Meal Planning: Week of May 2nd

Review from last week:

With Greg out of town, and a super busy Saturday for me and Ben, it felt great to come home, throw on sweatpants and eat a bunch of sushi in front of the TV :)

 

Gyro Salad. Had this 2 nights.

I had intended to make Kalua Pork, but when I found I was out of liquid smoke, I dug through the pantry and discovered a coffee rub my mom had got for us for Christmas.  And it was fantastic (slow-cooked all day).  Had this two nights, too.

 

Plan for next week:

Saturday:  We are going to celebrate Greg's birthday on Saturday (the day before his birthday), so we will either grill up some flank steak or we will go out to eat somewhere - birthday boy's choice!

Sunday:  I'm heading to Shauna's Mother's Day Brunch (which means lots of food and champs all morning and into the afternoon) and Greg is going golfing with his friends.  Dinner will probably be something quick and easy.

Monday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal:  Crispy Cod Tacos with Chipotle-Cabbage Slaw

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Pork Tteokbokki with Asparagus & Spicy Black Bean Sauce

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Spring Chicken Fettuccine with Sauteed Asparagus, Kale & Rosemary

Friday:  This will be an "eat whatever is left hanging out in the fridge before we leave" kind of night.

Week in photos: A day in Bellingham, Water Guns, and Baby Cougan is a GIRL

Being a weirdo on the way to school. 

 

A super fun play date with Owen and Emmett (and Becca) at the park!  Ben and Owen taking a little rest.

Having a difficult time getting his jammies on.

Show and share - his tow truck!

Ben has absolutely LOVED going to the gym with us lately - and we have been going a lot!  (Hawaii is very quickly approaching...!).  He loves playing with the other kids there, and lately due to nicer weather, we have stopped at the outdoor park they have before we head home.

Ben fell asleep on the couch the other night at 7:15 pm.  This never happens.  It was unfortunate that we had to wake him up to take a shower, go potty, and change into his jammies (because you KNOW he got a second wind to punish us).

We got to find out that Baby Cougan #2 is a GIRL, which we are so thrilled about!

I picked up a 4 pack of water guns at Ross last week when Greg had wanted to stop in there, and BOY have they been a huge hit. 

These four had a fun time with them the other night (and only came over to target their mamas a few times).

We took a trip up to Bellingham to spend the day with Kate and her family!  We have noticed that Ben will tend to fall asleep if the radio is on and we are driving somewhere in the 1-2 o'clock time frame, which he did as we arrived up north.

We had such a fun day!

Construction has started in our new office and I am SO. EXCITED. ABOUT. IT.  2 miles from home, which means I'm officially the luckiest employee around.

Oh, and it was hot in Seattle this week.

Meal Planning: Week of April 25th

Review from last week:


Nothing like a delicious week of Blue Apron to get me motivated to cook again.

Salmon with "green" potato salad and pickled mustard seeds.

Pan-seared chicken with pearl couscous and asparagus.  Greg especially loved this one.

 

Lemon and spring pea pasta with mint and garlic breadcrumbs.

 

Tonight is Papa Murphy's with Callie, Mira and Maylee!

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Leftover pizza

Sunday: Gyro meat with lentils


Monday: Crock Pot Kalua Pork with coleslaw

Tuesday: Gyro salad

Wednesday: Leftover pork

Thursday: Pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes, arugula, prosciutto and Parmesean.

Friday: Cheese quesadillas

Meal Planning: Week of April 18th

Review of last week:

I didn't spend much time in the kitchen this week.  On Sunday, Greg grilled his favorite Pineapple Pork Kabobs.

 

On Thursday I made my pasta, prosciutto, arugula, tomatoes, and parm dish.
 


I also made gyro meat, which we had as salads or with lentils for a few dinners this week.  One night was simply cheese quesadillas. 

Plan for next week:

Saturday: We are spending the afternoon/evening in Bellingham with Kate, Dan, Ella and Jolie - and eating dinner with them!

Sunday: Pizza Party

Monday: Trader Joe's Orange Chicken with Rice and Salad

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal - Za'atar Chicken & Pearl Couscous with Asparagus and Pink Lemon Compote.

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal - Seared Salmon & "Green" Potato Salad with Pickled Mustard Seeds

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal - Creamy Lemon Pasta with English Peas, Mint and Garlic Breadcrumbs

Friday: Pizza Party (2 in one week)!

Week in photos: Sunshine in Seattle, First Trip to the Driving Range, and Paige Turns Two!

We had a super fun time spending the afternoon at Paige's second birthday last Saturday - so much so that we were the very last ones to leave :)  Ben had such a blast running around and in the bouncy house with the other kids there. 

Ben refused to pose for a crown picture with his parents.

 

 

Last Sunday was a gorgeous sunny day - I had thought that the rain was coming back so it was a fun surprise.
 

We went to the park, Redmond Town Center to play in the fountains, out to lunch, and to Home Depot.  We did yard work, planted some new flowers, dug for worms, and BBQ'd dinner.

Ben enjoyed a nice, long nap in the middle of the day in the car (this never happens), and Greg and I got a ton of yard work done while he slept.

We finished the day with Ben reading to us in bed.  It amazes me how great he is doing with reading right now and I love how much he LOVES words, letters, spelling, etc.  His curiosity (while exhausting at times) is one of my favorite things to experience as a parent.  I hope he always remains this curious about things in his life!

By Monday, the rain was back.

