2007 Year End Review

2007 was not an overly busy year for us, thankfully. We celebrated 7 years of marriage. Spirit turned 6 and started 1st grade. Lefty turned 5 and started kindergarten. Lady Bug bounced into being 2 and talking our ears off. I turned 34, Mr. Man turned 47 (ouch!!) this year. Lefty discovered swimming and loves it so that is his sport of choice, although he did play soccer too this year. Spirit played T-ball, soccer and learned to ski this year. I left my office manager job with the firm I had been at for 11 1/2 years (I started out as the receptionist and then went to legal assistant, then billing manager, then office manager/business administrator) and came to work for a solo practitioner as his legal assistant/front office manager. I like it a lot. Mr. Man has been at his job as the crematory supervisor for 5 years and just got a new position within the company as a funeral director.
So what will 2008 bring us? Well, one thing I know for sure we will all grow another year older and I also know that we will be moving sometime in the spring (long story that I will save for a later post), but other than that I am hoping that 2008 stays relatively uneventful!

Cheesy Potato Topped Meatloaf

Today, as I try to do every Friday, I am posting one of our favorite recipes, BUT today I also am looking for a really yummy vegetable soup recipe if anyone has one. I have tried several and they lack something. My BIL makes one that my husband says is "to die for", but my dear BIL won't share his recipe with me. :o( I would love to have your ideas if anyone has one!

CHEESY POTATO TOPPED MEATLOAF:

INGREDIENTS FOR MEATLOAF:
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1/3 c saltine cracker crumbs
1 egg slightly beaten
3 Tbls milk
1 Tbls chili powder
3/4 tsp salt

INGREDIENTS FOR POTATO TOPPING:
5 potatoes, peeled and chopped
milk
1/4 c sour cream
1 Tbls butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (11 oz) whole kernel sweet corn, drain juices
1 c mexican (sometimes called nacho flavored) shredded cheese

Boil water and put potatoes in. Boil until soft.

While potatoes are boiling start to mix meatloaf. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with hands. Gently press mixture into the bottom of a 9" square baking pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until no longer pink in center and juices run clear. Carefully pour off juices and grease from top.

When potatoes are cooked, remove from heat and drain. Add sour cream and butter. Begin mashing potatoes either with a potato masher or a mixing beater. Add milk to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to desired taste. Add corn and cheese and mix well. Spread potato mixture over the top of the meatloaf, make sure to cover edges. Sprinkle with a little bit of cheese and broil 3-4 inches from heat for 5 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Not much happening today

I still do not feel the best and just realized I have the heat cranked a little high which must mean my fever is still hanging on a little. We are having another snow storm today which is supposed to produce quite a bit of snow, but so far the roads don't appear to be too terrible. Not many people are out and about and I also noticed not too many online either. So, I am sitting here feeling a little lonely and bored.
I talked to my mom this morning and asked her to make me feel better -- she is only 1300 miles away from me! LOL She said they had a really nice Christmas there. My niece from Florida was able to fly out and visit them. She hasn't been able to go visit in over 12 years. She wants to be a writer and one of my sisters has a couple published books so she has been mentoring little Jessica (I shouldn't say little -- she is 17). Personally, I am not that much into sci-fi and so I don't read my sister's stuff very often. My other family members say she is a good writer! I own her books but I am not a fan of her writing style (you can read some of the reviews of one of her books here. Anyway, I guess I veered from my point there, so Jessica and Kelly spent a lot of time together and she showed Kelly some of her stuff and had Kelly critique it for her. My mom enjoyed the visit. It was sort of low key but pleasant.
The kids are going with our dear friend Michelle this weekend to exchange Christmas presents with each other. They are excited about it. She is going to Cheyenne, WY so her parents can give the kids their presents and then on Sunday they will go to her husbands parent's house to exchange gifts with them. We have done this for the past 4 years with her around New Years so she can have Christmas with them too. She adores them so much. Then next Friday (Jan 4) is the holiday party for my husband's company and Michelle is just going to babysit for us that night. She will come to our house and pick them up. Then they are going out to dinner and either a movie or maybe D&B's to play video games. Then she will take them back to our house for bedtime. They will be spending a lot of time with her over the next week! It should be fun for all of them!
Mr. Man may be flying to Reno, NV this weekend for a funeral. Mr. Man used to be a preacher (shock of your life I know!! this all happened way before I even met him!) in Nevada, well actually an associate pastor and the man who died was the head pastor of the church. It is a very sad story, the man and his wife were driving home and she was driving. She fell asleep and they ran off the road. They did not roll the car but there was enough jolting (I am guessing) that it caused him to have a stroke. He was in the hospital for a while and it looked like he might be getting better but this past Saturday we received a call that he had passed away. He was 86 years old. Although the kids will not be home this weekend I don't think we can afford for both my husband and I to go to the funeral. I never met the man so if I went I would be going to support my husband.
I ran into some friends over lunch today and was able to eat with them... that was fun! I haven't seen her girls in 5 years or better -- they are so cute and are getting so big!
Well, I guess I have nothing else to write about for now!

