Weekly Meals [3/18-3/25]

Hey y'all! It's that time again.... time to share our Weekly Meals! 

Monday- Chicken Alfredo and Garlic Bread
Tuesday- Fajitas and Chicken Fajita Rice
Wednesday- Steak, Mashed Potatoes, and a veggie
Thursday- Taco Dip-- it's Appetizer Day!
Friday- Leftovers
Saturday- Tayler's Birthday Party!

Sunday- Grillin' out! Brats, Burgers, and Mac-N-Cheese!

What are you cooking this week? 

Project 366: Day 29 [March 16th]

Tayler is getting her 9th tooth and things are a little rough at night time. You parents out there know what I mean. I gave her some tylenol, but it wore off (I gave it to her too early...) and she was up at 12.. 4... and 6. And she was up for the day at 7:45. EEEEK. Sooo you could say this Mommy was EXHAUSTED. Thank the good Lord for a coffee because it's definitely what got me through the morning, haha! But oh well, Tayler got lots of snuggles and that's what matters :) And since she got me up so early, I took advantage of it and got to cleaning! I figured I'd wipe it out early that way I could relax and hopefully sneak in a nap later with Tayler :)

This is just a random shot of our mud room. Just showing the mopped floors and all that happy stuff :) You all know my love for cleaning! It makes me HAPPY. I just love a good, clean house! And some clean laundry. Warms the heart, y'all! 

Then Tayler and I got ready. Gigi was bringing us over some lunch today! Her work is raising money for Big Brother Big Sister (a WONDERFUL organization) and they were selling lunches -- taco soup, bbq beef sandwiches, and cheesecake. So, Gigi brought us one of those lunches and boy, we had a good time with it, haha! :)

I took a picture of my apparel for today. I don't know why, but I just felt 'pretty' today. You ever have those days, ladies? 

And Tayler looked ADORABLE today. I know, I know.. I say this ALL of the time and I'm probably just too biased, but seriously everyone-- she looked TOO freaking cute today!

What do you think of that smile? She is just freaking awesome. I love spending time with her every single day and I think she looks just BEAUTIFUL.

And she had some cute little white tennis shoes on that I HAD to take pictures of. I just wanted to have a few things to remember how small her feet were :)

Doesn't she look cute in them? hehe! I love that little pony tail on her hair too! 

Then, we packed up Tayler's bags and she went to spend some time with her Gigi and Papaw! They asked if they could take her to dinner, so she went to her favorite place (yes, I really think it is her favorite haha) and then spent the night with them. I am sure she had an absolute blast! They LOVE spending time with her :) 

While Tayler spent time with them, Ethan and I went on a 'date night.' We went to a nice restaurant and oh my heavens, we had a blast! This is going to sound ridiculous, but we played 'I Spy' while we were eating, bahahaha! But we had a great time when we did it! I'd say I won though because it took him forever to guess what 'I Spy something Black' was haha! It was the digits on the thermometer... I'm mean ;)

Here's E sitting and enjoying his food:

And then we went to our friend's house. They were having a St. Patrick's Day parrrrtay, so we stopped by for a few :) I just love these guys! Here's a few pictures of Kyra, Carrie, and myself.

We had to take a second shot because Paige decided to interfere, haha! :) But oh my word, we had so much fun! Thank you Mom and Dad for watching Tayler! We certainly appreciate it! I told all of my Facebook friends this: For those of you with kiddos, don't forget to take some time out for you and your significant other. It gives you time alone which is absolutely needed in any relationship! Children are a wonderful gift, but so is your relationship! Keep it alive with a date night here and there.... and enjoy it! 

It's true! :) Hope you all had a wonderful Friday night!

And now for the prayer today:

Pray that your husband will be patient and a man of peace. Pray that he will not give in to anger, but will allow the Holy Spirit to control his responses. (Rom. 14:19; Ps. 34:14)
(Source)

And the Bible scriptures that go along with this prayer are as follows:

Romans 14:19-21 (The Message)  So let's agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don't drag them down by finding fault. You're certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God's work among you, are you? I said it before and I'll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don't eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love. 

Psalms 34:14 (The Message) Turn your back on sin; do something good.  Embrace peace—don't let it get away! 

Dear God, thank You for Ethan! Please continue to bless him in every way possible. Please help him to be a patient man. I will not ask You to give him patience because I know that trials give us patience, but please just help him be patient in situations. Give him peace in all areas of his life. I know he loves You more than You could possibly imagine! We love You so much! Thank You for everything! In Your name, Amen!!

God bless all of you

and cheers to Project 366!

