Pepperoni Rigatoni

Pepperoni Rigatoni

1 package (16 ounces) rigatoni or large tube pasta

1 jar (28 ounces) spaghetti sauce {I used Emeril's Roasted Gaaahlic}

1 package (3-1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni, halved {I used a pizza cutter to slice them into fourths}

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese {I used Cheddar Cheese and Mozzarella Cheese}

Cook pasta; drain. Add spaghetti suace and toss to coat. Place half in a greased shallow 3-qt microwave-safe dish. Top with half of the pepperoni and cheese. Repeat layers.

Cover the casserole and microwave on high for 5-7 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving

Yield: 6-8 servings

The other night I tried a new recipe {which doesn't happen often} and it was GREAT! Mardell {who NEVER eats leftovers} ate it for lunch AND supper the following day. He loved it so much that he asked me to make it again today. It is really quick and very yummy - I was able to make it today with two fussy babies at my side! If you try it out let me know what you think :)

Week: 7/3 - 7/9

7/3 - Off to Waterville we go. All of the family was getting together to watch the fireworks and it was the first time the girls would get to see Mindy, Mike and their Great Aunt Heather. We made it up in time to eat dinner with the family and light off some of our own fireworks before the Waterville show began. Malia and McKenna stayed with Nana while the rest of us went down to the ball fields. After the show Mardell and I had a great time hanging out with Mindy, Mike and my parents. It was great getting a little adult time and catching up while the babies were asleep!

7/4 - Happy 4th of July! After Mardell and I put the girls to sleep we headed outside to watch the fireworks from our front porch.... but that didn't last long. Our friendly frogs have returned and I am not a fan! Since I still wanted to watch the show but didn't want to be near the 20+ frogs hopping around the neighborhood I got creative and pulled our vehicle out of the garage. We opened the back end, reclined the back seats, loaded up the pups and had a great view of the Manhattan show as well as all of the fireworks being shot off in the neighborhood. {Don't think we forgot about the girls, we had the monitor hooked up in the car! :)}

7/5 - McKenna and Malia had a very busy day! Charli stopped by in the morning to catch up and see the girls. I enjoyed getting to have some adult time and hearing about all of the exciting events going on in Charli's life. After Charli left we had more visitors: Nana, Dava, Charlie and Emma dropped in to say "hello." Charlie and

Emma had a doctors appointment in Manhattan so before they left town they stopped to check in on how their cousins were doing. I can't wait until the girls are older and get excited to play with their cousins... for now they just get lots of cousin Charlie talking to them or holding them. After Mardell got home from work we loaded up the girls for their first trip to Orange Leaf. YUM! Thank you Stephanie for inviting us out, it was great to meet up!

7/6 - The girls and I had a relaxing day around the house which was much needed after the busy day we had the day before.

7/7 - Mardell decided it was time to clean and purge of the things we have had in our basement and not used for 2+ years so Nana came over in the afternoon so that I could begin sorting a pricing things for our garage sale. Oh the places spiders hide... Nana only had to come to my rescue 3 or 4 times {eventually she just pulled everything out so that I would stop calling her to my aid}. I was very proud of how much I was able to get done and surprised at how much we actually had to get rid of. As much as I hated the spiders in the basement the heat outside was horrible. I put off going out as much as possible and priced a lot of things inside. Mardell helped me move everything outside and start setting up the tables when he got home from work. I was glad that I was able to sort things before he got home or else EVERYTHING would have went :)

Up to this point the girls have shared a crib every night but they have become more active in their sleep and occasionally wake each other up. Mardell and I decided it was time that they finally go to their own cribs... which of course got me all emotional {ridiculous, I know}, but neither of them seemed to even notice!

7/8 - Since I still had a lot to do in order to have everything ready for the garage sale Gma Daphne came by to spend the afternoon with the little ladies. With Mardell's help we were able to get everything priced and outside.

7/9 - GARAGE SALE! McKenna and Malia woke up at 4 to eat and by the time we got them back to sleep it was time for us to set up for the garage sale. While pulling things out of the garage and setting up the tables we had our first customer at 5:15 a.m. Not sure why anyone was out and about looking for garage sales that early, but at least we made some money {and got rid of some of our junk}. We had a steady flow of people all day and luckily we packed everything back up before it got too hot out. The girls spent most of the morning outside with us and were a huge hit with just about everyone who came by. Luckily the girls took a great nap in the afternoon and I was able to crash!

