~Our Menu~

I go grocery shopping just a couple times a month for a couple of reasons.


1. It's just not fun, sometimes it is, but typically not so much.

2. We are always on a time crunch to get there and get back before either naps or feeding times.  Then a race to get kids fed and groceries unpacked.

3. Germs, yup I'm a germaphobe!

4. It frees up a whole morning the off week!

With that being said, I have to make a two week menu.  This usually takes me forever!!  At least a couple of hours.  I look thru a LOT of recipes before I decide what I want on my menu.  Many recipes I make only once and a lot of other recipes I will reuse, just not very frequently.  (Which has been a problem when it comes to finding the recipe... some are pinned, some are in a magazine somewhere, some are printed and put in a binder, some are in my recipe box!)

The really big problem is when I lose my menu!  They are typically written on the back of a used envelope or inside a notebook, so can be easily thrown out or lost.  I keep thinking I should make the menu on my blog. It never gets lost and maybe I would go back and reuse a menu!?!?  You just never know :-)

So here it goes, the blogs first 2 week menu!!
(Note: FM=Freezer meal *= double meal, one to eat, one to freeze for freezer meal, CP=Crockpot)

FM, Honey Rosemary Chicken over Rice

CP Mac & Cheese

Breakfast Sandwich w/ Fruit

CP Beef Roast, potatoes, spinach

* CP Balsamic Chicken over Spaghetti Noodles

Layered Pasta

Grilled Pork & Black Bean Burritos

Reuben dogs, Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Fries

Grilled Fajitas

Inside Out Burgers, Green Beans, _______ <--- We'll think of something

Ham, Roasted Potatoes, Veggie

Grilled Chicken Queso Pasta (made this last night!  Delish!  See recipe in next blog post!)

Antipasto Sub Club Sandwich, Applesauce


Leave a comment if you are interested in any recipes!

*Tulip Time* Part 3

I told you I had a lot!!  It's a week long festival and my cousin and I were downtown dancing 6 evenings!  This is the rest!  Friday night my MIL brought down one of my nieces and nephews!  AND she watched my girls while I was dancing and Matt was home working on the house.  She was definitely outnumbered and little Zachary was not at all interested in sitting in the stroller and staying put.  

Natalie and Makenzie working on their own Dutch Dance!

Caleb's turn to try on my shoes... check Natalie out in the background!!
I have about three pictures of her arms crossed checking those shoes out!

Makenzie calls her cousins her "friends" and she was SO excited to be running around
with them!  They all certainly burned off some energy before bedtime!


That's all for this year!!

*Tulip Time* Part 2

This was the first day this peanut was in shorts and a t-shirt!!  We had a HOT day!  So not use to this since we spent months below freezing!! 

Clapping!  Yay for warm weather!!

 We played outside for a bit and that evening we headed downtown with some friends for a junk food dinner from the concessions!  Matt got a philly cheesesteak sandwich for $10!!!!!  Just a sandwhich!  Ek!  I lost track of time a bit, scarfed my food, put on 7 pairs of socks and headed out to find my group to dance.  

Time for the kids to join!

Madison's just hanging around and Makenzie is just done for the day!

Checking out the tulips!

(Makenzie was NOT interested in pics what-so-ever!)

One of the many tourist that Tulip Time brings in!
Camera around the neck, not watching where he was pushing the stroller...
classic tourist!  :-)
(And yes, he was with us!!)

Makenzie and Hensley's first Tulip Time!

  

Our friends, Josh, Leah & Baby Hensley!

*Tulip Time* Part 1

A few weeks ago we spent a lot of time downtown celebrating Tulip Time!!  After a very long winter and a cool spring I was afraid there wouldn't be any tulips for Tulip Time, but thankfully they started blooming right in the nick of time. And I was thankful that the weather turned because nothing is worse than having to dutch dance in nasty cold weather.  Before the festival started all the dancers meet downtown for a practice run and the weather was COLD, WINDY & RAINY.  Not a good start.  We went from that nasty cold night to dancing in hot sunny 85 degree weather!  Ha!  Go figure!

This is my second year dancing Alumni, and since I would be in costume dancing, I thought it would be cute to find outfits for the girls as well.  We had some major cuteness going on, so I'll split the pictures up in a couple of post.  Enjoy!

Just not sure of this bonnet.  It was windy and she was afraid she would lose it....
so she walked around like this all night!

Love that combination of tulips.  Love that baby!

Still holding!

She loved finding all the fountains downtown and playing in them!
Couldn't say no!  Look at her!
(Told you we had some super cuteness going on!)

Excited to watch Mama dance for the first time!

When she was a year and a half she was in the road dancing too...
now she sits and intently watches.

Klompen in our wooden shoes!

Quick Fix

It's been a bit since my last post... this past week, week and a half, has been busy with wooden shoes, dutch costumes, tulips, sun & warm temperatures!!  I have a TON of pictures to go thru and a post of it all coming soon, but for the meantime here is a quick fix of our girlies! 

Full of giggles as Madison finishes up lunch! 

Ruger & Madison soaking up some sun, FINALLY warmer temps.  SO good to be outside!!

T-Shirts & Skirts & flip flops...
what did we need after that??  Icecream!!  In the Captain's Ship!

 

New driver in town!!!

Madison just LOVED being pushed around the yard in the Cozy Coupe!

More on this little Dutch Girl later!!

A LOT of Eye Poking

Really.  Madison points and pokes.  At everything.  And she especially likes poking at eyes, up your nose and in your mouth!  (Preferably not in that order! But, what am I to do!)  As I'm writing this this evening my eye hurts from her poking my eye really good earlier today!!  I need safety glasses to wear while I feed her!  Maybe some nose plugs while we're at it.

Don't get the fascination, but it's more than just Madison that is into poking eyes....

Matt brought home some fish Saturday afternoon.  Those fish got lots of pokes from these two girlies and they about made me throw up when they started poking their eyeballs.  No joke!  They would jump up and down and turn around looking at me like I would be proud... No girls... I was trying to calmly tell them not to do that because it's not nice while trying not to be sick.   I didn't mind them poking at the dead fish... but the eyeballs where just a tad much for me.

While Matt was fishing Saturday afternoon Madison snoozed inside while I dug up some of our landscaping... again.  We had some very pretty, but WAY too big plants in front of the house, that needed to find a new spot or new home.  I worked very hard last year digging everything up, little by little, as to not over do it and send my prego body into false labor.  Most of the plants I dug up are BACK!!  What gives, eh?

Love these little purple flowers I found in our lawn :-)

It worked out well, the neighbor kids & Makenzie stayed busy working around me looking for worms and rolie polies as I dug the plants up!  They went from being so scared of everything I found to letting the worms squirm and wiggle on their hands. To deciding they wanted to keep them and made a "home" for them!

Makenzie & Leah

Digging Donuts and Drinking OJ!

Any morning that starts off with donuts is bound to be a good day!!  Matthew surprised Makenzie and I with just that!  Typically Makenzie eats the top half (with the frosting and sprinkles) and picks at the rest. Today, she would take a bite off the top, go to bottom and back up to the top again.... have to say I have never seen someone eat a donut like that.  I was afraid she was going to lose the donut eating it that way and gosh, what would happen if that happened!?!?  I would be forced to share.  My donut.  That would certainly put a damper on my morning. 

Since Makenzie and I were on a donut chocolate high I was feeling kind of bad for Madison.  So I decided I would treat her to some orange juice!  I had the camera ready because I know she doesn't do change well and well you be the judge.... think she liked it!?!? :-D

Hahaha!!!!  Our girls and their expressions!!  Goodness!!!