Easter Basket Goodies

Happy first day of Spring! True to my usual procrastinating ways, I just ordered Easter basket goodies for the kids this morning. Thankfully there are a lot of great items available that will make it here with time to spare. This year's baskets will be filled with clothes, accessories, a book or two, and a few One Spot items mixed in for good measure. Bunny bubble wands are always a hit with all 4 kids. A few eggs filled with Annie's cheddar bunnies and Simply Balanced fruit snacks, and we've got ourselves some baskets.

Day Dress / Gold Sandals / Hair Clips / Beastly Babies / Pink Slip Ons / 

Baby Blue Sneakers / Pastel Striped Tee / Sunglasses / Fox in Socks

Harrison and Brooke are full on reading all the time. Most Dr. Seuss books are ones they can read on their own with no help, so they'll be upgrading a couple of our board book favorites to the full length hardcover versions. New Remie Girl dresses for my ladies and colorful tees and kicks for my boys will mean a sea of pastel at mass on Easter Sunday. Meanwhile, I'll be wearing the same black and white floral dress I've worn the last 3 years. If it's not broke, don't fix it, right?

What do you fill your kids' baskets with? Toys? Clothes? Treats? Any great items I should be looking to find last minute?

Tasty Tuesday - 1 Week of Eating Whole30

You can file this one under better late than never posts, which seems to be a trend lately. I started this post back in October of last year when when of my girlfriends asked me to do a post about what I eat during a week of Whole30. She is now doing her first round of Whole30, so it's way past time I posted this. We have done Whole30 three times so far, and each time it gets easier to do. We've found a few great recipes we really love, discovered tasty things like using a balsamic reduction as salad dressing or olive tapenade as a salad mix in, and I've got meal planning down. I feel like laying out your meals a month in advance is really key to doing Whole30 with ease. No questioning what recipe I want to make, because I already have 30 dinners all planned out, and anything that makes dinner time easier is good by me.

Breakfast is by far the hardest meal for me when eating Whole30 compliant. I love toast, and bagels, and breakfast burritos. I don't love eggs 7 days a week, so I do a lot of fresh fruit and bacon. Lunch is most always a salad or leftovers, and I cook dinner 6 or 7 nights a week depending on how much we have in the way of leftovers. Even though Rob and I do Whole30 together, our menus look quite different, with the exception of dinner. I mention this because there are so many ways to eat Whole30 compliant. We talk alot about what you can't eat, but there's so much you can eat. So, here's a week of Jenn meals while on Whole30. 

Day 1

Breakfast - Breakfast Scramble
Snack - Fresh fruit salad
Lunch - Salad
Snack - Carrots and guacamole, fresh fruit
Dinner - Carnitas Tostones Nachos

Day 2

Breakfast - Fruit and spinach smoothie
Snack - Fresh fruit salad
Lunch - Salad
Snack - Pumpkin Spice RxBar
Dinner - Grilled portobellos and Mediterranean salad

Day 3

Breakfast - Scrambled ggs with guacamole, 3 slices bacon, fresh fruit salad
Snack - Hand full of cashews and 1 mandarin
Lunch - Shrimp, zucchini, and avocado lettuce wraps (leftovers)
Snack - Pumpkin Spice RxBar
Dinner - Post Roast

Day 4

Breakfast - Fresh Fruit
Snack - 2 Slices of Bacon
Lunch - Carnitas Tostones Nachos
Snack - Celery and Avocado Salsa
Dinner - Chicken Zoodle Soup
Dessert Snack - 1/2 Cup of Raisins

Day 5

Breakfast - Fresh Fruit and Turkey Bacon
Snack - Celery and Avocado Salsa
Lunch - Grilled Portobellos and Mediterranean Salad
Dinner - Shrimp and Sausage Skillet

Day 6

Breakfast - Fresh Fruit and Turkey Bacon (See a trend here? ;))
Snack - Celery and Avocado Salsa, Pumpkin Spice RxBar
Lunch - Carnitas Salad
Dinner - Shrimp, Zucchini, and Avocado Lettuce Wraps

Day 7

Breakfast - Fresh Fruit Salad

Snack - Apple Cinnamon Rx Bar

Lunch - Grilled Chicken and Olive Tapenade Salad

Snack - Broccoli Floretes with Tesamae's Ranch

Dinner - Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Bites and Sweet Potato Fries

Most of the recipes we use can be found on my Whole30 Pinterest board. Seriously, what did we do before Pinterest? Some recipes are modified to be Whole30 compliant, like the lettuce wraps and the portobello mushrooms with Mediterranean salad.

We finished up our last round of Whole30 a few weeks ago, and while there are no plans to start another round anytime soon, I still cook complaint a few nights a week. We also have a load of compliant products we have come to love, and things like packaged taco seasoning are a thing of the past in our household. If you have been debating doing a Whole30, do it. It's a real eye opened to how much sugar, colors, fillers are in foods we eat every day.