Week: 6/26-7/2

6/26 - While Mardell was gone I decided it was finally time to pack up the girls Newborn & Premie clothes and get out the bigger sizes. I'm not going to lie, I got a bit emotional but it was time since the newborn onesies will no longer snap! It was fun getting out all of the 3 mo clothes, I'm just glad my husband was gone. I had the entire living room floor covered in clothes.

6/27 - Mardell fed the girls before work so I was able to wake up to three smiling faces and lots of giggles! During the day I was able to get both girls napping - AT THE SAME TIME! This is huge. Malia and McKenna are great at napping they would just rather do it in shifts. I guess I should be happy that they already understand the concept of taking turns {lets just hope they remember it!} :)

6/28 - Yay for visitors! Aunt Jenn & Reesa were in town and came by for a visit. Jenn had a hair appointment so while she was gone Reesa got in some great bonding. I know the girls loved having them come by because being held is their FAVORITE!

6/29 - Relaxing day at the Maxwell house!

6/30 - I had an all day training in Junction so Mardell took off work and spent the day with the girls. I'm still not sure who enjoyed the day more. My amazing husband made sure to send many picture updates to let me know that everything was going well.

7/1 - Since Mardell was going to be gone all evening I loaded up the girls and made a quick trip to Waterville. Great Grandma Lydia and Great Aunt Rhonda were very excited to see the girls. Aunt Dava came by for a quick visit and did me a huge favor and clipped the girls nails. I had been putting that off for a few days because I was too scared to do it!

7/2 - Normally during the 4th weekend we head to Waterville and Junction City. This year Jermaine invited us to his place in Lawrence for some quality family time. After feeding the girls in the morning we loaded up the vehicle - dogs included - and were on our way. All four girls {Mya, Ellie, McKenna & Malia} slept the entire trip. The girls loved being held by family all day and even slept for 9 hours {NEW RECORD}.

Week: 6/19-6/25

6/19 - Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband and the father of my two precious girls. It was a very relaxing day around the Maxwell house. We finally bought a new umbrella for our patio and enjoyed dinner on the back deck. Our friendly neighborhood deer even showed up to say hello in the pasture behind our house.

6/20 - Just another day hanging out at the house. Since it was starting to storm when Mardell got home from work we couldn't sit on the front porch but did the next best thing - hung out in the office/craft room with the window open. Malia, McKenna, Mya and Ellie slept in the room with us while we listened to the rain and had Pandora playing Brandon Heath. All-in-all it was a close to perfect night. Mardell was able to get some school work done and I was able to finish my latest craft {post}.

6/21 - One of the girls that will be watching Malia and McKenna in the fall was in town and was kind enough to come stay with the girls for a few hours. While I had some free time on my hands Mardell and I enjoyed lunch during his break and then I ran a few errands. I was amazed how much faster it was for me to do the simplest things without having to constantly pull out the stroller and load up the girls. After Sarah left McKenna and Malia had their TWO MONTH check up! Where has the time gone? They are both growing and Malia is finally catching up to McKenna.

Malia: 9 lb 2 oz

McKenna: 9 lb 10 oz

6/22 - Nana, Papa, Dava, Dusty, Charlie and Emma all came to town. We had a delicious dinner together and Charlie had fun holding his cousins and playing with Uncle Mardee. Emma did a great job at showing us how much we will need to do in order to child-proof our home for the future! :) Uncle Nick came by to visit.

6/23 - Aunt Jenn was in town and came by to see McKenna and Malia. It was great getting to catch up with her and hear all about her exciting summer. She has a very exciting adventure in store for herself next year but it will still be sad not seeing her almost every day! Most people meet up and chat over coffee but luckily she was fine substituting coffee for a couple of baby bottles :)

After she left I put the girls in their car seats and we headed off to one of Mardell's favorite stores - Menards! We had a fun family outing and actually made it home without anything for the basement.

6/24 - Movie night! Nana gave Mardell and I a night out as a graduation gift. It was great getting to enjoy a movie without constantly having to hit pause and/or rewind!

6/25 - Great Grandma Lydia and Great Great Aunt Marie were in Wichita for a wedding and stopped by our house to visit the girls. Marie was very excited to finally get to meet McKenna and Malia! After they left Mardell and I gave the girls their baths {they LOVE baths} and got them ready for bed.

Week: 6/12-6/18

6/12 - Nana and Papa called to see if they could come visit the girls. Papa Dave had been complaining that it had been FOREVER since he had seen Malia and McKenna. It was great having them come over for a few hours to love of the girls!

