just dance.

Dance has started up for this girl again.
It is her 4th session.  It's hard to imagine that she started as a tiny two year old.
We always take the summer off with daddy home so much and it's a nice break.
When we got ready for the fall and looked at activities, Quinn said she wanted to keep dancing - I think she loves the recitals the most!

This time getting her dressed for dance felt so different.  We have a different girl, a different dancer.  She has just grown so much.  She feels so tall now with these long dancing legs.  I can't get over how much she has grown since that very first class when she still had a diaper under that tutu.

We love what dance has taught her - which extends far behind just the motion of dancing.  She has become a confident girl - a girl who is out dancing on the volleyball court during every single timeout when the music plays, a girl excited to tackle new things, be herself in front of others.

So proud of our little dancer.

matching set.

Because sometimes I just have to dress our little matching brown eyed babies in matching outfits.

kite fest.

We spent a gorgeous day flying kites yesterday.
Kite fest is such a fun local activity on a beautiful September day.

Rainbow Bear enjoyed watching the kites too.

The kite Quinn picked out (on our last minute kite shopping run on the way there :).

back to school dinner recipes.

Since it was back to school week for Quinn this week and Fall is here, I thought I would post some of our favorite dinner recipes.  We start doing a little less grilling and little more home cookin' this time of year.  I love that the seasons constantly change things up.
One thing we have done in our house is cut back on meat - a lot!  One it's much healthier for you, and two it keeps our grocery budget down.  I could go meatless 5 nights a week easy, but my husband probably wouldn't like it. :)  So many recipes we do now tend to incorporate a smaller portion of meat. It's pretty rare that it is ever the star of the plate I guess I would say.

So if you are looking for a different idea to add to your dinner menu maybe this will inspire you.
I also like the idea of putting this down for the girls to look back on one day, and for me when I need to remember other dinner ideas we used to do. :)

My girls eat all of these, or at least a modified version so we aren't cooking two meals!

First up -

Cheesy Sausage Tortellini
My favorite thing about this meal (other than that it's delicious and my kids eat it) is that it is a ONE pan meal!  I love preparing a one pan meal.  This recipe requires few ingredients so it's budget friendly too.  We always use Butterball's Turkey Sausage and Buitoni Tortellini.  Often we add broccoli on the side and sometimes breadsticks. :)
The recipe can be found HERE @kevinandamanda.com

I will try any recipe from Kevinandamada.com because all the ones we have tried have been delicious!  I also love the step by step directions and pictures.

Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
There is nothing more comforting than a warm casserole dish on a cool fall day.  We LOVE this one!  So good, and gets in lots of veggies too.
The only bad thing about this one - is that it is definitely not a one pan meal, it requires lots of pans.  BUT it is so worth it and makes a huge pan that we eat up all week.  It makes for incredible leftovers - I love when we have this leftover for my lunch!

This one comes from HERE @Pickypalate.com.

Picky Palate is another one that I would trust trying any recipe.  We've made quite a few and they are all delicious.  She has a ton of great desserts!

Lettuce Wraps
We are big fan of both lettuce wraps and stir-fry.  One because it is so easy and you can vary it up constantly.  You can use as much or as little as you like and it's still delicious.  Two, lots of veggies is always a good thing.
I don't have a picture for our lettuce wraps, and really they aren't very pretty.  It's kind of a messy dinner night.
Sometimes we keep it simple with just tiny diced chicken, peas, onions, water chestnuts and any kind of sauce we have on hand - other times we load it up with any kind of veggie you can imagine.  We have used both butter leaf and iceberg lettuce - both are good.  Iceberg lettuce doesn't support it the greatest - BUT it has a great crunch and is much more cost friendly.

We LOVE lettuce wraps.  I'm kind of obsessed with water chestnuts.

Fancy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Definitely easy, definitely budget friendly.
Who doesn't love a good Grilled Cheese?
Keys to good grilled cheese - good cheese, good bread, real butter.
We love our grilled cheese on sourdough bread so we tend to have it on hand often.
It's also worth buying the good cheese, any kind to your preference, but default to a good colby jack/monterey jack if in doubt.

So Grilled Cheese can get fancied up in so many different ways.
One of my favorites - Pesto Chicken Grilled Cheese.
It's so easy, and cafe worthy.
Just some shredded chicken(with a little pesto on it), pesto, butter, colby jack cheese, butter, sourdough bread - sooooo yummy!  Add a little spinach too - or tomato if you'd like!

Avocado Quesadillas
One of Todd's favorites, and always a favorite for those we make them for.
We once again got this recipe from kevinandamanda.com

Kevin and Amanda Chicken Bacon Avocado Quesadillas

You can vary this one up however you'd like, but sticking to their original recipe is definitely worth a try.  So delicious!
Tip for this meal:  It is not great for a sit-down all together family meal, more of a casual meal.  The quesadillas are made to order one at a time so you tend to be cooking while everyone starts eating.
We do love these.

