Elmo Live, 500 and Pork

This weekend the kids' Nana treated us to Elmo Live which was in town!  

We had such a great time! Emma's favorite character is Abby Cadabby.  I looked everywhere for a cheap Abby Cadabby shirt but couldn't find anything.  This is where good old Ebay came into play! I found a seller that makes iron-on transfers with Sesame Street characters plus the child's name.  I think I paid $4 for it and that included s&h!  I ironed it onto an old shirt that had stains on the front of it....glued on some jewels...and then sewed a pocket on the front to cover a really BIG stain (I believe it was spaghetti...missed it with my spray n' wash!). And voila'... a cheap Abby Cadabby shirt :)

The sellers name is  leesaatultimatetransfers if anyone wants to check them out.

I think Colty enjoyed the show more than Emma... he sat with this look on his face for a LONG time...

During the intermission a man came out with THE MOST GIGANTIC handful (pile, wad, cluster, what do you call a bunch of balloons together? :) ) of Elmo head balloons I have ever seen in my life! I tried to take a picture but it was way to dark...so I lightened it up as best as I could to give you some idea of what I'm talking about.  This picture doesn't even do it justice...it was GINORMOUS!

 

(HA did I mention Cousin It was there? )

We had such a great afternoon... thanks for taking us Nana!

In other news... I've added a little button to the side of my blog.  Laura and Erin's 500 in 2010 Challenge.  I came across this the other day on a blog and thought it looked like a great idea!  It's always fun to have a little motivation and competition.  Although I'm pretty sure I'm in last place since I started 8 weeks behind everybody else!!! :)  So basically I guess I'm trying to encourage other people to join in so I won't be in last place..haha!

And lastly before I forget.  I made the BEST crockpot pork this week!  I never EVER buy pork.  Or really any meat for that matter.  Not much of a meat girl and whatever we do have my parents' graciously give us from their cows.  So I was rummaging through our freezer last week and came across a family size pack of boneless pork chops that my Mom had bought while she was here after Colty was born. Yes, that would be 7 months ago :).  I wasn't exactly sure how to cook them.  So basically whatever meat I don't know how to cook I just throw into my Magic Crockpot and it always comes out delicious:)  Here's what I put into the 

 Magic Crockpot:

MAGIC CROCKPOT MEXICAN PORK (don't be jealous I came up with such a great name)

-Family Pack Boneless Pork Chops

-Water (I think around 2 Cups)

-Taco Seasoning (Around 3/4 a package)

-Cumin (LOVE this stuff! I put in a couple heavy duty shakes)

-Chopped Onions

-Chopped Green Peppers

I cooked it on low all day.  I didn't even have to shred it...it just fell right apart.  We ate on the pork for four days...kid you not!  The first day I served it over spanish rice with a dollup of sour cream on top.  The second day we had it in tortillas.  The third day we put it over salads...yum yum!!! And the fourth day I put the pork and shredded cheese into the center of biscuits (from a can).  Just crimp the edges and bake!
Each day the flavor of the meat grew even more delish! 

Hope everybody has a great weekend!!! Go make some pork!!! :)

Monday Love

Does anybody else LOVE Monday's?!?! :)  I LOVE them! I think part of the reason is because I grew up with a Mom who loves Mondays.  I love having a fresh start to a new week.  And I most definitely love writing down lists of to-dos that need to get done this week. 
What are your thoughts on Mondays? Love em' or hate em'?!

Absent...

As you can tell I've been absent from the blogging world for a week.  What have we been up to?  

We've been...

Enjoying the crazy amounts of snow we got last week!

Covering our baby in warm towels from the dryer

Celebrating Valentine's Day with chocolates for breakfast!

Attempting to take Valentine's Day pictures before church....

Discovering that we can open our mouths really wide and leaving them open like that for long periods of time

Taking our babies rectal temperatures... (she was very quiet one morning and this is what I found her doing)

Applying our lipstick before we head off to a "Sleeping Tooty" Ball

Eating lots of green veggies and loving them!

Building forts since it's too muddy to play outside

There's what we've been up to this week in a nutshell!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Valentines Day!

Teeth!

Little man has sprouted two bottom teeth!  With them comes lots and lots of drool as you can tell:)

 

 

SNOW!!!!

