Mini me

I know, I've turned into one of those mothers who dresses her child like herself. This is Katelyn, aka "Mini Me" and I before church on Sunday. Aren't we cute? :)

I love this little girl more and more everyday. She is SO funny. She cracks us up.

Hiking at Raven's Run

It is a gorgeous day today. The weather's in the high sixties...clear blue skies. I started working this week (and I'm loving my new job)....but I've had much less time with Michael and Katelyn and I was ready for some quality family fun time. So off we went to Raven's Run. It's a nature sanctuary here in Fayette County with ten miles of trails.

Katelyn loves a hiking adventure and she did a great job.

Oh I love this girl. She and I came hiking out here at this time last year. It's even more fun now...especially because Michael is with us.

Michael's so good with Katelyn...very patient and protective. She was happy to walk right along beside him. He didn't mind either. :)

We hiked out to an overlook of the Kentucky River. It was BEAUTIFUL!

On the hike back in Katelyn started to wind down. We brought the Ergo carrier with us just in case this happened. Michael carried her on his back. He said it was comfortable. I love this carrier. Katelyn weighs about 33 pounds and I used this carrier with her 2 1/2 years ago and she can still fit in it! Awesome purchase.

While we were hiking out she fell asleep in the carrier. So cute. What a perfect day to be outside!

The menu's a must

I'm starting a new job on Monday.

The timing, the schedule...everything has fallen into place perfectly.

I'm going to be the Assistant Director of Central Baptist Church Childcare Center.

I'm very excited that I will get to continue working with children and encouraging the teachers that invest in them everyday. I think this is a great position for me that will combine both administrative functions and hands on time in the classrooms.

I'll be working from 10am-6pm which is a great schedule for us. It allows me to get Katelyn where she needs to be each day before I head to work.

I've known that I got the job for a while and was really blessed to be able to start this next Monday instead of a few weeks ago. We were able to go up to Michigan and I've been able to have the last six weeks just to first, find a job, and second to simply be at home with Michael and Katelyn which has been a blessing to me.

So on that note...since I won't be getting off work until 6pm each evening, having a plan for dinner will be super important if we are going to eat something healthy at home each night.

So I've planned the menu for the rest of this week and next:

Wednesday- Rotiserre chicken from Sam's Club (love these for $5), mashed potatoes & peas

Thursday- King Ranch Chicken Casserole & salad (using leftover chicken from Weds.)

Friday and Saturday - at the lake

Sunday - Salmon patty burgers, spaghetti squash and steamed broccoli

Monday- Chicken & wild rice soup (broth and chicken from the last of the rotiserre...I told you that $5 was worth it), fresh bread and salad (I'll make the soup and salad on Sunday and prep the bread maker in the morning)

Tuesday - Shepherd's pie & salad (cook the vegetables and ground beef Sunday or Monday night)

Wednesday - Grilled pork chops and pasta with vegetables

Thursday - Leftovers or "Breakfast for Dinner"

That will get us to the weekend and we're not sure what we're doing next weekend, so I'll do some cooking and planning for the next week with what we have on hand.

I feel better when I have a plan. I really, really hate the "So, what are we having for dinner?" phone call on the way home from work at the end of a long day...

A trip to the orchard

Katelyn, Grammy, Papa and I headed off to Evan's Orchard today. It is BEAUTIFUL out...the perfect fall day. Katelyn was really excited for such a fun adventure. I've decided that Evan's is my favorite place in the area to go for this type of fall activity. They have a great play area, a huge pumpkin patch and their food is really reasonably priced.

Here's Katelyn's cutest little fall photo! Boy do I love this kid!!!

I told her if she'd stand here so I could take her picture we could go in the playground. Yeah, I'm not above bribery. There, I said it.

Oh Grammy and Papa, how we love you so...
Everyone got on Katelyn's bus. Of course she's the driver.

The slide is huge....so tall...you go so fast. I went on it once with Katelyn and then she did it a zillion times by herself. She laughed and laughed...arms waving in the air. NO FEAR AT ALL. Our little thrill seeker.

What a happy girl. Have I mentioned how much this child loves to play outside? She loves being outside like no one I've ever known. I'm embracing fall because winter with a three year old...this three year old in particular...is going to be fun. (insert sarcasm)

Chosing which way to go in the corn maze was very fun for Katelyn. It was like an episode of Dora the Explorer with her playing Dora. "Which path should we take?"

And when we were all done running, playing and exploring, Grammy and Papa had to head back to the lake but Katelyn and I sat and enjoyed a great big lemonade and a fresh apple cider doughnut. We decided that we'd wait to pick our pumpkin out until Michael could come with us. Katelyn thought that was a good idea because it means she gets to come back.

On the way home she fell asleep in the car.

A successful afternoon for sure.

Yummy recipe update

Michael, Katelyn and I went to Michigan for a long weekend so this recipe is actually one we did a couple of weeks ago but it was really good. It's chicken with peanut curry yogurt sauce and naan bread. Here's the link for the curry: www.allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-with-peanut-curry-yogurt-sauce/detail.aspx

It was really easy to make.

Then last week I was trying to clean everything out of the fridge before we left. We had lots of tomatoes from the garden and I had spinach and mushrooms to use. We had brought some bread home from the lake the weekend before and we had lots of apples from a friend's apple tree. So we had crustless spinach and mushroom quiche (I added the mushrooms because I needed to use them and I used fresh spinach. I put tomato slices on the top for the last ten minutes of baking and we thought the tomatoes made the recipe perfect.) and then I made bruschetta (I had pesto in the freezer.) It was a great dinner! And I used up veggies, cheese, bread and eggs before we left!

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/crustless-spinach-quiche/detail.aspx

I'm starting a new job next week! (More on that later.) So the menu planning will be more important than ever if we are going to eat healthy and at home...(I won't be getting off work until 6pm) So I'm working on the menu for the rest of this week and all of next week so I can get the shopping and prepping done early.