The Shortest Month of the Year

 

It's funny how February has 28 days...some years 29...and even though that's 2-3 days shorter than other months it just FLIES by!  I've been out in lala land and haven't posted in a while.  Here are my excuses:

*Excuse #1: My nights have been busy working on my (so far) 14 pages of notes for my long term sub.  I'm sure half of the stuff I write is obvious but I just like making sure everything is covered.

 

*Excuse #2: Conferences are just two weeks away and report cards have to get done...those take a lot of time...especially if you write comments (probably too many comments) like I do.

 

*Excuse #3:  Sometimes at the end of the day when the kids are in bed it's just nice to put my feet up, hang out with Andy, and do absolutely nothing.  My brain is fried, my body is beyond exhausted from being on my feet all day and I'm just ready to think about anything.

 

*Excuse #4...Last One: On the weekends and during these "late start,""early out," and "no school days we've been having I just want to be with the kids doing stuff.  I admit I have a problem,  but I really do feel guilty if I do anything for "me" when they are around.  My time with them is precious and if they want me to play...I'm here.  It won't be like that forever...someday Mom won't be so cool!

 

Now that I've gone through my excuses...I'll move on to the more interesting parts of "Life at the Richardson House."  Valentine's Day came/went and the kids absolutely adored the nightly visits from the Sweetheart Snatcher.  It seemed that during this week the kids were up WAY earlier than normal and were so excited to find the clues and gifts.  Isaiah in particular needed frequent reminders each morning that he "could not get up and look around for stuff until the clock said 6:00."  That kid was up at 5 and sometimes 4 ready to go.  Luckily most mornings he went back to sleep. 

 



Here's Isaiah with his new cuddly friend.

Ava loved finding her stuffed bear on Valentine's Day.

 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture of my two precious babies!  Our friend Heidi Hicks who owns her own photography studio, Captured by Heidi, is so talented and the kids always give her their best smiles.  She took this picture of them during a Valentine mini session and we ordered little cards to send out to our family.  They are so precious they make my heart melt...and to think that our new little Violet will be joining this crew soon.  I can't wait. 

 

The weather around here has been nuts!  Yesterday we were supposed to get a dusting of snow.  When we started school there was nothing, I mean nothing coming down.  About thirty minutes later it just kept dumping down and it didn't stop.  What was supposed to be a normal school day turned into an early dismissal at 12:30 and no school today.  With the 8 inches or so we got combined with the icy roads it just wasn't worth trying to bus kids in today.  Over 130 schools in Iowa were either delayed or closed.  Old Mr. Winter just won't stop.  I guess we kind of deserve it.  Last winter was so mild that it hardly seemed to snow at all.  This winter is a completely different story.  So far we have three snow days to make up.  Regardless of how many we have I won't be going back, but I still don't want the school year to go on and on for Andy and the kids.  Ugh...you never know what winter will bring.

 

Here are some pictures of the kids playing out in the MASSIVE snowfort that Andy made.  Right now they've been out there for an hour and a half and are going strong (I left and just came back to finish this blog and it's been exactly 2 hours and 15 minutes and they still don't want to come in).  Andy took all the snow from the driveway and some from the yard and made an enclosed fort.  The kids are having a blast and will be out there for a long time.  The temperature is above 35 so it feels nice...not to cold.  I'm sure a nice mug of hot cider or cocoa will warm them right up when they come back in.

 

They have the best Daddy in the world.  He shoveled all this snow last night and today to make this fun fort...it even has a slide on the side.

My lens started to fog up...let the fun begin.

I wish you could see how tall the sides were...massive to the kids.

Isaiah and Ava taking turns going down the slide.

Ava adding a little decoration with some twigs from around the yard.

My happy Boo...Jackson was all about this snowfort too!



