Disney on Ice coming to town!

Have you heard the news?  Disney on Ice is coming to town in October!  The show will be at US Bank Arena (and also at the Nutter Center in Dayton).  I have recently become a Feld Ambassador, and as such I will have opportunities to share discounts, updates & deals with my readers! 
You can read all about the shows at the Disney on Ice website, and here's a cool link for a Disney on Ice coloring sheet.
In just a few weeks I will be giving away tickets to the show, but for those of you planning to purchase tickets in the meantime, I have a discount code you can use to get cheap tickets!  See all the show details below...

Here’s the details for the Wright State Nutter Center performances in Dayton from October 20 – 23:

Thursday 10/20 – 7pm show time
Friday 10/21 – 7pm show time
Saturday 10/22 – 11am show time
Sunday 10/23 – 3pm show time
You can purchase a $10 flat ticket – use the code MAGIC to redeem online. (Offer valid toward regularly-priced tickets in seating – excludes Rinkside and VIP Seats. Offer subject to ticket availability. Not Valid on Opening Night Performance. Service charges and handling fees may apply. Valid up to four discounted tickets. Not to be used in conjunction with any other discount, premium or rebate offer.)

Here’s the details for the US Bank Arena performances in Cincinnati on October 27-30:
Thursday 10/27 – 7pm show time
Friday 10/28 – 7pm show time
Saturday 10/29 – 11am show time
Sunday 10/30 – 3pm show time
You can purchase a $10 flat ticket – use the code MAGIC to redeem online. (Offer valid toward regularly-priced tickets in seating – excludes Rinkside and VIP Seats. Offer subject to ticket availability. Not Valid on Opening Night Performance. Service charges and handling fees may apply. Valid up to four discounted tickets. Not to be used in conjunction with any other discount, premium or rebate offer.) OR
CINCINNATI EXCLUSIVE OFFER – this is valid ONLY for shows at US Bank Arena- It includes 4 tickets to any Disney On Ice performance of your choice, 4 small popcorns, 4-16 oz lemonades and 4 lollipops – all for just $99!!! You can purchase tickets using this special link: http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/180631/877083 and take advantage by clicking on the Family 4 Pack offer. (It’s not valid on Front Row or VIP seats; no double discounts; minimum of 4 tickets per order.)

Stay tuned...more great stuff to come!
“I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows and opportunities to attend private Feld pre-Show events.”

menu plan monday ~ september 26

I'm participating in Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com, and usually each week I present you with our menu from last week.  But this past week Michael was out of town, so my menu is down right embarrassing and I refuse to share it.  There was quite a bit of eating out, meals on the go, and even snacks for dinner.  Instead of telling you what our menu was, I'm just going to share some links for some yummy foods I made last week.  See, our produce share had me busy last week - I made several things to freeze for the winter.  I'm just giddy about taking "fresh" pesto out of the freezer mid-winter, or "fresh" vegetable soup, which I froze in individual serving containers for lunch-packing.  So enjoy the tasty goodness...

Pesto
Lemon Basil Chicken
Fresh Vegetable Soup
Salsa
Banana Bites
Thai Chicken Pizza (ooops, no link for this one!  I'll have to write up my recipe at some point)
Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Quetico

dinner

home away from home

"the bar" - from left to right:  knob creek, four roses, blanton's, & old weller

dad can find a quiet spot for reading anywhere he goes

michael just returned from a ten day trip to canada.  he explored Quetico with my dad and two of their friends.  they traveled fifteen+ hours to get there, and once inside the park they traveled well over sixty miles canoeing, portaging & camping.  the pictures made me wish i had been with them, and his stories kept us captivated this morning as we quite simply sat and enjoyed his presence back at home.  we sure were lost without him for so long!

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:  A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

salsa!

it's salsa season at the farm!  this week's share of produce contained almost everything i needed to whip up some tasty salsa!

