Morning at the zoo

We spent the morning at the zoo, and I got a ton of cute pics of the kids in their overalls, so this is mainly a picture post. . .I may try and enlarge some of them in black and white!




The highlight for Ainsley was seeing the Meerkats. . I didn't even know she knew what a meerkat was :)
Thanks Gramma and Grampa for the zoo pass. . it's the gift that keeps on giving :) I was tagged by my faithful blog reader, Bethany, to post 7 random things about ME, so I'll try. .

1. My favorite fruit is the plum, and my favorite meal is fettucini alfredo.


2. In my dream home, I'd have a big white wrap around front porch, but I'll settle for decorating my little home, and rearranging furniture in Ainsley's dollhouse :)
3. I faithfully watch the Bachelor and Rachael Ray.
4. My LEAST favorite chore is laundry (had to include this since it's your favorite Bethany) I'd much rather scrub my floors!
5. I can say the alphabet backwards
6. My feet have grown a half size with each pregnancy, but I haven't gotten stretch marks, so it's an even trade. No, my tummy doesn't look the same though :)
7. I do get mad, even if that surprises you (and I can't ever remember how to spell surprise)
8. My favorite jeans are GAP long and lean. . they even make cute maternity ones. . not lean, but cute :) I guess I'm posting 8 things, ha.

There, I did it. .enough about me :) We took the 5 grandkids to get pictures taken together for the 1st time today. . we survived :)

Just my day

Woke up and we were out of frozen waffles so I pulled out the waffle maker and broke a glass pan in the process. Sweeped up the glass. We were out of Ainsley's favorite cereal and in the process of getting out a diff kind, knocked over my glass of water and spilled it all over my pants. Bought a new duvet cover at Linens n things that I love. . it's browns, whites and light turquoise, but doesn't match my room, so I need to paint. . .am thinking we may want the downstairs room though, so think I'll paint that. . .started to tape and am out of tape. The lesson for my day is to not be out of essential things like waffles, cereal and painting tape!!!!!! That's just my day :)

Well, I'm back and much improved. We spent the afternoon at the park swinging, swinging and more swinging. Giggles and a good time had by all!!!! Lesson number 2 is when the day isn't going as planned, go to the park!

Happy Birthday

Auntie Stephy! We love you! Having big sisters has been a HUGE blessing in my life. . .you're my best friends and am so glad I have you to go through this thing called motherhood with Stephy! I was trying to scan in a pic of our pregnant bellies side by side (me at 39wks and you at 23wks), but it's before digital cameras and I can't figure it out, so we'll settle for the kids saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Circus Time

This morning when the kids woke up they asked if it was time for the circus, and we told them when the clock said 10. So what did Porter do? He changed the time on the clock and said it was circus time! The light up toys, the cotton candy, and the pony rides!! 6 dollars for a few minutes of riding (thanks Grammy and Grampa for paying and for watching the babies!)


This year the human cannonball and the motorcyles were Porter's favorites. The monkey jumping out of his pants wasn't there, so the girls liked the acrobats the best. Ainsley, Taetum and Maddie all want to grow up to be acrobats now :)In other news, the kids found a ladybug and we've named it Landrey the Ladybug. We were planning on letting it go, but can't release it into the snow, so it's still in its babyfood jar home. Atleast it's a better pet than the mouse they caught a wk ago :) Here's Trey checking out Landrey the Ladybug. . .
And here's the snow!!!!!

Finally, from the Swanstrom funny pages. . .

Reading our Bible Story last night Ainsley said "Mommy, we should've named our baby Obed."

Porter replied "Mommy, we should take care of baby Jesus, like we take care of baby Trey!"

At the wheel

Yesterday morning Porter had his little friend, Jordan, over while his mom worked our rummage. I was completely entertained watching the boys use squirt guns to shoot the "eagles," also known as blackbirds. We walked the whole way around the block shooting things with squirt guns, and to a girl with 2 sisters, this was all new to me!! They kept me busy, and was glad Porter had someone else to say "to the rescue" with since his sister just runs away and screams :) Although, Ainsley was at Grammy's for the morning and I definitely missed my girl! Then we went to Jordan's house for the kids to have a lemonade stand, and as you can see, Porter LOVED Jordans John Deere Gator! It wasn't enough for him to just be a passenger. . .we looked over, and Porter was at the wheel, driving off the curb, across the road, and into a cement pile (fast). I wish I had a video clip of that, but I was not thinking about my camera at the time. . I was running.
When we got home, Porter has a little ride on tractor and he said, "Why doesn't mine work like Jordans?"