6/13 - McKenna, Malia and I decided to break out of our normal day-to-day routine and took Mardell lunch. Instead of unloading the girls and the stroller from the vehicle, putting them in the stroller, pushing them out of the parking garage {while trying to carry the food} and into Calvin Hall, Mardell met us outside and we ate in the vehicle while driving around campus. I love days when we're able to do a little more brainwashing on these girls of ours - here's to our future wildcats! <3

6/14 - Lazy day :)

6/15 - TUMMY TIME TUMMY TIME TUMMY TIME!!!! Malia and McKenna spent most of the day on the floor playing on their mat. They are finally starting to enjoy it more so when they weren't eating we were listening to music and watching the pretty lights! {I didn't actually get a picture of them doing "tummy time".. but here they are on their mat}

6/16 - I had a conference to go to all day so Nana came to town to watch the girls. Mardell and I carpooled to campus at 8:00 and I was shocked at the fact that I didn't cry leaving the girls. I have ran errands and been gone for short periods of time before but I figured an all day thing would be too much. At lunch we decided to go home - big mistake! Cue the tears! It was VERY hard to leave again. Luckily the girls were in good hands! I'm not sure who enjoyed the day more, we came home that evening to three very happy people!

Soon after we made it back home we had our first Parents as Teachers visit. It was great to get new ideas of things to do with the girls!

6/17 - Malia is 2 MONTHS!!!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Whitesell made a surprise visit to see the girls in the afternoon. Both girls were tired and in need of a nap and Great Grandma had the magic touch. Once she had one girl asleep I quickly handed her the other and before they left I had two napping daughters. I can count on one hand the number of times I successfully had them both napping at once. Before they left I invited them back for daily visits... they just laughed :)

Since the girls have been doing AWESOME at holding their heads up we decided to test out their bumbos. They are still a little small for them but did great holding their heads up and were able to stay in them for about 10 minutes. I think Mardell and I had more fun just trying out a new toy!

6/18 - McKenna is 2 MONTHS!!!!

Since Mardell wasn't going to be around I decided to load up the girls and we made their first trip to Blue Rapids to visit Aunt Dava and Cousins Charlie & Emma. While we were in town we took pictures and made our Father's Day gifts {Father's Day Gift post}. Charlie loved getting to see HIS cousins {he will tell you that they are NOT Emma's cousins, they are HIS} and I had a blast getting to spend the day with my sister. One of the highlights from the day: CASEY'S PIZZA {Best. Pizza. EVER.}! The girls were great on the way to B.R. and I ONLY had to stop 4 times on the way back to put binkies back in their mouths :) I was so excited about Mardell's gift when we made it back home that he got it a day early {I'm horrible about waiting to give gifts}.

Other Updates: Our house is full of SMILES! McKenna loves to smile - ALL THE TIME - but we get the biggest smiles around 5:00 a.m. when we're trying to get her back to sleep! Malia smiles the most after she finishes a bottle and is drifting off into dream land! Both girls are still super babies at tummy time and holding their heads up. They are also starting to talk more and I can't help but smile at their adorable little noises! Two babies really is twice as much fun :)

Week: 6/5-6/11

I have to start this weekly update off by apologizing for the lack of pictures taken this week... SORRY!

6/5 - We finally made it to church on time! YAY!

6/6 - After the early morning feeding Mardell and I decided to go on a walk with the girls and pups before he had to head off to work. While he was at work the girls and I just hung out around the house. To finish off the evening we enjoyed the beautiful weather on the front porch with the girls and pups! Ellie and Mya loved getting to check out the neighborhood and even got to see their friend Hazel :)

6/7 - Not much happened during the day, just the usual - tummy time, listening to music, reading books, chilling in the swings... a full days work for the girls! Mardell and I have not been able to get enough of the beautiful weather in the evenings and decided to take the girls out on the porch for the night. While he worked on his class work I searched craft blogs {I should have been updating this one, woops}, and watched the pups.

6/8 - Mardell decided he had found the perfect bedtime routine. He suggested he read to the girls and I thought this was an excellent plan but I wasn't sure it would work since I read to them all the time during the day. My husband being the clever man that he is pulls out his school work. He decided that he would read and get his homework done at the same time. To be honest I thought it was a dumb idea but let him read anyways... IT WORKED! He put us all to sleep by reading "The Post Capitalist Society." It was the best nap that I've had in awhile and the girls were down for the night!

