Pinterest Inspired Food Week

It's no secret that I love Pinterest. I use it to plan future parties, crafts, and most of all to get new ideas for dinner. This week's menu seems to have been more pins than usual. We had some really great meals so I thought I would share so you too could have some dinner inspiration. :)

This first one isn't a dinner but a snack. These were healthy, easy, and a fun item that Owen could help me make. The boys devoured these things! A comment on Pinterest said to substitute applesauce for the brown sugar..DON'T..they won't turn out right!

Source: gingerbreadbagels.com via Shannon on Pinterest

This chicken was sooo good and I don't like mayo.  The chicken was moist and flavorful!

Source: theenchantedcook.blogspot.com via Shannon on Pinterest

This casserole was very flavorful and loved by everyone in our family! It was a little labor intensive but worth it!

Source: sixsistersstuff.com via Shannon on Pinterest

We did this a few weeks back but it's worthy of blogging. This chicken was so amazing! The sauce is "smack your mama" good!

Source: recipegirl.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Last but not least, Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork. This combined a bunch of Jeremy's favorites.. Dr. Pepper, chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, and pork. This recipe is by the Pioneer Woman, who is amazing! This recipe said to cook in the oven for 6 hours but I just put it in the crockpot all day and it turned out great. We halved the amount of peppers to reduce the heat, and it was still spicy! The boys couldn't eat it the first day, but when we covered it with more bbq sauce it tamed it down a lot. This had a great smoky flavor like it had been smoked on the grill all day. It's a definite repeat!

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Shannon on Pinterest

April Date Night

For this in home date night, we each picked a game and we hung out in the floor playing games.  Jeremy 

picked Jenga. Sadly he won when I got a little heavy handed and knocked it over. 

For my choice, I picked Banagrams, my new favorite game.  Jeremy reluctantly played, knowing that this game takes forever with only 2 people.  He was a good sport though! :)

My final WINNING tiles. 

We finished up the evening going over our coffee talk questions and catching up on missed The Office episodes. It was fun to do something a little different! :)

March Date Night

A new month brings a new date card and I personally was really looking forward to this one!

Right after Oliver was born, I needed something to keep me awake during the wee hours of the morning while I was nursing.  I started the Hunger Games and couldn't put it down.  Luckily it was only the first of a trilogy and I quickly made my way through the whole series. Though not a book I normally would pick up, I found these books fasinating!

Needless to say, when they announced there was going to be a Hunger Games movie, I was so excited. I knew this would be our March date night...in fact it was the first night I had planned for the whole year of date nights!

Thanks to our friend Emily, the boys were entertained for the evening and Jeremy and I got to enjoy a night out together.

Tonight's theme was dinner and a movie.

We caught a quick dinner at

then headed over to the theater early. 

It was so good! I felt like it stayed pretty true to the book though it was all kind of gruesome. 

Sadly I didn't take any pictures of us during the date, but we had a great time. :)

Easter 2012

**Please forgive me for the lack of posts lately, we now have a new computer (thanks to a generous friend) so hopefully I'll be able to actually download pictures and post them from our real camera.)

This past weekend we celebrated Easter in Rocky Mount with my parents.  

We did the traditional egg dyeing.  Owen was a little anxious to get his eggs out. 

Some of the finished eggs

  

Owen going through his Easter basket.  He's been very into Cars so he got another car from the movie.

Once Oliver found out there was Goldfish in his egg, all he wanted to do was eat.

He did sit with Papa to open his little car.

We also gave Owen a tee, ball and bat.  He's been into baseball lately too.

Papa and Nana also gave the boys a basket...

They are ready for summer now with cute new suits and towels

Sunday morning we celebrated our resurrected Lord.  We dressed our spring best and headed to church. But not before trying to snap a few pictures. 

Oliver was the cutest thing in his little seersucker suit.

3 Generations

Jeremy and I were coordinating. :)

 Of course, my eldest got in his normal "I don't want you to take my picture" funk. 

