Update for the Summer

This is what our grass looks like now. I can't believe that the cactus is here! The weather here is ridiculous. We have had CRAZY heat! Breaking all kinds of records. You must wear shoes outside now. The grass is so hard & crunchy that it hurts your bare feet! The cattle are pretty miserable. Thankfully we are prepared and it's not necessary for us to sell off, like so many other farmers are being forced to do. Farmers are running out of grass, hay & water!!!

I included this, so you could see what our grass used to look like. :-(




Bonnie's birthday was last week. I cooked dinner & this is what the dinner table looked like.

Also, we survived VBS! Who knew my daughter was so artistic!

Below is Addi with her new friends. She spent most of the week at VBS with them in the 3rd & 4th graders. Thank-you to Dani & Tim, who let her participate in their class!!!

The 3 of them are B.F.F.'s, according to the older girls!

So far we have had a great summer! I will post pictures from the family reunion & all the cousin time the kids had around the 4th of July.

Addi is growing like a weed... she had her 3 yr check up:

She weighs 40 lbs- 90th percentile

She is wearing 5T clothes!!!

She is talking more & more! I think all of the cousin time has helped her tremendously.

Last week, she stopped Stephen & I to tell us the story of Goldilock & the 3 Bears! It was hilarious!! Thankfully we got it on video.

Tasty Tuesday- Crockpot Lasagna AND First Haircut

Tasty Tuesday- Make your favorite spaghetti sauce. Then mix cottage cheese or ricotta cheese with a beaten egg, garlic powder, lots of parsley flakes. Then layer them in a 6 qt crock pot crock. I use regular uncooked lasagna noodles. Once layers are complete, top with mozzarella cheese. I did this the night before & refrigerated until the next day. Cook on low for 4 hours. AND... lasagna folks! It's awesome, just like I baked it. Yummy. If you cook too long, the noodles are to soft, but that is our only complaint!

Addi's first Hair Cut (Trim) on Sunday April 10, 2011. By her Aunt Bee. :-)

Are you done yet? I'm sleepy.

Where did my baby go? She looks so big here...

La, La, La... how long is this going to take?

Whatever you do.... don't smile.

Daddy... how many pictures are you going to take???!!!

Mama & Aunt Bee, discussing how much hair to cut off. :-)

Tasty Tuesday- Chicken Cobbler

I have made it a point each month to try new recipe's. This is one that I made for the whole family one Friday night during Dad's treatments. I cut up the veggies and boiled chicken the night before. All I had to do after work was put it all together & bake. It was Delicious! I think next time I will leave out the mushrooms. I like mushrooms, but I did not enjoy them in this recipe. Enjoy! Sorry I don't have a photo. Chicken Cobbler From Cooking with Paula Deen, Jan/Feb 2010 Ingredients 1⁄2 cup butter, divided 1 cup chopped celery 1 cup chopped carrots 1 cup chopped onion 1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms 1 cup frozen peas, thawed 2⁄3 cup all-purpose flour 4 cups reserved chicken broth (I used 2 cans of broth) 1⁄2 cup heavy whipping cream 4 cups reserved chopped cooked chicken 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme (I used dry) 11⁄2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 (7.5-ounce) bags complete buttermilk biscuit mix (Bisquick) 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese 1 cup whole milk (I used 2%) Instructions Preheat oven to 400˚. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large skillet, melt 1⁄4 cup butter over medium-high heat. Add celery, carrots, onion, and mushrooms; cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Stir in peas. Set aside. In a large Dutch oven, melt remaining 1⁄4 cup butter over medium heat. Add flour, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, and cream, whisking until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until mixture is thickened. Add reserved chicken, celery mixture, thyme, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine biscuit mix, cheese, and milk, stirring just until combined. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cobbler. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown and cobbler is hot and bubbly. Serve immediately. Edited: Sorry about the crazy layout- I have tried to fix a couple of times and goes back to this. Weird.

My favorite deal last week

I know this is late for my fellow bloggers to find these deals, but I was proud of my savings and had to share.
I needed razorblades. I saw on Walgreen's add that they had a 3 pack for 8.99 with $3 register rewards. I priced walmart's at $10.89! So the next day, I went and picked up a pack- got my RR. I also picked up some dial hand soap that was buy 1 get 1. Then I went back the next day & bought 2 more. Used my RR on toothpaste. Got another $3 + a $1 for the toothpaste!! Score!! I still have $4 in RR to use the next time I go in. I usually try to watch their add, you can sign up online and it will e-mail to you. So that was like getting 3 packs for $21! If I would have bought at walmart it would have been $30, so a savings of $10!! YEAH!!!
Happy Saving!!!