 

Let's see...what are some updates on Miss Violet?  Well at my last appointment I had them compare her growth to that of Isaiah's.  Being that he was a 10 pound 6 oz baby I wanted to see if I was in store for that again.  Yep.  She said I'm measuring almost exactly the same to the week as I was with him.  He was a week late and Violet will be 5 days early since I'm having a C-section so she may be a bit smaller, but not by much.  I get huge during pregnancy but am very thankful that I carry such big and healthy babies.  My stomach is stretched to the max!  I know it will continue to grow...but seems like it can't possibly get any bigger.  Everything is done...I just need to pack the overnight bag to take to the hospital.  She is due to be born 5 weeks from tomorrow.  That time will fly.  I'm lucky that I have spring break in there to get some things organized too.

 

Hope everyone is staying warm and cozy!

 

My Three Happy's:

1) Yummy Taco Casserole...the kids love it...even Ava who is my picky eater.  The best part...they love helping to lay the crescent rolls and smash the Doritos!  Here's the recipe:

 

1 pkg. crescent rolls                             1 carton of sour cream

1 bag of Doritos (crushed)                   1 pkg. taco seasoning

2 lbs hamburger                                    1/4 cup chopped onion

8-12 oz. chedder cheese

   **When I make this I usually use 1 lb of hamburger.  Brown the meat and onion together and drain.  Then mix the taco seasoning as is (don't add water) and the sour cream into the meat mixture.  Spread the crescent rolls into a 9x13 pan and crush the Doritos in the bag.  Take about half of the Doritos and press them into the crescent rolls.  Spread the hamburger mixture over that and then top with the cheese.  Sprinkle the rest of the Doritos on top.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

 

It's really easy and so good!

Plus adding shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, and little dab of sour cream makes it even better.  Gotta love the Mickey Mouse plates we use all the time!

 



2)Typically I really don't care for chocolate anything.  I'm not an M&M eater, can't stand Hershey kisses, and prefer vanilla ice cream and cakes over chocolate.  Um...not lately.  If I have the option, chocolate is the way to go.  I made double fudge brownies the other day and those tasted amazing!!   Must be the baby talking.

 

3) I remember being so much more tired in the 3rd trimester with Ava and Isaiah.  I don't know if it's because I'm on my feet all day long at school and don't really think about it until I get home or what it is.  I'm very thankful that I have not experienced the "drop dead, fall asleep anywhere" exhaustion yet.  Who knows...it could be coming these last few weeks or maybe I'm lucky and it just passed me by.

 

My Favorite Thing:

**OH MY!  I've discovered the best cooking blog EVER!  Mix and Match Mama!!

Mix and Match Mama

 

I stumbled on it when I was looking at another blog that I follow and instantly fell in love with it.  The lady behind all this magic, Shay, is a mother of a 3 and 4 year old, and she's the sister to the bachelor from the TV show that's going on now.  I don't follow that show but still thought it was interesting to read about how he's her little brother. 

 

She shows pictures of what she prepares, makes a shopping list of what you might need, gives tips on how to cook different types of meat, talks about how she shops for groceries and organizes her list, and most of her recipes are EASY to make!  Plus her desserts look out of this world!

 

I really do LOVE to cook but don't feel like I have all the time in the world and it seems like I'm constantly making the same things.  I used to feel like everything I made needed to focus around whether the kids would eat it or not.  Depending on the night, I may fix something that I know they love and they hardly eat a bite.  On the other hand, sometimes I'll make something new that I don't think they'll care for and they actually like it.  Who knows...but any way lately I've just decided to cook what looks healthy, and yummy.  It's good to expose them to different types of foods and you never know what they may end up liking. 

 

Last night I made a cobbler recipe that I found on that blog.  Berries would have been better but I didn't have any of those so I used frozen peaches.  I made an 8x8 pan and as of last night there were only two big spoonfuls left in a storage container sitting in the fridge.  It was pretty tasty.  I could spend hours and hours searching through her recipes and probably will at some point.  My goal in the next few weeks is to prepare a week or two weeks worth of meals and freeze them.  Then when little Violet comes all I have to do is thaw, cook, and serve.  Then I can feel like I'm still feeding my husband and kids a good meal and it won't take me any time.  I hope I can get it accomplished.  Happy Cooking!





