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!