Thursday 28 February 2013

Day at the Park


All the snow has recently melted which has meant being able to spend so much needed time outside. Keeping a toddler indoors is like trying to gouge your eyes out with forks; it's just not a pleasant experience for anyone. We don't have a lot we can go do during the winter around here which meant buying a lot of Mcdonalds coffee so that they could play in the play place. We are just so much more active when there is no snow. We can go to parks, go for bike rides, go to the beach (which is now a 5min bike ride from our house), go to water parks, play in the yard, play soccer, play soccer, etc the possibilities are endless. That being said we finally got a chance to do some of those thing the last couple of days. We went on our first bike ride of the season, got to play at the park, ran around outside playing with bubbles, played soccer in the front yard and went for a couple walks around the neighbourhood. The boys are loving spending so much time outdoors and it is giving me time to start getting things organized for our gardens. I am so thankful to not have to see snow for at least 8 months. Hope you all are enjoying better weather or are starting to head into nicer weather.

Thanks for Reading :)

Saturday 23 February 2013

Taco Stuffed Jumbo Shells

I came across this recipe and our family has fallen in love with it. We have added a couple things to it but they are delicious no the less :) If you love tacos then you too will love this recipe.

Taco Stuffed Jumbo Shells  
 This recipe is designed for 12 shells (we found as a meal each person eats between 3-4) so adjust accordingly for more people. Could also be served as an appy.

12 Jumbo Shell Noodles
1lbs Ground Meat (chicken, beef, or turkey)
1 pack taco seasoning
4oz cubed cream cheese
1 cup salsa
1/2 -1 cup taco sauce
1 1/2-2 cups cheese (Cheddar & Jack combo is our favorite)

Toppings Choices:
Sour Cream
Green onion
Hot sauce
Avocado
Tomatos
Grilled onion
Guacamole
Salsa

Instructions:
-Preheat oven to 350
- Cook jumbo shells as directed be on their box. Each company has their own instructions for best finished result so follow their instructions.
- While shells are cooking, in a large sauce pan, brown ground meat. Once browned add your taco seasoning (follow taco seasoning package for how much water) and your cubbed cream cheese, let simmer until cream cheese is completely melted and completely mixed together. Remove from heat and let cool
- In a 9x13 bake pan pour 1 cup salsa to coat the bottom of pan. Then place your cooked jumbo shells on top of salsa. (This helps your shells from sticking to the pan and adds flavor)      
- Fill shells with about 2-3tbsp of the meat mixture then add 1-2 tbsp taco sauce to each one.
- Cover with aluminum foils and bake for 20-30 minutes
- Remove  from oven and add your 1-2 cups cheese to the top of the shells. Place bake in the oven, uncovered, for another 15min until the cheese is completely melted
- Place on plates and add desired toppings. (We put everything out on table and let everyone grab what they want on their shells, our favorite combination is sour cream, hot sauce, and green onion) 

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes

Hope you enjoy and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks for Reading :)   
 
 
  


Monday 18 February 2013

MIA

Well Blogging everyday took the back burner for a while. We had sick babies and I was working a bunch the last little while. So because of that we have done virtually nothing. Plus I have been working on creating a consignment event for my area which has taken up a LOT of time. Anywho I'm still going to try to get in regular Blogs but it may not be everyday. I will for sure post one once a week and sometimes more on a good week :) In the mean time here are a couple pictures of the boys to add the cuteness factor.


Deagan is now 40 weeks and Kyler is 32 months.








Thanks For Reading :)

Thursday 7 February 2013

Boys

Teething smile..notice the drool
The last week has brought on colds. Kyler got strep throat, I got the flu, Deagan was teething and also had a cold, which made for a miserable house. However it did bring on some good things too. Kyler is about 90% potty trained and only needing a pull up at night, Deagan has started waving and trying to say hi. Which means he now says mama, dada, baba, and hi, and Deagan gained more teeth which meant we could try some new food. Today Deagan got to try chicken loaf which he LOVED and perogies which he liked the potato filling but didn't like the shell.
Deagan eating Chicken Loaf and Perogies
Kyler and I have had the opportunity to have lots of cuddle time which has meant that we have been able to count items, our alphabet, and "what belongs". We have quite a few activity books for Kyler now so we have been doing a lot of work with them. With Kyler knowing his numbers up to 20 we have been working on properly counting items (pointing to objects and counting them as you go) he can also pick out like items to count ie. a picture full of trucks and asking him to count just the firetrucks. Kyler knows his alphabet but has been working on recognizing the letters. He knows certain letters really well but has a hard time with other letters so anytime we read a story we point out letters. He is also liking the "what belongs" exercise. Our work books have pictures of firetrucks and then it asks what goes with the firetruck and he like to pick out what doesn't belong.

All in all it has been a good week minus the illnesses and teething :)




            9 months                                                                         2.5 Years












Thanks for Reading :)

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Terrible Two's?

So I have no idea as to weather or not this is a phase but Kyler has started screaming temper tantrum fits. Without a consistent trigger as to what is causing these tantrums we have all been walking on eggshells trying not to "poke the bear."When the gets into these tantrums he screams forever i'm sure if we let him he would probably scream all day. We have tried ignoring him, reasoning with him, asking him if there is something he would like, bribing, distraction (which made it 10 times worse), and many other tactics but nothing seems to be working. Is this actually just a phase? It breaks my heart to watch him scream blue murder for an hour or so without being able to calm him in anyway. In trying to help the situation I think we have made matters worse. When he first started these tantrums we would put him in his room away from all excitement/stimulation however now when he starts to get upset he screams that he is going to his room and will just sit in his room and scream. Am I crazy is this actual terrible two's or is this something else? I'm going crazy listening to him scream all day.

Thanks for Reading :)

Monday 4 February 2013

Cleaning Spree

Our weekend was jam packed with being on the go, Brendan working crazy over time shift, playdates, running errands, and the fuel pump in our van going. By the time our weekend was over our house looked like this.....
There were mounds over laundry to do, recycling everywhere, Christmas bins that need to be taken out of Deagan's room, dishes piled up, every single toy Kyler owned was out, the area rug needed vacuuming, floors needed sweeping, and everything needed dusting.
Monday the boys went down for their nap which meant I had 2 hours to pack in as much cleaning as I could. I was able to get the dusting done, the floors done (swept, vacuumed, and steam mopped), all the laundry done, kitchen cleaned from top to bottom, Kyler's toys all organized and put away, detailed Deagan's highchair, organized our office area, and got the Christmas stuff organized and ready to be put in the garage. I was so happy with what I was able to accomplish in 2 hours.
It's those mom victories that make you just want to get up and dance because your just so happy. It was so nice to have a spotless house (even if it only lasted 30minutes :S)

Thanks for Reading :)

Sunday 3 February 2013

January Favourites

Hello everyone,
Last night I finished uploading our January Favourites video which is why I didn't get a chance to do a blog post. So if you would like to take a look here is it :)

We will chat later.

 Thanks for Reading :)