Christmas recap...

The stockings were hung by the mantel with care. . .

The boys camped out by the tree

waiting for Santa to be.

Lady Bug had a fever of 103,

not having a care for the presents under the tree.

But the boys were as excited as could be,

patiently waiting for mom and dad to see

what Santa had brought them and set down by the tree!

We opened the stockings first to see what was inside,

some candy, tangerines and a camera for each.

They tore open the rest of the presents with glee,

and watched the snow fall outside on the tree.

OK, OK, OK, ... a poet I am not! So I am giving up now!! We had a good Christmas overall. It really turned out fun! It snowed Christmas Eve and all day Christmas day. It was so pretty. Lady Bug perked up later Christmas night and then I got sick! But all in all we had a nice time. I did not get a new camera for Christmas so I am going to try to take advantage of after-Christmas sales and find me a new one!

Hope you all had a good holiday!

A fond Christmas memory

So many Christmas of the past were with my friend which I have known for 30 years! WOW! We practically lived at each others houses when we were in elementary school together.

Christmas was always so much fun anyway, but at their house it was a BLAST! Her dad would cook and mom would bake and they acted like this was the last day of our lives. We really lived it up!

One Christmas, when I was in my 20's, I was over for the Christmas dinner and they served their traditional crab legs. I had never had them before. All 5 of them just started cracking, dipping and eating..... i couldn't even figure out how to crack the dumb things! My friend's mom, made eye contact and without saying a word just showed me how to do it! It was so sweet of her not to point out what a dork I was!

Speaking of memories, my friend Steph, found me through my blog! What a surprise! She said was reading this blog, and that one and then another and another. As she was reading some comments on one she recognized my name! How exciting! I am so glad to be able to catch up with her. We haven't seen or talked to each other in 8 or 9 years. We went to school together, worked a daycare together and also lived together for awhile!

Here it is Christmas Eve.....

I just finished up the shopping last night... the stores were so crazy. I feel so bad too because we made our kids go everywhere with us this weekend.... to the store, run over to friends/family to deliver gifts, more shopping, stop to eat quickly and then more shopping, back home to bake (or in Mr. Man's case make salsa!) and today Spirit and Lady Bug woke up coughing and runny noses. They were so close to being healthy kids again and then we drug them here there and everywhere! Sheesh.

My MIL and FIL are coming over for Dunch (late lunch, early dinner) today. I saw this idea on last weeks Winter Bazaar over at Scribbit (which if you haven't checked this out before you should go see it. It is a fun weekly Bazaar with recipes, crafts and tips!) So this weekend the kids and I put together the cute little stocking utensil holders! I can't wait to set them on the table today! I have my mom's china (when my step-father passed away two years ago she moved into a smaller place and didn't have room to store these so I "inherited" them! woot!) which are plain white with a silver trim and a pretty wite flowery design on them. So I think the red and green stockings are going to look so festive on the table! We are having ham, green beans, a salad, mashed potatoes and Lefty wants me to try to make Latkes (because he had them at school or something) so I will give it a shot... (eekk!)

