Monkey-ing around with Grandpa

(Playing catch up... this is from May)


I just love my Grandpa!  I have such an awesome relationship with my grandparents and am so thankful that my girls are able to know their great grandparents.  I've picked up a lot from them and one of them is my love of gardening.  Grandpa has SUCH a green thumb.  So on a rainy, cold, spring day the girls and I picked Grandpa up and headed to a local greenhouse.  (With a rainy day coupon in hand.) We had such a great time!

We started inside where we watched and fed the garden monkey, Mingo.  Who isn't entertained by that!?!?

Feeding Mr Mingo

He definitely has Madison's interest!

Then we headed outside, with our umbrellas to go see what we could find.  What we found were a bunch of chickens!  So Grandpa and Makenzie took off chasing the chickens around!!  Tell me... who else has chased chickens around with their great grandparent!?!?  On that stinking cold day that just warmed my heart right up.  The love that he shares with my girls is just so good.  They just adore him!

That's her bummed face after all the chickens ran in there!

Peaking in!

A quick goodbye to the monkey and we were headed back to Grandma & Grandpa's for our "usual" (Kraft Mac n Cheese!).

We left with a couple blueberry plants and some awesome memories.

~Our Menu~ February to March

Wow.  March!?!?  Certainly doesn't feel like March is coming.  All week has been snowy and COLD.  I think today is the warmest and it's a whooping 23 degrees.  Matt has been up by 4:30 almost every AM to go plowing and then head in for a full days work.  LONG week for that boy.

Last night I decided to get a little bit of a head start on my next menu while Matt was watching Forrest Gump.  I've never seen that movie before!  My goodness ended up with tears just running down my face.  I hate movies that make me cry.

Anyways, this morning presented a good time to head to the store for the groceries.  So off we went.  You get your workout pushing, pulling and lifting a cart FULL of groceries & Miss Madison thru snowy, slushy parking lots.  Wow. Glad I was able to park close to the door and get all of my goodies from one store instead of two!!

Menu......

(Note: FM=Freezer meal *= double meal, one to eat, one to freeze for freezer meal, CP=Crockpot)

Family Favorite:  Taco Salad!

Spaghetti & Meatballs  (Meatballs were made in last menu and leftovers were frozen.  My friend Bonnie gave me the meatball recipe and it is SOOOOO good.  Best. Meatballs. EVER!)

Chicken Mozzarella Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries, Toss Salad

Honey Sesame Chicken over Rice (menu repeat from a few weeks ago! So good.)

CP  Thai Chicken & Noodles

CP  Mac & Cheese

CP  (Or maybe smoked!)  Beef roast with Potatoes and Carrots

Vegetable Beef Ragout ~new recipe~

Quesadillas 

* Chicken Pot Pie (another repeat, this meal freezes awesomely)

Homemade Pizza

Chili & Homemade Jalapeno Biscuits

Hot Dogs, Fruit & Frozen Corn

* Breakfast Burritos

Yesterday... Our Proud Moment!

Makenzie bit Madison!!  BIT!  Like with your teeth.  Chomp Chomp.

I had no clue it happened.  I didn't see it.

I was cleaning while Makenzie and Madison "were" nicely playing when I hear Madison really crying!!  I give her a second to see if she'll stop and then hear Makenzie yelling at me to come because Madison got hurt.  Poop.  Okay.  So into Makenzie's room I go and see Madison laying near Makenzie's block tower.  (A red flag went off because that girl is a little protective over her building towers.)

Madison looked fine. I couldn't see any damage done.  I asked Makenzie what happened and she didn't know.  Well you were in the room with her... did you see anything? "nope" did she fall off the bed? "yeah, that's what she did, and hit her chin on my dresser."  Oh.  Okay.  (I didn't hear a fall.)  I went on to tell her that I didn't see what happened, so I needed her to be the BIG sister and help me figure out how she got hurt.

