♥ Girls Just Wanna Have Fun ♥

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Happy Birthday Grandma!

My mom came to visit this weekend to see the girls and celebrate her birthday. We took her shopping on Friday and then out to lunch (Hibachi style) on Saturday. I absolutely love having her here. I wish she lived closer.

♥ Happy Birthday Grandma! ♥

I ♥ this picture!

Our chef was hilarious!

Enjoying the show...

The onion "volcano" and our yummy veggies!

Jolee trying to catch a flying shrimp!

Grandma trying to catch the shrimp...just missed!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Animals go to the Zoo!

Today was the first beautiful, sunshiney day of Spring Break, so I decided to load up the monkeys and head to the zoo! We headed out in the morning and stayed all day. We had a picnic lunch on a big, flat rock and ate our sandwiches while watching kangaroos! The girls and I had so much fun. Good thing we all had on comfy shoes, because there was a LOT of walking. Emmy and Jolee took turns getting rides in the stroller. Here are a few shots of our day....

Mommy and her 3 favorite monkeys! ♥

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Go Fly a Kite!

I forgot how much fun it is to fly a kite! It's Spring Break and this is what we did today for fun.....

Jolee and her friend Maddie

Macey having a blast

New Carpet!

We all love our new carpet! Here are some before and after shots...

Living Room

Bannister/spindles going upstairs

Stairs (my new favorite part of the house!)

sdf

Upstairs bannister

Friday, February 26, 2010

Never a Dull Moment!

So it turns out Jolee is not the only comedian in our house...Emmy has really been cracking us up, too! You put the two of them together and watch out! Instant entertainment...never a dull moment! ☺

How Sweet!

Jolee is always making drawings for everyone in the house to show us how much she loves us. She has such a big heart! She didn't forget anyone, not even Max. She brought this home from school and I just love it. ♥

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Mommy's Sweet Little Helper

3 1/2 years old...I just LOVE this age! Emmy is becoming such a big girl and is always wanting to prove to me just how big she is. Not only is she the first one up in the morning, but she picks out her own clothes, dresses herself AND makes her bed!

♥♥ What a big girl! ♥♥

And, when it's time for dinner, she loves to help set the table.

♥♥ What would I do without her? ♥♥

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Janie's Kitchen

I love to cook, which is a good thing since we very rarely go out. I've added a new sidebar list called "Janie's Kitchen" (on the right) to share some of my favorite healthy recipes. I will continue to add to this list as I find time and try new things. If you have any healthy recipes you'd like to share, I'd love to try 'em out! Just send me an email! Happy cooking!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Emmy's First Haircut

Emmy is 3 1/2 years old and has never had the back of her hair cut....until today!

hair down to her hiney!

about 6" cut off

All done!

Still beautiful!

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

Do you remember the commercial? The owl gave up early, but my persistent, oldest daughter was bound and determined to find out the answer (for the sake of science, of course)! Macey brought home a Tootsie Pop from school last week and asked us, "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?". We said, well, why don't you find out. So, here is where the story begins....

With the Pop in one hand and a pencil in the other, Macey made a tick mark on a piece of paper for every lick. When she got tired, she would wrap up the Pop and set it aside. However, one time when she unwrapped it, she noticed a chunk was missing! With a little investigative work, we determined Emmy was the sneaky lick stealer! Devastated that her project had been tainted, Macey said, "NOOOOOOOO! Now I have to start ALL OVER!!!". She had already made 775 tick marks.....

So, the following night, (with a new Tootsie Pop in hand), she was on a mission to find the answer! Lick, tick, lick, tick, lick, tick....this went on for hours! She would give us updates along the way (hey, I can see some tootsie roll!). Finally, her mission was complete! She devoured the tootsie roll center and then proceeded to count her tick marks. Counting alone took around 30 minutes. Finally, with sheer enthusiasm and delight in her voice she yelled, "I DID IT!...4,212 LICKS!". Now, the world knows!

Front and back of Macey's tally sheet!

Dialogue with Emmy

"I love you with my most loviest heart."
Whenever she finds a coin on the ground she says, "Look! It's my lucky day!"
"Once upon a time there were 2 little girls: Mommy, Daddy, Macey, Emmy and JoJo"...
"Mommy, I love you every single day."
When asked, "How old will you be after your next birthday?", she replies, "Free".
Emmy: "I love you!" Mommy: "I love you, too!" Emmy: "I love you MORE!"
Favorite questions: "Why?", "Because why?", "What?", and "What's that mean?"
She's been saying this A LOT lately-- "I'm more hungry"...every 15 minutes!

