Meal Plan

Friday- Oven Tacos made with ground chicken http://mommyimhungry.blogspot.com/2012/11/oven-tacos.html
Saturday creamy curried cauliflower soup  http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/creamy-curried-cauliflower-soup
Sunday chicken sausage and roasted veggies
Monday Paleo Squash Lasagna http://www.health-bent.com/beef/paleo-butternut-squash-lasagna 
 Tuesday Corn Beef and Cabbage with boiled potato's
Wednesday- leftovers
Thursday- Chicken Enchiladas  http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/alyssae28099s-chicken-enchiladas/

Our 2nd Tree

The first 6.5 years of our marriage we had a 4 ft tree.  This year we moved up to a 6.5 ft tree.  Lovely.

Christmas Cheer

Telia Turns 3!

At the beginning of November we celebrated Telia Abigail turning 3 years old. We had a great time with about 10 of her friends at her Minnie Mouse themed party.

Lots of sweet little girls 

We ate Minnie Mouse cupcakes and played pin the bow on Minnie Mouse. The girls played outside and all over the house.  It was great to shower Telia with attention this day.

Meal Plan

Here is what we have going on this week

Monday
Turkey Sausage and Cabbage with Potatoes

Tuesday
Slw Cooker Coke Chicken  
With baked apples and green beans

Wednesday
Tangy Black Bean Soup Slow Cooker with Salad

Thursday
leftovers

Friday
Pumpkin Pasta with Bacon.  I might use THIS RECIPE or I might make it up

Saturday
Homemade Chicken Nuggets with Roasted Vegetables

Sunday
Pasta with Crockpot Pasta Sauce with Sausage and Roasted Asparagus

Dressing Up

 We got to go to a few events this fall where the girls got to dress up.  At my friend Hollie's fall party they decided to dress up as Brave (actually Merida is the characters name) and a pumpkin.  I love these pictures

8 Months

I forgot to get a picture of Caius on his blanket in October but for the record here is our happy boy at 8 months.

7 Months

Also in September Caius turned 7 months. I actually think he was about 7.5 months when I took these photos. He started crawling when he was about 6.5 months old so getting him to stay on this blanket is getting very challenging.

Farmyard Party

Ruby turned 5 years old in September and when I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday she said she wanted to go to the farm.  My mom has a friend who actually has a farm with animals which is what she was referring to but I figured hey, lets just run with this idea.  So, we had a farmyard party.  We had a lot of fun and a lot of people.  Here are some pictures of that Friday night.

We had fun with the food.  

Below you will see Chicken Feed, Pig Tails, Straw and Wagon Wheels

 I think this cake was really cute and really easy.  Actually, icing an eggless cake was not easy but since they were supposed to be in the farmyard I figured it was ok if it was messy.

 The Dessert Table

 I put farm animals throughout the house for decorations

 It was really hot until the sun went down but the kids didn't care and played in our backyard the whole time.  

So thankful to have a backyard and a fence

 This is seriously not even all the kids that were there.  We are missing a couple of kids and lots of babies. 

 Instead of a pinata we filled balloons with one piece of candy and then made a little pointer that the kids used to pop the balloons.  They loved it and I think the parents did too since the kids only got like 2 pieces of candy.

 Me and my sweet friend Kristyn with Anna and Ella

 Caius with his Aunt Heather

 In the side of our yard we have a dog run...perfect for pony races.  Brian ran the races with two kids at a time.  They had a blast and did not even care who won.

 On your mark...

 Gift opening time got a little crazy...we had to do some crowd control

1st Day of Preschool

I am so far behind on blogging. I really do enjoy writing posts but I have been having issues with getting the pictures off my phone. Hopefully, I have that figured out now. 

So, back in August Ruby started her final year of Preschool.  She is doing great, loves her teacher, and is learning a lot.  She goes to school with her new friends down the street who also go to Sojourn with us so that is a bonus too.

We decided to put Telia in a class at the same school one morning a week.  She goes on Wednesday mornings to her "2 year old class" and has had zero problems.  Actually, her teacher has said that she would love a classroom full of Telia's. 

Meal Plan

Sunday- crockpot barbeque chicken with roasted sweet potato, broccoli and squash

Monday- Vegan Sweet Potato Soup with salad and bread

Tuesday- Spaghetti with meat sauce and broccoli

Wednesday-  Vegan Black Bean Soup
This recipe calls for Knorr seasoning cubes...not doing that but instead just adding some of my own seasonings

Thursday- Pasta ( i have a lot of pasta) with Pesto and  Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Friday- Eat out

Meal Plan

Monday- hotdogs (we have a ton leftover from ruby's birthday) with chili and sour kraut and veggies
Tuesday- CG so we have to do sandwiches...nothing else works...it has been proven
Wednesday- Chili (we will not add the jalepeno and substitute black beans instead of kidney beans).
Thursday-Spaghetti Sauce with Meat Sauce and Salad
Friday- leftovers
Saturday-  Spinach Salad with Salmon
Sunday- Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Garlic

Happy 5th Birthday!

