Celebrating the 4th

We had a great 4th of July yesterday, and I think Jordyn enjoyed her family birthday celebration as well! It was a very fun filled, yet also relaxing family day for the 5 of us! We started out the day by letting Jordyn open her big present (the bike that we've been hiding in the closet for the last six months), and the kids opening their one little goody bag present. Since we had originally planned to have a party for her birthday, I had plenty of party favors to give MY kids as a gift so they didn't feel left out of the whole present thing! Then it was off to the parade in Lincoln for some more celebrating!

When we got home from the parade, Hayden asked me, "Mommy, when I grow some silver hair and some silver beard and mustache like those motorcycle riders in the parade, will I be allowed to ride a motorcycle if I want to?" I thought that was cute! The kids enjoyed the parade and then we went over to the park and a free picnic caddy and planters at the Home Depot Booths.....After the parade, we headed over to my parents house to pick up our water slide for later in the day. Here, Jordyn is hugging her new baby doll that she got from my brother Tony.After lunch, Jordyn and I took a nap, while the other three rested. Jordyn ended up sleeping for 4 1/2 hours....I guess she was tired from all the morning festivities! It worked out great because I knew she would be staying up late anyway and I wanted her well rested for her birthday fireworks!

After nap time, the kids played on the water slide for awhile and then we had a nice family dinner, just the 5 of us. We had hoped my parents and cousin Haley would be able to come, but they ended up having their own BBQ with my brothers at their house.

Here is Jordyn's Birthday cake, which didn't look anything like it was supposed to look, but oh well! She liked it just the same and dug into it before I could get the candles lit!Opening the rest of her presents from us and her gifts from gramma, grampa and Haley......Time for fireworks! The kids went through all 60 of our sparklers, and then we went out and watched the neighborhood fireworks in the street with the rest of the neighborhood. By 10pm, the kids were all asking to go inside to go to bed, so we did!

Happy Birthday Jordyn!!!!!

Today my baby girl (who isn't such a baby anymore it seems) is TWO years old! Wow, I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by and what a fun big girl she has become. She is pretty much fully potty trained now, and we couldn't be more proud of her! She has been so excited all day that it is her birthday. When we ask her how old she is, she holds up her two pointer fingers and says, "Tweeeee!" We're still working on convincing her that she's only two! I'll update later with all of the stuff (and pictures) that we're doing to celebrate the 4th of July and our little firecracker's birthday!

Freezing, Freezing, Freezing!

No, it's definitely NOT freezing cold here, but I have been busy "freezing" meals for us to have after the baby is born. Why didn't I ever do this before??? I've been looking up all kinds of recipes that are good for freezing and eating later, and it has totally been my obsession this week! I've thought about having a little "cooking" party where I invite a few friends over and we all cook a couple of dishes for each other to freeze for later, but nobody I've mentioned it to seems real interested in the idea. I can't really blame them though, because if it was someone else's idea and I wasn't trying to simplify life after baby, cooking wouldn't really sound that fun to me either! I am hoping to set aside one day this month and one day in August to just cook all day and make a bunch of casserole's, soups, etc for the freezer for the end of Sept., Oct. and Nov. So far, what I'm doing is just doubling whatever we make for dinner and then putting the extra batch in the freezer. So far we've made a batch of Taco Soup and 4 mini pizza's to freeze. :)

If anyone has any good recipes to share that you've already frozen and know it still tastes good after cooking it, please feel free to share! I would love any new ideas!