Menu Plan Monday

Kyle and I decided we have got to try to cut out eating out because wow it really adds up to some big bucks!! So we decided to go back to menu planning. Then today I see my buddy Anya has also returned to MPM on the blog, hosted by Organizing Junkie.

MONDAY: Leftovers (I made homemade pizza over the weekend)
TUESDAY: beef stew: I put red potatoes, carrots, celery, beef in low sodium V8 juice. I added Mrs. Dash Table Blend and garlic powder. EASY!!
WEDNESDAY: Stubbs Chicken, Fresh Asparagus ($1.99 pound at Safeway) and acorn squash.
THURSDAY: Spaghetti and meatballs
FRIDAY: Pizza I've got fresh mushrooms to use up!
SATURDAY: Chili with ground turkey, black and white beans, bell peppers, corn.
SUNDAY: Teriyaki Chicken, brown rice, peas or green beans

TAG You're IT!

I've been tagged by both Amy and Wendy so I guess I'll do it.
The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 4 people at the end of your post.
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

1. I LOVE cheese.
2. I have quite a few books stacked up that I've yet to read, but I still want (NEED) to buy more!
3. I am addicted to shows about multiples on TLC and DiscoveryHealth.
4. I LOST 5 POUNDS!!!!!!
5. I recently discovered Life is Good tshirts..the creamy and good karma styles are the best.
6. I quilt.

I tag:
Julie
Jennica
Heidi
I'm supposed to tag 4 but Amy, anya and Wendy have already been tagged and all the other blogs I read are strangers, so I can only do 3.

Grandpop's visit

For some reason we didn't take a lot of photos except of Reese alone. But here's a few. Grandpop came to visit from VA. Mostly we just hung out, played some scrabble, watched some tv. We went over to Seattle on the ferry.

Hit the market.

Saw the gum tree.

We went to the park across from Joann's in Silverdale for some photo ops. Here's the little drummer boy.Checking out the rocks and driftwood.Throwing rocks.Taking the long arduous trek out to the water's edge.

Fall Wardrobe

Good thing I got sucked in by the cute fall clothes earlier this week or Reese would have had to freeze in summer togs while we ran out for fall stuff! I can't believe how quickly the weather changed.

Heading to out to get some lunch and hit the mall.

Reese is being such a nice boy, sharing his half eaten smiley fry with Grandpop.

And here are the boy's big boy shoes. Mommy is so sad to pack away the green See Kai Run shoes, but they are too tight. Now we need size 5!!

I forgot to include the stats from the doctor appointment we had on Thursday. Reese is 20 pounds 1 ounce = negative percentile. He is 31 1/2 inches = 25th percentile.

cookie monster

Really it's a rice crispy treat, but here's the boy with his caught in the cookie jar so to speak.and he's making a break for it with his stolen treat.

This is day 2 of the fall weather. I am hoping this cold snap doesn't prevent my tomatoes from ripening. I picked 6 "jelly bean" tomatoes today for my salad and they were delicious! I can't wait for more!!!

Easy Rider

Reese riding the motorcycle at Holly Ridge on Wednesday.

Riding his Zebra the next day before we head out to the pediatrician's office. He only had to get one shot today--yippee!!

Blackberry Pickin'

We just realized Mimi has blackberries so we went over on Tuesday to pick some in the sweltering heat. We had to take a break pretty quickly. Reese is practicing his drum techniques.

Then Amy and Matthew and Austin arrived to pick berries too.

Notice the empty picking bowl---these piggies were eating them all!

Austin was chillin with Maddie in the sahde.Now we're off to Masi's 2nd birthday party!!!

