Food, it's what we do.

Short meal planning week this week, since I will be leaving Friday to the Oregon Jamboree!!!! Eeeeep, I'm pretty excited, not gonna lie! It's going to be an epic weekend and you should probably all be jealous that you aren't cool enough to go with us, just sayin'...Ok, here we go kidlets, this is what we'll be stuffing our faces with this week. Again, you should be jealous of my family and the amazingness that I cook for them. I'm pretty gourmet.

Monday: Chili cheese dogs, french fries
Tuesday: Taco salads
Wednesday: Tuna steaks, white rice
Thursday: Chicken potato mushroom casserole

Happy Eating!

Fun in the Sun

This past weekend, was probably one of the best that I've had in a long time. Friday I went to my first Kenny Chesney concert with my amazing girlfriends! Saturday was the Bill Cosby show at the D&R with another fabulous girlfriend and Sunday was family day! What could be better?

Let me just tell you, Kenny Chesney puts on an AHHH-MA-ZING show! One of the best concerts I have ever been to! Our girls day was amazing and that was just the cherry on top! Ashley, Heidi, Cari and myself, headed to Tacoma on Friday afternoon, did a little shopping, did a little drinking, did a little concerting. (yes, that's my new word, please don't use it without my permission) I'm not sure that I could have had a better time with any other girls, because lets face it, the four of us know how to have a great time!

Saturday afternoon, while Colin was at work, Cooper and I had a play date with Sheena & Kolton Brown, and Sheena's cousins. The kids played in Kolton's new bouncy house and ran threw the sprinkler! The kids had a blast, I love that my friends have kids around the same age as Cooper, I just wish we had more time to get together with everyone.

Saturday night was the Bill Cosby comedy show at the D&R. I hadn't planned on going to this, but I got a text, literally 50 minutes before the show started, from Nikki, and asked if I wanted to go. I quickly found a sitter, and met her there. Here's a tip, when it's hot outside, and you're in the balcony of the D&R, bring a hand fan. We were MELTING up there. So, we did what any normal person would do, and snuck downstairs and stood against the wall for the rest of the show.

Bill Cosby. Whoa. I grew up watching that show. I love it, and was pretty obsessed with it, I have no idea why I had no intentions on going, but I'm glad that Nikki asked me to go with her, because he was hilarious and well worth it! After the show, we had a late dinner at Casa Mia *eye roll* I can't help but love that stupid place, even though they are run by a bunch of crazy people. But, they have delicious food that is like a drug to me.

Sunday was family day. We woke up and Cooper requested big pancakes, as per usual. So I made him big cinnamon pancakes. Then he got into swim trunks and went outside in the heat (yes, we had one hot day this weekend, it is summer after all, maybe hitting 75+ degrees more than 2 days per summer is normal where you live, but not in good old Grays Harbor)....outside we go, Coopman and Mr. Gill played some baseball and then soaked in Coop's new whale pool I bought him the day before. He picked it out, it has a spot that makes a sprinkler out the blow hole of the whale's head. BUT, he wants nothing to do with that part, just the pool. Um hello kid, I could have saved money and just bought a pool!!! Whatever, he'll learn to love it. But until then, I sent Mr. Gill to Home Depot to buy a cheap $6 sprinkler that you'd just use to water the yard. He hates that too. So no more money will be spent on things to entertain a kid who was playing with the fish net in his pool.

 

I wish every weekend could be like this one. Great friends, super fun activities and my always amazing family!!!



It's what's for dinner

Fellow meal planners. How do you come up with your plans for the week? I always want to do something "different" so that we're not stuck eating the same 5 things over and over. I try and balance out our proteins with what we have in the freezer, but we're running low, since it's between paydays. So lots of chicken and ground beef this week, since that's what we have the most of in the chest freezer. Ready, set, here we gooooo.

Saturday (our "fakiversary")-Crab Rangoon, Lemon Linguini, Roasted Asparagus
Sunday-Mexican turkey casserole
Monday-Egg rolls, white rice
Tuesday (spin class)-Spaghetti, garlic bread
Wednesday (Ashley's b-day party)-Chicken in gravy, mashed potatoes
Thursday (spin class)-Tacos, green salads
Friday-Sweet & Sour pineapple chicken, white rice

Please share your ideas and recipes with me!
Happy Eating!

Things we aren't ready for.

Last night we took Cooper to his first movie, Cars 2, at the Ocean Shores Cinemas. I figured, at 2 1/2 years old, he would be able to sit through a movie, given enough popcorn and lemonade to keep him distracted. I also figured that since he will sit through an entire movie at home, he could do so with a giant screen in front of him, maybe hypnotize him a little....Oh boy was I wrong.