Salsa:

3 large tomatoes (cut into large pieces)

1/2 onion (cut into large pieces)

2 Tbs. minced garlic

2 jalapeno peppers (plus any banana peppers or poblanos you have on hand)

3 Tbs. fresh cilantro

2 Tbs. lime juice

a pinch of:  oregano, pepper and kosher salt

throw it all in the food processor and blend...then enjoy! 

we also got plenty of tomatillos...salsa verde!  my food processor is getting quite a workout this week!

don't you ever feed that child?!?

i'm so glad my camera is always nearby for moments like this.  i want to remember this little monkey's crazy behavior for all time.

last week...

last week was a wild & wooly week around these parts...

 sam had an ear infection

 a really really bad ear infection...it's ok, his ottie took good care of him

ella had homework (ok, that's not so wild OR wooly, but she looks cute doing it).  AND (caution: bragging mama moment) she made the Odyssey of the Mind team at school, out of sixtysome children only fourteen were chosen, so it's quite an honor!



 max is enrolled in circus mojo classes at school...he came home with his first red nose

daddy went into the wilderness

henry & mama spent some time taking self portraits with the new(ish) camera - i have to figure out these complicated settings somehow.



menu plan monday ~ in reverse ~ september 19

I am participating in Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com, but unlike most of the other participants who plan their menus and post them that week, I'm always a bit behind, and I post my menus a week later. I do this so that I can let you know if I try a new recipe and it's not that great. I don't want to blog about a recipe if it's no good. Participating in MPM has inspired me to find new recipes for my family, and I hope that when you read this post you can find new recipes for your family!

Here's what we had for dinner last week:
Monday ~ Salmon, Green Beans & Garlic Fries
Tuesday ~ Skillet Red Beans, Wild Rice & Salad
Wednesday ~ Homemade Cincinnati Chili 3-Ways
Thursday ~ Frisch's**
Friday ~ Steak dinner with my mom - girl's night out!  **
Saturday ~ Pizza with the inlaws **
Sunday ~ Brinner!  Whole Wheat Waffles, Sausage & Hash Browns

Extras ~ Whole Wheat Banana Bread

**Daddy is out of town, so Mommy took several short cuts last week!

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:  A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Filling the Deep Freeze

Around this time each year I spend my time filling the deep freeze in the basement.  I started this years ago when I was teaching, I would double & triple dinner recipes through the months of August and September and then fill the freezer.  This is such a huge help to our family during the school year.  Our nights have become crazy & hectic with sports, scouts, and other various activities, and some evenings I just can't seem to get my act together.  Meal planning has been a huge help, and reduced stress.  And now that I have meals in the freezer I can pull out it makes our crazier evenings much more managable. 

Here are a few of my favorite meals to make & freeze:
Skillet Red Beans
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Truckstop Chili
Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Skyline Pie
Fresh Vegetable Soup
Lasagna
Tailgate Casserole
Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos
Italian Meatsauce
Black Bean & Rice Burritos
Sausage & Fennel Pasta Bake
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Barbeque
Lemon Basil Pasta Bake

Here are some other fun things I freeze for easy meals & snacks:
Banana Bread
Muffins
Hummus
Waffles
Granola Bars
Bourbon Slush ;)

What are your freezer meals to prepare?

date night

this past weekend michael and i had the opportunity to go out to dinner by ourselves, it was such a treat!  we were able to escape the house and the bonus was our dinner was paid for by a lovely person who just decided to give us a gift out of the blue (if you are ever looking for a great gift to give a married couple with children - treat them to a date night!!).  my mom came over to stay with the kids.  we are so lucky to have both sets of parents living very close to us, and they are always willing to hang out with the kids.  i'm so grateful for our family. 
since ella was born eight years ago we've always made date nights a priority.  we think that it's important to have time alone together sometimes.  lately it's been hard to make date nights happen...the kids have busy schedules, michael is in the midst of a big project & work is crazy for him, and we are trying to spend less money.  so i was so ecstatic to be able to make it happen on sunday.  we went to indigo, and sat outside on the patio enjoying the almost-cool weather and a few adult beverages.  it was so nice to have uninterrupted conversations, finish a meal without having to cut someone's food or clean up a spill.  and sometimes we didn't talk, just enjoyed the sights and sounds (or lack thereof).  of course, the majority of our conversations revolved around our kids, but it was still nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of dinner with four kids.  we love them dearly, and enjoy family dinners immensely, but there's just something refreshing about reconnecting with each other on a date.  plus it's fun to get a little more dolled up than my yoga pants that i walk in each day.  i even put jewelry on! 

Halloween Inspiration & a Spooky Giveaway (CLOSED)

Thanks for all those who entered to win the spooky cards!  I used Random.org to draw a winner, and it is:
Michelle Meiners, who said...

