On the go...

This guy is on the move. He's been crawling now for about a week. Which means the gates are back up...

and a new door has been placed at the top of the stairs...
(since we had to paint it anyways, I decided to add chalkboard paint)
Which means E's now into EVERYTHING, and also means he's now getting into big brother's stuff. B does okay - some of the time. Unless it's a toy that he wants at that time, which is usually 95% of the time. :) So we're entering into new challenges in life. But we'll learn as we go.

Office Pretty

Be sure to check out my friend, Jill {and previous co worker at DFN} and her blog, Office Pretty. Jill is one of those talented people that, although younger than me, I look up to. She recently co-started a blog on fashion and it's a great place to get ideas and tips.

A {short} weather break

We've had really nice weather the last couple days. I think today reached 70 degrees. We met up with our friend Becca & Jael (and Becca's friend) at the park. A lot of people were out and about. It was just too beautiful to stay inside. Plus, we had to get out today because the weather is going to drop tomorrow. Snow is expected.

we had a nice picnic lunch too

some of us ate more than food

We had a nice Tuesday. It was a good day with the boys. Even though it started off early when a certain little baby didn't want to go back to sleep right away after his 5 a.m. feeding.
And, I'm thankful Breeson "slept in" until 7 this morning. Lately he's been waking up at 6:30 on the dot. It's hard to explain to a 2 yr old that just because it's light outside, it's not time to get up. I could get him an alarm clock, but he doesn't know time yet. ?? Any suggestions? I tell him he has to get back in bed and I'll tell him when it's 7 o'clock (even though I usually wait 'til after 7 to tell him it's 7). :) I'm open to ideas though...

Friday Family Day

One of the great things about Jamie doing full time ministry is that his schedule is a little more flexible. Sometimes we're able to take week days off to do family days since he puts in hours in the evenings and/or weekends. We're enjoying it.

Today we had family day. We didn't do much, but it was nice being together - even when we got on each others nerves. :) Our day started off by taking Eagan to his 9 month check up. Then we headed to the mall to let B play in the play area.
It didn't last long - there were a ton of kids there. He gets a bit overwhelmed.

This afternoon we took naps, played and laid around the house. Relaxing.
We then ran a couple errands after the boys got up from naps.

We were welcomed home with yummy smells coming from the crock pot. I love crock pot meals. I don't know why I don't do them more often??

In all, it was nice family day. Now, we get to anticipate the weekend..

Vegetable Manicotti

Both Jamie and I are both big carnivores. We go through cycles where we try harder at eating more vegetarian meals. But then we slack off again. I think it's just hard to think creatively in meal planning when there's not meat involved. (For all of you vegetarians out there, I'm sure you're thinking I'm crazy!?). Anyways, we tried this recipe last week and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Vegetable Manicotti:

8 uncooked manicotti shells
1 tsp olive oil or veg oil
1 med carrot, shredded (1/2 c)
1/2 c shredded zucchini
1/2 c sliced mushrooms (1 1/2 oz)
4 med gr onions, sliced (1/4 c)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 c grated reduced fat or fat free parmesan cheese topping
1/4 c fat free cholesterol free egg product or 2 egg whites
2 tble chopped fresh or 2 tsp dried basil leaves
1 container (15 oz) fat free ricotta cheese
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 c shredded low fat mozzarella cheese (2 oz)

Turn oven on to 350 deg. Spray baking dish w/ cooking spray. Cook and drain manicotti as directed on package.

While manicotti is cooking, heat oil in skillet. Cook carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, onions and garlic in oil, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except tomato and mozzarella cheese.

Pour 1/3 c of the tomato sauce into backing dish. Fill manicotti shells w/ vegetable mixture; place in baking dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce over manicotti. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake 40-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

The nice part is, there was enough to put an extra pan in the freezer, so now we have a meal ready to go.

*recipe taken from Betty Crocker's Low-fat, Low-Cholesterol Cooking Today

Hello - it's me again...

Hello blogging world. I've been out of commission for a while now.
But I hope to get "back on the wagon" now. We'll see...no promises. :)

What we have been up too lately? A lot of this...

a little of this...

and some of this...
(yes those are bags over B's hands;
it was too keep them from getting wet while sledding - ghetto?! yes.)

As of January 1st, I went back to work part-time. It's. been. wonderful. And even though there's been a lot of drama at work, I enjoy having my 2 days where I can get dressed, be around adults and just have a little break. But then again, I love having my 3 days (or really 5 days) of being home with my boys. On the 2 days I work, the boys go to daycare. Breeson's (finally) been doing better at not crying when we drop him off. It makes it so much easier knowing we don't have to ply him off our legs when we say bye. He's getting to be such a big boy, and he's a great big brother.

Eagan is on the verge of crawling (he just turned 9 months on the 17th). It's weird to think we'll be celebrating a 1 yr and 3 years in just a couple months. YIKES!!
He has such a sweet personality and smiles a lot. He loves his big brother too. He currently sleeps from 8 - 5ish, eats and then sleeps 'til around 7 - 8. He's already cut down to 1 nap a day, like Breeson. So it is kinda nice taking a quick break myself while they're snoozing (like now!).

Well, I won't overwhelm you with everything that we've been
up too since I last wrote, 10 years ago. I'll save it for another day.
__________________

Around the house...

I've been wanting a chalkboard for the house for awhile now. I found this mirror at the thrift store for like a couple $$.

after a few coats of chalkboard paint...

and vuala!!

I'm thankful...

God has given me this man to share life with...
...and to help raise these two boys...
We have so much to be thankful for this year. God answered so many prayers this year. We're especially thankful that Eagan became a part of our family in 2011.

We had a great Thanksgiving. Even though we didn't get to spend it with extended family, we had a great time celebrating with our church family and just the 4 of us. On Thursday we had a lazy morning, then went to the church to eat with other families who are also "displaced" and don't have family here. There was a lot of yummy food! That night (around 11ish), I ran to Walmart to join in on the Black Friday madness. I got a couple of Breeson's Christmas gifts and also got a much needed printer. The only sad part is that I decided to wait 'til midnight (electronic savings started then) so I could get the printer - only to have Jamie tell me later that I only ended up saving $5. :( Booh. Then on Friday morning we went as a family to KMart to catch the last minute deals (air mattress for when we have guests - now that was a great deal!).

--------------------

Today we jumped back into our typical routine of life. I ran to the grocery store and did some laundry. Jamie went to the church and did some prep work for an upcoming event.
Except tonight we did take the boys to the Bass Pro Shop to get pic's with Santa. Originally we were going to take them to the mall, but when I looked at prices online, they wanted $30 for a picture and CD. Um, no thank you. So I shopped around and remembered someone had said Santa visits the Bass Pro Shop. Now, I can imagine what you're thinking - especially if you've never been to one. But let me tell you, these stores are huge and there's a ton to look at. And no, Santa was NOT in camouflage. In the end, we were so glad we did it there and not the mall. Why?
a. there was no line - well, not really. You were given a card telling you what time to come back and get in line. I didn't have to wait long. Jamie took Breeson around and jumped in line w/ me when we were close.
b. ton of free stuff for kids. There was even a carousel that they let the kids ride for free!
c. the pic's w/ Santa was free and they even gave us a free 4x6. At the mall, the only thing that was free was seeing Santa.
d. we were able to go eat while we waited for our turn.



I had to include this pic of Breeson. It cracks me up!! I'm not exactly sure what he's doing. But I like how I got his reflection in it.