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project life | week 9.

 

a pretty straight forward week.  and no inserts.  so really this shouldn't have taken me two weeks to finish.  but life gets in the way sometimes.  still happy to have another week completed.  and trying desperately to get another week completed this week!

 

 

[left page] all phone photos.  a photo text we sent andy.  L watching a PBS show on the ipod as we waited for an ob appointment.  an ash cross on C's hand from preschool.  selecting donuts with daddy on saturday morning.  the second crib going back up.

 

 

[left page - favorite] documenting that at some point in my life, my daughter thought i was a genius.  even if it was just for putting her leg through the hole in her leotard before dance class.

 

 

[right page] my love of chai is back.  a snow day + dry erase crayons.  a new spring bag.  a belly shot.  our first uw basketball game.

 

 

[right page - favorite] love that this project helps me find a home for little pieces of memorabilia like ticket stubs.  i adhered them to a project life card and they aren't going anywhere.

 

InLinkz.com

wordless wednesday : bagel tomb.

 

today's preschool art project.  components include :

• bagel tomb
• colored coconut grass
• marshmallow flowers
• donut boulder

let the decluttering begin.

so as i continue decluttering, organizing and getting ready for this new little one to arrive i continue to try and find new homes for things that aren't getting used.  today's objective?  find homes for these awesome hero arts stamps that i just haven't been putting to use.  in fact, most were purchased while i was working at two peas and were never used.  what can i say?  i'm a sucker for pretty product?

if you're interested in any of the stamp lots below

 

SOLD! five wooden block stamps : $12.00 + shipping

 

 

five wooden block stamp sets : $12.00 + shipping

 

 

three wooden stamps : $5.00 + shipping

 

 

SOLD! four wooden background stamps : $12.00 + shipping

 

 

SOLD! three wooden background stamps : $9.00 + shipping

 

if you're interested in any of these sets, simply shoot me an e-mail and i'll send you an invoice via paypal.  if you're interested in multiple sets, i'm more than happy to combine shipping. 

menu plan monday : 3.26.12.

 

feeling like i have a million things on my to-do list - likely because i do - so i'm going to try and take the easy route this week.  we'll see what happens...

meatless monday : lentil + rice burritos. proof that i may in fact be winning over my husband in the meatless monday department.  he actually mentioned this recipe last week as one he liked and we hadn't had in awhile.  earth shattering, i say!  i'm actually doubling this and taking a pan to another resident's family who just welcomed a new baby that usually eats vegetarian.  talk about a win/win!

i've selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i'm nice like that.

tuesday :  leftovers.  andy and i spent the night in chicago over the weekend and i swear we brought back as much food as we ate while we were there.  time to clear the fridge out!

wednesday : sweet + spicy chicken.  a new recipe for us from the march issue of everyday food.  i'll likely swap in chicken breasts for the leg quarters.

thursday : sloppy joe grilled cheese sandwiches.  another new one.  and something i'm sure my husband and children will fall in love with.

friday : pumpkin pie french toast.  a surprise for the girls and a perfect way to kick off the weekend.  they LOVE this recipe.  so much so that we usually go through an entire loaf of sandwich bread when i make it.  definitely a treat.

 

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new recipe review from last week : 

spaghetti with garlic, oil and chili flakes.  good, but nothing earth shattering.  i doubled the recipe but halved the total amount of chili flakes so that it wouldn't be too spicy for the girls.  i added more to mine at the table.  a quick dinner, but doubting i'll plan to have it frequently in the future.

at the doctor.

 

today was yearly check-up time for the girls.  a plus to them having birthdays so close togethers is that i can make one trip and get them both seen.  and only my children would think that a trip to the doctor was something like a trip to disneyland (if they knew what disneyland was).

this one needed to immunizations and didn't shed a single tear.  a tough cookie, she is.  during her exam, the med student who was with the doctor was feeling her belly when L comments, "it's big like mama's."

if that wasn't bad enough, the med student says, "well it's not that big."  such an ego boost.

project life | week 8.

 

[with insert] finished this one last week and still playing a bit of catch up.  but that's how it goes.  too many things going on as of late.  and did i mention i found out i have bronchitis today?  and that likely everyone in our house does?  good times.

 

 

[without insert] loving looking through this album and seeing all that we've done this year already.  totally and completely in love with this concept.

 

 

[left page] reading with nana.  the two three year olds of the house.  a montage from dance class.  saying farewell to my car lucy, in a snowstorm no less.

 

 

[favorite : left side] so glad for this project as it allows me to house little tidbits the girls come up with like this conversation before we left for school one day.  i have no clue where C got the word "spanish" or if she really knows what it is but i about died laughing at this exchange.

 

 

[right side] a peek into C's classroom during snacktime.  the girls enjoying a tray lunch.  two adventures to the dmv on one day - such fun!  a block structure from C.  swimming lessons.

 

 

[favorite : left side] part of a bag from one of the girls' meals at chipotle.  love that with a little trim, it was the perfect memento from a lunch out.

 

 

[insert - front] watching the mu/ku game at an alumni watch party.  included a postcard that we had received in the mail.  loved personalizing the elle's studio tag with a bit of sticker.

[insert - back] dad's day at preschool.  the middle is the invitation that C made for andy - a few weeks ago her a's had crazy tails for some reason.

 

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she's two.

