h1n1 and bath fun

Well, today STL county was offering free h1n1 shots to children 4 and under, so Jeremi went there at 7 a.m. to get 'line tickets'. They were giving shots out at certain highschools in STL county and he went to Lindbergh highschool. There was a line all the way around Ronnies theatre and all the cars were lined up on the side of the street to prevent a traffic jam. Jeremi did not even get out of his car, he just waited and 2 hours and 15 minutes later he drove up and got us 2 tickets for the kids for the PM time slot! Yeah!!! I had the kids at home since we had the lady from Parents as Teachers coming over for her visit.

So, we could get the shots between noon and 4 p.m. and we landed up going after lunch and got there at 1:30 p.m. We walked right in and got the shots, no waiting this time! Nathan got the nasal spray and Autumn got the shot...

However...

BOTH kids only got 1/2 doses! So... we get to do it ALL over again next month! I hope it is worth it... but, then, it has to be better then having 2 sick kids, and the high fever part of h1n1 really scares me, so I really am thinking we did the right thing.

And.. for your enjoyment, I finally took the plunge (ha-ha!) and gave the kids their baths TOGETHER in the tub. Well, I've decided to continue to give them baths separately. Maybe its just me, but it is just SO much easier to give them baths apart.

But, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pics...







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I've boarded the Meal Plan train! All aboard!

So many people talk about doing meal plans these days, and I have been giving it a lot of thought lately since I do not consistantly cook dinner. Well, I decided to give it my own twist, in that each week I will cook certain types of food on certain days of the week. I find that it'll be easier to plan my menu if I know that, say, Wednesday is pasta night... plus, I have all of my recipes organized by these catagories, so it'll be easy to pull recipes each week. I also really want to try NEW recipes as I find it exciting to bring something new to the dinner table.

I also want to start sitting down for dinner at the table as a family, and I want Nathan to learn (ha!) how to eat what we eat. Right now, I hate to say, we are making him his own meal each night, because he is so picky! I want to put a little on his plate each night and go from there. Also, Autumn is finally at the age where she can join us at the dinner table and eat most of what the rest of the family eats (cut up, of course!).

I never make hot breakfast on the weekends, and I thought this would be a great addition to my weekly menu.

However, I do want to start adding healthier menu items to my recipe list, so if you have any, please share! If anyone cares to join me on the meal plan train, feel free to blog along with me!

One key to this is I want it to be flexible, if something comes up and I can't cook, then so be it... If I come home from work and I'm tired... so be it. Also, notice I added a 'grill' day where my husband will cook! hee, hee!

Anyways...

Here is my weekly menu:

Saturday or Sunday Morning: Hot Breakfast

Sunday: Grill (Jeremi)

Monday: Crockpot Meal or Mexican

Tuesday: Mom Cooks for Us

Wednesday: Italian/Pasta

Thursday: Porkchops, Chicken, a Sandwich, or Soup

Friday: Pizza (Frozen or To Go)

Saturday: To Go


AND, here is what I plan to cook next week following my weekly menu:

Sunday Morning: Kraft Magazine Egg and Hashbrowns Skillet

Sunday: BBQ'd Honey Chicken Thighs (yes, THIGHS! This has gotten fantastic reviews on BBC so I must, must try it) with Corn on the Cob

Monday: Tacos with Katie's Mom's Spanish Rice (can't wait to try her rice recipe! It has rotel in it...yummmm)

Wednesday: Spaghetti Pie with rolls

Thursday: Cheese Potato Soup with crusty french bread

WISH me luck!!! I will post updates :o)-

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Smores in a Jar!

I saw the CUTEST idea online for Halloween, it is a smores recipe in a jar, and I decided to make them for each family at my bro/SIL's party AND make it to kick off the Phantom Ghost exchange at my work. Of course, I couldn't share this idea with ya'll because some of the people I was making them for read my blog, so... you finally get to see the smores in a jar! It is SO cute, and I know it isn't Halloween anymore, but you could make these for Christmas (they have Christmas tree peeps) or even do the bunny peeps to make Easter ones!



Ingredients



I made 8 of these jars, so of course, I only had Nathan help me make one of them, and then we dumped it out and baked it to try it out! I didn't want to make them if they didn't taste good, but, oh, they do!! So, the first step is you take a sleeve of graham crackers and put it in a big ziploc bag. Then, crush away!



Dump the graham crackers into the jar





Then stick the ghost marshmallows (I also did some as pumpkins) inside the jar. I used 6 marshmallows.


Put 1/3 cup of brown sugar in the middle of the marshmallows







Then, we added 1 cup of Halloween M&M's and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips to top it off.

ALL done! VERY easy! And, I did 6 more jars closer to Halloween in only 30 minutes!



Finished product- SO cute and festive!





Of course I had to get a picture of the kids with the smores before we dumped and baked!



NOW, to MAKE the smores!!!!! First, dump all of the ingredients into a bowl. Cut the peeps up into smaller pieces.



