Catching up

"A little girl...one of the most beautiful miracles in life, one of the greatest joys we can ever know, and one of the reasons why there is a little extra sunshine, laughter and happiness in your world today. "

No, I'm not catching up from the week and a half since I've posted anything. I'm actually catching up from this summer. I've been working on some Christmas projects/presents which had me going through pictures and I realized I never posted these pictures of Amelia. The week after Kenny got back from Seattle, Isabella (as well as my 2 nephews) went with my parents up to Ohio for a family reunion. So Amelia had a little weekend with just mommy and daddy. On that Saturday, we took her to the mall, took her to a park, then decided to take her over to a local college, for a walk and to let her feed the ducks. I did NOT prepare for a little photoshoot. I would not have chosen that dress and I would have brought stuff to redo her hair after playing, had I realized we'd be doing pictures, but she's so naturally beautiful she can get by with that. :)

"Beauty is a radiance that originates from within"

Why we don't support Cosleeping wtih our children

It's not the only or real reason, but wouldn't this be reason enough for us NOT to cosleep with our girls?!? And don't let this picture deceive you, this isn't a full or queen bed, this is an olympic queen with is actually 6 inches wider than a queen. Which also means, yes that cat is even bigger in person. He's huge folks. And look at Amelia's hair, if you saw a picture of me laying there next to her (yeah, I'm not nearly as cute as her sleeping) you would realize that she and I both need our own beds, just for our hair. And if you are wondering where I would sleep in this mix, its right here:

But where would my husband be......Doesn't he look all nice and comfy there with room to spare?! Oh yeah and I added the other cat because he typically will get up there at some point. We don't let the girls start off with us, but Isabella typically comes in every morning around the time daddy goes to work and depending on how light of a sleeper Amelia is at the time, she might come along too -- bringing with her teddy and at least 1 or 2 other stuffed animals, because its just a big ol' party. A big ol' party where the girls fight over who gets to cuddle with mommy and mommy gets pushed out of bed. So I say, those of you who cosleep with your kids, you must be crazy. And for those of you who say "We're SO anti-cosleeping that we NEVER let our kids in our bed", I say "Whatever." In a few years when they aren't coming into our bed, I will still remember Isabella wanting to sleep nose to nose with me and saying "cuddle, cuddle, cuddle", Amelia cuddling up in a tight little ball next to me and sporatically coming up to kiss my arm, my face, my back and saying "Wuv U Mama" For now, I'll just keep trying to keep them out until morning and maybe start pricing out Pacific King size beds.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm glad I pretty much wrote up my menu for this week last week because I might not be getting it done if not. Finally, some good advanced planning on my part. :) Last week there was a couple things I didn't get to make, so I'm doing them again this week. Kenny was on a business trip from Wednesday until Friday evening, so the girls and I spent 1 day shopping with my mom. Then Friday I had planned on making homemade pizza for when Kenny got home, but he got home around 5:30 that evening and my brother and sil decided to come down to my parents so we were down there for soup. So today, I'm making the "mini quiche", spinach cheese biscuit things for lunch and then for dinner we're having homemade pizza. My hubby and girls will be happy that they're FINALLY getting homemade pizza. :)

While we were shopping with my mom we stopped and got some apples and some asian pears (I've never had these before) at a farm store, so I'm going to be making some kind of baked goods as well this week for dessert. Not sure what just yet, but if I find anything great, I'll pass the recipe along. I don't make alot of desserts around here, but I'm thinking at least some kind of apple crisp.

Monday
Breakfast: Pancakes & Smoothies
Lunch: Spinach, cheese biscuit "quiche" (recipe link from last week)
Dinner: Homemade pizza

Tuesday
Breakfast: Hot cereal & fruit (Isabella wanted hot cereal this morning, but Amelia had asked for pancakes, so I'll be sure to do hot cereal tomorrow. Although, Isabella was fine once I made heart and moose shaped pancakes :)
Lunch: Baked potatoes
Dinner: Yellow Split Pea Soup with sweet potatoes and kale (Another soup using my obsession with curry -- homemade pizza to make them happy, this soup to make mama happy :) Looks delicious!

Wednesday
Breakfast: Egg Omelets
Lunch: Taco Bowls -- baked tortilla bowls, rice, beans, cheese, tomatoes.....
Dinner: Fettucine Bolognese (found this on Organizing Junkie last week and it sounded so yummy) I will make some homemade noodles and use ground turkey instead of ground beef

Thursday
Breakfast: Pumpkin Millet Muffins (The ones I made a couple weeks ago, some in the freezer)
Lunch: Leftover Pizza
Dinner: Either Tilapia and green beans or tilapia fish cakes and green beans

Friday:
Breakfast: Either a morning apple breakfast recipe (if I find something interesting, any suggestions?) or I'll let the girls choose what they want.
Lunch: AB & J sandwiches
Dinner: Leftover Soup

Saturday
Breakfast: Gluten Free Pumpkin Waffles
Lunch: At church bazaar
Dinner: Girls will be with my parents, we'll be at the museum for a friend's birthday party.

Sunday:
Breakfast: Daddy's choice or maybe some waffles from Saturday
Lunch: Haven't decided for sure, this always varies on what I can find for a good price during my grocery shopping trip
Dinner: Leftovers

And that's it, a couple new things I'm excited about trying and then some old faithfuls. For more go to Organizing Junkie