Beef Stroganoff

This is a fave in my house. I serve mine over steamed white rice or egg noodles. Mr. Man likes it with rice and I prefer it with noodles. This recipe is fairly easy and tastes wonderful, but it is far from low-cal!
A friend of mine takes the left over meat and sauce and serves it warmed in pita bread. (I have never done that though...)

Beef Stroganoff
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb boneless beef sirloin steak
1 (8 oz) carton dairy sour cream
2 Tbls flour
1/2 c water
2 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbls butter
1 1/2 c sliced fresh mushrooms (4 oz)
1/2 c chopped onion (1 medium onion)
1 clove garlic, minced

Slice beef into bite-sized strips. In a large skillet cook meat in butter over high heat with garlic and onion until done. Add mushrooms and cook for 1-2 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together sour cream and flour. Stir in water, bouillon and pepper. Stir flour mixture into skillet. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute longer.

The problem mother

I feel like I am always in the school questioning the teachers or the principal about things. I don't want to be the mom that when they see me coming they think to themselves "oh geez. What now?" On the other hand, I want to be involved in my kids education and I want to be sure they are progressing and being pushed/challenged a little, etc.

At the end of last week the school sent around emails to the parents telling us that the District as a whole had cut PE and Art class to part time (which essentially meant that the kids would only get PE and Art once every other week instead of once a week) and then our particular school was adding dance. DANCE? Are you kidding me? My 7 year old would rather barf than dance. He LOVES PE and absolutely loves the teacher, Mr. "C". In fact, if Mr. "C" says Spirit should do something at home (like practice jump rope or play ball, whatever) Spirit makes sure he does it! He looks forward to pleasing Mr. "C". Spirit also enjoys the art class. The art teacher, Ms. "K" is nationally recognized as an elementary art teacher... I mean nationally -- who better to teach my kids about art (besides me of course) than a nationally recognized elementary art teacher.

So, upon hearing this news and some contemplation (noticed I didn't say much), I wrote a letter to the Superintendent of the whole county. I basically said, I think this change is a joke. I commented that there is a full time administrative position that is a "coordinator" position. I asked the Superintendent if there was any way to cut that position to a PT and keep PE and/or Art? I said I felt there had to be other options than to cut a program and add a program such as dance. I also asked what happened to "No child left behind" -- I said it seems as though many children will be left behind if we make the changes. I also said in my letter, that we are house shopping and were hoping to stay in the same school, but maybe we will broaden our house search and move somewhere else. (I wasn't trying to threaten by any means, but I really felt like why are we struggling to find a house we like in the area JUST to stay at the same school?!?!?!)

Well, unbeknown st to me...... Mr. Superintendent forwarded my email to the district superintendent who happened to be at the school having a meeting about this matter and she received it on her Blackberry. A friend of mine, who serves as a "parent Rep" for the school was in the meeting. So she told me how, the District Superintendent looks at her Blackberry and reads my letter. She then tells the group in the meeting who wrote the letter. My friend said "I was secretly going 'YES' when she told me you were involved!" Anyway, because of my letter and so much verbal out-pouring of comments from other parents, the District SI has decided to reverse everything she did and she is asking for a parent meeting to discuss options!

Also because of my letter, the Principal has asked for a meeting with me! Great!! I have that meeting scheduled for tomorrow at 10 AM. I have to go to the principal's office! GREAT!!!!

A little bit of This and That today...