 

Project 366: Day 28 [March 15th]

Today, our sweet Tayler turned 50 weeks old. Yes, we keep track, haha! 2 more weeks until she turns 1! YAY! I am so excited you have no idea. We have been working to get things together for her party the past few weeks and I think it's really coming together! I just cannot wait to share pictures with everyone :) But anyways-- here's a shot of our 50 week old :)

Isn't she the cutest? She had another little pony tail on top of her head, haha! I LOVE having a little girl. Anyone else out there agree? :)

And today.. we were working on things for the party again! It doesn't appear Tayler was too excited about it..... ;)

hahaha. This picture seriously cracks me up every single time I look at it! :) What were we working on today you might be wondering? The card box for Tayler's gift table :) I wanted to incorporate DJ Lance Rock's boom box into the party some how, so I figured this would be the perfect way in which to do that! 

Not perfect, but I think it works. :) If you aren't familiar with DJ Lance Rock's boom box or 'Yo Gabba Gabba'... here is what it looks like: 

(Source)

Once that was finished, we had a visitor-- Tayler's Gigi! :) And she was in luck yet again today because Tayler was still awake! They had lots of cuddle time and she even brought Tayler some fries. Some sweet Gigi, right? :)

She absolutely adores her Gigi :)

Then Daddy came home and we got Tayler some dinner. She was having pasta shells, cheese, chicken, and veggies. We love those little Gerber Graduate meals, don't you? She thinks she's big stuff when she eats them, haha! I love how messy she gets. I mean, I feel a bit apprehensive, but I enjoy watching her have fun!

Yessss.. I got my new camera out to give it a try. All she was doing was eating, but seriously-- she's cute! Don't you just love that pony tail in her hair? :)

Ethan and Bobby were working on our upstairs  (I'll share pictures once everything is done. You are going to be shocked!) And when Bobby came over, he brought the team jerseys for their softball team. We ordered two shirts for Tayler and me and OMG, they are so cute! They didn't have orange (or pink!) so we had to get Tayler baby blue, but hey-- it still looks adorable!! I blurred out our last name in case you are wondering what that big black box is haha! :)

And we were giggling. Ethan ordered some food and he left his wallet laying on the couch. He came downstairs and saw Tayler and laughed and said, 'You're just like your mother!' hahaha! I know, right? I'm not that way ;)

But she looked adorable doing it. I think she could have gotten anything she wanted after that moment, haha! :)

And then Miss Natalie came over so we  could baby sit :) Her and Tayler had fun playing with Tayler's laptop and other toys. Don't they look cute sitting there?

They were having a blast. Then we had bath time. I got Natalie bathed and ready for bed and E took her downstairs so I could bathe Tayler and get her ready for bed. When I came walking down the stairs, I heard Natalie laughing hysterically. Ethan was waving a pillow and making noises and she was loving it, haha! But when we got downstairs, I think Tayler was jealous ;) So we laid the girls down next to each other and they were both laughing hysterically. It was such a sweet moment! 

We had so much fun with the girls tonight :) Finally-- it was our turn to get ready for bed, haha! Then it was AMERICAN IDOL time! :) I was anxious to see Daughtry perform and of course, to see who got eliminated. If you all remember correctly, yesterday I guessed Heejun going home and I was totally wrong! Shannon went home. But I did pick her to be in the bottom 3 girls, so I was a little close, eh? ;) What did you guys think of the results? 

And now for the prayer today:

Pray that your husband will have an eternal perspective—living in light of eternity. Pray that he will reject materialism and temporal values and put God first in his life. (Matt. 6:33; Deut. 6:5; Eph. 5:16; Ps. 90:12)

And the Bible verses that go along with this prayer are as follows:

Matthew 6:33 (The Message) If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 

Deuteronomy 6:5 (The Message) Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!

Ephesians 5:11-16 (The Message)  Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.  Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins;  Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

Psalms 90:12-17 (The Message) Oh! Teach us to live well!  Teach us to live wisely and well!
   Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—  and treat your servants with kindness for a change. Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we'll skip and dance all the day long.
   Make up for the bad times with some good times; we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
   Let your servants see what you're best at— the ways you rule and bless your children.
   And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do.
      Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do! 

Dear Jesus, thank You for the sweet man in my life. He is my best friend and the person I feel safe with. I am thankful that You blessed me with him! Help him to have an eternal perspective. Help him to put YOU first in his life! We know that if we put You first, everything else will fall into place! We love You and we trust You! Amen!

And Happy Birthday to Tayler's friend Jaylee!

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!

