Plan Ahead

So this year with two active little ones who love the outdoors I have decided to “get a jump start” on a few things (mostly meal prep at this point). I think the warmer weather here has inspired me to do so since feeding my family nutritious meals is something I really strive to do most nights. I need to be ahead of the game! If my memory serves me right last Spring/Summer I was constantly scrounging around after days at the park and days on the boat for “quick meals” (not always the most healthy).

My plan….stock the deep freeze!!

Yesterday, I browned approximately 5 lbs of ground beef, measured it (1-1 1/2 lbs ea.) in freezer ziplock bags. I intend to buy a little extra ground beef over the coming weeks and again do the same (working within my regular grocery budget I might add). One less step when throwing together tacos, sloppy joes, and chilies! I made a meatloaf and some meatballs (I always have homemade meatballs on hand!!) I then tucked both of these away in the freezer for a “quick pop it in the oven night” too. Perfect in just a couple hours I already have enough for 5 quick “throw together” meals and it is only March.

4 Girls

That’s right 4 girls…under 4!! I have recently started watching my friends two little girls (4 and 2) a couple days a week and in keeping with our school schedule (2-4 days) I have decided to have the girls join us for some of our “school” time. I have been using a weekly theme (mostly for planning purposes) . If you see the right column of the blog (Wee News) that is where I will be posting the theme and any special notes to go along with our special time with our friends. The girls have enjoyed many activities the past couple weeks. They have made pictures of themselves focusing on “family”.

Little song;
Some families are BIG
Some families are Small
BUT, I love my family most of all!!

We have enjoyed some free play of coarse (Barbie, ball tent, dolls, kitchen, puzzles, the list is endless)

Here the girls enjoy a game or two of Cranium Hullabaloo
…for those of you that don’t know what this game is it is like modern day twister with shapes, colors, and sounds. It is always a big hit at our house.

This past week we also focused on food/nutrition a bit. We painted with celery and did the old food color “drink”. It worked perfectly…as you can see our celery was REALLY thirsty. Each of the girls got to pick a color for their celery (help make the water mixture) on Tuesday and then on Thursday we got to observe the change (red, blue, and green…O’my).

Here we are painting our “C” for celery and yes we are indeed painting with it too. Thanks to Teaching Tiny Tots for this fun idea. I wasn’t sure what to do with all my celery anyways 🙂

And a day couldn’t be complete without a fun lunch to go along with it…stay tune for more fun lunches!

(Bears in a Garden) aka. 3 cheese grilled cheese w/tomato, bear celery boats, and what garden doesn’t have ants?

(The Dipper) Peanut butter and many dippings (or is that fixings?)
i.e crackers, pretzels, apples, bananas, and celery

Birthday Surprise

Yep, I’m another year older! My birthday was this past Monday and I must say it was among my better adult birthdays. We saw family over the weekend and then on my actual birthday we went to story time at the library, had pizza for dinner, and celebrated with pie for dessert with a couple neighbor friends. I could not have planned it any better myself (wait?, I kind of did!) My DH surprised me and sent flowers to the house (it has been about 9+ years since that last occurred…so I was quite delighted to say the least).

They are truly a breath of fresh air I could not help but resist sharing them with all of you!! ENJOY!!!