Easter 2011

 I love Easter!  I love the fact that Christ died for us and He saved us!  I love that Easter is an opportunity for families to spend time with one another.  I love that I was able to see my little girl on her first Easter, celebrating the fact that Jesus died for us and that He has risen into Heaven and He lives forever in us!

Cole and Pamela came down from College Station on Friday. So Saturday evening we went to Wal-Mart to purchase all our Easter ingredients.  It was way past bed time by the time we got home, so we put babies to bed and then stayed up late (Like 1:30 am) cooking and cleaning and working on a few other things.  We made Broccoli salad, deviled eggs, a boxed cake...I know, I know, We Cheated..., and baked beans.  It was so much fun cooking and chatting and cackling with my sissy! Love, love, love her!  Sometime during the night a special bunny visited our house and left some goodies for two little people!

My alarm clock rang way too early at 6 am, but I managed to get out of bed and quickly get myself ready for church.  We had to figure out how to get Cole out the door without seeing the goodies the Easter Bunny had left him and Ava....So What Worked??....Putting a blanket over his head and making him walk blindly that's what worked!  We went to Church with Nana and Poppy and Katie and Kellie out in the middle of nowhere, to a teeny, tiny church.  After church we headed back home to see what the Easter Bunny left.  But first we had to make a quick stop through Starbucks. Mmmmm...

When we got home and were walking to the front door, Coley found bunny tracks leading up to the door!  He was so excited to find this clue and even more excited to see where the tracks led to inside.  By the door he also found a bowl of carrots and some carrot crumbs (if that makes sense).  The Easter Bunny also left a message on the white board that said, "Happy Easter Cole and Ava! Love, The Easter Bunny."  Cole was so super excited to go through his basket full of goodies from the Easter Bunny.  He got some new dinosaurs, musical toys, and a ton of candy!  Ava slowly went through her basket with a little LOT of help!  She got a new romper, diapers, 2 bibs, 2 rattles, teething bracelet, a bird figurine, a book, socks, and a new RazBerry!  She has been one good girl!  Then we gathered children, food, and Ava's essentials and headed to Grandpa's house.

We have a huge family, but this Easter was probably one of the smallest family gatherings we have ever had.  Half of the family was spending Easter elsewhere, but the day was still good!  We ate a hearty lunch of Brisket, sausage, broccoli salad, baked beans, coke salad, baked new potatoes, carrots, and Greek bread.  Then the Easter Bunny hid a ton of eggs in the front yard.  The kids searched high and low, but eventually they found all the eggs.  The Easter Bunny hid some special toys for Ava.  She had a blast crawling around on the ground picking up her new toys!

Ava eating Easter Lunch in the high
 chair that everyone and their mom has used.
Literally!

The Hunters

Sweet Lyla bringing eggs to Ava, 

Ava hunting.

She found something!

Ava and Lyla.

After we left Grandpa's house, we (Mommy, Daddy, and Ava) ran to Whole Foods to get Ava some fruits and vegetables to make more baby food.  Then we went to my dad's, a.k.a. PaPa's to visit with him and Grandma.  We had had a long day, so we didn't stay long before we headed home!

Looong day!  But so blessed to share it with family and even more blessed that Jesus died for us!

Making Baby Food: Apples

I am out of baby food!  I had to purchase a few jars of food (2 pears, 1 banana, and 2 green beans) this weekend. With Easter and our week stay at Nana's, I was out of food and have had absolutely no time to make any.  But that's okay.  Life keeps everyone busy and I can't stop everything to make some pureed something.  So Ava ate her first jar of baby food on Sunday!  So this week I plan on making one food each day.  On to the apples.....

1. Buy Organic Apples.

2.  Rinse and Peel One Apple.

 

3.  Cut apple into quarters and remove core.

4.  Cut the quarters into cubes and put in pot of water.

       5.Repeat steps 2-4 for each apple.  I did one apple at a time because I did not want them to          start browning before I got them in the water.

       6.  Boil Apples until soft, stirring frequently.

7.  Strain apples and put in a food processor.  Save the liquid! 

8.  Puree in food processor for several minutes.

9.  Pour pureed apples into a bowl and add liquid for desired consistency.(If I had leftover liquid I would have frozen cubes of apple water to throw into a sippy cup.)

         10.  Scoop pureed apples into ice cube trays.

11.  Wrap trays in plastic wrap and place in freezer over night.

       12.  Run warm water over the bottom of the tray so the cubes will pop out easily.  Put cubes      in a labeled and dated bag and toss back into freezer.

Super, Easy, and Yummy! 

 I helped myself to some too!

Ava loves her some yummy, yummy apples too!

My Secret

Last week I wasn't home.  Ava and I packed up to go stay with Nana at her house because Poppy went to India for work!  So what did we do for an entire week.... We decluttered her entire house and cleaned and cleaned.  So why am I so happy- 1. Ava and I helped Nana do the impossible and 2.  I got first dibs on the giveaways!

One of the many things I walked away with are these Beautiful Shoes-

Brand Spankin New Michael Kors Shoes!

My secret- So this morning I put them on and walked around my house in these gorgeous, comfortable Babies!

