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term="x-ray"/><category term="yogurt"/><title type='text'>Baby Cakes</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default?redirect=false'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;redirect=false'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>223</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-4777212920088311002</id><published>2012-05-16T00:02:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2012-05-16T00:02:14.302-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Summer Leap List</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
I thought it would be fun to make a list (thanks to pinterest) of some of the fun things I want to do this summer with Anna-Kate and Thomas! I&#39;m going to do a follow-up post at the end of the summer too!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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1. Have a backyard movie night&lt;/div&gt;
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2. Go to nearby water park for the kids&lt;/div&gt;
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3. Have weekly play dates (12)&lt;/div&gt;
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4. Have mother/ daughter and daddy/ son &quot;date&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
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5. Have mother/ son and daddy/ daughter &quot;date&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
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6. Have a water fight&lt;/div&gt;
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7. Set up a sprinkler like &lt;a href=&quot;http://eventhorizons.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/backyard-sprinkler-park/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://myhomespunthreads.blogspot.com/2011/05/day-25-homemade-sprinkler-with-she.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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8. Do our own photo shoot&lt;/div&gt;
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9. Make bubble snakes (&lt;a href=&quot;http://acoupleofcraftaddicts.blogspot.com/2012/04/snake-bubbles.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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10. Eat snow cones... lots and lots of snow cones&lt;/div&gt;
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11. Make a bouncey ball (&lt;a href=&quot;http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/bounceball.htm&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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12. Do at least one service project a month (3)&lt;/div&gt;
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13. Fingerpaint&lt;/div&gt;
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14. Make a pillow fort&lt;/div&gt;
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15. Make homemade popsicles&lt;/div&gt;
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16. Play in the rain&lt;/div&gt;
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17. See a movie&lt;/div&gt;
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18. Cookout&lt;/div&gt;
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19. Have a game night&lt;/div&gt;
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20. Make smores&lt;/div&gt;
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21. Make ice cream&lt;/div&gt;
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22. Play with sidewalk chalk&lt;/div&gt;
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23. Visit the library&lt;/div&gt;
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24. Make homemade pizza&lt;/div&gt;
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25. Built a crazy tall tower&lt;/div&gt;
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26. Play dress up&lt;/div&gt;
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27. Build a sandcastle&lt;/div&gt;
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28. Go to the farmers market&lt;/div&gt;
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29. Play hopscotch&lt;/div&gt;
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30. Let kids &quot;make&quot; dinner&lt;/div&gt;
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31. Assign daily chores&lt;/div&gt;
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32. Make lemonade&lt;/div&gt;
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33. Wash the van together&lt;/div&gt;
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34. Picnic at the park&lt;/div&gt;
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35. Water balloon toss&lt;/div&gt;
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36. Make fruity drinks&lt;/div&gt;
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37. Make an obstacle course&lt;/div&gt;
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38. Pajama Day&lt;/div&gt;
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39. Bathtub Painting (source)&lt;/div&gt;
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40. Muffin tin lunch&lt;/div&gt;
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41. Take a bath in the dark with glow sticks&lt;/div&gt;
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42. Have a slumber party with a guest or two&lt;/div&gt;
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43. Read as many books as we can&lt;/div&gt;
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44. Write a letter to someone special&lt;/div&gt;
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45. Have a backwards day: dinner for breakfast, breakfast for dinner and dessert before lunch&lt;/div&gt;
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46. Family baseball or kickball game&lt;/div&gt;
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47. Have a full on tea party with Anna-Kate and her dolls and stuffed animals&lt;/div&gt;
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48. Make marshmallow poppers&lt;/div&gt;
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49. Bubble art (&lt;a href=&quot;http://vividlayers.blogspot.com/2011/09/bubble-prints.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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50. Write a letter to a Disney character (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.couponingtodisney.com/2012/03/21/write-a-letter-to-a-disney-character-and-get-a-postcard-in-return/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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51. Have a dance party&lt;/div&gt;
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52. Balloon Vollyeball&lt;/div&gt;
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53. Play freeze frame (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.parenting.com/gallery/18-fun-active-indoor-activities?view=home&amp;amp;pnid=108110&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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54. Make flubber (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/2012/01/flubber-gak-fun.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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55. Play animal charades&lt;/div&gt;
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56. Blow up a balloon with baking soda and vinegar (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/2012/01/blow-it-up-exploring-gas-with-balloons.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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57. Paint with water colors&lt;/div&gt;
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58. Have an indoor picnic&lt;/div&gt;
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59. Make silly maker faces on a mirror&lt;/div&gt;
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60. Sort change&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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61. Street paint with a splat (&lt;a href=&quot;http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/2011/06/street-paint-with-splat.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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62. Do a letter matching game&lt;/div&gt;
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63. Sharpie tie dye (&lt;a href=&quot;http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/01/sharpie-tie-dying.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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64. Make rainbow volcanos (&lt;a href=&quot;http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/2011/06/exploring-colorsmixtures.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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65. Make our own movies&lt;/div&gt;
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66. Microwave ivory soap (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/2012/01/ivory-soap-explosion-exploration.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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67. Play barbies&lt;/div&gt;
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68. Color changing milk experiment (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/milk-color-explosion&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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69. Bake cookies&lt;/div&gt;
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70. Apple stamp painting&lt;/div&gt;
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71. Campout in the living room&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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72. Indoor bowling (stuff socks in toilet paper rolls for the pins)&lt;/div&gt;
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73. Play doctor&#39;s office&lt;/div&gt;
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74. Make fizzy sidewalk paint (&lt;a href=&quot;http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/2011/06/fizzy-sidewalk-paint.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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75. Make giant bubbles (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.projectsforpreschoolers.com/water-bottle-bubble-fun/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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76. Decorate for 4th of July together&lt;/div&gt;
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77. Go swimming&lt;/div&gt;
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78. Eat strawberry shortcake from our favorite place&lt;/div&gt;
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79. Make peanut butter playdough&lt;/div&gt;
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80. Go on a scavenger hunt&lt;/div&gt;
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81. Go dollar store shopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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82. Celebrate a crazy holiday (&lt;a href=&quot;http://familycrafts.about.com/od/holidays/tp/specialdays.htm&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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83. Paint our nails&lt;/div&gt;
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84. Play lava/ pillow game (only step on the pillows)&lt;/div&gt;
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85. Paint rocks&lt;/div&gt;
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86. Make a masking tape town (&lt;a href=&quot;http://bloggingthemoments.blogspot.com/2011/08/masking-tape-town.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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87. Paint by number&lt;/div&gt;
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88. Make ice cream in a ziploc baggie&lt;/div&gt;
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89. Go to the beach&lt;/div&gt;
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90. Go to the lake&lt;/div&gt;
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91. Go to jump zone&lt;/div&gt;
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92. Make homemade puffy paint&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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93. Play contraption clean up game (&lt;a href=&quot;http://ladycreate-a-lot.blogspot.com/2012/03/contraption-clean-up-game.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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94. Make cloud dough (&lt;a href=&quot;http://domesticcharm.blogspot.com/2012/01/cloud-dough.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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95. Make shrinky dinks (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/01/07/how-to-make-shrinky-dinks-with-recycled-6-plastic/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;
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96. Go to the zoo&lt;/div&gt;
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97. Decorate a window with window clings&lt;/div&gt;
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98. Have a summer kick off party&lt;/div&gt;
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99. Have an end of the summer party&lt;/div&gt;
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100. Go on a special back to school shopping &quot;spree&quot;&lt;/div&gt;
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I&#39;m so excited about starting this list!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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What are you planning this summer?&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/4777212920088311002/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/4777212920088311002' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/4777212920088311002'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/4777212920088311002'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/05/summer-leap-list.html' title='Summer Leap List'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-7462529957516356002</id><published>2012-04-20T15:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2012-04-20T15:11:19.929-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Spring Round Up</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Since I&#39;m just really not making too much of a comeback like I hoped, I think it&#39;s time I round up a few of our favorite moments from the past couple of months!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0V28vfR9jPnawYuG07UhoXOHigkL2smf_TP8lBBisiVwyVZ5kRThy1RZQaYKuTiMH3rmm4k4fCuxtWXlzTkPWGFrOZ9eRQ_zZsq62LTXLi_ZUSrU_N-O1qxlOcPmnZcRZx9TdcILbDfpp/s1600/IMG_2840.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0V28vfR9jPnawYuG07UhoXOHigkL2smf_TP8lBBisiVwyVZ5kRThy1RZQaYKuTiMH3rmm4k4fCuxtWXlzTkPWGFrOZ9eRQ_zZsq62LTXLi_ZUSrU_N-O1qxlOcPmnZcRZx9TdcILbDfpp/s320/IMG_2840.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We have loved going to story time at the library! We got to go with our friends Shelby and Riley one day and they all loved it so much!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjObXmXH8fengCnzls93T3HZY6WRuw82jgf0lBPXZKoUu92QrbdQ7drIe3ubmzlrHalZFEmhFXIg0TtpZFkZMXDaNx1NSNf-WQKfCGl4PsTQoCVjQ9AjmLAeAZPIv7dCNekUDgcOlX5Tj/s1600/IMG_2870.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjObXmXH8fengCnzls93T3HZY6WRuw82jgf0lBPXZKoUu92QrbdQ7drIe3ubmzlrHalZFEmhFXIg0TtpZFkZMXDaNx1NSNf-WQKfCGl4PsTQoCVjQ9AjmLAeAZPIv7dCNekUDgcOlX5Tj/s320/IMG_2870.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Thomas has found new ways of making it through our shopping trips! haha&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjoPxKdR-bucdxdWY2hp7uxMzFJBguYWJWXsjLY1cDfk62jtnNJ2uShoTujM2U1cupeNL2b5BSiRQvCkD1DkJDMeRZiC4l-bH2Nt-f85upJ8YDD-cr7QTQoo5TCORE6vZzYrvCYTOPgiJd/s1600/IMG_2875.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjoPxKdR-bucdxdWY2hp7uxMzFJBguYWJWXsjLY1cDfk62jtnNJ2uShoTujM2U1cupeNL2b5BSiRQvCkD1DkJDMeRZiC4l-bH2Nt-f85upJ8YDD-cr7QTQoo5TCORE6vZzYrvCYTOPgiJd/s320/IMG_2875.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Playing while we got the oil changed one morning&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdi4dhCRBQobFsQgGz1pqZkrG6wNnED97InPmz_BkVwEoAyMdxHkrb9SxmE4Af7so_iiVAVuZaHlrZKxzRRTEGhrseVwQpaeD3WVHdt6BqMfuyr7S2GosM0mmCYOYQu0lMB8qEpwl1sKoT/s1600/IMG_2877.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdi4dhCRBQobFsQgGz1pqZkrG6wNnED97InPmz_BkVwEoAyMdxHkrb9SxmE4Af7so_iiVAVuZaHlrZKxzRRTEGhrseVwQpaeD3WVHdt6BqMfuyr7S2GosM0mmCYOYQu0lMB8qEpwl1sKoT/s320/IMG_2877.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;My Sonic girl loves her cherry slushes, just like Momma!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHDdijdFGEJtjsOBiYjpledWeYpVx1mk33wUHvqR7y5jrDPGr1gfkpwpAQhwosfgPrfSR583OENZ-AnHPgCDqX6OhIU1zBeEz7QfJ8vpb8Cdon4pPTQPz2O9o5vhVndnth36b7BmW0gNs/s1600/IMG_2944.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHDdijdFGEJtjsOBiYjpledWeYpVx1mk33wUHvqR7y5jrDPGr1gfkpwpAQhwosfgPrfSR583OENZ-AnHPgCDqX6OhIU1zBeEz7QfJ8vpb8Cdon4pPTQPz2O9o5vhVndnth36b7BmW0gNs/s320/IMG_2944.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Sweet boy&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4nW6M7Yz8EPF48hxHyTxhd0_qmqHG5ViLSIE2tzGMkBYzxQ8aej-PqRTroXk7kwPDY-Qwdx7q5EiUvIpiBQsMngtO4pRmZzgkVZemteUls5azaXL0SLNTlnGP_vf1zVE9N-jgFSa3E2FE/s1600/IMG_2945.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4nW6M7Yz8EPF48hxHyTxhd0_qmqHG5ViLSIE2tzGMkBYzxQ8aej-PqRTroXk7kwPDY-Qwdx7q5EiUvIpiBQsMngtO4pRmZzgkVZemteUls5azaXL0SLNTlnGP_vf1zVE9N-jgFSa3E2FE/s320/IMG_2945.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Anna-Kate is getting so good at writing! She still does a few letters backwards and upside down... which is why it reads &quot;I love dappy&quot; :)&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZI6Pk2ZhB13p6TeobMft23tQKnMEqCfN2lRv3UZ_UO8o7Q84xxXVIvaGCfOxKJARISOCAN-HONKrDz6kccv3ShlsohDdk1-WRgRAgJNU-_ZDFaegbZcCh9AkG3HZtPEMsb9Y7r3F748x/s1600/IMG_2960.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZI6Pk2ZhB13p6TeobMft23tQKnMEqCfN2lRv3UZ_UO8o7Q84xxXVIvaGCfOxKJARISOCAN-HONKrDz6kccv3ShlsohDdk1-WRgRAgJNU-_ZDFaegbZcCh9AkG3HZtPEMsb9Y7r3F748x/s320/IMG_2960.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve been trying to decide what to do with this grapevine wreath from my sister. I finally found some flowers for it. I&#39;d just like to add our house number or initial before I call it complete!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLISNvrQLDEeZfOzQIGBK7RHa0gp3BE_Ot6tOhmN-PXFhmscQW9MdB4OEudbNxTiz9NzxiA-hQL_2WdY8__UHN_b-JshvmF5tl_1Qer7twfsbv5XuR9fQs5bXbEVWjNI3vqBodGZD-zxY/s1600/IMG_3054.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLISNvrQLDEeZfOzQIGBK7RHa0gp3BE_Ot6tOhmN-PXFhmscQW9MdB4OEudbNxTiz9NzxiA-hQL_2WdY8__UHN_b-JshvmF5tl_1Qer7twfsbv5XuR9fQs5bXbEVWjNI3vqBodGZD-zxY/s320/IMG_3054.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Big girl had her teeth cleaned and got a great report from the dentist!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3khdXV-zCYy9vhNIp-Y08TwuNOoZ5xRtGPzJCuSgY7-nKn7-DIcYs7HNCFGd3HPmzZYL_ybpk1BK0q6YYXrvyowKxxQeR1ORRMfucwxoLplAmhe-zyWC_74EesnQRL-By7IlqQWXOx55/s1600/IMG_3192.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3khdXV-zCYy9vhNIp-Y08TwuNOoZ5xRtGPzJCuSgY7-nKn7-DIcYs7HNCFGd3HPmzZYL_ybpk1BK0q6YYXrvyowKxxQeR1ORRMfucwxoLplAmhe-zyWC_74EesnQRL-By7IlqQWXOx55/s320/IMG_3192.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Here&#39;s a little Easter sneak peek!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDEBUH0YGetDMsnLL71F-4IPnlJIQ3-VnZF1KmKzb-9HZ2Bw7-4RnDAQ88E_mEBtfsEDHqTGtVb0B3f7sKag9zxlGv8mnqjgvw-Qw2Uh72oTXE-QJVEKSA8dUxY2IufYQg7P050HgxG4w/s1600/IMG_3191.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDEBUH0YGetDMsnLL71F-4IPnlJIQ3-VnZF1KmKzb-9HZ2Bw7-4RnDAQ88E_mEBtfsEDHqTGtVb0B3f7sKag9zxlGv8mnqjgvw-Qw2Uh72oTXE-QJVEKSA8dUxY2IufYQg7P050HgxG4w/s320/IMG_3191.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEdCJZrljiV7YHBDNz-5JqWuBbF0dJ1S9pcoDdDeecO4KOOg1_ljyOmgNlghEds5e8nVHR3bJPhe_mDVSjaWmd-nks_wDsbKN26vppR8H2HfjUlMYof7gO-cZeGwDK5CZiu3ivO4isyyC/s1600/IMG_3228.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEdCJZrljiV7YHBDNz-5JqWuBbF0dJ1S9pcoDdDeecO4KOOg1_ljyOmgNlghEds5e8nVHR3bJPhe_mDVSjaWmd-nks_wDsbKN26vppR8H2HfjUlMYof7gO-cZeGwDK5CZiu3ivO4isyyC/s320/IMG_3228.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;This has to be my favorite picture from Easter! Go on and make it larger so you can enjoy it a little more! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3W8d1L5DPO6xDTl4xBSljLagxiRTRHdvmqla0-uxtRR1Q1phyphenhyphenCA2sySsyW-KgbfPofICTX4qwEYZx0sWvWwvqURym2ArZMTFfUNjd2V36MW-u8VgkoW040XF6G49t5_3WSuLWdzoUlQV/s1600/IMG_3196.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3W8d1L5DPO6xDTl4xBSljLagxiRTRHdvmqla0-uxtRR1Q1phyphenhyphenCA2sySsyW-KgbfPofICTX4qwEYZx0sWvWwvqURym2ArZMTFfUNjd2V36MW-u8VgkoW040XF6G49t5_3WSuLWdzoUlQV/s320/IMG_3196.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;This one came in a close second... Thomas was the ONLY boy in his class Easter Sunday! Poor thing was surrounded by ELEVEN girls! I think his face says it all... &lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakzHwGPuHhOu-uN8Ofi-RuYHuqoC3rYF8GwF_GdpJGDNEYxailt1rpBWOpzs8n_0upu6wJehpL29pZB6a7BKHVsGnNcLXg8pBZT8RFyEUA9lx2dfOWJA9jTk_ahrXVfOQZ5Fj1yIAi8vC/s1600/IMG_3256.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakzHwGPuHhOu-uN8Ofi-RuYHuqoC3rYF8GwF_GdpJGDNEYxailt1rpBWOpzs8n_0upu6wJehpL29pZB6a7BKHVsGnNcLXg8pBZT8RFyEUA9lx2dfOWJA9jTk_ahrXVfOQZ5Fj1yIAi8vC/s320/IMG_3256.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;One of our fun school projects!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YVDj8PumtKtaxfIsBgRHouVlvxyLviY2OiaVBdjf3QbjaPNKubeak27GOudH5JAQX5k6B8Wp3qOvu42xariCb1_PbHR12uJfOXAW_VzlBJlUrT03uoPkrH4NZx-rVMSH2ismBA2rPBp8/s1600/IMG_3235.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YVDj8PumtKtaxfIsBgRHouVlvxyLviY2OiaVBdjf3QbjaPNKubeak27GOudH5JAQX5k6B8Wp3qOvu42xariCb1_PbHR12uJfOXAW_VzlBJlUrT03uoPkrH4NZx-rVMSH2ismBA2rPBp8/s320/IMG_3235.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Anna-Kate&#39;s letter person! :) Super cute!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSr9o243U20e_RJ5HxLjJEUsLHEcO57LUpaAE9_9dMtp3S4bhC02PcJ88M75KsyBstXA5q5WSdwUw9h3legsKiCdZ90r6psp5l58EwDphTH29gPbAa4j6SOMRlcopfC5t9QZ7-ChieLeP/s1600/IMG_3272.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSr9o243U20e_RJ5HxLjJEUsLHEcO57LUpaAE9_9dMtp3S4bhC02PcJ88M75KsyBstXA5q5WSdwUw9h3legsKiCdZ90r6psp5l58EwDphTH29gPbAa4j6SOMRlcopfC5t9QZ7-ChieLeP/s320/IMG_3272.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We got to join her for an ice cream party last week!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
