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: