Kids Expo 2015

My sister, her husband, niece and me went to a kids expo last weekend.  

First, we had lunch at chick-fil-a.  We got there after 1pm and it was packed....then again it is chick-fil-a.  When is it not packed?

Here's my niece looking at her book that was in her kids meal.

We got to the expo and walked around.  There was a lot of stuff that was mainly for older kids.  

E couldn't really do much but there was a few things she had fun with.

There was a small animal petting area.  E was a little scared to go near the animals.  We did however find the cutest animals in the place.  Tiny 'teacup' pigs.  They were adorable!  I so want one.  haha  How cute is his little face?

This was the Wegmans booth.  It was awesome.  They had samples of granola with yogurt and some hummus.  They had some stickers too.  It was nice.  Their display of the fresh veggies was cool.

E made some friends at the lego table.  The little girl was building and all E wanted to do was take everything apart.  As other kids came up she would hand them a lego.  It was funny.

There was a lil' kickers area as well.  E loved it b/c she loves balls.  She was trying to kick them around.  Look at her cute little ponytail.  :)

She made a friend with a little boy that was about her size.  He was really sweet.  He kept giving her balls to play with and he hugged her.

We got back to my house.  I made a big pot of baked potato soup.  It was yummy.  

My sister and I then went over some birthday plans for E.  She's turning 2 in May and the theme is going to be her favorite character.  "Curious George".

My sister showed me E's baby doll and I was like OMG, hold on.  I got my childhood doll baby.  This was my first doll that was given to me on my 1 year birthday.  The doll is the new version of my doll.  It's so funny how much alike they still are.  Some slight changes but still the same doll.

E's doll- Left/  My doll-Right

While my sister and I talked birthday plans, Nate kept E busy.  They shared some pretzels and then she grabbed Nate's phone and went to Netflix and started watching 'Curious George'.  haha

Once my sister was getting ready to leave, the wind picked up big time and it had started to snow.  They decided to leave so they could get home and try to beat the storm.

2015 Garden Update- #5

This is a little late.  This is my garden update from last weekend.  

Here's all my seedlings in the sunny window.

And how did this happen?

I think these dinosaurs are having a little too much fun.  :)

2015 Garden Update- #4

Yesterday, I had a garden update and well today I have another.  :)

I decided it was time to get rid of the cups that didn't have any sprouts, and the ones that were moldy and smelly.  I also re-potted some sprouts.

Here's an close-up of a sprout.  :)

Here's the little mini greenhouses I got from the dollar tree.  I only got one sprout (green bean) out of all of these.  I don't know if I over watered or what but they contained moisture and they smelled so bad.  Time to go.

Here's with the lid off.  Not good.  I won't get these again.

Here's some of the seedlings/sprouts I re-potted today.  As an extra touch....I added in some dinosaurs (I got them from the dollar spot at Target).  I added them to my garden just because they bring in some color and awesomeness.  Plus, dinosaurs are cool.  :)

I have a squash sprout in each clear cup.  I will probably repot the sprouts next weekend.  The plastic containers have holes in the bottom for drainage.  I also have each pot sitting in a squared, Medifast tray.  (I have a bunch of trays leftover and found a new use for them).

Sunflowers and Marigolds

Green Bean Sprout, Carrots and Broccoli

Happy Sprouts!  :)

Oh, I don't think I ever shared my other 2 succulents I got from the dollar tree.  All 3, look adorable in the kitchen window.  :)

Meal Prep

This morning, I made a quick target run and picked up my medications and some other things we needed.  I saved a little over $10 with my Target Cartwheel!  YAY  :)

Anyways, once I got home I put everything on the counter I needed to meal prep.  I made all my dinners for the week.  I also prepped some fruit and veggies.

Here's everything ready for prepping....except for potatoes.

Here's the potatoes (baked and sweet) with the asparagus, all freshly washed.