6/9 - McKenna and Malia put in another hard day of work at home doing the typical baby thing :)

6/10 - The girls got plenty of fresh air. It was a beautiful morning so I decided to take them on a walk in the morning before it got too warm outside. The dogs enjoyed getting to be outside as well and were great!

Grandma and Grandpa Maxwell stopped by to visit and brought a delicious meal for Mardell and I and while we enjoyed our meal they fed McKenna and Malia! :)

After they left we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather by taking a family walk. I think the dogs were in shock that they were getting TWO walks! McKenna and Malia did the usual walk thing {they slept}.

6/11 - Just another LaZy day around the Maxwell house!

Bows Galore

The girls already have too many bows and headbands. I was keeping all of them in the same tub in their room but it was beginning to get impossible to find what I was looking for and I was forgetting that we even had some of them. Once again I stole this idea from my brilliant sister who made these to hang in my nieces nursery. I bought several different sizes of wood embroidery hoops and different colors of ribbon and was ready to begin.

I was a little worried about the amount of hot gluing that was required since I have a pretty good record of burning myself but surprisingly I didn't get burnt once!

I absolutely love how they turned out. Not only are they functional but they will look great on the nursery wall. They are small enough that I can fit them beside the closet and I was even able to add a little more green to their room! The only bad thing about this is now Mardell knows exactly how many bows the girls have... and he knows how many hoops I made. The plan was that I could make more hoops as I buy more bows but I'm not sure that will work now :)

For now all of the flowers that the girls have for their headbands will have to stay in the tub because there is not enough wall space or hoops to display all of those {yes, they each have one of every color}! Anyways this craft was quick and easy - I was able to finish it in two evenings and that's with the constant sticking binkies in mouths every 5 minutes! Here is a picture of my finished project:

Father's Day Gift!

Friday I was still idealess on what to get Mardell for his first Father's Day and just figured I would settle on a card. I had found several very creative ideas but all of them took time and money and in our house money = diapers, formula, and graduate school! Thank goodness I have a wonderful sister who decided to share her crafty gift idea with us and invited the girls and I up for a mini photo shoot. Saturday morning I loaded up the girls and we headed to Blue Rapids to visit Aunt Dava and their cousins.

Dava had bought wooden letters and glitter foam so we were ready to begin. While we had all four grandchildren together we also made a father's day gift for Papa Dave. Trying to get pictures of all four cousins holding different letters was an adventure. Charlie had fun riding around the yard on his John Deere tractor while Emma was very interested in trying to eat grass. Malia and McKenna were having a competition to see who could spit out their binky the most... I think they were even awarding points for who could spit it the farthest - extra points if it hit the ground! :)

Thank goodness for the help of Nana who ran around chasing, holding, and loving on whoever was not being photographed! After all of the pictures were taken Dava and I had a short amount of time to get the pictures loaded, sized, printed and put into frames before they had to leave for a birthday party.

I've decided that this is the perfect gift to give every year to show how much the girls are growing. After the old pictures come out I will put them in a scrapbook with the year they were taken. Yearly neck ties are out and yearly pictures are in! :) I'm looking forward to seeing how the photos will change throughout the years.

All-in-all it was a very BUSY and eventful morning but the pictures and gifts turned out great! Here were how the other gifts turned out:

Frame a Picture | Preserve a Memory

While preparing for the girls arrival I was very excited to dive into decorating their nursery. Mardell did all of the painting, put the furniture together, and hung the chair rail and crown molding. That didn't leave me with much to do other than pick out the colors, bedding, and the wall decor. I found some paintings that matched the bedding for the wall by the window {wall #1}, I painted and hung their names above the cribs {check off another wall}, we hung a white shelf between the door and closet - above the book shelf {wall 3 down}... that left the big wall above the changing table.

This wall was so big and I was so indecisive about what to hang there. I bought several different mirrors that I thought might look good but never hung them. The girls arrived and the wall was still empty. After having pictures of the girls taken it finally hit me what I wanted to do {thank goodness I didn't hang the mirrors}. I decided this would be the perfect place to display the new pictures we had. Since the chair rail and crown molding were white I decided I wanted a wall of white frames... so the hunt began.

After searching every possible place in town for white frames and coming up with NOTHING I was feeling discouraged. My wise husband then pointed out that we could just spray paint the frames. While this sounded like a good idea I hated the thought of spending money on something that I was going to have to change... in comes my mother to save the day. While my sister and tends to tease her about her small hoarding problem I happen to appreciate it because it can come in handy!

