A Blessed Life

First Day of School for Bo and Sophie

2009-08-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

We are 2 weeks in to school and I am just now getting my "Back to School" pictures up. Bo and Sophie both are enjoying school and they both have their Best Friends in their classes this year.

I am so lucky that my mom works at the school my kids go to. She called me just this morning and reminded me that Bo is supposed to stay after school today and I totally forgot. This was the first day of school and we stopped by her office to say hi. Sophie was so excited and Bo was just ready to get to his classroom.

Next stop, Sophie's 1st grade classroom; we love Mrs. Denton!

We finally made it to Bo's 4th grade class. I had to ask Mrs. Sanders to step outside so I wouldn't embarrass Bo too much when I took this picture.

World of Coke

2009-08-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

As an end of the summer field trip, Mom and I took the kids to the World of Coke. The kids had so much fun walking around and seeing the different Coke items.

We had the biggest laugh when we were taking this picture! Reed wasn't quite sure of the Coke Polar Bear. He did sit down so not to seem too HUGE, but Reed was still nervous.

The 4-D movie was amazing. Sophie and Reed were a little scared of the bumpy seats and the water being sprayed in our faces, but when it was over they wanted to do it again.

While we were waiting on the movie to begin, Reed found an air vent. Little things amuse him.

The long awaited "Taste It" section was our last stop. We tasted so many different Coke products from around the world, good and bad. Our favorite turned out to be the American drinks, Cherry Coke, Mr Pibb and Coke. Reed just loved pouring the drinks for himself and then emptying them into the trashcan. He was a sticky mess when we left. Everyone else was pretty wound up from the caffeine overdose.

Our last stop was Johnny Rocket's for Milk Shakes and Burgers and Hot Dogs.

Reed's 3rd Birthday (Peach Cobbler)

2009-08-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

He's so adorable. Sometimes I just can't stand it! This little boy melts my heart and he is 3 years old.
We are still learning about Reed's personality. He is definitely the comedian of the family. He loves to make people laugh. He is between the age of wanting to be a "big boy" and still wanting to be the baby. He just can't decide. Just last night at dinner, Michael and I were admiring a cute little baby at another table. A few minutes later, Reed said, "Mommy, I don't want to be a big boy anymore." Reed is also coming into the age of having friends. He has always loved to play with Bo and Sophie and their friends, but now he is learning how to have friends his own age. He was very well behaved in his preschool class and he was the only boy for most of the year. I think because I know that he is my last child, I am trying to postpone his aging. I don't mind that he wants to be the baby still, because I love to hold him and cuddle with him.

On the day of his birthday, June 30, Reed, Cooper and I met Michael at Chic Fil A for lunch. Reed got ice cream for dessert and Cooper got a milk shake.

We even got a visit from the Chic Fil A Cow.

Sometimes I just get a really good picture of my kids and I want to blow it up and put it in a frame. I think this is one of those pictures.

That night, we got some cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to Reed. Here he is showing us he is "3 years old."

We had Reed's party on Sunday afternoon. I just served some appetizers and desserts. I made some cheese dip, grilled some smoked sausages, and had cheese and crackers. I purchased a Cookie Cake and a Micky Mouse CupCake Cake from Publix, bought some brownies from Sam's, and I MADE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PEACH COBBLER I HAVE EVER SEEN. You can see a close-up of the cobbler and the recipe below.

Showing their muscles, getting ready to eat cake

Blowing out the candles

All the grandparents

Parker, Reed, Cooper and Carson

Reed got a sandbox from Nana and Grandaddy.

He loved the Spiderman Bike from Nana and Papa!

And here's the Peach Cobbler!!!! I even did the lattice-work crust! After a long and careful deliberation, I decided we would actually eat the cobbler and it was as good as it looks (if I do say so myself).

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

10 - 12 peaches

2 cups sugar

2 sticks Butter

2 Pre-made Pie Crusts, cut into 1 1/2 inch strips (the kind that are rolled out in the refrigerator section of the grocery store)

Peel and slice all the peaches. You should have about 8 - 10 cups of peaches. Add sugar and melted butter. Mix well.

Pour half of the peach mixture into a greased casserole dish. Next, layer pie dough across the top of the peaches, it doesn't have to be pretty because it will be in the middle of the cobbler when you serve it. Sprinkle pie dough with sugar and place in a 350 oven until crust is brown and peaches are bubbly.

Next, pour the rest of the peaches onto the browned pie dough. Then layer the top of the cobbler with pie dough. To make the lattice appearance, I placed all the long pieces on first. Then I started in the middle of the cobbler with the shorter pieces, weaving them through the longer pieces. Very hard to explain, but not too hard to do. It helps if the pie dough is very cold.

Put little pieces of butter all over the pie crust and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 1 hour or until crust is brown.

This is my Aunt Thelma's recipe although she calls for a homemade pie crust. I think Pillsbury works just fine.

Baby Henry (Jimmy Carter Cheese Ball)

2009-08-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

Daniel and Angela had their baby boy Henry on August 6. He was 5 weeks early and weighed 4lb 5 oz. He is amazing.