We have just had such a great spring! I can&#39;t believe that Thomas and I are done with &quot;school&quot; next Thursday and Anna-Kate only has 3 more weeks of school!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful spring! Happy Friday y&#39;all!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/7462529957516356002/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/7462529957516356002' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/7462529957516356002'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/7462529957516356002'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-round-up.html' title='Spring Round Up'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0V28vfR9jPnawYuG07UhoXOHigkL2smf_TP8lBBisiVwyVZ5kRThy1RZQaYKuTiMH3rmm4k4fCuxtWXlzTkPWGFrOZ9eRQ_zZsq62LTXLi_ZUSrU_N-O1qxlOcPmnZcRZx9TdcILbDfpp/s72-c/IMG_2840.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-2065411613462463103</id><published>2012-03-28T11:16:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2012-03-28T11:16:56.727-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Saint Louis- MEGA Picture Post!</title><content type='html'>&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Better late than never, right?? :) I&#39;m going to keep my comments down to a minimum because I&#39;ve got some many pictures! Sorry if it&#39;s too much, but this post is for my memories and my Grandma. :) (Love you!)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We headed to Saint Louis to pick Derek up on Friday morning. We made sure to stop in Sikeston, MO at Lamberts, so the girls could catch a roll or two!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPjzvpcuQuxv5Exar9QuIvQBLEiQOAC5j3phL2P6s0VAxwFirscV_fSvtb8TmUZ4Z2BAAIsPUeFaXCtQIGp-wPC3CEbFtpgQD22Ni54IeQOe2906rGqOx52w1K4wnKyhiRks0JcaTy08N/s1600/DSC09189.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPjzvpcuQuxv5Exar9QuIvQBLEiQOAC5j3phL2P6s0VAxwFirscV_fSvtb8TmUZ4Z2BAAIsPUeFaXCtQIGp-wPC3CEbFtpgQD22Ni54IeQOe2906rGqOx52w1K4wnKyhiRks0JcaTy08N/s320/DSC09189.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Best friends! I can&#39;t believe that Kristen will be 5 in two weeks... which means Anna-Kate is 5 in just 4 months!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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The girls were begging to see the arch. Once we drove by it and got settled into our hotel room we had planned to walk to it, but they informed us they had seen enough of the arch and wanted to swim! I would have posted pictures but Thomas was TERRIFIED of the water and I had no hands! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We went to bed early that night but at 2:00 I heard the scariest sound and realized it was the alarm! It kept saying, &quot;This is an emergency. Please exit to the nearest stairway and come down to the lobby.&quot; I&#39;m not the most rational person at 2 AM, so you can imagine the thoughts going through my head while carrying a 2 year old down 7 flights of stairs!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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It turns out someone pulled the fire alarm but everything was okay. We all got back to the room, but it took everyone a long time to fall back asleep.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrPLuP-9S_TpuERf_Zv-2blK5H3DitZ_hLAhXqaPUPriNn8Ox5M_5e0R0FP_tCtyCuE-S9zDZDLqptlCv6TlX4osVD7hm9u4jK6_Dlymc4rQoon50W3u4DrN-o8kV3tqHqlxgeNwhp2YY/s1600/IMG_2760.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrPLuP-9S_TpuERf_Zv-2blK5H3DitZ_hLAhXqaPUPriNn8Ox5M_5e0R0FP_tCtyCuE-S9zDZDLqptlCv6TlX4osVD7hm9u4jK6_Dlymc4rQoon50W3u4DrN-o8kV3tqHqlxgeNwhp2YY/s320/IMG_2760.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Sweet boy was ready for the Zoo!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIE6Srr5RSPRi5E97Wn7BgfF9OxWv3pLT3a4JI_x4M_Kn8-LMjhZ9vXsPmM_ctjri6aI00zQWWjNQRv5OsrjBFWkhXAWewXMrtzUJsZU4qMmUA1E9SmI8fCy5thy0_woftQuOczAFhcji/s1600/IMG_2762.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIE6Srr5RSPRi5E97Wn7BgfF9OxWv3pLT3a4JI_x4M_Kn8-LMjhZ9vXsPmM_ctjri6aI00zQWWjNQRv5OsrjBFWkhXAWewXMrtzUJsZU4qMmUA1E9SmI8fCy5thy0_woftQuOczAFhcji/s320/IMG_2762.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;And this was the face Anna-Kate decided to give me... apparently it&#39;s her goal not to smile in pictures&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYpU_cPfxTvKto18a0Q3YpuYhPlc4M7bRwE50gIypu58nWZzXgLoGzZVrs7y52IHkgnxdKqArp3eAn5GfqVmVvCmi4cT_l1HQaaimUX6kqEklikM1irinamHjG1yzHzyap1y1qv9WBy9h/s1600/IMG_2784.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYpU_cPfxTvKto18a0Q3YpuYhPlc4M7bRwE50gIypu58nWZzXgLoGzZVrs7y52IHkgnxdKqArp3eAn5GfqVmVvCmi4cT_l1HQaaimUX6kqEklikM1irinamHjG1yzHzyap1y1qv9WBy9h/s320/IMG_2784.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have the 2 AM fire alarm to thank for the puffy eyes! Thomas is joining in on the silly picture posing!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimx6-q3ZHnAQPmLLypaJJ0az0QcbwgjilJLO59m-fvSRJOJYDnTp9IU3XxZjRs6qV5oEjXdmTHI2NX8gAMEZivf9NvN89IMb9QJndbG3peY1_UkwffCHRoA4un-4QVj-Z7YhH73RWDuRz5/s1600/IMG_2764.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimx6-q3ZHnAQPmLLypaJJ0az0QcbwgjilJLO59m-fvSRJOJYDnTp9IU3XxZjRs6qV5oEjXdmTHI2NX8gAMEZivf9NvN89IMb9QJndbG3peY1_UkwffCHRoA4un-4QVj-Z7YhH73RWDuRz5/s320/IMG_2764.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Thomas kept begging to see the &quot;bish in the waa waa&quot;. &amp;nbsp;The fish turned out to just be coins, but Anna-Kate got that when she yelled &quot;DADDY!! There&#39;s money in the pond!&quot; haha&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
After breakfast, we checked out and headed to the Arch! The girls and Thomas were a bit cranky from the lack of sleep... so we didn&#39;t stay too long!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilx_mlO5Q7oZ69sO9AqVstG8jBLLaxuHtli_hUvITsw1nOo09nLD4OWOTo2HErdbwRE4iNG_tTlSiIeuea2IGLhXsNv9v9Brw0SJ04vO1_3HNJOISOUqIow9hOB7k8pZJjmHfciZGJ1tpr/s1600/IMG_2786.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilx_mlO5Q7oZ69sO9AqVstG8jBLLaxuHtli_hUvITsw1nOo09nLD4OWOTo2HErdbwRE4iNG_tTlSiIeuea2IGLhXsNv9v9Brw0SJ04vO1_3HNJOISOUqIow9hOB7k8pZJjmHfciZGJ1tpr/s320/IMG_2786.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Big helper taking our luggage down&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDH-AsolCL4KbxJNqbVMDBMldDULtSMXHzu9QOi4SBsFyDOfPCYtqGNJEOB9SZHero5koel_IFfBQwwvO8GRZKWSfZXx5r53xCeNT8qzEBpRO3KdYiSLtZuF0KLDgUfN4Mtvw1xMkMU4RU/s1600/DSC09202.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDH-AsolCL4KbxJNqbVMDBMldDULtSMXHzu9QOi4SBsFyDOfPCYtqGNJEOB9SZHero5koel_IFfBQwwvO8GRZKWSfZXx5r53xCeNT8qzEBpRO3KdYiSLtZuF0KLDgUfN4Mtvw1xMkMU4RU/s320/DSC09202.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We lost our arch enthusiasm&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTCc0pmpEum7z1jB51ma6xR7ABFX4Qm1Dfg-9yzzAJx1ujgy5cTbDphAt4hMRLrhf8pVhNbxMN5tDXHqmIu8SpTem7D637D6qbMDPfcj0j9kkfRrB_wc-D7AxZwRP29lo1wRGy1VcONlW/s1600/DSC09206.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTCc0pmpEum7z1jB51ma6xR7ABFX4Qm1Dfg-9yzzAJx1ujgy5cTbDphAt4hMRLrhf8pVhNbxMN5tDXHqmIu8SpTem7D637D6qbMDPfcj0j9kkfRrB_wc-D7AxZwRP29lo1wRGy1VcONlW/s320/DSC09206.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Finally a picture with Derek! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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We had SO much fun at the Zoo!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We learned that Thomas is terrified of butterflies. I&#39;m pretty sure he was traumatized after we went into the butterfly dome. Derek said he acted shell shocked like a war vet. Poor thing! We&#39;ve been home for about 2 weeks and it&#39;s still bad! He&#39;s afraid of every flying bug he sees. :(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We had so much fun at the zoo, we lost track of time and didn&#39;t get to see the last exhibits! We were a little disappointed, but worn out!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed home!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFYRG2Y7GxWlom0ddG8w3eZUgPGjXUnfX8ws6MdRKxAhBx8OFq4UNQwAUAG7MmU-A4CR1TIJ5heFhrCUixgE5L8aby3x6lmnQ4axNLvfbLYw0CyeYsJ31543m4AmRzBeMfVFEIVK-Sh5m/s1600/DSC09212.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFYRG2Y7GxWlom0ddG8w3eZUgPGjXUnfX8ws6MdRKxAhBx8OFq4UNQwAUAG7MmU-A4CR1TIJ5heFhrCUixgE5L8aby3x6lmnQ4axNLvfbLYw0CyeYsJ31543m4AmRzBeMfVFEIVK-Sh5m/s320/DSC09212.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Watching the fish...&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwpPJ_YU6W-lMBBpuBp566Zy0KbUHAaizj_xOew_s9QNEaT_Nod6ev1wK3I9zy-o8pvKhUPPw08NCWZopzWKPD-1LIOiLU9e-JVyLYQQlZyxX8YuyjLEXfhyphenhyphenlYll0nYcepbUB8wT31fR8/s1600/DSC09222.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwpPJ_YU6W-lMBBpuBp566Zy0KbUHAaizj_xOew_s9QNEaT_Nod6ev1wK3I9zy-o8pvKhUPPw08NCWZopzWKPD-1LIOiLU9e-JVyLYQQlZyxX8YuyjLEXfhyphenhyphenlYll0nYcepbUB8wT31fR8/s320/DSC09222.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;He loved the children&#39;s area&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQGWRtDu-a4P-5JdYrN_uWMf_PFHgPlitL7-RvOInzZZIaGlTEAHJBzJ-TqWuhR_zJug1pG4YhPZrwW6YjBTmMeUvWWfVQTQFiDHSkQ_2QBIXI6NOFTQRJu8uzXLFsg_fngbK0AJHsS4E/s1600/DSC09223.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQGWRtDu-a4P-5JdYrN_uWMf_PFHgPlitL7-RvOInzZZIaGlTEAHJBzJ-TqWuhR_zJug1pG4YhPZrwW6YjBTmMeUvWWfVQTQFiDHSkQ_2QBIXI6NOFTQRJu8uzXLFsg_fngbK0AJHsS4E/s320/DSC09223.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9MbX8g5xs8oS2uRZTdL8B4j5kWN-ZmB_eQiwGo8mEP6M9zb9jecAhUKdofPHdRvx4zxR0VqE7LrCUrVwswKMXexe_If2L51MR4OJLFz3iRn1XWl33blzEHKYPAkbSMKHa84O2naLUceS/s1600/DSC09230.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9MbX8g5xs8oS2uRZTdL8B4j5kWN-ZmB_eQiwGo8mEP6M9zb9jecAhUKdofPHdRvx4zxR0VqE7LrCUrVwswKMXexe_If2L51MR4OJLFz3iRn1XWl33blzEHKYPAkbSMKHa84O2naLUceS/s320/DSC09230.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Watching the otter&#39;s eat!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9DXE3XaS2r16TvCzcrPpc2QdNHF3NXdwaMddaxjV1DWobaoInNhqkoy1Gs4AmiRBv7F8pfPg5tMIL7_g2Vcobrbkyboqbcn_WU_24WWDAcBcs3eu_TdH9K4Lqy-4U1Lk4_qf6Z-XhiNp/s1600/DSC09236.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9DXE3XaS2r16TvCzcrPpc2QdNHF3NXdwaMddaxjV1DWobaoInNhqkoy1Gs4AmiRBv7F8pfPg5tMIL7_g2Vcobrbkyboqbcn_WU_24WWDAcBcs3eu_TdH9K4Lqy-4U1Lk4_qf6Z-XhiNp/s320/DSC09236.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUSitymFbQl6eExNncUMZVIQNd9eqSzikKO5sohQpZfr9xRKg4gzw7O13zfBji5FqBsrwafRZKpWbVFzbugtqs8PsYkxrkp7-Zwc4i33XAaML-10Kp5JukQSDgBg1Hg3BBmH5nxaYiGT8/s1600/DSC09240.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUSitymFbQl6eExNncUMZVIQNd9eqSzikKO5sohQpZfr9xRKg4gzw7O13zfBji5FqBsrwafRZKpWbVFzbugtqs8PsYkxrkp7-Zwc4i33XAaML-10Kp5JukQSDgBg1Hg3BBmH5nxaYiGT8/s320/DSC09240.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Anna-Kate had to ask the groundhog when spring was coming!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHJCstTTuS_03XZ2S4veDZPG5P0mfDQ4zrjz_GVYw5lnNS_0mo2NiMIxMHKO6XtJOJ38Xk8TMcnlWSFD-IwHaBP4GxE1HBUoF-qTeKyQJAJ25MLNzgQxl0Cyuhyphenhyphen6Uk2uryuMOuHjrpYgE/s1600/DSC09245.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHJCstTTuS_03XZ2S4veDZPG5P0mfDQ4zrjz_GVYw5lnNS_0mo2NiMIxMHKO6XtJOJ38Xk8TMcnlWSFD-IwHaBP4GxE1HBUoF-qTeKyQJAJ25MLNzgQxl0Cyuhyphenhyphen6Uk2uryuMOuHjrpYgE/s320/DSC09245.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3K5I_cgSeUSLVmCMevgRgNXKkWRanELgFR92CtsftTHG2RdVn-KqFSh0kV3PWY86oPxXIlhNpan_-5hLHgEwMo0w7mYNNxIogOxLXMLxuGSvTOP042TrIMgRgGcrQCzT4AKCDOzx8hxU4/s1600/DSC09255.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3K5I_cgSeUSLVmCMevgRgNXKkWRanELgFR92CtsftTHG2RdVn-KqFSh0kV3PWY86oPxXIlhNpan_-5hLHgEwMo0w7mYNNxIogOxLXMLxuGSvTOP042TrIMgRgGcrQCzT4AKCDOzx8hxU4/s320/DSC09255.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We liked the goats from a distance...&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2_Whp1dXQWD3qUSJ3bd1WFcbYl-Q6Yt8s3kQQAP0KnvqOI5XGtHrEUREIFABV7QZxKvNXjKJwpeNuLzdyHp8p2gf4LW0Y5tzZNvTG0Uyd_jNq6gII4PUCkyjPldEe4GjZt9uyxUtWdY5/s1600/DSC09258.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2_Whp1dXQWD3qUSJ3bd1WFcbYl-Q6Yt8s3kQQAP0KnvqOI5XGtHrEUREIFABV7QZxKvNXjKJwpeNuLzdyHp8p2gf4LW0Y5tzZNvTG0Uyd_jNq6gII4PUCkyjPldEe4GjZt9uyxUtWdY5/s320/DSC09258.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;She loves animals&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfSgc_0DK6hTXobfgJcvZW6MCVwr2WnrBe_Vofv-XEWFa0q85F-fZ5kCOLXNbP_r_XkxpHlSHPg9pDvBD1AtNI0reS5v2TKlbz72xL84-veZkLN6E_aR-WO-Yc3X8RWMMkAc8OnJl1TZh5/s1600/IMG_2785.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfSgc_0DK6hTXobfgJcvZW6MCVwr2WnrBe_Vofv-XEWFa0q85F-fZ5kCOLXNbP_r_XkxpHlSHPg9pDvBD1AtNI0reS5v2TKlbz72xL84-veZkLN6E_aR-WO-Yc3X8RWMMkAc8OnJl1TZh5/s320/IMG_2785.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Already worn out at lunch but ready to see the Zebras!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_cSCV4xMtDlQ2LyTH9l5ENe8szOvvcW2_eW6o2_zPlnYF2If-_-8MWRs4g7sfZ3QQDfdx5-mrxNEi5gwjIPmUAaNOexf8C2v39-zML4SOTDzq8Az7SxEWn10AEJQFQ0nwIbtmo3Xm03Z/s1600/DSC09262.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_cSCV4xMtDlQ2LyTH9l5ENe8szOvvcW2_eW6o2_zPlnYF2If-_-8MWRs4g7sfZ3QQDfdx5-mrxNEi5gwjIPmUAaNOexf8C2v39-zML4SOTDzq8Az7SxEWn10AEJQFQ0nwIbtmo3Xm03Z/s320/DSC09262.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Excited for our train ride!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOJ6O02TS-nZS0RVR2VvHa2BoaPh74FDFYIkfHbNUbzrltU4KeXugOpX70EIMtkhAu6rt0CU67PeWiABnfz9GenWEdKJ77SXsfp9BWp9SAG6Fzud2Tq6uo__7ibogitZnWCFK85bqjNhC/s1600/DSC09263.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOJ6O02TS-nZS0RVR2VvHa2BoaPh74FDFYIkfHbNUbzrltU4KeXugOpX70EIMtkhAu6rt0CU67PeWiABnfz9GenWEdKJ77SXsfp9BWp9SAG6Fzud2Tq6uo__7ibogitZnWCFK85bqjNhC/s320/DSC09263.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Haha... I love this face of Thomas!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygoXN7-DZ4-1c3029KYuwkxhLNeF5c1ZNbVmpXygc3YfDRJlDl9JtVbNKwyukCIwgY5yYExaZtBBIPCocVlgyA-rDMSObtjADgfgMzTB9qk_hItnnHrDj6zIIissaDF7TvOgCMMo4OO3p/s1600/DSC09264.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygoXN7-DZ4-1c3029KYuwkxhLNeF5c1ZNbVmpXygc3YfDRJlDl9JtVbNKwyukCIwgY5yYExaZtBBIPCocVlgyA-rDMSObtjADgfgMzTB9qk_hItnnHrDj6zIIissaDF7TvOgCMMo4OO3p/s320/DSC09264.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Ryne being a typical teenager...&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoj48qr1QKObPKv7votyUnAP60anUlGGRgffMWUOnvec7dOcqlljFY4rtAtJTCyyAlVECKY7Q0DpHP26SxdXe7ELz_nH8Ab0OBLdIaQqYZcSawf31XCuLnFma88R4a8uKNtQactUzpZyES/s1600/DSC09265.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoj48qr1QKObPKv7votyUnAP60anUlGGRgffMWUOnvec7dOcqlljFY4rtAtJTCyyAlVECKY7Q0DpHP26SxdXe7ELz_nH8Ab0OBLdIaQqYZcSawf31XCuLnFma88R4a8uKNtQactUzpZyES/s320/DSC09265.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCnwhvXN2t1aVowXoEVATlhHj6lgS5Z6BztW27sVpuDbzG7pgZ6P9njjx78bqOq_kW6kh1q9fz4fBnnwdNwtJMkA4ESsUgZ6IeSyJPgvgCZ_48hBv9yXULDA54KUOXXG5usuasSmJKUBK/s1600/DSC09268.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCnwhvXN2t1aVowXoEVATlhHj6lgS5Z6BztW27sVpuDbzG7pgZ6P9njjx78bqOq_kW6kh1q9fz4fBnnwdNwtJMkA4ESsUgZ6IeSyJPgvgCZ_48hBv9yXULDA54KUOXXG5usuasSmJKUBK/s320/DSC09268.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Thomas loved the tiger!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Carousel ride!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Watching the giraffes!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HTunk5QSqlDCTbryVBfjuyU6ZqQ1ma7JC_hM6QDC_uXpaj_4lrQbqlqc2EJxRKj0vTnbHOUu-iE7crTSa6rkq-NdRp3aBRK7J10bees-axud9fw_815wIaNy8yMPuTab97je4iLaB9rc/s1600/DSC09308.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HTunk5QSqlDCTbryVBfjuyU6ZqQ1ma7JC_hM6QDC_uXpaj_4lrQbqlqc2EJxRKj0vTnbHOUu-iE7crTSa6rkq-NdRp3aBRK7J10bees-axud9fw_815wIaNy8yMPuTab97je4iLaB9rc/s320/DSC09308.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Yay! We finally found the Zebras!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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We had such a great time! I&#39;m so glad we got to squeeze a little family time!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/2065411613462463103/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/2065411613462463103' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/2065411613462463103'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/2065411613462463103'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/03/saint-louis-mega-picture-post.html' title='Saint Louis- MEGA Picture Post!'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPjzvpcuQuxv5Exar9QuIvQBLEiQOAC5j3phL2P6s0VAxwFirscV_fSvtb8TmUZ4Z2BAAIsPUeFaXCtQIGp-wPC3CEbFtpgQD22Ni54IeQOe2906rGqOx52w1K4wnKyhiRks0JcaTy08N/s72-c/DSC09189.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-1959866855568150440</id><published>2012-03-08T23:18:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2012-03-08T23:18:29.718-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Our Week</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Anna-Kate&#39;s spring break has been this week, so we&#39;ve been having lots of fun at home!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Friday afternoon, we kicked things off by playing outside! Anna-Kate keeps calling tic-tac-toe &quot;hopscotch&quot;, so I had to show her what hopscotch actually was. She and Thomas had lots of fun with that.&lt;/div&gt;
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Derek had to work on Saturday, so I took Anna-Kate and Thomas with me to Sams. Thomas was a little grumpy, but other than that we had a really great little trip! (For those of you that don&#39;t know, we live in a small town so we have to drive about 35-40 minutes to get to Sams!) At the check out, &quot;someone&quot; dropped the yogurt on the floor! Sadly, I can&#39;t blame that on anyone... it was me! I felt so bad! I can be pretty clumsy!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We also decided that Saturday was going to be Anna-Kate&#39;s first day blankie free! I want to go into more detail on that later, but I will say that the first few days were ROUGH! :) Poor girl!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I might have gotten a weird look for taking a picture of this, but when you have two little ones and something gets dropped and it&#39;s NOT one of them, it&#39;s a pretty big deal! ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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I spent Monday morning cleaning and getting things done around the house, but at lunch my ear was throbbing. I wound up spending a most of the day resting, trying not to make any noise so that my ear would quit hurting. I did have time to make some yummy spaghetti sauce (simmered all day). I love making meals when I can save some of it for another time! In this case, I have enough extra sauce for lasagna and another batch of spaghetti! I whipped up some cheesy garlic biscuits (Red Lobster copy-cat recipe) to go with our meal. It was great. As I was cleaning up I realized I was late to a big consignment pre-sale! I rushed over there and was shocked to see how busy it was!! I was late and there was still a huge line just to get in. Oh and the parking was crazy! The lines were crazy, so I just piddled around and took my time looking. I think some people were in line for at least an hour and a half! Crazy! I found a few really great pieces. Including a blue oxford shirt for Thomas that matches one of Derek&#39;s (Derek just LOVES matching outfits...ha ha).&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Tuesday, I tried out making some smoothies for the first time! I feel kind of embarassed about that but I just don&#39;t like the &quot;grit&quot; from the berries... and I can&#39;t stand chunks of fruit. I felt like it was important to stick it out so that the kids can have a healthy snack to enjoy. I think they thought it was kind of different, but I know they&#39;ll adjust to them. Thomas liked it the best. Anna-Kate&#39;s comment was &quot;It&#39;s kind of getting on my nerves&quot; talking about the texture from the berries. :)&lt;/div&gt;
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Wednesday was another first for us, we went to the library for Story time!! A friend of mine mentioned that they went, so we met them at a nearby park and then went to hear the story! I loved it so much and Anna-Kate has asked about it every day. I think we will be back soon!&lt;/div&gt;
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Story time was just what we needed to take our mind off the fact that Derek was gone to Saint Louis for business! I can&#39;t stand when he&#39;s away, but this trip is a little easier because we are meeting him in Saint Louis for a little vacation! (very little, but fun!)&lt;/div&gt;
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It rained all day today, so I knew this morning was my only chance to run to the store. Do you ever feel like you&#39;re always out of something? Story of my life... haha.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We just needed a few things, so we ventured down the Easter aisle! I love spring things! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I still had a lot to do before we leave town, so I was pretty much in a cleaning/ cooking frenzy all day! Anna-Kate skipped her name so that she could help me make brownies and snicker doodle bread (thank you pinterest!!). She enjoyed it but right before dinner Thomas came in the kitchen saying something about her and when I checked on her she had fallen asleep!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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She was sitting up in the chair, but Thomas couldn&#39;t stand her being asleep so he tried everything to wake her up. Yelling &quot;KATE KATE&quot;, hitting her leg... you name it. Eventually he settled for a good old gut punch, which was just enough to get a grumble out of her and a shift in position! ha poor girl!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Notice, she&#39;s sleeping without any blanket! :) We have had the best blankie-free day today!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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We had yummy chicken and dumplings for dinner and tried out the snicker doodle bread- yummy!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I&#39;ve got every thing packed except what we need in the morning! We are leaving and picking up Derek&#39;s parents and brother and sister and then hitting the road! We are just staying one night, but I know we&#39;re going to have a blast! Anna-Kate is so excited about the Zoo on Saturday!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Hope everyone has a great weekend! &amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/1959866855568150440/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/1959866855568150440' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/1959866855568150440'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/1959866855568150440'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/03/our-week.html' title='Our Week'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEYXHFdGjWEcxEe40XTxMf3Ra7-sGdgFfbTTEJg6fqgJj-ejMZsjF41-UWcJyjli-uKZNYFhcZnOm1MlB7hohfRGZlSbmnEL-9z5C_qkecOWcllnWXrgsTdh0UunqWPFVV-3FFU2nOw1q/s72-c/blogger-image-932975547.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-6558996601811513417</id><published>2012-03-01T20:58:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2012-03-01T20:58:45.373-06:00</updated><title type='text'>A New Perspective</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Since May, I have had an ear infection about every 6 weeks. It has been driving me nuts, especially since it takes me about two weeks or more to get my hearing back!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I get pretty down when my ears get infected because I have the hardest time hearing anyone. Thomas still does a lot of babbling, so when I can&#39;t hear I feel bad because I can&#39;t understand what he&#39;s saying. I know it&#39;s usually temporary but I always worry that it could be permanent.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Tuesday I went to an ENT here in town. I had my hearing assessed and it was really bad! I did not realize it was that bad, especially because I thought one of my ears had &quot;opened up&quot; and it was not much better than the other.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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After looking at my ears more, he decided to put tubes in. I feel so silly being an adult and getting tubes! Right away I was able to hear so much better. It sounds differently, like I&#39;ve got my hands cupped over my ears. As I was leaving it was almost overwhelming hearing things I&#39;ve not heard in so long!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Everyone finally sounds pretty normal, but I still sound strange when I talk. I just can&#39;t get over how much I can hear! Actually, I almost prefer silence because my ears throb when it&#39;s too loud. I have a whole new perspective! I can hear the cars when they drive by, I can hear my foot steps, and I&#39;ve caught Thomas trying to be sneaky!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I&#39;m still a little sore from the tubes, but that should go away soon. Hopefully the tubes work and help keep the fluid out of my ears!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;Derek has been really sweet to help out extra this week, since I&#39;ve been pretty tired! He really is a great catch! :)&lt;/div&gt;
