Rare Saturday post

Today was the twins' first birthday party and I've been crazy busy with the regular day to day madness and getting everything ready for the party. There was a few party foods I wanted to try out and a few I'd already tried, I think all in all it was a success. The food was yummy, the boys had so much fun, and so did mommy and daddy. 😊 a big huge thank you to every one who came and all the wonderful gifts. We are so grateful for all of the love!

Deliciousness!

Here's the recipe for the chicken wings that we had at the party!

http://pinterest.com/pin/78672324715151290/

Wednesday development update: birthday tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Finn and Hunter's 1st birthday! I can't believe it's been a year already! So many big changes....

The boys went to a Gymboree class today, first level 2 class, and first class in a couple months due to traveling/sickness/car issues. We're now well, and have our new car (at least to us, yay!). The boys had a great time and I will try to remember to take pics next week.

Both boys are 'army' crawling now, and settling into a regular routine, although they're still pretty flexible little dudes. They nap 2-3 times a day, and are usually in bed by 9. They get up 1-2 times a night, but not usually at the same time (unfortunately). 

They now have solids three times a day (usually) with a bottle to follow. They're pretty much done with puréed baby food except in a pinch. Here's a few of their meals from this week:

(Top: almost done banana sammies and string cheese; left: carrots, peas, string cheese, and potato; right: scrambled eggs, maple toast)

 

Hope everyone is having a happy hump day!

Craft day Tuesday: fabric painted pillows

We had a pretty relaxed Tuesday over here at the madhouse.  

The weather here has been CRAZY gorgeous and I'm hoping it will hold for the boys birthday on Saturday.  I'm making them a birthday banner (that I'll cover in next week's Craft Day Tuesday craft). I got the felt from a neighbor on the 'buy nothing' group I belong to. (The giant felted beet being fought over in the above photo is from a buy nothing neighbor as well!)

Never heard of Buy Nothing? It's a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of hyper-local gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors. (From their website, www.buynothing.org) I hooked up with the group through facebook and it's incredible, I love it! I absolutely love the idea of a community coming together, I feel like it's the first step in reducing crime and 'depression' in a community. Search 'buy nothing' on facebook and see if there's one in your neighborhood. You'll be glad you did!

So for today's craft I decided to finish a project I started a couple of years ago, actually. I wanted to make a throw pillow for my sisters,and one is getting ready to move and the other just got her first apartment, so hopefully they will like my gift for their new homes!

This is what I used:

I traced the letters with pencil, then with paint

Then I filled the letters in with a Qtip

Tada! Now to dry.....to be continued!

Work weekend wrap-up

I already failed my menu, we're having pizza tonight. Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!

Early work weekend

I usually work sat/sun/mon which I've deemed my "work weekend". This week and next week I'm filling in for a co-worker on Friday so my work weekend will be starting early. This work weekend auntie Jillian will be watching them on Friday also in addition to Monday, like they normally do. They will be hanging with papa while daddy goes to look at new (to us) cars (yay!) and they'll be with daddy on Sunday as per usual.

I managed to get caught up on almost all my housework for the week, the boys had solids for both breakfast (eggs, apples and maple toast)

and lunch (avocado, cut up string cheese, and bread)

For dinner, I swapped out the butter chicken I had planned for the gnocchi gratin w/ bacon and home made garlic bechamel that I had planned for tomorrow. (The butter chicken needed to go in the crock pot and I didn't get started earlier, oops!)

Recipe here: http://pinterest.com/pin/78672324716247392/

Happy weekend everyone!

Susie homemaker

Busy day over here at the mad house! I make a chore list at the beginning of the week so I can keep track of what's been done and when.

Template here: www.apairofpears.com

As you can tell, a lot gets kicked down the week, but sometimes that's just the way it goes, especially with these two close behind....

I did manage to get dinner in the crock pot (potato leek soup with ham and barley & home made Rosemary bread!)

Soup here: http://pinterest.com/pin/78672324717129319/ I didn't do low fat though, and I subbed heavy cream for the condensed milk and half and half, and used leftover spiral cut ham instead of Canadian bacon. I also put in a few sprigs of lemon thyme instead of dried thyme.

Bread here: http://pinterest.com/pin/78672324716089940/ I added Rosemary.

I also got some almond milk started, and some potatoes steamed and frozen for the boys' meals. They're doing better and better with solids, Hunter still manages to dump his plate every time though! They had bananas with yogurt, and toast with a little maple syrup for breakfast, banana sammies and steamed apples for lunch, and steamed carrots & peas and rice cake for dinner and puréed pears for dessert!

Also managed to get these turkeys in the bath!

Caution: short week ahead

My work weekend is over, I taught three days of classes, helped with a two year old's birthday party, and assisted in a theme change-over and I have a short week ahead of me. I filling in for a co-worker who's in Ireland (jealous!) this Friday and next, so I'll only be home Tuesday through Thursday. Nevertheless, I'm determined to make all the dinners I have planned. I ended up skipping a couple last week, but I'm alright with that. 😊

Anyway, here's what I have planned for next week...

Tuesday got off to a lazy start so far, the boys had eggs and bananas, then we read books and listened to the news

After nap #1 we had lunch, I had a salad and the boys had toast with bananas and apple sauce.

I steamed some carrot and apple pieces (separately) for the freezer during the afternoon, the boys had another nap after daddy got home, and I got some chores done too!

They had butternut squash pieces and rice cakes for dinner, and split a jar of peas. (I need to get some frozen!). I made chicken cashew stir fry for the grown ups, we were almost out of hoisin, which I had to improvise around, and I added snow peas, it turned out pretty good!

Recipe here: http://pinterest.com/pin/78672324716825049/

All in all it was a good, relaxing day at home with my men ☺️