Add REAL melted butter (1/2 cup)



Add a teaspoon of vanilla



Add 1/3 cup of buttermilk (I used just milk, was all I had on hand). Stir it really good and place in 8x8 baking dish.



Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. And, here is what it looks like right out of the oven! It is so good HOT out of the oven... if you eat leftovers from the dish, you must warm it up (20 seconds in the microwave), trust me, it tastes the best warm!! If you make these, don't forget to include instructions on how to prep and bake it.

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More Halloween pictures

After Jeff and Tracy's party, Nathan and I went to the Halloween party at the library while Miss Autumn got her beauty sleep for tonight.



I was amazed when Nathan got excited about doing a craft! He always tells me he hates crafts! heheh!!



Nathan did this entire pumpkin by himself, I did do the painting but he stuck lots and lots of different Halloween stickers on the pumpkin. When I told him we were done, he said noooo and wanted to continue sticking more on his treat bag! I was excited that he got so excited about a craft for once! heheh





And, Nathan got his first face painting! I asked the lady if she could do a train, but she said that they only do 6 different paintings, otherwise each kid would ask for something different. Oh well! I tried!



Then when we got home, we had to carve our pumpkin! Nathan really wanted to see what the inside of a pumpkin looked like!



Last year he was not AT ALL excited about helping me clean the pumpkin out, but this year... to my surprise... (because, Nathan hates anything messy!) he reached in!!!



And pulled out lots of pumpkin goo and seeds! We had fun!



Of course, after we cleaned it out, we handed it over to Daddy so he could carve a pumpkin train! Oh boy!



Before trick or treating!



Nathan after trick or treating



Autumn in the big pile of candy after trick or treating

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Halloween Party at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tracy's!

Today we went over to Uncle Jeff/Aunt Tracy's for a Halloween party and lunch! We were so sad to find out Jeff had cut his finger while chopping an onion up for lunch, and he missed the entire party while he was at the urgent care center getting 7 stitches! Poor Jeff!



Tracy ordered these adorable cupcakes and spider web stand for the party. Each cupcake had a cute little Halloween image on it (witch, moon, etc.)... so cute! I think I might be ordering Autumn's 1st birthday cake from the same place.



Even Autumn checked out one of the cupcakes... but, she has to wait till next month for a bite of cake!





I love how they decorated the house! They had lots of Halloween Mr. Potato Head pumpkins!



It is SO hard to get a group photo of kids... I plopped Autumn down on the floor next to everyone else and she did this! heheh! Didn't cry or anything, just laid there!





Finally I got her to cooperate for a couple of group photos... Altho, we are missing Jack.



Me with my Pumpkin Fairy!



Tracy's sister Amy had all kinds of fun games for the kids to play



She even made a ghost pinata! By hand! It was so cute!



Autumn just smiled and smiled at the ghost pinata



Finally the kids broke it open and had more fun playing with the confetti then they did with the candy!



Autumn loved stuffing her bag full of goodies


Thanks Jeff and Tracy for having us over for the party!

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Halloween Morning

The first thing I did on Halloween morning was give the kids their Halloween gifts.



Of course, it was the perfect opportunity for me to request a smile from Nathan so I could snap his photo. Aren't they cute in their skeleton pj's? (Which glow in the dark, too!)



Digging through their goodies



Nathan wanted his train opened first



Autumn wanted to check out Nathan's bucket first.

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Mini Caramel Apple Treat!

Of course, I was FAMISHED after keeping tabs on two kiddos at the Magic House, so after Nathan and I had lunch(Autumn was napping), we worked on a fun treat! A mini caramel apple treat that I had seen in an old Family Fun magazine.



First... I had to melt the caramel, and UHH. WHY was there wrappers on EACH and EVERY single piece of caramel? I spent a half hour unwrapping these things and my poor nails! I mean, seriously, it says on the bag that the caramels are for candy apples, and it even includes sticks in the bag! Then, why, may I ask, why is there wrappers on each piece! Do they realize that Moms like me don't have time for this?!!!



Here is the assembly line... What makes this recipe fun is that you use a melon baller (I just bought one from a Pampered Chef party) and you cut apple balls out of Granny Smith apples. You have a little apple core on each apple. Then, you stick a stick through it. SO CUTE! I like these so much better then the large apples because they are snack size! Then, there are sprinkles and coconut for toppings. I don't like nuts all that much so I left those out...





I got Nathan's step stool out and he had so much fun dipping!



I even had to dippity dip!



Final result!


Here is the recipe...

Mini Caramel Apples

4" lollipop sticks
Melon baller
Granny Smith apples (one apple makes about 8 mini apples)
Butterscotch or peanut butter chips
Chopped nuts, nonpareils, sprinkles, shredded coconut
Small paper candy cups (mini cupcake cups)
Cut the lollipop sticks in half at an angle (pointy end goes into apple)

With the melon baller, scoop little balls out of the apple. Each ball should have a section of the apple peel.

Push half of a lollipop stick into the peel for each ball.

Pat the apple pieces dry.

Melt the chips according to the package directions. Dip and swirl the mni apples in the melted chips, then roll apples in toppings.

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