• Five years ago yesterday I gave birth to a still born baby boy. We named him Wesley, after my grandfather. We went to the cemetary where we had his ashes scattered and he has a name plaque along a stone walk way. Still, five years later I feel like it was yesterday that I was giving birth to him. Funny how the rest of the world goes on and no one but Mr. Man and I remember the date --which is the same feeling I had when I was in the hospital. I remember holding his life-less body and looking out my hospital window at the traffic going by and wondering how on earth those people could go on with their day as if nothing was wrong. Didn't they know what I was going through? I feel the same way about the day yesterday, but on the other hand I realize that no one can be expected to remember such a thing five years later. (and I certainly wasn't upset that no one remembered!)
• Spirit and Lefty decided to walk home from school without telling anyone yesterday. Boy were they busted when Mr. Man caught up to them!
• We have found two houses that are possibilities. Both, of course have some minor complications so we are on "hold" waiting for our realtor to help us work through the issues. Then we can hopefully make a decision on one or the other!
• We are having our first Children's Ministry event at the church tonight! I am a little nervous! All I have to do is work in the nursery, but there has been a lot of planning going on to make this event extra special!
• Spirit has had hives for a week now and I think he is worried about this housing stuff. He has always been a worrier and even though I ask him if he is ok, he just says "yup!" and won't open up to me. I called the doctor and of course there isn't anything they can do. They told me a week ago, when he first got them, that he had a virus and this rash was the tail end of it... but I am not so sure anymore. I am not going to worry about it though and let it runs it's course. I will just keep an eye on it.
• I found some cool storage ideas, but don't want to commit to anything until we know which house we are getting... if any!
• I am going to start packing this weekend, even though we haven't found a house yet. I want to be ready. There are all kinds of things that we don't need and I can get them packed up and put them in the garage. I also want to donate some stuff, maybe have a garage sale too if there is time.

Our number and letter book

This weekend I made a Number Book and an ABC Book for Lady Bug. I was inspired by this post to make an ABC book.

However, when I went shopping I could not find a decent 8x8 photo album that I liked, but I did find a cute $0.99 album that is 6x4 and is perfect for travelling in the car, fits nicely in my purse for doctor visits or church.

So the boys and I took card stock and cut it down to fit inside the pages of this photo album. Then we filled the pages with stickers. For the letter book we used stickers matching that letter. For instance, "C" is cherry, coconut, cactus, car, cat, cross.

For the number book, the boys wrote the number on the page and also spelled it out. Then we put the corresponding number of stickers on that page.

They came out so cute and Lady Bug loves them. She took them everywhere this weekend (including house-hunting!)

House Hunting

House hunting will kill a marriage. I am convinced of this. If our marriage survives this it will be a miracle!

We go look at a handful of houses - say 4 or 5, maybe 6 - and if I walk in and fall in love, he walks in and hates it. OR, the things he absolutely LOVES about a house are the very things that would make me NOT want to buy it.

My husband has commitment issues. He over analyzes to avoid the commitment and I probably, under-analyze based on my emotions of it.

Through this whole process we have joked that if it were he and I (no kids) it would probably be a no-brainer. With kids in the mix, we are concerned about play-area, the schools, the parks nearby, are there other families in the neighborhood?, that sort of thing.

We have found 3 houses now, in the 2 months we have been searching. The last 2, Mr. Man drug his feet and couldn't decide whether we should make an offer. When he finally decided it was time, guess what? The house had another contract on it already. The 3rd house we really liked, he didn't like the location of it. I didn't think location was terrible, the views from the back of the house were not really views at all.... it was an apartment complex, but the location was close to everything (at least I thought so!) Well, Mr. Man drug his feet on that one too and pretty soon he was ready to make an offer. We went back on Saturday to look at it again, he had his mom and dad come look at it too. We told the realtor we were ready to make an offer and he made some calls..... it was under contract!!!! ARGH!!!!!

At first, I kept telling myself, "It wasn't meant to be or the houses wouldn't have sold." Now, I just want to strangle my husband. It is very frustrating.

So yesterday, we went back out and looked at 3 more. One was laid out weird and I felt claustrophobic in there. The next one was an "attached single family home" which is sort of like a duplex, only this had a two car garage and wasn't overly close-feeling to the next house. BUT, it was tiny inside. Even though it had 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bath, it was all put close together and there was no yard for the kids. The last house is my dream house. It is gorgeous and is everything I thought we wanted in a home..... apparently not. Mr. Man is dragging his feet and won't make an offer. I tell you people, if we lose this one too, he may be looking for a divorce attorney!

