Cooking and such!

I have been trying a few new recipes (from Pinterest) lately and I thought I would share them with you! Anything quick, easy, and yummy is a winner in my book! And if you don't have the microwave hamburger cooker from Pampered Chef, get it right away! It makes life so much easier and is such a snap when having to brown beef for casseroles, soups, or whatever! Goes from frozen to browned in like 6 minutes!

Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup (just tried this week and it is sooo good!)
http://livinglifeofriley.com/crock-pot-bacon-cheeseburger-soup/

Cheeseburger Pie (this is super easy and I usually have the ingredients on hand!)
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-cheeseburger-pie/8c78aa78-c368-40fa-8a88-1654640c7525

Hamburger Veggie Crockpot Soup (I just use a bag of frozen stew veggies along with the canned stuff)
http://jenshappyspot.blogspot.com/2012/10/jens-hamburger-vegetable-crockpot-soup.html

Mississippi Roast (this is mouth watering delicious, I omit the peppers and it's still fab!)
http://foodsweet.com/mississippi-roast/

Leftover Roast Beef Casserole (I make this the night after I make the Mississippi Roast because there is always leftover meat)
http://realmomkitchen.com/128/roast-beef-casserole/

Hope some of these inspire you! Since I got home from Christmas, I have only been going to the grocery store (Wal-mart) once a month. I make a huge list, plan my meals for the whole month and just make one big trip. It has been so much easier and cheaper since I tend to buy things I don't really need when I'm at Wal-mart!! We still have to run to the store in town for milk every now and then, but I can handle Merritt there...Wal-mart with him is NO fun, so only having to go once a month is the way to go!! I also love knowing I have all the stuff I need for meals and am not scrambling for ideas at supper time! I have some new recipes I am planning to try in April so I'll keep you posted!! :)

P.s
I forgot to mention we have been on a sweets kick around here lately (it has got to stop once this baby is born, but my sweet tooth just can not be controlled at this point!!) I have been making cookies, bars, and sweets like I own a bakery!! This is my go to recipe, it is AMAZING and easy!! Monster Cookie Bars! http://domesticatedduchess.blogspot.com/2011/08/monster-cookie-bars.html I follow this recipe,
except I either use peanut butter M&M's with chocolate chips or regular M&M's with peanut butter chips. I have a few fun treats to make for Easter, so I will share those soon too!

and since every post needs a pic...here is my silly boy hiding while I look at the sale papers! Merritt, where are you?!!?

Success..well almost!

He only cried for about 10 minutes, then was out like a light! 

and slept all night without a peep!! Woohoo! I had set my alarm for 7:30am because that's when he usually wakes up. I thought he would be up trashing his room, so I figured I would go on ahead and get him/let him out. When my alarm went off, I laid in bed for a couple of minutes, then heard him yelling "loader, loader" I just thought he could hear all the chores going on outside and was talking about it in his bed. So I get up to get him, and he his not in his bed, and not even in his room! I run to the playroom thinking he is playing with his loader...nope! Then I stand still and try to see where his voice is coming from...the GARAGE!!! 

I kid you not, this child was standing in the garage at the door happily watching chores!!! I freaked out, naturally, and made him cry, he kept sobbing "swry Mommy!" First of all I didn't even think he could get his bedroom door open and he was in the garage!! I knew he could open the door to the garage because he often has to do it for me when my hands are full! But he has never opened it without me there, much less gone into the garage without me or The Farmer. I guess all the noises on the farm in the morning were just too much for this curious cat, he had to see what was going on! That was the main point of putting the blinds on the windows, because the windows in his room look out over the farm...maybe that was a bad idea?!?! The nursery is on the other side of the house, so I don't think he could hear as much in the morning and he was trapped in the crib, so that helped! The door to my bedroom was even wide open and he knows I sleep in there, so I guess he thought I was outside too??  AND who knows how long he had been out there, thank goodness he has no clue how to open the door to get outside or The Farmer would have had some extra help this morning!!! Needless to say, we will be getting some safety handles today, so he will not be able to get out of his room anymore! The toddler years are going to be the death of me!! :)

Big Boy Bed Night One!

We are biting the bullet and trying the big boy bed tonight! He was pretty excited in the beginning but now I hear some crying...could be a long night! Stay tuned :)

Girls Night Out!

Yesterday, I went with some of my friends on an afternoon/evening out! It's been awhile and was so nice to get out of the house without diapers and a sippy in my purse! We went to one of our favorite kids clothing stores, where I found matching button up gingham shirts for the boys (so cute, but I didn't really see anything else I was in love with!) then we headed over to a fun coffee shop (where I got my latest obsession, strawberry lemonade..MMmmm) on our way back to the car we spotted a cute kids toy/school supply store and guess what they had...Do-a-Dots markers!!! YEA!! They had the colors we have and some shimmer and florescent ones, but I chose these "brilliant" ones...

can't wait until "craft time" after nap today! Love all these fun colors! I also grabbed a few wooden train track ramps...they had them for sale in separate pieces, so you could pick out what you wanted and didn't have to buy a whole set. He is super into the magnetic wooden trains lately and I have been looking everywhere for ramps without having to buy another complete set of tracks. He is going to love it!! After the toy store, we went out for a fun dinner then headed home to our babes that were already in bed! Perfect girls outing!! :)