Toddler Lunches wk 12/21

MONDAY:

I brought leftover spaghetti.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, apple, 3 pb oatmeal balls, hard boiled egg, and monster mix.

I was off Tuesday and Wednesday using up vacation days.

When I was off on Tuesday, I went to Panda Express.  I sat at the table my BFF and I sat in last time we went.  :)  Why is Panda so good?  The orange chicken is my favorite.

THURSDAY (Christmas Eve):

2 hard boiled eggs, pretzel sticks, rf mozz string cheese, 4 pb oatmeal balls and 2 small pb cookies.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, apple, banana, and pb.

Toddler Lunches wk 12/14

I was off from work using up vacation so I didn't lose it at the end of the year.  

MONDAY:

I had an avocado, hard boiled egg and 2 clementines.

Breakfast/Snacks:  Quest bar, cashews, banana, peanut butter, and an avocado muffin.

TUESDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, rf mozz string cheese, pretzel sticks, 3 pb oatmeal balls, and 2 clementines.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, pb, and banana.

WEDNESDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, small tomato, pretzel sticks, rf mozz string cheese, 4 pb oatmeal balls, and 2 clementines.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, 4 mini avocado muffins, pb and banana.

THURSDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, small tomato, pretzel sticks, rf mozz string cheese, 3 pb oatmeal balls, and 2 clementines.

Breakfast/snacks:  Quest bar, 2 mini avocado muffins, cashews, and monster mix.

FRIDAY:

2 hard boiled eggs, small tomato, pretzel sticks, rf mozz string cheese, 4 pb oatmeal balls and 2 clementines.  (One clementine was bad inside and I didn't eat it)

Breakfast/snacks:  2 Quest bars, fruit loops and monster mix.  I didn't eat one of the quest bars.  I left it in my cubby at work for an emergency.

Illuminate Light Show 2015

On Christmas eve, eve I asked my older sister if she wanted to go to the Illuminate light show because I had a ticket.  She said sure so we went.  My nephews J & A came with, and so did J's girlfriend L.  

We entered the park and there was not many people there.  It was right after they opened for the night and it had been raining. We were glad it wasn't crowded because we were able to take our time.  The whole thing is lights and music that's synchronized to go along.  It's cheesy but you have to do it at least once.

Here's some of my favorite parts.

This was a big drive thru light display.  It was cool.

Here's my nephew A.

There is a little area called Santa's Village that's indoors.  Santa Claus was there.  You couldn't take pictures.  They took pictures for you so you would pay for them.  My sister got some of my little nephew.

There's also an inflatable snow globe that you pay $5 to go in and someone can take pictures for you.  I didn't go in and I just took pictures with my phone.

It's actually kinda cool.

Here's my nephew writing a letter to Santa.

They had a snowy back drop you could take a picture in front of props.  Here's my nephew J with his girlfriend L.

My sister got my nephews a funnel cake.

After that we were ready to hit the road.  We had fun.  :)

Christmas 2015

My husband and I decided to host a Christmas dinner at our house this year.  We had family over on the day after Christmas.

Everyone that came....My parents, Nate's parents, Ashley, Daniel, Ellie, Kristen, Dave, Natalie, Joseph, LeAnn, Adam, Aunt Karen, Lora, and Livi.

We only do gifts for the little ones.  I picked up some things for the kids I knew who would be coming to my house so they all had something to open.

I also printed pictures of my family and Nate's family from our 15th Anniversary Vow Renewal.  I put the pictures in frames and presented them to the parents.  Everyone loved them.

I wanted to add decorations around the house.  I found some red bows at Target for a $1 per pack.  I got 2 packs and put the bows all around the house on the main level where people would be.  I found big bauble ornaments from the dollar tree.  I got 2 of them and placed one on my baking cabinet and one on my majestic palm.  I also wrapped the top of my baking cabinet with some leftover wrapping paper.  :)

I love my majestic palm.  It looked adorable with a red bow and a red bauble.

I didn't have a table cloth for my small folding table so I wrapped it with some leftover wrapping paper.  :)  I got this wrapping paper at the dollar tree.

I saw these little Christmas trees in the dollar spot at Target.  They were $3.  I added the red bow to each one to dress it up.

I then went to my ornament box and pulled out some tiny baubles I had to dress them up even more.

I placed one tree on the kitchen table.  I also had a little bowl of M&M's and a little bowl of cashews.  The little bowls are from the dollar tree.

I put the other little tree in the dining room.

I picked up this little inflatable gingerbread man for decor.  My niece liked walking around with it.  haha

For decorations I spent:

2 packs of bows- $2

2 bauble ornaments- $2

little bowls (10 in pack)- $1

2 little Christmas trees- $6

wrapping paper- $1

3 table clothes- $3

inflatable gingerbread man- $1

$16 for all the decor.  Under $20!  :)  And most of the stuff can be used again.  It's a win-win.

I made some yumyums.

I also made mac n cheese.

My sister brought some of the nana cookies that she and Ellie made.  So good.  :)

I didn't take a picture of the other foods.  :(  

On the menu:

Turkey (I got a $50 certificate from work for Honey Baked Ham)

Ham (My mom brought)

Raisin sauce for the ham (my mom brought)

Rolls

Mac n cheese

watergate salad

stove top stuffing

mashed potatoes (that my MIL made)

cranberry sauce

pecan pie (BFF made)

cherry pie (Aunt Karen made)

pumpkin pie (Aunt Karen brought)

yumyums

I also made punch.  (gingerale, sherbert and orange slices)

Everyone had a great time.  My niece liked playing hide n seek.  Her favorite spot was under the dining room table on the chair.

Here's my niece and nephew.

Present time.....We got my niece groceries.  A little cart, farmers market basket and a little pantry full of 'food'.  :)  She loved them.

Opening gifts.

She had to open them all.  Nate helped her and he called this game "Mess".  hahaha  :)

My sister gave me these cute little tea towels that my niece drew on.  :)  I love them and will cherish them always.  

We sat around and chatted, talked about old days and played some games.  (Family Feud and Scattegories)

Christmas Morning my husband surprised me.

He got me a set of new pots and pans.  I like them and I know his heart was in it but I'm going to return them and get a different type of pan that I want and that we need.  :)

My husband also got me some new jammie pants.  They are cute.  :)

My husband got a new Iphone so we gave his old one to my sister so she could have a better phone and not have to pay a ton of money for a new one.  :)

It was a good Chritmas.   :)

Homemade Peanut Butter Blossoms

I had a request to make peanut butter cookies the other day.  I decided to make peanut butter blossoms. I've only ever made peanut butter blossoms using those pre-mixed Betty Crocker bags.  I hadn't bought those mixes in years.  I don't buy pre-mixed stuff anymore.  It's so much better when you make something from scratch because it tastes better and you know exactly what's in it.

I found this recipe for homemade peanut butter blossoms.  I had everything on hand to make them except the Hershey kisses which I picked up from the store.

You will need:

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar (divided)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Natural pb)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

Hershey kisses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray cookie sheets or line them.  In a bowl, cream together butter, 1/2 cup white sugar and the brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla extract.

Mix in the baking soda and flour until a soft dough forms.

Roll rounded tbsp of the dough into balls and coat them in the remaining white sugar.

Place on cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes.  Let sit on cookie sheet for about a minute and then press a Hershey kiss into the center and move to a wire rack.

These came out pretty tasty.  :)

Yummy cookie