Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Taco Soup
Tuesday: Caesar Rotini
Wednesday: Veggie Burgers
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Picnic Dinner w/Friends (Probably fried chicken meal from Albertsons!)

Last week's Saucy Cheeseburger Sandwiches was a new crockpot recipe and a huge hit. (Huge hit defined as a meal where Bittyman asked for seconds!) No new-to-me recipes this week but two family favorites with links included.

Side dishes are a starch and vegetable/salad - whatever I have on hand. So unless it's some fantastic recipe worth blogging about I won't be posting sides on my Menu Planner.

Good eats to all!

Foto Friday

More pictures from last weekend's classic car show:

Brotherly Love


Spiderman PT Cruiser


Teething Baby Boy

Pachelbel Bedtime

Oh. My. Gosh. I haven't laughed this hard in months! Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

Menu planning is the only New Year's resolution for 2007 that I've actually kept. I was tired of walking into my pantry at 6:00pm every night and trying to figure out what to make. Not only was it stressful but I fell back on the same dishes - so I also resolved to try at least one new recipe a week. Now I'm less stressed, have a greater variety of meals and as a bonus, our grocery bill has decreased at least 20%.

I've gotten delicious ideas from Menu Planning Monday, hosted by Organizing Junkie. I've decided start participating in hopes of organizing my menus and recipes. So with that said, I introduce:











Monday: Saucy Cheeseburger Sandwiches, Corn, Coleslaw
Tuesday: Vegetable Quesadillas (Thanks, Bird's Nest!)
Wednesday: Italian Sausage & Pasta, Spinach Salad
Thursday: Leftover Buffet
Friday: Fish & Chips
Saturday: Steaks on the Grill, Baked Potatoes, Fruit Salad
Sunday: Pizza

I plan and do my grocery shopping on Friday so we're stocked for the weekend (and thus less likely to eat out because the cupboard is bare). Monday is my Crockpot night and Thursday is always leftovers because Daddy works late. Sunday during football season is pizza and other finger food that we can eat while watching the Redskins and Packers play.

So what's on your menu this week?

Foto Friday

Taken today at our local classic car show - how cool is that?

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Itty is:



And a Bitty flashback:

Happiness is...

fitting into your pre-pregnancy jeans!

What's in the Water?

Between myself and my local Mommy friends, we have 12 sons and 4 daughters.

Bittyman's preschool class? 16 boys, 4 girls. (God bless his three teachers!)

If you'd like a bottle of XY-fortified drinking water shipped to your home, please use the PayPal donation button in the sidebar!

Bitty's First Day of School

After having such a blast at Vacation Bible School this summer, Bittyman was constantly asking, "When do I get to go to school again?"

We hadn't planned on doing preschool - frankly I don't think Bitty needs it from an educational standpoint. He is working on phonics, can count to 100, does basic addition and subtraction, works the computer better than Daddy does... (yeah, yeah, we get it, Vicki - the kid is a smarty pants.)

But gosh, does he love being around people. I can't take him anywhere without him chatting up everyone he meets. (Cute, but not when you're trying to get through Costco quickly knowing that Ittyboy has a limited window of sleeping in the carrier.)

So when we learned that our city parks and rec department offered a state licensed preschool program (i.e. excellent curriculum, student-teacher ratio AND affordable) we joined the hundreds of other parents in our community trying to vie for a spot. Application packets had to be postmarked not before a certain date and classes were filled by the order received. So we were at the post-office late one night, Priority Mailing our packet one mile to the rec center, praying for a spot.

Our prayers were answered and Bittyman is now attending preschool Tuesday & Thursday from 12:15 - 2:30pm. Today was his first real day. (We all had 'orientation' last Thursday night. More for the parents than the kids I think!) As I signed Bitty into class he took off without even a wave goodbye, sporting his brand new Star Wars Lego shirt. He immediately found a classmate who was also wearing a new Star Wars Lego shirt and they got to work discussing the video game and movie.

Mommy stood outside the doorway with the other Moms as we all fought back tears. I'm proud to say I made it to the minivan before breaking down. Didn't want to embarrass the Bittyman.

God Bless America

Foto Friday

The best thing about having a second child is seeing the bond between the siblings. Itty absolutely adores his big brother - no one can make him smile bigger or laugh harder. Especially when big brother 'plays' with him as they were doing in this picture. For almost 30 minutes, Itty sat in the corner of the chair mesmerized by Bittyman's antics.

(Remind me of these days a year from now when Bitty is throwing a fit because Ittyboy has destroyed his Thomas the Train layout...)

Not Again

Mattel Inc., Recalls 800,000 Lead-Tainted Chinese Toys for Third Time

This is getting ridiculous. And we have yet to receive the forms we're supposed to fill out and return with the Go Diego Go toys from Mattel's first recall.

Anyone care to join us in a Mattel boycott?

Ironically, as I was typing this post, I received an e-mail from the RC2 Corporation (makers of Thomas the Train), updating me on the status of Bitty's recalled Thomas trains. One click and I was directed to a web page listing all of the toys we had returned and the scheduled shipping date for their replacement. (In the meantime Bitty has received a complimentary train AND a refund check for the return postage.)

Mattel could learn a few things about customer service from RC2.