Tag Archives: snow

Weekend Meal Planning

Posted on November 23 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

Howdy! It’s Sunday again and that means we’re meal planning here in the O’Keefe household. However, after shopping today, I’m really beginning to wonder why we torture ourselves on Sundays. It was SO busy!!

Before I get into my meal plan, I wanted to tell you about my weekend – It was GREAT! I’m really not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family. Thanksgiving day is always spent with Seamus’ parents and usually my mom will have her dinner the Saturday or Sunday afterward, but since I have some busy siblings, we had to adjust. This actually worked out, because now when we get back from CNY next week, we won’t need to travel to my parent’s the next day. Thanks busy siblings! 😛

Anyhoo – I got up early and headed to Panera to do some of my virtual assistant work, I always seem to think better there. After working for about 3 hrs, I came home to the cuddliest of boys. Emmett just wanted to be held, cuddled or nuzzled by me and who am I to say no. So, while daddy got ready to go we hung out on the couch wrapped in each others arms. I just love that little boy!!

Eventually we hit the road, and made it to grandma’s in plenty of time! We were a little worried because of all of the snow that had fallen between where we live and my parents (in case you haven’t heard or seen the images, here’s a good synopsis), but there was no need for worry. We got there quickly and easily!!

Emmett was so excited to see my mom, sister and brother. He’s not positive who everyone is yet (because he doesn’t see everyone all the time), but he sure does love being around people who shower him with attention. That’s pretty much all you need to do in order for him to like you. LOL There were 3 dogs there, which is weird for Emmett because he’s not used to any, but by the end of the night he was lightly petting and playing with the dogs. Yay!! Once we eventually move, I’m sure Seamus and I will want to get a dog, so I’m glad E adjusted easily.

Dinner was delicious, my brother made some amazing mashed potatoes (yes, seriously!) and then for the rest of the evening we just visited, joking and chatting with one another. It’s times like those that I treasure most! I really wish we all got together more frequently, when we do we have such a good time.

Today has been a bit of a whirlwind. I was up early, worked and then made us all a yummy breakfast, I’ve done some laundry, cleaned out the fridge (YUCK!!) and we’ve gone grocery shopping. Emmett is quietly napping now, Seamus is playing his video game and I am blogging away. THIS is what Sundays were meant for.

Our Meal Plan

It will be a pretty easy week because we have Thanksgiving on Thursday and then will be traveling home on Friday, so we’ll just grab something on the way. LOVE easy weeks!

Sunday: Homemade Pizza (carry over)

Monday: Rotisserie Chicken & Potatoes

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday (with Seamus famous guacamole)

Wednesday: Fettuccine Alfredo Spaghetti Squash

Thursday: Thanksgiving!!

Friday: On the road

Saturday: Scrounge

Quick and easy!! We don’t host Thanksgiving, maybe one day when we get a house, but for now I am lucky enough to enjoy the cooking of my mom and Seamus’ mom. Yummy in my tummy!!

I’m joining and linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com.

Your turn!

Do you host Thanksgiving, or do you just bring a dish to pass?

Anything fun on your emal plan this week? Share in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Filed Under: All About Me, Link-Ups

Weekly Wishes – Nature

Posted on December 23 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

It’s Weekly Wishes – Nature time!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

Is it seriously Monday already? I swear that I had just been joyous that Friday had ended and was on my way home from work. Guess the busy days cause that to happen, huh?

Either way, we had the best weekend! Saturday was full of us bumming around, to almost every store you can think of, getting all of our last minute shopping out of the way, and then grabbing (a not so healthy) lunch at Tully’s. If you’ve never been, you should go, their chicken fingers are AH-mazing. Anyhow, back to our weekend, Emmett was so good while we went in and out of one store after another. I really anticipated him melting down because he had to get in and out of his car seat and didn’t get the chance to get down and run around, but nope, he was so good! Love that lil bugger!

Sunday was almost as equally busy. Seamus had to run an errand in the morning, so Emmett and I spent time playing and being complete goofballs together. When Seamus got home, I showered and we all went out for lunch, then grocery shopping and ran a few other errands. I am seriously enjoying this Christmas season, but I will admit that I am looking forward to a weekend of not running around or possibly not even leaving the house. That sounds lovely! 😉

This week’s theme for Weekly Wishes is Nature. My picture doesn’t directly reflect nature, but it was taken while Emmett and I were out playing in the snow (that has now melted away 🙁 ) last weekend. Emmett wasn’t thrilled with being in the snow, he actually got quite upset (you can see pictures here), but I’ll keep trying. I am snow lover (except to drive in it, then I’m a nervous wreck) and I really would love to share that opinion with my favorite boy.

Now, down to business! Last week’s wishes…

My first wish from last week was to fill in my editorial calendar. Ugh! I hate reporting failures, but I just could not find the time to do this. The only day I had time was Thursday, and I really wanted to take that day away from the blog, I always seem more refreshed and motivated when I take a day away. It is what it is, life is busy right now, I’m not going to get down on myself about it.

Next was to ensure that I really spent time absorbing the Christmas season with Emmett. I did this as much as possible! Work is busy, and I’m really stressed out about it, so trying to pull myself back to family time, once I’m home, is tough. But I did force myself to do so, and felt great about it!

My final wish was to finish Christmas shopping and begin wrapping. COMPLETE! We finished shopping this weekend, and while I may get a few more odds and ends for the heck of it, we are done. Seamus has off today, so he’ll begin wrapping this afternoon. I couldn’t be happier!

This week’s wishes…

Spend time being with my family, this Christmas week. Next time I am here, Christmas will be over and I really want to report that we had a full and loving holiday.

That’s it, that is my ONLY wish. I’m taking it easy on myself this week, so that I can not stress about anything at home and just be happy and in love.

Alright that’s it, my loves! Be sure to stop on over to The Nectar Collective and link-up with Melyssa’s Weekly Wishes.

Your turn!

What are you exciting plans for this holiday week?

Filed Under: All About Me

Snow Day!

Posted on January 9 by Jillian416 • 1 Comment

Over the holidays we got a large amount of snow and since this was Emmett’s FIRST snow it was absolutely necessary to take him out to get pictures. It was also his cousin’s first snow, which was even more exciting because she lives in a warmer climate, seeing snow like this would be MUCH less likely for her.

We started out putting them on a blue plastic tablecloth, thinking it wouldn’t show up much in pictures but that didn’t quite work, though we still got some darn cute pics!

We ended up deciding that we might as well put them in the snow because even if they get wet, we were just in my mom’s backyard and would be able to run in and take the wet clothes off and get them all warmed up.

Emmett is not quite sitting on his own, so while my niece sat up (she’s 2 months older than Emmett), E laid in the snow. He actually seemed pretty comfortable and not at all like the cold or snow was bothering him.

Every time we put the babies near each other they would interact with. Humming or ba ba’ing to one another or reaching out and touching hands, it was seriously adorable.

They weren’t thrilled (as you can see) but they also weren’t terribly unhappy either. There weren’t any tears and with just the right amount of distraction we got them to kind of look at the camera. Even without them smiling, you can see that those are two of the cutest babies around.

I’ve always been someone who has enjoyed snow, I don’t mind the cold and snow is really pretty so it was fun to go out and experience this with my son. He obviously didn’t get the concept and in the end, probably wasn’t the most thrilled with the cold but these pictures will always be there.

Does anyone else have any great “first snow” stories?

Filed Under: Daily Updates, Family