Menu Monday

I am linking up my menu with Rachel today! If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you need to. She has so many recipes & meal ideas! 

Here is what we are having this week:

Monday: Veggie Quesadillas (bell peppers, onions, muchrooms)

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Tuesday: Hamburgers for Ben & G and Zucchini Turkey Burgers for Griffin and I...serving these with sweet potato fries!

Wednesday: Quinoa with spinach and cheese

Thursday: Pei Wei's knockoff Honey Seared Chicken with fried rice

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Grilled Chicken, skillet potatoes, & green beans

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Sunday: Pretzel Chicken, sweet potatoes, & sauteed squash

G's Sense of Style

If there is one thing I have learned about mothering a toddler, it is that not every battle is worth it.  The battle in which I give up on 6 days a week (Sundays don't count) is the crazy outfit Grayson chooses to wear outside the house.  Toddlers have a crazy fashion sense. Well, at least mine does. 

On any given day you can find Grayson wearing snowboots, a men's Steelers hat (no, we aren't Steelers fans), and a truck tshirt. This is his signature look. Okay, fine, sometimes he just prefers a diaper. He will usually be carrying around his weed eater or perhaps even be using a broom as his "blower."

Most recently he has fallen in love with a pair of Crocs that are a size too big. G tells me they are his yard work shoes. Crocs are bad enough, but Grayson makes them even more fashionable by wearing them with socks. It. Is. Awesome. 

I'll be honest, this new found opinion on his wardrobe annoyed me at first. He hates his nice church clothes & I mourned the loss of my big boy wearing jon jons regularly.

Then I realized how ridiculous I was acting. Grayson is 2 1/2 and definitely has an opinion. He's getting more independent by the day & part of that means picking out his clothes. It makes me laugh every day to see what clothes we picks out to play in the yard. The best part is that he wears his snow boots, basketball shorts, "ment mixer" shirt, baseball hat, & sunglasses with such pride.

I hope his personality is always this big & I hope he keeps this confidence forever!

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I seem to cheat on this healthy eating thing every night?
• I attempted to hang curtains this week, spent an hour drilling holes & zero curtains were hung?
• I've already been to the grocery store 3 times this week? Oy. Mama brain at its finest.
• I am counting down the weeks until we are BOTTLE FREE?! I hate that chore so much. It's 11, by the way. 11 weeks until my baby is one. 
• a pile of folded, clean towels has been sitting on our couch for over a week?
• I haven't had my hair done since October? Yikes. 
• I'm 27 and STILL bite my nails?
• I forget I'm still 27 & typically think I'm 28? I age myself. Who does that?
• I bought myself flowers for Mother's Day? Haha. Granted, they were only from Publix....but still. I needed some fresh flowers in my life.
• G's boost seat got cleaned for the first time in about a year this week? Do you know how nasty a toddler booster seat can get? EW.

Menu Monday

I made this week's menu in about 5 minutes so there is nothing new that we're trying. It is all pretty basic! 

Monday: Marlboro Man Sandwiches -- these are Ben's absolute favorite! You can't go wrong with anything made by the Pioneer Woman!

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Tuesday: Chicken and veggie quesadillas

Wednesday: Sweet and Sour Chicken (using this batter) with fried rice (from Whole Foods)

Thursday: Grilled Chicken, roasted broccoli, & mashed potatoes

Friday: Cajun Chicken Tortellini Bake (this got two thumbs up from my husband who HATES pasta. I know. WHAT?!)

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Saturday: We have a birthday party so we will probably go out somewhere afterwards!

Sunday: Cheeseburger for the boys & Turkey Zucchini burger for me!

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Five on Friday

1. Last weekend we promised Grayson we would go bowling. He was so excited and talked about it all morning. Well, when we got to the bowling alley there was an hour long wait. SO, we headed to Chuck E Cheese. It was also slammed. We felt bad so we took him to Toys R Us & let him pick a fun prize. This is what he picked out:

This child is truly obsessed with yard work & it cracks me up. Grayson has played with this wheelbarrow & shovel ALL WEEK. He's our future landscape architect!  

2.  We had Griffin's 9 month pictures taken yesterday & I can't wait to see them. He wore my favorite bubble & it was ridiculously cute. 