Our favorite tradition is hosting an annual pumpkin carving party every year. The whole family and friends come over a week or so before Halloween and enjoy food, carving and great memories. B.Y.O.P. bring your own pumpkin :)
Michelle, Email me at:  Katie@Cards-by-Katie.com
And stay tuned, more great recipes, crafts, pictures and prizes coming your way!

One of my favorite holidays is fast approaching!  I'm trying not to let halloween sneak up on me this year, I'm trying to plan ahead to make it more fun.  I have four costumes to put together, decorations to unearth from the basement, and lots of other fun stuff to do.  I've been searching the world wide web today for halloween inspiration, thought I'd share some links with you!

Halloween Baking Supplies
Halloween Crafts
Spooky Shopping
Cake Balls!  (oh how i would love to make these, just afraid i would eat them all!)
A cute halloween toy for babes
Our favorite spooky story
Last year's costumes - I'm not ready to share this year's costumes yet, but I will say that Etsy.com is a great place to browse for costumes!
Pumpkin Muffins

And because I'm in the Halloween spirit, I'm going to have a giveaway! 

A Set of Ten Spooky Note Cards!

I made these spooky little cards and think they would be fun to share some Halloween spirit with friends & family.  They could be used as invitations, put in your child's lunchbox as a "hello from mummy", mailed to a friend you haven't seen in a while, or even as a thank you note!
Entering the contest is quite simple...just leave a comment below sharing your favorite Halloween tradition.  And for a bonus entry, you can share this contest with friends (via email, twitter, facebook, etc) and leave a second comment telling me you did so.  Be sure to leave contact information so I can try to reach you.  The winner will be chosen on Monday, September 19th at 2pm, and will be announced here on the blog.

menu plan monday ~ in reverse ~ september 12

I am participating in Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com, but unlike most of the other participants who plan their menus and post them that week, I'm always a bit behind, and I post my menus a week later. I do this so that I can let you know if I try a new recipe and it's not that great. I don't want to blog about a recipe if it's no good. Participating in MPM has inspired me to find new recipes for my family, and I hope that when you read this post you can find new recipes for your family!

Here's what we had for dinner last week:

Monday ~ Brinner:  Whole Wheat Waffles (delicious!!!) and Turkey Goetta

Tuesday ~ Tacos & Quesodillas

Wednesday ~ Dilled Pot Roast with Wild Rice and Fresh Green Beans

Thursday ~ Mama's night out!  Leftovers for the munchkins

Friday ~ Tilapia with Garlic Butter (filets from Market Day, very good!) and I'd like to point out that with these garlic-y tilapia filets I served garlic fries & roasted broccoli with garlic

Saturday ~ Spaghetti & Meatballs and Kettle Corn for dessert!

Sunday ~ Date Night!

what's cooking at your house?

family movie night

almost every weekend we have a family movie night...it's a nice time to wind-down on a friday evening after a wild week.  last night we tried something new...i made kettle corn for everyone to chow on while we watched the wizard of oz.  it was so scrumptious that i felt compelled to not only take pictures of it, but to share the link with you so you could make kettle corn at your house.  it was a bit tricky to make (there are random popcorn kernals all over my kitchen), but well worth the work!

a new use for my dutch oven!

henry was transfixed with the wizard of oz, this is his uh-oh face for when the wicked witch made her appearance. 

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:   A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

First Day of School ~ Sam Style

Lunch Packing

Last year I wrote a guest post for EasyLunchboxes.com all about the hows and whys of lunch-packing at our house.  I wrote this in December of 2010, and the post still holds true.  I'm still packing lunches for the kids nearly every day (they love grilled cheese days at school), and I've been packing Michael's lunch pretty often as well.  It's a chore in the mornings, and sometimes I'd love to throw in the towel, but I know that it's worth it in terms of money we save and the fact that the lunches are pretty healthy.  And I still pack lunch for the younger two as well, even though they eat at home.  It's really nice to have lunch ready and waiting for them if we are in the midst of a busy morning.  And they think it's cool to have lunch packed like their big sibs.
 Are you a lunch packer?  Do you have ideas you can share?  I'm looking for new fun (healthy) ideas for the lunches!

I try to make the kids lunches fun & cute sometimes.  Sam LOVES "batman" cheese

But if I don't have time to make the lunches fun & cute Sam will take the matter into his own hands and create works of art to dine upon.

