Meal Plan: Dec 9-Dec 15

So, we stuck to the meal plan last week! Except sometimes we did different sides than I had listed. Because of that I will from now on be listing just the main dishes.
Sun: Baked Penne
Mon: Lemon Chicken (Crockpot)*
Tues: Ranch Pork Chops (Crockpot)*
Wed: Lodge Night (not at home)
Thurs: Home Fellowship
Fri: Beef Broccoli
Sat: At a special event

*-New recipe

Animals

Arya loves animals. We have been working on what sounds animals make. These are the ones she "knows":

Cat: Mee (I always add the "-ow")

Dog: Bow wo wo wo wo

Cow: Hoooo

Pig: Oin oin (much improved from when she would say pink each time!)

Rooster: She just kind of yells an excited sound. 

She shrugs and raises her hands in an "I don't know" gesture for sheep, hen, frog, and horse.

Trying something new....

Sorry, this post doesn't have much to do with Arya.
So, where to start...
I never clued blog readers into this, but I have been losing weight. Since the week before labor day I have been doing the "Weight reduction plan" Take Shape for Life. You can learn more about it from my health coach, here. I have lost over 30lbs. It wasn't easy (and let me tell you, Thanksgiving weekend was TOUGH)!
So I am trying to stay on a healthy track and maintain my weight loss (one great thing about TSFL is that it has a transition and maintenance phase to help you do just that). One way I think I can work towards that is to plan my meals ahead. I have read a lot about meal planning making life more convenient (Bradley and I actually had a set menu a few years back). I recently read about meal plans again, on my friend Darci's blog.
I have two rules for each week. AT LEAST one meal per week has to be a brand new recipe, I have NEVER made before (thank you Pinterest!). AT LEAST one meal must be made in the crock pot. Also, my best friend Michelle always gives me a hard time that I never make soups- so, not EVERY week, but through out this winter, I will try to make some soups (I can hear her cheering now). I am also working on finding more meals that Arya will eat- this is tough since she won't touch chicken.
I am a little bit nervous about failing and not sticking to the plan, which is one reason I am posting it here. It will give me extra incentive to stick to here.

Dec. 2-Dec.8
Sun: Taco Salads
Mon:Pork chops, Brocolli, Salad
Tues: Swai fillets, Peas
Wed: Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken, Corn (Never made before AND Crockpot)
Thurs: Date Night
Fri: Teriyaki Chicken, Peas
Sat: Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup (Never made before AND Crockpot, Oh and look, it's a soup)

Since you read this post, I will reward you with a dose of cuteness:

Bounce House

While my family was here over Thanksgiving Weekend Bradley, Grampa Brian, John and I took Arya and JD to Bounce House Moonwalk. They both had a BLAST (actually I think we all did)! They have inflatables, of course, but they also have a toddler play area. Arya was free admission since she is under 2 and we were paying for JD. I kept saying it was good she was free because she seemed to enjoy the toys more than the inflatables.

 Grampa Brian got in on the fun!

Thanksgiving Weekend

For Thanksgiving this year y family came to Kansas City. We also celebrated my nephew, JD's, birthday. Here are a few random pictures from the weekend.

(Note: No, we did not eat pizza for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a "proper" Thanksgiving dinner. We had pizza for JD's birthday party.)

I really thought I would have more pics to share, but I guess pictures of swimming were taken on Gramma Suzanne's camera and everyone was taking part in playing games so we didn't take pictures of that either.

Autumn

Arya has really enjoyed this fall. We have had great weather so we have enjoyed playing outside and going for walks. I will probably only do one more fall post after this one to cover Thanksgiving. After that we will move on to winter and Christmas!!

Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving and are able to spend it with your loved ones. (And if you are crazy enough to go shopping on Black Friday, stay safe.)

Splish Splash She Was Taking a Bath

Arya hated baths as an infant. Once we moved up to doing them in the tub, she LOVES them! The other day she had a bubble bath for the first time. What fun!

Washing her face after Daddy put bubbles on her face (She didn't like that).

Splashing!