Ben took a book with him to school on Tuesday for Show and Share and read some of the story to his class :)

On Wednesday evening, SOMETHING (still not sure what) happened to Ben's ankle.  If you have a 4 year old boy, you understand that as a parent you hear "OWWWWWWWW!" followed by a little crying multiple times a day.  I did my usual routine of going over to check it out, telling him "you're okay!" and giving him a hug.  He was on a mission to get his shoes on and head outside, so the whole thing was over in about 30 seconds.  Fast forward to 3 hours later at bath time when he took his clothes off, and suddenly his ankle was hurting again.  We still aren't sure if he did something earlier, or something right before the shower, or both, but we couldn't believe how swollen it got :/

I assumed on Thursday morning we would be heading straight to the doctor, but of course he surprised me by jumping out of bed, running down the hall and telling me it didn't hurt anymore...?

I took him to school and he took off running across the playground to join his friends.  I asked his teachers to keep an eye on him/it, and after school when they told me they noticed he had been favoring it a bit, I decided just to run over to the walk in clinic to play it safe.  The doctor moved it every which way, asked him to hop on that foot, and Ben said nothing bothered him.  We didn't even get an X-ray.  I assume this was one of first of many injuries that he will bounce back from.  Love how quickly kids recover!

My boss brought beer in last Friday afternoonto celebrate a great first quarter :)

On Friday, Ben enjoyed a nice LONG day at school.  His school offers Parent's Night Out once each month.  Last time, I picked him up after school in order to give him a little break before heading back for the evening.  Later I learned that most parents leave theirs kids at school for the day and don't pick them up until the end of the night.  Ben informed me he would like to stay with his friends and had the best time.  He really isn't a baby anymore :/

But Greg and I had the best time, too!  After work, I went to get a pedicure while Greg got a massage next door.  Then we went out for dinner and a drink at one of our favorite spots in Woodinville: Village Wines.

On Sunday, we took Ben to the driving range for the first time.  He did a pretty great job (staying quiet was a bit of a challenge, but he hung in there until the very end) and did awesome at hitting the ball (most of the time). He already is much better than me!

Making me a "birthday cake" at the park this morning.

Ben is excellent at making new friends at the park.  With this particular girl, he walked up and said "My name is Ben.  I'm a boy".  #somuchgame

Meal Planning: Week of April 11

Review from last week:

We had a lot of grilling weather this week, which makes us all very happy.  Greg enjoys nothing more than grilling with a beer in his hand, while I enjoy nothing more than a mess-free kitchen.

Grilled chicken with asparagus and quinoa/rice. 

Grilled flank steak with slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, avocado and Ranchero cheese.

This Thai soup came out great subbing chicken for shrimp and omitting the lemongrass (because I don't think most stores carry it).

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Out to eat for Dan's birthday

Sunday:  Pineapple Pork Kabobs

Monday:  Gyros!

Tuesday: Leftover pork

Wednesday: Leftover gyros

Thursday: Roasted Red Pepper and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken Breast with roasted vegetables

Friday: Grilled Flank Steak and Vegetables

1 Second Every Day - Q1 2016

Book of Mormon
DC
Birthdays
NYC
HAMILTON
Boeing Tour
Superbowl 
Martial Arts
Flag Football
Yard Work

Food

And a WHOLE LOT of hanging around the house.

Week in photos: Disney Dreaming, Sun Shining and Show-and-Sharing

Some fun developments on the vacation front: We decided to book a trip to Disneyland in September just before Ben's birthday!

We had originally been targeting January of next year to head to the park.  I have heard January is one of the best times to go to beat crowds, and we figured that by then Ben would be old enough/tall enough (brave enough?) to do just about any ride.

Earlier this year, however, we learned that Greg requesting time off from work is a bit of an art form.  They get time off for the following year approved in late December, which means it's nearly impossible to count on days off early in the year.  Since we both had taken a week off in September, and didn't have any concrete plans for that time yet - we decided WHY NOT - let's go on this trip a few months early.  Luckily, Ben is ALREADY a giant (44+ inches) which according to my research, makes him big enough for all of the rides - at least all of the rides that I think he would be interested in going on. :)

I'm particularly excited because my mom will be joining us for this trip!  We are staying at one of the Disney hotels and are planning 4 days at the parks and I really cannot wait to show him the magic that is Disney.  Here's hoping it goes a lot smoother than last time.

Greg and Ben mowing the yard.  Yard update:  After almost 4 years of trying unsuccessfully to get our grass in acceptable condition on our own, we finally have invited a lawn service company to come in and get the job done.  When we moved in, the grass was beautiful and green and lush - and it's slowly deteriorated over the years.  We hope by the middle to end of this summer it will be much improved :)

When the PNW gets it's first hit of sunshine, everyone heads outside immediately.  After work on Wednesday we went down to the park to feed the ducks and play.

And the next night was spent on the Cougan's deck - AKA the best place around to watch the sunset. :)

 

On Tuesday's, Ben's class has "Show and Share".  It used to be on a different day, so there have been a handful of times I have forgotten and Ben would end up "showing and sharing" his classroom slippers :/  (Luckily, he didn't seem to mind).  But this week, we had a plan for him to show his class how this stuffed shark is actually his hoodie all rolled up!  We practiced him opening it up and saying "surprise" and he was so pumped to go to school that morning.  It sounded like it went down exactly as planned.  So cute.