This is the best we could do. We finally got him to agree to sit on Jeremy's knee.

We hope each of you had a great day remember what a wonderful Savior we have. How great the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He would give his only Son to make a wretch a treasure.  Our prayer is that you have accepted His gift of salvation.

Oliver @ 15 and 16 Months

Because I'm a slacker I forgot about his 15 month post, so we're going to combine the two post together.

Right now, Oliver is:

• a whopping 25 lbs! The boy loves to eat and can often eat just as much as his older brother. 
• has 12 teeth (4 top front, 4 bottom front, 4 molars).
• walking exclusively now and is pretty fast.  He loves being able to walk so much that he likes to try it out wherever we go.  He likes to roam up and down the halls at the Y, which makes getting ready for the day kind of tricky.
• in love with balls.  He loves to carry, throw, and roll balls of every size. He actually has a pretty good arm!
• saying quite a lot of words. His vocabulary includes: Mama, Daddy, nana (for nana and banana), papa, dog, ball, apple (new word this week and he constantly repeats it over and over), waffle, night-night, bye bye, all done, thank you, cup, and he says something like Tucker (next door neighbor's dog) and brother.  He really will try and imitate any word you say.  I love hearing try to talk!
• LOVES bananas and milk! He must have both immediately when he comes downstairs in the morning. He loves milk so much that he downs the whole cup of milk before he eats anything at his meals. If I let him have bananas as much as he would like, poor thing would be so constipated. 
• constantly suffering with a runny nose.  I believe he has allergies, but he hasn't been dignosed with anything. 
• fearless..he will climb on anything, go anywhere, and put just about anything in his mouth. He definitely keeps me on my toes. 

Oliver really is just a fun kid.  He differs a lot from his brother, but that's what makes him so great.  I love that my boys are different and that God gave them both to me. :)

Owen @ 3.5

Our firstborn turned 3 1/2 this week and surprisingly it seems a little sad.  He's getting so big and he constantly reminds me how much of a little person he's become. 

Owen at 3.5:

• is 38 lbs and wearing mostly 3T clothes, but could use a few 4T.  He is such a healthy boy..rarely does he get sick.  (Watch me jinx us now!)
• He is progressing well in his language development. He is talking more and using complete sentences.  He still leaves out articles and will drop the final constant off of words.  As his mom, I can understand most of what he says, but I feel like his translator when we are in social settings. 
• He is very inquistive and will always ask where are we going or what is that. If we watch a movie or read a book, he asks what every character's name is (even if he already knows it).
• has a great memory and is very observant of the world around him.  He often identifies stores/houses/places we have been.  He can tell you who we went with and what we got there. 
• He continues to be a great eater.  He loves all kinds of food; honestly I don't know a food he doesn't like. 
• He is pretty much potty-trained yet he still has difficulty always using the potty to poop. He has done it (finally) but he still poops in his pull-up over night. He is finally telling us when he needs to go rather than us taking him all the time.  Potty training has been a long struggle for us and I'm glad we are finally coming out on the other side.
• The trait I most love in Owen is how kind, sweet, and lovable he is.  He loves to give hugs, kisses, sit in your lap, or hold your hand.
• He also loves to help do things (except clean up toys).
• He continues to love books and wants to read numerous times a day.  He also still loves puzzles and he's really good at them! 
• The boy loves to watch a movie and would do it all day if I'd let him.  We limit his screen time though which causes many tantrums. 
• He recently has gotten into baseball.  He got a glove, tee, bat, and balls now and I love it. 

When asked, this is what he said were his favorites:

• Food: Hotdog
• Color: Blue
• Sport: Basketball (I say baseball)
• Books: Sally (it was the last one we read..I don't think he really has a favorite, right now)
• Person: Daddy 
• Movies: Toy Story 3 
• Team: Basketball (I asked him who is favorite basketball team was then? and he never answered me)
• Friend: Samuel 
• Thing to do: Play all day

He really is such a sweet and fun little man now. I feel lucky to be a his mama and thank God every day that I get to be.