Project 366: Day 27 [March 14th]

It was absolutely GORGEOUS today. I think it's the prettiest (yes, I'm such a girl!) day we've had this year... and guess what my child did? ;) She had a rough night (those darn teeth) and so she took a nap at 11AM and didn't wake up until a little after 2PM. Guess she needed to catch up, right? haha! But I guess I had the windows open so I was still getting a little sun action! :) But, she finally woke up! She ate some lunch (yes, she's needy, haha! The girl sleeps then she thinks she needs to eat! Sheeeesh! ;)) But while she was napping, I brought a little 'sunshine' into our house with Scentsy!

 Havana Cabana to be exact. Are you a Scentsy fan? What's your favorite 'summer' scent? This isn't exactly my 'favorite' per se, but I love the way it makes our house 'feel.' (My favorite Summer-y scent is Sun Kissed Citrus!) If you have never tried Scentsy, I urge you too! It's a safe, fun way to make your house smell amazing! Check out HERE if you want to see more.

 And after lunch, we got ready, and we were off to the park!

I haven't been able to use my camera outdoors yet, so I really wanted to take advantage of this gorgeous day and try it out!

I'm no professional, but enjoying the camera is wonderful!

We love that little girl and we had an absolute blast with her! She's my little adventure girl. She adores being outside and pitches a fit when we bring her inside, haha! We came in after awhile though because we were getting hungry and we all definitely needed to get something to drink!

I bought a Bird's Eye skillet meal at the store the other day. I enjoy purchasing things that do not take long to fix for the 'busy' days that we sometimes have! I'd rather have a 'cheaper' meal at home then run over to a fast-food place, you know? And this one looked phenomenal! So, since we were all pretty hungry I thought I'd throw it in the skillet. All you do is pour the contents of the package into the skillet, turn on medium-high heat, cover, and let it cook for 10-12 minutes. Just stir occasionally! Simple! I let ours cook 12 minutes and let me tell you-- it was as soft as can be! PERFECT! And guess how much that bag cost? $3.68 at Walmart, y'all! Yes, the whole family ate on $3.68 :) Given, there's only 2 of us really eating, haha! But still!

I would definitely recommend them! It was penne pasta, broccoli, carrots, corn, chicken, and a cheddar/ranch sauce. YUM! :)

After that... we went to get some ice cream! Yes, we ate something healthy, then turned around and got ice cream, haha But we were excited to share it with Tayler! :) She LOVES her some ice cream. Can you tell by her face? (Sorry, it's bad quality, but it was taken with my cell phone, haha!)

She was chowing down, let me tell you, haha!

Then Natalie came over! Her Momma was back to work and it was time for us to baby sit :) But we decided to load both girls up in the double stroller and go for a walk. Once we got back, we sat on the front porch with them and just relaxed. It was absolutely gorgeous out and we all wanted to take advantage of it :)  E sat with Tayler and I sat with Natalie. We had an absolute blast!

What a fun day we had! I don't particularly enjoy the heat of Summer, but I am excited to be able to go outside with Tayler! Last summer she couldn't even sit up by herself and this Summer she is walking! It's going to be a blast, let me tell you! :)

We all came inside, got our baths and peejays, and cuddled up to watch some 'American Idol' :)

Do you all have your favorites picked yet? Ethan and I LOVE Jessica Sanchez, Colton Dixon, and Joshua Ledet. I could see all of 3 of them being in the top 3. As for last night.. Joshua tore it up! I think Colton sounds a lot like David Cook. Anyone else agree? And I thought the judges were awfully hard on Jessica. She can sing like no one else in the competition. Be a little nicer, eh? Everyone else did pretty good but I don't think they compared, but I'm probably a little biased ;)

If they do things like they did last week with a bottom 3 guys and bottom 3 girls, I think it will play out like so:

Bottom 3 Guys:

1. Heejun Han
2. Deandre Brackensick
3. Phillip Phillips

Bottom 3 Girls:
1. Shannon Magrane
2. Skylar Laine
3. Erika Van Pelt

And I think Heejun Han will go home tonight.

What are your thoughts? I'm probably going to be wrong because I NEVER get these things right, haha, but those are my thoughts :) 

And now for our prayer today. Are you all enjoying the '31 Days of Prayer for Your Husband?' I sure hope so! I feel like it is really strengthening our relationship, so I guess that's all that matters!

Pray that your husband will enjoy his manliness as he patterns his life after Christ and strong men in the faith. Pray for his physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual strength. (Eph. 3:16; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Cor. 10:11)

(source)

And the Bible verses that go along with this prayer are as follows:

Ephesians 3:14-19 (The Message) My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. 

1 Peter 2:21-25 (The Message)  This is the kind of life you've been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. He never did one thing wrong,
   Not once said anything amiss. They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you're named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls. 