Mom brought down three plastic tubs full of old frames she no longer wanted and I was able to dig my way through them. After laying out different frames of all shapes and sizes I finally had an idea of what I was wanting on the wall.

Mardell and I had fun spray painting the frames and picking out the pictures. Since I'm not really the most patient person Mardell took charge of the hanging portion of this project. I told him how far over, up or down I wanted the frame and he took care of the rest! I absolutely love how the wall turned out and love that I'm able to show off all of their amazing pictures!!!

Some of the frames are going to be moved because I don't like the spacing but I do love that I can add more frames as we get more pictures! 1+ months after the girls got here their nursery is complete! :)

Dad Post: Love

People often ask me what it is like raising twins. I often give the warm and fuzzy response like, being a father of twins is 'great', 'amazing', 'thrilling' and 'joyful'. Don't get me wrong, being a father is all of those things, but deep down in the belly of fatherhood is a harsh truth... Parenting is HARD!

Jessica and I went to several parenting classes before the girls arrived and there are so many things they fail to tell future parents. Sure, we are well educated on SIDS, the Period of Purple Crying and Shaken Baby Syndrome. But they don't teach parents about how to respond when you finally come to the realization that nothing in your life is about you anymore. When you make weekend plans for a family outing and the babies have something different in mind. When breastfeeding doesn't seem so liberating or natural for anyone. When your child decides not to sleep when you need it most. When you forget what a warm meal taste like. When you are flat out grumpy but still have to effectively communicate with your spouse. These are the unpopular truths to parenting. The ones that many fear to admit because it makes us feel like bad people or that we don't truly love our children.

The reality is, love is not found in the warm and fuzzy feelings. In a perfect world, we would feel 'in love' with our children all the time. But I'm learning that love is in what we do (action), rather than how we feel. Feelings will fluctuate and underneath it all is true love at work. Love is me telling my wife how much I appreciate her when times are most difficult. Love is coming home from work everyday with energy and enthusiam, despite knowing the challenges ahead. It is waking up every three hours in the night to feed the girls. And it is holding them when they cry, even when I am ready to cry too.

I am not perfect at this concept of love. In fact, I am recognizing everyday how the girls are teaching me the right way to love them. Just when I feel I have it (and them) figured out a new challenge is presented. And it is in those moments that I realize, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I know that parenting will never be easy, but I have faith that it will get easier. Not necessarily because my children will become less challenging (lets be honest, girls are complex creatures), but because my love will become stronger. I will better understand that love is doing, instead of feeling.

So, next time you ask me what it is like to have twin girls you will still get the 'great', 'amazing', 'thrilling' and 'joyful' responses. After all, they are indeed true. Just know that having twin girls defines me as a father, but learning to love them has transformed me into a man.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh, my!

It's off to the zoo we go. Aunt Dava brought Charlie and Emma to town and even though it was going to be a very hot day we decided to make a morning trip to the zoo before it got too bad. I'm not sure how excited Malia, McKenna or Emma were but Charlie was VERY pumped!

Friday evening I gave Charlie a call and he could not stop talking about all of the animals we would see. He has a small obsession with alligators right now {he's a Swap People fan} so I was very excited to surprise him with the mini gators {Okay, I'm not sure the exact name of the tiny things but they LOOK like mini gators}. When we first arrived and walked in Charlie yelled, "Look mom, it's a gator." One would think he was talking about the reptile but NOPE he then added, "A John Deere Gator!" I found it hilarious that Charlie was able to find his second love, something John Deere, that ironically had the same name as the creature we were searching for.

It was obvious from the excitement of our first spotting that it was going to be a great morning. After spotting one animal Charlie would immediately be on the lookout for what was coming next. He was even able to learn the names of some animals from different zoo staff members... and for the other animals we had fun making up our own names. {In the future this would be a fun career path, I found I am a natural at naming zoo animals!}

Malia and McKenna did not really show the same excitement that their cousin had. They spent majority of our visit sleeping.

Emma didn't really share her brothers excitement but she showed a little more interest than her cousins. She did really love her rattle and only lost two binkies throughout our mini adventure.

Above are a few pictures of the cousins throughout the zoo. By the time we left the zoo it had started to sprinkle and was getting very hot. Charlie had a blast, I got to enjoy some sister time and there were no meltdowns. All-in-all it was a very successful morning and a great first cousin outing.