A Normal Week for the Allen Family

I haven't taken any pictures this week, but I wanted to let all of you know what has been going on at our place anyway.  The weather has been cold, but we haven't had any new snow, so Owen and I have been able to get outside a few times this week.  On Monday we took a walk around the block with Owen riding his big wheel tricycle that Grandma & Grandpa Royer for Christmas.  He tried using the pedals a little bit, but lost patience pretty soon and ended up using his feet on the ground to move.  He'll figure it out eventually though - and we'll have fun learning together.  We also went for walks two other sunny days and enjoyed the exercise and and fresh air.

The rest of the week was pretty normal, but I've been trying really hard to fix good dinners for my family so we will want to eat at home rather than eat out. Here are a few of our meals from this week:  pork chops and sliced potatoes with a mushroom sauce and salad, orange beef with steamed rice, pork roast with rice and fruit, meat filled ravioli with a spinach mushroom sauce, and linguine with a sausage cream sauce.  To help make it healthier we added salad to each meal.  We then actually ate our leftovers for lunch (quite an accomplishment for us believe it or not). I feel that by focusing more on fixing my own meals and adding fruits and vegetables to our meals that we are going to be able to eat healthier and it will help me with my weight loss goals.

All things considered, we have had a really good week.  We have been having fun playing as a family in the mornings and evenings and Owen and I have fun playing during the day.  I feel so blessed to be able to have this time with my family.  I've also had a lot of fun helping my dad figure out his website and the time that I have spent helping him out with this project has helped me get to know him better.  Thanks Dad for letting me help you!!

New Year's in Blanding

After our our trip to California and our visit with Bryce's family we went South to Blanding to spend about a week and a half with my family.  We were blessed to have everyone, except for Teddy who is in Kansas on his mission, there from Dec 30th through Jan 2nd.  

We played games - ping-pong, hand-and-foot, What If?, Wii Bowling, and Mario Kart on the Wii.

We also went sledding, 

and played with the children.

Most importantly, we had an enjoyable time as a family.

Winter Outing

This morning Owen and I went to the Saint Louis Science Center.  It is large building with learning exhibits and an IMAX theater.  Most of the exhibits are both hands-on and free, so it's a great place to take an active 2 1/2 year old to get his wiggles out during the winter.  We entered through the planetarium, where he got to look at lots of model planes, rockets and space ships.  We then got to walk across the freeway in a covered overpass.  Owen liked looking through windows in the floor at the cars and trucks driving underneath us.  He liked playing with the building toys in the "Structures" exhibit, especially the bridges, arches, and robotic digger.  He also liked the dinosaurs and geographic history exhibit, especially the miniature tornado and erosion table.  He also liked using a magnifying glass to look at snake skin, a turtle shell, feathers and Mommy's hands.  We only spent an hour there, but he got funned out and we got to come home, eat lunch and go down for a nap (unfortunately only Owen, not me).  He was a good boy, we both had fun, and we were able to stay warm.  We will definitely go there again.

Christmas at Disneyland

I know that I have been a little remiss at posting to my blog over the Christmas break, but we had a lot of fun with our family.  For Christmas we went to Disneyland with Bryce's family.  Here are some of the pictures that we took to show you how much fun we had.

Top Left: Owen and I got to visit Santa Clause (as long as he could sit safely on Mommy's lap and not on Santa's)
Top Middle: Owen had fun exploring Tarzan's Treehouse
Top Right:  The whole Allen family just inside the gate at Disneyland. We are all wearing the awesome T-shirts that StacyAnn designed and gave us.
Middle Left:  The Allen family on the staircase in New Orleans Square.  It is a family tradition to take a picture on these stairs - it started the first time that Steven and LaFon went to Disneyland together before Bryce was born.
Center:  Sleeping Beauty's Castle lit up for Christmas
Middle Right:  StacyAnn & Owen riding the train at Disneyland (You can also see Garrett in the background)
Bottom Left:  Bryce, Owen & Jennie with Mater and Lightning McQueen from Cars (One of Owen's favorite Movies - he was super excited to see these characters)
Bottom Middle: Owen chillaxin' at the Paradise Pier Restaurant.  He has his bendy straw and pictures to color - what more could one kid ask for?
Bottom Right:  Bryce, Jennie & Owen on the staircase in New Orleans Square