Meal Planning:

SUNDAY-TONIGHT:

Pork Lion, Baked Potatoes, and Asparagus

MONDAY:

Chicken and Veggies

TUESDAY:

Peppered Steak

WEDNESDAY:

Chicken and Veggies

THURSDAY:

Manwich (lean ground turkey) and Sweet Potato Fries

FRIDAY:

Chicken and Veggies

Peppered Steak

Manwich with Fresh Peppers

Veggie Mix

The chicken breasts, I baked in oven.  I made a small batch of chicken salad with two small chicken breasts (and celery I already pre-cut) to have for a few work lunches.  I let the pork loin marinate in the fridge until I baked it.  I baked the baking potatoes in my baker and the asparagus I made in my favorite pan with some olive oil and bacon bits.  I cut up some fresh strawberries and some cucumbers to grab in the morning.

Once everything was cooled, I put it all in the fridge.

Next.....

I did some baking.  I made my award winning homemade chocolate chip cookies to bring into work tomorrow.  :)

Here's everything on the counter to make the cookies.

This makes 2 batches.  I ended up only making 1 batch so I put 2 eggs and 2 sticks of butter back in the fridge.

Cookies cooling.

NOM NOM NOM

It was a busy day.  From meal prep, baking, cleaning the house, laundry, a 1 mile walk around the neighborhood with the hubby, and tending to my sprouts, I'm exhausted.  I can't wait for "The Walking Dead" and "Better Call Saul" tonight.  :)

Gas Pipeline going in

I got up early this morning to run errands.  I think I even make record time in Wegmans this morning getting weekly groceries.  I was in and out within 20 minutes.  I zoomed through the aisles.  I got everything on the list (except for grapes....they were all squishy).  I then headed to Walmart and picked up oil and filter for my car.  I also made a quick stop at Food Lion.  I found a package of stew beef marked down to $6 (from $10) so I got it for dinner tonight.  Once I got home I threw the stew beef, red potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, soy sauce, w sauce, minced garlic, beef broth seasoning, parsley, black pepper, red pepper flakes and water into the crock pot.  Then I headed to my parents.

My dad had sent me an email yesterday about a gas pipeline that was going in on the neighbors property.  But it's right along the fence line at my parents property.  So much property but the gas company put it right along the fence line.  The wanted it to go through my parents yard and my dad refused.  I don't blame him.  Who wants a gas line running through their yard?  Not me.

Anyways, my dad changed my oil/filter on my vehicle and afterwards he had me get some pictures today.  He wanted me to e-mail them so he could send the pictures out to his brothers.

Here's the house.

Bottom of driveway.

Back by house....These trees will probably be removed.

You can already see some trees have been cleared.

A view from the driveway, midway.

A piece of machinery.

Looking at the equipment from the fence line.

You can see the pond across the street.  (The pond is partly frozen right now and my dad said he saw a fox scamper across it and it didn't fall in.  haha)

My dad said this is what he saw taking out some of the trees.  The blades must be really sharp.

You can't really tell in the picture but the rocks are probably all about 2 inches each.  They are big rocks.  There is a black plastic layer underneath the rocks and a pipe at the end by road to keep rains or the pond across street from flooding it out.

Here's a view from the road looking up.  My parents house is in back towards left.  Can you see it?

I sneaked this picture of my dad.  :)

Next time, I visit I'm sure it's going to look much different b/c more trees will be gone.

2015 Garden Update- #3

I have many happy sprouts growing. :)  It's so exciting seeing sprouts.  They make me happy.

Earlier this past week.....

A few days ago.....Basking in the sunshine.

Green bean

Here's some squash, zukes, and cukes.

Cuke

Upclose:  Tiny little cucumber plant.

Some of the plants don't have anything growing still and looks like they might have gotten too much water.   I saw some mold growing in a few of the cups and some stink. The weather is going to be in the 60's tomorrow, so I am planning on dumping out some of them, and starting over.  It's still early on so starting over is fine.  :)

2015 Garden Update- #2

Garden update:

I have a green bean sprout.

Here's my sprout growing....

Growing....

Today, I ran a few errands.  One stop was dollar tree.  I picked up some soil, containers and gloves.  I got 3 sets of gloves.  I loved these gloves last year and have been waiting for them.

When I got home I checked on my seedlings.  The green bean sprout wanted out of the green house.  I also took the lids off the green houses b/c the soil is very moist.  I want it to dry out a bit.

I repotted my green bean sprout.  Look how happy it is.  :)

I also found that I have my first squash sprout for the year.  :)

I checked the others and no signs of sprouting yet.