Audubon Zoo

Tuesday we took the girls to the Audubon Zoo.  Trent and the girls had never been there before and it had been awhile for me.  It was awesome!  There is a "cool zoo", which is a water area, and a neat dinosaur area.  There are probably 3 times as many animals as in B.R.  We plan on going back before school starts.  Next time we plan on doing everything!  We all loved it so much we might not go back to the B.R. Zoo and continue to go back to Audubon Zoo.

Monday May 21st

On the Monday of Trent's vacation we took the girls to Forest park to play in the water.  We came to this park often last year but it was Trent's first time to come with us.  It is a really nice, clean area and everyone is always so friendly.  The girls love coming and playing in the sprinklers, they also have a pretty awesome climbing area. 

May 19th

 After Brooklyn's graduation we went to my parents for the weekend.  On Saturday we went to my Grandma's 80th birthday party and a wedding reception.  The above picture is a group of us (Katie, me, Jake, Aunt Jane, and Jess)  All of us our using the program Lose It! on our phones to try to help us loose weight.  Justin signed up for it after the weekend.  Every time we get together we are going to take a picture together to have photo evidence of our journey together.  Next time though we will take a picture at the beginning!  This was at the end of a very long day!

 Brooklyn was a little shy of Gabe at first.  Once she learned that he was also five that broke the barrier.  She now says she loved playing with him and can't wait to do it again!  I love how Sissy and Gabe are in the same pose, that wasn't planned either!

 The kids all got together to sing to grandma.  By the look on her face she loved it.  By kids I mean all of the great grandkids!  There was a crowd of them!

Luke and Missy got married in Hawaii.  There reception here was Hawaii themed complete with casual dress (which I loved)  We all had a great time at the reception!  I haven't had that much fun in forever!  I am really looking forward to the next family get together. 

Brooklyn's pre-k graduation

Trent's 11 day vacation started with Brooklyn's pre-k graduation May 18th.  The kids sang a few songs, the days of the week, counting song, months of the year, and I'm a head start kid.  they also got the rest of their certificates for perfect attendance months.  Brooklyn only missed 3 days the whole year!  She received a certificate for completing a year of Head start.  She is very excited to be going to Kindergarten next year.  According to the preparedness paper she is well above ready.  She has grown so much in the last year socially and emotionally.  She did such a wonderful job and enjoyed school so much.

Go Tigers!

I hate giving away clothes sometimes.  I have held on to two of Trent's old LSU shirts for awhile now.  This morning I pulled out the machine and made the girls each a skirt!  I think they turned out super cute and they were free!

Brooklyn's first lost tooth

Yesterday after the girls and I were watching tv in my bed.  Brooklyn suddenly held up a bloody tooth and said, "mom my baby tooth came out".  Sure enough there was a tooth in her hand and an empty spot in her mouth!  I didn't even know the tooth was loose!  I don't think she knew it was loose either!  She was very excited so we called grandparents to let them know.  About 3 hours later I heard her crying and asked what happened.  She asked me if I could put her tooth back in her mouth because she didn't like how the empty spot felt.  I had to explain to her that a new tooth will grow back and everyone has lost their baby teeth, it is just a part of rowing up.  She gave me a hug and told me she felt much better!  The tooth fairy came and brought her a new dollar bill.  She was very excited this morning about that and is going to let Sophia help her pick out a prize.  What a sweet big sister!

Craptastic

Today was a craptastic day.  I woke up not feeling well.  After dropping Brooklyn off at school I made sis and me some breakfast.  I laid in bed about 8:30 to watch cartoons.  I woke up around 10:30!  Sophia kept herself busy by snatching my phone and playing angry birds.  The rest  of the day I just laid around with a fever and headache.  The kids are in bed and Trent is at a meeting.  Back into bed.  I hope tomorrow I feel better.  So far I look forward to me couch to 5k!  Tomorrow is week 1 day 3!

Better late then never

Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons of Dark Sesame Oil  (I used Extra Virgin olive oil)
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 teasoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used a 1/2 teaspoon and it was still a little too hot for my kids- but my husband loves all things spicy)
1 cup snow peas, trimmed (I used sugar snap peas because we don't like snow peas at our house)
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

Heal oil in large skillet over medium - high heat. Add onion to pan, saute 3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic- saute 30 seconds. stirring constantly. Add chicken, saute 3 minutes or until chicken begins to brown

2. Combine 3/4 cup water, soy sauce, corn starch, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes and stir with a whisk until sugar dissolves. Add water mixture to pan, bring to a boil. Add bell pepper and snow peas to cap. Cook for 2 minutes or until veggies are crisp - tender and sauce thickens. Sprinkle with nuts.

Serve over brown rice. Serves 4.
(make sure that you only have 1/2 cup of rice to keep it under 500 calories)