Tomorrow we plan to open presents and hang out all day! Should be a great time!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a great week!

One more recipe...

I am posting another recipe today because I am planning to make this Christmas morning and as I was getting my shopping list together I decided I should share this recipe too!

Overnight Bubble Bread.
My friend's dad used to make this when I would spend the night at their house and it was soooo tasty. As an adult I found myself craving it so I found it here at Allrecipes.com. I have made this both with and without the nuts and both are good. I usually serve mine with cantaloupe or a fruit salad and also bacon or sausage, although you wouldn't have to! I also have made it using vanilla pudding instead of butterscotch because that was what I had and it is still tasty. The butterscotch gives it a more carmel-y taste I guess, but the vanilla was good in it's own way!

Overnight Bubble Bread
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 c pecans
18 frozen dinner rolls
1 (3.5 oz) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar

Generously butter a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle pecans in bottom of pan. Place frozen dinner rolls in a single layer on top of pecans. Sprinkle dry pudding mix over the top.

Combine the 1/2 c of butter and brown sugar in a saucepan. Heat until boiling, then pour over rolls. Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper and let stand overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden. Invert pan onto a foil lined cookie sheet so that the topping (the pecans and gooey stuff) will be on top.

Artichoke Dip Chicken

**You may have noticed that very few of my recipes are low fat -- I do have some low fat recipes but I have yet to post them here.... maybe someday, but all these recipes are quite tasty!**

This chicken tastes a lot like Artichoke dip and it is to die for! It also is a great dish to serve to guests because it is an elegant-looking dish. It doesn't take a lot of time to prepare either. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare it and then the 30 or so minutes to cook! My kids love this chicken recipe!

INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped **The recipe I use calls for a 15 oz can.. I can never fnd one so I improvise by using a jar or whatever and getting it as close to 15 oz as I possibly can. Sometimes there is a little more and sometimes a little less, just depends on what I can find**
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 pinch garlic salt
dash of pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, mix together the artichoke hearts, Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, and garlic salt, dash of pepper. Place chicken in a greased baking dish, and cover evenly with artichoke mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear.
This is best served with warm french bread, but a regular ol' slice of bread with butter (there I go with the low fat idea again!) is tasty too!

The Miracle Fish

Each boy has a Betta Fish. One is named Malachi and the other one Jett. I think I am going to re-name Jett the miracle fish! He has been dumped on the floor twice, left to flop around uncontrollably until someone can rescue him and get him back in water. Jett happens to be Spirit's fish, but Lefty is the one who has dumped him....twice -- have I said that yet? He has been dumped twice!

The first time Lefty was just being plain naughty and ended up knocking the fish tank off the desk and poor Jett was flopping all over the desk, then plummeted to the floor to flop some more and eventually ended up flopping himself under a chair before we could rescue him! Last night, Lefty was trying to get something off a shelf and accidentally knocked poor Jett onto the floor where he flopped and flopped, but only briefly. As if he were giving up! It was terribly sad to see. Now, having said that -- the flopping, slimy fish GROSSES me out. But so do spiders and somehow I manage to act brave for the kids sake. Last night, however, I didn't have to touch the fish because Mr. Man was there so he picked up poor Jett off the floor and put him in the tank and I rushed him to the ER (well, ok it was just the bathroom sink!) where I got some water on him until I could properly care for the tank. Poor Jett looked dazed and confused as he tried to get his bearings back.

So then, to traumatize him further, I had to take him out of the tank and put him in a bowl so I could clean the tank. I got the tank all cleaned and chlorinated and all that jazz, got Jett back in his home where he was not as spunky as usual. I put some food in there and he had no interest in eating. This morning he seems better. The last time this happened to him, he didn't eat for like 2 or 3 days and was not swimming around very much so I thought for sure he was a goner, but eventually he bounced back. I am hoping he is ok and doesn't die. I will feel terrible and so will Lefty.

I'm telling you if this little fish survives this trauma for the second time I will re-name Miracle!

