caption needed

Earlier this week, I walked into the living room to find this:

It gave me quite the laugh.  Then I showed Matt and he grabbed the camera.  I'm still not sure how it ended up that way, but we both found it humorous.  So then he posted the picture on Facebook this morning with this explanation:

We honestly have no idea how this grandma ended up in this position--either the cats, Miriam, or Abbie. However, part of me wonders if it was the grandma herself avoiding the car roll-over that you see in the background--Matrix-like.

I thought that was quite clever!  But, I thought it would be fun to see if anyone else could come up with a clever caption to this odd photo.  Ideas?

In other news, I will just jot down my top ten events/thoughts from the week:

1) We all had the flu starting with the girls last Saturday.  It has lingered on through the week and we are extremely thankful to be at the tail end of it.  Yuck.

2) Abbie is walking EVERYWHERE.  I love it.  Some moms dread when their kids become mobile, but I so enjoy it.  I think they are happier, too, because they can get to where they want to be (and sometimes in some clever spots!).

3) Cooking has gone downhill this week.  Probably because we've all been sick and not really eating much anyway.  I'm hoping to resume a meal plan again soon.

4) I am ready for winter to be done.  I typically love this season, but this year has seemed to drag on.  The forecasted 40's for this next week have me so excited!

5) My "read through the Bible in a year" has been going really well!  I am so thankful to be in the routine of reading Scripture again.

6) I have started up rehearsals with the symphony again.  Enjoying that.

7) I can't wait to go outside for a walk soon.

8) I don't mind doing laundry.  I just don't like folding clothes and putting them away.

9) I can't believe Abbie's birthday is coming up so soon!

10) Did I mention I can't wait for spring?

unscripted thoughts

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to update here (again), so I'm just going to write what comes to my mind and stop when I run out of things to say.  This may be a short or extremely long post.  Hard to say.  Our kiddos have been sick.  Not sure where it came from seeing as we've been pretty cooped up the last few weeks.  But we did venture out to the Children's Museum the other night, so that must be the culprit.  As much as I hate to see them sick, we do always enjoy the extra cuddles.  

This little one almost never falls asleep on anyone, so we know she's not feeling well.  

We had plans for the Superbowl tonight, so left the girls with their grandparents while we headed out of town.  They seemed to be doing much better today, so we felt like it would be okay.  But it sounds like they've been extra cuddly there, too.  

I have mixed feelings about the Superbowl.  The Minnesota girl in me kind of wants the Packers to lose miserably, but I also live in Wisconsin.  But I think I still want the Steelers to win.  Sorry Wisconsin family and friends.  I still like you, though!

I'm being called to play "500."  I guess this ends the unscripted thoughts.

updates

Wow, I guess I let last week get in the way of blogging!  I'm not even sure what I was busy with, but it always seemed like every time I wanted to sit down and write a post, something else was calling my name (sometimes literally).  So, here goes...a very brief update on my week of meal planning!  I may have to continue this post later with each of the recipes and include another post with some of the wonderful recipes I have yet to try.  I already mentioned that Day 1 went well, so I will go through the rest of the week.

Monday: Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken
This was a recipe we got from my Dad's cousin Sarah (along with a ton of other recipes).  We really liked it!  It was a nice alternative to other "typical" pasta recipes.  

Tuesday: leftovers
We actually decided to take the girls to the Children's museum that afternoon, so ended up having dinner out (Culver's also had $1.00 cheese curds, so we couldn't really pass that up).  Anyway, the leftovers from Monday were used for lunch on Tuesday instead of dinner.

Wednesday: California Beef Rice Skillet Dinner
We got this recipe from Jen D and I must say, this was a two thumb's up for my hubby.  He really loved it.  It was nice and simple and we gave it a little Mexican kick.  Definitely another one we'll try!

Thursday: Marinated Chicken and Sage-infused Potatoes
Well, this recipe ended up getting put off until Friday because I went to MOPS that night (where they served dinner).  I also didn't realize that the California Beef Rice Skillet Dinner would give us enough for leftovers, so everyone else ate that again.

Friday: leftovers
As mentioned before, we ended up trying the marinated chicken and sage-infused potatoes on Friday instead of Thursday.  The marinated chicken is something I often do (I just put chicken into our crock pot and pour a dressing/marinade over it and let the crock pot do the work).  We got the sage-infused potatoes recipe from my cousin Sarah and really liked how the sage added a new twist.  These were also cooked a lot healthier than we usually do (not much butter or cream), so I definitely enjoyed that.

Saturday: Stovetop Beef 'n Pasta
Saturday we traveled to the cities to do a belated Christmas gathering with some of my relatives, so we got a nice meal there instead of me needing to cook!  Therefore, this recipe will need to go on my list of ones to do in the future (another one from Jen D).

So, thank you for all the recipes!  Like I said, I was given a lot more that I haven't even had a chance to try yet...so I definitely look forward to using those.

More updates with recipes to come!

success! a meal plan!