Croissant French Toast
With Todd's busy schedule there are usually nights he won't be home for dinner.  On those nights I take advantage of two things: 1- making something super simple 2. eating fish (I eat fish most nights Todd isn't home for dinner - since he isn't a fan.)
But back to the something super simple - we eat breakfast a lot in our house - like any meal of the day.  Scrambled eggs - breakfast, lunch or dinner :)  We tend to stick to the traditional stuff, but I had to share this super yummy french toast recipe.  It is delicious!  My kids love it too.  Must serve with bananas, strawberries and a little powdered sugar for the best treat.  And it is a special treat.

This one is from the The Pioneer Woman - Croissant French Toast.
We love the Pioneer Woman - Quinn even enjoys to watch her show.
Another great site with tons of great recipes - we made some of her freezer recipes to have on hand when Andie was born.  Try the Garlic Cheese bread!

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
I have to include a soup and this one is awesome.
In the cooler months I make a huge pot of this and store it in the fridge or freezer to eat all week.  It is a copycat Panera recipe, and it is the best soup.  I love this soup.  So, if you are in the need for a good soup recipe this fall/winter, this is the one!
Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Recipe

Alright, time to start eating!

I had to incorporate some of our current favorites.
I'm always looking for good new recipes.

back to preschool.

The first day of school is a magical day.
I love everything about it.  And a beautiful fall day - cherry on top.

Quinn had her first day of Preschool today.
Pre-K to be in fact - as in one more year before Kindergarten - yikes!

This year the preparation was very calm.  We knew what to expect.  She knew what to expect.
She was ready and excited.  How much she has grown up in the last year is amazing.
Quinn attends the same preschool as last year.  New classroom, new teacher, some new classmates.  She lucked out and has the same Assistant Teacher - Miss Marita - she is excited about that!

Here are the pictures...
drumroll...

Quinn Avery's first day of Pre-K.

Oh geez, this picture... pretty sure my baby looks like a 2 year old and my preschooler looks like a 14 year old!  Thank you camera for today of all days making my babies look even older than they are.

I do remember last year toting in a little newborn Andie on Quinn's first day of school. :)

Preschool friends...

Miss Vicki - Quinn's teacher this year.

And...look at how much our girl has grown!
I sat and stared at this picture forever today.  How much she has grown, how far she has come, how stunning she is.  Our sweet little Quinn - attached at my hip little baby girl - such a little lady now.

Thank you Pinterest for inspiring our back to school teacher gifts this year.

Quinn had SOOO much fun finding all the pink things in the store!

She is off on another amazing school journey.  We are so excited for all the fun we know she is going to have.  Before school my words to Quinn were "Be kind to everyone no matter what, help others, listen carefully, ask the kid who isn't playing with anyone to join playing with you, and MOST importantly HAVE FUN!"  followed by some big tickles. :)

I barely got a smooch as I dropped her off at the classroom door - she was off and ready!

everything is more fun with a manicure.

...and your daughter.

It's true.
A set of pretty nails makes everything more fun - typing, folding clothes, reading a book.
Always better.
- and even better a manicure with your daughter. :)

Quinn and I had a Mommy/Quinny date night.
A new preschool year is starting this week and it seemed like a good opportunity for some quality time.  It is not far from my mind that this will be my last year of time at home with Quinn. - and don't get me started because I can't handle it - BUT I'm also super excited about all the things to come for this girl.  Because I know this girl is going to do amazing things...SHE is an amazing.

I'm not sure when my baby turned into this gorgeous little lady...seriously.  Time - slow down!

Quinn's first professional manicure!  Such a special treat for the two of us.
It was so fun to see Quinn handle herself with in this setting, as sweet as pie :)  She LOVED the massage, and asked many questions each time the nail technician grabbed a new tool or started something new "What is that for?"  "What are we going to do now?"  So glad she felt she could speak up though and was very polite, instead of sitting back and being nervous about a new experience.  So proud of my girl!  She picked out a pinky/purple color and got a flower design on both of her thumbs.  She will be all set for the first day of school!

After our manicure, she selected Noodles & Co. for our dinner.  If you haven't tried their garlic bread, do - NOW!
Loved that it was just the two of us at dinner and we could spend so much time just about Quinny.

After dinner, we headed to Kohl's with a giftcard for back to school shopping and Quinn picked out a couple outfits (with a little guidance :).  We also had fun not rushing and wandering the store, and letting quinn push the cart!

After shopping - it was time for a treat!  Our local favorite ice cream shop it was.

After ice cream, I asked Quinn "Do you want to go anywhere else honey?"
To which she replied "Yes"  paused for a moment and said "Hobby Lobby".
Be still my heart - this girl loves her mama and is the sweetest thing in the world to think of others favorites too. And we have just a little in common with our love for crafting and decorating. :)

So - to Hobby Lobby it was!  We just wandered and Quinn was excited to sit in the shopping cart (since Andie always takes that spot) so that worked out perfectly.  We had fun looking at all the new things.  We are regular visitors and it had been over a month!  That is a loooooong time for us.  A couple weeks of vacation will do that.
We tried hard not to buy anything - and we did good.  But I did let Quinn pick out a new hairbow for her first day of school!

Quinny - I love our dates so much!  They are the best!
Thank you for being you my love.