Saturday Family Night

DJ got home early on Saturday afternoon, and the girls and I were thrilled that we would get one last weekend to spend some time with him before the hectic football games began! 

He found out about a steak cook off going on in downtown, and the football team and staff had received vouchers to get in free. 

So, we loaded up the girls, and made a stop by football (because we can never really get away from it) and let the girls run around on the field. 

(My mom made their matching outfits)

The cook off was fun and their were tents upon tents of men cooking steak. I'm not sure about you, but to me, a steak is a steak. There have only been a small handful of times in my life where i've said, "this is the most amazing steak ever." And, it wasn't last night. But, we had our steak, salad, roll, and baked potato (which did nothing for my low-carb diet). After eating, we took a little stroll and enjoyed some music. 

We had several people ask us if we were Cowboy fans, and for the record, we are not (obviously). But, because our stroller is orange and black it was asked, several times. At one point, I told DJ we were going to put it up for sale. So, if you want it, make me an offer- but you have to come and get it! (Ha!)

I only bought this one, because it was the stiller I wanted, plus it was a great deal. Sadly, it was the only color that was in stock.

We watched G dance for a while.

I really think she loves to be the center of attention, and she grabbed these little girls, and started making them spin in circles! 

After the cook off, we ended our night with slushies & ice cream from Sonic! 

First day of School!

Today was the girls first day in their new classrooms at ILCAP. I just love this preschool and I'm so glad that my girls are there! G will be in Mrs. T's class, and MC in Mrs. J. 

It was also my first day of working full time with a school district again, so we all had a back to school day and a pretty rough morning getting out of the house. I had to wake up at 5:45, which is EARLY to say the least! I managed to get the girls up around 10 till 7, and immediately into their clothes and in the car. They ate dry cereal and drank milk on their way to school and then had breakfast again at school. Sadly, this will be our morning routine for the next 9 months, but i'll have the entire summer off with them!

Here's some pictures I rushed to take this morning!

 I ordered matching shirts from Porcupine Hollow and I love the way they turned out! I made them matching hair bows. G was excited about school and her new class.

MC was not. 

 I felt the same way too, same way. 

 I found this cute chevron printable from a blog this weekend (and I hate that I can't remember the source, but I pinned it, and there are others all over Pinterest.)

And tried again for a picture with MC..

 not happening. Poor baby.

I took one more of G at school today, and I wish I would've thought to take some of her in her classroom at open house last week, but i'm hoping next week, when things slow down, I can go in one afternoon and snap a few pics. 

My first day back isn't much to report. My district is currently undergoing changes in their speech therapy department, and needless to say, it's crazy. But, I was finally placed at my schools, and I'll go there for the first time tomorrow.

The girls also will have the opportunity to model for The Poke a Dot Shop tomorrow and i'm so excited about that opportunity! I met the owner at a birthday party this weekend, and let me tell y'all, she is crafty and amazing! And, she said my girls were beautiful, so that makes me love her even more! And, she has these super cute Bubble necklaces that y'all need to check out! I'm hoping to order one in the next month!

Here's my diet today: Breakfast- protein drink. Snack- 1 piece of turkey and 1 slice of cheese. Lunch- Chobani apple yogurt. Dinner- Sweet Potato Fries and Protein drink with peanut butter. 

I seriously need to go to the grocery store and get some more fruits and veggies! Hopefully, i'll have time this weekend!  

Fun & Relaxing Saturday

The girls and I went to the most adorable birthday party this morning! SK turned 1 year old, and I know it made her mama sad, but this little girl is blessed! She had the cutest pink lemonade theme party, and it gave me a ton of ideas for MC's strawberry lemonade party for next year! (Yes, I start planning their parties a year in advance.)

I managed to snap a picture of the girls before heading out the door. I was pretty lucky to get MC to actually sit for a millisecond, but if you can tell, she was starting to get up and walk toward the camera!

 The girls had fun at the party with the lemonade races, piñata, and all the fruit & lemonade they could drink. And, even though it was outside with boughs of rain, we had a great time! 

I was ready to get home though and get cozy and warm and veg out before this crazy week i'm about to have! So, I attempted to give the girls a nap, which neither of them took, but at least they rested about an hour!