Unfortunately, Baby Henry was born before his own Baby Shower. Both he and Mommy were still in the hospital at the time of the shower, but we had it anyway.

Sherry opened a few of the presents so we could get a peek, but we saved most of them for Angela to open when she returned home from the hospital.

I just love shower food. Joannie ordered the cake and made the delicious punch (I've got to get the recipe for that). I made meatballs. Instead of making the meatballs from scratch, I just bought the frozen kind and made a yummy sauce to go with them. I accidentally bought HUGE meatballs and they ended up being kind of a mess, but they still tasted good. I also made a cheese ring. I'm not sure why we call it a "Jimmy Carter Cheese Ring." We just do. You can find the recipe below.

Henry is finally home now. I still can't get over how little he is.

Just look at those eyes. They melt my heart.

Jimmy Carter Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

1 lb Cheddar Cheese, grated

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup mayo

1 sm onion, finely grated or chopped

Strawberry Preserves

Crackers

Mix well all ingredients except preserves. Press into a 5-6 cup greased ring mold. I use my bundt cake pan. Refrigerate several hours. Unmold and set small bowl of preserves in center of ring. Serve with crackers.

The Beach (Fruit Salad)

2009-08-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Our Summer trip to the beach this year was AWESOME! The kids are at perfect ages for playing in the waves and just hanging out by the water all day. We had some great food and we stayed at a new Condominium Complex that we absolutely loved!

Sophie, age 6 / Reed, age 2 / Bo, age 9

Me and my grandmother, Meme

This is the whole group! It is so much fun being able to spend time with my cousins that I don't see very often and seeing our kids play together.

Tiffany's kids: Cooper, age 4 / Madi, age 11 / Russ, age 9

My handsome Bo

Superstar Sophie

Reed, the entertainer

Michael can't sit still at the beach. He tried to surf all week.

God's Promise

There is nothing more beautiful or peaceful than the sunrise over the ocean. Ahhhhhh...

Cute!

Every summer at the beach, Meme makes a huge hot dog lunch for our whole group. The hot dogs are delicious because Meme makes them in the oven and she toasts the buns in the electric frying pan. We always have chili, sour kraut, onions, and all the other traditional sides. The other thing we always serve at the beach is Fruit Salad. I got to help Meme with the fruit salad this summer and I also got to go to the grocery store with her to get the supplies. I learned how to pick a good peach. We probably bought 10 - 12 peaches and Meme inspected each one carefully.

Fruit Salad

10 - 12 ripe peaches

1 large bag cherries

1 pineapple

1 jar Marzetti's Original Cole Slaw Dressing

Chop everything up into bite size pieces and mix together. If the peaches are not too sweet, you may need to add some sugar. I just cut the cherries in half and take out the pit. Serve the dressing on the side. It is delicious!

Time with Family (Layered Salad)

2009-08-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

My cousins Brooke and Paige have moved out to California and their brother, Brian now lives in New York. This summer we were lucky enough to get to visit with them at my Aunt Jackie's house. Her house is on a lake and we often get together there for family functions. It's perfect.

Sophie out by the lake

My cousin Brooke's oldest son, Leo

Brooke's middle son, Luke

Russ (I love this picture!)

Russ, Leo and Bo fishing off the dock

Brooke's youngest son, Lincoln and Reed

Bo, Grandmother and Russ

Sophie on the rope swing

Janie and Uncle Jim

My CA cousin Paige, me, my NY cousin Brian, Janie and Tiffany

Cooper playing in the sand

My dad, My beautiful Mom, My beautiful Aunt Jackie and My Uncle Jim

The 2 Reeds (My CA cousin Paige named her son Reed too. We didn't even know we did this.)

My Uncle Jim and the CA Reed, his grandson (look at Reed's tongue)

NY Brian, Grandmother and CA Paige

My sweet Grandmother

I can't exactly remember if we had this layered salad at my Aunt Jackie's house this summer, but it is definitely something we always have at our family get togethers. It's a good salad and most people really like it.

Layered Salad

Ingredients:

1 head lettuce, rinsed and chopped

1 small red onion

1-2 cups Swiss cheese, grated

1 can Baby Green Peas

2 cups Mayo

Sprinkles of Accent

Bacon (Fried and chopped into bits)

In a large Tupperware container, layer ingredients in order. Add bacon just before serving and mix the salad together.

Weekend Getaway at the Lake

2009-08-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

My cousin Wayne and his wife Dianne invited us to spend the weekend with them at the lake this summer. I just can't explain how much fun we had.

Wayne took Reed out for a SLOW RIDE on the jet ski.

Tiffany gave Cooper and a lot of the kids jet ski rides.

Bo and Russ on the "Tube"

McKayla, Sophie and Madi sitting on the back of the boat

Sophie and Molly (Sophie is giving the "thumbs up" sign which means to go faster, but as soon as we went a little faster, she would give the "thumbs down")

Wayne giving Bo a jet ski ride and jumping waves

Zac Brown, sometimes I just want to kiss him in the lips.

After the fun we had at the lake, Tiffany and I took the kids to the Stone Mountain Laser Show where we were met by a big group from our church, including Mom and Dad.

