An Awesome Birthday Party With New Friends

Bradley recently got to attend a birthday party for a boy in the neighborhood. It was at a really cool indoor mini golf and arcade that was called Monster Mini Golf. There was black lights all inside and the paintings glowed like crazy! It was really neat and the kids all had a blast.

After the mini golf, there was pizza and cake for everyone. Then the kids got to play video games and get a goodie bag before leaving. He loved it, and I'm so glad to see him making friends and adjusting to our new life.

A Trip to an Apple Orchard and Cider Mill

Today we went on a new adventure! We decided since the weather is so nice that we would venture out and try picking some apples at an orchard! I found this one in Pendleton, about 20min from where we live. We grabbed a bag and headed off to the orchard to find some fruit.

The boys loved it! Of course we had to nibble on some while we were shopping. This is the first time I have ever eaten an apple fresh from a tree! I let Brad pick all the apples himself, and Jacob wondered along behind us.

We were amazed at the amount of apples that grow on just one tree! It definitely got us excited for when we can have our own fruit trees to pluck fresh fruit from in the near future.

After we filled our bag, we headed back to the mill and got to see how they make the cider. For the trip home we all got a cider slushie, and a gallon of freshly pressed cider to take with us!

Today Brad also got to go to a friend's birthday party, but I'll post about that later.

Back to School!

I just realized that I never posted about Bradley starting 2nd grade!!! I didn't want to leave you hanging, so here are the pics from his first day of school last week on Sept. 6 at Thomas Edison Elementary School in Tonawanda.

 

His teacher is Mrs. Pritchard and seems very nice!

 

 

And of course I had to do our annual poses! Here are the two from this year:

And here are those same poses from his first day of PreK! How much he has grown in 3 years!

This is his first time to ride the bus to/from school and he was VERY excited about it! There are a ton of kids at his bus stop from the neighborhood, most of whom he has been playing with all summer! Here is he is hamming it up on our way to the corner.

The first week of school I insisted on walking with him to the bus stop to make sure he got on and off okay. Plus it was nice to socialize with the other parents! This week I relaxed a bit and let him walk by himself while I watch from the porch.

Simple Breakfast Burritos (Freezer Cooking)

I finally got around to making a batch of breakfast burritos for the freezer! I kept mine simple this time with just eggs and cheese, but of course you can add in anything you like to make it fun! Tater tots, meat, bell pepper... The possibilities are endless!

I had a lot of eggs to use so I did mine in two batches. All together I used about 27 eggs. For each batch I recommend using a dozen eggs in a nonstick skillet. Cook them as you normally would for scrambled eggs with salt/pepper to taste. I added shredded cheddar in at the end, about 1/2c each batch. Once they are cooked you can turn the heat off and stir in any other add ones you like.

I used some flour tortillas, and some whole wheat. You should get the largest size available to make a good size burrito. If kids will be eating them too, you could use a smaller size for them.

After you fold each burrito, let them cool a bit then wrap each one in some plastic wrap.

***sorry, I can't get the pic to rotate!***

After they are wrapped you can stack them in a labeled freezer bag and throw them in the freezer! I recommend wrapping it in a napkin and microwaving for about a minute, then flipping over and heating another 45sec. You may need to heat more or less, depending on your microwave.

Enjoy!

A Holiday Hiatus

The time has come! My 13 week travel assignment as an ICU night nurse at Buffalo General Hospital is finished and I am so very happy to say that I have budgeted well enough to take a few months off! My boys deserve to have their momma home with them for our first holiday season away from family and truly on our own. I have so many things that I want to get done during my time off, so this blog serves as a sort of plan to outline that.

 

I truly enjoyed my time at BGH. I met a lot of great people and learned some new techniques. The staff there was always so nice and helpful to me. I honestly feel bad that I had to leave them because they are still painfully short staffed, however I have other plans with life right now and my family comes first!

 

When people asked me what I was doing after my contract and I told them "Nothing!", they would then ask, "What are you taking off for?" And to that I would gleefully answer LIFE! Yes I wish I could answer that I was jetting off to an island for awhile to gather my thoughts, but alas that is not in the cards for me right now. It may not seem that great to "just" be taking off some time for nothing, but I am very proud of it and I can't wait to enjoy the holiday season with my boys without having to juggle a work schedule or squeeze everything that needs to be done into my few days off.

 

How many people are actually able to take some time off? To voluntarily choose to take a break and enjoy the things that really matter in life--our loved ones? To plan your work around your life, instead of trying to live around your work? Not many!

 

Most of you know that I've been the "breadwinner" for many years while Nick was a stay-at-home-dad. This was just how life worked out for us and we are happy that we had that opportunity to avoid day care for our children so far. Now the roles have reversed somewhat and Nick is working a full time job that he loves. Hopefully his pay will soon reflect his responsibility and value to the company, but until then I will most likely work part-time hours when I can. This is just one more positive change that we have had in our lives that was out of reach for so long before our move.

 

My current intentions are to go back to work part time starting in January or February, so until then these are some of the things I want to accomplish during my time off:

• declutter the few remaining piles of unpacked boxes/papers
• do a weekly dinner menu
• stock freezer with meals
• ease back into couponing
• finish our family photo album for 2016
• catch up on Brad's scrapbook
• catch up on Jacob's scrapbook
• crochet things!
• take the boys sledding when it snows
• go on picnics and walks by the lake while nice weather is here
• read lots of good books

It may not seem like much, but these are things that I enjoy doing yet have not had time to do with the craziness of our life recently. All of my hobbies have been put on the back burner for basically the last year so I'm craving some ME time to unwind and be creative!