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That&#39;s pretty much been our week! I got home around 2 on Saturday and I didn&#39;t leave the house until this morning. (Except going to the ENT on Tuesday) It&#39;s actually been really nice to slow down this week!&lt;/div&gt;
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And just because I can&#39;t make a post without pictures here are a few favorites from this week:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;This was actually from last Friday... Anna-Kate and Granddaddy at the Father&#39;s and Grandfather&#39;s breakfast hosted by her class!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Our craft at Carpenter&#39;s Kids this week! I thought they turned out so cute!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirOlfWliJbsz67kg1tk_ZmJBLimepUAHDiTON5SNKyiHwdTioATT1HejLimfisciA9CiQNVw8u2afjRIY70f8t9mocnOjGJEgSMGiX69xVvydSMtoWPPVOy-zICkbSVGZlU4ybvR_RW89I/s640/blogger-image-1206274082.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirOlfWliJbsz67kg1tk_ZmJBLimepUAHDiTON5SNKyiHwdTioATT1HejLimfisciA9CiQNVw8u2afjRIY70f8t9mocnOjGJEgSMGiX69xVvydSMtoWPPVOy-zICkbSVGZlU4ybvR_RW89I/s640/blogger-image-1206274082.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Tuesday, Thomas thought that his legs would make a better coloring book. He was SO proud too!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UXJuD5Rrcny6NO3yep18uLI1z7hJ6RRgASyoPXybXCFKin2HNa7M3T_8S8uYuwRPgFHNIIpS3t8KAoPk5hHPnbCthv1N8xcuLqeXGsHslCvpgLwI0sqHVKnEK3HjUd6aCG6yMkLqxMlK/s640/blogger-image-1063614950.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UXJuD5Rrcny6NO3yep18uLI1z7hJ6RRgASyoPXybXCFKin2HNa7M3T_8S8uYuwRPgFHNIIpS3t8KAoPk5hHPnbCthv1N8xcuLqeXGsHslCvpgLwI0sqHVKnEK3HjUd6aCG6yMkLqxMlK/s640/blogger-image-1063614950.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Me and Thomas this morning! You can tell I&#39;m still not feeling my best... haha but he&#39;s cute! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/6558996601811513417/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/6558996601811513417' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6558996601811513417'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6558996601811513417'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-perspective.html' title='A New Perspective'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-vEPilU2w0wowv-df0m7scOha26J-emMISh37-S6lotdxDEbGm63Qfnbs1Z_lMLGhjTHk54vM-lksCHLV1g6DFcNiBtXxolpt0DFOumVqyaGizsn9Vd8lscfxUYI0AEzFLmZF8T8sxOM/s72-c/blogger-image--933609222.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-7621370855075876116</id><published>2012-02-29T22:44:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2012-03-01T11:23:24.117-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Starting Over</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have really been struggling with the blog lately.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve been trying to decide what has got me so thrown off lately.&lt;br /&gt;
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I&#39;m missing everything blogging related and I definitely feel like I&#39;m missing out on great opportunities to write down some of these wonderful memories that we are making.&lt;br /&gt;
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I am working on a little facelift for the blog, to see if that doesn&#39;t help to kick me in gear.&lt;br /&gt;
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I&#39;d also really appreciate some feedback from you about what you liked or even didn&#39;t like about the blog. It is not comfortable for me to ask that question, but I&#39;d really like to know, so please share!&lt;br /&gt;
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In the mean time, I hope you enjoy the new look!! Chevron has been my absolute favorite pattern lately!&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/7621370855075876116/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/7621370855075876116' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/7621370855075876116'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/7621370855075876116'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/02/starting-over.html' title='Starting Over'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-3367499547649703365</id><published>2012-01-05T23:55:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2012-01-06T12:13:26.384-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="baby cakes"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="banquette"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="breakfast puffs"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cake pop maker"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="home improvements"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="laundry"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="living room"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="omelets"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="paint"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="play area"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="update"/><title type='text'>Around Our House This Week</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Happy Friday everyone!! We have had a wonderful week around here!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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It started off rough, since Derek and I decided that it was a good idea to jump into a painting project two days after getting home from Christmas travels. We barely got things in order, before we broke out the paint roller. Thankfully, by Monday night we were so excited over the living room&#39;s new look that we didn&#39;t care how crazy the rest of the house was (or how high the laundry was piled)!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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So... I&#39;m dying to share the big transformation!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Here&#39;s our living room before:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUTGl234eMg6L0YsLvZgbGBL8k3oLVRAfId06YU7Rxbld6RSTlhaRwW86sguiZQgEkjoq6LIxZ0q0JTvSMqUqMKpKXr7MKhHGjtZZB_r_7_pdxE2SrzpYj6kbbcSVJqjEAjoxQ5dgOG3M/s1600/DSC09051.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUTGl234eMg6L0YsLvZgbGBL8k3oLVRAfId06YU7Rxbld6RSTlhaRwW86sguiZQgEkjoq6LIxZ0q0JTvSMqUqMKpKXr7MKhHGjtZZB_r_7_pdxE2SrzpYj6kbbcSVJqjEAjoxQ5dgOG3M/s320/DSC09051.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;The most recent before picture I had were the ones I took when we had just finished decorating!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WQwaa8teKjcmVBOLLVmyRXVU_5zgV_bP9HjI9eJvxe-rpM4CcsVdJ9TgGcq01IfWfFYxhB0fAKnwaUzcXs3QWyp0-gAp6AA5F1-szoQuHj2pcwn_WhMCbMfeT9UJl2u21DXJxoSyittk/s1600/DSC09062.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WQwaa8teKjcmVBOLLVmyRXVU_5zgV_bP9HjI9eJvxe-rpM4CcsVdJ9TgGcq01IfWfFYxhB0fAKnwaUzcXs3QWyp0-gAp6AA5F1-szoQuHj2pcwn_WhMCbMfeT9UJl2u21DXJxoSyittk/s320/DSC09062.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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and after:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqaKZONq-dTA5j2sZ89DXfY3wPh0GsFmdGAb9MFgVK_4AElK2hMrjLHRaNQlGzfE9afxuXLDTAuwHW7lw8w1Dh2Y6TaEl37i7MaLeTk_Ev7dHAHETgHzDXyvFwMyeLGdTR9pTFv96KBJ0c/s1600/IMG_2158.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqaKZONq-dTA5j2sZ89DXfY3wPh0GsFmdGAb9MFgVK_4AElK2hMrjLHRaNQlGzfE9afxuXLDTAuwHW7lw8w1Dh2Y6TaEl37i7MaLeTk_Ev7dHAHETgHzDXyvFwMyeLGdTR9pTFv96KBJ0c/s320/IMG_2158.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We still need to hang things on the walls! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysjTcC8ATRFlabdG15XpNnfWmVNeu6fVixFavPD4R4Q4r5AeRbVZiuWquecSKnqCsN7ro1eoi93jaBr2VDUEdurM-E2xfJ3X3LaNzVAJBGjJsHz3Sx5GDV7GUeG8aObXezB1o-gxVlHDO/s1600/IMG_2160.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysjTcC8ATRFlabdG15XpNnfWmVNeu6fVixFavPD4R4Q4r5AeRbVZiuWquecSKnqCsN7ro1eoi93jaBr2VDUEdurM-E2xfJ3X3LaNzVAJBGjJsHz3Sx5GDV7GUeG8aObXezB1o-gxVlHDO/s320/IMG_2160.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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I have spent the rest of the week trying to put everything back in order and cleaning! I&#39;ve finally gotten all of the kids&#39; toys put away and their rooms cleaned. Well... almost cleaned... I think Thomas gets a kick out of seeing how quickly he can mess up his room! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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In the process of all that, I&#39;ve done a little bit of rearranging and some spring cleaning!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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One major change was moving the table and benches out of the little banquette in our kitchen and replacing it with a small play area for Anna-Kate and Thomas! I hated taking our eating nook away but to be honest, it just became a catch-all and was really cluttered. Plus, the kids LOVE being in their kitchen while I&#39;m cooking, so it makes dinner time so much easier!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmzBPDOI1Xw2HMTdiROcXP47R3xM5AWIdMgF-qsAp4tWv_ciF1I-W98bTmVgbnjHjpS8OwRjex6kCpTdxus4gkc6wXhu8Qoj8MhWcf71DQMKIEd1S44l5rSGoa-jGfe3HZEfzZhs8Rpsl/s1600/IMG_2177.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmzBPDOI1Xw2HMTdiROcXP47R3xM5AWIdMgF-qsAp4tWv_ciF1I-W98bTmVgbnjHjpS8OwRjex6kCpTdxus4gkc6wXhu8Qoj8MhWcf71DQMKIEd1S44l5rSGoa-jGfe3HZEfzZhs8Rpsl/s320/IMG_2177.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Please excuse the crazy paint... the kitchen is on our list to update!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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A major accomplishment I had this week was catching up on our laundry!! We have never been so behind on our laundry... it was bad! I took this picture on Thursday afternoon and I put the last load of clothes in the washing machine before I went to bed!&lt;/div&gt;
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My second favorite thing I did this week was to break out my new cake pop maker and play with it! I made corn muffins, blueberry muffins, biscuits and french breakfast puffs! All but the breakfast puffs were from a mix, because I wanted to test out the machine first. I am hooked! Everything has turned out perfect and the kids are loving having little things that are easy for them to eat!&lt;/div&gt;
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Last night I got really adventurous and I made&amp;nbsp;omelets!! I was just testing it out, so they just had bacon bits and cheese. I can&#39;t wait to try more omelets out!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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These are made with one egg, a little milk, cheese, bacon bits, salt and pepper. I sprayed the holes first (not sure if that&#39;s necessary, but I was worried!) I just filled it up to the top and then shut the lid. Towards the end they started to whistle, which meant they were puffing up. I left mine in until the whistling slowed down (sorry, I didn&#39;t time it!) and then I took them out and they were perfect!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I am so excited about these little omelets! Maybe, I can get the kids to eat these too!&lt;br /&gt;
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Today, Thomas and I are enjoying a &quot;lazy&quot; day... just playing and relaxing. Hopefully we can get in a trip to the park this afternoon! Hope everyone has had a wonderful first week of 2012!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/3367499547649703365/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/3367499547649703365' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/3367499547649703365'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/3367499547649703365'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/01/around-our-house-this-week.html' title='Around Our House This Week'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUTGl234eMg6L0YsLvZgbGBL8k3oLVRAfId06YU7Rxbld6RSTlhaRwW86sguiZQgEkjoq6LIxZ0q0JTvSMqUqMKpKXr7MKhHGjtZZB_r_7_pdxE2SrzpYj6kbbcSVJqjEAjoxQ5dgOG3M/s72-c/DSC09051.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-4617273660731101116</id><published>2012-01-05T22:59:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2012-01-05T23:03:12.550-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="blogging"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="goals"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="marriage"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="New Year&#39;s"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Resolutions"/><title type='text'>Making A Comeback</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
I have SO much to catch up on since I was such a slacker the last couple of months!! I&#39;m hoping to get to that, but I want to keep things up to date as well.&lt;/div&gt;
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Sunday was the start of 2012 (wow... where did December go?!) and Derek and I sat down and share what our resolutions were. We are actually both pretty much on the same page!&lt;br /&gt;
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This year we have very simple resolutions!&lt;/div&gt;
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1. I want to maintain (housework, routines, budget, blogging, healthy diet, etc.)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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2. I want to grow (spiritually, emotionally, in our marriage, home improvement, {our budget}, etc)&lt;/div&gt;
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3. I also have a little project for our family that I will introduce at another time!&lt;/div&gt;
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That is pretty much it! It sounds simple, but when you think about it... it&#39;s really all inclusive and that&#39;s a pretty tall order. I am kind of nervous about exactly what needs to happen to make our goals work out.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I know that one thing I really struggle with is overcommitting myself. I get so much fulfillment when I am busy. I also feel really guilty because we can&#39;t financially help others, but I feel like I can help in whatever way I can. I realized that I have been so busy, I&#39;ve been neglecting the main reason I am staying at home... my family! So, I am going to try to slow down and focus on getting our family into some better routines.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I am so ready to feel like our days are monotonous! ha. I know that&#39;s crazy, but we have gotten so used to not being at home in the evenings and most days we get home and crash, wondering where the day went. I am so ready to be bored with another night at home!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Last June, I started working hard on losing weight and by the end of October, I had lost 30 pounds! I have gained about 5 pounds over the holidays :) and I am ready to lose another 20-30 pounds! Hopefully I can get more determined about that one... so far this week I have been &lt;b&gt;really&lt;/b&gt; undisciplined! Plus I had to get another steroid shot for yet another ear infection... so I&#39;ve been extra hungry. Derek is on board with the plan and ready to join in with losing weight. Right now, our plan is to drink plenty of water, watch our portion sizes and get plenty of exercise!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I want to spend some time focused on Derek and I&#39;s marriage. Having a child 4 days after our one year anniversary and then another one 2 years later... tends to take it&#39;s toll on the romance side of marriage. I want to dedicate more energy into improving our relationship and working on my role as a wife.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Another huge resolution for us is to get back to the home improvement projects! Ever since we bought our house, we have wanted to paint the living room and dining room the most! When we first moved in we focused on our bedroom and Anna-Kate&#39;s room. Painting Anna-Kate&#39;s room was so difficult it just kept me from wanting to paint the living and dining room.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;I am so excited to say that we have already made progress on this resolution!! We finished painting the living room on Monday and are going to paint the dining room Saturday... it only took us three years! :) I am going to share the before and after photos when we finish the dining room! I know that if we start off the year with the projects, then I feel like we are really going to be crossing off things on our to-do list!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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So that&#39;s where we are at! Here&#39;s to keeping all of our resolutions!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/4617273660731101116/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/4617273660731101116' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/4617273660731101116'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/4617273660731101116'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-comeback.html' title='Making A Comeback'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-2003926392645393213</id><published>2011-12-11T22:15:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2011-12-11T22:16:31.519-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Our Christmas Cards!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;sflyProductPreviewWidget&quot; style=&quot;height: 494px; width: 425px;&quot;&gt;
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Classic Snow Frame Christmas Card&lt;/div&gt;
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Shop our unique collection of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards&quot; style=&quot;color: #6666cc;&quot;&gt;photo Christmas cards&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;
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View the entire &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery&quot; style=&quot;color: #6666cc;&quot;&gt;collection&lt;/a&gt; of cards.&lt;br /&gt;
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I am so excited about the deal we got on our Christmas cards! I won 25 free cards in a blog contest! It&#39;s a little late, but I finally ordered my cards! I think they turned out pretty cute! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/2003926392645393213/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/2003926392645393213' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/2003926392645393213'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/2003926392645393213'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/12/5x7-folded-card_11.html' title='Our Christmas Cards!'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-1628009116659650226</id><published>2011-12-01T16:39:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2011-12-01T16:54:31.177-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Happy Holidays!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We had 2 wonderful meals with family! The weekend before Thanksgiving was a ton of fun! We went to a camp and stayed in a cabin there and spent the weekend with Derek&#39;s dad&#39;s side of the family. It was so great that we decided to try it every year! Derek and I&#39;s turkey gave us a little scare when it wasn&#39;t done on time, but thankfully it cooked and was DELISH! In fact, the entire meal was perfect!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We got back on Sunday evening and crashed! Thankfully we recovered on Monday and I went to work Tuesday and Wednesday. I got to help out down the street, where I worked before. It was tiring (I put in 21 hours in two days!) but I really enjoyed it. The holidays were my favorite times to work!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We left for Derek&#39;s other side of the family on Thursday. When we got there, we ate a big lunch and then relaxed. I also planned out my black friday shopping!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We all left the house around 6 and headed to Target! Black Friday is one of my favorite days too. :) Anna-Kate and I have shopped together every year since she was born! She is always so good when we go, despite waking up so early! This year she spotted a girly store and wanted to shop there. I&#39;m pretty sure I&#39;ve got a girly girl on my hands! I warned Derek he better prepare himself (and his wallet) ha!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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We spent the rest of the day Friday with Derek&#39;s grandparents and headed home on Saturday.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Sunday we got down our Christmas decorations and I finished putting those up yesterday! I don&#39;t go crazy all out, I just took my time!&lt;/div&gt;
