New shoes...

Yesterday, we went to the mall to get Logan some new shoes. I pretty much have a limit of $20 on new shoes for him. I can hardly bring myself to spend more than that. It takes a bit of searching, but I can usually find some. We walked all over the mall, and most places the shoes were $30-$50. I finally found a pair of Fila shoes on clearance for $20. Well, last year I bought Logan Sketchers on clearance and he was convinced that would be what we got this year. I couldn't find any for less than $27 and I didn't like most of them anyway. When I found the Filas, Logan had already convinced himself he didn't like them. Well, he is 7 and I am the mom, so we bought the Filas.

When we got home, he asked to wear them even though bedtime wasn't that far away. He got his pajamas on, then put his new shoes on to wear around. Each night, we gather in Lucas' room for family hugs then Logan goes to his room and we tuck Lucas in. Then we go to Logan's room and tuck him in. I am typically still in Lucas' room when my husband goes into Logan's room. Last night I could hear them talking about wearing shoes in bed and how shoes are dirty so you shouldn't do that. Turns out, Logan left his shoes on when he got in bed. He wanted to sleep with them on! My husband took the shoes off of him and told him not to put them in his bed.

Well, last night before I went to bed, I went into his room and he had the shoes back in bed with him. I guess he decided they were pretty cool shoes afterall!!

Precious Boy!

Halloween fun!

I'm a bit late in getting these up, but I still wanted to share. We had a really nice Halloween. We took the boys bowling and they always love that so much. We got home and had just enough time to get them into their costumes. I took the boys out trick or treating and my husband stayed home to hand out candy. Lucas got the hang of trick or treating really fast. He was excited to go out for a walk. When he went to the first door and I told him to say "trick or treat", he did. Boy was he excited when they put candy in his bag. That was it for him. He was saying it before they even opened the door at the next house! We made a loop and then stopped by our house before heading up the street. He screamed and cried and refused to come towards our house because he thought I was taking him home. He kept saying, "No. Go get more candy!". It took me a while to convince him he was just going to say "trick or treat" to daddy! He walked around the whole neighborhood with Logan and me, but near the end he wanted me to carry him. Poor little thing was tired! I think the highlight of the night was when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in someone's door and he kept saying "Baby. Baby. Hi, baby". He didn't recognize himself in the costume....LOL! Here are a few shots we got before leaving the house.....

Here is the pumpkin I carved. Sorry the pic is a little blurry. I was trying to hurry because the boys were ready to go!

Our king and our golfer!! Please excuse the beat up baseboards. Lucas is a bit rough with his toys.


Lucas really liked the costume. He thought I picked a good one.....LOL!

Christmas Carol Train Tour Character Morph.....(WW)

On the Christmas Carol Train tour, there was a program that allowed you to morph yourself into characters from the movie.

PLUS

EQUALS

For more Wordless Wednesdays, visit here.

Menu Plan Monday....

We tried two new recipes last week, pan seared red snapper and rice pilaf with pine nuts. They went very well together. The sauce on the fish was very strong (it was still very good, I just needed a bite of rice with it and it was perfect). If we have it again, I would probably cut down on the vinegar a bit. The rice was really, really good. Logan isn't a big rice fan, but loved it as long as I took the pine nuts out (he doesn't like nuts or seeds).

I went to watch a friend's daughter play softball one night last week and didn't cook the meal planned. We all just ate various things that we had at home, so one meal is carried over to this week.

I typically bake banana nut bread each week. Last week I bought a bag of ripe bananas and made 4 loaves. I need to wrap some and get them in the freezer. I still have bananas to use so I will likely make more banana nut bread and put it in the freezer.


On to this week (which happens to include lots of green beans.....our favorite veggie!).....

