Torah received a little gift from Aunt Jamie and Uncle Andy today and she had a blast with all the fun gifts! Thank you SO much guys, she LOVES them!!
modeling her new flower headband
having fun with her new strawberry scented bubbles
Torah’s First Tea Party April 19, 2010
This past Friday we headed over to our neighbor’s house for a tea party. It was lots of fun and Torah had a blast! It pretty much ended up that the kids just ran around and played while the adults ate and chatted 
That afternoon, Torah went to store with us to pick out what kind of cupcakes she wanted to take to Maggie’s house. She ended up picking out funfetti and wanted purple and blue icing with pink sprinkles So of course, we made those specific ones! She loved help making them, however wanted to eat the batter, then wanted to test a cupcake after they were iced She didn’t quite get that we had to wait until that evening to eat them! Anyway, it was a great time and there were 5 girls there and they all had a ton of fun. I can I just tell you how great it was to just walk out our front door, 2 houses down and we were there! Love it!! Here are a few pics from the evening.
lots of dress up was involved!
Racing to the tree and back!
singing silly songs
ended the evening with Mary Poppins
Not everyone could fit on the floor, so the other half took the bed!
Some Easter Pics April 6, 2010
Some how this year we didn’t get a family picture at Easter, but I did snap a few of Torah. (surprising I know)
I think this is my favorite of the day
- Our church service was held outside (benefit of living in Texas)
loved the back of her dress
She passed up a ton of eggs, just to get to the one on the ledge! BTW, would you guess she is 2 1/2??
We did our egg hunt at home in the afternoon, clearly she was very excited about finding the polka dot egg! Each time she found an egg, she would say, "daddy, I found another one!"
Birthday Party Fun April 4, 2010
On Saturday, Torah went to her friend Zan’s 4th birthday party. I think this is her first birthday party where there were multiple kids at the party. It was fun to see her interact with the kids. It took her a little bit to get comfortable, she had to scope everything out at first The party was at the Houston fire Museum, which was an awesome place. It was the perfect size for a party, not too small, but not too big to where you feel like you might lose your kid! They had a fire truck to climb all over, a front of half of a fire truck to play in and a pole to slide down! Torah LOVED it all! Her little face was so red when we left and she slept great last night Going to that party is making me think about Torah’s party, granted that is in August, but no harm in thinking about it, right? Right now, she is slightly obsessed with playing super hero. Her neighbor friend, Maggie, had a cape and Torah loved wearing that cape the other day while playing. I’ve been looking on etsy and I think I narrowed a few down. So, right now I think a super hero party would be fun, we’ll see if she is still interested in a few months! Here are a few pics from the birthday party (actually, quite a few!)
Zan, the birthday boy!
Having lots of fun!
The kids could drive the truck and turn on the lights
She did lots of climbing!
She loved sliding down the pole, but never really got the hang of it
all the kids waiting for the super hero cake
walking back to the car with her balloon and treat bag, she was very excited that she got to take something home!
modeling her hat that she got from the party
The future??? March 30, 2010
Is this what it’s gonna be like when she’s a teen?? I was talking with my mom the other day and Torah said, “here, let me talk to Mamaw.” She then walked throughout the house talking to Mamaw and singing all of her songs that were playing on her dvd! No lie, probably talked to Mamaw for a good 20 min.
Painting Frenzy March 30, 2010
Last weekend I was able to get away to Target and Hobby Lobby all by lonesome I felt like me head was spinning with all sorts of ideas while walking through Hobby Lobby. I ended up buying some paint and some scrapbook paper. I have plans for the scrapbook paper, just haven’t got to that project. I picked up the paint thinking that it would be an easy way to bring some color into the house. We rent and are unable to paint, so I’m trying to find ways to add color. I’m waiting to purchase some fabric for curtains, so I thought in the mean time I could whip something up. I figured, spending .38 on some paint, couldn’t hurt I ended up painting some frames that we had, I was bored with the plain black frames, so I went to town. For real, I went to town, I ended up painting 5 frames, plus I painted a mat as well! I really do love the way they turned out, not bad for .38 cents! I was trying to find a mat to go with our wedding picture, but the white was not looking right, then I remembered I had some black paint and painted the mat. I think it turned out pretty good! My next project is to makes something with the scrapbook paper, hopefully by next week I’ll have that one up
I'm liking the way it looks somewhat distressed
this picture some how never got unpacked from this move, can't believe we've been married 5 years!