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I absolutely love Christmas and making memories with Anna-Kate and Thomas! I&#39;m already pinning new traditions to start. Tomorrow we are going to the Christmas tree farm! :) I can&#39;t wait to get our tree up, it&#39;s December 1st and I already feel behind!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I&#39;m starting 25 days of Christmas photos, it&#39;ll be up on a tab here pretty soon. Feel free to join in too! What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/1628009116659650226/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/1628009116659650226' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/1628009116659650226'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/1628009116659650226'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-holidays.html' title='Happy Holidays!'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-874959689170833149</id><published>2011-11-17T13:16:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2011-11-17T13:40:59.099-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Thankful Thursday</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Sad I missed the What I&#39;m Loving Wednesday! :( Yesterday I was a house cleaning machine... so when I look at my empty laundry basket and clean house, I get over it quick!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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This week has been a unique week for us! Thomas was a fussy little guy all weekend and I thought &quot;Oh no- either the terrible twos have hit or he&#39;s sick.&quot; Either way is no fun and with us going to a camp this weekend, I wanted to make sure he was okay. Sure enough he has double ear infections. Poor thing! He never runs a fever, so sometimes it&#39;s just hard to know! I&#39;m thankful we got it figured out and that he&#39;s feeling better already!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I also made myself a doctor&#39;s appointment because I have not been able to hear for nearly 3 months now! I had a double ear infection back in September and I just could not get the fluid to clear up. I&#39;m really sensitive and emotional about not being able to hear (it happens a lot) and I get tired of trying to explain to everyone why I&#39;m constantly making them repeat what they&#39;re saying. Sometimes I act like I can hear what they say... even when I don&#39;t. I know that&#39;s bad to do but after three months like this, I&#39;m just tired of it. Plus, I get really worried that I&#39;m never going to be able to hear again! ha. Monday afternoon, I came home and I was worn out! I had spent the morning setting appointments and finishing up things on my to-do list and then I went to the store with Derek&#39;s grandmother to get things for this weekend. I had the worst headache and wound up going to bed early. Tuesday I felt okay but before lunch, my ear starting hurting really bad. I felt like the room was spinning. I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed! I was glad I made my appointment Monday before I felt sick at all! When I went to the doctor yesterday she said I have another ear infection! Hopefully I got something this time that will help with everything. I was able to push through yesterday and get everything on my list nearly done, so today I just have to make my cake pops and pack! I&#39;m thankful for such a great doctor. I really enjoy going to see her and the fact that she always listens to me. And that she never makes me feel crazy- even though she probably thinks it! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I know I mentioned this last week, but I&#39;m so thankful for Derek! He&#39;s always willing to step in and help out. I really appreciate how hard he works for our family! He never complains- how awesome is that?!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I&#39;m thankful for all my little two year olds. I love seeing them on Tuesdays and Thursdays! They are so sweet and fun. Today we had a Thanksgiving feast and wore pilgrim hats and bonnets. Well that&#39;s what I planned... but they&#39;re two! :) I wished I would have gotten a picture of them while they had their hats on! So cute!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I&#39;m thankful for my sweet little girl too. She&#39;s been so good this week and excited about everything. Some weeks are a little stressful and for a while I&#39;ve been complaining about how much harder 4 has been than I realized it would be. This week has seemed completely different. She has just been so helpful and funny! She&#39;s been excited about her hair appointment today and going to camp this weekend. She&#39;s been counting down the days! It&#39;s really neat to see how her concept of the days and the times is starting to form.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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Sorry for all my rambling! Like I said- I&#39;m emotional from not being able to hear and this crazy week. ;)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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I&#39;m so excited about this weekend! I&#39;ve gotten most all of my cooking done and I&#39;m ready to have a little down time. I&#39;m so thankful for a weekend where we get to be with our family and relax!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/874959689170833149/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/874959689170833149' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/874959689170833149'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/874959689170833149'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/11/thankful-thursday.html' title='Thankful Thursday'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-8305650220790256452</id><published>2011-11-14T20:56:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-11-14T20:56:17.646-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="breakfast"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cranberry sauce"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Menu Monday"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="recipes"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thanksgiving"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="turkey"/><title type='text'>Menu Monday- Thanksgiving Edition</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKK7Lqjvx0_BEzRXQCmS4ISdzE3WYrPqZjm_rOtlIDXjN1TSmIckeABUlxZiy0bz3bObviL7azQswf2HZ2marZdt2cF2ZgVVKT4QRSdZ338xteSmAxoU9XbOnpN7pX6skpcemDWb9rChl/s1600/Menu+Monday+Pic.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;248&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKK7Lqjvx0_BEzRXQCmS4ISdzE3WYrPqZjm_rOtlIDXjN1TSmIckeABUlxZiy0bz3bObviL7azQswf2HZ2marZdt2cF2ZgVVKT4QRSdZ338xteSmAxoU9XbOnpN7pX6skpcemDWb9rChl/s320/Menu+Monday+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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Let me just say that it was SO nice getting in the kitchen last week and cooking more than I have been! I really love cooking, especially when I get to try new recipes and they turn out really good! All of the recipes I tried last week were wonderful!&lt;br /&gt;
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This week I&#39;m just doing some boring basics but I have several things cooking for our weekend Thanksgiving trip! We are staying in a lodge with some of Derek&#39;s extended family. I think there will be about 24 of us! It&#39;s going to be a lot of fun! Since I am doing a lot in preparation for that, I thought it would be fun to share my recipes!&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7UPRdSqjDqZsgJK_cuLMhGuOWuaulFabdh1BQ1wpT4dsyvJ9VDi3OjJ0GIY-UWeDeGvXr7NVaNB2PmjsI9xTaSUwizs0Kmji2PKgAA-H32xS8Bs0S1uyZzyVsHcISwR-VnRABwpTbfdA/s1600/my-crock-pot-green-beans-187795.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;239&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7UPRdSqjDqZsgJK_cuLMhGuOWuaulFabdh1BQ1wpT4dsyvJ9VDi3OjJ0GIY-UWeDeGvXr7NVaNB2PmjsI9xTaSUwizs0Kmji2PKgAA-H32xS8Bs0S1uyZzyVsHcISwR-VnRABwpTbfdA/s320/my-crock-pot-green-beans-187795.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.food.com/recipe/my-crock-pot-green-beans-187795?scaleto=4&amp;amp;mode=null&amp;amp;st=true&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.food.com/recipe/my-crock-pot-green-beans-187795?scaleto=4&amp;amp;mode=null&amp;amp;st=true&quot;&gt;Crock Pot Green Beans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(I am making &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.food.com/recipe/my-crock-pot-green-beans-187795?scaleto=4&amp;amp;mode=null&amp;amp;st=true&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; for our Thanksgiving Feast at Thomas&#39; school! I know they&#39;ll taste good and you can&#39;t go wrong with a crock pot recipe!)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6DmgRLLgPJArqN_sMVCrZSxVH8Xpe2CeR7aPLphtuCIFju4MKnsUXhVc9pEFPUc5VVrXBtozuYiF7yBStmSSysMpn9DiB9UXSJprwS1rsLxHcxUPTueY9xNRoOPfgWjDKbrSOLANJbtT/s1600/333323031.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;212&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6DmgRLLgPJArqN_sMVCrZSxVH8Xpe2CeR7aPLphtuCIFju4MKnsUXhVc9pEFPUc5VVrXBtozuYiF7yBStmSSysMpn9DiB9UXSJprwS1rsLxHcxUPTueY9xNRoOPfgWjDKbrSOLANJbtT/s320/333323031.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/&quot;&gt;via Pioneer Woman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/&quot;&gt;Homemade Cinnamon Rolls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(I love making &lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; and freezing them. You can freeze them at any point but I just do it before I bake them. This recipe makes a lot, so you can just pull out what you need. The extras make great gifts too!)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6W4cbECeEO4VqCbf58HK7C2BI4T7ECmUpyNXWvxz8KUPjhgk1LrcpgTtHmHEoEuFli46byF2UyL1DHCsqGhYi8KByCCP2RBzf2j39qxhHc9hclE49KtCCg_GKf5VgTNP5QGHjUBxFftf-/s1600/3037246032.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;213&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6W4cbECeEO4VqCbf58HK7C2BI4T7ECmUpyNXWvxz8KUPjhgk1LrcpgTtHmHEoEuFli46byF2UyL1DHCsqGhYi8KByCCP2RBzf2j39qxhHc9hclE49KtCCg_GKf5VgTNP5QGHjUBxFftf-/s320/3037246032.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bakerella.com/youll-want-to-gobble-these-right-up/&quot;&gt;via Bakerella&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bakerella.com/youll-want-to-gobble-these-right-up/&quot;&gt;Turkey Cake Pops&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bakerella.com/youll-want-to-gobble-these-right-up/&quot;&gt;These&lt;/a&gt; were the very first cake pops I made! (2 years ago) I&#39;m looking forward to making them again now that I&#39;m a little more experienced. They&#39;ll make the perfect quick snack this weekend!)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9BCZ911k0exlF1n9NXOtitjTVeCgxVhw-agG4TL8v9H2MESonKO-mM0V2NmqYYpoSgmP7TAsfHEliNqbLiIg_oyN3BQ6BC2iRnknIEcwt_CjCmrI1huEaZRVuXIlSYvsHbcIh8n3Csl2/s1600/3061516710.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;213&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9BCZ911k0exlF1n9NXOtitjTVeCgxVhw-agG4TL8v9H2MESonKO-mM0V2NmqYYpoSgmP7TAsfHEliNqbLiIg_oyN3BQ6BC2iRnknIEcwt_CjCmrI1huEaZRVuXIlSYvsHbcIh8n3Csl2/s320/3061516710.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/cranberry-pomegranate-sauce/&quot;&gt;via Pioneer Woman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oceanspray.com/Recipes/Corporate/Sauces,-Sides---Salads/Homemade-Jellied-Cranberry-Sauce.aspx&quot;&gt;Homemade Cranberry Sauce&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(If you have never tried to make your own cranberry sauce, you are going to be amazed at how easy this is make and how delicious it tastes!! And if you&#39;ve never tasted cranberry sauce, now is the perfect chance! I am using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oceanspray.com/Recipes/Corporate/Sauces,-Sides---Salads/Homemade-Jellied-Cranberry-Sauce.aspx&quot;&gt;the one&lt;/a&gt; on the back of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oceanspray.com/Recipes/Corporate/Sauces,-Sides---Salads/Homemade-Jellied-Cranberry-Sauce.aspx&quot;&gt;Ocean Spray&lt;/a&gt; bag but I&#39;ve tried &lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/cranberry-pomegranate-sauce/&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/cranberry-pomegranate-sauce/&quot;&gt;Pioneer Woman&lt;/a&gt; too.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zEkBmn5ZiRBcRDBaB0GaenPtfGgjlFhW-0q58sri2pkUXJ0QAFtvKxZL4YVpTpGQnzXywIkHtRHm7VRlHF35nhCisDqBeVJuRXwIGur8XboGRUGlbAoCLRlkPnWJm8-ouCSU7zZxTQ5r/s1600/1.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zEkBmn5ZiRBcRDBaB0GaenPtfGgjlFhW-0q58sri2pkUXJ0QAFtvKxZL4YVpTpGQnzXywIkHtRHm7VRlHF35nhCisDqBeVJuRXwIGur8XboGRUGlbAoCLRlkPnWJm8-ouCSU7zZxTQ5r/s1600/1.jpeg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/corn-pudding-the-easy-way-recipe/1/&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1850,153170-231206,00.html&quot;&gt;Corn Pudding&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1850,153170-231206,00.html&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is a must at Thanksgiving and Christmas in my family! It&#39;s so easy and simple and is sure to please everyone! I actually mix mine in the dish I bake it in for easy clean up. It&#39;s always a hit!)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9jX7rxP6Glg2MFgHSjND3iu5WiCtXRJX76Fx8Sa-QBZkQlYfmBQOrrksMsl89A5CHWT7uI1Uv3VRaR5Hy4z03ufirbbIYyYT9yKpFXR9_TDXcooQku-QVk3R6c7dbbvquiPckE3k4yxK/s1600/ef101654_1105_turkey_xl.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9jX7rxP6Glg2MFgHSjND3iu5WiCtXRJX76Fx8Sa-QBZkQlYfmBQOrrksMsl89A5CHWT7uI1Uv3VRaR5Hy4z03ufirbbIYyYT9yKpFXR9_TDXcooQku-QVk3R6c7dbbvquiPckE3k4yxK/s320/ef101654_1105_turkey_xl.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;256&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.marthastewart.com/315666/roast-turkey-with-herb-butter&quot;&gt;Turkey&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-bread-stuffing-146335&quot;&gt;Stuffing &lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(I don&#39;t want to share my family&#39;s recipe, but I did some research and found these recipes &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.marthastewart.com/315666/roast-turkey-with-herb-butter&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-bread-stuffing-146335&quot;&gt;here &lt;/a&gt;that are very similar! The key is to over season the stuffing so that the flavors spread to the turkey and to butter the bad boy up. We use a LOT more than what this recipe calls for. If you are not a fan of actually stuffing the turkey, this might not be your thing. I can say that my family has been doing turkey this way for YEARS and it&#39;s the best turkey I&#39;ve ever had! Hopefully ours will come close this year.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I&#39;m not going to be making these next few recipes, but I wanted to share a few more of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6j2t6Ld3kSInzHd9Fcn5GofGNcqi5SO0GNtfOuFX9niQKFUiT301q8_FB5Mhonoxd-Ygj6ZN8miDyhW4Nk6rvCseADWnGs5jd5h1pkZeVN4v8ARK-xuxUvhVj0Hhy-I3bggl86lHYSnN8/s1600/Hash-Brown-Casserole-morgue.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;239&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6j2t6Ld3kSInzHd9Fcn5GofGNcqi5SO0GNtfOuFX9niQKFUiT301q8_FB5Mhonoxd-Ygj6ZN8miDyhW4Nk6rvCseADWnGs5jd5h1pkZeVN4v8ARK-xuxUvhVj0Hhy-I3bggl86lHYSnN8/s320/Hash-Brown-Casserole-morgue.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paulas-home-cooking/hash-brown-casserole-recipe/index.html&quot;&gt;via Paula Deen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paulas-home-cooking/hash-brown-casserole-recipe/index.html&quot;&gt;Breakfast Casserole&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(The onion sautéed in with the hash browns make &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paulas-home-cooking/hash-brown-casserole-recipe/index.html&quot;&gt;this dish&lt;/a&gt;! I love to make this up and then freeze it for when I need it!)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuW4i-tmLWXnpwN6bQEjUyM2LNkzAdy79uSoJEbC-VGYbSGTMYBaEovzzFD9RL-F8Q3B6g76ie0ZUBQYKKWt2Rt2_OucM5jDtHKPREfh0ptzfwnr9cEQlchXZMNem7PI99F64fN_bGUkQ/s1600/sweet-potato-casserole-ii.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuW4i-tmLWXnpwN6bQEjUyM2LNkzAdy79uSoJEbC-VGYbSGTMYBaEovzzFD9RL-F8Q3B6g76ie0ZUBQYKKWt2Rt2_OucM5jDtHKPREfh0ptzfwnr9cEQlchXZMNem7PI99F64fN_bGUkQ/s1600/sweet-potato-casserole-ii.jpeg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepoorgirl.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/momma-gs-sweet-potato-casserole/&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepoorgirl.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/momma-gs-sweet-potato-casserole/&quot;&gt;Sweet Potato Casserole&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
(I add a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to &lt;a href=&quot;http://thepoorgirl.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/momma-gs-sweet-potato-casserole/&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; and love the way it tastes! The orange juice makes this dish stand out from other sweet potato recipes too!)&lt;br /&gt;
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Okay, I feel like I&#39;m posting a ton of recipes! I think this is enough to keep you busy! ;) Feel free to ask any questions if I didn&#39;t make something clear enough.&lt;br /&gt;
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As always, feel free to play along! Comment below and let me know if you do, I&#39;d love to hear what&#39;s on your menu!&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/8305650220790256452/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/8305650220790256452' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/8305650220790256452'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/8305650220790256452'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/11/menu-monday-thanksgiving-edition.html' title='Menu Monday- Thanksgiving Edition'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKK7Lqjvx0_BEzRXQCmS4ISdzE3WYrPqZjm_rOtlIDXjN1TSmIckeABUlxZiy0bz3bObviL7azQswf2HZ2marZdt2cF2ZgVVKT4QRSdZ338xteSmAxoU9XbOnpN7pX6skpcemDWb9rChl/s72-c/Menu+Monday+Pic.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-6762342919456281052</id><published>2011-11-13T23:22:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-11-13T23:29:01.915-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Chicken Club Ring"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Cucumber Salad"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="friends"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="lepanto"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Tea Party"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thanksgiving"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Weekend"/><title type='text'>Weekend Happenings</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
We had such a great weekend!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
Friday was a lazy day for me and Thomas. It always seems like those days at home just put him in the best mood!&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
We actually had a great night Friday, just relaxing at home and then we went to spend a little time with Derek&#39;s family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Saturday we had Derek&#39;s grandmother&#39;s surprise tea party. She knew that she was coming over to have a tea party with Anna-Kate and I but what she didn&#39;t know is that there would be 3 friends from her hometown there too! The look on her face when she walked in and saw her friends was absolutely priceless! I am still kicking myself for not getting a picture of it!&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkdHXhz-gA1E4M04nrfVM2O1g0PESXqr5DvCsXblFeOJam4J2sAj-QZJx_UcAgWYDgaN1ADSlQn1cBFLh4ibxZlo1dbZsGiiihr7qTbvV6HWvz57hC4zw05Q6fdf-67dOaE5XWikgPI6B/s1600/DSC08833.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkdHXhz-gA1E4M04nrfVM2O1g0PESXqr5DvCsXblFeOJam4J2sAj-QZJx_UcAgWYDgaN1ADSlQn1cBFLh4ibxZlo1dbZsGiiihr7qTbvV6HWvz57hC4zw05Q6fdf-67dOaE5XWikgPI6B/s320/DSC08833.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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We had so much fun visiting and catching up with the ladies. I was so glad they got to come help make it a special day for his grandmother. It has been hard on her to move away from the town she lived in for over 50 years.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
After lunch, we visited and then took the ladies to see her house.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3XYvlXUK2DPZrmnrWpXVGLPN9_qVBeZRARRX8xykMnV-YXUPbdAxvMUSNp6oKihw6AxRYZAIWzb-mfamvMVimuBFy09UEioXbTAsy44hRpudBe0zmg0e36PNCqo-cxvoz1c_V1460m64/s1600/DSC08838.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3XYvlXUK2DPZrmnrWpXVGLPN9_qVBeZRARRX8xykMnV-YXUPbdAxvMUSNp6oKihw6AxRYZAIWzb-mfamvMVimuBFy09UEioXbTAsy44hRpudBe0zmg0e36PNCqo-cxvoz1c_V1460m64/s320/DSC08838.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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I tried a few new recipes for lunch that were so good!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here&#39;s what we had on the menu:&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFbMQoVtrW7OJueHVt4p4Vf02OGSuR8kpjMjpJwzHcNiIWRDx5qL4fD2DM5E0CV6yLShFHbLpFhCwc3aTi2t8kYIKxGcD78H74vtHfmLj-kn3HssNGYZ8IIonM6i6xB13n1lsFTRQldI8/s1600/exps31535_LTA1132860D91-1.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFbMQoVtrW7OJueHVt4p4Vf02OGSuR8kpjMjpJwzHcNiIWRDx5qL4fD2DM5E0CV6yLShFHbLpFhCwc3aTi2t8kYIKxGcD78H74vtHfmLj-kn3HssNGYZ8IIonM6i6xB13n1lsFTRQldI8/s1600/exps31535_LTA1132860D91-1.jpeg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Chicken-Club-Brunch-Ring&quot;&gt;via Taste Of Home&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
Chicken Club Ring&lt;br /&gt;
(This turned out really well! I knew I&#39;d be in a hurry, so I used deli chicken. I just rolled several pieces together and cut it into chunks. It worked really well. I also added a little bit of parmesan and cheddar cheese and a small piece of bacon to each crescent roll. It was a big hit!)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBY-IoJauDuOgTQAcB7q3QRQ_uZlYI05Hf6WarAqL0oqSi0A4EB4TwGT6HAPPr-YVC3IzckVhtXv9Ngm_qlmP9MH9tELIy5RKs7LOhcrnOG1OMHATOm3TV8jrOf4wqP_NbZqv9IHQ4PHeu/s1600/picUk4PZm.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;239&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBY-IoJauDuOgTQAcB7q3QRQ_uZlYI05Hf6WarAqL0oqSi0A4EB4TwGT6HAPPr-YVC3IzckVhtXv9Ngm_qlmP9MH9tELIy5RKs7LOhcrnOG1OMHATOm3TV8jrOf4wqP_NbZqv9IHQ4PHeu/s320/picUk4PZm.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.food.com/recipe/cucumber-sandwich-filling-54517&quot;&gt;via Food.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