Then last night the kids perfomed their songs for Wed night church activities. You would've thought it was a Christmas performance bc Ainsley insisted on wearing her Christmas dress. She did get a lot of compliments, and I just had to get over my wanting her to wear a new spring outfit. Have a headache, so off to finish my nap/snuggle with my baby during these afternoon thunderstorms.

More thanks. . .

to those of you who came to Ainsley's dance recital or "preview" as she calls it :) Of course I thought she was adorable, and a little awestruck by all the people watching.

(Taetum and Ainsley)

(Ainsley and Madison)

We got to enjoy spending some time playing with Ryan's parents beforehand. . .

Goodnight! We're tuckered out. . .

Thank you. . .

GooF, for brightening my day!! I love them!

Swimming in the kitchen?

Our kids are so ready for sunny summer swimming days. . .they just couldn't wait, so this morning we set up the pool in the kitchen :) They had a blast with their goggles and beach ball, and I had quite the mess to clean up!The little ones haven't felt their best lately, but we did get to enjoy some time outside this weekend building stairs on our deck! We debated putting a slide down it :) I'm exhausted and needed, so I'll make this post quick and leave you with a smiling pic of Trey. . .

The Little Lamb

Oh my goodness, I am still laughing!! One of my favorite childrens books as a little girl was "The Little Lamb," and my parents saved it and passed it on to us. So tonight as Ainsley and Daddy were reading it, she really wanted him to be Timothy, the Lamb, and her to be Emmy, the little girl in the story. What a dad. . here he is dressed up in white wooly jogging pants, with a leash and bell on, and her in her party dress :) They acted out the whole story, including when Timothy the lamb knocks over the birthday table that he's tied to :) GooF and I couldn't stop laughing!

The pic of the day is Trey in the sink. . .there were 3 in the tub and the little one said, "I'm crowded, I'm going to the kitchen sink!"

"We've Got a Poke at our House!"

That's what Porter told Grammy on the phone today. The poke at our house is Trey's 1st tooth and we are all very excited about it! I don't have a pic of that little poke yet, but here's a short video of Trey discovering how to play peekaboo yesterday :) He was SO PROUD of himself and his big siblings were pretty proud to!

Saturday night we babysat for Maddie and Cohen and I got a cute shot of the girls in their nightgowns. . . .

And then Sunday Porter went grocery shopping with me and the checkout lady gave him a HUGE balloon and one for him to take home to his sister, but I just have to tell you what the checker said, because she made me chuckle. Let's start by saying she was pretty old and when she asked Porter what his big sister's name was, we said, "Ainsley." Most people say "How beautiful." Not this lady. . she said, "That's what my son wanted to name his daughter but after my response, they named her Ashley." Then she said, "But that was thirteen years ago." Atleast she was honest and made me laugh. Here's to the HUGE balloons I had to fit in my van with my groceries. . .

and Miss Ainsley Brielle, I think your name is absolutely perfect for you. . .

Freezer Meals

So I am all excited about freezer cooking. We had a speaker at MOPS and I won one of her freezer meals. Then my MOPS table got together and made meals for our freezers, so I'm going to share the recipes we made! I LOVE baking, but it is always so crazy trying to get dinner on the table while the kids want to play, Ryan's coming home, etc, so here's to my new adventure in being able to just pull a meal out of the freezer!! I made and froze cornbread to go with this meal

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

6T butter

1T chopped onion

1/2 c flour

3 c chicken broth

1 box long grain and wild rice, prepared

1/4 c shredded carrots (thanks Jaymi for shredding all those carrots and making me get the giggles. . I'll always think of you while shredding them :) )

1 c diced chicken

1 c evaporated milk

Prepare rice as directed on box. Saute onion in butter in soup pot. Stir in flour, whisk in chicken broth and stir til boiling. Stir in rice, carrots, chicken. Simmer 5 min. Blend in evaporated milk and heat til serving or freeze til later (we made 8 times this much!!! Yes, that's 8lb of chicken I cooked and cubed, but seriously if you're going to do 1lb you might as well do 8 :) )

Next, we made Chicken with Angel Hair pasta (thanks Julie for bringing me this when Trey was born and sharing the recipe!