*=new recipe

Monday-- My husband's birthday, so I am making a favorite (got the recipe from my MIL)!! -- Italian cheese balls, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, berry pie (he doesn't like cake all that much)

Tuesday-- My birthday and I'm not cooking!!-- leftovers

Wednesday-- baked chicken, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, frozen banana salad*

Thursday-- steak* burritos (just using the recipe for the meat)

Friday--chicken strips, mashed potatoes, Syrian green beans (We love these!! I omit the cilantro.)

Saturday-- jambalaya*

Sunday-- Asian tuna patties*, sesame noodles, steamed broccoli

I'm going to attempt homemade granola bars this week, too.

Breakfast, lunch, and snack choices pretty much stay the same each week.

Breakfast choices :
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit
--oatmeal
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter

Lunch choices this week:

--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, fruit
--macaroni and cheese, fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup
--leftover bean soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--fresh fruit or dried fruit
--nuts
--goldfish crackers
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--Halloween candy
--leftover pie and ice cream


Head on over to Laura's for more menus!

Pinky Dinky Doo

On Tuesday, I was talking to a friend and out of no where, Lucas started screaming and crying. The cry told me hurt himself. He was maybe 4 feet away from me, but my back was turned and I didn't see what happened. My friend was facing towards him, but didn't see what happened either. He was standing near the coffee table and she said she thought he might have hit his head. I picked him up and was holding him out from me looking at his head. His little forehead was wrinkled up from crying, but I didn't see any indications that he hit his head. I had already asked him what he hurt, but he was crying so much he couldn't answer. It hurt so bad he was literally crawling up me. Finally he blurted out, "My foot, my foot". I looked at his foot and his "pinky toe" was red. He got a couple kisses on his foot and all seemed to be better.

When his daddy got home that night, I told him that Lucas hurt his foot. Lucas went to greet him and we noticed he was limping. I inspected his toe and it was swollen and starting to bruise. My husband thought I should call the doc even though we knew they couldn't do much if he happened to have a broken toe. I called the doctor the next morning and they said they wanted me to bring him in so they could take a look. The doctor felt all around his foot and Lucas didn't mind at all. When she started feeling of his toe, his eyes got big and he said, "Nooooooo. Don't touch it, don't touch it". The doc said she didn't feel anything obvious, but it was very likely that his toe was broken. As we already knew, they can't really do anything for a broken little toe. She said to keep an eye on him and that if he was still limping in a few days to take him and have it x-rayed.

That night, I went out alone and when I came home, my husband told me that the boys had been rough housing. The toe clearly was no longer slowing Lucas down. He had even cut it on who knows what and had a new bump on his head. He is certainly a clumsy one!

Logan insisted that Lucas did not have a broken toe, but Lucas would always correct him, "No. It's broken, it's broken". I had called his injured toe his pinky toe and he corrected me, "No. My pinky dinky doo toe!".

Here are a couple pictures of his "pinky dinky doo toe".

First Grade....

We are several weeks into first grade now and so far it is going great! Each week Logan has been learning a new Proverb. He typically remembers it by the end of the first day!

Here is this weeks Proverb (click to enlarge):



I thought this was an excellent one for him to learn. I asked Logan if we should try to be wise or a fool. He said we should be wise, but then he raised his eyebrows and said, "But, you're not a man, Momma. Does that mean you are a wise girl?". I smiled and told him that I guess it does. Momma wants to be a wise girl!

When my husband got home that night I showed him the new Proverb. I told him I thought it was an excellent one. He raised his eyebrows and said, "I'll let it slide since it is part of the curriculum". Haha, at first he thought I had hand picked this Proverb for him. It is true that I think we all give full vent to our anger from time to time, but I am striving to be wise!

Logan also made a little book. Each day he would write a sentence and illustrate it. I just loved watching him illustrate each page and thought I would share it with you all. (You can click to enlarge if you wish.)






He asked for a bit of help on the mule's nose, but I think he did a pretty good job on his drawings!

I'm really loving homeschooling him. Getting to see his little light bulb moments is amazing!

