simplify their winter wardrobes and use the plastic drawers for craft supplies, copy paper, etc.)
10. Shampoo carpets
11. Clean out coat closet ( Right now it is a junk closet )
12. Put up some railing and a gate around the back porch for Olivia ( A outdoor play area the is safe for the fall and spring)
13. Start purchasing Christmas gifts and birthday gifts for the months of Nov, Dec, and Jan.
14. Read up on Bradley method of childbirth (This is something I would possibly like to do with this birth)
15. Set up baby swing ( December project)
16. Pack bag for hospital stay and a bag for Olivia (December project)