After rest time, the girls and I went up to the play room, so they could play and I could work on bows. I managed to complete 4 Halloween hair bows this afternoon!

After working on bows, I brought the girls downstairs to do some laundry. I left the laundry room door open and found MC like this:

 G had to take a picture too!

I took my diet day off today. It was too hard going to a birthday party this morning! But, here's what I ate today:

Breakfast: Protein Drink, Snack: MC and I shared a piece of cake, but I really believe she ate more than I did! Lunch: Chobani Pineapple Yogurt Dinner: 2 slices of pizza & I really messed up and had a coke! Evening Snack: I found two pieces of ice cream cake in the freezer made with ice cream sandwiches and cool-whip and I ate those! 

I've lost a total of 2 lbs in 6 days. 

Exercise today: Squats, calf raises, bicycles, and 75 crunches. 

Recipe, Open House, Diet Day 4

Today was a stay home day with the girls, or rather, a cleaning day for me, a playing day for G, and a sleeping day for MC. Doesn't that sound like fun?

It was our last real stay home day before I start my new job tomorrow! Yikes! The girls will go back to daycare/preschool 5 days a week, and football has started, and suddenly our lives are once again full of chaos. But, I would't have it any other way.

I really hate cooking while DJ isn't home. I hate to cook anyway, but I knew that the girls needed something other than PB & J. So, I defrosted some chicken and still had no idea what to cook, but I came up with this:

Ingredients: Chicken, broccoli spears, yellow bell pepper, martini sauce, and pasta. 

Boil your pasta, and add oil to a skillet. Toss the cut chicken in Italian seasonings. When cooked, add yellow bell peppers and broccoli and stir together. 

 This is the sauce I used: I had about 1/2 the jar left over from a previous recipe and needed to use it. Once the broccoli and peppers were cooked, I just tossed this into the skillet and stirred to coat. 

 Super easy. Just put the pasta in a bowl, and add in the chicken mixture, and top with cheese. 

 I'll be honest, the girls didn't love this dinner, but I did! 

As we were eating, it started to rain~ blessed rain! But, not only did it rain, it was windy, paired with lightning and thunder, and then hail!

 I finally got the girls dressed after dinner, so we could head out to their open house at preschool. 

 I tried to get a picture of the girls standing together, but MC walked up to the camera. 

 Then G was too busy dancing her doll around to look. 

And MC crawled away again.

Oh well, one day i'll have a good photo of them together! 

Okay, here's how I did on my diet today. So far, i've lost 4 pounds. (in 4 days) Breakfast was 2 scrambled eggs with chia seeds and shredded mexican cheese and a glass of milk. Snack was Chobani pineapple yogurt. Lunch was a Protein drink. Dinner- see above recipe :) I only had 1 scoop of pasta. Evening snack was a Protein drink with a tbsp of peanut butter. 

Weekend in Arkansas

The girls and I left Thursday evening to go to my parent's house. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, which was a good half way point! Both girls did very well eating, and we explored the store right after we ate. 

G loves to sit in their rocking chairs, so we took a few pictures before getting back in the car. 

 Poor MC, G was trying to hold her into the chair!

 Once I put her in a chair by herself, she was very happy!

 Since G was so well behaved, I let her choose a candy for the rest of our trip. 

 We managed to get to Gee's house around 7, so that gave us some time to play before bedtime. G showed off some of her gymnastic skills. 

 And MC flirted and played. 

 On Friday, my mom watched my niece, A, as well. But, I ended up watching the two little ones, while my mom took G to the dollar store to buy some toys! G loaded up on play-doh, a mermaid, paint, fingerpaint, and a sun catcher. 

I let the little ones just hang out in their jammies and play. 

 It's so fun to see A and MC play, or fight, together! They both wanted this puppy. 

 On Friday evening, I left my mom with all 3 grand girls and went to visit my friend, Laura, in Little Rock. Her mom just sold her house, and is moving, so I helped them get their garage sale together, and racked up on some goodies for the girls!

Saturday morning, G played with play-doh, and then we went to the pool. 

 My cousins came over later that day, and we swam a bit more and grilled hamburgers for dinner. MC was so hungry that she chowed down on this piece of corn!