New sick-o in the house

Well, the inevitable happened with Lady Bug.... she now has pink eye too! The doctor knew it would happen and told us to just use the same drops for all the kids if we need to and at $75 a pop I plan to use the one bottle if I can!

But, Spirit came down with something totally different. He woke up at 2:00 A.M. throwing up and his temperature was 103.5 degrees! I gave him some Motrin and laid down with him on the couch with a trash can next to him. About 4:00 he woke up throwing up again and then again at 5:00. He hasn't thrown up again since and the Motrin is keeping his fever down. He is laying around coloring and watching movies now. Mr. Man stayed home with him today because I have zero vacation/personal time left this year, but Mr. Man has 4 days left to use this year or he loses them. I'm sure they will have a good time!

I love being a woman.......

Most of the time anyway! I love having babies (although I will not be having anymore). I love cooking for my family (although I do realize a lot of men do this too). I love being able to comfort my little ones when no one else can. I love wearing lip gloss. I love to do my hair and to also fix Lady Bug's hair real cute. BUT one of the things I loathe about being a woman is menstrual cramps. I get them so bad that all I want is a hot bath and a nap. Today is one of those days. blahk.

A little mid-week this and that

Spirit was much better last night with his attitude about his presents. He told us at dinner that he is so excited for Christmas and "I hope everyone likes what I bought them for Christmas!".... NOW that's more like it!!! Phew. I am so glad his little attitude changed. Now if he can continue on with the good attitude for another 6 days we will be in good shape! *fingers crossed*

Lefty woke up with pink eye in his right eye and it is already moving to the left eye. Mr. Man had court for a traffic ticket this morning so when he is done he is going to either take care of Lady Bug while I take Lefty to the doc or vise versa.

I am not done Christmas shopping and am a tad bit stressed out about it. What I wanted to get for Mr. Man I can't find anywhere! UGH!

Lefty had 2 accidents in the middle of the night and Lady Bug had one..... that was a lot of fun. NOT!

The house we really liked probably isn't going to work out after all. We went to the school yesterday and both Mr. Man and I were not comfortable there. I asked to see the school's "Progress Report" and they scored Low overall with "no improvement in student testing scores". That isn't very comforting. The school the boys are in now scored Average overall with "improvement in student testing scores". The other school had "several reported incidents of students with concealed weapons" our current school has "no reported crimes"

There is another house we like in the area we are in now but it is priced a little high and we can't really low-ball too much because it has only been on the market for 3 weeks.

Our realtor isn't that great and I think we need to find someone else! She won't return our calls, sometimes for a couple days. Once we saw a house we wanted to look at -- it took her 6 hours to get that arranged (which may not have been her fault) AND was 35 minutes late for the showing. We camped outside waiting and waiting and finally Mr. Man called her and she said "I will be there shortly. Thanks." and hung up.

So I am hoping to stop at one more store today to look for Mr. Man's gift and if I can't find it he gets a sweater (LOL)

Snowman Soup

Spirit came home with a "gift" from a classmate labeled Snowman Soup. Have you ever heard of this? It is the cutest thing. Spirit was SO excited by it. He couldn't wait to cook it up! It was a bag filled with a packet of hot cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, hershey kisses and a candy cane. The cute little poem attached to it read:

Was told you've been real good this year,
Always glad to hear it.
With freezing weather drawing near,
You'll need to warm the spirit.
So here's a little Snowman Soup,
Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow,
It's sure to do the trick!

Isn't that the cutest thing? I love that idea!

Issues with the 6 year old

OK. So, here we are at Christmas time, "the most wonderful time of the year" the song tells me. Well, my 6 year old has turned into a terror over the present thing! He is not excited for Christmas morning, he is angry that none of his packages look like they are what he wants. I remember being a kid and couldn't wait for Christmas to see what I got. My greedy little thing seems to think that just because he put something on his list (I-pod, MP3Player, Wii or Playstation2, stereo, guitar and lessons, my own computer, etc.) he will be getting it. So we had to sit him down last night and explain a few things to him. Mr. Man finally said to him that he isn't getting most of the expensive things on his list because we can not afford all that. I am in such shock at the things Spirit has been saying and with the anger in his voice.... what happened to my sweet little boy? He made me boil inside -- to the point of considering returning all of his presents.... I feel like the Grinch now!