Jolee's Funny Quotes & Questions

"I don't have peanuts, I have a vagina!"
Grady said: "Jolee, you have school tomorrow", Jolee said: "Oh, the PAIN!, THE PAIN!"
"Every time I push my belly out, my pants pop open!"
"Daddy, I love you so much that I can't let you out of my sight!"
"I'm warm...like a piece of toast."
"I have never, ever, EVER tooted in school!"
"Don't eat the yellow snow!"
"If we had a boy cat AND a girl cat, and they kissed...that would be GROSS!"
"Sometimes the world is a mystery..."
"What are bees' feet called?"
"Zip your lip and throw away the key!"
"Mom's the Mystery Farter!" Note: I'm sure it wasn't me...must've been Daddy!
When deciding whether or not to add chocolate to her ice cream she said, "I'm gonna go for it!"
"It smells like there's a butt in my nose!"
"Mom, I ROCK at this!"
"Tell it to the Judge!"

Macey's Corner: New things I've learned in school

In a handful of soil, there are more living organisms than there are people on the planet.
I have learned multiplication facts by two, three, four and five and division facts by two.
To reduce pollution when shopping, purchase items that are not in a box or that have little packaging.
A refuge is a place where animals and plants are safe.
In statistics, "mode" is the number that appears most often, "maximum" is the largest number, "minimum" is the lowest number, and "range" is the maximum minus the minimum.
A menorah is the candle holder in Hanukkah celebrations and a kinara is the candle holder in Kwanzaa celebrations.
In English, the days of the week start with a capital letter, in Spanish they don't.
In Germany a Christmas tree is called a Tannenbaum
Germany is a country in Europe.
Kwanzaa is a seven day holiday honoring the ancient African tradition of celebrating the year's harvest.
There is a difference between a food chain and a food web. Food chains follow a single path as animals find food and food webs show how plants and animals are connected in many ways to help them all survive.
Another word for collar bone is clavicle.
Not all spiders spin webs to catch food, some dig holes.
Today I completed 100 math facts in less than 5 minutes.
Amphibians are cold blooded animals.
In a math addition problem, if there are more than 2 numbers, find the facts of 10 and then add the others.
A fish that has spikes and puffs up is called a Puffer Fish.
Veteran's Day is also known as Armistice Day.
The phalanges are bones that make up our fingers and toes.
Check back often! Macey will populate this list.

Savin' Green, Bein' Green, Gettin' Lean

No Paper OR Plastic: Instead of buying giftbags for Christmas or birthday presents (especially for adults), buy re-usable grocery bags that the recipient can use everyday.
Cut it Short: In ALL of the baking I do, I always use less sugar than the recipe calls for. Even if you cut it just a little bit, every little bit helps. And, we never miss it!
No More White Stuff: The next time you have to buy flour, buy whole wheat flour. I use it in all of my baking and my family can't tell the difference!
Challenge Yourself: I got this idea from another blog I visit daily. Challenge yourself to not go to the grocery store for an entire week. This forces you to be creative with what you have on hand. It's also a great way to use up the odds and ends in your pantry. It got a little difficult at the end of the week, but we did it! Plus, the savings from that week were very noticeable on our grocery budget!
Rewards Cards: Take advantage of the rewards cards at stores you shop at often. For example, we use the Office Max rewards/recycle program and are able to get free stuff there with the rewards we've accumulated. I also get special discounts at Dick's Sporting Goods which comes in handy buying my running shoes every six months. Other cards I have are for CVS (they give you money to use on your next purchase), Hallmark (free coupons), all the grocery stores (you get the store's discount plus sometimes discounts on gas), shoe stores (special coupons), you get the picture.
Free Movie Nights: Do you have a Redbox kiosk nearby? If so, you can find Redbox codes online every Monday and Wednesday to get a free movie. And, even if you don't get the codes, movies are only a buck! Bye, bye Blockbuster!
Soccer Mom Must: Car pool, duh!
Don't be a Heel: Don't throw away the heels from your loaves of bread. I don't like eating them as sandwiches, either, but toss them in the freezer until you get several of them. Then, toast them in the toaster and throw them into your food processor...wala!...whole grain bread crumbs! And, they're a lot healthier than most of the breadcrumbs you buy at the store.
Behind Bars: Our family goes through granola bars like you wouldn't believe. I love that my kids like to eat this healthy snack, but I don't like how expensive they are. I found a great recipe that is so versatile you can tailor it to your own likes and dislikes. One pan costs pennies and makes 16-18 bars. Recipe is found above in "Janie's Kitchen".
101 Uses for Vinegar: I use it as a fabric softener (and no, our clothes don't stink!), mixed with water it is WAY better than Windex, my friend Stacy uses it to kill her weeds, I spray it on the counters to help get rid of ants, and this is just a few of things I can think of off the top of my head! Google it and have fun!
Stacking Coupons: Did you know that you can use a store coupon (ie. Walgreens, Target, etc.) AND and manufacturer's coupon for the same item? For example, you can print Target coupons (good only at Target) and clip your mfr. coupon to use on the same item. If you do this when the item is on sale, it's an even bigger bonus...many times you can get it free or almost free!