Cucumber Sandwiches&lt;br /&gt;(I realized that I forgot to get cream cheese so I substituted with sour cream. I also felt like it needed a little extra flavor, so I added maybe a tablespoon of vinegar. I liked the way it tasted and these were a hit too!)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Fresh Fruit&lt;br /&gt;
(I wasn&#39;t sure what everyone liked, so I just stuck to some favorites. I cut up fresh pineapple and tossed it with grapes and orange slices)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Veggie Tray&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sour Cream Pound Cake&lt;br /&gt;
(This is so unlike me- but I bought this cake! I knew I couldn&#39;t go wrong with Paula Deen. It was perfectly moist and a great combination with the lunch!)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We got to spend the rest of the day with Derek&#39;s grandmother and we watched the Hogs play the Vols. The one game where Derek and I are not friends. ;) Sadly our Volunteers lost. At least Anna-Kate told me that she wanted to be a Vol instead of a Hog. (She might have turned right around and called the hogs... but who&#39;s keeping track?)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We had the most perfect, relaxing Sunday after church! I love Sunday&#39;s when we can just spend time together. I don&#39;t worry about the housework or dishes because I know I&#39;ll be home Monday to tackle all of that!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We have a busy week getting ready for our first Thanksgiving this weekend! Look for a different Menu Monday this week! I&#39;ll be posting Thanksgiving recipes! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/6762342919456281052/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/6762342919456281052' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6762342919456281052'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6762342919456281052'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/11/weekend-happenings.html' title='Weekend Happenings'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkdHXhz-gA1E4M04nrfVM2O1g0PESXqr5DvCsXblFeOJam4J2sAj-QZJx_UcAgWYDgaN1ADSlQn1cBFLh4ibxZlo1dbZsGiiihr7qTbvV6HWvz57hC4zw05Q6fdf-67dOaE5XWikgPI6B/s72-c/DSC08833.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-3406724854389208220</id><published>2011-11-11T13:15:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-11-11T13:28:21.227-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="chaos"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="friends"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="hobby"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="scrapbooking"/><title type='text'>Getting Scrappy!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTQ9XXZs4Qvpnb_AAr-RcbfE_Uuc4-7F4uEmQdYU2iKxytvt0Wgk7jybtB8Y4cCn7t2xzjDo18Y2x4P-28vP8fiz2sfetMDGo1vwZoXPBzYIBAY7BW0riQ6kiQEp_5wKbJYUosECVHvr3/s1600/images.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;108&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTQ9XXZs4Qvpnb_AAr-RcbfE_Uuc4-7F4uEmQdYU2iKxytvt0Wgk7jybtB8Y4cCn7t2xzjDo18Y2x4P-28vP8fiz2sfetMDGo1vwZoXPBzYIBAY7BW0riQ6kiQEp_5wKbJYUosECVHvr3/s200/images.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A while ago, a very crafty friend mentioned that she was thinking about working a scrapbooking weekend (called Scrapbook Extravaganza) and wanted to see if I would like to join her. We could scrap the night before and then get all of the kits that they pass out on Saturday if we just helped out with the classes they teach. Of course I was on board for that! It was a major savings and a great way to get started in scrapbooking!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have a scrapbook that I have had since Anna-Kate was a baby. It was supposed to be her first year scrapbook. I got it thinking that it was a pre-made one so it would be really simple to make. Then I realized that was just a little harder than I originally though... and so I was going to have a friend make it for me. I kept putting it off and eventually the scrapbook and all of the pictures I had printed off wound up in my attic! Horrible- I know!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;So, last weekend, I rescued my forgotten scrapbook and pictures out of the attic and took it with me to the scrapbooking extravaganza! I really had no clue what I was getting myself into! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;When I got there with my one bag of supplies I was in shock and I felt a little overwhelmed with all of the &quot;stuff&quot; everyone brought!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;There were over 400 women and most of them had brought their own chairs and little lights and even drink holders that attach to a table and have a trash bag holder on them. Most everyone owned a cricut, which they had lining the walls and most everyone had huge rolling bags full of scrapbook tools and supplies. If I ever had any question about how expensive this little hobby could get... it was gone after last weekend!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I didn&#39;t get much time to scrapbook Friday because I had to pick Derek up from the airport, but I did manage to spend just enough time there to realize that my scrapbook was horribly outdated! Saturday we got there at 7:30 and worked the show until 4:30. It was so much fun seeing all of the creativity that these women had! I loved getting ideas and seeing techniques. It was the perfect way to introduce myself to the whole world of scrapbooking!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Around 4:30 we started in on our scrapbooks! The store in town that sponsors the show had set up their store that you could browse and shop. They would just scan your badge and you could pay when you left. (Pretty smart, since it&#39;s super easy to rack up a bill that way!) But probably one of my favorite parts of the weekend happened towards the end of the night.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;The yard sale. I cannot fully share how crazy of an experience this is! Basically the sponsoring store auctions off their scrapbooking supplies at a very discounted rate. If you&#39;ve ever gotten out on black friday and fought the chaos, you have a slight idea of what I&#39;m talking about! Only try it with a bunch of hobby-passionate women looking for a great deal! Don&#39;t worry, I snapped a little video just so you can see what I&#39;m talking about! :) Just to warn you, it&#39;s about a minute long.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen=&#39;allowfullscreen&#39; webkitallowfullscreen=&#39;webkitallowfullscreen&#39; mozallowfullscreen=&#39;mozallowfullscreen&#39; width=&#39;320&#39; height=&#39;266&#39; src=&#39;https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzgDtiYXrSEbjotPA0DKUBI303k2CWBqqQJ5vzPNXAXAJLoQNgQ4S1Hz3Wt7yAU-Dg16JW_O-2lSI1qqGmpNQ&#39; class=&#39;b-hbp-video b-uploaded&#39; frameborder=&#39;0&#39;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I am just so grateful that I got to go to this! I had such a great time, got some wonderfully uplifting advice, and grew a friendship! Plus I now have the first 4 pages of Anna-Kate&#39;s scrapbook finished and tons of scrapbooking supplies to keep going!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/3406724854389208220/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/3406724854389208220' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/3406724854389208220'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/3406724854389208220'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/11/getting-scrappy.html' title='Getting Scrappy!'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTQ9XXZs4Qvpnb_AAr-RcbfE_Uuc4-7F4uEmQdYU2iKxytvt0Wgk7jybtB8Y4cCn7t2xzjDo18Y2x4P-28vP8fiz2sfetMDGo1vwZoXPBzYIBAY7BW0riQ6kiQEp_5wKbJYUosECVHvr3/s72-c/images.jpeg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-8715385237419567915</id><published>2011-11-10T14:15:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-11-10T14:15:36.945-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="thankful"/><title type='text'>Thankful Thursdays</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I thought it would be fun to do thankful Thursdays this month too!&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3eYn9zxFnnNC6Op_cn78VsxT1T8ctGYZn-SwrS8DYsfk1G7Yt8SN54-2-ddI7sJAlgF0UAy80AU0_NZnuINdDc6CLrnLPk9c-GARofZOqs4q6SSb9Dvp4sEKQNaAC1GJxtM8ZWcKxg4l/s1600/IMG_1728.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3eYn9zxFnnNC6Op_cn78VsxT1T8ctGYZn-SwrS8DYsfk1G7Yt8SN54-2-ddI7sJAlgF0UAy80AU0_NZnuINdDc6CLrnLPk9c-GARofZOqs4q6SSb9Dvp4sEKQNaAC1GJxtM8ZWcKxg4l/s320/IMG_1728.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Making a build a bear for Anna-Kate&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;i&gt;I&#39;m thankful&lt;/i&gt; for a loving and supportive husband and the wonderful father that he is! He was out of town Tuesday afternoon through Friday last week and I missed him so much! I realized that things that happen during the day are just not funny unless you have someone there to make you laugh about them. I&#39;m thankful for a husband who makes me laugh daily.&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYgIMqHd8eSQ5DLNfU-VGyzXqGnVcONY1jNUCpldlBOSgQ_fs_dPFQP7hiDsF6XMbx1Qrc3_lj7rzB-OQSCv9AELfCCyWdgYAqnMKzavyS-7mHRRNvDeQ5u-yb2Xs8QimsVYd2d4jalWc/s1600/DSC08461.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYgIMqHd8eSQ5DLNfU-VGyzXqGnVcONY1jNUCpldlBOSgQ_fs_dPFQP7hiDsF6XMbx1Qrc3_lj7rzB-OQSCv9AELfCCyWdgYAqnMKzavyS-7mHRRNvDeQ5u-yb2Xs8QimsVYd2d4jalWc/s320/DSC08461.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;I&#39;m thankful&lt;/i&gt; for a beautiful brown eyed little girl who is so much fun! She is such a blessing in my life. I&#39;m constantly laughing at something she has said or done. Yesterday I called her my cowgirl and then she called me her cow momma. Although I know where she was headed there, I am pretty sure that she doesn&#39;t quite understand that&#39;s not a compliment. haha :) She is always wanting to help with cooking and I am so excited that she is going to help me throw a surprise tea party for Derek&#39;s grandmother Saturday! I know that Anna-Kate is going to love helping cook and serving her great grandmother and Lepanto friends.&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAAYk5T1kVSOyJcY955ajY9kLpbMvFKmNBSqODv6BdXPMi1Q55u1izrPUAoofxD0j5e6gaMCPIq2lFhhwkykFuBbrB5QNXAUeJUjos7Al5MtYAbarftn2Hqad96-WM5UhVeWvOeJ55DGy/s1600/DSC08661.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAAYk5T1kVSOyJcY955ajY9kLpbMvFKmNBSqODv6BdXPMi1Q55u1izrPUAoofxD0j5e6gaMCPIq2lFhhwkykFuBbrB5QNXAUeJUjos7Al5MtYAbarftn2Hqad96-WM5UhVeWvOeJ55DGy/s320/DSC08661.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;I&#39;m thankful&lt;/i&gt; for a funny little two year old too. Thomas is hitting that stage where personality really comes out... the good and the bad! I love to hear all the things he is taking in and all the new words he is learning. Last night he was pulling out toys and saying &quot;OH LOOK!&quot; and each toy was just so exciting. Did I mention that he was right in the middle of Bible Study and Thomas chose to play right in the middle of the room everyone was in?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;i&gt;I&#39;m thankful&lt;/i&gt; for the beautiful weather this fall has given us. I do get tired of the extreme heat but I don&#39;t like the cold unless it snows! (I know, picky much?) Thankfully we have had a good mixture of the two and the weather has been just beautiful!&lt;br /&gt;
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What are you thankful for?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/8715385237419567915/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/8715385237419567915' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/8715385237419567915'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/8715385237419567915'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/11/thankful-thursdays.html' title='Thankful Thursdays'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3eYn9zxFnnNC6Op_cn78VsxT1T8ctGYZn-SwrS8DYsfk1G7Yt8SN54-2-ddI7sJAlgF0UAy80AU0_NZnuINdDc6CLrnLPk9c-GARofZOqs4q6SSb9Dvp4sEKQNaAC1GJxtM8ZWcKxg4l/s72-c/IMG_1728.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-6618575745471131500</id><published>2011-11-09T14:34:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-11-09T14:34:58.393-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="birthday"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cowboy"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="franklin"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Halloween"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="lepanto"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="monkey"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="October"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="owl"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="terapin derby"/><title type='text'>What I&#39;m Loving Wednesday</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6x3RU54zoPlCQb4LJ-KM4ZxStXcr5lt9UHa0U9I5AAduCBEymIAU2hRV4iellP_4Jincf5wqMjxqx0lLNeLUwfG1xuke83ElzuGEQ4U46cDbVPlq4HKpJ8FDKY7210WQYh7KKZ1XFCx_C/s1600/WILW.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6x3RU54zoPlCQb4LJ-KM4ZxStXcr5lt9UHa0U9I5AAduCBEymIAU2hRV4iellP_4Jincf5wqMjxqx0lLNeLUwfG1xuke83ElzuGEQ4U46cDbVPlq4HKpJ8FDKY7210WQYh7KKZ1XFCx_C/s320/WILW.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;October edition...&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Since we had so many fun things happen last month, I thought this would be the best way to update! :)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I&#39;m loving the fun Saturday we had in Lepanto! It was so wonderful to visit and see our friends! Not to mention, it was a beautiful day for Terapin Derby! &amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving the homecoming pep rally that we got to watch! Anna-Kate was so excited we came along and she loved getting to high-five the football team! Plus they won the game! :)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeROKsLFoRQsfJl3oLeVbaHxfR_RoxVmsQPoLn1UrilCItjlfC1AKJNCSd8MDhDsFwHR2oC0EGpwpfqPo35ZKGLUXij2wAFvVle91nNCJFKrX3dycWwJ8rgRqUvoJnO8qbDCLF4pLW0-D/s1600/DSC08386.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeROKsLFoRQsfJl3oLeVbaHxfR_RoxVmsQPoLn1UrilCItjlfC1AKJNCSd8MDhDsFwHR2oC0EGpwpfqPo35ZKGLUXij2wAFvVle91nNCJFKrX3dycWwJ8rgRqUvoJnO8qbDCLF4pLW0-D/s320/DSC08386.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving that I got to go with Anna-Kate on her field trip to a farm! We had so much fun at cowboy day!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving that Thomas had such a wonderful birthday!! We took monkey cake pops to his school and then we had a small party the night of his birthday with family. We made mickey mouse pizzas and then had cupcakes. He had a cute mickey-themed party on Saturday with some friends!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving the cute going away party we threw! Anna-Kate&#39;s student teacher had her last day in October, so we gave her a little surprise party! Complete with a &quot;Thanks for making us wiser&quot; tote bag with all of the kids fingerprints turned into little owls! We also had ice cream sundaes and owl cake pops!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving the wonderful time we had at Grandparent&#39;s day this year! Anna-Kate was so proud to perform and to show off her class to Nini and Granddaddy!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyTSCaQzQnzDrrK4wxk7AGiiNjd4zUBuQL4wHxzhpxFzflq7XkmNMZwKHW0DSet6mScJ_RysY0TpkQ9EB8-a2D85CXsBR_ZBlwN1uUDzT0SbIE_T0IQT-L16hoBhvZxC5sN7nivb9pUSg/s1600/DSC08665.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyTSCaQzQnzDrrK4wxk7AGiiNjd4zUBuQL4wHxzhpxFzflq7XkmNMZwKHW0DSet6mScJ_RysY0TpkQ9EB8-a2D85CXsBR_ZBlwN1uUDzT0SbIE_T0IQT-L16hoBhvZxC5sN7nivb9pUSg/s320/DSC08665.jpg&quot; width=&quot;256&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving how adorable my little monkey and owl were this year!! Thomas got to wear his costume to school and he was so excited!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYLzIXQopDP9CY0sd7GHYWbK9BGCJSP6NHxqGMn1ZWuQ-thZW-MYi_Gh8VufdUYXjulchIOtjsUqTfJzTkRc7gYuRlT9AI_PxfW2tm6xcTyHb6fhDZ5yrUqTp48EqT-Pk5BTGAnJxq_i_/s1600/DSC08752.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYLzIXQopDP9CY0sd7GHYWbK9BGCJSP6NHxqGMn1ZWuQ-thZW-MYi_Gh8VufdUYXjulchIOtjsUqTfJzTkRc7gYuRlT9AI_PxfW2tm6xcTyHb6fhDZ5yrUqTp48EqT-Pk5BTGAnJxq_i_/s320/DSC08752.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving that we went to Anna-Kate&#39;s fall fest at school and got to play games with her! She was so excited to see us!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZaeJAgRtqZkbUWjmaSD1p1XP20ME_O1xzzzZ6M5QQDeCuIAhB-_CI_wi9AcRa5Xvk4RVhCxrla5qimIKYM1CAUHgF59mXSH0qglFiCugMJb83lJSwmBLCWe0gft1_iuAh1B64jvEb6Za/s1600/DSC08754.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZaeJAgRtqZkbUWjmaSD1p1XP20ME_O1xzzzZ6M5QQDeCuIAhB-_CI_wi9AcRa5Xvk4RVhCxrla5qimIKYM1CAUHgF59mXSH0qglFiCugMJb83lJSwmBLCWe0gft1_iuAh1B64jvEb6Za/s320/DSC08754.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving that we had a wonderful trip to Franklin! We went to Pumpkin fest and got to spend lots of time with family!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5_JLUCg3wuV6vf8ttwzGY30nwJXqEQt2JvhqrtGtB4EkXb2Il0QIaHfC-GqPbficCtnXrrqGUpXcWJ5kp2tbR7EtkdOokrkt20iCWlTu_o_pRl4EcdA8b9iTY0g43yexWMqxSb1fciv7/s1600/DSC08777.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5_JLUCg3wuV6vf8ttwzGY30nwJXqEQt2JvhqrtGtB4EkXb2Il0QIaHfC-GqPbficCtnXrrqGUpXcWJ5kp2tbR7EtkdOokrkt20iCWlTu_o_pRl4EcdA8b9iTY0g43yexWMqxSb1fciv7/s320/DSC08777.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m loving that we still had time to go Trick-or-Treating at several houses on Halloween!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapBjd8CA5bgjrZQaMoF9mfc2r40QtSR5h72JvMrrseDAFD0zXKubZkCCbr40_-YA6GJOpOyi_2ztoJxIzBPAlmp5U2qbMBYT0CDwbt2iRNrx2B1WRK5TmezSpIkVf-RSEYbOzd7ZtcQWz/s1600/DSC08795.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapBjd8CA5bgjrZQaMoF9mfc2r40QtSR5h72JvMrrseDAFD0zXKubZkCCbr40_-YA6GJOpOyi_2ztoJxIzBPAlmp5U2qbMBYT0CDwbt2iRNrx2B1WRK5TmezSpIkVf-RSEYbOzd7ZtcQWz/s320/DSC08795.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I&#39;m loving my precious little family and all of the special memories we got to make this October! I know I say it all the time, but I feel so blessed that I was able to be home through all of it! :)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sorry for the mega post- but that almost catches you up! What are you loving today? Link up &lt;a href=&quot;http://littledaisymay.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-im-loving-wednesday_09.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and play along!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/6618575745471131500/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/6618575745471131500' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6618575745471131500'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6618575745471131500'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-im-loving-wednesday.html' title='What I&#39;m Loving Wednesday'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6x3RU54zoPlCQb4LJ-KM4ZxStXcr5lt9UHa0U9I5AAduCBEymIAU2hRV4iellP_4Jincf5wqMjxqx0lLNeLUwfG1xuke83ElzuGEQ4U46cDbVPlq4HKpJ8FDKY7210WQYh7KKZ1XFCx_C/s72-c/WILW.jpeg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-9187160784776339233</id><published>2011-11-07T21:56:00.000-06:00</published><updated>2011-11-07T22:03:35.482-06:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Asian Broccoli Slaw"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Broccoli"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fajitas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Menu Monday"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Pork Roast with Apples"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="pork steak"/><title type='text'>Menu Monday and Giveaway Winner</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKK7Lqjvx0_BEzRXQCmS4ISdzE3WYrPqZjm_rOtlIDXjN1TSmIckeABUlxZiy0bz3bObviL7azQswf2HZ2marZdt2cF2ZgVVKT4QRSdZ338xteSmAxoU9XbOnpN7pX6skpcemDWb9rChl/s1600/Menu+Monday+Pic.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;248&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKK7Lqjvx0_BEzRXQCmS4ISdzE3WYrPqZjm_rOtlIDXjN1TSmIckeABUlxZiy0bz3bObviL7azQswf2HZ2marZdt2cF2ZgVVKT4QRSdZ338xteSmAxoU9XbOnpN7pX6skpcemDWb9rChl/s320/Menu+Monday+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve been slacking lately- on the blog, in the kitchen, with the giveaway (whoops)... just seems like there&#39;s a lot going on! I&#39;m back and ready to get things on track again!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;So, for starters I guess I should share the giveaway winner! Congrats to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moneyfamilymusings.com/&quot;&gt;Amanda&lt;/a&gt; for winning the Shaklee cleaners!! You get a special award since you were the only one to enter! ha!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m ready to get back in the kitchen- I&#39;ve got to warm up my cooking skills again since Derek and I are making the Turkey this year for his family!!! I am beyond excited and extremely nervous because it&#39;s going to be huge! I will be using my Nani&#39;s special recipe, it&#39;s always wonderfully moist and juicy and extremely flavorful! She is German but married an American and moved to the United States. When she moved here, she wanted to cook like his family so she tried a Better Homes and Garden recipe for her Thanksgiving Turkey. She tweaked it through the years and once my dad and his sister started doing the the turkey, they used the same recipe. Everyone tweaks it to their taste, but it&#39;s still that same basic recipe that my Nani found so many years ago!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Ready for an exciting menu?!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tUwm2IsUCmorZKgjCzWdEiEjZD7OE-tY0iK6ZVs9swhofa6k-5wQR-_gZGsAU6YLJBVmqRHgBMO62H8Fbqu-gWuhVILUb3Mt7-itsQavyNgcv8t_dPqIccQ9GjsnuSeaGGcNZjPbEmv8/s1600/105766_f520.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;212&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tUwm2IsUCmorZKgjCzWdEiEjZD7OE-tY0iK6ZVs9swhofa6k-5wQR-_gZGsAU6YLJBVmqRHgBMO62H8Fbqu-gWuhVILUb3Mt7-itsQavyNgcv8t_dPqIccQ9GjsnuSeaGGcNZjPbEmv8/s320/105766_f520.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melissaraydavis.hubpages.com/hub/Chicken-Fajitas-Recipe&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melissaraydavis.hubpages.com/hub/Chicken-Fajitas-Recipe&quot;&gt;Chicken Fajitas&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;(I bought some pre-seasoned meat as part of a special and added my favorite spices- southwestern chipotle seasoning and cumin and sauteed it with some onion and bell peppers! It was really good!)