Freezer Cooking

My friend Jennifer came up with the idea to do a freezer cooking day... so a few weeks ago the Hummistons (minus Jeremy) came for a little visit. They arrived Monday at lunch time and stayed through Wednesday--we had a great time!

We weren't organized enough to get all our ingredient shopping done ahead of time, but we did have our lists ready--we combined them and Sadie & went to the store while Jennifer watched the rest of our crew. Once we got back, we were busy cooking! We got as much as of a jump start as we could on Wednesday (including cooking ALL of our hamburger and chicken and leaving some chili in the crock pot overnight to cook.) On Tuesday we were up early... Jennifer did breakfast while I dropped Sadie at pre-school and ran to pick up our remaining few ingredients. We cooked all day and kept the kids busy with various projects--playing outside while I peeled potatoes, play-doh at the table, a movie for the girls while Kinnick and the little ones napped, and then a walk to get some supplies for our craft project (yes, we really are a bit nuts!)

On Monday night and again on Tuesday night we just needed a break and time out of the house. Monday we loaded up and walked to the park (we didn't get to be out for too long b/c we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes!) On Tuesday night we loaded up and went down the street for ice cream. Jennifer and I were up late both nights (kinda felt like college again!) But by midnight on Tuesday everything was done, in the freezer and the kitchen was clean!

We learned a few things that might make our next freezer day even more successful, but all in all, it was time well spent. We each ended up with 13+ meals and some sides, cookies, and pantry mixes. We also worked on a craft project with the kids that will be for Christmas gifts (I don't think I've EVER done Christmas projects this early!)
Here is a rare picture of the 4 big kids sitting at the same time...

Kinnick LOVES playing with blocks and he improvised quite well with these cans of tomato paste!

Macy and Titus ready for a walk to the park...

Kinnick and Faith also ready for the park--they are developing a good "Love/Hate" relationship!

Our trip to "Time-Out" for ice cream. (This was a perfect time-out for the moms!) Aren't these the cutest little baby cones?

We promised the girls that if they were good helpers and were kind to each other they could have a sleep-over on Tuesday night. We put the air mattress in Sadie's room and they did really well! They read books, danced, told stories, and did lots of giggling... I think they are a little too ready for big girl sleep-overs.

Titus and Macey in their pajamas...

On Wednesday we met Stephanie and Hannah at Chuckie Cheese to switch some of our frozen meals. It was perfect--I've never been to Chuckie Cheese when it was empty, but I guess a school day at lunch time is a pretty good time. We had a blast... worth doing again!

This is the best we could do for a group shot... (I think Hannah wants us to see her cute hair bows!)

Kinnick loved all the little riding cars. He really got the hang of putting in his token to get a ride.

Sadie and Faith were very excited to go see Chuckie Cheese close-up.

Sadie and Grace driving race cars...

Kinnick loved riding this horse.

Prize time--they were excited to combine all their tickets and pick out a prize (we all ended up with suckers--imagine that!)

Me with my kiddos--we had a very fun day! (Read more on Jennifer's Blog.)