I will tell you that he is getting a kids guitar (no lessons yet.....we'll see how interested he really is after he gets the guitar), he got some new gameboy games, clothes, lego set, books, paint set, a couple of board/card games and then some little stuff in the stocking. So he isn't making out ALL bad as he seems to think!

Our busy weekend!

So the busyness started Friday evening and didn't end until Sunday night! We were on the go-go-go!! Friday evening we took Lefty to Boulder to stay with a close friend of ours (she can't have kids of her own so she "adopts" ours every now and again. She is very good to them!). They were planning to go to a museum and she was also taking him to shop for Spirit and Lady Bug. When we got back from dropping him off, Spirit and I went took off to go shopping! Spirit had $20.00 saved to go shopping with and he did a good of picking out gifts. Then we went home and wrapped presents.

Saturday morning Spirit had practice at 9:30 so I dropped him off and then Mr. Man and Lady Bug and I delivered presents for The Angel Tree. We bought for one child and agreed to deliver for 5 families. Then race back to pick up Spirit to go with us to deliver the last couple of families gifts. We stopped at our favorite pizza place for a quick lunch. Mr. Man had to work for a few hours so he dropped us off back at the house and Lady Bug took a nap (well, she was supposed to, but I think all she did was play in there) while Spirit worked on the gifts he made his class (Gum pack race cars) and I baked and baked and baked! Then it was off to meet the realtor at a house. We have looked at this house before and are considering making an offer. After looking at that house, we met Mr. Man's sister and her husband at Famous Dave's for dinner (they have the ultimate BBQ!!!) By the time we got back home it was 9:00 pm. So we hurried the kids into their PJ's and brushed teeth and off to bed.

Sunday morning we had to go pick up Lefty and then back to our side of town for church (the kids performed a Christmas play -- it was very cute!). I had to stop at the store after church to pick up some stuff to make lunch! We had nacho casserole. Lady Bug went down for a nap so the boys finished up the race cars for their classmates. When Lady Bug got up we headed over to a friend of ours to give them some presents (baked goodies for her and a collector car for him). Then it was back home to eat left overs and wrap presents and bathe the kids.

Whew! I am so glad this whirlwind of a weekend is over. We had a good time though!

Nacho Casserole

Nacho Casserole is a quick and yummy dinner. I make this often in my house!

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can enchilada sauce
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can milk **(take one soup can and fill it with milk)
1 small can mild green chiles
3/4 c grated cheese
2 bags of nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips

Brown meat and onion. Add enchilada sauce. In a large saucepan put soup, milk and green chiles. Heat thoroughly. Grease a large casserole dish. Line dish with crushed tortilla chips. Layer meat, soup and cheese. Bake at 350F for 1/2 hour.

Dreaming....

Yes I am dreaming, but not of a white Christmas (more on that later...) I have been having bad dreams the last couple of nights. I don't know if it is what I am eating for dinner, something I am watching on TV or the stress of this house shopping we are doing *Edited to add: Or the stress that I am not ready for Christmas ...which happens to only be 12 days away!*. Maybe it is a combo of it all!!! This morning I woke up shaking and crying....ended up waking up Mr. Man too. Needless to say, we both ended up getting up at 4:30 a.m.! Nice! Let me clarify, when I say "we" got up, I mean the royal "WE"!! Mr. Man has a hard time falling back to sleep when woken up so he just decided to get up and go to work...... ME on the other hand, laid in bed for awhile!

So, now about that white Christmas..... I used to LOVE snow on Christmas but after last year's back-to-back-to-back blizzards right before Christmas when all 3 of the kids got bikes or scooters for Christmas and couldn't test them out! It was NOT fun. I had kids in their PJ's rolling through the house in desperation! I said at that time I would never buy outdoor toys again for Christmas...... what did Mr. Man buy last weekend while I was home sick in bed? Yep, you guessed it .... he bought one of these for Lady Bug and one of these for Lefty. Spirit got this!