Protect Our Children

On Oprah today I saw a policeman who created a computer program to help law enforcement track child molesters online by the way they share pornographic videos via internet with other molesters. He says they are only able to actually pursue about 2% of their leads because they simply do not have the manpower and resources to get to the rest. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children had some workers discussing what they encounter online while tracking these transmissions and as horrific as you can imagine it was quite a bit worse. Apparently people even provide an "on demand" type feed where you can log on and actually request to view live action abuse of children. The policeman on the show said the youngest victim he viewed still had an umbilical cord stump. It's shockingly unbelievable what they do and how many there are. Even if you hate Oprah I know you disapprove of child molesting so go here and find the link to your senators and send a message (you can use the form letter that's already prepared and just copy & paste) and tell your Senator to pass this Senate Bill 1738 before the session ends 9/26/08. Don't dilly dally. The cop described it like this: imagine you have a row boat in a sea of sexually abused kids and you can only rescue who you can fit in your little row boat. But the rest are desperately waiting for you to come rescue them too. So this bill is supposed to help law enforcement make their row boat a little bigger. I have to say I have seen some pretty devastating things on Oprah but today's episode was the most shocking and frightening ever. This is a map that shows via red dots how quickly and how far an image travels via internet in one day.

Canning Pears

Kyle's grandparents were in town leaving today so Reese and I headed over at 9am to Kyle's parents' house and I took my canning supplies. We spent basically the whole day and only completed half of my pears!!Here's "Gamma" Joyce peeling and coring, while I slice.

7 pounds of pears cooking down

Reese enjoying a snack break.

We ended up with 16 half pints of pear butter.
Unfortunately my camera battery was dead so we had to get these photos off Candy Gram's email. Perhaps we'll have some more tomorrow.

A New Season of Canning

My mom's group got together for a full day of canning. 7 moms, 4 infants, 7 toddlers, a preschooler and later in the day 2 elementary school kids.....I think I'm getting everyone in the count. Lots of crazy kid chaos, friendly catching up chats, discipline tips and good times. Reese taking advantage of snacktime

hmm what's this?

fun canning jar rings!!

We put up about a dozen quarts of no sugar added applesauce, 2 dozen jars of plum jelly and 2 dozen jars of blackberry jam. YUM!

With so many people we had to spill outside. Deborah and Julie on kid duty with Devon, John Paul and Matthew.

Anya with the apples and Amy and Jeanette in the background are on kitchen rotation.

Lunchbreak!!

Heather and Reese scrubbing pots for the next round of cooking down fruit.

Amy slaving over the hot stove cooking down pot after pot of apples.

Jeanette and baby Audrey just keep 'em coming.

Jennica and baby Abby enjoying a snack break.

baby Austin just chillin' the day away in his seat watching all the action

Reese trying to snatch an apple from the stash.

Julie and John Paul heading home with a box full of yummy homemade goodies!

homecoming

fun and games aboard Alaska Airlines

Mt.Ranier from our airplane window

getting mellow on the airporter

We made it home. The flight was okay. Reese was a bit more restless than he was on our first flight. Sleeping in our own beds was wonderful. Today we cleaned some...still lots to do. There were some cat accidents to deal with--ugh! I picked a bunch of pears--tons more to pick! I've sorted the mail--we saved $25 on our electricity by being away!!!

Reese's First Concert

I was hearing this loud bass for awhile and I was thinking GRRRR these neighbors better turn down their music before Reese needs to go to bed. They didn't so I went out on the porch to check it out and heard cheering. So Reese and I got our shoes on and went out in search of the music that I now believed to be live. Right behind our apartment complex is an outdoor amphitheater. So we walked over to the fence line and found a spot where we could see. They sounded good so I thought "hmm maybe I'll buy their cd." I asked a lady who was playing and it was Bob Dylan! Can you believe it? Reese's first concert was a rock legend. I bet you had no idea I was such a cool mom.

NEW BABY

My friend Heather from my old job had her baby today, Spencer James. Check out his cute little lips and he has nice round head. CUTIE!!

i don't want to wear shoes

It is super hot here. This photo is Reese fighting putting on shoes. We've gone to the pool, taken walks, had dinner with Poppop, cut a new tooth and lounged about. I read 4 books and have started a 5th. It's amazing how much time to read there is when you don't have to clean and don't have access to a car, tivo or a sewing machine.

we found a cool place

We finally made it to the library---they have weird hours--- and outside of the children's room is the children's garden. It has a fountain and "stream" that Reese just loved. He liked carrying books around in the library as he investigated all their little reading nooks, but he wasn't able to focus long enough to actually read a book. Too much cool stuff to look at!