Cyber Monday

I had a great holiday weekend! My husband had to work last year over the weekend following Thanksgiving, but this year he was off. It was fun to have him home. He helped us put up all the Christmas decorations and he hung the lights outside the house. It was a great weekend.

Today, he is at home (he gets this whole week off from work!) and we have a sick little 7 year old. He started getting sick yesterday, sore throat, cough and just plain not feeling good. He woke me up at 4:00 am telling me his throat hurt and he had a headache. Then at 7:00 am he came downstairs saying his head really hurt (he was convinced he had a migraine, but I am not so sure it was that serious). So Mr. Man and Lefty are on the computer shopping the Cyber Monday deals while I am at work! Not fair. My day is pretty packed with meetings today so I will have no time to browse the deals. I do intend to use my lunch hour today to do a little shopping.

I better get this posted and get ready for my first meeting today. Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready to have a great week! (I am)

Friday Recipe - Sweet Potato Casserole

I love this recipe! I am not a huge fan of the marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, but like this sweet potato casserole. It works well for holiday gatherings too because it can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator, then when you are ready to eat it you can warm it in the oven or in the microwave.

Sweet Potato Casserole
INGREDIENTS:
4 c sweet potato, cubed
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbls butter, softened
1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

TOPPING:
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/3 c all purpose flour
3 Tbls butter, softened
1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water just enough to cover. Cook over medium-high heat until tender; drain and mash.

In a large bowl, mix sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Thankful Jar

For the last few years over the Thanksgiving holiday we have had this tradition of taking a jar and some beads. As we eat we pass the jar and beads and everyone has to think of something they are thankful for... it is neat to watch the jar get filled up! One year I was "secretary" and wrote down all the things we were thankful for. It is easy sometimes for us to forget all that we have been blessed with throughout the year. I like to re-read the list a few times as a reminder of all the things my family is thankful for! It also impresses me what the kids come up with on their own. After the jar has been passed several times it is full of the colorful beads! We sometimes keep the jar out on the table through Christmas time as a reminder of all we have to be thankful for! It is just too easy sometimes to get lost in the hub bub of the holidays or start to feel sorry for ourselves when things go wrong and forget all the blessings we do have (such as our refridgerator and vacuum breaking about the same time - neither one a cheap replacement and both happened in October/November! Nice. But when I thought about all that we DO have it made purchasing those things a little easier to accept.)

This year, I want to continue to do the jar, but also start a journal of sorts so that year after year we can look and see what we were thankful for each year. I am thinking of decorating a journal together with the kids, maybe just using a spiral notebook and covering it with scrapbook paper. I am just tossing around ideas in my head about how to make this a better tradition than what we already have... ya'll got any ideas?

I am happy for our tradition but looking for ways to make it even better!

Tuesday ramblings...

I have been busy trying to get my house ready for company on Thanksgiving day. My mother and father-in-law will be coming over and one of my sister-in-laws and her husband will also be coming over. It will be fun.

I have the menu all planned out, grocery shopping done, well almost, I forgot a couple minor things that I will get tonight. Tomorrow I only work a half day so I plan to spend the afternoon really cleaning the house. It actually isn't too terribly dirty, but I want to give it a good dusting and vacuuming, plus a general pick-up of the whole house. I can't wait for turkey day - num num num! Good food and good company! Love it!

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Something funny Lady Bug said this morning:

She was watching Dora the Explorer show and at the end of every episode (for those of you not familiar with this show) Dora says "Thanks for helping us. We couldn't have done it without your help!"

So this morning after Dora says that Lady Bug says "Well, you did do without me. I didn't even get to watch the whole show."

It just made me giggle.

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Spirit made me cry this morning. Not on purpose, but he was asking me if he could take this cross he has in his room to school for show-n-tell. The cross was given 6 years ago to Spirit and one to Lefty also after the funeral services we had for the still born baby we delivered. The cross is gold and has the image of a small boy kneeling in prayer.

I asked Spirit how he was going to present it to the class. He said he would just say that it is a cross to help him remember the little brother he had that died at birth.

My eyes welled up and he said "I'm so sorry momma for making you cry. Are you mad?"

Me: "Of course not. I just get sad sometimes when I remember our baby."

He walked off and Mr. Man talked to him a little bit. Then I went over and hugged him.