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tO0kIWHQ6apquKGQb_gEMOCkT7s4K6qD7wz9XMR_0dFYi98lZgX9BC2ORuvJskYb7gGB64yml0YP3eegd2qyu1Qhs_BeC7RjPEW4LcdqQAzaFb4rInt_nLAZgiKQP4sVo2eBesSR4RFn/s1600/6270441678.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;213&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tO0kIWHQ6apquKGQb_gEMOCkT7s4K6qD7wz9XMR_0dFYi98lZgX9BC2ORuvJskYb7gGB64yml0YP3eegd2qyu1Qhs_BeC7RjPEW4LcdqQAzaFb4rInt_nLAZgiKQP4sVo2eBesSR4RFn/s320/6270441678.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/11/pork-roast-with-apples-and-onions/&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/11/pork-roast-with-apples-and-onions/&quot;&gt;Pork Roast with Apples and Onion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;(This is a new recipe from &lt;a href=&quot;http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/11/pork-roast-with-apples-and-onions/&quot;&gt;Pioneer Woman&lt;/a&gt;! I had several apples laying around that were just a little too soft for me, so this is the perfect use for them!)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLcxJCGWXt58jOUMczNGVa3n0yJyKspSdZw0oXQ2Q95ILMPDT5tRyS8JWg2wkqsMWiuFm9ZK0FP40QLT836BMO6vp8NwcVY4ohoj8I6rHOXRFEuCOsZR5w29X6w_uAF-YM4qOpiEyDErd/s1600/DSC_0005115-1024x679.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;212&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLcxJCGWXt58jOUMczNGVa3n0yJyKspSdZw0oXQ2Q95ILMPDT5tRyS8JWg2wkqsMWiuFm9ZK0FP40QLT836BMO6vp8NwcVY4ohoj8I6rHOXRFEuCOsZR5w29X6w_uAF-YM4qOpiEyDErd/s320/DSC_0005115-1024x679.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=984&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=984&quot;&gt;French Chicken Broccoli Supreme&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;(Thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;http://pinterest.com/nickig/&quot;&gt;pinterest&lt;/a&gt;, I found this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=984&quot;&gt;little gem&lt;/a&gt;. I&#39;ve been wanting to try it for a while now!)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qG52i0490mp3itxKm7xke4e2MLXyUo6_ZsqNiGrzD-iLMC6Hkhb2k-VGxFWAMtXmZXTnQWGQv7Tkuxr0kqpPP0yIFjxma61wWW-nZPjivCuSCMUiUSMLkkEitAX_550XQX56dh5zuNPx/s1600/tuscan-pasta-sl-1646355-l.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qG52i0490mp3itxKm7xke4e2MLXyUo6_ZsqNiGrzD-iLMC6Hkhb2k-VGxFWAMtXmZXTnQWGQv7Tkuxr0kqpPP0yIFjxma61wWW-nZPjivCuSCMUiUSMLkkEitAX_550XQX56dh5zuNPx/s1600/tuscan-pasta-sl-1646355-l.jpeg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tuscan-pasta-with-tomato-basil-cream-10000001646355/&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tuscan-pasta-with-tomato-basil-cream-10000001646355/&quot;&gt;Tomato Basil Cream Pasta&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;(I love this type of pasta sauce so I&#39;m just going to whip up something based off a few different &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tuscan-pasta-with-tomato-basil-cream-10000001646355/&quot;&gt;recipes&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5Z1ReumhXhbXhZoETpZYPWpnrOwfWFzwcQvVwh3ZLwQjqa_oC_GEI5BqSTF-pX03xn8b9kU99DT9TydB666suX1UMW3u6mBPPNwIKNpIruPE4vaQ2wGK2lYRGUuFVWTfttNflzTux-cc/s1600/2460168919_a0e2dc5a15_o.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;217&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5Z1ReumhXhbXhZoETpZYPWpnrOwfWFzwcQvVwh3ZLwQjqa_oC_GEI5BqSTF-pX03xn8b9kU99DT9TydB666suX1UMW3u6mBPPNwIKNpIruPE4vaQ2wGK2lYRGUuFVWTfttNflzTux-cc/s320/2460168919_a0e2dc5a15_o.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://brigitte-brakha.com/blog/smothered-pork-steak-recipe.html&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iiAh9r5mOK4OZFHHYLv978GCxfL_12Tr7zTReTcYt8WxJpwK_PbkxKhRnFrN3bufhQ5HMqIqAK4cS3I6GBxkG5hHxrAI9tCF1vgPjrJg4ggl76gABivy8_Eks0b_vknp_yf5MuIT90hT/s1600/IMG_7580.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;213&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iiAh9r5mOK4OZFHHYLv978GCxfL_12Tr7zTReTcYt8WxJpwK_PbkxKhRnFrN3bufhQ5HMqIqAK4cS3I6GBxkG5hHxrAI9tCF1vgPjrJg4ggl76gABivy8_Eks0b_vknp_yf5MuIT90hT/s320/IMG_7580.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/asian-broccoli-slaw-fid-1394101&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lowcarbcooking.org/view_recipe.php?id=2118&amp;amp;recipe_title=Pacific_Rim_Pork_Steak&quot;&gt;Pacific Rim Pork Steaks&lt;/a&gt; with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/asian-broccoli-slaw-fid-1394101&quot;&gt;Asian Broccoli Slaw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;(Usually I don&#39;t do pork and even when I do it&#39;s never twice in one week but this sounded really different from the other! Click &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lowcarbcooking.org/view_recipe.php?id=2118&amp;amp;recipe_title=Pacific_Rim_Pork_Steak&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for the recipe)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Saturday we are having a very special Tea Party for Derek&#39;s grandmother (more on that later). I&#39;m going to be doing some special things for that. I&#39;ve still not hammered out my menu since I&#39;m trying to be health conscious!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m also going to be working on some appetizers and snacks to freeze for next weekend! We are celebrating Thanksgiving a week early with Derek&#39;s dad&#39;s side of the family! (That&#39;s when we will be doing our Turkey!!)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I will try to post some special Thanksgiving themed recipes soon!!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What&#39;s on your menu this week?&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/9187160784776339233/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/9187160784776339233' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/9187160784776339233'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/9187160784776339233'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/11/menu-monday-and-giveaway-winner.html' title='Menu Monday and Giveaway Winner'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKK7Lqjvx0_BEzRXQCmS4ISdzE3WYrPqZjm_rOtlIDXjN1TSmIckeABUlxZiy0bz3bObviL7azQswf2HZ2marZdt2cF2ZgVVKT4QRSdZ338xteSmAxoU9XbOnpN7pX6skpcemDWb9rChl/s72-c/Menu+Monday+Pic.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-1128236231283574707</id><published>2011-10-28T08:35:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-10-28T12:54:38.362-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cleaning"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fall cleaning"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Giveaway"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="shaklee"/><title type='text'>Returning With A Giveaway!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;So I know I have not only dropped the ball on my 31 days of blogging, but I have not even gotten to update you on the fun things that October has brought us! We have had a school trip, special activities and fun for Thomas and Anna-Kate, we have celebrated Thomas&#39; second birthday and now Halloween is this weekend! I am going to do some updating this coming week, so be on the look out! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;When I got started on my 31 days of cleaning, Erin at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthybranscoms.com/&quot;&gt;Healthy Branscoms&lt;/a&gt; invited me to try the benefits of Shaklee and then I could let one reader share them as well! I have been wanting to see what Shaklee was all about and this was the perfect opportunity! You can go &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthybranscoms.dev.myshaklee.com/us/en/shop.s.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; to see the products available and learn more about it and if you haven&#39;t already, hop on over to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthybranscoms.com/&quot;&gt;Erin&#39;s blog&lt;/a&gt; to learn even more about the benefits of Shaklee, not just for cleaning your house but also for promoting a healthy lifestyle!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have been using the &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthybranscoms.dev.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sku=00430&quot;&gt;Heavy Duty Scour Off Paste&lt;/a&gt; for anything I can think to use it on! Once I tested it on my oven to see how it cleaned the baked on spots, I knew we were going to have some fun! I tested it out in my bathroom on my sink and shower and then my floors. I even got some of the spots to go away that were here when we first moved in! Amazing! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Derek and I use a natural, all-purpose cleaner for everyday cleaning and even to clean our windows and mirrors. It&#39;s really simple for us to just have one bottle that pretty much does everything. I tried Shaklee&#39;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthybranscoms.dev.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sku=00015&quot;&gt;Basic H2 Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate&lt;/a&gt; to see how it would compare. I thought it did just as good of a job! It takes just a small amount to fill up 16 ounces  so one bottle of the concentrate goes a really long way (one bottle makes 48 GALLONS of all purpose cleaner)! Plus if you are going to use it as glass cleaner, it only takes 1-2 drops per the 16 ounces of water!! I just think that&#39;s awesome! Derek tested out the cleaner and said that it left fewer streaks than what we were using, so he this one was his favorite too! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Today, I am giving away some special goodies from Shaklee!! If you have been wanting to find out what it&#39;s all about, now is your time! 5 readers will receive a sample of the H2 cleaner that will make 2 spray bottles of cleaner!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Here&#39;s how to get entered: &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;1. Follow my blog and then head over to Healthy Branscoms and follow Erin&#39;s blog- comment letting me know you do &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;2. Visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthybranscoms.dev.myshaklee.com/us/en/shop.s.html&quot;&gt;Shaklee&#39;s website &lt;/a&gt;and let me know what your favorite products are and what you&#39;d like to try the most&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with the link&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;4. Post on Facebook about the giveaway and comment with that link also&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;So, you have 4 ways to enter!! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;(Please leave separate comments for each one you do!)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Hurry! This giveaway ends Tuesday, November 1 at 8:00 pm! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ll post the winners Wednesday morning! Good luck! &lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/1128236231283574707/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/1128236231283574707' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/1128236231283574707'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/1128236231283574707'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/10/returning-with-giveaway.html' title='Returning With A Giveaway!!'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-2712617953459274138</id><published>2011-10-04T10:35:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-10-05T21:57:48.689-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="31 Days"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="desk"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="organizing"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="workspace"/><title type='text'>31 Days... Command Central</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s1600/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;132&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s320/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Sorry this is a little late! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;By command central I mean your desk area or really just where you keep those things that are most important for day-to-day things, like your menu for the week, your bills, etc.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I dream of having a space like this for my crafting/ sewing I think I&#39;ll be doing:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIdFsGYMqX8TVHSRBE_DCYHKqvUaVHTTLvw2zfV2uV-n3DRq39bCamR2ypVbe7o0K2CyVaGF9VmVOByPr_N1NtBOMOYQgilF-QhipafuUH2PR-pQWohfV15TLwRNeYIbhrPo2xsy-2cdIt/s1600/P4138461.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIdFsGYMqX8TVHSRBE_DCYHKqvUaVHTTLvw2zfV2uV-n3DRq39bCamR2ypVbe7o0K2CyVaGF9VmVOByPr_N1NtBOMOYQgilF-QhipafuUH2PR-pQWohfV15TLwRNeYIbhrPo2xsy-2cdIt/s320/P4138461.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hammersandhighheels.blogspot.com/2011/04/bachmans-spring-idea-house-european.html&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;But when it comes down to where I want to do my planning, bill paying and organizing- it is at a desk in the kitchen. Here are some of my favorite ideas for a kitchen workspace:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONOE_s_d4cL-ieflF5sFhioP7DNW4Yg8s17NhLgyKfkv8T1xM6epjSjGdj24_W3QaCs4KSQi1x6o9CRZ9pjxC58bE4sFhA-K5CPp1AjMiHM-qPFDqSqXjrmy9_gKElW0iVcq8X7TiJpUn/s1600/pictures-of-kitchens-traditional-two-tone-kit138.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;197&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONOE_s_d4cL-ieflF5sFhioP7DNW4Yg8s17NhLgyKfkv8T1xM6epjSjGdj24_W3QaCs4KSQi1x6o9CRZ9pjxC58bE4sFhA-K5CPp1AjMiHM-qPFDqSqXjrmy9_gKElW0iVcq8X7TiJpUn/s200/pictures-of-kitchens-traditional-two-tone-kit138.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kitchen-design-ideas.org/pictures-of-kitchens-traditional-two-tone-kit138.html#axzz1PlxAyDi2&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;In this kitchen, only the desk area has painted cabinets and the rest of the cabinets are white. I really like that idea. I also love the arch and all of the little drawers under the top cabinets.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/goog_499506993&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBPUjt-IsvpR5p03IFylwHGg4MzvCbPJWZ7dj_CXdLKVWqZTb0MDIAorsw0nImFPlnrPE2lKjBZmheoQf8xNXsvhyphenhyphen92rE0bDAZVT_B_616B8DuTY7h6BI0WlLpSthq5n1fpjFTONOKNLJH/s320/936168.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nicety.livejournal.com/936168.html&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I just love the colors in this! I really appreciate how neutral the cabinets and paint are and the way they use the accessories to add the color. It makes the space cheerful and inviting. I love the framed cork board and comfy chair too! The sections above the desk would be great for organizing papers/ bills- in neat file folders, so it stayed pretty of course!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/goog_499507002&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAg_GEQP6DfJnr6uMQ57vhekN0NnB1vhM40rsuIkl0rhGdzY2zj1EM5Ps6a2xC6T-PFgjc30oz6I327KVJ-M3m0guPNB6X6rpr2vtfW9hw7x8BuG7rCc_txRuq7HNd4ua8HBQAiUXqtwUI/s320/erin-paige-pitts-interiors.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.houseofturquoise.com/2011/09/erin-paige-pitts-interiors.html&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Of all of these pictures, I have to say that this is probably what my space will wind up looking like! I love the cork board across the back of the desk. I don&#39;t mind having a space that really shows the character of the family. This is just fun and inviting and relaxing to me! And again, the comfy chair is definitely a plus!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/goog_499506988&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrpvnNLVmQL4vCF3YH5FrZfer4ggZT-xBiYTAE5Ft0nWQVO4nPSyDS-UvvpXKewPaVDDFEfBUmCbGtlHi9XcdImdLfGXhezJW1h3maAvyl3NyUvX4VtkNKoD9C-Otr6KtiH32xFhOaoh5/s320/Pinned+Image.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/decorating/large-family-traditional-kitchen-design-ideas-00417000072448/page13.html&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;This kitchen is actually one that the design firm I worked for was doing when I was there. It is an absolutely beautiful kitchen! I have been so inspired by this design and I will probably wind up putting some of these elements into our house one day. I love the simplicity of this. I would probably wind up using one of the cabinets for my personal things and might even design a filing cabinet or something to go on one side.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Okay, so now that you&#39;ve seen what I&#39;d like to have, here&#39;s my space right now:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uqiNLRDDcjJWBskkhh1hcDld23gtw3jfw-kBThGDDgn1cC0KPNzne3JbPciYzo9UIwcvkXR6Y15o0yHT6c7CITZeLp2doIEkCENmh5fcmZvAJ87pDfVbpjLwzx0CW_JG_FEYbypAvjYi/s1600/DSC08293.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uqiNLRDDcjJWBskkhh1hcDld23gtw3jfw-kBThGDDgn1cC0KPNzne3JbPciYzo9UIwcvkXR6Y15o0yHT6c7CITZeLp2doIEkCENmh5fcmZvAJ87pDfVbpjLwzx0CW_JG_FEYbypAvjYi/s320/DSC08293.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Please ignore the ugly, maroon paint and horrible mustard walls! We have yet to paint our living room and dining room. When I get it painted the way I want, I&#39;m going to add some fabric to the back of the desk to perk it up a bit! I actually really love this little area. It&#39;s a secretary that was built into the wall, so it just hangs there. I can close it if I ever clear it off enough, but usually it holds my household notebook and my teaching notebook and all.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It&#39;s really hard to share these personal pictures... especially after such pretty desk areas! Ha!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is one area that tends to get dumped on. I realized the other day just how bad it had gotten. So I went through everything that had gotten piled up and decided to clean this space up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tzritPJ5GkU8CGsLjCYfXaaqsDtLAYtSI7WZrjWpxFuSF34e-445FC0rcxeZprGElD0CWCBf2pRht_DWcuYTM5OWVFJX7pKDA1u4FJxaRqdFPyIoB9_y7h7-E-ImwyMK3yptB3hyphenhyphenKuVW/s1600/DSC08319.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tzritPJ5GkU8CGsLjCYfXaaqsDtLAYtSI7WZrjWpxFuSF34e-445FC0rcxeZprGElD0CWCBf2pRht_DWcuYTM5OWVFJX7pKDA1u4FJxaRqdFPyIoB9_y7h7-E-ImwyMK3yptB3hyphenhyphenKuVW/s320/DSC08319.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It is still not perfect, but it&#39;s a working space, so it&#39;s never going to look perfect. I am just happy it&#39;s not such an eyesore!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What does your &quot;command central&quot; look like? Do you use a desk space or is it (like mine) just another place for stuff to accumulate?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you missed it, I am doing a link up sharing 31 days of fall cleaning. I&#39;ve spent the last few days talking about my household notebook and the pages that worked the best for me!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/2712617953459274138/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/2712617953459274138' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/2712617953459274138'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/2712617953459274138'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/10/31-days-command-central.html' title='31 Days... Command Central'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s72-c/31+Days+Pic.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-8138204165847755810</id><published>2011-10-03T09:23:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-10-03T09:23:00.116-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="31 Days"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fall"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fall cleaning"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="holidays"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Household Notebook"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="organizing"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="planning"/><title type='text'>31 Days... Household Notebook Part 3</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/p/31-days-of-fall-cleaning.html&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;132&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s320/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Day 3&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I promise, I am wrapping up the household notebook series today.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I found two really great birthday party planners that were perfect for my over-thinking mind. &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/birthday-party-planner/&quot;&gt;One&lt;/a&gt; is a little more detailed than the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.momagenda.com/printable/birthdayparty_form.pdf&quot;&gt;other&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;So now we are getting to my absolute favorite part of this &lt;strike&gt;little&lt;/strike&gt;&amp;nbsp;enormous binder... I have created a holiday tab. Under this tab I have put all of the holidays for the year. To simplify things when I got started I just did the last three holidays of this year. As time goes on I will add the rest.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;So as you can imagine, for Halloween I have costume ideas, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kraftcanada.com/assets/pdf/partyPlanners/halloween_party_planner.pdf&quot;&gt;halloween party planner&lt;/a&gt;, and decorating ideas that I love so much even Pinterest isn&#39;t working to hold that idea.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;And just to make your husbands &lt;strike&gt;roll their eyes&lt;/strike&gt;&amp;nbsp;proud, there is a printable for &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/browse-all-printables/&quot;&gt;BLACK FRIDAY shopping&lt;/a&gt;! You read it correctly- you can actually write down a game plan for which stores you are going to and even the specific items on sale that caught your eye! I am still young enough in my family that I don&#39;t really get a say in what dishes we have at Thanksgiving, so that&#39;s the only printable I felt like I needed but you can see on that same page there are several other handy Thanksgiving lists!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I am loving the Christmas section in my binder because each time I have gotten a catalog in the mail, I have circled things that I could give to people and initialed who it would be for and then just slipped that catalog into a clear sleeve so I have it to reference. In my mind even if that exact item is not available, I&#39;ll be able to use that as an idea source for when my brain was thinking clearly about what certain people would like.