Happy Birthday, Dr Seuss!

As most any parent with a child in public school knows, today is Dr Seuss' birthday. I have always loved Dr Seuss, especially The Cat in the Hat. I love when he turns the bathwater pink and then puts pink polka dots on the Mother's dress. I love the fish too :) And how could I forget Thing One and Thing Two? The whole book makes me smile!

Several, several years ago, we started celebrating Dr Seuss' birthday by having green eggs and ham. Now, I don't actually make the ham green (I think it just looks too weird!), but I do make green eggs. Usually we have them for breakfast, but today we had them for supper. Last year I also made Cat in the Hat biscuits. I just took biscuit dough, tinted half of it red, and then alternated red and white layers before baking. The kids loved them! I ran out of time to make them today though.

 And yes, I know they look gross, but they taste awesome! They didn't even leave a crumb of them, they enjoyed them so much! If you decide you want to make green eggs, here's a tip: use blue food coloring in your yellow eggs. Using green food color will make the eggs more of a yellow green. Just don't overdo the blue coloring or you'll have teal eggs!

Last week, my two elementary children celebrated at school all week, culminating in dressing as your favorite book character. My two (2nd grade and 3rd grade) decided they needed to dress up as Dr Seuss characters and went with Thing One and Thing Two. I have to admit, they were pretty adorable!

Welcome March!

Well! Hello there! I know, I know. I disappeared again. Eventually I will get the hang of this blogging thing. At least, I hope so. I thought I had figured out how to schedule the posts so that they would automatically post, but it didn't work. Can anyone help me out there?

I am so happy it is March! March with its promise of Spring, slightly warmer days, and St Patrick's Day. And this year we have Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras too!

Looking at my calendar, it is shaping up to be a busy month as well. There's Dr. Seuss' Birthday, Sunday School, working on the new house, Scout projects, and everything else I do on a daily basis. Oh, and starting the garden! It's not going to be much this year, just peas, potatoes, herbs, maybe some carrots, and definitely strawberries. Most of those things are getting planted this month, so I really need some nice days to prepare the beds.

In other news, DH says that perhaps next year we can look at getting chickens! I've been wanting chickens for ages now and I'm very excited! I just hope I can convince him over the year that we can do it!

As always, I'm going to attempt to be part of NaBlopomo. We'll see if March will be any better :)

Menu Plan Menu: February 17-23

Time for another menu plan :) I find that having a plan makes things so much easier, don't you? If I find myself not in the mood for what's on the menu on a given day, it's fairly easy to substitute another meal from the week. I don't feel committed at all. We have a Scout event on Saturday, so that's one less meal I need to worry about!

Monday:
Pan fried pork chops
Creamed spinach
Crushed potatoes

Tuesday:
Country fried steak
Gravy
Mashed potatoes
Peas

Wednesday:
Meatloaf
Mashed potato patties
Scalloped corn

Thursday:
Some kind of chicken
Green beans
Rice

Friday:
Date Night

Saturday:
Blue and Gold Banquet
Spaghetti
Salad
Italian bread with butter
Cake

Sunday:

Braised pork shoulder
Cottage potatoes
Broccoli

Visit orgjunkie.com for even more ideas about what to have for supper!

Pinewood Derby

A few weeks ago my younger sons Cub Scout Pack had their Pinewood Derby. For those not in the know, the Pinewood Derby is a racing event that the majority of Scouts participate in. They are given (or purchase) a wooden car kit that consists of a wooden block, axles, and wheels. Older boys may cut their cars out with some assistance while younger cubs are usually guided. Once cut, cars are sanded and painted, wheels are attached, and then they are weighted.

The Derby is an all day event, starting in the morning with the younger ranks. At least, that's how our Pack does it. Dens race against each other on a special track in several heats. At the end of the day there is an open category for anyone that might want to race their own car (parents, den leaders, siblings, ect).

The top two winners from each den move on to Districts, but there are three overall winners for each den, plus a winner for most original car. In the case that one of the top winners can not attend districts, the third place moves up. There is also a first, second, and third place for the open category.

It's a fun day, though long, and the kids always have a blast! This year, my youngest daughter decided she wanted to enter into the open category and made "Cheese on Wheels" with the help of her Grandpa. My Bear Cub also made a car that he dubbed "The Rapid Rider". Both did an excellent job with Sugar Booger (my cub) coming in third overall for the Bears and Princess (youngest daughter) coming in first for the open category. She was over the moon!

Snow Day

Not too long ago we got some snow. Now usually our weather isn't too bad. Especially in the winter. Fairly mild most of the time, maybe some rain. We have a few days of frigid temperatures in early February before it starts warming up and we're usually in the 60's by March.

This year, however, has been the exception. We've had colder than normal weather and snow more than once! Mind you, it's only been a few inches, but when you're not used to it, a few inches is pretty fun to play in! And play they did, with the exception of my oldest girl who thought it was much better to stay inside in her comfy pj's!

Even the cat enjoyed it!

Valentine's Day

Hello! Long time, no post, I know! I'm determined to better! Really. There's just a little thing called life that keeps getting in the way. I know part of it is that I need to manage my time better, but there are other factors involved. I am trying to do better. Slowly, slowly. Thank you to all that have stopped by little corner of the world. I hope to get to regular posting soon!

To be honest, Valentine's Day is my least favorite holiday out of everything. However, I do love to give gifts and make holidays fun for my kids, so I put my disdain aside and try my best for them :)

This year we kick off the day with Love Boxes:

Each box contains a balloon, chocolate, lollipop, puzzle, pencil, and scratch n'see ornament (robots for the boys and hearts for the girls). Everything came from the dollar store or my least favorite store (Walmart), so they were fairly inexpensive to put together)

To put them in a loving mood for school I made Chocolate Pancakes (served with whipped cream and Valentine sprinkles) and hot chocolate topped with pink, heart shaped marshmallows for breakfast.

The love theme continued at lunchtime with a heart shaped sandwich, red apple, white cheddar crackers, and a heart shaped brownie.

They eating supper with my in laws while DH and I go out to dinner, so I'm not making anything special for that, but I am picking up some mini cupcakes for them to have for dessert. No picture as I haven't bought them yet!

DH is getting homemade spiced nuts with a handmade card that says I'm nuts about you!

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day?

It's been forever since I've posted a menu here, but rest assured I've been planning every week. It makes everything so much easier when there's a plan in place. Occasionally I have to be flexible (especially if I go to the store and find an awesome deal on something), but for the most part I'm able to keep pretty close to what I've planned. Lately though, I have strayed from more vintage menus and I'm trying to work on getting back on track with them. I think they allow for a nice variety, plus open us up to trying new foods. Here's this week's menu, slightly adapted from my Modern Family Cookbook (1943).

Monday-Corned beef hash, eggs, baked squash, bread and butter, whipped gelatine

Tuesday-Indian butter chicken, baked potatoes, carrots

Wednesday-Pan fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, peas, butterscotch pudding

Thursday-Scalloped potatoes and ham, butter beans, carrots, apple dumplings

Friday-Chicken a la king, cottage potatoes, spinach

Saturday-Date Night

Sunday-Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cocoa puff

Do you menu plan? For loads of menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.com!


Edit-I could have sworn I posted this yesterday!