I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't stop thinking about the house and didn't fall back to sleep until 6:00 and then I needed to get up at 6:30. At 3:30 I was analyzing whether or not I could afford the house on my own. LOL. Not that I want to leave him, but I thought I could make an offer and if he doesn't want to buy that house he could find his own LOL. That was 3:30 AM delirium!!!

I was physically ill yesterday afternoon when he wouldn't just make the offer! I seriously thought I was going to throw up!

Baked Lemon Chicken

This recipe comes from my aunt, who is an excellent cook (she has given me some new recipes to try recently. After I try them I will post them here if they are any good-which I am sure they will be)


Here is her recipe for Baked Lemon Chicken.... it is very tasty and the rice is killer too!


INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 tsp bottled minced garlic (4-5 cloves, pressed)
1 c uncooked regular rice (not instant)
8 pieces of chicken
1 (14 oz) can Swanson's chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lemons


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Dot garlic over bottom of 9x13 pan. Pour uncooked rice evenly over garlic. Put chicken on top of rice. Pour chicken broth over everything. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut each lemon into 4 slices and place 1 slice on each piece of chicken. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil and broil for a minute or two to brown chicken.


**NOTE: I never cook mine for the full 1 1/2 hours. I check it after 45 minutes and usually it is done. So my recommendation is to keep checking your chicken to be sure it doesn't over cook.

Journaling

When we were grocery shopping the other day, the boys asked me if they could get a spiral notebook. I asked what they wanted it for and they both said they wanted it so they could use it as a journal.

Of course I let them buy one and we even replenished our pencil supply. They both have written it the journal a little bit here and there.

I wanted some ways to encourage the journaling and so I turned to Google...I found a few ideas but nothing earth shattering. Then I realized..... I have the answers already. I use a journal, so I decided to think about what I do in my own journal.

I use my journal in several ways:

1. I use it to write down prayers/concerns I have for people in my life
2. On occasion I will hear a new word so I write it in my journal and then look up what it means
3. I write about our day
4. I write about fun, cute or even concerning things my kids do
5. I write about a movie we watched
6. I write about my feelings or how a certain thing made me feel that day
7. I write silly poems

I wrote these out and realized ANY one ANY age could use that list for journal ideas.

I am going to type this up (editing #4) and maybe add to it and then print it off to hang on the refrigerator or somewhere so when we have some quiet time, they can journal!

Evil Girl Scout Cookie Mom

OK, as if it weren't bad enough that I have been eating Girl Scout cookies and gaining back 3 pounds (of the 8 I lost), NOW some evil Cookie Mom emails me This and this!!!!!

"The kids were perfect"

When Mr. Man picked up the kids from grandma's house yesterday, she told him "the kids were perfect."

She told him how they colored and played legos for a long time. Then before lunch, she put a movie in and they sat quietly and watched that. Then she layed down for a few minutes on the couch and Lady Bug got her blanket out of her back pack and covered up grandma's feet with it (awww, how sweet is that?)

After lunch, grandma laid down with Lady Bug, just until she fell asleep, while the boys played with legos.

After Lady Bug's nap, our niece stopped over with her 3 kids and they all went outside to play for awhile.

All in all it appeared to be a good day!!!

**phew!**

Check this deal out!

Check out this playdough caddy at Amazon.com. What a deal! $10.00! I am buying a couple of them as gifts!

Conversations of a 7 year old boy

I had always heard that boys are quite facsinated by the art of bodily functions! I am slowly being introduced to this wonderful "boy world". My 7 year old, Spirit and his friend who is also 7, were discussing gym class.



Friend: "So we were lining up for gym and someone farted."

Spirit and Friend laugh hysterically.

Spirit: "Who was it?"

Friend: "Well, we all knew it was Adam because he has ADD and is the only one in class who gets to chew bubblegum and the fart totally smelled like bubblegum. So, who else could it be but the bubblegum-chewing Adam?"

