Big School

Apparently, kids grow up! Ronan started JK this month and just like that, he seems so much bigger! He is helpful and polite and the sweetest boy ever. I couldn't be more proud. 

He absolutely loves school and can't wait to go every day. Nothing makes me happier than him jumping out of bed every morning so eager to start his day. 

He is making friends (not that he can remember anyone's name!) and tells me all about what he's done every day on the walk home. 

I feel so blessed to be able to walk him to and from school each day and to spend that quality time with him. I also cherish the time I get alone with Keegan every day. Even though he is 2 and has the temperament that comes with that age, I am finding him to be such a joy to be with when it's just the 2 of us. That's not to say he's not a joy any other time but I find when he's not with Ronan, he's just that much sweeter. Keegan also started preschool this month and, like his brother, is absolutely thriving there. 

Being the little genius that he is, on his first day, he walked straight past the toddler puzzles and pulled out all the big kid puzzles and immediately put them together. The kid needs a challenge!

Lots of big things happening this week! We are going on Keegan's first field trip to the apple orchard and Ronan is getting glasses! He's picked out blue ones with cars on them and is pretty excited about it! 

Tooth Fairy Pillow!

A friend of mine asked me if I could make a tooth fairy pillow for her daughter, who is about to lose her first tooth. I love making new things so after a quick google search for inspiration, I came up with this!

Complete with a glittery tooth pocket! 

Mexican Casserole

When I was doing my meal plan last week, I came across a recipe I forgot I even had for a Mexican Casserole. My boys love tacos, so I love finding variations on it so it doesn't get boring. I think the last time I made this recipe was when Kevin and I first started living together (so wayyyyy before kids.)

I think this will end up making it's way into our rotaion quite frequently since not only was it delicious and the kids each ate 3 bowls of it, it was super easy to make with a lot less mess than conventional tacos.

Mexican casserole

Ingredients

1lb ground beef
2 cups salsa
2 tbsp taco seasoning
3 cups crushed tortilla chips
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup chopped tomato
14 cup chopped green pepper


1. Preheat oven to 350

2. In large skillet, brown beef

3. Stir in salsa and taco seasoning and simmer 20 minutes

4. Spread tortilla chips in greased 9x13 pan and spoon beef mix over chips

5. Spread sour cream over beef and sprinkle tomato and green pepper over top

6. Top with cheese

7. Bake 30 minutes

Enjoy!

20 Questions

It's been a crazy week around here! Both Ronan and Keegan had their birthdays! Keegan turned 2 on April 9 and Ronan turned 4 on April 15. Where has the time gone!?

Keegan - Age 2

Ronan - Age 4

We also bought a new minivan as our old little car was on its way out. The kids love it and are enjoying having all the space in the backseat.

A while ago, I saw something on Pinterest that I knew I wanted to do with Ronan this year for his birthday. It's a list of 20 questions that you ask them every year on their big day and see how the answers change from year to year. The website says to start at age three, but since I didn't know about it then, we are starting at 4 :)

Here are his answers

Favourite colour - Green
Favourite toy - Bus
Favourite fruit - Orange
Favourite T.V. show - Dora
Favourite lunch - Kraft Dinner
Favourite outfit - Snowman Jammies
Favourite game - Leappad
Favourite snack - Food
Favourite animal - Giraffe
Favourite song - Fruit song (I have no idea what song this is!)
Favourite book - Go Dog Go
Best Friend - Odin
Favourite sport - Baseball
Favourite thing to do outside - Play with a kite
Favourite drink - Orange Juice
Favourite holiday - Valentines Day
What do you like to take to bed - His Guys (His Giraffe named Bear, Spiderman, Batman, and a moose)
Favourite breakfast - Cereal
What do you want for dinner on your birthday - Meatballs
What do you want to be when you grow up - A Dinosaur

Are you Batman?

No I'm Ronan!

For the Love of the Game

Ronan got his first baseball glove today. He is all signed to play both soccer and blastball (a precursor to tball: http://www.playsoftball.ca/pages/on-the-diamond/parents-corner/blastball.php) this summer.

So between Kevin's baseball Tuesday and Thursday, my soccer Friday and Sunday, and Ronan's soccer on Saturday and baseball on Monday our only completely free day will be Wednesdays!

I guess this is life with an athletic family!

I will never tire of this

Binoculars!

What do you do when you have 2 kids who are a little under the weather cooped up on a cold winter afternoon? You make a craft!