It just doesn't get much cuter than a baby boy in a bubble!

3. I've recently rediscovered our neighborhood's gym. They updated the equipment about a year ago & it's really nice! I've been taking advantage of it--might as well since we are indeed paying for it! It's nice to get out of the house for a work out...I need to switch it up sometimes!

4.  I made the Pepperoncini Beef sandwiches last night for the first time & loved them. Ben approved, too! 

The recipe is linked on Monday's post. Go make these!

5. I am loving the Old Navy knock off Native shoes for G! Stride Rite quit selling our favorite waterproof rubber sandals this year but these are working just fine!

They were $14 & are great for playing outside because I can just hose them off when they get all muddy! I think I'll be going back to get one more pair!

Georgia Trip

A week and a half ago I took the boys on our first solo road trip to Georgia to spend time with my family. I was a little nervous considering that Griffin is not a fan of the car.  The ride down went just as I suspected: horribly. It rained for a lot of the drive AND Griffin screamed for about 75% of the trip. My ears were bleeding by the time we got to Atlanta!

 

 Griffin was excited to be out of the car by the time we got there! 

The first night I was in town I was so excited because I got to meet up with some Twitter/blog girls! I love my friends who live in my computer:) 

Amy, yours truly, Hether, Amy T, & Stephanie

We met at Chuy's and I loved getting to actually talk to these girls! It was so fun & much needed after a stressful day of driving. Aren't they all so cute?!

The next day we got to visit with lots of family. My cousin Blakely has three little boys ages 4 and under. We don't get to see them nearly enough & I knew I wanted to get all of our boys together! 

 This is what taking a picture of FIVE little boys looks like--ha! It's like herding cats!

Ashton (4), Collin (2 1/2), G (2 1/2), Griffin (9 months), & Embry (14 months)

This was the best group shot I got that day...these boys were busy! I love that we both have boys. I just wish we lived closer so we could play more often!

We also went to see my Papa and Carol. My boys are so lucky to have 2 sets of great grandparents that they will get to know. Again, it makes it so hard to live far away...I wish my boys could see their extended family more often.

Is this not the sweetest picture? Papa loved seeing his great-grandboys! 

We also got to go back to Zoo Atlanta while we were there. Along with every single school in metro Atlanta. Grayson loves the zoo & was SO excited to go. He loved the rhino because he saw him pooping...typical boy. Ha! 

I had to make the boys take a picture with Willie B. I love the way Griffin is looking at the gorilla! 

Grayson had such a great time & loved seeing all the different animals!

We spent the next day at my Grandmother and Granddaddy's house. Blakely & the boys came up too and it was a fun visit. Granddaddy has a great driveway for riding the plasma car & that is what the big boys did all morning! I can't believe how fast G can go on that thing! 

I absolutely love this picture. I seriously can't believe we have 5 boys between the two of us! They are all so sweet. Grayson has been talking about the boys since we got back & keeps telling me that "I like my cousins. They're nice." We'll have to visit again soon!

I'm so glad we got to go for a few days & spend time with everyone. I don't see my grandparents and cousins nearly enough!

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I can't get into planning Griffin's 1st birthday party? Maybe it's because he is still so "baby" to me...I can't believe in 3 months he'll be 1!
• I let my toddler "mow" in the rain yesterday while I watched from inside? 
• I still search eBay for smocked clothes for Griffin when he clearly needs none?
• I have Dr. Phil on my DVR?
• I wear my yoga pants so much that the seam completely ripped this week? 
• I vacuumed the house this week just because people from CRAIGSLIST were coming to look at our couch? I'm nuts. I know. 
• my toddler now requests to listen to "1994" and "Wagon Wheel" on a regular basis? Good ol' Tennessee boy..
• my laundry sits folded in a basket for a few days after it's clean? I loathe putting clothes away. LOATHE.
• I tore the house up on Saturday night looking for Griffin's knee sock for church? A knee sock. Of course I found it last night. 
• we try to bribe G every single day to use the potty? 
• I had to re-publish this because I forgot to schedule it & posted it on Tuesday night? Whoops. So What! Tuesday. Whatever.