Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

I can't believe my baby is already 1! The year has flown by! Here is a pic of us from a year ago -

Monkey's First Dentist Appt!

Monkey had his first dentist appointment yesterday! He did a GREAT job! I was a little worried because I was getting my teeth cleaned at the same time and I was afraid he would be scared. But he was fine. The only problem was that he told the hygenist he couldn't have the bubblegum toothpaste because he can't have bubblegum! Funny. Dr. Brad gave him an A+ checkup. He got to pick out a batman toothbrush and other goodies. He even talked them into a goody bag for sweet girl! She did a great job also sitting in her stroller while I got my teeth cleaned. Monkey took this picture of her, I thought it was pretty good! After that, monkey got his hair cut at a real barber shop! It was old school Mason day. Dentist with no frills - you still have to spit there, they dont have one of those fancy sucker outers! Then the barber was old school too - all the men were hanging out gossiping! But they were watching Real Housewives of Orange County! I did hear them talking about eating Vennison in the back though - whew. Went along with the deer headon the wall decor!

My parents will be here in 4 hrs (thanks, Carey!)- YAY! I am going to put my mom to work getting ready for the party!

Half Plan, Half Report

Wow, way late with the menu plan for the week!



Monday - We had spaghetti

Tuesday - Coach and I had date night to Maggianos. His sister and fam got us a gift card for christmas and we got a coupon for free cookies so this combo made it a great place to go! Luckily for us, they were out of cookies and we got free Tieramsu instead!

Wednesday - Crockpot Potato Soup - Delish!

Thursday - Burgundy Pork Tenderloin (or leftover soup - it made a TON!)

Friday - Surprise, my parents are coming!! Maple Ham

Saturday - Sweet girls 1st birthday party!!

Sunday - Lentil soup. When I got my latest US Weekly, it said that soup was a good thing to eat when you are trying to lose weight - and we all know how accurate US Weekly is in regards to losing weight - ha! Anyway, if you have seen me anytime over the past year, you know that I am still sporting a post pregnancy belly that could easily pass for a 4-5 month prego belly - pretty nasty. In fact, I am pretty sure I was skinnier 6 weeks after delivering sweet girl than I am now. So soup it is!

Pigtails... kind of!

Monday, we went to visit the Schutte's. While I was at the store, Carey sent me this picture of sweet girl's new hairstyle. Needless to say, the people at Kroger probably think I am crazy because I started cracking up right in the cereal aisle!

5 Guys

So a new place opened up here called, 5 Guys. We have heard nothing but rave reviews of this place. Last night, we decided to try it out. We had high expecations and were really looking forward to it. Even got there a little beofre 5 because everyone said how crowded it got (they were right about that!). The burgers were not that great and we were very disappointed! We both agreed that even Chicky Fries had better burgers. But in our book, nothing beats Zips. Let me tell you, for the at least 80!!!! grams of fat we EACH consumed, there are other things I would have rather eaten... like a few slices of BonBonerie Opera Creme Torte! On the upside, we are kind of glad we didnt like it with how unbelievably fattening it is!!

Birthday

I can't believe sweet girls bday is only a week away! Her wonderful godmother, Carey wanted me to pick out something homemade for her from etsy. After much deliberation, this is what i picked. I thought it was fun and the fabric made it kind of unique!

Of course, now I HAVE to get red shoes to match!!

Funny

Check out this post at another blog... funny pictures!!

http://babymommablog.com/2992/uncategorized/creative-inventions/

Menu Plan Monday

Last week started out fine but then we all got sick so the end was a bust. So many are repeats of last week! If you need the links, see last week

Monday - We used a gift card we had from my parents and went to Cracker Barrel. They had a huge raging fire going there and monkey and I played 'checkers'. This means, the color he is can move to anyplace on the board and he takes my checkers. We call it modified checkers - ha
Tuesday - Tortilla Soup
Wednesday - Crockpot Angel Chicken
Thursday - Spaghetti Pie
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Chicken Pot Pie
Sunday - Birthday Partay!

Sales

Went to Tar-Jay yesterday and they were marking down stuff 75% off as I was standing there! I got sweet girl jeans to last her until she is in kindergarten for $1.75! yay. Got monkey a cute 'sport jacket', pants, shirt and clip on tie for $6!! It was a great sale.. So if you need jeans, hurry to my fav store :o)

Sweet Girl

Mommy Tip

We are finally on the mend - yay!

So monkey has many pairs of jammies - I might have a thing for pj's! Anyway, for some reason, sometimes I can't find either the tops or bottoms of the sets - one gets in one load of laundry or something - who knows... So, as a result, we instituted 'Craaazy Jammie Night'. This way, monkey thinks its cool to wear mismatched jammies and doesn't melt down when he sees them! Works for us!

Blech

The flu has hit the Benham household.. so far, monkey and i have it.. Hopefully it will stay away from coach ands sweet girl!

Eat From The Pantry Challenge

Money Saving Mom is hosting a eat from your pantry challenge this month. The goal is to use as much from the pantry as you can, only having to buy fresh veggies, bread, milk... 5 dollar dinners had the idea today to make trail mix from the pantry! Easy peasy.... mine had m&m's (peanut and regular), nature valley granola nut clusters, pine nuts, whole almonds, slivered almonds, dried cranberries and i think that is it! Hopefully coach will like it!

What's in your pantry?

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Mandarin Orange Chicken - Didn't get to this last week

Tuesday - Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wednesday - Baked Spaghetti

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Chicken Pot Pie

Saturday - Crockpot Angel Chicken

Sunday -Tacos with the neighbors

Christmas....Finally!!

Baby it's cold outside!!

Man, is it ever cold outside!! Monkey has been loving the snow and could care less about the cold! We even took sweet girl out for her first sled ride during the snow day! She also loved it!! Here is a picture of a snowman the kids built at the Schutte's! Coach and Monkey went to the local sledding hill for some fun.


Last night, coach and I went to the Bengals game. Not a great game but we did have fun! Even though it was -7 with the wind chill, we weren't cold. Maybe it was the 7+ layers on top and the 4+ layers on the bottom. We didn't even use the blanket we brought!

Here's hoping for more snow:) I do have to say that I looked for forward to snow days as a teacher than I do as a parent!!

Menu Plan Monday

Whew, it's been a looog time since I have posted!! I will post our christmas vacation details later! I need to find my camera and get all the pictures off first! I keep reading blogs of families that are pledging not to eat out the ENTIRE year. While this would be awesome for our pocketbook (as my dad would say!), that is totally not realistic for the Benhams. We do, however, need to try not to eat out as often... Luckily, we got a lot of restaurant gift cards for christmas so we can eat out on those for a while! So here goes our meals for the week...

Monday - Crockpot Indian Curry. I have this going already and it smells delish!
Tuesday - Pork/Sauerkraut. Our friends, Liz and Jeremy made this on new years when we were there and it was sooo good and easy! Hopefully mine will turn out as well!
Wednesday - Tacos
Thursday - Lemon Chicken - Kroger has bags of lemons this week for 1.99 - yay!
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - undecided!
Sunday - Mandarin Orange Chicken

Funny!

Just found this on one of my daily blog reads. I think I will make this for Gourmet Club cookie exchange next year:)

Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies


1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup or brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl,
check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality,
pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter
in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point
it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another
cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup
of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry
it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves
a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink.. Whatever you can
find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall
over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the
Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.