Prairie Farms

Last Tuesday, we met up with some friends at Prairie Farms for a playdate with the animals!  The last time we went here, Owen was still a little young to appreciate it, but this time was great!  We were meeting Aubrey/Mataya and Leann/2 babes but when we arrived we also ran into Amy and Troy.  So it was so fun with all the kiddos!

checking out the geese

looking at the pigs

big horses

this was a huge turkey

his favorite word of the day: llama

playing on the playground

  And of course his favorite animal - the cow:

Peoria - Sunday

Sunday morning I was super excited to head to my parent's church!  It's so neat to be in a place that has their fingerprints on everything.  And it was also super exciting because my friend Ellen was preaching!  Her and her husband, Kyle are planting a church in Mexico.  Yeah, she's a rock star.  You should check out her blog here.

Before heading back home, we finally snagged a few pictures of all the ladies from the weekend.  The people you don't know in the following pictures are my grandma Joyce, my aunt Becky, and my cousin Claire.  Claire and Owen really hit it off and I wish I could have brought her home with me to do some babysitting. :)  I hope it doesn't take 5 more years before we see them again!

 

 

 

 

Peoria - Saturday night

Saturday night in Peoria (after recovering from Wildlife with a long nap), we had tons of family over to my parent's house.  My mom's cousin and wife, who we had never met, came over for dinner along with my dad's parents.  Since my parents wouldn't be able to see Owen on his birthday, my mom made cupcakes so we could sing to him and open a few gifts. 

Philip and Owen's middle namesake - Grandpa Jim (James) Hoerr

watching everyone sing to him

he only ate the frosting

opening his new sandbox toys

my sweet girl

thanks to Philip for getting Owen to actually smile for a picture!

Peoria – Friday/Saturday afternoon

Whew, a little behind in the blogging world this week.  Let’s backtrack to last weekend.  The kids and I drove to Peoria for a packed but really fun weekend!  We arrived at my parents house around 3 on Friday afternoon and soon welcomed my brother, Philip, home.  We hadn’t seen him since Christmas, so it was great to see him and introduce him to his new niece.  Philip wanted Monical’s Pizza for dinner and then we all just hung out for the evening.

blurry but adorable

Saturday morning, my mom woke up early with Owen and gave me a glorious extra hour of sleep!  What would we do without moms? :)  Then we got ready to head to Wildlife Prairie Park!  This was a favorite activity of all the cousins while growing up.  Whenever we stayed with my grandparents, they took us here.  It’s a 2,000-acre zoological park that is supposed to be home to over 150 animals.  Hmm, we didn’t see nearly that many.  Maybe 7 species total.  I think this park was in it’s hay-day in the 80’s/90’s, but we still had a good time!

We walked some of the trails which kept us out of the rain that had started.  There was some really pretty forest and a few animals.

looking for the cougar

Ellie snuggled in and slept the whole time

yes, donkeys eat kleenex

rooster!

here piggy piggy

After we walked around most of the park, we headed back to the visitor center to meet up with my aunt, cousin, and grandma who were just driving into town!  This is pretty exciting stuff because we haven't seen them since my wedding 4 years ago!  They obviously haven't met my kiddos.  It was so wonderful to see them.  (More pictures of them in the next couple posts.)

petting a turtle

This was adorable.  Owen went around kissing all the animals in the stone animal garden:

 

the bison got close during their feeding time

time to ride the train!

he loved his first train ride!

birth announcements

I realized I never posted these.  Sorry if you didn’t get one.  I could only order a few of each. :)  All pictures courtesy of Jenna.

This one is from Shutterfly: And this one is from Cardstore.

Both sites have really great deals if you watch for them!

playing outside

This past Tuesday, we got a load of mulch to freshen up some of our flower beds. Owen had a blast helping William put it out and then taking rides in the wheelbarrow. Ellie and I had fun watching. :)
my sweet babies

“Pageant Mom”

That’s what my sister called me after I texted her this picture: So here’s my confession.  Yes, I painted my 6 week old’s toes.  I am that mom.  I had to add a small item to my Amazon order last week to get free shipping (ordering a few last minute things for Owen’s bday).  I had read decent reviews of this baby-safe nail polish called Piggy Paint.  It’s water based and non-toxic.  I love their tagline “natural as mud.”  I only painted her toes in case she finds a way to get her hands in her mouth.  It definitely only lasts a couple days but that’s great since I wouldn’t want to use polish remover.
I had to promise my sister I will never be a pageant mom.  I just love me some painted toes.

Sandbox!

As part of Owen’s birthday presents, we’ve been looking for a sandbox.  We got so blessed when the guy who does all our finances and is a good friend of William’s offered us his for free!  Owen has loved it and has already spent a great deal of time getting good and dirty, dumping and building, and burying his feet.
cleaning it and getting it ready: sifting the sand (Scott gave us that too!) He played, I stripped him down to clean him off and of course, he wanted back in.   I have fond memories of building cities in our sandbox and then flooding them.  What great summer fun we’ll have in this!
*If you need some good money advice, we love Scott!

FCC playground

This week, we had a fun play date with Aubrey and Mataya (and 2 other girls she babysits). Can you believe this picture is of our 2 babies on their first "date" to Olive Garden?  And they both are about to turn 2!  I just cannot believe how fast those years have gone.  This is the best picture I got of the 2 of them playing together (yeah it’s a bad one). Owen loved this little car.And Ellie slept almost the whole time. :)

recipes to try

I love that I have collected a whole new group of recipes from people that have brought us meals these last 2 months. Here are a few that were HUGE hits at our house and will definitely be in the regular meal rotation:

**Taco Pie (from Leah)

• Brown 1lb of hamburger and add 1 packet of taco seasoning
• Take two cans of crescent rolls and roll one can out in a greased 9 x 13 pan
• Spread the meat over the crescent rolls and top with cheese (any amount).
• Then unroll the top layer of crescent rolls over the meat and bake according to the package.
• Then when it comes out, serve with any toppings you like on tacos. Super easy and super delicious!

**Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos (made for us by Joanna)  - click on the picture for the recipe.  These were AMAZING and very easy to make.

* *Saucy Italian Stuff (from Louise)

• 3/4 of a box of rotelle
• 1ish jar of sauce
• 1 lb of hamburger
• 1 roll of bob evans Italian sausage
• salt, pepper, Mrs.. dash traditional blend to taste in the meat
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 large green pepper
• 8 oz package of mozzarella or Italian blended cheese
• Cook pasta according to directions. Heat olive oil and sauté onion and pepper until translucent (or caramelized if you want it sweeter).
• Squish together meat and season.  Form into meatballs and begin browning in the pan.  Once brown on all sides, add sauce and slowly cook through.
• Once the pasta is done, drain but save a coffee cup full of the starchy water (Rachael Ray tip) to mix back in with the sauce and meatballs. 
• Top with cheese and brown under the broiler if desired for a few minutes.

**Orange Push Up Smoothies – found this one on pinterest and they definitely tasted like the orange push-ups I remember as a child.  Yummy!