Reasons Why I Wore Heels While Taking Care of A Baby:

1. The shoes were sitting in my living room waiting to be put away. If I had them on my feet then I wouldn't have to put them away.
2. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wearing heels to give yourself a self-esteem boost! 
3. Wearing heels does make you feel sexy... even if you are wearing a t-shirt and unwashed hair in a pony tail.
4. I figured if I start wearing them now, I can train myself to be able to wear them in public in a few months.
5. They kinda make a much needed pedicure not as obvious.
6. They are pretty shoes and what girl can resist some pretty shoes?!?

MIA

So I have been MIA for the last two weeks.  I've been extremely busy and I haven't been home for the last week, so that's my excuse.  Today I will try to post a few of the blogs I have been working on.  That and a few other things- like a weeks worth of laundry, unpacking from our little stay away from home, taking more Easter Pictures of my little love in her Easter dress, making baby food because I have almost run out, and hopefully organizing my coupon hoard.  We'll see if this is a productive day!

So Long Kroger!

Many of you have heard that Kroger is discontinuing their double and triple coupon program effective Wednesday, April 13, 2011.  When I heard the news I was completely heartbroken.  Devastated to say the least.  I didn't want to believe it.  I Googled it and looked on coupon blogs and it was true.  For about a week, I would just randomly say aloud, "What am I going to do?"  Couponing has been a major factor in allowing me to stay home with my daughter.  Actually, if it weren't for couponing we would not be able to survive.  

So tonight, I had some "Me" time and I went to Kroger.  I brought all the coupons that I had wanted to use before the doubling and tripling ended.  I grabbed a Starbucks and travelled up and down the aisles- Soaking in my last shopping experience.  By the time I had reached the check out, I had convinced myself that I could still get good deals and that I didn't need to completely Quit Kroger.

Then the checkout began.  Worst experience I have ever had at Kroger.  They refused to accept one of my coupons, so I made them take the item off my order.  Then, the checker refused to take another coupon, so I was like, "Fine, I'll go to Customer Service."  Then the bagger used two carts for all my groceries and did not offer to help me out.  Ummm... How am I supposed to get two carts full of stuff all the way to the back of the parking lot where my car is????   Then after I stood in line at Customer Service the guy made me pull several of my frozen items out of bags, so I could prove that I had 15 dollars of frozen items to get my 3 dollars off.  I had already circled the items on my receipt.  I got my $3.22, rearranged my groceries to fit on one cart, and left.  

As I was driving home, I thought of a song that describes my feelings perfectly...

Kroger- You lost me.  I was loyal to you and unfortunately you have been disloyal to me.  I am moving on.  

The NEVER Ending List

Oh I don't even know where to begin.  I seriously feel like I can't get anything done.  As soon as I mark one thing off my list, I add 2 more.  My house has never looked so out of order.  It's bad.  Like really bad.  And normally I pride myself in my OCD ways.  But for the past week I have been in a funk.  And it doesn't help that Miss Ava has been moody all week.  I really think we may have a tooth finally coming in...Finally!!  

So does the list ever end of tasks, and cleaning, and laundry, and errands, and child rearing?

How I wish it did...But I know it never will....

A girl can wish though. 

Making Baby Food: Green Beans

This week Ava is going to try Green Beans!  Yummy!  So of course I had to make them myself!


How to Make Your Own Green Bean Baby Food:


1.  Buy Green Beans.  I got Organic Green Beans from Kroger.

2.  Trim the ends of the beans.  I used kitchen shears, so I could do it a little faster.  Also, I trimmed them on the floor while Ava was playing, which was fine until she decided she wanted to help!

3.  Rinse the beans.  A good rinse.  Even though these beans are organic, which means no pesticides :), you never knew who's dirty hands actually picked the stuff out in the field!

4.  Put the beans in a steamer and steam until soft.  Since I did almost 2 pounds of beans, I set the steamer for 25 minutes.

5.   Put half of the beans in a food processor.  Puree for several minutes.  Pour into bowl.   Puree the other half. (If I had used one pound of beans, I would not have had to divide it.)

6.  Put all the pureed beans back into the food processor and add the leftover liquid from steaming the beans.  Puree for a minute or two.  Use this liquid instead of clean filtered water because the liquid from steaming the beans is full of nutrients.

Liquid from Steamer

7.  Next place a sieve over a bowl.  Using a rubber spatula, scoop portions of pureed beans into the sieve.  Use the rubber spatula to press the beans through the sieve.  Repeat until all the puree has gone through the sieve.  Some of the puree will not go through the sieve, just discard it.

Discarded Puree

8.  Using a clean spatula, scrape the bottom of the sieve to remove the puree.  Use a clean spatula! You do not want to cross contaminate the puree that has been pressed through the sieve with the puree that has not gone through the sieve.  (I hope that makes sense!)

9.  Give the puree one good stir and scoop into ice cube trays using a cookie scoop.

10.  Wrap the trays in Saran wrap and freeze over night.  I leave them over night, so I know they are nice and frozen.

11.  Pop the cubes out and into a labeled and dated plastic baggie.  Getting the cubes out can be kind of a chore, but if you run some warm water over the bottom of the tray, the cubes will pop out easily.  My brother, of all people, gave me this tip.

Simple!  Easy!  Nutritious!

I am not going to lie.  Making the green beans was a lot more complicated than pears and sweet potatoes.  It was kinda a pain, but worth it in the end!

Ava, on the other hand, did not like her green beans!  After I would put a spoonful in her mouth, she would scrunch up her face and shudder just to get them to go down.  Hopefully after a few days, she will love them!