Fun in February

Yikes...it's almost mid February!  This month is already short enough with it being 28 days.  It just hit me yesterday that I have seven weeks left until our little precious Violet is born...seven weeks unless she comes early.  I don't think I could be that lucky.  My babies are all SO big and Isaiah was one week overdue so my chances of having our new little love come early are slim to none. 

 

We've had a little bug going around our house lately.  Ava had a fever for one day with some headaches and Andy hasn't been feeling the best either.  Isaiah and I have lucked out and haven't gotten any of it...knock on wood.  I must say that a short fever isn't much compared to what's going around out there.  I had five kids gone from my class one day this past week and these kids had the four day fever thing.  I guess we're just lucky we caught a little strand of it.  Everyone is well now and that makes me smile! 

 

I just LOVE months that have holidays.  You know what that means...crafts, projects, and fun cooking!  In this post are a few of the neat things we've been doing together.

 



This isn't Valentine's Day related...unless you count the fact that red cups were used.  The kids found some of these in the pantry and did this all on their own.  Andy snapped a quick picture of it...they were sure proud.  If I remember correctly I think Isaiah started this structure and Ava helped too.  Who needs toys when you have tons of red cups on your hands.  Since these have been used so much no one will be drinking out of them...we just keep them in case the kids want to build some more.

You may not understand this picture unless you've seen the movie "Despicable Me."  We got our new baby swing the other day and this was one of the oddly shaped cardboard pieces that came in the box.  When Isaiah put it on I told him he looked just like Gru...the main character in the movie when he was little and would say, "Look Ma, I'm going to the moon."  I know...you probably don't get it...but if you've seen this movie you'll know what I'm talking about.

In the movie, Gru also makes a HUGE rocket out of pasta pieces.  This cardboard piece made Isaiah think of that and he wanted to make a rocket out of noodles too.  So into the pantry I went to find a variety of pasta pieces that he could use.  In this picture he was hard at work!

He put a lot of thought into where he wanted to put each piece.

There you have it...an "R" for Richardson or rocket was added and I loved how he used the bow tie pasta for the fire coming out of the bottom of the rocket.

Last weekend Ava went to her friend Payton's birthday party.  Here she is with one of her best buds Reagan...they were having some play time downstairs before the party started.

Here's Ava playing air hockey with her friend Izzy.

The kids were competing in a little balloon and paddle contest.  Payton's mom, Sue, made these simple paddles with a large popsicle stick taped to colorful paper plates.  The kids used those to hit balloons back and forth and they had a contest to see who could keep their balloon in the air the longest. 

Next they went upstairs and used baking clay and could create whatever they wanted.  Ava made the letters in her name with different colors.

Present time...every time Ava is invited to a party she insists on getting her friends a "My Generation" doll from Target.  It was a hit again because Patyon loved it. 

Speaking of birthdays...we celebrated Great Grandma Richardson's birthday last Sunday too.  We watched part of the Super Bowl, ate lots of yummy appetizers, and had a homemade angel food cake for dessert.  She got a kick out of the candle that Dan and Janet put into the cake.  Once it was lit the heat would trigger the song "Happy Birthday" to play.  Whoever invented that was pretty clever.  Happy Birthday Grandma...we love you!

Now onto some Valentine's Day fun.   Instead of store bought valentines we decided to make our own this year.  This may be something that I continue to do because I absolutely LOVE doing stuff like that and there are a million cute ideas out there.  In a previous post I talked about these bubble gum machines that we were in the process of making.  Here is Ava working on those...and yes...all the pictures you see of the kids on the weekend feature them in their pajamas.  Who doesn't like to stay cozy!

For this Valentine...Pinterest inspired...you need these cute little machine cut-outs ran on fun colors, baggies that don't zip...the fold over kind, ribbon, tape, and small gumballs.  Pretty simple, right?

This part takes a while.  Scoop out some gumballs and put them into the baggies, tie with the ribbon, and then cut off the extra pieces of ribbon hanging off along with most of the baggie top.  You want about a 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch piece of baggie at the top still.  This will be the part that you tape to the back of the machine template.

