1st Sentence!

Luke said his first two word sentence today. He said, "Bye Bye Daddy" when Kyle left for the gym. Of course Kyle was already out the door so he didn't get to hear it.

Luke also got two more teeth on the top. He has 8 on the top and 4 on the bottom.

And Luke LOVES your mothers day present, mom. I can't keep him out of it. So if the box is less than pristine when you get it...blame the little man =)

HAPPY 31 KYLE!!!

Lake House Update

Master shower with teal blue tiles.

Living room

Kitchen with green glass tiles.

Staircase.

Kitchen!!

Kyle went to Grove today to the lake house. He took our old washer and dryer up there and brought back our new RED front loading HE washer and dryer. They're all hooked up and ready to be used. Luke's shoes need to be washed in them. Tonight we walked over to our neighbors to return the dolly we'd borrowed and Luke was just in his shoes and diaper. Their sprinklers were on and Luke thought it was a good idea to play in them. He had lots of fun playing in the FREEZING cold water...and his shoes are definately showing the effects =).

Meal Plan

Here are my next 10 meals:

Beef and Macaroni Skillet
Tuna Macaroni and Cheese
Crunchy California Roll Ups
Chili Cornbread Cups
Pizza Quesadillas
Chicken Tetrazini
Beef Strogonaff
Crockpot Chicken and Shrimp Paella
Rosemary Orange Chicken
Mini Meat Loaves

And since Kyle's birthday is coming up, I'll be making him a Death by Chocolate Bundt Cake. If you want the recipes to any of these let me know!

More Freebies!

Move over Sal, you've got some competition in the blueberry department.

Yo, dawg. I'd like to give a shout out to all of my peeps.

We had run out of pancakes for Luke's breakfast in the freezer so we had breakfast for supper tonight. Luke loves frozen blueberries. I don't know how he feels about fresh, he's never had them. I estimate he ate at least a cups worth of frozen blueberries tonight along with his pancake.

My freebie run for tonight. I broke even. Usually I can make money, but tonight, this was all just free. Quite a haul, so I'm proud of myself. Here's the rundown:
6 toothpastes
1 slimquick energy drink
10 Zone protein bars
4 Mentos gum
2 packs (a 10 and a 12 pack) of Razors
2 dish soaps
1 Travel huggies wipes
3 packs of panty liners
2 body washes
1 conditioner
2 mouses
5 Johnson's Buddies kids soaps
2 Cascade Crystal Clean Dishwasher spot free rinse
1 mascara
1 bottle of Vitamin D supplements
1 Soft and Dry deoderant

Organizing.

So, I've been trying to organize my recipes. I have about a bazillion cookbooks, and I love them all. I like to try new recipes out of them and then I forget which cookbook they came from, making it difficult to make that recipe again. So I thought I should centralize all recipes that I plan on making again into 1 place. After talking with Audra, we thought maybe having our recipes, that we have tried and would like to make again, all in one place would be easiest. One time mom gave me a cookbook with many of our family favorite recipes from growing up, so I know that cookbook has all good, already-been-tried recipes. And I have 2 other cookbooks for recipes I acquire from friends, or online etc. Only one of them is in use. I figure the best I can do is consolidate into two cookbooks. If I'd like to try a new recipe I have my cookbooks, friends, and online sources for that, or if I want tried and true, I have two cookbooks to go to.

I've also been contemplating keeping them all on my computer. They would definately stay cleaner and would be easier to read and I would be able to easily post recipes on my blog. I have been considering placing my planned meals on here per request of a few people. The only problem with that is if I were typing out all those recipes every time, it would be very time consuming, and I'm lazy. BUT if they were all on my computer already...easy peasy. However, I don't want to haul my laptop to the kitchen every night to cook. I've done a little searching for a PDA that can sync to a recipe software program on my computer. No such luck yet. Appearantly if I had an iTouch or iPhone they have an application that does just that. However, I don't have either, and they are not exactly cheap. So. I'm needing suggestions. Please help, dear 3 readers.

I did find a recipe software with a 30 day free trial so I've been looking around and that and I did add a recipe that I made last night to see how it worked ect. However, that still leaves me with the problem of what to do while actually cooking. sigh.

Anyway, here it is. This recipe came via mom, but I think she got it from Michael and Audra. It makes a ton.