Here's some cool stuff I've come across in my quest for lunch-packing inspiration for this school year:

My lunches are not this cute, but I wish they were:

Cute Food For Kids

Wendalonia

Halloween Lunch Inspiration

Some fun recipes:

Darth Vader Sandwiches (I want these cookie cutters badly...and now they have Marvel cookie cutters too!)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (try this with butterscotch chips...yum!)

Sundried Tomato Hummus with Pita (Max loves this!)

Pizza Pockets my friend Amy Q. made

Chewy Granola Bars
Momtrends LunchBox Planning
Real Food Tips:  10 Ways to Switch Up Your Kid's Lunch


Cute Printables for Lunch-Packing:
51 Ideas for Smile Inducing Lunch Box Notes and Surprises
Super Sweet Lunch Notes
School Lunch Notes & Jokes (I can't wait to put one of these in Max's lunch!)

Adult Lunch Inspiration:
Lunch it Punch it

Nut-Free Snack List (I'm adding this in here, because Sam has peanut allergies, and I'm always on the lookout for healthy nut-free snacks)

Leave me some links below to your favorite sites for lunch-packing inspiration!

labor day weekend

how did you spend your long weekend?  we spent quite a bit of time at home doing a little of this, and a little of that.  we also had a family reunion and took a walk by the river.  mama had a very productive weekend, some projects that have been irking me were crossed off the list, and the toilet is actually clean.  michael spent almost the entire weekend working on our rental property, with the help of his awesome brothers.  and the kids were big helpers with house cleaning.  but most of their weekend was spent having fun & relaxing.

max played games on daddy's ipod while henry gave tips & pointers

sam worked on his treasure map.

ella cut some sunflowers for her mama

she was a little nervous about the bees though. 

henry got into lots of mischief (this is the smile that he uses to try to get out of trouble)

michael spent hours working on the apartment - this is his "dexter" room at the rental property

the weather was perfect today for a little baking.  i made these tasty granola bars. 

Menu Plan Monday ~ In Reverse ~ September 5

I am participating in Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com, but unlike most of the other participants who plan their menus and post them that week, I'm always a bit behind, and I post my menus a week later. I do this so that I can let you know if I try a new recipe and it's not that great. I don't want to blog about a recipe if it's no good. Participating in MPM has inspired me to find new recipes for my family, and I hope that when you read this post you can find new recipes for your family!

Monday ~ Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos

Tuesday ~ Savory Lamb Stew

Wednesday ~ Kielbasa & Bean Soup

Thursday ~ Brinner:  Pancakes & Sausage

Friday ~ Skillet Beef Stroganoff

Saturday ~ Jet's Pizza

Sunday ~ Chicken & Pesto Pasta

What's cooking at your house this week?

the end of an era

In the past few weeks we've had some big changes in our house. max went off to first grade…his first time at school all day long! ella has lost several teeth (taking her grand total to five lost). sam can all of a sudden count past 10. and henry has decided he's finished with nursing. that's the one that brings tears to my eyes.


i nursed all four of my children. ella and max did not nurse very long (in comparison with sam and henry), they both stopped around 6 months old. nursing wasn't as easy for me then, because i was working full time, which complicated things. sam nursed for about 11 months, but we had some issues that made it necessary to stop nursing him at that point. henry on the other hand, nursed for over 18 months. he's the only one of my kids that did not take to the bottle very well at all. i was in no rush to wean him, there was no reason to. i knew he would let me know when he was ready to stop. for the past 5 or 6 months he has only nursed in the evening and in the morning.
i loved nursing him, especially in the months after he learned to walk/run/climb, because it was the only time he would stop to cuddle with me. the beginning of the end was a few weeks ago, while we were on vacation. i would take him upstairs to nurse him and put him to bed, when all of a sudden he figured out exactly what that meant. if he nursed then he would miss the party going on downstairs and have to sleep. so, not only would he not nurse, but he would scream like crazy because he knew everyone else was having fun and he wasn't. i figured when we got back home we would get back into our routine. but no, he was finished. and just like that, it was over.

the end of nursing with each of my children was an emotional time, but it hit me the hardest with henry. he's our last baby, and each day he becomes more and more of a toddler. when he was cuddling and nursing in my arms he was my babe. don't get me wrong, he will always be my baby, but this is indeed the end of an era. it's not just about nursing babies, it's the about the harsh reality that my time with babies has come to an end, and that my children are growing up much faster than i would like them to.

so i will allow myself a little time to weep over the fact that my babes are growing up too fast, and then i will go back to enjoying every moment of watching them grow.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.