Awhile later I noticed red marks on Madison's chin resembling teeth marks.  Hmm...  I bring Madison to Makenzie and say look!!  Look at these marks, it must really hurt her.  Do you know what happened?  "she fell off the bed Mom"  Really?  they look a lot like teeth marks.  Did you bite her? "no"  Are you sure she fell off the bed?  "yup"  Was Boogity (our cat) around?  Did he bite her?  "yes!  He did!" Was she doing something bad to him? "maybe"

Hmm...  I went on to thank her for being a good big sister and helping me figure out what happened.  And that it was really important for her to tell the truth and not make pretend things up and lie. (Like how she fell off the bed but "REALLY" got bit by the cat.)  Then into how it's so nice that God is always with us and watching us!  Whenever we have a problem we can talk to Him about it.

Onto the evening Madison is in the tub, Matt's questioning the marks on Madison's chin.  He goes in to Makenzie's room to "chat" then comes back into the bathroom.  A good few minutes have passed when Makenzie knocks on the door to come in.  I open the door and she looks up at me and says, "Mommy, I bit Madison earlier and I'm REALLY sorry I did that.  I won't do it again."

Holy crap.  A) Now it's official that my 4 year old daughter bit Madison and  B)The amount of courage it took to stop doing her puzzle to come find Matt and I to tell us face to face she lied and is so sorry!!!!  I was so P-R-O-U-D!  So proud.  We told her we knew how hard it was for her to come tell us and how happy that made us.  As suspected, she got angry because Madison knocked over the tower and then bit her.  We gave her some other options to do when she gets angry next time and then she had to tell Madison how sorry she was and give up some of her candy to surprise Madison with.

So cool to see your 4 year old recognizing what is wrong and what SHE did wrong, then by herself she figured out how to fix it.

New Blog Look!

I was getting bored with the way the blog looked.  :-)  So... I'm doing some changing.  Expect to see things looking different each time you come for a peak!

~Our Menu~ February

For any of you looking for a good recipe, we made the Honey Sesame Chicken (on last menu) and it was SO GOOD!  A lot of the meals that were on our menu last time are on again this time :-)  Meaning I didn't want that for dinner and scrounged around for something else... then when I wanted it wasn't able to make it because didn't have everything for it!  :-D 

Here we go...

(Note: FM=Freezer meal *= double meal, one to eat, one to freeze for freezer meal, CP=Crockpot)

Shepherd's Pie   ~~We already had this actually :-)  Like I said last time I love this meal because we have EVERYTHING for it, thanks to Matt hunting and having a big garden.  It can be time consuming to make, having to make mashed potatoes along with the "pie" ingredients.  This time it was SUPER easy, thanks to Mother Nature giving me a great idea.  Some of our potatoes (stored in garage) froze, as they thawed they get soft and will rot.  I caught them just as they were thawing and made a monster batch of mashed potatoes, packaged them in freezer bags and into the freezer they went.  So when I had to make shepherd's pie I made the meat mixture and put the frozen blob of potatoes on top.  SUPER EASY.  Had it in the oven at like 300 for a few hours and after the potatoes thawed I spread them out and waited till it was time to eat.  

FM Sloppy Joes, Fries, Fruit

* Chicken pot pie (Doubled!)

Honey Dijon Chicken Bake, Asparagus, Italian Baked Potato Slices

Venison Steaks w/ Onions & Peppers, Corn

Hamburgers, Salad, Fruit    ~~Last time we made burgers we DID THEM UP!!!  Sliced ham, salami, jalapeno's and cheese on top.  Mouth watering good.  So thankful my man can grill a burger!!  I swear I could eat a burger every night.  There are so many different ways you can make it!

Philly Cheese steak, Honey Buttered Carrots, Strawberries  ~~ We already made this meal too.  I tell ya... Grill a steak (medium) slice it up, put it on a bun with sauteed onions and peppers on top with provolone cheese on top of that and put it under the broiler.  Yum yum... GOOD! 