We get seated and he is fine for the first 10 seconds. The lights dim and the movie starts. "It's dark in heya" At the top of his lungs. Awesome, I've got THAT kid. Instead of previews, they had a mini movie, Toy Story. Perfect. He loves that damn movie, so much that he and I can recite the words to you without it playing. Nope, he screams "Buzzzzz, Woodyyyyy" Quiet kid, eat your popcorn. The actual movie starts "Caaaaas, mama, Caaaas" Yes, Cooper, Cars, be quiet and eat your popcorn. 25ish minutes into the movie "Mama, I go potty" Fabulous. I picked the perfect day to start potty training. Granted, he had a diaper during the movie and could have just went, but no, that would be too easy. So, off to the bathroom we go. Pants off, potty protector down, ready GO. Um, nope. "Mama, I silly, I done" Wow, you little liar, what was the point of that. Back to the theater, I try and hold his hand to walk in and he shouts "I do it selffff" and jerks away from me. Who is this kid's mother?? I sure as hell didn't teach him that.

We sit back down to watch the movie "Caaaas fasssst mama" Yes Cooper, they're fast, sssshh. Then he just wants to run up and down our row, because he can't decide which seat is the most fun. I go buy him candy, because sugar calms every kid down, right? He wants to sit on the floor and eat it. The floor of a movie theater, obviously the cleanest choice. Ugh. So after about an hour and a half of this, and my constant apologies to the family in front of us, we decide, enough is enough and we're done. Time to go home.

There was a GIANT display for the Smurf's movie in the lobby. This kid loves The Smurfs. He is MY child after all. So I try and get a picture with the over sized cardboard poster, and he almost knocks it over, trying to lean up against it like a wall. Ok, picture time over. Lets.Go.Home. Needless to say, we won't be attempting another movie for a while.

So, if you were the family or group of teens (yes, group of teens at the Cars 2 movie) sitting in front or behind us, I'm sorry you had to endure Cooper's first movie experience. But, that's what you get for going to see a kiddie movie.  :)

notice Mr. Gill trying to stop the poster from falling over.



Ready. Set. Obsess.

We all have our quirks, mine is my obsessive need to plan everything. When I got pregnant with Cooper, it came with a side dose of OCD. I started meal planning because I was sick of coming home from work and not having something decided or planned out. I am definitely not a person that can just wing it, when it comes to anything. Everything needs to be planned out, I need details, or I will spontaneously combust, or possibly burst into flames. No one wants that, so I plan. 

It's something I never stopped, even after having Cooper, and it's been a huge help in my dieting. I fell off the meal planners wagon (along with the diet wagon, the exercise wagon and any other wagon I was a part of) when I hurt my foot and then went on vacation.

So, I'm challenging myself to jump back on the wagon, since I've jumped back on the diet/exercise wagons, why not this one as well? My new goal is to meal plan every Saturday or Sunday, and post it on my blog, to hold myself accountable. I know most of our plans for the week, by the beginning of the week, and like to plan accordingly. For example, this week, we'll be going to a movie on Tuesday, (Cars 2, Coop's 1st movie, yay!) so I need something fast, so my plan is to throw something in the crockpot before work, so it's ready when we get home.  So, here is our meal plan for the week:

Sunday: Fish tacos, cole slaw & roasted asparagus
Monday: Sloppy joes, sweet potato fries, green beans
Tuesday: (movie night) slow cooker meatball stroganoff, cauliflower & garlic bread
Wednesday: Thai curry chicken, white rice, stirfry veggies
Thursday: (spin class) Homemade spicy mac & cheese, broccoli
Friday: Marinated chicken thighs, mashed potatoes, corn.

Happy Eating.

Fiyawooks.

Wrapping up our 4th of July weekend, The Gill family is sunburned, damn that SPF 50 baby sunscreen.  I'm so happy that summer decided to join us for the holiday weekend. It's about freaking time, yes? YES!

I was worried about how Coopman would do with the fireworks, but when I asked him if he wanted to go buy them, he screamed and wouldn't shut up about it until we got there! I was surprised at how well he did around the loud noises. He covered his ears a few times in the early afternoon on Monday, while Colin and his friends were lighting a few off, and ran into the house to hide, but then after the "bang", would run outside and yell "Yay Daddy, try again!" As in, "do it again" He had a blast watching them as daylight went away and all the "pweetty" ones started. He was requesting specific colors of which "fiyawooks" Colin should do next. It was pretty adorable, if I do say so myself.


 I took an extra day off of work, since Colin's 3 day weekend was Sunday, Monday & Tuesday. We went to Lake Aberdeen today for Coopman's first lake experience. I didn't think he would actually get in the water, but he did, and he loved it. He walked all the way around the area that's zoned off for the kids. I was pretty shocked! Oh and by the way, if you haven't been to Lake Aberdeen in a while (it's probably been 15+ years for me), you should definitely go, it's gorgeous there now with all the remodeling they've done.

When we got home from the Lake, we prepped dinner for the grill, for the 3rd night in a row and filled up Coopman's water table, that he eventually converted into a swimming table. He's so awesome.

I hope everyone had an amazing Independence Day. We sure did. And I'm sad that we can't do these things every day. Damn adulthood, having jobs and being responsible.