We decided to make binoculars today after I realized that I had a bunch of toilet paper tubes sitting in the closet. So I got out the stickers and markers and off we went.

This was one of the easiest crafts to make that both kids could do without my help. All I did was tape two toilet paper tubes together and let them go at it.

Easy peasy!

They're so smart

This morning, like we do almost every Friday, we went skating. The arena near us has free skates for children under 5 every Friday so it's a good way to get the kids out on the ice since it's not too busy. Keegan just sits in the stroller watching since it would be too hard for me to try an help both of them, but my father-in-law had said he would come with us sometime so I can finally get Keegan on some skates.

Anyway, Ronan is getting better and better and today, he hardly fell down at all!

He'll be zipping around the ice in no time!

Meanwhile, Keegan has decided since he can't be an athlete, he'll be an academic. This is him a few weeks ago showing off how he knows all his letters:

At Christmas, I got Ronan a Melissa and Doug floor puzzle thinking he would love it. I was right! But not only does Ronan love it, Keegan has become obsessed with it! He is always asking me to get it out for him, and if it's upstairs, he wants to go up and get it. He plays with it so often that I hardly bother putting it away anymore.

I can't believe how good he is at it.

This weekend is family day weekend, so depending on weather, we might head into Stratford to see my dad, brother, and sister. They are calling for 10-15cm on Monday so hopefully they are wrong!

Organization Station

After my calendar falling off my fridge for the 10th time, and my pen jar overflowing to the point that I couldn't get anything in or out, I knew I needed a new solution. So I pinned the calendar to the wall and set out to make things a little more organised.

Back in September, I had bought the Motherword Fridge Calendar, since between preschool, sports, and life in general, we were all of a sudden really busy! Although I really like the calendar, I was finding that the magnets on the back kept falling off, even after hot glueing them back on.

So today, I did this:

  We have a tiny corner wall in our kitchen that was just wasted space, so I pinned the calendar to one side, and a cork board and pen holder to the other. The cork board is from the dollar store and the pen holder is from Staples and is actually meant for a locker, but it was exactly what I was looking for. At under $10 (not including the calendar) this was a cheap and easy fix!

On a personal note, things are pretty good around here. Ronan is all registered for JK and is also signed up for both soccer and tball this summer. (See why we need the calendar?) We are also thinking about putting both boys into art classes in the spring. It'll be messy but so much fun!

Today is Pancake Tuesday so, naturally, we had pancakes for dinner. Keegan had 2 and Ronan had 4!

Pretending to nap

Pinterest

I, like pretty much every other woman on the planet, am addicted to Pinterest. This week alone, I have tried 3 or 4 recipes that I have pinned! I've also got lots of ideas for my one sisters baby shower that I'm throwing next month and I'm sure I'll find plenty of ideas for my other sisters wedding shower this summer. Up until now, I have only ever posted about the kids, but I thought I would change it up a bit and write little reviews of some of the things I've tried from there. I know this isn't an original idea at all and there are entire blogs dedicated to the successes and fails of pins, but since I had a very Pinteresty week, here goes. Of course I thought of doing this after I had made everything, so I didn't think to take pictures, but in future, if I continue to do this, I will try to include pictures.

Taco Pasta Bake
This one is a simple pasta bake but with taco seasoning and cream cheese. Pretty good, I would make it again. (Original Source)

Dorito Taco salad
Taco Salad made with Doritos. Yummy! So good and much less work and dishes than making tacos. I read some of the comments and made some adjustments to suit our tastes, such as cutting the amount of salad dressing in half and adding salsa. I mean, really, you can't have taco (salad) without salsa! (Original Source)

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole
Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti. I wouldn't make it again. It tasted fine, but it was a lot of work for something that tastes just like spaghetti with meat sauce. Plus, I burned my arm taking it out of the oven! (Original Source)

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
Buffalo Chicken Lasagna. I made this yesterday and it was really good! We even have enough leftover that we are having it again tonight. It was really easy as well. Aside from cooking the chicken (which I did ahead of time) it was about 10 minutes of prep and then it goes in the crockpot for 5 hours. It was a nice twist on plain lasagna. (Original Source)

As you can see, I have had a busy week in the kitchen, with no fails! This is in addition to recovering from, and putting away Christmas, as well as dealing with a bunch of bureaucratic stuff with Ronan's preschool.

So for those of you on Pinterest, Happy Pinning, and for those of you not, I suggest you get on there! (Or not. You may get addicted)