Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! I love linking up with the other Five on Friday bloggers. It's a great way for me to write about the little, day to day things that wouldn't necessarily get their own blog post but things that I want to remember.

1. Pointing out the positive. 
Gianni sent this to me the other day after stumbling across it on a friend's facebook feed. I was having a tough day with a certain 3 year old and felt like all I was doing was disciplining and reprimanding. It's so easy to just enjoy the peace and quiet when kids are behaving and it's easy to forget to point out to them that you notice the good things and not just the bad.

2. Meal planning successes.

A big part of my New Year's goal of keeping things simple and less hectic this year involved meal planning. It doesn't work for everyone, but for us it is hugely helpful. Not only has it made the dinner time (AKA witching hour) a million times easier, but it is certainly saving us money. I have been planning 2 weeks at a time; it helps with shopping and allows us to do 2 bigger shops and then a smaller shop in between for produce and milk. I have also been using Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, for inspiration to hide a few extra veggies in our meals. Some of our biggest hits have been Chicken and Ramen salad, Lasagna (with lots of hidden veggies pureed into the sauce including pumpkin, carrots, and peas!), Sloppy joes (made with ground turkey and tons of veggies), Barefoot Contessa's Italian Wedding Soup, and Chicken tacos. Most of our meals I am able to prepare in the morning and either toss in the crock pot or make in the morning and cook later. (Side note... I am using our crock pot for the first time since last week's This Is Us and I have had slight anxiety all day...)

3. Superbowl weekend

Can't say I'm a huge football fan but the Superbowl is a must for the snacks and the ads :) So I'll just leave this here...

4.Valentine's Day
I like doing little things to celebrate the little holidays so Gabriella and I put up a few Valentine's Day decorations and I am putting little notes on their bedroom doors each morning. They are doing Valentine's Day crafts and notes in preschool so she is all about it this year. Besides, any holiday that she can use glue, glitter, and stickers is a win in her book :)

5. Welcome to the world baby girl!
And finally, Sandy and Thierry welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Reese, this week! She made her debut a couple of weeks early but Mom and baby are healthy and happy. We are staying away for a couple of weeks just to make sure that all of our germs are far, far away but I can't wait to snuggle her!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!