Well, of course. We all know that a fart that smells like bubblegum has to be the guy chewing the bubblegum..... it would be real talent if the guy could blow bubbles too.... Oh my.. NOW I am falling prey to the "boy world" OH NO!!!

another crazy day

Our daycare lady is sick so the kids headed off to spend the day at my MIL's house. I am so nervous. She hasn't kept all three kids in a long time (the boys are out of school today for teacher planning day or something like that). PLUS, my FIL was in the hospital last week and I hope he has all of his strength back. I don't want my little monsters over there making things worse for them. They are 80 years old after all!

When Mr. Man said that he had asked his mom to watch the kids I about flipped out. I know that our niece lives fairly close and she is a SAHM so I am hoping she will go over and help grandma with the kids. I packed a couple back packs full of crayons, paper, games, etc and I begged the kids to be nice to grandma and grandpa!

A new adventure in my life

I was asked a few weeks ago if I would consider being the Nursery/Toddler Coordinator for our church. I did a similar role for 1 1/2 years at a church we previously attended. I thought and prayed about the decision for quite some time. I finally decided that I would have the time and resources to take on the task. This church we are going to is fairly new and has never had anyone to coordinate all the children's classes. They put one woman on staff as the Children's Ministry Leader and she is building a team from there. I will coordinate teachers, helpers, curriculum for the toddlers and events and such as needed.

I am very excited to take this on. I have lots of ideas and have already started sharing my ideas with the Children's Ministry Leader.

I think this new adventure will be a lot of fun!

Quick Taco Salad (kid friendly taco salad)

I have been trying to convince my dear friend Aubrey to start a blog. She is a SAHM. She has a teenage son, a pre-teen girl and 1 1/2 year old boy. She has great stories and finds some of the best recipes around. So far, I haven't convinced her to start one (unless she has one that she is keeping a secret from me!!!)

Anyway, this recipe is one of her's. My family really enjoys this recipe so I make it fairly often!

Quick Taco Salad:

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb hamburger
1 pkt taco seasoning
1 (20 oz) can refried beans
lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, salsa
1 family size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos

Brown hamburger. Drain. Add taco seasoning and add water according to seasoning packet directions. Add beans to pan with meat and heat through. Crush Doritos. Place crushed chips in individual bowls. Top with meat mixture. Add toppings as desired (lettuce, cheese, etc.)

Picture this...

I am getting ready to walk out the door to take the boys to school when Spirit starts crying and flopping around on the floor like a 3 year old. I am trying to find out what is wrong and all he will say is "I'm not going to school today" when I question further he says "I don't have a pencil sharpener."

Now, here's me.... ???????????-- totally puzzled look on my face and jaw on the floor.... what in the world? I continue to ask more and more and more questions but can not figure out why we are having a melt down over a lost pencil sharpener.

I get him in the van and as we are driving to school, tears still running down his face, he says that all the kids take the good pencils and he never gets a sharp one. I asked if they have a sharpener in the classroom. He says yes, but the teacher never lets them sharpen their pencils. I say, "Fine. we will go talk to your teacher." I go marching in, and part of me really thought he was exaggerating his story because surely she lets them sharpen their pencils, but he never stopped me as I was marching down the hall. I expected him to say "noooooo, mom don't talk to my teacher." He never said a word, just trudged along behind me. So as I approach her classroom, she was just unlocking her door and she must have seen the anger in my face, or the steam coming out of my ears, and she said "ught oh, What'd I do?"

I explained our situation and she told me she lets them sharpen the pencils, but Spirit has a tendancy to want to sharpen his pencil 10 times a day and she won't let him do that. I got down on his level and tried finding out if there was something deeper going on, but he wouldn't tell me anything.

His teacher ended up asking him to help her take down chairs and get the classroom ready. I left him there as he took down chairs. No more tears though!

I WON!!

So, I have been reading this blog for awhile now, she is funny and I totally relate to many of her stories!