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Not sure how many posts I will get done this week, so if I don't make it back on here I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Friday Recipe - Creamy Chicken Pasta

This is a quick, simple recipe and can be thrown together quickly. The Caesar dressing really adds a lot of flavor to this dish and it doesn't really need any other seasonings besides the dressing. It warms up well too. Everyone in the family just told me that we need to eat this more often!

Creamy Chicken Pasta
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fully cooked and cubed (I usually just use what I have, so sometimes I am using left over cooked chicken. Sometimes I use more than 3 breasts and other times it is less.)
1 lb package of penne pasta, fully cooked and drained
1 bag frozen broccoli and cauliflower mix (I use the kind you can steam in the bag, but any kind would work)
1 (15 oz) container cottage cheese
1 c creamy Caesar salad dressing
1/2 to 1 c grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together cottage cheese and salad dressing. Add in chicken pieces and pasta.

Cook veggies according to the package (since I use the Steam Fresh ones, I just nuke them in the microwave until cooked). Add cooked veggies to the chicken/pasta mixture and mix well to cover each pasta and veggie with the cheese/dressing.

Pour this into a greased 13x9x2 casserole dish. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until completely heated through (because everything is already cooked and mostly warmed it sometimes doesn't take as long as 20 minutes, so I start checking in on it after about 15 and go from there).

Ornament Swap

I participated in the Secret Ornament Swap with Its a Wonderful Life and I received my package already! I was so excited to come home to not one, but two boxes sitting on my front porch! YAY! Then when I went to take pictures... no batteries! ACK!

So after making it to the store to get some batteries then I was able to unpack the boxes! I wouldn't open the boxes until I could take pictures - do you know how hard it was to leave the boxes unopened next to the couch? It was haaaarrrrdddd I tell you!

Here is what I got:All in all I got a total of 9 ornaments, a cranberry candle, a very cute card and a wonderful wreath for my door!



Here is a close up of the ornaments:

**I got alllllllllll this wonderful stuff from Lovemy2dogs! Thanks girl!!

We usually put up our Christmas decorations on or around Thanksgiving so these will be proudly displayed next week! I will take more pictures after I get them hung up and post here again!

Thoughts...

Spirit has a girl in his class that has seizures. She wears a helmet for protection and she also has an aide that is with her at all times in case she has a seizure.

The first time it happened Spirit came home very concerned for her. Asking us why she would have those, what does it feel like to her and what does it do to her. He also admitted to being a little scared, not OF her but scared FOR her. I could see it in his eyes that first time that he was genuinely concerned for her.

Since that first time, the girl has had seizures in class probably 4 or 5 more times. Every time, Spirit comes home concerned. He wants to know if there is anything we can do for her, etc, etc etc.

The teacher has done some explaining to the class, which has eased Spirit's mind on it, but he still tells us every time she has a seizure. He knows now she has a medical condition that causes this, he knows they should turn her on her side so she doesn't choke, and he thinks it is really nice that two girls in his class hold the girls hand after the seizure to make her feel better.

For some reason last night he was really thinking about her (and wouldn't be because he wants to marry her... click here to see why!). He wanted to get online to find out more about seizures and what causes them. He also described to me what it looks when she has one. He told me how the teachers are always calm about it so he realizes he should be calm too, but he told me that he just wants to help her.

It occured to me, at that very moment, as I was looking into those big brown eyes that I might be looking at the next great doctor. Maybe that is what he will aspire to be when he goes off to college.

Have you ever read the below poem, which is for teachers, but totally applies to being a parent in so many ways as well.... I just love the poem and actually have a copy in my house that I look at often!

WITH APOLOGIES TO NONE
~Author unknown~

When I am introduced as a teacher, I am usually asked what I teach.
I reply, "I teach the little ones." So often the response is a flat "oh."

I have never been certain whether it is an expression of
sympathy or disinterest. I wish I had the time to say something like this:

Where else would life look as bright to me as it does having an
energetic group to whom nothing is impossible?

Where else could I walk into a room and see so many
eager faces turn to greet me?

Where else could I wear the same thing day after day and
still be told I look pretty?

Where else could I guide the first letter formations of a chubby little hand
and think that someday it might write a book or sign
an important document?

Where else could I so quickly forget my own aches and pains because of
skinned knees, bumped heads, and broken hearts that need my consolation?

Where else could I feel so close to my Maker as I do each day,
when because of something I've done, little children learn and grow?

Yes, I teach the little ones and I love it!