Crock pot Mexican Chicken Burrito
Easy and yummy Yields: 8 Servings
Ingredients
5 Chicken breast fillet

1 can (16 oz) Black beans drained and rinsed

1 can (16 oz) Corn drained

1 jar Salsa

4 servings Brown rice cooked

Instructions: Place chicken breasts in bottom of crock pot. Cover will all other ingredients. Cook on low all day. Shred Chicken. Stir in brown rice immedietly before serving. Serve with whole wheat tortillas, sour cream, and shredded cheese.
Rachel Soper
Cuisine : Mexican
Main Ingredient : Chicken

Solomon Fun

Michael, Audra and Solomon came for a visit. We would liked to have seen them more but Luke had just recently been down and out and not sleeping well with a cold so we just waited for them to come to us. They arrived Saturday evening just before the boys had to go to bed, and they left Monday morning. It was a quick trip, but BIG fun. Saturday evening after they wrestled I took their clothes off so they could have Naked Time (when at the Sopers, do as the Sopers do!) and they chased each other all around the house. Solomon is MUCH gigglier than Luke and he giggled the whole time. I LOVED it. They also gave each other several hugs and kisses. Monday morning before Solomon left Luke gave him a big hug and knocked him down. Luke loves rather violently.

Saturday evening the boys wrestled like little puppies. They were so cute together. I wish Michael and Audra lived closer.

Here is Luke playing in his tent. He and Solomon had big fun chasing each other in it and playing "Peek" through the different windows.

It didn't take too long of this for Audra and I to become The Regulators. Then they had to crawl up the right way and take turns. How boring =)

Luke and Solomon loved riding the golf car. Solomon had serious giggles when we hit bumps...which was a lot. He is too cute.

Here is Luke in the new suspenders that Grandma Olson got for him after hearing his pants fell down in church. His shorts fell down the other day...guess he should've been wearing them then too. (he had on an orange shirt so they didn't match)

The boys also loved the 4-Wheeler. Luke loves it most but Kyle doesn't let him ride it very often.

Silly boy!

And this is what happened when I left Luke unattended so I could go to the bathroom. He was very proud of himself. Me? Not so much.

Solomon

is coming tomorrow!!!! Yippie! I think he might be bringing Michael and Audra with him.


Luke also can now say --pop, flop, GoGoGoGoGo!, Kick, amen, and stick.

Another Good Post

So, tonight was Bunco at my house. I love bunco. It's a pointless, mindless game. But it involves my good friends whom I never get to see and snacks. What could be better? So this post is dedicated to you, Kerri Witten...if you read it =)

This is how I plan my meals.

I only plan supper. For lunch we have leftovers, sandwiches or whatever. I plan supper 5 nights a week. We often go out to eat on one night of the weekend and Sunday it's every man for himself, because, well, I'm lazy. I plan for 2 weeks at a time (no repeats) and because sometimes life happens or I have enough leftovers for a supper meal, I only have to grocery shop every 2-3 weeks. I do have to pick up milk and fruit inbetween. Or I should say Kyle only has to pick up milk and fruit inbetween on his way home from the gym =P. I do also plan for any extras...like this week, Bunco was tonight so I planned for that and I'm having our neighbors over for lunch (a meal I don't normally plan, but am this week). I also plan for muffins and quick breads as needed. I keep those in the freezer, too. They make a good bedtime snack for Luke or sometimes breakfast to shake things up for our normal pancakes.

I have a few stand bys that usually show up every meal planning session. Breakfast for supper (pancakes, waffles or french toast), chicken strips, and pizza. I always make a double batch of breakfast for supper and freeze the rest and that's what Luke has for his breakfast until it runs out, then I make it again. I do chicken strips the same way. I make plenty extra and then I freeze them for Luke's lunches when I don't have leftovers. For lunch he has leftovers, chicken strips or a hot dog usually. Pizza is Kyle's favorite. So, those are my standby's. I also have several blogs that I follow in my blog reader. We don't get delivery in our area, but planning for delivery one night is great (especially for Wednesday nights which tend to be busy). I also try to make two chicken meals to every 1 beef meal. Healthier and a little easier on the wallet.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
http://mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com
http://www.5dollardinners.com/
When I see a recipe I like I email it to myself. Then when I sit down to meal plan I go through my email and see what sounds good and I print out the recipe to try. Also, during the two weeks that are planned on the back of my planning sheet I'll jot down ideas for meals for the upcoming weeks. And next I'll think of things that we haven't had in a while, or that I'm in the mood for etc. During cold months I usually plan for a soup or two. Anyway. That's how I come up with my dinners. Thinking up the idea is the hardest part. Once my recipe list is compiled I put together my grocery list and match up my coupons and I'm ready to go. It takes me a while at the grocery store because it's a bigger shop, but I'm really enjoying not going to the store all the time, and I think that alone helps me save money.