She decided this year she is hosting a give away per month. I entered her February one not really expecting to win, but I just had to share my favorite love quote! I LOVE, love, love the Princess Bride movie and so when Misty asked us to tell her our favorite, non-cliche love quote. I just could not resist sharing one from the Princess Bride movie.... there are several good quotes in there, but I chose this one (click here to link to Misty's blog to see which one I submitted!)

Lady Bug's shirt

Finally, I have pictures of the shirt the boys made for Lady Bug for Valentine's day!

Here she is sporting the new shirt this morning after she opened the present (I hadn't fixed her yet in this picture!!)

WFMW: Protect your carpet when kids are eating

Usually Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer hosts this, but this week she is in Uganda so Melanie at Don't Try This At Home is hosting this week.

When we have company over for a meal and the kids need to sit at the little kids-sized table it usually ends up sitting on the carpet somewhere and since kids can be so messy, I use a vinyl table cloth (you can find these pretty cheap) underneath the table and chairs. Then when we are all done eating, I can roll up the table cloth and take it outside to shake (and rinse with the hose if necessary).

This is something that "works for me"!! For more ideas, go here!

My new found friend

I heard about this product that is to reduce the duration of flu symptoms. I bought a 3-dose pack for Mr. Man the other night and he thought it helped. Yesterday afternoon, I started getting cold and my throat hurt and I felt like I just wanted to crawl into bed and stay there. Instead, I rushed over to the drug store and bought some of this... I bought the 12-dose pack (in case Mr. Man wanted to take some more too). I did one dose before bed last night and another this morning. I don't feel too bad right now so I am hoping this means I will not get the flu as bad as he had it! I have a cough, but other than that I am feeling good *fingers crossed*

A little this and a little that...

Last night after dinner I went to Rite Aid and got some stuff for Mr. Man. The poor guy is still in bed. I don't think I have ever seen him this sick in the 12 years I've known him. He rarely gets sick in the first place, but if he does then he is usually over it pretty quickly! Not this time.

So I got some Nyquil and Dayquil and then some homeopathic stuff that is supposed to lessen the duration of the flu (we might be a bit late for it, but it certainly won't hurt anything!) I also bought a jumbo bag of cough drops and some vitamin C. I have been loading up on the vitamin C in hopes that I don't get sick!

After Lady Bug went to bed, I decided to pull out some craft stuff for the boys and I. We made a cute little shirt for Lady Bug. I had the boys make fingerprint hearts along the top with pink paint. Then we drew on paper some ideas of how to finish off the shirt and decided on one design. I wrote in the center "My brothers" and then the boys drew a big red heart with puffy paint and filled it in with the red. Then under that heart I wrote "ME!" I will take a picture of it and post it later -- I haven't been able to get a picture because Lady Bug is hanging around and I have the shirt hidden until Thursday.

OH NO!!

My Girl Scout cookies were delivered today....... I feel those 8 pounds I lost working their way back onto my toosh and thighs!

Oh how I love Girl Scout cookies so very very much!

Weekend in Review

When I got home from work on Friday afternoon, Mr. Man decided we should run to Dairy Queen with the kids. We ended up running into Lefty's teacher there and found out she has the same birthday as Lady Bug so we bought her ice cream in honor of her birthday too! That was fun!

Saturday morning Mr. Man woke up feeling a little blah. He said he had a headache and was just kindof yuck feeling. By the afternoon, Mr. Man was feverish, coughing and achy all over. He spent the rest of the day in bed. He woke me up about 1:30 Sunday morning burning up with fever and was shivering cold. Needless to say, he spent the remainder of the day Sunday in bed. He woke up this morning and decided he is still too sick to go to work! I haven't seen him this sick in a long time!

Today I am feeling achy and sort of run down.... I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick!!!!!