Thanks everyone!  I have a meal plan for next week along with some great recipes to use in the future.  I bought just a few groceries tonight of some things I needed to make those meals possible for the upcoming week.  Here's my plan:

Sunday: Baked Mac 'n Cheese and veggies on the side
Monday: Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: California Beef Rice Skillet Dinner
Thursday: Marinated Chicken and Sage-infused Potatoes
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: Stovetop Beef 'n Pasta

We'll see how this goes!  These are all new recipes for me, but they seem pretty simple and delicious.  After the week is up, I will post how it all went and what we thought of our new dinners.  Please feel free to continue passing along any recipes my way as you find some good ones for your family.  I'm sure my family will appreciate it!

easy meal ideas? help please!

Okay, so I know I mentioned in my last post that I wasn't really into the "goal-setting" part of the new year.  However, one thing I would like to do more of this year is meal-planning.  I used to be really good at this: when I had just one child and a little more time on my hands.  Now with both kiddos and the lack of desire to go anywhere in frigid weather with both of those kiddos, my grocery shopping trips are extremely limited or consist of sending Matt to the store for one quick thing so I can attempt to throw a meal together. Hamburger helper, spaghetti, lasagna and chili have been used all too much this winter.  Now I know there are a billion recipes at my fingertips online, but I just don't really have the time to sit around searching for a recipe that is relatively easy, healthy and includes ingredients that I actually have.  So, help?  Please?  Anyone have any good and easy (maybe crock pot or quick meals to put together) recipes that use mainly "staple" ingredients?  I guess that's my other main problem...my lack of staples.  I do have a ton of canned tomatoes, cream of chicken soups, pasta, chicken broth and a spice cabinet that's exploding at the seams.  I also have ground turkey and chicken on hand.  Other than that, I'm pretty limited.  Anyone with recipes that include those items or maybe just one or two more things would be great!  Or, if you have a fantastic recipe that you often use with your family that you think would help me out, please share!  Do help this busy mom who doesn't want to venture out too often.  Then maybe if I get motivated, I can put together a post with all the recipes I got so that you can use them, too!

a Goulet Christmas

If you knew my hubby in his college years, you probably know why these pictures are fantastic.  If not, Matt and Robert Goulet wish you a Merry Christmas!

in a rut

I feel like I've been in a blogging rut lately.  I'm not sure what to post about... not like there hasn't been anything going on, however.  There's always something going on.  I could certainly write about how after coming back from a weekend (plus a few days) at my parents', I spent the next day and a half attempting to catch up on laundry.  Or I could write about how I've somehow managed to make a meal for the last four nights (and include recipes).  Or talk about how I made another batch of my laundry soap last night (but I guess I did talk about that already).  Or just mention how I feel like I haven't had a chance to sit and blog because we've been too busy enjoying this absolutely gorgeous November weather these last few days.  Or even about how I've been listening to Christmas music nonstop for a few weeks now.  But I guess none of those is striking a chord with me.  I even sat at the computer for about a half an hour last night after Abbie was in bed and Miriam was at her grandparents' house... but just couldn't really think of anything.  I then browsed through my iPhoto library hoping that there would be at least some sort of recent photo to share and tell a story about.  But this was all I found:

We had staff pictures at church recently and those were the last pictures imported into our photo library.  I felt like I got my senior pictures all over again --but in a much more condensed fashion.  And with my 3-year-old daughter sitting on a chair watching it all.

I digress.  But I guess I didn't really have anything to digress from anyway.  So, there you have it.  This is why I'm a rut.  Hopefully something much more compelling will be on my mind again soon.

caps for sale

Anyone remember that wonderful book? I'm pretty sure I still have a copy of it somewhere. Anyway, I was reminded of it when my sister-in-law Kim came down to my parents' house yesterday and snapped a few pictures of Miriam and Abbie modeling the hats that she has for sale. So, anyone want to buy a hat?

Matt's TV debut

5PM INTERVIEW: Dallas Holm Concert

A cloudy sunset

I thought I would take a picture of the beautiful "sunset"

A PTG license plate!

I've been meaning to take a picture of a new WI license plate with PTG on it. I found one with one and a fish! Praise to God!

44

...is the number of license plates we've seen on our trip so far (and yes, we even have Alaska and Hawaii!). We're hoping to get those last six in the next three days. I love looking for license plates!

Funny Photo Tag

I was tagged by Jamie from Joel, Jamie and Caleb for this photo tag. I had to find the 6th picture from the 6th folder in my photo library. So, here goes:

It's the top of our wedding cake :) And yes, we did actually freeze this after our wedding and attempted to eat it last year on our first anniversary. It tasted almost as good as the first time... haha.

So now, I tag Katie from Los Jacques, Megan from Life and Wife of a Med Student, Erika from Nelson Family of 4 in Michigan, Jackie from By HIS Wounds, I am Healed and Kim from The Vettrus Adventures. Here are the rules:

Go to your sixth picture folder and find your sixth picture.

Pray that you remember the details.

Post it on your blog.

Tag 5 others, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

Have fun!

Hopefully I'll get a real post up here sometime soon... it's taken me a bit to get back in the swing of things after Thanksgiving. We had a very busy week!

Yearbook Yourself

Matt and I have been having fun with a new website, Yearbook Yourself. It takes a picture of yourself and transforms it to an old yearbook photo somewhere from the 60's through the 90's. Those are our favorites. Aren't they fantastic?