Scarlett and Clark 2 Years

It will come as no surprise to anyone who is a regular reader of this blog that I am 2 months late getting to Scarlett and Clark's 2 year post. Life, as always, has been busy lately. We haven't had anything special going on, that's just the way life is with 4 kids. It seems like our house is always messy and there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. The only reason I'm finding time for this now is because I'm covering at work for two weeks while one of my employees is in USVI, I'd much rather be there, and 30 dogs are more well behaved than 4 small children. I've loved the couple weeks with the dogs, but I'm pretty excited to get back to life as usual next week. I think Rob is probably pretty happy I'm almost done working too, because I'll stop asking if we can adopt more dogs.

So much has changed in the two months since S and C turned 2. I love this age because it's something new every day. They learn a new color, say a new word, show you they can count to 10. 2 is definitely my favorite. 2 isn't all perfect though, we're learning about time outs, enduring failed potty training attempts, already banning screen time, and vacuuming up more ground into the carpet Goldfish than one person should ever have to clean. Even with all that, 2 is still my favorite.

We introduced a Tot Clock last month after many 6am, or earlier, wake up calls. Both Scarlett and Clark have become masters at crawling out of their cribs. I know we should probably switch to toddler beds, but I'm just not quite ready to let go of naps, and I'm pretty sure naps will be over as soon as they are out of cribs. It has taken us a couple weeks to really get the hang of it, but they finally seem to get the concept of staying in bed until their light turns yellow. It's not as successful at nap time, but they're no longer climbing out of their cribs 5 times in the morning before 7am. Night time sleep is from 8 or 8:30pm until 6:45 or 7:00am. I am really looking forward to the time change this weekend, although when they're staying up until 9pm, I may be singing a different tune.

They are both growing like weeds and are about to move out of their size 2T clothes. It is almost impossible to carry both of them at once, and yet they still want to be carried up the stairs when it's time for bed. They do know how to walk up the stairs upright when they hold onto the railing, but Rob or I carrying them is preferable. Part of me misses having a ranch and never having to carry multiple kids up the stairs at once.

We have cut out all screen time during the week. Over the last couple months we got into the bad habit of letting them watch YouTube whenever we had something we had to get done. If I had to answer e-mails or order dishes? YouTube. Brooke and Harrison needed help with homework? YouTube. The Kitchen needed cleaned? YouTube. It got to the point that they would throw a tantrum when we turned off the TV. I decided we had to cut it out except for on weekends, and even then we try to minimize their viewing time. They still ask for it every day and get upset when we say no, but the basement toys have been getting much more use and I notice they are quicker to fall asleep at naps when they haven't been watch TV for an hour of the morning. They became quite obsessed with a few videos, mainly "Baby Shark," so now we have Alexa play it at least 6 times a day.

Favorite activities right now include: Magna Tiles, puzzles, trains, pretend kitchen, reading, coloring, anything they can do outside, and whatever Harrison and Brooke are doing. They are so much more independent now than they were just a couple months ago, but they still require a ton of energy because they go nonstop. If I step away for 10 minutes to take a shower, they are definitely trashing Harrison and Brooke's room or getting random food out of the pantry. How many times can Clark bring me the same box of cake mix before he realizes I can just open it for him and let him eat it? The jury is still out on that one, but the answer is at least 26 times. I think springtime is going to be really good for these two.

Clark

• is obsessed with stuffed animals. His Build A Bear, Tiny Diny, and Penguin, or Guin as he calls him, are his favorites.
• is turning nap fighting into a professional sport. He usually skips naps once a week, and we constantly have to tell him to lay back down, otherwise he will crawl out of his crib.
• is putting together 2 word sentences. He is still a very quiet child, but he says new words each day.
• screams at a higher pitch than I've ever heard a child scream. When he gets really upset, watch out.
• still really likes to play on his own, but is enjoying playing with his siblings more each day.
• ss starting to develop a thing for Lightning McQueen. It's probably time his first Cars viewing.
• loves cheese, yogurt, and bananas.
• refuses to eat dinner on an almost nightly basis unless it's chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, or take out
• loves baths, especially when he gets to play with his color changing Hot Wheels.
• gives the best hugs and kisses
• has discovered a love for Corduroy books.
• is great with colors and knows most numbers up to 10
• wears size 8 shoes, 2T clothes, weighs 33.2 lbs, and is 35.5" tall

Scarlett

• is baby obsessed. Baby dolls, books about babies, baby everything!
• falls asleep like a champ. If we're in the van for more than 10 minutes anytime close to nap time, she's out.
• is never quiet. If she's awake, she's talking. She's up to 3 or 4 word sentences.
• can reliably count to 10 and knows most of her colors
• will try almost any food I put in front of her.
• avocados, berries, yogurt, and cherry tomatoes are her favorites.
• loves to help me cook dinner and always tries whatever food I'm cutting up, even if that food is raw onions.
• LOVES her daddy more than anyone else in the world. If he's home, she expects him to be carrying her at all times.
• is hilarious and she knows it. She loves to joke and be silly. She also just loves to laugh.
• is very strong willed and cries when you tell her no or she doesn't get her way.
• is a major over reactor. If you touch her and she doesn't want you to, she cries like you hurt her.
• wears size 7 shoes, 2T clothes, weighs 34.4 lbs, and is 35.5" tall

 

Every day with these two is an adventure, and I can't wait to see where their crazy train takes us to next.