Aside from all that..... the boys and I worked on their classroom valentine cards on Saturday afternoon. Plus we made some cute little gifts for the teachers. I haven't done Valentine gifts for the teachers before, but this year I like the teachers so much I decided to give them a little gift. Plus, I found cake mix at the grocery store for $0.88 a box. It was Betty Crocker Red Velvet cake mix (fitting for Valentine's day, don't ya think?) The cake mix also happens to be the "Support for Breast Cancer" box and so the whole box is pink (also fitting for Valentine's day!) The frosting was 3 for $4.00. Then I bought some M&M's and put a small amount in a plastic bag and tied it up with red and pink ribbon. I found a 4-pack of cute Valentine's Day dishrags for $3.00. We placed the items in a red gift bag with tissue paper. The boys made a card similar to this, only we didn't tape the candy to the back side and instead I typed up a little saying that the boys glued to the back and then signed their name. The saying was "School would be "ruff" without you! Happy Valentine's Day!"

Since Valentine's Day is on Thursday and I don't always have time to make breakfast I decided that yesterday I would make a special breakfast. I made french toast and bacon, and I used a cookie cutter and cut a heart out of the center of the french toast!

Yesterday, I also did some shopping because all of the kids need some pants, the boys especially. Why is that boys can only wear jeans once or twice before they get a hole in them? Why? Why? Why? Oh well. I try patches, but those don't seem to work either. I just spent $60 yesterday on pants and socks for the boys and then I found one pair of pants for Lady Bug that was on clearance for $4. Expensive weekend!!

I had a good weekend overall and my house is trashed because of it! :o)

My Valentine Dinner menu

When you have kids it totally changes the events of Valentine's Day - at least in my house! Especially when it falls during the week. Mr. Man and I have gone out for dinner over the weekend to celebrate in past years, but our lives are too crazy this year so we won't be doing that.

I wanted the day to be special for everyone. I saw this idea at Heavenly Homemakers that I thought would be fun. What I am going to do is print up the menu and have Mr. Man and the kids select the items they would like served with their 1st, 2nd and 3rd courses. (I am going to do one menu for the whole family. They can work together to decide what to have with each course.)Then I will serve the menu, just as they select. Obviously, they won't be able to do much with the first course, so I will give them time to review the selections they made and then bring them out the second course. Give them a few more minutes and serve the third course. After a few giggles (I hope...) then I will let them at the kitchen to have the full meal! I think it will be alot of fun!

I am going to make these utensil holders that I saw over on Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. Because the mystery dinner menu includes napkin and fork as a selection, I am not going to present the utensil holders until after I serve everything!

I am going to make some place cards with each person's name on them too.

We don't give the kids presents on Valentine's Day, but we do decorate and buy fun candy, etc. I want this day to be special for the family and then after the kids are in bed I will give Mr. Man a card and a new CD that I plan to buy today!

Chicken Casserole

This recipe is great for using up left over chicken or turkey. It is quick and easy and tastes great. My family loves it.

Chicken Casserole

INGREDIENTS:
1 (10.75 oz) can Cream of Broccoli Soup
1 c milk
1/2 c shredded mozzerella
1/4 tsp garlic salt
black pepper to taste
2 c hot, coooked elbow pasta
2 c cubed, cooked chicken or turkey
1 (10 oz) package frozen mixed veggies (can be cooked or uncooked)
1/2 c Herb Seasoned stuffing mix (not the instant kind)
2 Tbls grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbls butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together soup, milk, mozzerella cheese, garlic salt and pepper in a 2 quart baking dish. Stir in pasta, chicken and veggies.

Bake 20 minutes. Stir.

Mix stuffing, parmesan cheese and butter. Sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake for 5 minutes longer or until hot.

Time Capsule

When we got pregnant with our first child Mr. Man decided he wanted to put together a time capsule. He put things in there that had the year one them, TIME magazine Year in Review, some collectible cars that were only issued that year, since Spirit was born in 2001 (just before George W. Bush was sworn in) Mr. Man found a dollar bill that had 2001 printed in the corners and then a picture of the president in the center. He also collected some quarters from that year and even still (7 years later) shops ebay for items to put in the time capsule.