Menu Plan Monday...

Last week we didn't get to a couple of meals because we ended up having friends over for pizza on Thursday. Then we had pizza and other leftovers on Saturday, and Sunday. So, I am carrying over some meals to this week. I have been baking a batch of banana bread every week because my husband loves to take it to work with peanut butter on it for a snack.

The pulled pork sandwiches were very good! I used ribs for mine. I cooked 4 pounds of bone in ribs in ths crockpot with just water, salt, pepper, and garlic on high for 4 hours. They were falling off the bone, so I figured that was a good sign. I don't make ribs very often and was concerned that 4 hours on high might not lead to very tender ribs. It worked, though. I shredded the meat and disposed of all the liquid and bones. The first night we had them, I did not toast the buns, but I had one for lunch on Saturday and toasted the bun (a bit of butter spread on then heated in a cast iron skillet---YUM). It was way better with the toasted bun! I really loved this recipe, but my husband is not a big fan of pork, so I likely won't get to have it again any time soon.


On to this week.....

*=new recipe

Monday--baked chicken breast, baked sweet potatoes, and green beans

Tuesday-- pan seared red snapper*, rice pilaf with pine nuts*, and carrots

Wednesday--honey balsamic chicken, homemade spaetzle, steamed broccoli

Thursday-- cheeseburger crescent rolls (recipe below), baked sweet potato fries, salad

Friday-- chicken strips, mashed potatoes, Syrian green beans

Saturday-- bean soup with kielbasa, roasted potatoes, corn bread

Sunday--leftovers

Breakfast choices:
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit
--oatmeal
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter

Lunch choices (never anything exciting):
--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit
--cheese quesadilla, chips, salsa
--macaroni and cheese, fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--fresh fruit or dried fruit
--nuts
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--Jiffy Cake cookie bars (recipe on the box....so easy and so good...I baked these up on Sunday.)
--rice crispy treats with choc. and peanut butter chips (I didn't make these until the weekend, so we still have them)
--ice cream

Cheeseburger Crescent rolls:

Last week I was making the bacon cheeseburger wellingtons and decided to try something different (with a little inspiration from my sister). Instead of making a patty and wrapping it in 4 crescent rolls, I just scrambled the hamburger meat with the seasonings. I used 2 triangles of dough to make a rectangle and put the cooled meat onto the dough. I topped it with cheese and mustard, folded the dough over and sealed the edges (I was out of bacon, so I omitted it, but if I had it I would have chopped it into little pieces and included it). It made great little pocket sandwiches and these were a much better size for us (the patty and 4 crescent rolls were HUGE). I did a pound of meat and one can of crescent rolls and that left me with leftover meat for this week!

Head on over to Laura's for more menus!

Smart boy!

A couple of days ago, I was in the basement doing laundry and talking on the phone to Christi. Logan had been sent to his room and I could hear him saying, "Momma, can I come down now?". I told Christi to hang on and walked out of the laundry room headed towards the stairs to go back up to the main level. I thought that is where Logan was, but when I headed that way, his voice became more distant and muffled. I walked back into the laundry room and I heard him more clearly. "Momma, can I come down now?".

Hmmmm. That is when I realized that he had gone into the bathroom and was talking to me through the vent. LOL! We have a 3 level town home and he was in the very top and I was in the very bottom and I could hear him like he was in the next room. Smart boy!

Funny how....

It's funny how a smell can take you back. This morning I was getting Lucas dressed and he grabbed some lotion out of his closet. I put a little bit on his hand and turned to choose some clothes for him to wear. When I turned back around, I smelled the lotion and was immediately transported back to when he was a tiny, new baby. I always used Johnson's Soothing Naturals Lotion and hair/body wash on him. It smells so good! Man, I miss that sweet, new baby, but I am loving this feisty preschooler, too! And when I say feisty, I mean completely full of energy ALWAYS (oh, and loud....did I mention loud)!