working outside

Jackson has recently started signing "outside". He signs it a lot too. He loves playing... and working outside. On the windy days, I bundle him up and he plays while I pull weeds. I've been getting a lot of yard work done lately because he wants to be outside so much. He throws a tiny fit when he can't play outside when we go from the car to the house. I'm sure he thinks we are teasing him by taking him outside and not letting him play.

He really likes all the rocks and finding Daddy's tools. He also likes to get into the dog food and give it to Kaeli.

the bike trailer

Here is our bike trailer we got. It's the walmart special. I didn't want to spend too much on it. Nicer ones are definitely nicer, but also a lot more money. But this one works for us just as long as it doesn't break. Yesterday we rode to the library and park. It's a good ride for the both of us - good workout for me and not too long with two fun breaks for Jackson. Today it's raining and even though the trailer has a rain cover, I don't on my bike and I might melt, so no bike riding today. But we are collecting rain water in our buckets!!

Menu Plan Monday

Dan is busy a bunch this week, so dinners will be off a bit. Because of that, my goal was to do a lot of pantry/freezer cooking this week and to have a short grocery list. My reason to have a short grocery list is to one save money and two ride my bike to the store instead of driving. I will tow Jackson in our bike trailer and then have some room to put the groceries too. Mainly we just need a gallon of milk and loaf of bread and a couple other small things. I'm excited to not need many groceries and be able to ride my bike to get groceries! I think on more regular grocery weeks, I'll drive to pick up the main groceries on Monday and then if there is anything else I need later in the week I'll ride my bike. And maybe a good idea would be to plan for one short grocery list a month ...then maybe someday the goal could be two trips a month for groceries in the bike!

But here is my plan for the week:

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: dinner with friends

Wednesday: frozen store bought lasagna (that I've had for awhile now)

Thursday: Pepperoni pizza or frozen meatloaf...can't decide

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: at a wedding

Sunday: at the in-laws for dinner??

love the weather

Today was gorgeous. And there is just something about hanging laundry (today was diapers) out on the clothes line to dry. It's so peaceful and relaxing. Even when Jackson keeps getting his fingers stuck in the dog door and I have to keep walking over to him to unstick them. Probably most of it is just that I'm outside doing housework, which is much better doing it outside than inside (when it's nice out of course). And then just getting the diapers hung to dry in the bright sun that helps bleach out any stains that have accumulated over winter's use. It's just such a great feeling. I wish we had weather like this all year long ... but then I probably wouldn't cherish little things like this as much.

Happy Earth Day!

For Earth Day I am going to try to keep power usage to a minimum and ride my bike and tow Jackson in our new kids bike trailer! We are usually pretty good at turning off lights and other stuff when not in use, but I'm going to try no to even turn the stuff on to begin with. I'll try to limit water usage even more than usual too. Last week I also started collecting rain water. I will use the rain water to water plants outside when we are between rains (which is pretty often in the summer). Another goal is to start watching weather more and plan on using the outside laundry line. I haven't really used it all winter and I want to start using it, but it will just be a little hassle at first during spring to dry laundry between rain showers. And I'm super excited to start using the bike trailer we just bought! Jackson likes it, we've gone on two short rides around the neighborhood and he talks (mumbo-jumbo-talk) and looks all around. Plus he's pretty cute with his new helmet too. I'll put some pics up soon. (And just to note, we don't have our monitor back yet. But a friend brought us an extra one to borrow today, so I'm able to do everything at home and not have to go use the library's computers! So thankful! However it was kind of nice not having the computer around. It's a nice reminder that I don't need to be on it too much.)

Menu Plan Monday

Here's my plan this week:

Monday: chicken packets from Once a Month Cooking

Tuesday: Salmon and potatoes

Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas

Thursday: Taco Pasta

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: frozen chili

Sunday: Stir fry following Joy of Cooking

Dinners this past week

This week, the Chicken tetrazzini was excellent! I doubled it and froze the other half too. It was a new recipe and also the Chicken pesto pizza was a new recipe too. The pizza was also very good.

I've pretty much already have next week planned and the grocery list made too! My goal is to have the week planned and grocery list made on or by Sunday night. Then to go grocery shopping on Monday morning (or sometime during the day).