1 Corinthians 10:11-12 (The Message)  These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence. 

Dear Jesus, thank You for my husband. Please let him be a strong man in Your Word! I ask that you touch him physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Let him realize that he is the head of the household and we need him to be spiritually strong for us. Let him trust in You and follow after You so that we can raise Tayler and our future children in that manner. We love You so much!! Amen!

God bless you all 

and Cheers to Project 366!

 

Project 366: Day 26 [March 13th]

Since Tayler and I got all of our house work done on Monday, today seemed like the perfect day to relax! :) We opened up all of the windows (it was 70 degrees here today with an amazing breeze!! Crazy, right?) It's crazy for me to think that we're having this kind of weather right now because the day I went into the hospital to have Tayler last year (March 30th) .... it was snowing! Insane the way this winter has been! Tayler was sleepy today.. she had a rough night sleeping. She's getting her 9th tooth and is extremely restless with it, bless her heart. So she napped while we had two visitors. I forgot to get pictures, but my cousins Leeann and Makala stopped by for a visit!! :) I LOVE having visitors, hehe! Once Leeann and Makala left, Gigi came for a visit. And yes, Tayler was actually awake for that, haha! She is rarely awake when Gigi is here, so this was a treat for everyone! :) We chit-chatted about life and Tayler's first birthday party which I am getting anxious for! 

Speaking of Tay's 1st birthday party... guess what came in the mail today! 

Tayler's bib! I know it's going to get messy at her party, but seriouuusly-- how cute is that?! I had to order it, haha! It's too precious for her not to wear. I mean.. her name spelled right plus all of the Yo Gabba Gabba characters equals perfection!

And we also got her new tennis shoes. Tayler is in size 4's now. UNBELIEVABLE. But aren't these little white shoes adorable? They are going to go great with her Birthday outfit which hasn't been revealed yet! haha! I'm trying to wait until the big day :)

I think they are too cute!

Then we headed down to the ball field so E could play some softball! I was so excited to go down because I know how much Tayler absolutely LOVES being outside! :) PLUS, I was super excited to take pictures with my new camera outside. It was all I could think about. We stopped at Subway first (I got the meatball sub-- it had sounded so good!) and all I was talking about was taking pictures, haha! BUT guess what? When we got down to the field, I got Tayler unloaded, and was checking through my camera bag and guess what I forgot--- THE BATTERY. I plugged it in this morning to charge it and yes, I left it plugged in. UGH. So frustrating, haha! So there.. that went out the door, haha! Fortunately, I still had my other camera with me so I could snap a few shots of my sweet Tayler enjoying the weather!

Isn't she adorable? It was beautiful outside! We had visitors after these pictures, so I got sidetracked, haha! Carrie and Jaylee stopped by :) It was nice to just be able to sit and talk to someone for awhile!

And our sweet baby... she just couldn't make it home, haha! All of that running around and playing wore her out!

 

It was a lovely day! We came home and we watched the 2 episode of 'GCB' that have been on because I'd heard some good things about it!

Hilarious. If you haven't seen it yet, I would totally recommend it. It made me laugh multiple times last night. I don't think they could have picked a better person to play Carlene than Kristin Chenoweth. I just love her! To be honest, the show actually made me think too. Do we hold people to who they were in high school? Do we give people a chance to change? Do we make sure that we see that change prior to deciding 'who' that person is? All things that should really make you say 'hmmm!' :)

And now for the prayer today:

Pray that your husband will choose healthy, God-honoring activities. Pray that he will not live in bondage to any questionable habits or hobbies, but that he will experience freedom in holiness as he yields to the Spirit’s control. (1 Cor. 6:12, 10:31; 2 Tim. 2:4)
(Source)

The Bible verses that go along with this prayer are as follows:

1 Corinthians 6:12 (The Message) Just because something is technically legal doesn't mean that it's spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims.

1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (The Message) So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you're eating to God's glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God's glory. At the same time, don't be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren't as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone's feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too. 

2 Timothy 2:1-7 (The Message) So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!— to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain. 

Dear God, thank You for my husband! You are so good to me... so good to us.. to have given us each other. I am thankful I have found my best friend. Someone that I can be completely myself around. That trusts me and loves me.. for me. Please just protect him. Protect him from the things that could hurt him or cause him pain. Help him choose a healthy lifestyle both in his eating, his hobbies, and his other habits. Give him the will power to have self control. Keep blessing him as he is working out. I thank you for sending him someone that will work out with him. That means a lot to me! Thank You for such a good man! We love You! Amen!!

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!