We went to church Sunday morning, and then to lunch to celebrate my mom's birthday. We all bought her a watch, bracelet, necklace, and earrings. Once we got home, my sister and her kids came to visit, and I headed home. 

The girls are staying with my mom for a few days, because their daycare is closed this week. I needed to finish up some work visits, so i'm thankful that my mom was able to arrange her schedule to keep them. I miss my girls, but I know that they are enjoying time with Gee and grandpa!

Football Cookout

Sunday night we had dinner at our Head Coaches house and the football family. It was our last before the craziness of our lives begin with the start of football season, and gave us a chance to enjoy our husbands as we won't see them for the next 4 1/2 months. Seriously.

DJ and I didn't plan on getting over to their house until later that afternoon, after the girls napped. So, we made our way over around 5:00, thinking we'd be the last ones there. Wrong! We were the first. 

Thankfully, within 30 minutes other slowly began trickling in. I'm guessing the heat kept everyone inside for the afternoon.

The girls enjoyed playing on the swing set.

Here's MC toddling over to play. Y'all know I don't really call her MC in real life don't you? One of my Facebook friends saw her the other day, and was like, "Yo, MC, what's up!" Yeah, I just type MC because it's my way of protecting my kids while I continue to publish their lives online. 

 Here's G (I don't call her G either) and our little friend E (again, not his real name, or his nickname) and MC climbing up the slide. 

 MC, just standing around watching. 

G was enjoying this as her look out spot!

 And, MC decided to join her. This girl is really good on stairs. 

 I finally told DJ that he had to go watch her in case she fell, because I was too busy snapping pictures of her climbing skills. 

 See, she even went up to the very top. 

 G decided to do some swinging before dinner. 

 Do you remember swinging like this? I do, and I wish I still could, but it gives me a headache!

After the girls played and swam, we really did enjoy the company of the coaching families. We had BBQ, played some volleyball- fun times!

Lake Portraits- kind of.

Every year at the lake, we try to get some good photos of the girls. We waited until right before we were leaving, because it was so hot, and because we were too dirty every other day! They started out okay....

 but, MC has learned to walk and she didn't want to stand still. 

So, we tried to get the girls sitting....

I asked G to hold MC's hand to try to get her to be still, but this is what happened....

 Then this....

 And, it ended in a full out melt down.

Maybe next year, i'll get a decent one of the girls.

At least they cooperated for a family photo.

Sleepover & Hocus Pocus ~Recipe~

G had her very first sleep over last Friday night. She and our neighbor, who is also 4, had been bugging, pleading, and begging us to have one. T is the same age, and they've become good little friends over the past few months that we've lived near each other. So, T's mom and I finally planned a sleep over for the girls.

We decided they could come to our house, because T has a 2 month old baby brother, and I just cannot imagine having a 2 month old and a sleepover! T came over after dinner and the girls played in the playroom and played outside. We also made Hocus Pocus rolls that I found on Pinterest.

You'll need: Melted butter, marshmallows, cinnamon & sugar, and crescent rolls.

Dip your marshmallow into the melted butter, next roll around in the mixed cinnamon & sugar. Place the marshmallow in the center of your crescent roll, and seal tightly, then bake as directed.

 The girls had a lot of fun making them. 

 The pin connected us with the original bloggers recipe, who encourages these to be made at Easter and for you to tell the story of Jesus' resurrection. The marshmallow represents Jesus, white without sin. The melted butter represents the oils used to prepare him for burial, as the cinnamon and sugar represent the spices used. The crescent roll is the tomb. Once they are baked, you can open the rolls and Jesus (i.e. the marshmallow) is suppose to disappear, as in resurrected to Heaven.

Our Jesus did not resurrect. Instead, he spilled out of the tomb into a mess.

But, they sure did taste good!

I also sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the tops.

The girls didn't go to bed until midnight and were up at 6:30 Saturday morning! Needless to say they were so tired the next day, but ended up playing together until 1:00! And, all the parents were shocked that T was so willing to spend the night!

I think this will be our first of many sleepovers and baking sleepover treats!

What's your favorite activity for sleepovers?