This little 5 pound 1 oz baby is turning 5 years old today! 

Here are a few of my thoughts and ramblings about our big girl!

We are so thankful for the gift that God gave us in Ruby.  She is funny, smart, curious, generous, loves her brother and sister and loves being with her friends.

We love watching her grow into a little girl.  She asks really inquisitive questions about pirates, God, animals and anything that happens to run through her mind.  She loves to sing, dance, and do gymnastics.  She says "Lou-vey-wille" and we have never corrected her because one day she will figure it out and it is just too cute right now.  It is sad that she isn't a baby anymore but we love this new phase of watching her grow cognitively by leaps and bounds.

At bedtime tonight she said that she loved the flashlight that Mamaw and Papaw gave her.  She said that she always wanted it forever.   We said goodnight and made sure that she new that she and her sister and brother were wonderful gifts to us from God and that we hope that He gave her the good gift of children one day.

We Saw the Horses

During the week of the Kentucky Derby (back in May) we were fortunate enough to go to Churchill Downs two times.  Brian and I went with his work for an afternoon and enjoyed complimentary food and drinks and bet on a few horses.  No, we didn't win anything.  We had lots of fun though.  We decided on Wednesday before the Derby to take the girls to Dawn at the Downs.  You can buy tickets to a buffet and watch some races but we just went in one of the gates for free and watched the horses warm up.  The girls (and us) LOVED watching the horses run.  We got there around 7:30 a.m. which was no small feat but totally worth it.  This will be an annual family tradition for us Laffin's.

Meal Plan

Monday- Steak Nachos (leftover steak from today, black beans, peppers, cheese and tomato's from in laws garden)
Tuesday- hotdogs, mixed veggies and fries
Wednesday- bacon, avocado, tomato, lettuce sandwiches with sweet potato fries
Thursday- Spiced Chicken with Couscous salad
Friday-  tuna melt with salad
Saturday- Slow cooker black beans and rice
Sunday- leftovers

Six Months

Our little guy turned 6 months on the 18th.  Here he is happy as can be and growing like a weed.

Meal Plan

Okay, here is what is cookin this week here in So. Ind.  I am trying to use what I already have as much as possible.  I'm  also trying to add more vegetarian options to be healthy and to save money.

Sunday Crockpot Meatloaf (sort of following these directions ) with carrots, broccoli and wild rice.

Monday  Cobb Salad with Chicken Bacon, Avocado and Veggies (thanks to my friend Tessa for the inspiration).  I will probably check out Smitten Kitchen's Cobb Salad too.  I have had it saved for a long time but never used it.  We won't be adding the eggs, sadly, because of Brian's allergy and because I am staying away from them right now too. 

Tuesday Grilled Cheese/PB&J and Tomato Soup (Community Group night so we need to keep it simple)

Wednesday Vegetarian Tortilla Soup with Tortilla Chips (thanks for the heads up on this Laura)


Thursday  Taco Salad with Ground Beef

Friday Grilled Salmon with Baked or Grilled Sweet Potatos and Apples


Saturday  Kale and Goat Cheese Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms with Whatever Veggies are on Sale this Week

Sunday Pumpkin Pasta with Kale

I'm looking at this meal plan and not sure that it will pan out.  I will try and whatever I don't make will go on the next weeks plan.

Meal Plan...Last Week

I actually made a meal plan this past week and mostly stuck to it.  We were fortunate to get some very tasty heirloom tomatoes from Brian's parents and we also hit up the Bowling Green farmers market.  I am starting to trade meal plans with a couple of friends for inspiration and accountability so hopefully I will post here more often.

creamy broccoli soup with bread (this was really great and really healthy, no cream)
http://www.wholeliving.com/
130293/creamy-broccoli-white-bean-soup

crockpot chicken (chicken broth with heirloom tomatoes) and minty chickpea salad with couscous and tomatoes
http://www.realsimple.com/
food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/minty-chickpea-salad-couscous-10000001639803/index.html

Tostadas (fish (tilapia), refried beans, cheese, lettuce)

bean soup and cornbread & salad

cabbage and sausage with honey roasted sweet potatoes ( http://www.foodnetwork.com/
recipes/ellie-krieger/honey-roasted-sweet-potatoes-recipe/index.html)
 and roasted veggies (zucchini, tomato's, peppers and garlic).  This seems like a lot but it was basically leftover stuff from the farmers market that I threw together.  Brian loved the honey/olive oil/lemon mixture I put on the sweet potatoes.

We also made these the other day: Garlic Grilled Tomatoes
http://prouditaliancook.
blogspot.com/2012/05/let-grilling-begin.html

5 Months