My precious Emma! Look at those sweet cheeks, crazy red hair, blue eyes, and snaggly teeth! I heart this picture so much!! She is growing so fast. Her personality is also really developing. Emma is funny, cuddly, curious, and an instigator of trouble (at least when it comes to aggravating David). 🙂 She already knows how to push his buttons. She is also my little climber. David climbed some when he was this age, but she seems much more determined to do what it takes to get what she wants. Even if it means climbing on top of the kitchen table! Yes, the kitchen table! The other night I was doing dishes after dinner. I looked over and Emma was on top of the table. She was after David’s cup! After I freaked, I took this picture of her.

She managed to climb upon the chair and then onto the table. We will be watching her a little more closely after this!

Andrew does not do breakfast on a regular basis. Plus some mornings he is already gone to work, and so I have breakfast duty. I love breakfast and am generally more of a morning person. However, I must brag on my husband for a minute. For about four months now Andrew has been the early bird in the house most mornings. He has been getting up early and going to work out. He has been doing cross fit at a local gym! He has stopped drinking Coke a cola. (Anyone who knows Andrew knows this is a big deal! Andrew loved Coke and was probably drinking three or four a day at one point.)  He has lost several pounds as a result! I am so proud! He is looking great y’all! 🙂

Speaking of breakfast. I sometimes like to be silly and create funny breakfast faces for David. He gets a kick out of it, and I love watching his face when he finally realizes there is a crazy, silly face staring back it him from his breakfast plate! 🙂

 

There have been a couple nights lately where Zoe has been looking out the window and gone completely crazy! By crazy I mean she will start screaming, hissing, and going nuts! The first time it happened Andrew and I were sitting on the couch watching television and the kids were already asleep. It scared the daylights out of both of us! We didn’t know what was happening! We both jumped up off the couch in shock, our heart rates shot through the roof, and finally I said shut the blind!!!  Once she couldn’t see outside we were then able to calm her down. The last time it happened I was ready, and looked outside to see that it was another cat! She is freaking out over another cat! We have taken to just shutting the blinds at night time! David had left his clothes drawers open, and this is where we found Zoe the other night. Zoe makes life more interesting.

I have been doing quite a bit of cooking lately. I know, I always cook, but I have enjoyed doing more of it while I’m on vacation from teaching. I made cheddar and chive biscuits the other day, and they are amazing! I have always LOVED Red Lobster’s biscuits! I can eat a whole basket of them! I tried recreating them, and I believe I did pretty good. I used a regular drop biscuit recipe and then added the cheddar and chives.

I also made enough to freeze. I put the drops or balls of dough on wax paper, covered them with another sheet of wax paper, wrapped them up carefully so as the dough was not touching. This way they don’t freeze together. I then put them in ziploc bags and put them in the freezer.  By freezing the dough I can bake them when I want and they will be soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

I also made smothered pork chops for dinner one night. As you can see we had my cheddar and chive biscuits! I also roasted potatoes and put together a spinach salad. I think I was most proud of the gravy I made to smother the pork chop. It was so tasty! It was probably the best gravy I have ever made. Here is where you can find the recipe! PW Smothered Pork Chops I deviated from the recipe where the gravy toppings are concerned. Andrew and the kids don’t like peppers, and so I left out the peppers and onions and just made gravy. It still tasted amazing.

Yesterday we went to my nephews birthday party. He is 2! He is such a cute little sweetheart! The kids had a lot of fun playing, and of course seeing G-pa and Grand-mama! (I think maybe G-pa and Grand-mama have as much fun as the kiddos! 🙂

 

Here is our menu for the week!

Mmm…delicious!

Monday: Lunch, Polish Sausage and Navy Beans. Dinner, Pizza night for the kids/ Date night for us!

Tuesday: Lunch, Mediterranean Omelette. Dinner, Oven fried chicken thighs, roasted cauliflower, and corn. 

Wednesday: Lunch, BBQ chicken nachos. Dinner, Cheeseburgers.

Thursday: Lunch, (Mom’s day out!). Dinner, Chili

Friday: Lunch, Pesto, tomato and mozzarella panini. Dinner, Orange Chicken and fried rice.

Saturday: Lunch, eat out. Dinner, Cheese steak sandwiches and french fries.

Sunday: Lunch, Chicken nuggets, carrots, and apples. Dinner. Baked Ziti.