Day of Firsts

A big day in the Moylan household.  Willa had her first dentist appointment, first happy meal, and her first haircut!

She totally rocked the dentist appointment and haircut.  She fussed a little bit getting laid back at the dentist but was very friendly to everyone.  Then she just sat on my lap for her haircut and watched the girls that were getting their hair done for prom.  Mimi took lots of pictures and I am pretty sure she had a good time this last week with Mimi and Aunt Rue.

I was out of town for the beginning of the week and game back to several new words.  We even web-cammed with Uncle Q and my cousin Marc this week.  She said both of their names and showed them how far she can throw a ball.  Last week she got to webcam with my cousin Megan too and she is really getting the hang of people being on the other side of the TV or laptop.

Easter was pretty fun.  She got lots of new things from the grands and her aunt & uncle.  She is way spoiled. 

Since I am getting flak for not updating as much I will keep this short and maybe do another one tomorrow.

Balance again

It has been a busy week around here.  We got the rest of our tree taken down and despite the whole dynamic of our backyard changing in June when we started, having the last "branch" gone has changed the whole neighborhood.  Our tree used to tower over everything and now it is wide open spaces.

Yesterday was super nice and we spent the morning playing outside.  I didn't go to work and funnily enough, I wasn't the only one.  We wrapped up tax season basically on Friday morning and had our party last night.  Dinner was fun, though over priced.

Chatty Cathy continues her word explosion and it is so fun to wonder what the next word will be.  My favorites at the moment are sssnack and stink!  AND she is asking please on a more consistent basis!  I couldn't be more excited about that.

Sadly our bright, shiny day brought snow today and the sad realization that I lost one of my diamond earrings.  Of course, it was on the day we vacuumed and played outside so it could be anywhere.  I feel so naked without them.  I hope it turns up, otherwise I will be investigating the cost of one earring to match.

Besides getting some balance back in the home/work ratio, I am still working on the green/frugal balance.  I have been having fun learning the register rewards at Walgreens and have started thinking out my standards of when I want to do a deal.  Obviously if it is something we use I want to get the best price that I can.  If I can get something under $2 and we could use it or at least donate it, I will probably get it.  We now have nice little stockpile of health & beauty products and toothpaste, so I really only want to keep buying if it's a great price.  But one of the rules of couponing is to buy the smallest size usually to get a good deal.  This goes against being green of buying the biggest size or least amount of packaging.

I really wish it was easier to recycle around here and that we had a little more space in our house to have a good recycling "center" for us.  I have been trying to make small changes around here and one of my favorite little switches has been to cloth napkins.  I am hooked and on the look out for more fun ones.  My biggest internal struggle right now is procuring more shopping bags.  I have a few and my favorites are my Neela bags.  The debate is....do I order more or just buy the ones in the stores around here?  I was going to use the Walgreens BOGO coupon today, but found out they had been recalled due to having lead in them!  I haven't started using them to get groceries but I have been making the concerted effort to use them for all my other shopping expeditions.  So far, it's been easy and I get a lot of compliments on my bags.  I just have to make sure I unload them and put them right back in my purse.

So I am sure I will be blogging more about it, and I would love to hear your thoughts and/or ideas of what you are doing. AND I am totally jealous of the family back in Kansas with their green thumb gardens.

Days

Only a few more days and we can get back to some normalcy, no more worrying about weekends, feeling bad about not working late and back to a clean house.

Mime

Willa has been such a sponge lately.  I was putting on some lotion and she wanted some.  Gave it to her and she rubbed her legs then needed more to do her arms just like I was doing.  She is becoming such a big girl, I called her name and she responded What? before she came toddling back.  She looks at her pictures and says Willa!  It is pure hilariousness.

She has been enjoying the 2 year old room at daycare and seems so much happier and better behaved.  I truly think she was getting bored being with the babies.  Only now she brings home so much more artwork, I am not sure what to do with it.  Usually I give it to her and she colors on it some more. 

On a nerdier note, I have a light up Harry Potter wand that I needed for a costume (I was Hermione thank you very much), and she has figured out how to push the button on it.  She thinks its pretty cool and is all "Whoa, cool!" (seriously, she says that) and I am sure it is only a matter of time before we are reading Harry Potter together. ;)

Crafty Mom

There seem to be a plethora of mommy bloggers crafting with their toddlers lately.  I am not that creative to do a project with Willa.  Ok maybe creative but not brave.  Since it was just us girls this weekend, and I was in the crafting mood, I decided to attempt some bow making with the chica supervising. 

Only one firm no when she went after the hot glue and then she was content to play with ribbon and her crayons.  The funniest part was later in the day we were in the office and I caught her trying to "hot glue" some ribbon. She is one smart cookies and soon to be crafter I think.  Maybe we will plan some fun one weekend after tax season is over.

Speaking of work...I got two audits out the door on Friday and my boss did the final billing on a third one and I came in under budget! Whew, makes up for being under my billable hour budget in March I think!

I also keep forgetting to take a picture of my recipe before we dig in.  I hope to work on that.

Tasty Taco Bake

A co-worker found this in a Cooking with Kids type thing I think and her family loved it.  So we Chicketarian-ed it and enjoyed.

The original recipe

1-1/2 cups crushed nacho tortilla chips
1 can (15 ounces) chili with beans
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilis
1 can (3.8 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained, divided
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 jar (4 1/2 ounces ) sliced mushrooms, drained
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded lettuce

Spread 1 cup chips in ungreased 8-in square baking dish.  In small bowl, combine the chili, green chilies and 1/2 cup olives; spoon over chips.  Spread sour cream over the top.  Sprinkle with cheese, mushrooms, onions and remaining chips and olives.

Bake uncovered at 375 for 10-15 or until heated through and cheese is melted. Top with lettuce.  Serves 4

I have high hopes for the leftovers!  I cooked and shredded some chicken to mix in with my chili beans and vetoed the olives, mushrooms, and onions for this batch.  Next time instead of the shredded cheese I am going to make my queso dip and pour that over the top.

Enjoy!