 

another birthday celebrated for our family.  the second of the birthday trifecta.  although she turned two, she is wise beyond her years.  which is awesome and bizarre at the same time.  as her birthday fell on a saturday, she opted for a birthday donut instead of birthday pancakes.

 

 

love this shot of her.  don't you love all those handprints on the fireplace as well?  both of the girls have stuffed animals that were special to me and i love that they have become special to them as well.  that's simon the gorilla.  who i often mistake for duke out of the corner of my eye.

 

 

a replacement of a much loved book that was actually C's previously.  now we have a nice new copy.  we'll see how long that actually lasts.

 

 

she is ALL about letters and the alphabet.  she's known them for quite some time now, but she also knows the sound they make and loves making strings of letters on the floor and on the magnetic board we have.  a new set of magnetic letters made her deliriously happy.

 

 

big sister got a guitar for christmas so now she has one of her very own.  orange with ladybugs.  so appropriate.

 

 

a new pete the cat book from aunt nan and uncle nick.  she loved the first one so was excited to get another to add to her library.

 

 

one of my favorite shots from the day.  also one that i need to print and frame for their room.  C reading olivia joins the circus to the birthday girl.  a new bookcase is definitely in order after combining their rooms.

 

 

her very own magnetic alphabet puzzle maze.  she plays with this before storytime each week so i did some investigating and was able to get her one of her very own from an educational shop.  was surprised how much C enjoyed it as well.  

 

 

although i'm usually anti-sound and anti-toys that require batteries, she really is loving this leaptop.  it's added the words "blog" and "e-mail" to both of the girls' vocabularies...

 

 

cupcakes for the birthday girl.  she kept telling me different cakes that she wanted - green, rainbow, world word - and i helped her settle on these.  she loved going to the store to help me get the frosting tip that i needed.  likely because she saw a ups man while she was there.  she screamed, "ups man!  i missed you!"  even though she's never seen him before in her life.  but i digress...

 

 

being sung to.  a very sleepy birthday girl right before naptime.  so glad we did it then as the rest of the day got away from us after she decided to take a three hour nap.  (i'm not complaining.)

 

and although she looks excited to dig into her cupcake, she really just wanted to give him a kiss.  it appears she picked up a quirk from her sister used to have and didn't want to actually eat him lest he might be the "real" cookie monster. 

(insert eye roll here.)

31 weeks.

 

hello, blue wall!  first things first, it should NOT be 80 degrees in march.  my hair doesn't appreciate the humidity and i simply have no clothes for that type of temperature.  that shirt had just come in the mail, thus it's being worn wrinkled.  i had too few options to select from to be picky.

with that being said, how is it possible that in 10 weeks we'll be a family of five?  time is speeding by quickly and yet there is much left on my to-do list.  still feeling good except for a nasty cold that C was kind enough to give me which has me coughing all the live long day.  today i woke up with blood shot eyes from excessive coughing.  who knew that was possible.

looking forward to enjoying these remaining weeks with the girls and getting some last minute projects done for the nursery.  

menu plan monday : 3.19.12.

 

three birthdays down, one to go.  i've gone through so much butter and powdered sugar in the last two weeks i'd make paula deen nervous!  feeling tired and worn down with this crazy cold i caught from one of the girls so this week we're going low key with menu planning.

meatless monday : spaghetti with garlic, oil and chili flakes.  didn't get to this one last week but looking forward to it.

i've selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i'm nice like that.

tuesday :  leftovers.  i don't have a true plan. pretty much everyone can fend for themselves.  or rather the girls can tell me what they'd like and i'll make it for them.

wednesday : white chicken enchiladas.  loved these the first time i made them and love that we have leftovers for lunch as well.

thursday : tacos.  a favorite of every living under this roof.  if cats could like tacos, i'm sure ours would.

friday : pizza.  as our tigers lost last week - we're still in a state of depression - we didn't really feel like eating on friday night.  so this week hopefully pizza night is a happy occasion!

 

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new recipe review from last week : 

mini ham + cheese quinoa cups.  a great use of the extra quinoa i had on hand.  i preferred them warm but the girls seemed indifferent.  super easy to put together but it took forever to clean my mini muffin pan afterwards as even with spraying it with oil there was still a bit of it sticking to each cup.

baked chicken caesar chalupas.  the girls really seemed to like these.  even more than i really thought they would.  L didn't really touch the salad part but C gobbled it up.  not sure if it'd make it exactly like this again, but will definitely use it as a springboard for other variations.

claiming victory.

 

ten days ago, we moved the girls in together in preparation for the new baby's arrival.  if they knew what disneyland was, they'd likely tell you that sharing a room was better than a trip to the happiest place on earth.  and i love that they love it.  what i don't love?  the complete and utter disruption of nap time.

C still takes a nap on a regular basis and L has always been a good napper.  but then we put them together and they've taken a nap twice.  TWICE.  this mama was becoming more irritable each day because of this situation.  after no naps from anyone again yesterday, i decided to devise a new plan of attack and today put it into action.

at nap time, L went into her crib per usual but instead of C getting into her bed, i put her on the loveseat of in the living room with explicit rules for "quiet time."  she could have one friend, a blanket and three books and there was to be no talking.  i didn't care if she went to sleep, but she needed to rest.

the results?  L was asleep in less than ten minutes just as she had done prior to the room switch.  C quietly looked at her books while i was working and then she too was asleep.  victory is mine!

it's amazing how naps by both girls and a bit of quiet for mama can change everyone's attitudes.  here's hoping that tomorrow is as successful.