Yeah! It came yesterday!

**ONCE AGAIN I MUST APOLOGIZE FOR THE HORRIBLE PICTURES, AS THE CAMERA IS STILL SICK AND NOT TAKING GOOD PICTURES**

I participated in an ornament swap that Julie at AbbilyEverAfter organized and my ornament came yesterday! I was so excited when I got home and Mr. Man said "Oh! You got a package today. It is on the counter." I went rushing in and picked it up.....first thing I noticed was that it stamped by the post office "Royal Mail"...... Me? Royalty?? Well, I certainly felt that way after opening the package!



I carefully opened the envelope and there was a beautifully handmade card signed by Hannah at ItsAMumsLife! Isn't it wonderful?? Well, the picture doesn't do it justice so you will have to take my word for it....it is wonderful!!


The note inside told me how these delicate ornaments were handcrafted in Bethlehem out of olive wood! How special!! The family carefully looked them over and then we placed them on tree in a spot right in front so we can see them from every place in the room! I stared at them all night!

I couldn't wait to post this for you all to see these! These will be treasured forever!!!!!! I should also mention that we lost an entire box of ornaments during a move to a new house 4 years ago and it was a fairly large box which included ones that my sisters and I made when we were kids. Last year our tree looked so bare and I never could bring myself to purchase new ones. I wanted special ones, not just a box that I picked up at Wal-Mart -- those would not even come close to replacing the memories that were lost in that box of ornaments. So these ornaments from Hannah are sure to be treasured and just what I needed!

Hide and Seek

The boys were playing hide-n-seek last night so Lady Bug decided to join in. She ran to the spot to count and it went something like this: "1,2,3,7,5,9 ready or not here I tum". Pretty soon the boys started teaming up with her because when she hides she gets all tucked into a great spot and as soon as she knows they are looking for her she announces where she is! If the boys were helping her then it went a little better.

Soooooo, at one point it was Lefty's turn to count, he counted to 20 and then said "Ready or not here I come!" Off he goes in search of Spirit and Lady Bug. Spirit comes running "Noooo! I'm not ready. Go back and count again!" Lefty says "No. I said 'ready or not' you are in the or not category!" I started laughing and to my surprise Spirit didn't get mad .... he just smiled and said "oh. yea."

Next it was Spirit and Lady Bug's turn to count while Lefty hid. Somewhere after they counted and started looking they must have lost interest. Lefty was so well hidden (he climbed on top of some boxes in the garage and was sitting there.....in the cold....for about 15 minutes). I look over while folding laundry and Spirit is going through a book and Lady Bug is playing with her dolls. I asked if they found Lefty and Spirit said "no. we looked but we can't find him." I started hollering for him to come out and he didn't. Pretty soon Mr. Man starts hollering that we need him to come out of hiding to get ready for bed. He comes bopping in the house laughing. He was so proud of his clever hiding spot that he just had to show us all! We all admitted it was very clever!

Chocolate....

I was super-de-duper sick on Saturday. To the point I could not get out of bed. I haven't felt that bad in a long time. My skin hurt...it was wierd. But Mr. Man took the kids to a birthday party and then he did some Christmas shopping so they were all gone about 4 hours. I slept most of that time. I didn't eat much all weekend because I wasn't feeling that great. So, today my body is making up for it. I had 2 pieces of toast and a small bowl of cereal for breakfast. Then I had a turkey club sandwich and potato soup for lunch. I just went on the hunt for something sweet and lo and behold I found CHOCOLATE in my desk. Woo hoo! It is mighty tasty!!!

Frosty and the snowstorm!

So Friday night, it snowed here. I made lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. Then we popped popcorn, ate some and also used some to make popcorn balls. Frosty the Snowman was on TV so we all sat together and watched that while snacking. We could see the snow falling from the couch while we were watching Frosty on TV- it was just a really neat night.

Mr. Man had the day off from work on Friday and the kids were out of school so they went to Hammond's Candy Factory to watch them make candy canes. They said it was a lot of fun. They bought me a chocolate filled candy cane....it was SO very tasty!!!