4-6 chicken breasts

1/2 c butter

1 packet dry Italian dressing

1/2 c white wine

1 can golden mushroom soup

1 8oz pkg cream cheese

Put all ingredients , except chicken, in freezer bag and squish it all around (is that a cooking term?) Add chicken and freeze. Thaw and either cook it in your crockpot or in a 9 by 13 pan at 350 for 30-45 min. Serve over angel hair pasta! It is DELICIOUS!

Next, we made Saucy Apricot-Glazed Chicken

1cup chunky apricot preserves

1 8 oz bottled Russian dressing

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

4-6 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
Put all in freezer bag. Thaw and cook in crockpot or in sprayed baking dish at 350 for 1-11/2 hrs. Serve over rice or wild rice.

Last, we made kid friendly Calzones.

You thaw Rhodes frozen bread dough and cut 1 loaf into 5 pieces for 5 calzones. Roll them into circles and add ingredients (except pizza sauce). . .hamburger, pepperoni, sausage, cheese, veggies, whatever you like. Fold over and pinch around the edges. Add some seasoning on top, and put in a freezer bag with EVOO :) Just stick these in the oven 350ish til they look done :) Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping.

Now, I haven't frozen this next one, but it's "what's for dinner tonight," so thought I'd share. . my kids LOVE IT!!

2 pkg crescent rolls
1 1/2 lb hamburger cooked

1 pkg sloppy joe seasoning

8oz shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

15 oz tomato sauce

In 9 by 13 pan, lay down 1 pkg crescent rolls. Add meat mixture (meat, seasoning, and tomato sauce mixed together). Add cheese, and put the other package crescent rolls on top. Bake at 350 for 30-45 min.

Enough about meals, here's my cute little guy STANDING!! AAHHHHH!!! Just look at that little tush!

And I proudly have 5 sleeping children in four different rooms of my house :) (or so I thought Porter was asleep) Am taking care of my niece and nephew this afternoon, and thought it was hilarious that the boys were all at the table for lunch LONG before the girls :) Here's a shot of Trey and big cousin Bridger.

Last night my little ones had a slumber party on our living room floor because there was a snowstorm and dad got to go in late to work today. . there are a few perks to snow in April :)

"What a beautiful day for a picnic,"

says Porter :) So the kids made sandwiches, packed up juiceboxes, chips and blankets and we went to a "pretend park" aka our backyard for a picnic. We had our pant legs rolled up tanning our legs.

We enjoyed swinging "at the park"

And whispering secrets

When dad got home we had two other neighborhood families in our yard. . it really was like the neighborhood park :)

I just had to post this pic of the brothers. . look they're crawling exactly the same!

Who Me? Couldn't be!

This post is for you, my GooF, since you tease me for writing about the cute things the kids do, and not about the trouble they cause :) I do have to write one cute thing first. . today we were at playgroup and Porter played the toy guitar while Ainsley sang in the toy microphone. . they are quite the duo! On the other hand, we daily have Porter pushing Ainsley over, and Ainsley egging him on. Today as I was downstairs putting laundry away, Ainsley came running downstairs to tell me there was trouble. I ran up the stairs and on the way heard a thud and a cry. Porter had picked up Trey and dropped him. Needless to say, he was in Trouble with a capital T! By these pics it looks like he's saying "Who Me? Couldn't Me?" It's hard to stay mad at him when he says "I love mommy" with a hug. Here we are off to meet dad. . I ended up carrying Trey, and pushing the other two and the tractor in the stroller :)

By this pic you took babe, it looks like Trey will be following in his siblings footsteps :)