Mr. Man has also created a time capsule for Lefty with similar items and his plan is to give them to the boys on their 18th birthday.

Now, when we found out we were going to have a little girl, Mr. Man told me that it was my job to do a time capsule of "girly" things for her. I really struggled. There wasn't alot of girly things with the year. I am still shopping ebay for a 2005 Holiday Barbie because when I went to buy her one in 2005 all that I could find were ones with the packaging all torn up or the store was completely sold out. So far, I have a teen magazine from February 2005, a Better Homes and Gardens from February 2005 and a collectible Winnie the Pooh from 2005. Her time capsule is pretty lame. I hope ebay can save me and help me get some more stuff for her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADY BUG!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE PRINCESS!!!!

Today Lady Bug is officially 3 years old. As promised, here are some pictures of her princess dress that my sister made for her and miscellaneous pictures taken today!

Here are pictures of the back and front of the dress. The pictures aren't that great, but I hope you can get an idea of what an amazing dress this is!

Here is a picture of Spirit showing Lady Bug the "Quiet Time Box" I ordered from Scribbit's Etsy shop. This box is so cute and so perfect! The one I ordered has a princess theme - the little characters inside are prince, princess, witch and a king.

Tonight we are having her special dinner and some friends of ours are coming over after dinner to have cake and ice cream with us!

The princess birthday menu

Tomorrow is Lady Bug's 3rd birthday so we are having a special princess dinner in her honor!

Here is our menu:

Sliced strawberries with a little sugar
Pork Chop Casserole (one of her fave's)
Salad with Ranch dressing (also one of her fave's) - must be Ranch, nothing else will do for a princess
To drink we will have strawberry milk (pink for a "pretty in pink princess")
For dessert we will have the Strawberry cake she picked out (from a box) and I bought some white frosting. I may look for a tiera and a wand to decorate the top of the cake with.

When I was in the hospital after delivering her a friend of ours came to visit and he brought us Good Times Valentine Cherry Chip Frozen Custard ,so for the last 2 birthday's we have had some of that too. I am not sure if we will get it this time or not. Last year Mr. Man drove to 3 Good Times to find it LOL

My weight loss strategy

Over the last 4 or 5 years I have joined (and dropped out of) a couple gyms, done the South Beach Diet and lost 12 pounds (which I proceeded to gain back when pregnant with Lady Bug), done a soup diet, tried pills and diet shakes, joined and flunked out of Weight Watchers, exercised at home, ordered products from an informercial to help me lose weight and also tried a diet called Slim in 6 weeks (which did help me slim down but then I quickly gained it back).

But another one of my 2008 goals is to lose 25 pounds by August 1. As of today, I have lost 8 pounds I wanted to share some of the things that helped me lose the weight so far.

1. First of all, I did not follow a diet plan. I merely cut back on my portions. I used one of the smaller kids-sized plates to help me take less food. What I found was that I would be done eating and everyone else was still eating and I was having a hard time not taking more and more, so I would excuse myself from the table (I know, we lost some family time...but it just had to be done!). I would do laundry or start cleaning up. I explained to the family why I was leaving and they all understand (as much as their skinny little bodies can!)
2. I am also watching my calorie intake. I am not a nazi about it, but just try to be careful whenever and where ever I can.
3. Cut back on soda. I was having at least one, sometimes 2 or 3 pops a day. I now have one a day and sometimes not even one.
4. Increased my water intake. I am trying hard to do the eight 8 oz glasses of water per day. Sometimes I make it to 8 and sometimes I don't.
5. Following the weight watchers idea of "eat what you want" and so I don't deny myself..... BUT when I want the cake I stop and think about the calories and say to myself "is it really worth the calories? You will need to give up something somewhere else today" Again, WW points, if you eat certain things then you dwindle away at your points and pretty soon you have no points left to eat dinner... that sort of thing. So I just think about that type of stuff. Is the cake worth giving up dinner? If I want a cookie, then I eat one.... not 3 or 4, just one. Which is hard, but is definitely do-able!
6. I have 3 small children and a house to run, when can I find time for exercise? Never! Just kidding., but it isn't easy most of the time. Our house is small and there is no room for exercise equipment in the house. So I have some videos that are good. I also have been trying to get out and walk (when it isn't freezing cold and snowing). I take the boys with me, they bike and I walk fast. I have a pedometer and try to walk 1 mile in 20 minutes so that I get my heart rate up and burn calories.