"Happy Birthday to Grandma Dear"- Emma

Happy Birthday to You Grandma/Mom!!! We love you so much and are so thankful that you are our Grandma and Mom:)  Sorry it took all day to get your birthday post up... it's been a full day ordeal! ha! We attempted to take the pictures first thing this morning.  I'm afraid we didn't get the "perfect" picture:) But since you're their Grandma I knew you would love every picture anyways! So... for your viewing pleasure... here is your traditional birthday photo shoot with your grandbabies!


Take #1-
Me: "Emma, would you please hold the sign so Grandma can see that we are wishing her Happy Birthday?"

Emma: No response...just the following face followed by a hissy-fit because she didn't want to hold the paper.

Take #2:
Me: Alright! (trying to sound super excited so Emma would think it was fun) Let's have Colt try holding the paper! He'll do a great job!
Emma: "Okay...Colty hode the paypuh"

After Take #2 Colt attempts to eat the paper and then it gets thrown on the ground.  So,

Take #3:
Me: "Okay (still trying to sound upbeat to get the perfect picture!), the COUCH is going to hold the paper! It will be perfect! Smile guys!!!"

And right as the camera was clicking Emma says, "I have to tee-tee."

Potty Break and then



Take #4: I've stopped talking at this point and have just resorted to making crazy faces and noises to get their attention. As you can see it didn't work. Emma is more interested in making sure her pants are buttoned from her recent bathroom break and Colt who usually laughs at everything I do is beginning to lose interest as well.

Yes...there is one more "Take".  I had to give it one more try... here's what they thought about it...

They most definitely aren't the best pictures but we sure do love you Grandma and want to wish a Happy Birthday! We love you!!!! :) :) :) :)

Long post :)

Hmm where to even begin this post! How about with a few pictures about what we've been doing this week!

Coloring...lots and lots of coloring and crafting. Notice...all the colors that Emma picked out are either pinks or purples..my kind of girl!  :)

I had been wanting a special place (besides the fridge) for Emma to hang her artwork and for us to hang our "letter of the week."  I had wanted something very inexpensive (inexpensive as less than $5) AND I was so excited when I was in Super Target last week.  I found cork-boards for $2.50 a piece! 

In other news the weather has been chilly and gray here the past few days.  We've pretty much just been staying at home all day enjoying our cozy home!  Em loves to look out the window at our neighbors as they come and go throughout the day.

 

A couple of weeks ago I came across a blog (can't remember which one for the life of me) where the woman was doing what she called a "Pantry Challenge."  Basically you use what you have in your pantries.  It forces you to be creative in your cooking and also saves money since you are using what you have instead of buying more.  So, this past week we've been living out of our pantry:)  And I must admit it has been fun!  What's even more fun is naming what you've made.  Every time I make something I like to call it the name of the food plus Delight ha! Like tonight for instance... we had Mexican Bake Delight. It makes it sound more appetizing since I'm basically throwing crazy ingredients together...don't you agree?!  Now...just in case anyone is wondering what Mexican Bake Delight is I'll share my very own recipe ;)  I'm sure there is something similar out there...let me know if you've made anything like it!

Mexican Bake Delight ;)

1lb Ground Beef made into Taco Meat

1 Can of Cream of Celery Soup

Package of Tortillas

Shredded Cheese (I used 3/4 a package)

Green Peppers-I used half a pepper

Onions-I used a fourth of an onion

Saute the green peppers and onions. Mix the Taco Meat and Cream of Celery soup together.  Then in a 9x13 I put down a layer of tortillas. On top of that beef mixture. On top of that cheese 1/2 of the cheese you're using. Another layer of tortillas, more taco meat and then your green pepper/onion mix. And on top of everything a thick layer of cheese.  I baked it at 375 for 20 minutes. 

Let me tell you...it is SO DELICIOUS!!!  I made some fresh guacamole to go with it...yum yum!

Oh and for dessert Emma "made" Valentines Day cookies (love us some break apart cookies!)  We let her dip her cookies in milk tonight. :) Little toot was in heaven!  Oh and just in case anyone was wondering... she has worn this necklace EVERY DAY ALL DAY since her birthday last weekend! Aunt Kaitlin, thanks for such a great gift :) :) :) Every morning she wakes up and asks to put her "jewly" on.

And of course what's a post without the little man.  Here he is fresh out of the tub tonight.

 

Mmm could just eat him up! He's the proud owner of two new bottom teeth! 

Time to get the house around for our day tomorrow! Happy Wednesday!