the royal wedding

Are you planning to watch the Royal Wedding tomorrow morning?

I don't know why but I really want to watch it. Maybe it's because it's one of the only positive things you can find in the media. Or maybe (and probably more likely) it's because I'm so happy about the fact that when people say "Kate", they think of Kate Middleton rather than Kate Gosselin (thank heavens!). Either way, I'm excited about it. And I'm excited that I have DVR so I don't have to wake up at 3am to watch it!

Crazy Freezer Meal Day

I had to blog about Crazy Freezer Meal Day just because it's an awesome idea that I have never done before. My friend Camille introduced the idea to us and it turned out great! Basically, there were 4 of us and we each submitted 2 recipes. Camille bought all the food and we chose a day to just cook all 8 meals, some of which could feed us for a couple of nights! So you end up having between 8-16 meals in your freezer so you can just heat them up if you don't feel like cooking! And the best part was that it ended up being only about $5ish/recipe or $2.68 per meal! Awesome, huh?

Anyway, our 4th cook decided to bail on us to have a baby that day (can you believe her?) ;) But the 3 of us cooked from 10am-4:30ish, while trying to entertain 3 little kids (who did awesome, btw) and we were able to get 7 out of our 8 meals finished! I felt pretty good the whole time but when I got home, I made the mistake of sitting down and then I realized just how tired my mind and body were and I realized I didn't want to cook anything for a few more days! It was crazy! Here is what we made:

enchillada's - will feed us for 2 dinners and a lunch

chimichanga's - 1, maybe 2 meals

chicken squares - 1 meal

sausage casserole - Probably 3 meals

chicken cordon bleu - 2 meals

cuban ropa vieja - 1 maybe 2 meals

spaghetti sauce - 3 meals (we originally had this in one big bag but we ended up splitting it into 3 little bags.

**french dip sandwiches - this was our 8th meal that we are still getting but didn't have time to finish that day

Not bad, huh? I took some pictures throughout the day but I did a horrible job of "documenting" the experience. But here are a few of them...

Emma and Camille as we are just getting started.

Emma was the ultimate chopper. She probably chopped around 5 or 6 piles just like this one!

Anyway, we ended up getting busy so there is a huge gap of pictures, but this was taken at the very end of the day. Look at how horrible of a mess we made!!

Just a couple of our freezer meals

Thanks for the awesome time ladies! Everything has tasted great so far!!

Little Ruby

I haven't posted anything about Ruby lately but here are a few pics of her from yesterday after eating some applesauce...

I love her chunkiness! And then before I part, here is a video of Rub laughing with her daddy...

from bad to good

Yesterday was one of those days with Lyla where I really think she spent a total of 3 hours on time out because it was just one thing after another. I do have to say that it probably isn't all her fault. We have church from 1-4 and she never got her nap. Then Nate and I were getting so frustrated and of course, that just oozes from us and creates more disobedience. So really, it wasn't her fault and I knew that. But I kept feeling like "WHAT AM I DOING WRONG"?!?!?! And I was getting so worried about all these misbehaviors and what I was doing to cause them and blah blah blah.

Anyway, last night we read a the conference talk by Elder Lynn G. Robbins and he talked a lot about how to discipline children and he said something about how children do not act out and misbehave just because, but that there is almost always an underlying cause. And he also gave some tips on disciplining. So I decided to put those things to test today and you know what? Today has been awesome! We got up, took dad to work, and Lyla was already being so SWEET! Then we went to the grocery store (which is something I usually dread with 2 kids) and it actually was so FUN! I felt like the tiniest changes I made in my attitude totally made her behave so much more! And Lyla was obedient, helpful, put things back on the shelf when I asked. It was great.

Then the best thing happened. As Lyla and I were looking for some frozen chopped spinach, a woman came up behind me and said "You know, you do SUCH a good job with her! I've seen you a few times throughout the store and I just think you're doing a really great job"! I swear I almost hugged and kissed her right there in the frozen food aisle! Anyway, when we left the store I tried to apply some of the tips that Elder Robbins suggested (compliment her be's) and it seemed to really work! I'm sure the tube of smarties also helped :) And then later we had a neighbor friend over to play and they both played so nicely together. And afterwards Lyla said "I played nicely with Lincoln. I get a treat!!" And since I was so proud of the improvement from yesterday, I gave her 5 whole jelly beans :)

Anyway, I'm not writing this to brag about how well-behaved my kid is. But I just wanted to remember that after such a horrible day, they can be angels the very next. Love my girls!