 

Here's an example of one Ava made today.  Her teacher gave her the names of the kids in her class and they were to cut them out and glue them on the valentine.  I just put about 2 or 3 pieces of tape along the back to hold the bag in place and this is how it turned out.  Ava is just like me...she loves crafts.  Isaiah started making these for his class but made it about 5 minute until he wanted to go play with Daddy.  I have to remember...he's ALL BOY...it's okay that he doesn't want to make things.  Hopefully this week we'll finish them together. 

Here is the batch that Ava made for her class, Isaiah is making them for his class, and I'm making them to hand out to my students too.  That's almost 60 of these babies.  I thought they turned out really cute...and they're so much more fun to make than the store bought kind!

Ava's other project was to create a valentine box or bag to take to school.  She wanted to make a box that looked like a cat.  So we got some fun pink wrapping paper for the box and I have tons of valentine scrap booking paper.  She cut out two pointy ears, eyes, a heart nose, whiskers, a tail, and paws...we added one last bow to one of the ears...and then she said that was good.

Here's the finished product.  I loved how she wanted the eyes to be looking off to the side.  You really can't see the paws either but they are attached to the bottom and stick out.  Ava really liked it. 

If you search back in our blog to last February you will find posts about "The Sweetheart Snatcher."  This mysterious creature comes into our home for the four nights before Valentine's Day and leaves clues and small gifts for the kids around the house.  How do you get the Sweetheart Snatcher to come to your house??  Leave a trail or hide little candy hearts all over the house every night.  That's what this creature loves to eat.  The kids both wanted to write him a note...funny that they both think it's a boy.  Ava wrote hers on a sticky note and put it by one of the hearts.  Isaiah wrote his on paper and was so proud!  I helped him spell the words of course but he was working so hard to write his best!

He wanted his note to say, "Leave candy and presents Candy Heart Snatcher.  Love, Isaiah." I get a kick out of hearing the conversations between the kids about this little heart man.  Ava was trying to think of places to hide her hearts in her room and she asked Isaiah, 'Do you think it will be able to get on top of the dresser if I put it up there?"  Isaiah then said, "No, but it can use the handles to swing up there like this."  He then proceeded to demonstrate how this mini heart could make his way up to the top.  I wonder what clue the Sweetheart Snatcher will leave and what gift he will bring tomorrow morning...we shall see!

 

 

My Three Happy's:

1) The kids came to school with me for a bit on Saturday and played while I basically gutted out my classroom.  I'm trying to gradually get ready for my long term sub.  I know where I stash everything but I want to make sure things are organized and ready for when she comes.  I went through every cupboard and drawer and organized, organized, organized.  Some of the stuff I wanted to throw away the kids found and wanted to bring home to play with.  Both trash cans are filled and it felt so good to get rid of some things.  If only it were this easy for me at home to get organized...someday...someday!

 

2) The kids were so busy playing this weekend that they are beyond exhausted when they go to bed.  The other night Isaiah wanted me to read him seven stories...so I thought, why not.  The poor guy made it through one and a half of those books and he was out.  Ava's been the same way.  They are so easy to put to bed if they keep busy during the day.

 

3) The laundry is caught up...everyone knows what a good feeling that is!

 

My Favorite Thing:

We had a wellness day at school a few weeks ago and each grade could choose a healthy snack to promote to our kids.  Our grade chose smoothies and let me tell you....they were GOOD!  Super easy, healthy, and delicious! I made them last weekend at home for the kids and today also.  Four easy ingredients is all you need:  1 cup vanilla yogurt   1 cup frozen strawberries or peaches  

                                             1/4 cup orange juice   1 banana cut up

                                         *Then just turn on your blender and that's it!

 

Today I used extra yogurt, less orange juice, and added more strawberries because we didn't have bananas...and they were just as good.  The peach ones were yummy too but strawberry was Ava and Isaiah's favorite!  Maybe next time I'll try adding frozen raspberries instead.

 

Oh Baby!

Little Miss Violet will be here before we know it and her big sister and brother are thrilled.  Babies bring TONS of diapers, wipes, bottles, toys, clothes, strollers...the list goes on and on and on and on!  The other day Andy and I were doing some things in Violet's room and Ava and Isaiah had so much fun taking care of their stuffed animals and dolls. 