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I can also write down sizes and preferences and even gift ideas on &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/christmas-planner/christmas-gift-ideas/&quot;&gt;this printable&lt;/a&gt;. I have a page to list &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/christmas-planner/christmas-thank-you-cards-list/&quot;&gt;thank you cards&lt;/a&gt; that I need to send and a &lt;a href=&quot;http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/tp/Household_Notebook.01.htm&quot;&gt;gift spending worksheet&lt;/a&gt;. When I finish a shopping trip, I can keep track of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.momagenda.com/printable/holiday-gift-purchases.pdf&quot;&gt;gifts I&#39;ve gotten&lt;/a&gt;, where it&#39;s from and the price. Okay- this is a huge deal for me- a page to list &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/christmas-planner/christmas-order-tracking/&quot;&gt;Christmas order tracking&lt;/a&gt;! I tend to do a lot of online shopping and I always lose track of tracking information! I am planning to get my bake on this Christmas and it&#39;ll be easy with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/christmas-planner/christmas-baking-planner/&quot;&gt;baking planner&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and then I can just copy &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/christmas-planner/christmas-hanging-tags/&quot;&gt;these adorable gift tags&lt;/a&gt; onto card stock to send with my baked good! When I&#39;m putting away our decorations, I will fill out this inventory of my &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/christmas-planner/christmas-decor-inventory/&quot;&gt;Christmas decor&lt;/a&gt; and who knows- maybe get some discount Christmas decorations at the first of the year!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;I had a section for our finances, but since we are working with Dave Ramsey right now, I took it out and I might just keep our finances separate.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;My family lives 6 hours away and we travel to see them about every 2-3 months. I thought it would be handy to keep a &lt;a href=&quot;http://simplemom.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/packing-list.pdf&quot;&gt;packing list&lt;/a&gt; in my binder for those longer trips! It&#39;s an awesome, detailed packing list that will probably make Derek jump for joy because of all the things I&#39;m going to remember to bring! Ha- or it will drive him crazy because I&#39;m over thinking our trips and adding like 10 bags! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Past this, I keep anything that goes with extra things I am involved with. I am about to start co-teaching a girls class at church on Sunday nights, so I&#39;ve got information with that here.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I am also a room mom for Anna-Kate, so I put her class roster and any important information in the back of my binder for easy reference. I had planned on putting ideas for her parties in my binder... but then I discovered pinterest and I really don&#39;t have too much of a need for that yet. I keep a couple of weeks worth of her school work she brings home in the back, so I can file that in her preschool notebook. It forces me to go on and weed-out the things that I won&#39;t be keeping and then I can write down any special detail that goes with it while I&#39;m thinking about it. I know it&#39;s a hassle to put this here and then move it to a different binder, but I keep the household binder with me always so it makes it easier for me to put things here first that I want to save.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have a separate binder for teaching my little 2-year olds, so I don&#39;t use this binder for that. I also do the same thing &quot;pre-filing&quot; Thomas&#39; things in that binder and then moving them when I get a chance to his day school/ 2yr binder.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I know that this is way in depth, but I kept finding posts about people&#39;s notebooks but I had trouble getting details on what they actually put in theirs. I also spent too much time trying to pick which template to use.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Also, this is a &quot;living&quot; binder. It&#39;s going to update and rotate through as time goes on. I am sure that I will be using it differently from time to time and I may not even need to have as much information in here. I created this out of a necessity I had now to get us organized and into a great routine.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;If you made it through these first 3 days, thank you! I hope you stick around to see more of my fall cleaning!&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/8138204165847755810/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/8138204165847755810' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/8138204165847755810'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/8138204165847755810'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/10/31-days-household-notebook-part-3.html' title='31 Days... Household Notebook Part 3'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s72-c/31+Days+Pic.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-9184171207736084950</id><published>2011-10-02T10:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-10-02T00:08:58.776-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="31 Days"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Bible reading"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="charts"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="chore charts"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fall cleaning"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="goals"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Household Notebook"/><title type='text'>31 Days... Household Notebook Part 2</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/p/31-days-of-fall-cleaning.html&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;132&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s320/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Okay, I hope I have not lost you yet! I promise not all of my posts will be as overwhelming and long! I&#39;m a little&amp;nbsp;embarrassed&amp;nbsp;about how wordy my posts are getting!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;So the first part of my binder has a tab for important information, scheduling/ daily planning, and menus. If you missed out on this post, you can read about it &lt;a href=&quot;http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/10/31-days-of-fall-cleaning-day-1.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve got a tab for my cleaning too.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I decided to organize my focus each day, so I wrote that down and it&#39;s at the front of my cleaning section. I tried to get a good picture so you can make it larger and see what those days are. Feel free to ask though if you can&#39;t!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I printed a page that has &quot;recipes&#39; for homemade cleaning solutions. I have planned on making my own laundry detergent and even dish washing detergent, but for right now I like to have this page for the quick substitutions. For example, I used baking soda to clean my shower and it worked great!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I found a checklist for deep cleaning each room of the house &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/browse-all-printables/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. I will be going through those checklists this month for our fall cleaning!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/goog_1605763198&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqsvrKorRl7zj9-x8fks0O-0BHFliOqfREXpq9T-b7odhr1CWA2Wfc59ZVRV1Tia2u1MuYGRd5VcTtYj9teI3C6j25ELvC_fC8ls_oPLA4Y_g4MEeN1HRvzS3cLSKhA1SsGBxV1XRjvfL/s200/home-maintenance-checklist-thumbnail.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;153&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/tp/Household_Notebook.01.htm&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;One page I really liked was a &lt;a href=&quot;http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/tp/Household_Notebook.01.htm&quot;&gt;home maintenance checklist&lt;/a&gt;. It has a place to check off things that need to be done each month, like cleaning and inspecting the basement, and inspecting the hoses on washing machines and dishwasher. Things I would probably not think about!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I have been wanting to get in a better habit of letting Anna-Kate do chores. Even Thomas is at an age where he can do some of the basic things. I have had trouble finding a chore chart that worked with our personalities. I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://simplemom.net/tools/downloads/&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href=&quot;http://simplemom.net/chore-chart-for-preschoolers/&quot;&gt;Simple Mom&lt;/a&gt; that lets you cut out a picture of their chores. They are simple things that Anna-Kate can definitely do. Once we find the chores that are working for her, I will just laminate one copy to save the the trouble of cutting out and arranging each chore chart. For now, I keep my extras in this section.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I have a tab for goal setting and Bible reading and Inspirations that I have not made the time to use yet, so I&#39;m going to exclude the links to those pages to simplify. Again, if you need the links to the ones I&#39;m using please ask.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Okay, one of my very favorite things to do is plan. I like to plan for all of the holidays and events in our lives. Like a year early. ha. I&#39;m not that bad yet, but with this binder I could be! :) I have an awesome tab for birthday parties and a wonderful tab for all of the holidays! So you can look forward to me sharing the links to some pretty neat templates tomorrow!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Oh and you can look forward to me wrapping up my household notebook details tomorrow too! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/9184171207736084950/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/9184171207736084950' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/9184171207736084950'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/9184171207736084950'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/09/31-days-household-notebook-part-2.html' title='31 Days... Household Notebook Part 2'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s72-c/31+Days+Pic.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-6315379842553716968</id><published>2011-10-01T12:00:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-10-02T00:09:49.871-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="31 Days"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Day 1"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="day to day"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Household Notebook"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="menu planning"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="organizing"/><title type='text'>31 Days Of Fall Cleaning- Day 1</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/p/31-days-of-fall-cleaning.html&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;132&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s320/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I&#39;m hoping to get more creative with my post titles. :) Day 1, day 2, day 3... might bore you a bit!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I decided that it would be easy for me to share my &quot;adventure&quot; of fall cleaning this month! I&#39;m fairly new to staying at home after working for nearly a year and my house is a mess! It looks decently clean but up close, it&#39;s a cluttered, disorganized, disaster zone where the tornado of our chaotic lives stormed through last year.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Okay, that was a bit dramatic-but you get the point! Our house needs some deep-cleaning love! I&#39;m going to tackle some serious projects on my list and get things organized the way I need them to be.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Just so you don&#39;t get overly bored with my daily ranting about household cleaning, I&#39;ll try to infuse a few, more exciting topics like cleaning tips and some decorating projects.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;You know it&#39;s going to be an adventure because we have the added challenge of living in a house that was built in the 1930&#39;s- when storage was not something they thought about. It&#39;s not exactly the organizer&#39;s dream home... :) So I&#39;ll share a few things we have done to make things work for us!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Today, I&#39;m tackling our household in general. My first couple of weeks at home were a mess! I felt a little overwhelmed with all of the things I wanted to do and the things that needed attention. My list was huge! I saw several ideas for a household notebook and drooled over the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.erincondren.com/store/index.php?cPath=129_956&quot;&gt;Erin Condren planner&lt;/a&gt;, but decided that it was something I could do for myself!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m sure you&#39;ve seen several posts on household notebooks, but I wanted to share my notebook too.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m a paper girl. With everyone being eco-conscious these days, my paper addiction is taboo. I&#39;m not sure why but I remember best when I actually write something down on paper. I also have what I call my &quot;crazy&quot; moments when I get an awesome idea or I have too much in my head and I need to get it out. I always write things out and make lists, but they tend to get lost along the way. The binder helps to keep everything contained.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I printed a ton of pages. I wasn&#39;t sure what type of template I&#39;d like the best. That&#39;s part of what slowed me down with posting about it. I&#39;ve been weeding through and trying to decide on which styles are my favorite. If it were up to me, I&#39;d just design all the pages myself so I could have everything in my favorite fonts and color co-ordinated, but I didn&#39;t want to take the time to do that. I&#39;m really happy with the pages that I&#39;ve got now though!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I spent a lot of time researching websites and reading blog posts about what worked for other people. It really is all about what works for you and your personality. I almost have an issue with the pages not all being from the same place and co-ordinating, but I have gotten over it. (I know I&#39;m a bit obsessive!) Here are some of the sites that worked the best for me:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;The first section in my binder has all of our information. I found the information pages &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.momagenda.com/blog/downloads.htm&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. I have a babysitter&#39;s info page that I think is great and also a page for birthdays and anniversaries.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I also felt like I was constantly asking people for their addresses, so I printed off some of these &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/home-management-notebook/address-book/&quot;&gt;contact pages&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;That&#39;s the first tab. The next tab is for schedules. I put my to-do lists and month calendar.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I put a monthly calendar in the front to reference too and I try to fill it in. I like to see the overall month. I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://frugalliving.about.com/od/newyears/a/2010_Best_Time_to_Buy_Calendar.htm&quot;&gt;these best time to buy calendars&lt;/a&gt; that I thought were cute and helpful!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGGssHVoS5XaGRle6dJHrS0krPJhlJL9AsWgHsFaPNJvqud2hQwNGTgI9iUUezS045y1i5GMXbkrrPRZ2eTugtN3bw5YIN0MshoOfPfBYNbYEKLODod-JqW0LhRgjGP7dmK_3KPAYcnhq/s1600/weekly_checklist.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGGssHVoS5XaGRle6dJHrS0krPJhlJL9AsWgHsFaPNJvqud2hQwNGTgI9iUUezS045y1i5GMXbkrrPRZ2eTugtN3bw5YIN0MshoOfPfBYNbYEKLODod-JqW0LhRgjGP7dmK_3KPAYcnhq/s320/weekly_checklist.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;227&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://simplemom.net/tools/downloads/&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have a cleaning checklist next. I found that &lt;a href=&quot;http://simplemom.net/tools/downloads/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. I really like the way she breaks down the tasks daily, weekly, and monthly. You can read about how to use this with her daily docket &lt;a href=&quot;http://simplemom.net/weekly-home-management/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;(I actually put my weekly menu plan in next- the one that is just for the current week- but I&#39;ll talk about that in the next section.)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;The next page is my daily to-do list. I found a daily docket page &lt;a href=&quot;http://moneysavingmom.com/downloads/household-management-forms&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; that I absolutely love. It has a place to write our meal for the day, a blog section, I can cross off my daily water intake, Bible reading, etc. It&#39;s perfect for day-to-day. &lt;a href=&quot;http://simplemom.net/tools/downloads/&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;from Simple Mom came in a close second.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I also have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://printables.yourway.net/home-management-notebook/&quot;&gt;master-to-do list&lt;/a&gt;. I&#39;ve not really used this page yet, but since October is so full, I just might be using it now.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have a separate tab for my meal planning.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve included pages for recipes to try (organized by appetizers, dinner, and lunches for Thomas) and a page for our favorite recipes. Honestly I&#39;m not using these like I could be right now. But I am glad to have them there if I need them. These are both from &lt;a href=&quot;http://organizing.yourway.net/using-a-home-management-notebook-the-ultimate-guide/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://frugalliving.about.com/library/pdfs/WeeklyMealPlanningWorksheet.pdf&quot;&gt;Frugal living at about.com&lt;/a&gt; had some really cute menu planning pages. I like these pages because the squares are big enough that I can write in the sides we are going to have and I even have space to plan out Thomas&#39; lunch on the days he takes his to school. Like I mentioned before, at the beginning of each week, I pull out my menu and put it with the daily docket pages, so I have a quick reference.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I have been planning our menus out for the month using her &lt;a href=&quot;http://frugalliving.about.com/library/pdfs/MonthlyMealPlanningWorksheetA.pdf&quot;&gt;Monthly Menu Planning Worksheet&lt;/a&gt;. I actually have all of October filled out and as I come across a new recipe I want to try, I just put it down for the next month, so I&#39;m planning out November as I go. &amp;nbsp;She has another page that is set up so you can make your grocery list at the same time too. I like that, but don&#39;t need it right now.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Okay, now I&#39;m cheap and I like to get a good deal, so I downloaded a &lt;a href=&quot;http://frugalliving.about.com/od/foodsavings/a/Price_Book.htm&quot;&gt;price book&lt;/a&gt; page where I&#39;ve been writing down what some things cost. I just write down the things I tend to buy frequently, so I can compare prices with ads and from different stores! I&#39;ve been surprised about some of the things I&#39;ve learned doing this!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Behind all of that I put recipes that I&#39;ve printed off or pulled from a magazine.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I also have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://organizing.yourway.net/using-a-home-management-notebook-the-ultimate-guide/&quot;&gt;freezer storage cheat sheet&lt;/a&gt; that comes in handy and an &lt;a href=&quot;http://organizing.yourway.net/using-a-home-management-notebook-the-ultimate-guide/&quot;&gt;internal cooking temperature cheat sheet&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Still with me? I know this is a lot of information, so I am going to stop there for today. I&#39;ll finish with the rest of my notebook tomorrow!&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/6315379842553716968/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/6315379842553716968' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6315379842553716968'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6315379842553716968'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/10/31-days-of-fall-cleaning-day-1.html' title='31 Days Of Fall Cleaning- Day 1'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s72-c/31+Days+Pic.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-5677573090723601183</id><published>2011-09-30T10:20:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-09-30T10:20:08.155-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="31 Days"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Anna-Kate"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fall cleaning"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="October"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="pinkies"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="pinterest"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="soup"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thomas"/><title type='text'>Happy Friday!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;It&#39;s an absolutely beautiful day here! I&#39;m excited to be feeling better and up to some fun things!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;First, I have to share two recipes that we tried this week. I got them off of pinterest of course!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghmT2u4p5aoA1RbAziydTCef1eKnSuXRBvHkjwQLKOj7xE6KGsVVWv7yn4NuGy_mstABZU0t2tfLnPJtTVmvnxTmGe9R0_dTTPCwPzavkCjvLa3gOx_t3iaDYdhBFMDSF5gM2Khe09Yxj6/s1600/DSC_6130.