So those are my current strategies. I am not losing fast, but that's ok at this point. Come June I may get a little more desperate, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it!

I am on a roll!

One of my goals (the list was long, by the way!) for 2008 was to be prompt in mailing out birthday cards and getting cards to everyone! Now, keep in mind I come from a family of 6 and we all have kids. Plus my husband comes from a family of 5, but being 13 years older than me and being the second to the youngest in his family there are lots of nieces and nephews and even lots of great-nieces and great-nephews to keep track of!

In January I only missed one of our niece's birthday -- she is in her early 20's so I figured she would have been more surprised that I remembered anyway and she likely did not even notice I did not mail a card! All of the little kids (15 and younger) that had birthdays in January received thier cards in plenty of time thankyouverymuch!

I have already purchased, signed and sealed all of the cards for February and they are patiently waiting to be mailed --in plenty of time of course! I even purchased, signed and sealed a Valentine's Day card for a friend of ours who is in a nursing home (I try to send her a card once a week or at least once every other week!)

Back in the swing of things!

I was "out of commission" on Friday (February 1) because Lady Bug was sick - again! This time I had to take her to the doctor because she was wheezing and couldn't catch her breath!

When we got to the doctor's office she was doing better with the wheezing part but she still had a high fever. They did a little swab in her nose and came back to tell me she had the flu! They checked her oxygen levels and they seemed ok. They gave me a couple prescriptions -- one of which I did not fill because the co-pay on it was HIGH and it was only to reduce the duration of the flu.

Lady Bug is doing a little better today, although I was up with her coughing from 3 until 5 when she finally was able to fall back to sleep.

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Since I was out of commission on Friday I am going to post some recipes now! I made some snacky foods for the Super Bowl yesterday and then our friends stopped by for a little while. It was a fun time!

I made 7 layer dip, football shaped calzones and Blitz Party Mix. Since we live in Colorado we are Bronco fans, but since they weren't playing in the Super Bowl I wanted to have some foods that represent New Enlgand and New York. This was a little challenging because I am not a fan of clams (New England) so I just chose to go "fishy" and I served Shrimp Cocktail. Then for New York I served Key Lime Cheesecake (which I purchased).

I'm sure everyone knows how to make 7-layer dip... but in case you don't here is the recipe I use.

7-layer dip

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
4 cups shredded Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese blend
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 cup guacamole (For this dip I just take a couple avacados mashed up and mix in garlic salt and a little salsa)
1 cup salsa
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, chopped (I use a little less because no one in my house but me likes these!)
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions (I omit the onions because no one in my house likes them)

Brown ground beef, drain and set aside. Spread the beans into the bottom of a 9x13 inch serving tray that is about 1 1/2 inches deep. Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded cheese on top of beans. Sprinkle beef on top of cheese. Spread sour cream very slowly on top of beef. Spread guacamole on top of sour cream. Pour salsa over guacamole and spread evenly. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese. Sprinkle black olives, tomatoes, and green onions on top.

For the football shaped calzones I used this recipe at Cooks Recipes. They were cute and fun, not as easy to make (shape) as I was hoping, but you could totally tell what I was going for at least!

The Blitz Party Mix was very fun and very easy. Everyone thought it was yummy. I found that recipe at the Quick and Simple webiste.

My husband typed up some "game cards" and had us all pick which team would score first and which team would get the first penalty and of course who would win. So there were about 10-15 questions on there that we all filled out before the game started. He had a model car as the prize (obviously I could have cared less about that but it was fun to play anyway!)