How Appropriate

Stackyard: n. The place where hay bales are kept for the feeding and bedding of cattle

Snackyard: n. Nathan's name for the same place and where he wanted his dad to pull him in the sled today.

I suppose the cattle consider it their "snackyard," too!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

My parents and sister came to visit today to celebrate my mom's birthday. It was a most relaxing day (well, for the women in the family anyway)!
Dad spent most of his time here pulling the boys behind the 4-wheeler which is one of their favorite things to do with him.

We had birthday cake after lunch. Grandma, not wanting a repeat of Nathan's birthday cake, imposed a strict "No Spitting" rule.

My mom also brought along the red coat that was purchased just for her when she was two years old. After five daughters in a row, Grandma must have decided it was time for a new coat! Teresa didn't want to take it off--she just loved it so much! Grandma is letting her borrow it for a few weeks to wear to church and she is VERY excited to wear it in the morning. How wonderful that she is able to share this with her grandmother. Maybe someday she will be able to share it with her daughter, too.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Shirley. We love you very much!

Meat-Free Meals

Happy 2nd Friday of Lent! Even if you are not Catholic, you will know that we "Minnow Munchers" keep a diet of fish or other vegetarian meals on Fridays and Holy Days during Lent.
Catholic or not, you may find the recipes below worth trying. They are some of our family's favorites all through the year.

Favorite Tuna Casserole

1 box macaroni & cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can milk
1 can tuna
1 can peas
2 T butter
minced onion
pepper

Boil noodles according to directions. Meanwhile, combine powdered cheese from box, soup, milk, & tuna in a bowl. Add drained noodles when done boiling & stir in peas. Shake in minced onion & pepper to taste. Spread in a 9x13 pan or casserole dish. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Easy Manicotti

1 box manicotti (tube-like shells)
Equal number of string cheese sticks
large jar spaghetti sauce
mozzarella cheese

Boil the manicotti. When done, drain & fill with one stick string cheese each. Cover with spaghetti sauce & bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake about 10 minutes more. (When making this at other times of the year, I add browned ground beef to the sauce.)

Enjoy!

Snack Time Zones

I was lamenting to my mother-in-law last Saturday after a particularly long week with Nathan. This was his main dialogue for twelve hours a day:
"Is it snack time?"
"When is snack time?"
"Can I watch a movie?"
"Can I play the Wii?"
"Is it snack time yet?"
One of her suggestions was to make a clock to show snack time. After three kids, I should have thought of that myself, but that is why I am so blessed to have a supportive mother-in-law nearby. You would think she raised four little snackers herself!
On Monday morning, we put the plan into place. We made two clocks--one for morning snack and one for afternoon. Nathan wasn't too excited about helping me make them, so I questioned if he would go along with this plan.
The results were amazing, however. He asked me for a snack one time and I pointed to the clock. He said, "The little hand is there, but the big hand has to move some more." That was all I heard until 10am. That day I especially made sure to have snacks on time so that he could see what the "real" time actually looked like.
Today is Thursday and our snack time clocks are still doing their job.
So, that is one problem solved and my sanity saved for the time being. Now, onto my little girl who thinks she is at least ten years old instead of just two!

Beautiful Blog Award

This sunny day just got even better. Thank you so much to Alicia at La Famille for awarding Caution: Wife and Mom Under Construction a Beautiful Blogger Award! I am so thankful for the readers who check up on my thoughts every day or even sporadically.

If you win this award, here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who awarded you.

2. Pass this award on to up to 15 bloggers that you've recently discovered and think are awesome.

I am awarding a Beautiful Blogger Award to Just Imagine Heaven, Stewardship of the Steward Ship, Amy the Shopaholic, & Parenting by Trial & Error!

3. Let the bloggers know they have won.

4. List 7 facts about yourself:

1. I have three children who are all beautiful & talented in different ways. It is fun to watch them grow and learn new things every day.
2. I always wanted to be a teacher & a mom. I was a teacher, am now a full-time mom, but now I don't know what I want to be when I (or my kids) grow up.
3. I love to cook, bake, & try new recipes.
4. I love to travel--road trips and plane rides are both fine with me and the destination does not matter. Planning vacations is half the fun.
5. Family is very important to me. As I get older, I especially cherish every minute spent with my grandparents as I know I am so blessed to still have them here with me.
6. I know God has blessed me abundantly and I have nothing to complain about, but sometimes I still think I do!
7. Shopping is one of my favorite things to do, although I do not get to go on my own (or with friends) too often. One of my VERY favorite stores is Hobby Lobby.

Have a beautiful day, everyone!