Carterism

The preschool we're sending Carter to is through the school district's ECFE program, so has a day once every other week that the parents come with the kids. The first day of school was a parenting day. Every night as I'm getting Carter ready for bed, we discuss what's going to happen on the next day.

Me: Carter, tomorrow you'll go to school all by yourself.

Carter: Mommy, I can't drive yet.

Me: (Trying not to laugh) I know you can't. Daddy will drop you off and I'll pick you up.

Carter: Oh, I was worried that I'd have to drive all by myself.

And he's pretty much always this funny.

The kind of night you always remember

Yesterday I told the boys that if they took good naps we would go check out the fireworks at Slice of Shoreview. Neither of them had seen fireworks before, so I'm not sure they even knew what I was bribing them with. Tim was working, so I knew I could potentially be in for a rough time.
At 8:30pm I started getting the boys in their jammies and loading the car up. We pulled into a parking lot a couple blocks away. (Parking any closer tends to be a pain to get out of after fireworks and I since I didn't know how the boys would do I don't want to be stuck in a parking lot with crying kids for an hour.) Just as I had gotten the boys snuggled into the double stroller, I felt a rain drop. As I walked closer to the park, it began to rain harder. By the time we were able to hear the band playing, I knew we needed to turn around. It started pouring a block away from the car.
Right after I got the boys snuggled back into their carseats and the stroller in the trunk the fireworks started. They must have decided to set them off early because of the rain. From our parking spot, we had the perfect view. Carter came up to the front seat to snuggle with me and get a better view. He loved the fireworks, and thought each one was better than the last. It was one of those sweet moments that you just don't want to end.

No Grocery Shopping Challenge

We're running a bit over our grocery budget this month and with the extra expenses of graduation, mother's day, father's day, many birthdays, and the boys' upcoming birthday party. We have been spending so much extra money on last minute trips to the groccery store. So I've decided to take the challenge of see if we can make it 2 weeks without a grocery store trip.
The Rules:
1. Meals will be made with items found in the pantry, fridge, freezer, and garden.
2. The only exception to the rule is milk/formula for the kids and $5 a week for fresh fruits and vegetables. (We have only a few in the fridge at this time and there's no way they'll hold out for two weeks).
3. Home-made freezer meals are fair game, but I will try to avoid using store-bought frozen meals.

Anyone else want to play?

Random act of kindness

Dear Kind Older Man, Thank you so much for helping bagging my groceries today. It made my day! Taking two small children to the grocery store is a challenge normally. Adding huge lines and pricing issues could have been a disaster. You and your wife made the time pass so much faster by asking Carter about Thomas the Train and other things that interest 2.5 year old. I'm sure your grandchildren adore you. Thank you so much for your kindness!

Tinfoil Dinners

DH is a meat and potatoes kind of guy and I am pretty much a chicken and pasta kind of girl. Finding a meal that includes beef that I like is a little more of a challenge. Tinfoil dinners are one of the meals that I grew up with my mom making. They're pretty easy to make and something that even my two year old will eat.

Ingredients: Ground Beef (You can do this with chicken too if you like that better)

Carrots

Potatoes (I use red, but any works)

Cooking Spray

Butter

Tinfoil

Directions: Lay out tinfoil and spray with cooking spray. I usually use about 18 inches of tinfoil per serving. Cut up carrots and potatoes. Make beef into hamburger patties and place in the center of the tinfoil. Surround with potatoes and carrots.

Fold up tinfoil. Place on a cookie sheet and cook in the oven at 425 degrees. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Check the potatoes and carrots with a fork to see if they are fully cooked.

Homemade Baby Teething Biscuit

Jack has been teething like crazy lately. I always kind of wonder what's really in of the pre-packaged foods for kids, so I decided to try to make my own. There are tons of recipes online for teething biscuit. I decided to experiment with making my own.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice cereal

1 cup flour

1 cup applesauce
3 tablespoons oil

cold water (add as needed)

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add applesauce and oil. Slowly add water as needed. It should form a very sticky dough.

Roll out on floured surface. Cut out using cookie cutters. I choose bunnies for Easter (although some of them look more like pigs than bunnies). Bake at 425 degrees for 12-13 minutes. You can tell they are done when the edges turn a golden brown.

Jack really seemed to enjoy munching on them. I will definitely be making them again.

Sassy Spring Message Board

As a mom of a baby and a toddler, I enjoy crafts that I can finish in less than one nap time. I tend to have crafting ADD, so projects that take longer may or may not every get completed. Projects that take about only minutes to complete are my dream.

Supplies needed:
Frame- Any size will do, but I used a 8" by 10"
Scrapbook paper (Mine is Amy Butler, which I purchased at Joann's)
Scissors
Pencil



Trace the insert from the frame on your scrapbook paper and cut it out. Stick scrapbook paper in frame and hang up. Enjoy! Mine will be hanging up in my kitchen to make my grocery list a whole lot cheerier. It would also make a great dorm room gift for any graduates in your life.