Saving Dinner Menu Mailer Paleo Vol 2 week 4 2014

I'm doing the menu-mailer again, thanks to my mom and sister :-).  One of the frustrating things about using this in the past is remembering which recipes were well liked and would be good to make again.  Since I have the menus and grocery lists downloaded to my computer, I just need somewhere to list what was good and why, and any changes.  So I'm going to try putting it here (then Mom and Hannah can see what I liked).  Here goes.

Day 4 - Lamb Ginger meatballs.  Good, not too complicated.  I used ground turkey and served with egg noodles.  I used soy sauce, regular flour and honey.

Day 1 - Fish with Mexican Slaw.  Spicy.  Wouldn't make for the kids, but Brian liked and used the leftover (slaw) on eggs several times.

Day 2 - Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry.  Okay.  If I made it again, I'd use shredded bagged cabbage for making cole slaw.  Storing the Cabbage in the fridge and then only needed half was a pain.

Day 5 - Honey Orange Pork Tenderloin.  Very moist for pork.  Everyone ate it up, including the baked butternut squash.

Day 6 - Spiced Roast Chicken.  Isabele said she'd eat the leftovers for lunch.  (Isabele hates leftovers)  Definitely would do this again.

I didn't make the day 3 recipe - Garlic Herb Slathered Prime Rib. 

Dad-Titus Day

Sunday we had a girl day/boy day.  So Titus spent the afternoon doing boy stuff with Brian and Isabele spent the day with me. 

Titus and Brian ended up making a new fire pit and having hotdogs and s'mores for us for dinner when we got home.

 

 

Yes, they did this on February 23, 2014.  Yes there's LOTS of snow left on the ground.  Yes, it was below freezing all day.  And yes, the boys had fun with their project.

The Result of the Mom-Isabele Girl Day

Isabele has a sorry collection of hand-me-down dolls.  Some were mine, most were found in the trash at the high school by my dad.  Isabele took a dress off of one of my old dolls to put on one of the adopted dolls, however the dress didn't fit.  I decided I could probably make the adopted doll a dress from a pillowcase, like the one Isabele tried to put on the doll. 
Isabele and I went over to my mom's to see if she had any pretty pillowcases to donate to the project.  Isabele picked the one she liked best.

So here is the doll and the pillowcase.

Here's the completed dress.  Set in sleeves and all.

 

 

I think I finally mostly figured out how to get my sewing machine to make button holes.  Those of you who know me, understand about the button holes and my machine.

 

And another view of the doll in her finished dress.

 

 

Isabele posing with the doll.  I think she likes the dress, but as expected, she's not nearly as impressed with what I made, without a pattern, as she would be if she understood what I did in 3 hours. 

A few more snow pictures

What a winter!  Today the bobcats were out attempting to find storm drains and clearing more snow off the streets and dumping it into yards.  After they were done, I was able to find both drains in front of our property.  One was still under about 4 inches of icy snow.  The other one, I don't think the bobcat tried to find.  It was under 3 feet of snow. 

 

The kids had fun climbing the pile and being really high up the side of the tree.  Usually it takes a 6 foot ladder to get anywhere close to that tree limb.

 

Cool pictures to prove we had a crazy amount of snow this winter.

Isabele's First Lost Tooth

Isabele lost her first tooth tonight.  It's been loose maybe a week or so.  She's been a trooper and hasn't complained about wiggling or letting me wiggle it.  I've been giving it a good tug or two every day and today it came out.  She didn't cry at all (much to Titus' surprise). 

She didn't even realize I had pulled it out.  She just thought I quit pulling.  Her comment when I showed her the tooth was, "I didn't know my teeth were that small."

The deal for a lost tooth is $2.00.  If you pull it yourself you can keep both dollars.  If someone else pulls it for you, you have to pay them one of the dollars.  The person minus a tooth also gets a popsicle.  Isabele chose purple, thus the slight purple tint to the remaining teeth.

Most of all of the bribery is an attempt to get Titus to wiggle and pull out his teeth.  He's lost 2, last summer, but has 3 more loose ones.  He doesn't like to wiggle or let anyone else wiggle. 

He was a little more motivated after Isabele lost her tooth and didn't cry.  Then she got to call Brian and Auntie Hannah, plus have her picture taken, email it to Bia and Nana and Brian, Text Grandpa and talk about her money and eat a popsicle. 

 

Hopefully I'll be posting toothless Titus pictures shortly.  I'd better make sure the tooth fairy has $$ and I have popsicles in the freezer.

 

Snow 2014

We have had a lot of snow this winter.  We are up to 7 snow days and school will be going on in June.  Here are some pictures of the accumulation after the approximately 12 inches we got last night.

The edges of the deck are now below the level of the snow.  We are running out of places to put all the snow from the driveway and sidewalks and deck.  I haven't seen grass since December.  Anxiously awaiting spring!

Titus' First Day of 1st Grade

Titus is officially a 1st grader!  His teacher is Mrs. Kendall and I think it's going to be a great fit!

 Isabele had to get in for one picture.  It's her first day of being home with Titus gone at school, after all.

Titus the first grader!

Since I'm posting this at the end of his second day at school, I have to say that he's still excited about school and looking forward to morning!  He even thanked God for school tonight.  He told me he wants to go back tomorrow to make more friends.  He also informed me he has 3 friends.  Theo and Wrigley (friends from Mom's connection) and another boy from his class, though he couldn't recall his name at the time.

I'm so glad he likes it and is having fun.  I think Mrs. Kendall is already sneaking the learning in with the fun.