French Toast with Bacon & Strawberries

BBQ Chicken, Mashed potatoes & Green Beans

Makenzie's First Ride

Beginning of May Makenzie got her first big girl bike!  Oh my goodness was she so stinking excited about it.  She had a tricycle prior but NEVER used the pedals.  She was much faster Fred Flintstone pedaling and let me tell you she would fly!

We went thru MANY shoes during the tricycle time as she stopped like this....

OR by dragging her toes :-)  

So actually using pedals on a bike would definitely be a new experience.

As soon as I got the bike home Matt hauled the bike out and tinkered with it getting it sized up to Miss Makenzie.  Let me tell you, what a weird experience that few minutes was as I sat back with a baby in my arms watching my husband dink with a "real" bike for OUR daughter!  How do we have a child OLD enough for a real bike!?!?!?  Matt looked up and smiled reiterating my own thoughts.  Ha.  Miss Makenzie when did you get so big!?!?

On Makenzie hopped with Daddy's help and away she went.  When we had to come in for lunch she grabbed my phone and we called person after person so she could tell everyone about her new BIG GIRL bike!  So sweet.  The excitement that this girl has is so contagious.  Love it!

Courage on a Snowy Sunday

The wind is whipping, the snow is really coming down, Matt's out plowing.  Madison is in jammies taking a nap as Makenzie and I are out of church clothes and into jams relaxing on the couch.

My head is pounding, but I'm enjoying the silence of the house and watching the weather.  It's a perfect day to stay inside toasty warm.  Sounds like that's exactly what a lot of people are doing.  I taught Sunday School this morning (I teach 3rd grade, every other two weeks) and my typical 8-10 kids ended up being only 4!!  Which TOTALLY threw a wrench into things.  When I have that many kids it makes things take so much longer.  We breezed right thru the lesson.  With LOTS of time left.  This was certainly a first, typically I'm looking at the clock wondering how I'm going to squeeze the whole lesson in!

Today I taught on Courage.  What it means to be courageous and how we can be courageous more.  I really wanted to stress that each of them will be put in situations where they need to stand up and be courageous... especially with bullying.  So we headed into the gym to practice.  One girl got blindfolded while her partner held her hand weaving her thru the chairs and tables set up.  It took "courage" for each girl to trust her partner to walk her thru the busy room blindfolded.  After that, we made sure the one blindfolded was nice and disoriented while the rest of us scattered around giving her directions.  She had to follow our voices and listen to our commands.  The catch was, I was God, the other girls were friends.  The girls were NOT going to get her out of the room, but she didn't know that.  She listened to me at first, then some friends, then realized she needed "God" to get her through and give her the RIGHT instruction.  We were all laughing by time we were done.  Especially since the girls thought it was my turn to be led around the church blind :-)  You have to practice what you preach right!!  Needless to say, they thought it was pretty funny.

Leave ya with our Sunday School group singing Jesus Loves Me during worship time... Makenzie is bottom left.  (Claire-top middle, Joshua bottom middle!)

Happy 4th Birthday Makenzie!!

December 16 we celebrated Miss Makenzie's 4th birthday!!  I can't believe that she is 4 years old already. How time just flies.  I'm just in awe of what she has brought to Matt and I in just her 4 years.... to say we love her to pieces is an understatement! She is a bundle of non stop energy and full of laughs and smiles. This girl LOVES to be in the kitchen helping Mama cook and "make" (instead of baking we "make").  Makenzie is really pretty good in the kitchen, she is a HUGE help when I'm canning or freezing.  Guess that's to be expected when she has spent the last three years in the kitchen with me while "making" and making dinner.

She's turned into a little bit of know it all and will do her own thing in the kitchen without asking first.  (Making herself lunch at random times, getting her own snack, dumping her own amount of ingredients in mixing bowl saying she read her own recipe,telling me how to make something.)  And as with the Know-it-all status she ask a LOT of questions.  The questions are endless!  My grandma says I was just like that when I was little and it's pay back :-)  Ha.  Sometimes I will watch the clock and count how many questions I get in 5 mins and the number IS a bit disturbing!!  (It's no wonder by 8pm I'm done for the night, that's a lot of questions to find answers to!)  She is a very curious, smart  little girl and retains the info!  (So no more coming up with silly answers!)

