March Menu

This month I'm determined to do a better job with our eating habits. February was crazy for us with all the birthday parties and everything. I hate to admit it but we ate a lot of McD's and Little Ceasars pizza (Little Ceasars just opened in our Publix shopping center so it's still a novelty.) But, John and I are tired of eating kid food! Plus we're gearing up with kids activities this time of year. Kaity is currently taking ballet on Wednesday evenings. Will is thinking about tap dancing classes. He loves to dance and I think this would be a great outlet for him. And, he wants to do swimming which would be two days a week. We'll wait on swimming till after the youth fair is over, but that's the end of March! He's decided not to play t-ball or soccer this spring even though all of his classmates are playing. However, last Friday he told me he wanted to play soccer because Dalton was playing. I think this is probably a no for him only because John and I value our Saturdays in the spring. So, with all that in mind, I sat down last night and created a menu for the whole month of March. I've already grocery shopped for the first week so we're at least committed to that.

A couple things - Friday nights I've just declared breakfast night, so you'll see a theme. Whatever we're having on Monday, I'm going to try to prepare it (or some of it) on Sunday. More intensive meals are saved for the weekends. And, I'm trying to use my crockpot at least on Wednesdays.

*I marked which dishes are new for us.

**Added the sides in just for Erin.

1. Monday (4-H meeting) - bean soup (crockpot) and bread
2. Tuesday - tacos
3. Wednesday (ballet) - chili (crockpot)
4. Thursday - chicken pot pie*
5. Friday - pancakes and sausage links
6. Saturday - ham & macaroni and cheese and green beans
7. Sunday - stroganoff and salad
8. Monday (Kaity late dentist appt.) - sausage spinach casserole
9. Tuesday - pork chops, au gratin potatoes, green beans
10. Wednesday (ballet) - chicken & dumplings (crockpot)
11. Thursday - pigs in a blanket, chips
12. Friday - sausage gravy and biscuits
13. Saturday - hamburgers, chips, baked beans
14. Sunday - stuffed shells, salad, garlic bread
15. Monday - chicken picata
16. Tuesday - A1 and dijon steak* (crockpot), rice pilaf, broccoli
17. Wednesday (ballet) - broccoli and cheese soup* (crockpot) and bread
18. Thursday (fair board mtg) - pot roast (crockpot), carrots, potatoes
19. Friday - waffles, bacon, fruit
20. Saturday - BBQ pork, corn pudding, salad
21. Sunday - steak, squash, salad
22. Monday - Cuban pork roast*, plantains, rice, black beans
23. Tuesday - chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
24. Wednesday - meatloaf (crockpot), mashed potatoes, green beans (sides leftover from Tuesday)
25. Thursday - corn chowder*, bread
26. Friday (youth fair) - no meals at home
27. Saturday (youth fair)
28. Sunday (youth fair)
29. Monday (youth fair, quick dinner) - BLTs, french fries
30. Tuesday - spaghetti, garlic bread, green beans
31. Wednesday (ballet) - fried orange shrimp*, rice, plantains

Please ask us how we're doing on this. We're going to try to stick to it this month, but something always comes up. Plus I'm sure I'm missing some calendar items that will interfere with the menu. Hopefully, it will force us to take our lunch more rather than eating hot dogs for dinner and then having nothing for lunch.

Chicks are Here!

Chicks arrived Friday and we went and got 8. Unfortunately, we're down to 5 now. You can't always tell which ones are healthy when they're this big and some might have had a rougher time shipping from the hatchery. But, the 5 that are left are doing great. And, Kaity is in love with them.

This is a Buff Orpington. We only have one of these now. Kaity named her Sunny.

This is a Rhode Island Red. They seem to be the heartiest out of the bunch. We have two of them and Will named them both Lava.

And, this is a Barred Rock. We have two left after losing two. Kaity named one Blackie although I don't know which one that is.

We'll probably get a few more in the coming weeks. These were the breeds that the feed store got in first. We'll probably get a few light brahmans, aracunas, black austrolops, and maybe a banty or two. We're also planning to get some ducks. The old guy at the feed store hatches his own banty ducks. And, we'll probably get two turkey to try out this year (and probably dress the table with later on.)

And, this is what happens when you ask a brand-new 5 year old to sort dirty laundry for you.

Will's Birthday!