New Recipes March 27, 2010
We’ve been doing really well with not eating out as much. Planning out the meals and only buying what we need at the grocery store has been saving us money, I can already tell a difference! Plus, not having all kinds of crap in the house means I don’t eat it I’ve also been trying new recipes and have found some great ones. Here are a few that I found and used this week.
Meatball Subs
I cheated on this one
- Package of frozen Italian meatballs
- 1 jar Spaghetti Sauce (I used garlic & basil)
- Provolone or Mozzarella cheese (for toppings)
- Hot dog buns from the bakery
I thawed out the meatballs, then I browned them to get a little crust on them. Put them in the crock pot with the jar of sauce and let it simmer most the day. Then loaded up the hot dog buns with the meatballs and added cheese, then popped them in the oven until the bread was crusty and cheese was melted. These were delicious! I froze the leftovers to use later in spaghetti.
Southwestern Cobb Salad
I was in the mood for Chili’s Southwestern Cobb salad, so I just googled it and found a recipe. I think this might have been my favorite of the week. I found the recipe here. I did alter the recipe some. I marinated the chicken in some olive oil, lime juice and some seasoning. That added a lot of flavor to the recipe. I also cut the ranch dressing in half for the dressing (not a huge ranch fan). This salad is very filling and satisfying!
Tatertot Casserole
- 1 lb Hamburger
- 1 can condensed mushroom soup
- 1 can cheddar cheese soup
- 1 pkg tatertots
This is a fairly quick recipe and something I make at least once a month or so. I don’t know why, but I do love this recipe. I sometimes add another half can of cheese soup, just to make it cheesier. Brown the hamburger with whatever seasoning you want. Mix the soups together, then add the hamburger. Pour into a 9×13 casserole dish, top with tatertots. Bake at 350 for about 45 min (depending on how crunchy you want the tots). Let sit for a good 5 min. to let it set up, then serve. Usually serve this with a side salad or vegetable.
Chicken & Cheese Tostadas
Found this recipe at Kraft recipes, a go to site for me to get recipes. All their recipes have ingredients that I can get at a normal grocery store I changed a few things. I didn’t want to take the time to cook the chicken over the stove (lazy), so I threw the chicken in the crock pot and let it cook in there. I added a can of rotel instead of the tomatoes b/c I wanted a little extra kick. I decided to add the leftover relish from the cobb salad to add a little more to the dish when we ate it. This was a great recipe that I will be adding to my rotation!
Weeknight Cheese Quiche
Found here. Have to admit, didn’t make this one yet. We had enough leftovers to last us, so I think I’ll try it tomorrow. It sounds great and I’ve tried a few other quiche recipes from Kraft that were great.
Hope everyone has a great weekend! We are looking forward to spending lots of time outside in the warm sunshine!!
Daddy’s Home! March 21, 2010
The hubs was gone this past week, traveling to the Dominican Republic with G.O. Ministries. A great organization that he has partnered with. Please check out the website, they are doing a ton of stuff, especially with helping Haiti. Funny story, I went to the DR with G.O. my senior year of high school (um yeah, 10 years ago) and Jacob just in the past year has hooked up with them.
We are very glad to have Jacob back home, it was a very long week without him here. And it just so happened to be the hubs birthday today, the big 27. I won’t lie, I had issues with 27 last year, I don’t know why, but that was the first birthday since 21, where I felt I was actually getting older. Of course, it may also been we’ve been married for 5 years and we have a daughter We had a good family day just hanging out. Jacob requested chicken salad and cookie dessert for dinner, which I would have never thought of making. So glad I asked. Torah was very excited about Jacob’s birthday, especially the “cake” and candles. Makes me very excited about her birthday in August, her 3rd birthday!
I’m pretty tired at this point, so I’m just gonna go ahead and post the pics and a funny video Hope everyone had a great weekend!
You can tell how excited Torah is
Torah being the goofball that she is
