The Crafts

CJ is celebrating her 7 month birthday today. Can you guess who is who? Is CJ baby A or B. Baby A Baby B You can vote in the poll to the right of this post.  Please VOTE!

Kate received a package from GGMa (Great Grandma Smith) last week. It was full of shamrock stickers! Kate LOVES stickers more than anyone I know. They were used up in about 5 minutes.  But boy did she have fun in the process... Kate even shared with little CJ. And later that day while Kate was in her 'office' doing her 'work' where she stays 'very busy,' she wrote me a note.  She presented it to me and then read it aloud.  According to Kate the note reads.... Dear Mom, Thank you for loving me.  I love you sooo much.  Love, Kate Now doesn't that make your heart melt! I love you too, Kate. CJ doesn't write love notes, yet.  Instead she shares her love through very slobbery kisses and by pulling your hair.

Kate LOVES it when she and CJ match. The two are almost attached at the hip. I hope it continues after CJ becomes mobile. Both girls are so cute here. Look at that face CJ is making.

Your kid won't eat? Try replacing their fork with a gigantic wooden spoon. She ate the whole thing after crying that she didn't like the meal.  Ha!  Ha!! (Yes, her shirt is on inside out.  But hey!  She dressed herself without help.  I'll take it!) Your kid done eating and refuses to be patient while you finish? Give them a gigantic wooden spoon.  The toy that keeps on giving... Is your kid super hungry and not capable of patiently waiting for you to finish cooking supper? Give them a mesh bag of prunes.  Instant joy! Is your kid bored while waiting for you to make dinner? Dig out an old sippy cup they haven't seen in months.  Works like a charm!

SUNSHINE AND PARKS!

Green milk for breakfast! Kate's reaction....'Wow!' The effects of green milk. I surprised Kate with shamrocks.  Some were hung around the house. Others she handed out to mom, dad, CJ and Baxter the cat. My sad attempt at making cute St. Patrick's Day cupcakes.  Instead they look mossy.  But they didn't taste too bad!

We were invited for dinner at the Craft Farm. That is where Matt's folks, Mike and LeAnn, live.  It is also where Matt grew up. The reason for the invite...Michael was back in town. Here is the guest of honor holding CJ. Little mermaid came for a visit,too. Kate & Grandpa Craft having some snuggle time. Grandma Craft & Kate playing computer games.  Well...Kate playing computer games while Grandma Craft helps. Kate may only be 3 but she knows how to run a computer.  How is that possible? Watching a little tv. Matt is proud of that button.  Even if he did borrow it from Grandpa Craft. I am also noticing a gray shirt theme. Thanks Mike and LeAnn for having us over for dinner!

March Madness is a special time of year in our house. Matt takes off Thursday and Friday afternoons; the first two days of the tournament. He brings home take out food and we watch basketball until the sun goes down. We also fill out our tournament brackets. I love it. This is Kate's first year completing a bracket and she is proud. Matt made her picks for her for the first round but let her choose as she pleased for any subsequent rounds. Happy March Madness to you, too!

Meal planning is brilliant! I spent only $38 bucks before taxes. Of course, it helps significantly that we had a lot of the necessary items in our cupboards. I only had to purchase one meat item. Here is what I bought: 2 boxes Kashi cereal (Matt & Kate's fav) unbleached flour 2 x 28 oz cans diced tomatoes pizza sauce can green chiles couscous sour cream half n half sausage 3 apples 4 lb bag of oranges (they were on sale) 1 yellow squash 1 pkg fresh mushrooms bananas organic, fresh baby spinach (Kate loves it...can you believe that!) 2 gallons of milk All of this plus what is already in our cupboards will make meals for the week. However, Matt is going to Sam's to buy some chicken in bulk.  So maybe I should count that, too. I'm so proud that I successfully planned and shopped for a week of meals. I normally fly by the seat of my pants, which means I buy too much. But thanks to her , her  and her  I have lots of inspiration. Hopefully I can keep it up! Oh, if ...

Guess who dressed Kate this morning? I love Saturdays with the family!

In my effort to better plan meals AND save some money on groceries I created a new gadget on my blog. You can find it on the right-hand side next to this post. It is called 'Eatin' Good' and it is my plan for meals for the week. I intend to use as much food from our cupboards, refrigerator and freezer as I can. Just let me know if you want any of the recipes. I'm happy to share. And I'm happy to read your comments. I also want to spend as little as possible on groceries. So after I purchase all necessary groceries for the week, I am going to share how much I spent. My goal is to keep it low.

So at Mom's Morning Out today someone shared an idea. This idea originally came from an author on parenting and I think it is brilliant. So I previously posted my struggles on encouraging Kate to spend some occasional time on her own. And here is what I am going to try. I am making four 'tickets'. Each ticket is an opportunity to play with mommy. I will hang the tickets on the refrigerator and each day Kate can use up all four at any point in time. Once all four tickets have been 'spent' then that is it for the day. That doesn't mean I won't interact with her.   I still want to have our book time and snuggle time. And I want her to help with cooking, laundry and CJ when she wants to. These tickets are for all those games, dolls and toys she begs me to play with each day. I think this is fair. I hope she will think the same thing. I will let you know. Now for some photos...

Not to get all nostalgic on you, but it seems like I took these pics a few months ago.

The girls and I ventured outside last week for the first time. Well...I mean we went outside to play.  We've been out for shopping trips, etc. Kate has taken some time to play in the snow several times this winter but CJ has not. She was NOT a fan of getting dressed for playing outdoors. She finally settled in and looked like this most of the time... Kate didn't waste any time.  One brush with warmer air and she needed her big wheel. Kate also spent lots of time in puddles... And by the end we actually got CJ to smile.