No Room in the Inn

So I ran out of room on Blogspot.com and have to move over to Wordpress.  You can find more blog posts on here: http://mjunderwood33.wordpress.com/

I'm thankful everything moved (pictures and posts) but now I have to get used to wordpress.  Pardon the dust while I get everything figured out.

Advent Season

While I have a lot of posts to catch up on (Thanksgiving weekend, Jackson's 2 month check-up, Maddie's silly sayings and one CRAZY scam story) but I thought I should post something on time.  

The Advent season starts tomorrow...and I can't wait.  I anticipate Advent and the fun we have anticipating the birth of our Lord.   So, upon discovering other families who do fun things this Advent season, I decided to come up with a list of our own.  And here it is.

1.  sock snowball fight

2.  Country Lights at the Farmpark

3.  act out nativity with Little People

4. chocolate treat

5.  read “You are Mine” by Max Lucado

6.  Charlie Brown Christmas with popcorn

7. get Christmas tree

8. decorate Christmas tree with Christmas music and hot chocolate

9. bedtime donut run in jammies

10. chocolate treat

11. read about Jesus’ birth

12. chocolate treat

13. take cookies and cards to neighbors

14. Take bubble baths with Christmas confetti (recipe).

15. walk in downtown Willoughby to look at lights with hot chocolate

16. Build a fort from blankets & sheets/ Read a Christmas book in the fort!

17.  Have fireside meal

18. Make paper snowflakes (here’s some great patterns) Read Ecc. 3:13

19. Chocolate treat

20. bake Jesus cookies

21.make peppermint play dough

22.  Christmas lights drive with hot chocolate

23.  Bake cake for Jesus’ birthday celebration

24.  Christmas Day!

We will let you know how it goes!  

Working

We are working on our neck muscles over here...

Halloween 2012

I'm finally posting about our Halloween week.   Yes, I said week instead of day.  Because of Hurricane Sandy, our trick-or-treat was postponed until the weekend.  We decided to go to a local church's "Fall Festival" on the actual Halloween night.  The kids enjoyed the games and being able to dress up...and they enjoyed the candy too.

Our little cupcake...or ice cream cone.  We aren't really sure which one.

This was the best pic of the 4 kids.  Love how Little Miss and William are holding hands.

She was SOOO excited to go trick-or-treating again with Gracie and Emma...

2 princesses, a cupcake and a peacock!

We were slackers before October 31 with pumpkin carving, so we did it the weekend after. 

Little Miss painted her and J's pumpkin.

Jeremy and I carved ours...and they weren't very spectacular.

We put Jacky-boy in his costume for trick-or-treating with Gigi and Papa...he was a dragon.

We had quite the goody bag after all these door-knocking experiences.  It was a fun year for Halloween!

Conversations with a 2-Year Old

While driving home from a birthday party, we gave Little Miss a fruit leather for a snack.
Jer: Maddie, is your strawberry treat gone?
Maddie: Yes.
Jer to Me: Did she really eat it that quickly?
Me: Maddie, where did it go?  Did you drop it?
Maddie: Yes, I dropped it in my mouth.

Little Miss LOVES jewelry.  Any type of jewelry, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, stick-on earrings, rings...any type.  Seriously obsessed.  She always notices when I have earrings in my ears.  The other day, this conversation happened when she saw them.
Maddie: Momma has earrings in!
Me: Yes, Maddie I do.
Maddie: (Looking at one ear) This one is so beautiful!
Me: Thank you!
Maddie: (Looking at the other ear) This one is beautiful too!

Almost every morning, Maddie-girl wakes up and asks, "Where is Jacky?"  She's given him a nickname all by herself.

Little Princess

We like the princess Fonzie look around these parts.

Freezer Meals

When my sister came to help me transition to a mother of two, she also helped stock my freezer full of yummy dinners that I could pull out and "cook" when the meals sounded good.  

When I had Maddie, my momma and I did a freezer meal cook-a-thon and made a bunch of meals but then froze them.  Upon reheating those meals, we decided that we liked "fresh" meals better than reheated meals.  So that helped determine which meals I was going to make after delivering Jackson.

So far, we have eaten 7 of these meals and have like almost all of them.  I'll give the run down below with the meal. 

Turkey Chili Taco Soup - I wasn't sure Jeremy would like it, and I was right.  I thought it was really good and would make it again and again and again but the beans didn't help my hopes.  That boy and his dislike of beans gets me every time.  I actually made it completely and froze it.  Soup reheated isn't bad at all.

Baked Ravioli Bites - Yum, yum, yum.  Made completely again but all you have to do is pop however many you want for dinner/snack/lunch and bake for 7-9 minutes.  So good.

Healthy BBQ Chicken

Savory Veggie Beef Soup 

Teriyaki Chicken

All 3 of the above are stick in your crockpot meals.  All you have to do is assemble the ingredients and freeze then put in the crockpot raw.  Greatest recipes ever.  Except we haven't eaten them yet.  I'll keep you posted.

Honey Spice Glazed Pork Chops - I really liked these pork chops but Jeremy wished they were breaded or bbq instead.  He said we don't have pork chop enough to get fancy with them.  I liked the flavor b/c it was a sweet and savory together with a hint of cinnamon.  I baked them but they would have been GREAT on the grill.

Herbes de Provence Chicken - Neither of us liked this flavor...won't do it again but I am glad we tried it.  The spice was a little too strong and full.  I should have made it more of a marinade instead of a coating.  Probably would have been good in a bread crumb mix or a marinade with more of a liquid to it. 

Cheddar Cracker Chicken - So good!  I wished we would have made more for the freezer.  This will definitely be made again.

Spaghetti & Meatball Soup - Haven't tried it yet but I sure love Iowa Girl Eats.  It's bound to be good.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup - Literally tastes EXACTLY like Olive Gardens.  So good.  Now if Jer only liked beans.  Beans strike again.

Bacon Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder - That's a tongue twister.  Again, I liked it but Jer...not so much.  The texture was a bit crazy for him.

Pumpkin Scones - Yum, yum, yum...not a freezer meal but definitely worth putting on here.  Make them now before pumpkin is out of season. 

I was so THANKFUL for her help slaving in the kitchen.  I've only made 2 meals from scratch since she left a month ago.  It's been sooo nice and I will definitely be making these to stock my freezer again.

Does anyone have any other good freezer meal recipes they want to share?