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;288&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghmT2u4p5aoA1RbAziydTCef1eKnSuXRBvHkjwQLKOj7xE6KGsVVWv7yn4NuGy_mstABZU0t2tfLnPJtTVmvnxTmGe9R0_dTTPCwPzavkCjvLa3gOx_t3iaDYdhBFMDSF5gM2Khe09Yxj6/s320/DSC_6130.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://chefmommy-brandao.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-02-24T20%3A56%3A00-05%3A00&amp;amp;max-results=3&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://chefmommy-brandao.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-02-24T20%3A56%3A00-05%3A00&amp;amp;max-results=3&quot;&gt;Chicken and Wild Rice Soup&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;It was delicious! My only complaint was that ours turned out pretty thick, so I added about a cup or more of extra broth, just until I got it to the right consistency.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFq-ljzJusYk0mLdbspihxxWvWs-vCSDqWlH7Lfp9hw29dZs7n_edS_OJiNJhxEQOMxugwdBIWRhTMZx47oqEd5TksH41Knoqk5WEEE7QRcu7L-8j5kuurLpc3M3IHg_a2QuNTDtVbAkX/s1600/Cake+Mix+Strawberry+bars.jpeg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFq-ljzJusYk0mLdbspihxxWvWs-vCSDqWlH7Lfp9hw29dZs7n_edS_OJiNJhxEQOMxugwdBIWRhTMZx47oqEd5TksH41Knoqk5WEEE7QRcu7L-8j5kuurLpc3M3IHg_a2QuNTDtVbAkX/s1600/Cake+Mix+Strawberry+bars.jpeg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://commoncentshome.blogspot.com/2010/07/strawberry-pinkies.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheCommonCentsHome+%28The+Common+Cents+Home%29&quot;&gt;Pinkies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;How cute are these? I whipped these up last night to take to Anna-Kate&#39;s class for their snack. They&#39;ve been having color days and today&#39;s color is pink. It&#39;s a really simple recipe (similar to cake mix cookies) and super fast to whip up! Oh and I did have to try one- so good!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve been meaning to share a few pictures of my class at school. I don&#39;t know all of the parents well, so I will only share Thomas and his friend Jackson right now. We have lots of fun at school and Thomas is doing really well with everything! He loves to play with the other kids.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeIBWvndyYa32xLvy_7FNuSGTtKp5SciZf16e2wb6EQshp4CgEXju40C4QWc67rWChlzDWigSgNWjFGrD1X-_enoegR4FUo1SoyInIBVwxndZDhZrwai8QvkJHA4Gdwlq68KeZK9srXov/s1600/DSC08188.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeIBWvndyYa32xLvy_7FNuSGTtKp5SciZf16e2wb6EQshp4CgEXju40C4QWc67rWChlzDWigSgNWjFGrD1X-_enoegR4FUo1SoyInIBVwxndZDhZrwai8QvkJHA4Gdwlq68KeZK9srXov/s320/DSC08188.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31C0_Qmwniv4g7HGmo5_MAcd-GKNBhjGBlY0i-R4rpiUAIXuxgVAfqe7SfvaouC4w1OGrDS3WOpSfBX_edGbaG3l0BOLFLiAXABSDbSnS51n5LtOpnfoUo3dGT19kwPEsELgx-dTnhQ8m/s1600/photo.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31C0_Qmwniv4g7HGmo5_MAcd-GKNBhjGBlY0i-R4rpiUAIXuxgVAfqe7SfvaouC4w1OGrDS3WOpSfBX_edGbaG3l0BOLFLiAXABSDbSnS51n5LtOpnfoUo3dGT19kwPEsELgx-dTnhQ8m/s320/photo.JPG&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Sorry for the poor quality- these are all from my phone!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I had planned to coordinating themed Halloween costumes for the kids this year. I&#39;ve gone back and forth on this because I can&#39;t completely decide on what I want Anna-Kate to be! Plus, Thomas is very interested in mickey mouse and monkeys and even buzz lightyear right now! I love to see him get excited when he sees something he likes! Right now he&#39;ll say &quot;loooook!!! looooook!!!&quot; It&#39;s super cute. So, I don&#39;t want to share what he is just yet, but it is one of those three! I got his costume in the mail this week and it&#39;s adorable! Now all I have to do is decide on what Anna-Kate should be! I&#39;m probably going to make her costume, but I&#39;m a little worried about how that&#39;s going to go. October is going to be a busy month for us!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We are kicking October off by going to Lepanto for their &quot;festival,&quot; Terapin Derby. This is our first time going back (as a family) to Lepanto since last December! I&#39;m looking forward to seeing some of our friends. We&#39;ve missed them so much.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogger.com/goog_1070220475&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;218&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1mSOUTLvKXc8aSw9FfoKiaODv0M7NBkl9bKsLRHZionBWfI3p8nPudLsV6Rsxe9hy5iefEEl8JF9ZF5mjC7E222Q_wBTl5wslwxddoSH6fsd3o1842E_A9S2wt0sKFKg1NwoSXaNn66a/s320/toddler-busy-bags-final-16.jpeg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://totschool.shannons.org/?p=2954&quot;&gt;via&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Tomorrow night I am going to a Busy Bag Swap with several other moms. We are getting together and putting together an activity for our children to do. Each activity helps develop skills and keeps the little ones occupied. By the time we leave, we will each have 13 little activities to take home for our children! It&#39;s a really neat idea and a great opportunity to get together with other moms! I&#39;m making this &lt;a href=&quot;http://totschool.shannons.org/?p=2954&quot;&gt;color matching game&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s1600/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;132&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s320/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Oh and just in case you didn&#39;t &lt;a href=&quot;http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-mend.html&quot;&gt;see it&lt;/a&gt;, I&#39;m participating in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/p/31-days-of-fall-cleaning.html&quot;&gt;31 days&lt;/a&gt; challenge this month! I&#39;ll be sharing 31 days of fall cleaning. Look for posts about our organizing projects, cleaning tricks and even some simple fall decor! Not to overload you with posts, but I&#39;m still planning on doing a few of my regular posts too, so I&#39;ve created a &lt;a href=&quot;http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/p/31-days-of-fall-cleaning.html&quot;&gt;31 Days of Fall Cleaning tab&lt;/a&gt; at the top of my blog (under the header) next to my Menu Monday tab! If you&#39;d like to participate, go &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenester.com/2011/09/31-days-housekeeping.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and get all the info!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Happy Friday Y&#39;all!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/5677573090723601183/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/5677573090723601183' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/5677573090723601183'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/5677573090723601183'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/09/happy-friday.html' title='Happy Friday!!'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghmT2u4p5aoA1RbAziydTCef1eKnSuXRBvHkjwQLKOj7xE6KGsVVWv7yn4NuGy_mstABZU0t2tfLnPJtTVmvnxTmGe9R0_dTTPCwPzavkCjvLa3gOx_t3iaDYdhBFMDSF5gM2Khe09Yxj6/s72-c/DSC_6130.jpeg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-6267142776576047471</id><published>2011-09-29T16:12:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-09-29T16:12:05.374-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="31 Days"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="October"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="sickness"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Weekend"/><title type='text'>On The Mend</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve not been posting lately because I&#39;ve been sick. Last week I was really tired and drained. I could tell my allergies were the cause and unfortunately by Thursday night I was coming down with a sinus infection. I meant to go to the doctor Friday but I felt better and had a few things to do but I felt horrible by Friday evening. Sunday my ears started to hurt and I could tell I was getting an ear infection. I pretty much spent as much time as I could this past week on the sofa! Plus, I wound up going to the doctor twice. (lesson learned!)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m thankful that today, I was able to do a lot more. I&#39;m feeling a more like myself than I&#39;ve felt in days! I can tell my ears are still pretty stopped up but thankfully they aren&#39;t hurting quite as bad and I&#39;ve got a little bit more energy!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Derek was amazing and kept everything going so I could rest! I know he&#39;s ready to see me back 100%. ha. Poor thing! It really is hard to do all that a mom does and it&#39;s even harder to step in for the other parent and play both roles.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Derek and the kids actually had a pretty full weekend and he even took pictures for me!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Thursday:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHjke-DGiuWmPMxLr34TTnsS8YhQGFIx0DQ5A9bD_sJp4NHDjdGW3saVvGfkD_a6Cae8hTV7q0dsyI94aajZwTsSNj_nq4I-eBitXi3R2TCgWBkGmwKFGoqfsSXZtlQPsmyP3Fi-Z8T_m/s1600/DSC08207.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHjke-DGiuWmPMxLr34TTnsS8YhQGFIx0DQ5A9bD_sJp4NHDjdGW3saVvGfkD_a6Cae8hTV7q0dsyI94aajZwTsSNj_nq4I-eBitXi3R2TCgWBkGmwKFGoqfsSXZtlQPsmyP3Fi-Z8T_m/s320/DSC08207.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;They Love their rain coats!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47e6Gfpk3FqJ4oDU-Rv5FZZDWTHX2fY9noDfrdb8pe3z3b-bXelPI0FWdA9GhK96WTgLAiaW4pVlHK8BHqFjSYCVzbFqwnr9PqvnlCvxEJc5cW6YIfTlgubncqbHvS6yhBRenliDU880q/s1600/DSC08211.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47e6Gfpk3FqJ4oDU-Rv5FZZDWTHX2fY9noDfrdb8pe3z3b-bXelPI0FWdA9GhK96WTgLAiaW4pVlHK8BHqFjSYCVzbFqwnr9PqvnlCvxEJc5cW6YIfTlgubncqbHvS6yhBRenliDU880q/s320/DSC08211.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Anna-Kate had picture day when I asked her to show me the smile she gave, this is what she did! ha!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Friday:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvzJr2t8ygpQe9ehz_TP77oQjZTHc7cPWjGCjjhmuGUjug02hqhn-hUIZdRBQYBYORSKReFoFKkL5Mdrc0mettxeaVToWFfA0fu1JITmXPmoVOxo3IltNaWjUW0nzY46ZwcE5DA1HeGUe/s1600/DSC08220.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvzJr2t8ygpQe9ehz_TP77oQjZTHc7cPWjGCjjhmuGUjug02hqhn-hUIZdRBQYBYORSKReFoFKkL5Mdrc0mettxeaVToWFfA0fu1JITmXPmoVOxo3IltNaWjUW0nzY46ZwcE5DA1HeGUe/s320/DSC08220.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I made a simple sensory bin for Thomas and he loved it!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG79kPgprO0ht01ahk-iFaGlnhpQrCHgn1n9H4-gZUFkyEAt1vm6OyfeOmftMqUhW70-Pso2L6paeHfpoLq0VnSeHYylEh9AOFdMIp4EIpoitz2KhWWMbWT_otJ2d1jsup2tmEjpjqCVrN/s1600/DSC08226.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG79kPgprO0ht01ahk-iFaGlnhpQrCHgn1n9H4-gZUFkyEAt1vm6OyfeOmftMqUhW70-Pso2L6paeHfpoLq0VnSeHYylEh9AOFdMIp4EIpoitz2KhWWMbWT_otJ2d1jsup2tmEjpjqCVrN/s320/DSC08226.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LHMuCQIMHJ2D0RceeaaA63pIAXyMR4Zf8umgp8yAeFauF1b7gRj7K2X7yJUlC-Yh8IHKAnQQFtt-NLjrAoy8kJPcYQWDwonPL2e7v6iOMmPSNMeP73q85S8mzaaJZzzZEQudaSrncb4j/s1600/DSC08229.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LHMuCQIMHJ2D0RceeaaA63pIAXyMR4Zf8umgp8yAeFauF1b7gRj7K2X7yJUlC-Yh8IHKAnQQFtt-NLjrAoy8kJPcYQWDwonPL2e7v6iOMmPSNMeP73q85S8mzaaJZzzZEQudaSrncb4j/s320/DSC08229.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXM68fDsL2u7QZxi51PKD-_p-hnUHaqdTOYGrCcCS2dCE0mVrD29zIdfzz24L7Sf4i7G2bLvf2Zs0lk2DX1kfLfp41_qTacfDfkwLj-q98XQoyjd4OdoQZBGKOOkqFiNxBuAgX4zGWX2B/s1600/DSC08235.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXM68fDsL2u7QZxi51PKD-_p-hnUHaqdTOYGrCcCS2dCE0mVrD29zIdfzz24L7Sf4i7G2bLvf2Zs0lk2DX1kfLfp41_qTacfDfkwLj-q98XQoyjd4OdoQZBGKOOkqFiNxBuAgX4zGWX2B/s320/DSC08235.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;He even picked everything up when he was done.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wJrDKt5PkXNnU7sLYtwVNrEqdDAi9OZlP9karVwugoxv6yw4iyDsji6z5j3oorQ_MsEGcCinjc5YncVtj32-YLxUzMLAqa2XC18G1LhOLeL13JxFBqJcjhXb1zT8ls7J8f13VObr87n2/s1600/DSC08258.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wJrDKt5PkXNnU7sLYtwVNrEqdDAi9OZlP9karVwugoxv6yw4iyDsji6z5j3oorQ_MsEGcCinjc5YncVtj32-YLxUzMLAqa2XC18G1LhOLeL13JxFBqJcjhXb1zT8ls7J8f13VObr87n2/s320/DSC08258.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;The girls love going to the games!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnR_t1cUt11SRikesUCuPsOjGvQqwM_JEOlb9I3rkzxLFqFTNGYSVm4tTn6JAVi7122UAsNQxitvkQx2iIe1Ha_BnU3aY-rSuyDFbU-J3MAX8Ng7t1QuWxS5xcoMnnhEhzdn_FNhDsMtZk/s1600/DSC08240.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnR_t1cUt11SRikesUCuPsOjGvQqwM_JEOlb9I3rkzxLFqFTNGYSVm4tTn6JAVi7122UAsNQxitvkQx2iIe1Ha_BnU3aY-rSuyDFbU-J3MAX8Ng7t1QuWxS5xcoMnnhEhzdn_FNhDsMtZk/s320/DSC08240.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We went to the high school game! Thomas loved it!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrmrmw-jTnZZFNjWgu-OI98IMm5WK3__g4LnVNq0NgdHaN9FRd2cVCug9L0voaQlvKgKjJEU4t_NPyjNG0SadOvC0gwEko63USBn-pNVtZlBk-3diNpNiRWoZzjkpZgxDXALoZmahPL-t/s1600/DSC08251.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrmrmw-jTnZZFNjWgu-OI98IMm5WK3__g4LnVNq0NgdHaN9FRd2cVCug9L0voaQlvKgKjJEU4t_NPyjNG0SadOvC0gwEko63USBn-pNVtZlBk-3diNpNiRWoZzjkpZgxDXALoZmahPL-t/s320/DSC08251.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: small;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvI76x4lfmUhmqJQe6rpgjOJuJglap7VB5B-d873TX6PzycvomQOYzZnSRPpI5Hc9s3IsD86_OTLIvjzfCVSBYn31ahyLxgMdub0MTxwgotSECEgYeAV01wJhA125skqFUTgTzTOD_oUbj/s1600/DSC08261.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvI76x4lfmUhmqJQe6rpgjOJuJglap7VB5B-d873TX6PzycvomQOYzZnSRPpI5Hc9s3IsD86_OTLIvjzfCVSBYn31ahyLxgMdub0MTxwgotSECEgYeAV01wJhA125skqFUTgTzTOD_oUbj/s320/DSC08261.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;They are so silly!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;Saturday:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcnng9E_xtfrFV0WZdjaCNHXJOjdD3LceWlt111n8YqAGjMFe8m-3C0Lcl5g2W3mtOpI0O3HKLWz-S7Fux_6uhXX7EIkrSGIlkPK8GlXgTHv49j7yLULwQ76yPhXCZFASCRG3oV8dF0Mo/s1600/DSC08276.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcnng9E_xtfrFV0WZdjaCNHXJOjdD3LceWlt111n8YqAGjMFe8m-3C0Lcl5g2W3mtOpI0O3HKLWz-S7Fux_6uhXX7EIkrSGIlkPK8GlXgTHv49j7yLULwQ76yPhXCZFASCRG3oV8dF0Mo/s320/DSC08276.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;They went to watch the Hogs play Alabama at a friends house. They love playing together!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGbeHHrfc-a3Hno3womNv36Gn76tcY_132xA1knWlOds6X9_zFFmvWI4AskgPDMNJlOYEq5hl-4SGjYthhkCHYUm0EhkbukRQaCroG4PJ0REYisoAQ6MaEJEpFzR4RYTbzM144Zv9z8_Du/s1600/DSC08281.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGbeHHrfc-a3Hno3womNv36Gn76tcY_132xA1knWlOds6X9_zFFmvWI4AskgPDMNJlOYEq5hl-4SGjYthhkCHYUm0EhkbukRQaCroG4PJ0REYisoAQ6MaEJEpFzR4RYTbzM144Zv9z8_Du/s320/DSC08281.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Pretty Shelby&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirH4MEahkppaOa-Qvqo_PkWiPWiHFVXviGG3Xu6E7z5ezHw0yM9xtpFNQHIQMy1LTuecjy8nUjobpxLcIF9vyuIHnp-TRKMcp-ocfPeBiO5iYE8eF5H1uOfiDCd-YWBYgXh_LmHCO20DFY/s1600/DSC08283.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirH4MEahkppaOa-Qvqo_PkWiPWiHFVXviGG3Xu6E7z5ezHw0yM9xtpFNQHIQMy1LTuecjy8nUjobpxLcIF9vyuIHnp-TRKMcp-ocfPeBiO5iYE8eF5H1uOfiDCd-YWBYgXh_LmHCO20DFY/s320/DSC08283.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5BoETfNXstAsWV7ddCEldl4hzRhaJy8fVf8tUs2A_4D4C4zxuVXzVSrSnWlYgproUMRiBwh5ySAqWLiRatum_8HAcrSalLrczRJbCVwjs9qkqHlb7JVuJQ_1zkmUyswg6TY1SOKSo6B3/s1600/DSC08287.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5BoETfNXstAsWV7ddCEldl4hzRhaJy8fVf8tUs2A_4D4C4zxuVXzVSrSnWlYgproUMRiBwh5ySAqWLiRatum_8HAcrSalLrczRJbCVwjs9qkqHlb7JVuJQ_1zkmUyswg6TY1SOKSo6B3/s320/DSC08287.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_lAOQTwtCwXYd7QMixpUmC9faqxcqeogNwNvhTK6zuK8JnZAS-AFBtpS_LE0nW38FRCK52TNMSKAuD_gAjQZRtEKXpJS1Oy8CzUsDb_IKI0nHQgtEThV8B23xGRCpNZALdNp3C7_wxFbp/s1600/DSC08289.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_lAOQTwtCwXYd7QMixpUmC9faqxcqeogNwNvhTK6zuK8JnZAS-AFBtpS_LE0nW38FRCK52TNMSKAuD_gAjQZRtEKXpJS1Oy8CzUsDb_IKI0nHQgtEThV8B23xGRCpNZALdNp3C7_wxFbp/s320/DSC08289.JPG&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=&quot;tr-caption&quot; style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Derek said Anna-Kate wanted in that and they played with this for a long time! ha!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Sorry for the picture overload, but I guess that makes up for the lack of pictures lately!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s1600/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;132&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNgVhreV0ojRPjAw-6fM-Iw2ZpV-Ie7xU5uZr30EFjPlHauvQIuBD-EooWSnhnhyphenhyphenSQJjM1gFlwX90rTXc4lJ_eKLHPUHVZCXKfGyCoq1XmvCmBkok-a8T0MF1Pv-kD0RUmgTD1QORmDKg/s320/31+Days+Pic.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Amanda, posted about a fun link up going on the month of October. Basically you pick something to blog about for 31 days. It can be 31 days of knitting or cleaning or your favorite books. Just something fun to share every day!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I decided to play along and I&#39;m going to be doing 31 days of Fall Cleaning! I don&#39;t know about you, but my house needs some good deep cleaning more than just in the spring! Since I&#39;ve been home I&#39;ve noticed several areas that need to be organized and deep cleaned. (Under my bed is a scary place right now...) I also think it&#39;d be fun to share a few quick cleaning tricks and hopefully even some fall decor so that I&#39;m not just blogging about cleaning! ha. I think you&#39;d get pretty tired of that! To keep up with the 31 posts, I&#39;ve created a separate tab, just like my Menu Monday tab. I&#39;ll put a link to each days post!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;If you&#39;d like to join, you can go &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenester.com/2011/09/31-days-housekeeping.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; to learn more about it!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Oh, just for a change, I&#39;ve added a new header! What do you think? I like it a lot more than the last header I had, but I really want to add a family picture. When I was looking for one of all of us I realized that we have not had a family picture made in almost a year! It&#39;s definitely on my to-do list and when I get a good one, I&#39;ll change my header again!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/6267142776576047471/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/6267142776576047471' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6267142776576047471'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/6267142776576047471'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-mend.html' title='On The Mend'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHjke-DGiuWmPMxLr34TTnsS8YhQGFIx0DQ5A9bD_sJp4NHDjdGW3saVvGfkD_a6Cae8hTV7q0dsyI94aajZwTsSNj_nq4I-eBitXi3R2TCgWBkGmwKFGoqfsSXZtlQPsmyP3Fi-Z8T_m/s72-c/DSC08207.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690523417019325792.post-662046916016654893</id><published>2011-09-20T13:48:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-09-20T13:48:08.539-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Anna-Kate"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="random"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Thomas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="tidbits"/><title type='text'>Tidbits</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m super sleepy today, so I don&#39;t feel like I&#39;m going to make much sense if I try to make a huge blog post! I just had a few tidbits to share! :)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We had a wonderful weekend! We got some good family time in and then spent an evening with some friends on Saturday night. It was so much fun! Sunday we had more friends and Derek&#39;s family over for some meatloaf cupcakes and homemade macaroni and cheese! It was SO good!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Yesterday I had a lazy day so today I&#39;m trying to get lots of things done! I feel like things are suddenly extremely busy, even though I don&#39;t think they are! I&#39;ve got to plan Thomas&#39; birthday that&#39;s coming up in a couple of weeks, so that has me pretty distracted!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;My 2-year old class did so good today! I&#39;m really getting excited about how much they are learning and interacting. The first week was pretty tiring for me, but now that everyone is getting used to school they seem to be loving it! I&#39;m going to attempt to make some finger paints for Thursday. I think everyone is going to really enjoy that! I&#39;ve been looking for lots of toddler activities, but I&#39;m always looking for more ideas! Any tips or ideas for 2-year olds would be great! There are 3 teachers and 11 students if you count Thomas. I&#39;m thinking about putting together some small, basic sensory bins too. I think they might enjoy that.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m going to a La Leche League meeting tonight. It&#39;s something that is very special to me and I am going to start learning more about becoming a leader. I&#39;m excited about getting to help other moms!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;We had a crazy week last week and I had several meals left over to make- so I didn&#39;t post a new Menu Monday this week. It&#39;s kind of nice to have everything I need for several meals- made my grocery shopping much easier!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m really excited about the fall premiers coming up! Thanks to DVR Derek and I are tv junkies! ha. We will give just about any show a chance. There are some new shows out that look really interesting! I can&#39;t wait to see how they turn out!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;Well I&#39;m off to clean! I promise to work on using my camera more this week too! I know picture-less posts are just no fun!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/feeds/662046916016654893/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/6690523417019325792/662046916016654893' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/662046916016654893'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6690523417019325792/posts/default/662046916016654893'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://derekandnicki.blogspot.com/2011/09/tidbits.html' title='Tidbits'/><author><name>Nicki</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10932726493689460440</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hfnpDwClsKKH1lFYrK7-_OsEpJUCOlcuJlP6WjHi9v3fQydg9Z65x8SX3VXadeUTxVfAuYfIf9kBJbJ0I84d0qEuUmFjGkPAfIH8TCRNZywb3Bx899V_DW8swL8NJw/s220/photo.jpeg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry></feed>