Robins Menu for March

This month I actually planned my menu in February and had my shopping done before March 1st! I just didn't blog about it when I had intended to. This month is pretty busy, with speech therapy twice a week and not getting home until late on those nights. I also committed to cook for my parents on Friday nights (the day they both work), since dad is having radiation treatments and is pretty tired. I will just start with today:
3/8- Pizza @ Mom's
3/9: Taco's- freeze leftovers-- Cook Baked Potato Soup
3/10: Reheat Baked Potato Soup
3/11: Murphy's Burgers (Pioneer Woman recipe)
3/12: Go out- Alan's Birthday
3/13: Farmer's Porkchops
3/14: Crockpot BBQ Sanwiches (Freeze leftovers)
3/15: Italian Pizza Casserole
3/16: Birthday Party- might go out or cook- depends on if we go somewhere
3/17: Sausage Pie (make clover shapes out of pie crust)
3/18: Not cooking
3/19: Go Out
3/20: Slow Cooked Brisket & Creamy Mashed Potatos
3/21: PF Chang Bag Meal
3/22: Chicken Taco's & Spanish Rice
3/23: Crockpot Lasagna
3/24: Breakfast
3/25: Italian Stew & Muffins
3/26: Party
3/27: Chicken Spaghetti
3/28: Chicken & Pasta
3/29: Stuffed French Bread w/ leftover taco meat
3/30: Chili
3/31: Pioneer Pizza
This month is very busy, so there is more eating out than usual. We have Addi's Birthday Party this month, marriage retreat & Alan's Birthday.
The thought behind my madness is on Monday & Thursday- either reheat soup that I cooked the night before or some other meal that Stephen can have ready when we get home. Last month I tried cooking soup Sunday afternoon so we could eat it monday for dinner- this month is just too busy. Also- my daughter will eat breakfast foods, so I try to do that 1 night a week. We have also discovered the frozen bagged meals, which are perfect for Stephen to cook. They won't work for everyone, but 1 bag will feed the 3 of us and even the name brands are around $6, which is still cheaper than eating out. I try to cook foods from scratch when I can and use my crock pot during the week. I tried lasagna in it last month and it is awesome- just like I baked it. I put it together the night before. I used all of the normal ingredients, except I made my sauce a little more watery than usual. I did not cook the the noodles, just broke them to fit and layered the ingredients. I had my mom cook it on low for 4 hours and it was wonderful- I even fed them with it. Try it!!
I need some ideas for Sunday lunches, though. We would like to start putting something in the crock pot before church, so we aren't tempted to go out afterwards (the exception is the sunday's that I'm in the nursery).
I think I saved money this month on groceries... I still need to buy some produce throughout the month, but atleast I don't wander around walmart and grab a bunch of things that we may or may not cook. You should try it sometime, even start out small- a week at a time and see how it goes.
This makes the planner in me so happy!! ha!!

~Major Catch-up~

I am such a bad blogger... :-) Here is a catch-up in pictures.

Addi- Decorating valentine brownies for everyone.

Chocolate brownie face- she helped make them.
Stirred the mix and tried putting the mix in the hearts.

After playing in the snow from Blizzard 2011.

Addi & Daddy made cookies.

I think this was their favorite part- eating the dough. LOL!!

24.5 Inches of snow!!! Craziness.

This is how deep it was in the front yard.

We had to bring baby along to play in the snow.

Here is daddy trying to plow his way to the cows. This was the first day, while it was still snowing. He had to plow a spot for the cows to eat and a trail to water.

Even the tractor kept getting stuck!

Spring has been teasing us. We have had 70 degree weather for the last week and now the temp is dropping and it's raining. I really have spring fever now.

We start having baby calves this week. I will try to post about it. I think calving may be hectic. Everyone is looking like they will drop calves about the same time. We have 20 heifers at our house and 5 look really close! I hope they are good mamas or we will be pulling our hair out. Addi's heifer will have a calf this year too- she is excited about her baby! :-)

Other than staying busy, we are doing good. Addi is talking all of the time and telling us her opinion about everything. Potty training is going great. She wears panties all of the time, except night time. I'm thinking she may be close to not having them them too- she is dry most mornings when she wakes up. Speech is going great- she says more words everyday. She is just growing way too fast!!! She will be 3 next month! Where has the last 3 years gone? She wants a strawberry shortcake party this year. So- I'm going to try to be crafty this year and make some stuff. Ohh- I will try to have a party planning post soon.

I think we have decided to plan a Disney World vacation for next January/February. Then next year she will have a minnie mouse party or a disney themed birthday party. So- if you have any disney suggestions- please let me know. We want to stay on the disney property and use their train system. I'm even thinking we will drive down and sight-see along the way.

That's enough of a catch-up for now- I will try to get more posts going this month!

Have a great week! Wish us luck with calving!!

What we've been doing....

The Zoo: Memorial day weekend, we went to the Tulsa Zoo. It was ok- most of the animal's were inside. I think the local safari would have been more enjoyable for her. However, she did like petting & brushing the goats.

This photo sounded like a good idea- possible christmas card worthy... but it doesn't look as nice as I anticipated. ha! Maybe riding the turtle wasn't a good idea after all!!! :-)

The Corn Maze: A couple weeks ago we drove & drove & drove into the middle of nowhere Missouri with our church youth group to visit this huge maze. There was tons to do! Addi's favorite was playing in the corn. We rode the cow train and hay ride. I can't wait until next year. It was a fun tradition to begin.

In the corn maze.

There was a bridge in the middle of the maze, so you could see all around. This was our photo from the top.

Her first swing set: I went to a local factory/warehouse and attended a sale over the weekend. The had tons, as they were making room to do something else with the building. There were several "prototypes" already assembled -- which is what I wanted! Obviously- my patience paid off and now there is this giant thing in our yard- which she LOVES!!! AND the hubs was over the moon that he only had to re-attach 2 sections & the slide (instead of weeks of labor & anger putting a kit together)!! ha.

Carving Pumpkins: We finished our last pumpkin last night. Another fun family tradition!

In other news: Addi began speech therapy and I'm excited to see improvements in her speech! Even after 2 sessions. She is going to be bat girl for halloween and will try to post pictures next week!!