2 Out Of 3

Daddy: How old are you?

Isaiah: 3 years old.

Mommy: What's your name?

Isaiah: Name is Isaiah.

Mommy: What's your phone number?

Isaiah: Number 4!

Well, 2 out of 3 is not bad! :)

- becky

Menu Monday

Last week's menu was a success! The Beer-Braised Chicken was not what I expected. It kind of looked like a stew with chicken breasts. Next time, I might cut the chicken into bite size pieces and serve it like a stew. Aside from the cooking time taking twice as long as the recipe said, it tasted pretty good!

I made the pot roast with dill yesterday. It was oUtStAnDiNg!!! I will definitely be making that recipe again.

Coming up this week are:

• BBQ pulled pork baked potatoes - I make boneless pork ribs in the slow cooker and shred the meat. Add a little bbq sauce and top it on a baked potato with other fixings - yummy!
• spaghetti and garlic bread

It's an easy menu for a busy week! It's Holy Week this week, so we have church Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (Easter!). No school on Friday and next Monday for me. I wish I had the whole week off, but oh well.

I'm not sure what I'm making for Easter lunch yet. We're kicking around the idea of a rib roast. I wanted to make a traditional ham, but Tim isn't a fan of ham. :-/

- becky

Little Kid Chairs

One of Mallory's favorite things to do is sit in a chair just her size and read books. I couldn't be more proud. :)

- becky

Menu Monday

I have two recipes picked out for this week. I plan to have salad and garlic bread with each dinner, and I will be enjoying leftovers in my lunches this week. Well, except for hot dog day on Wednesday. :) I don't know what it is about the school's hot dogs, but I really like them!

Both recipes go in the slow cooker. The slow cooker will be a lifesaver for me this week! I plan to make it to the gym at least 3 nights, and I have a Title I night at school one evening.

Meal #1: Beer-Braised Chicken

Meal #2: Pot Roast with Dill (from my Diabetic Slow Cooker cook book)

- becky

P.S. Please share slow cooker recipes with me! It is such a useful tool in the kitchen during the school year.

Connect the Train Cars

Isaiah has been having fun hunting down every train in the house to make one really long train to pull around. Choo-choo!

Check out my Thomas drawing on the back door. (We have these really cool Crayola window markers.) Not to bad for my lack of art talent, if I do say so myself...

- becky

Two Words

Our daughter put her first two words together while at school today to make a phrase.

She said, "Poo-poo ucky."

That it is, Mallory. That it is.

- becky

Menu Monday

I just can't get the hang of this Menu Monday thing. Our schedule is so different from week to week. I think that's my problem. Another thing I have going against me is the way my family eats. (Sounds strange, I know.)

We've gotten (a little bit) better at sitting down together as a family, but we're still not where I would like us to be. Maybe that would have been a good goal for Lent... Tim eats his bigger meal for lunch and usually has soup or salad for dinner. Mallory and Isaiah sometimes eat what I eat, but not if they eat before I get home from work. (Oh, how I cannot wait for summer vacation.)

I hope you don't think I'm complaining. I'm just frustrated. I suppose I should tackle this problem like any other - with baby steps. Now I just need to figure out what that first step we need to take is.

I don't have a menu planned out for the week, but I can tell you that I'm going to have corned beef on rye for lunch and Sausage-Zucchini Soup with garlic bread for dinner at the beginning of the week. Once the soup is gone, I'm not quite sure what the plan is. If only I could predict into the future when we will run out of soup.

Why is this so difficult?!?! Ugh.

- becky

Women Rejoice!

Last weekend, I went with my good friend, Jenny, to a womens' retreat. It was put together by some of the women at our church and a few other churches in the area.

It was fabulous.

I enjoyed myself so much that I'm not even quite sure what the right words are to describe what the experience was like for me. I went there hoping for some quiet time to relax and connect with God. I came back home with everything I had been hoping for and more. I missed my kids and husband TONS, but it was really good for me to have this weekend for myself. (Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope that doesn't sound selfish!!!)

This is a picture of my prayer group. It's out of sequence. Blogger is being a booger and acting goofy tonight.

Carolyn Berg made the banner for our retreat. I love the logo - and my coffee mug with the logo on it. :)

WOW. The Osthoff Resort is ranked number 2 for hotel stays for me. (It's behind the Westin- Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Tim and I stayed there on the last night of our honeymoon.)

Again - WOW.

Jen and I shared a suite in this building on the Lake Level. I wish I had a picture of our "private" hot tub... It was directly across the hall from our suite, and empty when we wanted it to be. :D

Living Room - a great place to relax and read.

View to the full kitchen. Say hi to Jen. I think she was unpacking our dinner.

We visited the local feed mill store. It reminded me of the little country Vermont store in the movie Baby Boom with Diane Keaton.

Check out those icicles!

The Ladies from Good Shepherd

I have already marked my calendar for next year! This will most definitely be an annual event for me.

- becky

Would You Like Fries With That?

Isaiah has been doing lots of cool things to help with his motor skills. Playing with Play-Doh is one of our favorite things to do lately. Here are a few pictures of our Burger Chef using his new Play-Doh Burger Builder.

It looks like Tim's got some burger making competition! ;-)

- becky