Then after Frosty was over we played UNO and Lefty won both games!

I love nights like that. No fighting amongst the kids. Fun was had by all. No pouting for those who didn't win the game and no major (notice I said "major") gloating from the one who did win the games!

Hamburger Rice Skillet.....otherwise known as Stuffed Bell Peppers in a skillet

My husband loves this recipe and so do the kids. It is called Hamburger Rice Skillet but it tastes like a stuffed bell pepper.

Hamburger Rice Skillet:
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c medium rice, uncooked
1 (16 oz) can tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 c water
1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
Brown, beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic until meat is no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until rice is tender.

I won!

I entered a contest listed here at Laura Williams Musings to win a Baby Jamz Mat and I won! It will be the perfect gift for my neice!! I am so excited! Go here and scroll down a little to read more about the mat.

Navitiy Scene Music Box

**As always my camera isn't working very well (yes, I am hoping I get a new one for Christmas) so this picture is not very good! :o( **

2 years ago a friend of mine called me and asked me to drive her to the hospital because the paramedics called her to tell her that her dad had taken a fall and her mother needed her to be with her. So I drove her 30 minutes to the hospital. When we walked in the ER information desk directed her to security. The security guard led us down several halls, twisting us this way and that, ending us at a room labeled "Family Waiting Room". My heart sank. We walked in and there was all the family, mom, sister, brother-in-law and niece. Then they sent in a Chaplin who broke the news to the family that dad had had a heart attack and they could not revive him. I went with my friend to see him (which was really hard on me, I do not like seeing dead people.) I don't really remember too much about the rest of the night, other than it was a long night.

Ever since then I have been sending cards periodically to her mom, who is in a nursing home now for health reasons. Her mom, Mary, has appreciated the cards/thoughts/prayers so much that she had her daughter (my friend's sister) get me this little precious moments nativity scene music box. Years ago Mary bought one for all the girls in the family including herself and now I am honored to have been given one too!

Head Cold

I woke up this morning sneezing.....as the day goes on my head feels like it could explode and my nose is drippy on one side and stuffy on the other! I am sipping on some soup a friend bought me for lunch.
Feels like it might be an early to bed night for me..... *laughing really loudly* who am I kidding, 3 small kids plus a husband! I am NOT getting into bed early!!! (even if I did they wouldn't be quiet enough to let me sleep!!)

So for fun, I decided to design my own kleenex box..... you can to if you so desire! Go here!

Field Trip

The boys had a field trip at school today to Granny Dances to a Holiday Drum. This is a great little show, where Granny is a wise old storyteller who walks you through the international holiday celebrations. There is lots of music and clapping and dancing, with audience involvment. It is really cool. Granny takes you through lots of different holiday celebrations from around the world!

The kids were supposed to go to this last year and we ended up with a blizzard that day and 3 days after.

Lady Bug got to go too this time and she really had a good time!!!

Soda Cracker Cookies

Have you ever had these wonderful, yet sinful, cookies? I was hesitant about the soda crackers but you can't even tell they are crackers!!

A friend of mine made some for me and I just had to have the recipe! They taste like toffee bars and are so easy to make. The kids and I made some last night and I have eaten entirely too many of these!

Soda Cracker Cookies:
saltine crackers (about 40)
1 c butter (not margarine)
1 c packed brown sugar
1 (12 oz) package of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 450F. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Lay crackers on cookie sheet side by side to fill the cookie sheet. Melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir constantly for 5 minutes. Pour over the crackers. Place in oven for 5 minutes. Pour the entire bag of chocolate chips over the top. Return to oven for 1 minute longer. Spread chocolate chips evenly over the crackers. Let cool. Break apart to serve.

December events

I was just going through the calendar last night and we have something nearly every night in December that we have been invited to. Some are birthdays that the kids are invited to, some are Christmas parties or open houses, then there are the school events for the boys. There are some days that have 2 or even 3 events. We, obviously, can not attend each and every thing. Mr. Man and I decided to sit down tonight and try to make a plan for each thing.