Makenzie has been a Daddy's girl and when he's home she is his shadow... that has changed a bit this year.  Typically Daddy puts her to bed each night and now that's something Makenzie wants Mama to do some of the time too.  On the weekends, Daddy will typically run to the gas station for a fountain pop, Makenzie quickly caught on and now jumps at the chance to go for a truck ride with Daddy in hopes of coming back with "pop" and candy.


Four year old Favorites:

*Playing with cars!!  She got a car rug for Christmas that is the cat's meow!
*Puzzles have been a major hit.
*Doing nails with Mama. (Painting I should say, she squirms and cries thru cutting.)
*Playing outside w/ someone.
*Riding bike or scooter.
*Dancing!!!!  She is SUCH a good dancer!!!  Really.  She will watch someone dance and can do the same move.
*Watching tv... Doc McStuffins!  (Hate how much she wants to watch tv.)
*Her baby blanket many times during day and to go to bed.
*Making!
*Pizza, Mexican food, donuts, cake, icecream, sweets!!!!!  Fruit, snack food.
*Playing on Mama or Daddy's phones.
*Play Store
*Coloring
*Going to cottage and playing in water
*Going camping
*Playing with friends!
*Bath time
*Sunday School & Children and Worship
*Morning snuggles with Daddy
*Swing

Four year old Dislikes:
*Meat... there are times she will tell us she likes it and she will CHOW it all!  Then she won't eat it again for awhile.  Ground or shredded meat she will eat a little of.
*HATES playing by herself, both girls are where ever Mama is during the day.  Which can be extremely challenging.
*Going to bed.
*When Mama is doing housework and not playing with her!
*Having to wipe herself after going potty!  She totally bribes me to try and get me to wipe!!!  Or just spends the time pulling all the toilet paper off the roll.
*Wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt.  She prays nightly for God to give us summer so she can wear skirts and a short sleeve shirt.  (Which is silly because she wears that all winter ANYWAYS.)
*Going to the bathroom before bed... ugh. It's not that she's too tired to do it, she just doesn't want to and really puts that foot down.
*Cleaning.  Picking up toys throughout the day or before bed is the "WORST THING EVER"!

Miss Makenzie wears almost all size 6 clothes and some size 7.  She is in the 99% for height and 80% for weight.

This is my last year home with her :-(  Next year she will be starting preschool and kindergarten after that!  She is just SO excited to go to school.... but its still a long ways off.  


We had such a FUN day celebrating Miss Makenzie.  Here are a few pictures (probably more than a few, who am I kidding?  I can't do a few!) of how we celebrated her day....

Good morning Birthday Breakfast with Daddy's Birthday Banner behind her he surprised her with!

Trip to the mall for a surprise carousel ride!  Girls had fun! My mom and I were just happy
to make it thru the ride!  Wow.

At Build A Bear wishing lots of love to her soon to be new
puppy's heart!  So sweet.

The heart & fluff is in, time to tie it up.

Madison wants a heart too, she'll just help herself!
She clung to that thing the rest of the day! 

The morning isn't even over and someone is asleep already!!
Being 4 is HARD WORK!

Next up... First haircut!!

Birthday lunch: Westauwant (restaurant) pizza at our house.
So picked up some Jet's and headed home.

Story time with Nina and her new book.

Time for presents!!!

The look after I said "wait one more, not sure if that one turned out!"

Doc McStuffins book! & Eric Carl Birthday Book

Birthday Girl & Co.
Birthday taco dinner was over... onto the good stuff!  Cake and Icecream!

Not sure what's so exciting... I don't see a flame yet!  Ha!!

Makenzie playing Dr with her real stethoscope and real Dr bag!  We have all had
our fair share of band aids and "shots".  She has quite the bedside manner :-)  Some Dr's should take lessons from her!