 

The kids practiced their diapering skills.  Isaiah knew exactly how to do it...it must be from watching Julie (his babysitter).  Once I showed Ava which way to lay the diaper, she was a pro.  I see some helpers in the future!  They also had fun feeding their animals and dolls with bottles.

Miss Ava showing off one of the diapers she put on her Build-a-Bear.

Time to put another diaper on Theodore the chipmunk.

Isaiah was making sure Mr. Puppy had enough to eat.  They took all of Violet's small toys, loaded their Build-a-Bear strollers up and were off.  They kept themselves entertained for at least an hour.  Every once in a while they'd take the occasional break and have Mommy and Daddy babysit.  Watching them just made my heart melt.  They're going to be so helpful and so loving to their new sister.

Here are a few pictures of the nursery so far.  I've always been all about the pink and purple colors for girls.  For some reason I was drawn to yellow and gray this time.  After finding this beautiful bedding set online, I fell head over heals for this color scheme.  Ideally the bedding was featured with a white wood crib, dresser, and changing table...but since we had the chocolate brown stuff already, we used that.  I actually like it better.  One of my favorite things is the frame on the wall from Pier One.  It has chicken wire and clothes pins that run up and down and across it.  So far we've clipped the pictures that Ava and Isaiah have made for Violet. 

A newly inspired bookshelf idea...courtesy of Pinterest.  Violet's room is the smallest room in our house so we wanted to make the most of the space.  These two shelves started with one crate that was cut directly down the middle.  Andy added some extra support on the back and then attached them to the wall.  We...meaning Andy of course...still have to stain them to match the crib.  They're the perfect height for little hands to reach and I like how they hold the books in safely...there won't be books falling on little toes.  Ava and Isaiah requested these in their room after seeing them.

The curtain and name banner that I made.

Just a little glimpse of the other side of the room.  I still need to find the lamp shade I want to put on this little storage unit and those two white shelves will be possibly become a home to these frames or other little decorations we accumulate.

This is the dresser/changing table.  There are still a few wall hangings I want to get.  I found this cute one on Esty with the phrase, "You Are My Sunshine."  I liked it but may find something else I like better. 

I made Violet's name banner with scrap booking paper glued to pendants.  The letters are glued on and a gray/white chevron ribbon is holding them together.  I found these cute gray rose type flowers for the ends that I really liked.  I...again I mean Andy....will raise it up a little bit later but we stuck it up there for now so we could see how it looks.  The room's pretty much ready but I still want to add a few extra touches.  Some nights when the kids are in bed I find myself sitting in the rocking chair just thinking about what it's going to be like to hold her.  I did that with both of the kids.  There's something so peaceful about just closing your eyes and imagining your child in your arms.  I'm sure there will be many late nights...many many late nights spent in this nursery.  With Ava and Isaiah those were the most exhausting times but I loved those quiet moments when everyone else was asleep and it was just us.

 

 

My Three Happy's:

1) Woo Hoo for me!  Failed the first glucose test...thought I had gestational diabetes but passed the 3 hour test with no problem.  In reality I wasn't that worried since I experienced the same thing with Isaiah.  At least that's one problem that I don't have to worry about.

 

2) The kids and I started making our valentines this weekend.  They are so cute.  I found a cute little gumball machine template that says, "Happy Valentine's Day...I 'chews' you."  On the top of the machine you attach a small bag of gumballs.  Maybe you get the idea but I'll post a picture soon.  Again...courtesy of Pinterest.  I've always bought valentines but both kids were all about making these...homemade are so much more fun to do!

 

3) Rules of Engagement...one of our favorite TV shows was on tonight for the first time this season.  It's pretty funny!

 

My Favorite Thing:

**Ribbon...since I've been doing a few extra projects here and there I've discovered how many unique types of ribbon you can find.  With ribbon comes endless possibilities.  I've started to accumulate lots of crafting supplies lately and I told Andy I can see myself having a craft room in the future.