Glue sticks

Spirit: "Mom, can I use your glue sticks?"

Me: "I don't think I have any."

Spirit: "Yes you do. I saw them."

Me: "Where?"

I follow him down the hall to the bathroom -- I am thinking to myself "why would I have a glue stick in the bathroom?" Then he opens the cupboard and pulls out the box of tampons.

Me (holding back laughter): "Honey, those aren't glue sticks."

Spirit: "Well, what are they then?"

He must have seen the horrified look on my face and he said: "Oh. Ok. It is one of those things that you don't want to talk about."

Then he casually walked into his brother's room and asked if he had a glue stick he could borrow leaving me to roll on the floor laughing and at the same time trying to figure out how to hide these things better!

House Shopping

We made a decision several months ago to start looking around at houses. The one we are in is not where we want to stay. I had hoped we would stay in it a little longer but that is neither here nor there right now. When we started looking we weren't going inside any of them. We were looking at neighborhoods and prices, etc. There was one neighborhood, close to the one we are in but a little more "off the beaten path". Houses in there were selling for more than we wanted to buy for -- until yesterday. Mr. Man was driving through the neighborhood and saw a for sale sign. It had a place for brochures but nothing inside. He called our realtor who looked into it -- it is in our price range (the higher end of our range but in our range nonetheless). We arranged to look inside. It has a newly remodeled kitchen. A huge deck and a huge yard. There are several things we dislike about our current house.... one is the teeny-tiny kitchen and the other is the teeny-tiny yard.
I have spent a lot of time in prayer this morning because I want to do the right thing and not want my mind says to do!

Wheel of Fortune

Last night as I was making dinner, I hear Lady Bug yelling from the family room "H" and then a few seconds later "H". I went in to see what she was doing and she had turned the TV on and was watching Wheel of Fortune. Obviously, the contestants were shouting out the letters too so she was just playing right along!!
It made me laugh.

My 5 favorite things

Andrea at Mom to the Fey tagged me for 5 of my favorite things so here they are:

1. I love iced Chai tea and drink a lot of it!

2. I love silly socks, all kinds and colors. The sillier the better!

3. I love the smell of rain

4. I love bags.... purses, totes, makeup bags, all sorts of bags (my husband hates them!!!)

5. I love fresh baked ginger snaps with homemade whipped cream on top (realllllly healthy!!!)

Sister came and went all too quickly

I had such a wonderful time with my sister, but her visit was much too short! I picked her up Thursday afternoon and neither one of us had lunch yet so we stopped and shared a sandwich. Then we headed over to pick up the boys from school....they were SO excited to have her pick them up! After we visited at the house with Mr. Man for a little while then he had class and so the rest of us went out for pizza.
Friday morning, the kids and I did our normal morning routine. Then my sis, Lady Bug and I took the boys to school then we started our Christmas shopping. Lady Bug was SO well behaved the entire time! We went to Costco, Target, then home to drop off stuff, then to lunch, then to the mall, then to Wal-Mart, then finally home for Lady Bug's nap. She was so good (and no potty accidents either!!!)
Friday after Mr. Man got home with the boys, my sis went with me to get my hair cut and colored. Then when we got home we all ate dinner and watched a movie.
Saturday, my sister went to a friend's house and so Mr. Man and the kids and I went looking at houses, then went to a Christmas party at Mr. Man's work which was a "kid party". Santa came and brought each kid a present. They got to decorate a sugar cookie and make a reindeer candy cane ornament. It was all so cute.
Saturday night, my sister got home and we all went to her favorite Mexican food place. After that we went home and played games.
Sunday, my sister and Lady Bug and I did more shopping. She wanted to get all of hers done for my kids while she was here so she didn't have to pay to have it shipped! I ended up finding a steal of a deal on two pairs of pants for ME so I think I will just wrap them up for Christmas. It was hard this morning because I wanted to wear one...but in reality Christmas is only 3 weeks away so I can wait that long (even though the pants are so very cute and it will kill me NOT to wear them right away!!)