Will turned 7 last Sunday. It's taken me a week to post on it since I had a terrible headache all week and lots of recovering to do from his party. He's such an amazing kid - thoughtful, sensitive, quiet, and spacey. He'll never be the coolest kid in class, or the most athletic, but he's always the one kids want to invite over for a play date or sit next to at lunch. He's almost at grade level with his reading skills and continues to amaze me with everything else that he does. Right now, he and John are obsessed with the Star Wars Wii game (thanks Aunt Alli...NOT - all those laser noises are driving me bonkers!) Now, if he could just learn to tie his shoes before he turns 8!

The weekend in between Kaity and Will's birthdays we usually do a family party. This year was no different. Everyone came and lots of good food was eaten.

This was the first year that I got to be at school for one of the kids' birthday celebrations. It was fun to see Will be the center of attention. Here he is making his birthday crown.

Ms. Cathy, his teacher, reading him a special book at circle time.

Cupcakes and chocolate milk just for the birthday boy!

This one's not birthday related, but I had to stick it in there. It's too cute. Will is feeding Annie sweet feed from John's hat. I tried to talk him into doing his 4-H fair poster on Annie, but he wants to do one on arrowheads and another on cow skulls. He could be an archeologist in the making.

Will invited four of his closest friends from school over for a sleepover. I was very brave on this one. This was the first time the boys had had a party sleepover. Will sleeps over regularly at Dalton or Chance's house and vice versa, but Joseph and Coy had never slept over anywhere before. I immediately lost control and they ran like banshees throughout the house while Kaity cried that no one was playing with her. John eventually got them to sleep by making them lay down and turning on the history channel.

They had a hard night of partying. It turned out to be a really good birthday for Will, but for the next year we'll stick to one kid at a time for sleepovers.

Five years ago today...

we sent the following as an e-mail to family and friends.

Kaitlyn Ramsey Eubanks was born Tuesday, February 8, 2005. She's 6 pounds 4 ounces and 17 1/2 inches. Will's going to be a great big brother and a wonderful helper.

Birthday Girl

What happened to this little girl (picture from her 1st birthday)?


And, when did she become this big girl (pictures from before her party yesterday)?

It's a Wild West Birthday

Kaity's 5th birthday party was yesterday and it was a hit. I decided to go with a western theme for it mainly because we had this great picture of Kaity that I used for the invitation. (If you click on the invitation, you can see it bigger and read it.) I got lots of compliments on it and was really pleased with how it turned out. I printed it on some distressed paper and then rolled it up and tied it with hay string before Kaity gave it out.



I limited the number of kids she could invite this year. Not only was I being cheap, but I really wanted the friends there that she would have the most fun with. Unfortunately, her best friend from school and good friends from church couldn't come, but she still ended up with four of her favorite friends (all girls and one boy) from her class. And, we invited one of Will's friends (the one that plays best with Kaity) to keep Will company.

We rode Annie which the kids really enjoyed. Annie was very well-behaved and ate a LOT of carrots. Then, we played a shooting gallery game (which I forgot to take pictures of). I colored targets on paper plates, pinned them to the fence, and let them have it with water guns. And, finally we had a stick horse race. I found stick horses at the dollar store and had enough that everyone could take one home (and a cowboy hat and sheriff star). Overall, it was a blast. Here are some of the pictures from the party.

Hoggetown Medieval Faire

Last weekend, the kids and I headed to the Hoggetown Medieval Faire. It doesn't really interest John, so the kids and I ventured out by ourselves. I think I was pretty brave to do that for several reasons. The first is that we expect a LOT of people there (and there were). The faire opened on Saturday, but it poured all day, so all the people who were supposed to Saturday went on Sunday (same as us.) Kaity is not known for holding hands or following directions. She tends to wander off. And, I was worried about whiny children who would want to be carried. They are both big enough now that I can't really carry them.

Luckily, it went well. Of course, it's a money sucker event, but we saw a lot of the shows and they really liked that. The falcons were fun, Will really enjoyed the comedy of the human chess match, and the jousting is always cool. I let them ride the elephant (which was cheaper than the pony rides!) and Will also rode one of the human powered barrel rides. I don't think he liked it that much.


I was a sucker and bought them both "birthday present" there. We'll be back next year hopefully. It only took me 10 years to get there, so hopefully it doesn't take that long to get back.