Russ, Bo and Christopher. I don't remember another time laughing so hard as when I watched them dance all night. They are good boys.

Bo's 9th Birthday

2009-08-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

I just can't believe Bo is 9 years old. There are so many good things I can say about him, of course I am partial. He is steady and patient. He doesn't give up easy. He is well behaved and he has good manners. He is a great athlete and excels in everything he tries. He is an excellent student making mostly A's and a few B's. He has so many friends! And he is a good friend too. I am so proud of him and the young man he is turning out to be. He is a Christian and he is not ashamed of that. He is not a follower he is a leader. 9-plus years ago, when I found out I was pregnant with a boy, my friend Kristen told me... "Those boys, they love their Mama's." I believe that is true. He loves and respects me. He helps me whenever I need him and he never complains. I am so blessed to be his mother.

On a lighter side, we had a big swimming party here at the house for his birthday! It was so much fun! I just ordered a BUNCH OF PIZZA, and there wasn't a bit left. Here are most of the kids at the party.

His cake was a wrestling ring and I bought some miniature wrestlers and stuck them in the cake.

Michael got some Braves tickets on Bo's actual birthday, June 30 and Bo chose to take Russ and Ben.

This is Bo hitting in the World Series. I loved watching his team play this year! They are so good!

This is one of Bo's best friends, Will. They look out for each other.

Father's Day

2009-08-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

It is our Annual Father's Day tradition to spray Michael with "Silly String." The kids have so much fun trying to surprise him. He usually knows it's coming, but I think this year he forgot!

Bo left for his first "Church Camp" on Father's Day. After church, we came home, attacked Micheal with Silly String, ate a quick lunch, got Bo's stuff for camp and then left to take Bo back up to the church.

Here's Bo getting ready to load the bus with some of his friends.

After dropping Bo off at the church, the family came over to celebrate Father's Day. Sophie loves watermelon!

I'm not really sure what Madi is doing here... I just think she is naturally beautiful and this is an example of her sweet smile.

This is Lee, Tiffany, Dad and Me. I am so lucky to have such a close family and such a Godly Father.

Sophie's Recovery

2009-08-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sophie had her tonsils removed in early June and here I am updating about her recovery in late August. I am a little behind...

This is Sophie taking her medicine. Bless her heart, she really has a hard time taking any medicine and this stuff was really gross.

She got a lot of phone calls from all of our friends and family. She couldn't really go outside and play, so she loved getting phone calls.

Her BFF Cheyenne came over and just hung out with her. Here they are eating more mashed potatoes.

Uncle Lee came over and brought some "craft" stuff.

Reed is Sophie's little doll. He calls her "Mama" when they are playing.

Sweet Ashtyn came and entertained Sophie by just sitting around and coloring with her.

We are so thankful to everyone who sent cards, called or stopped by for a visit. This was a very hard time for Sophie and every one's support was greatly appreciated.

A Rough Day for Sophie (mashed potatoes)

2009-06-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sophie had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She also had her birth mark taken off her face.

We, along with her ENT decided that it was best to go ahead and get rid of the tonsils because of her on-again, off-again relationship with Strep Throat. Her ENT also suggested that we remove her birthmark (on the left side of her face) because it might turn into something more dangerous when she got older. She has never mentioned wanting the birthmark removed, but we figured when she got older she probably would. Michael and I thought we would just leave it up to her. But when the Dr told us it would prevent future problems, we decided to do it while she was out with the tonsils.

This is Michael and Sophie in the waiting room. She got a "Sunshine Gift" from Meme, her great-grandmother. It was full of books and writing supplies. Sophie was excited and she was already working on a story. The first line she wrote was "One day I went to the hospital." Then they called us back.

Sophie put on her gown and the nurse brought her a Dr Wellbee stuffed animal. She had already brought her puppy and favorite blanket from home. She is pretty much feeling like a movie star in this picture. My mom and dad came in shortly after and brought her a bag full of Crafts. Her eyes lit up looking through that bag of goodies. After we talked to the Dr and the anesthesiologist, the nurse came in and asked Sophie a lot of questions and strapped all kinds of things to her. We joked and laughed about Sophie's disposition. She was so confident and happy. She didn't seem nervous at all. We gave her lots of hugs and kisses and the nurse wheeled her off to the O.R. As they wheeled her off, she was sitting strait up in her bed just looking around and smiling.

We all went back out to the waiting room during the surgery. The doctor would come out to see us when they were done. It was almost an hour later when they called us back and told us the Dr was about to come to see us. He said everything went fine. Michael and I then went up to her room to wait for her there. It was a VERY long time before they wheeled her up. Apparently, it took her a while to come out of her deep sleep. When she came up to the room, she was still very disoriented and upset. My mom and dad and Michael's dad came up to visit her but didn't stay long so she could rest. She drank a little water and after a while she went back to sleep.

She slept for about 2 hours and then opened her eyes and said "Was I asleep?" She started drinking water and watching TV. She wasn't very happy, but she wasn't upset either. Her favorite show, "I-Carly" was on and she enjoyed watching that. Pretty soon she started asking to put her shirt back on, for her IV to be removed and she wanted to go home. Her pain medicine was a little hard to swallow, but after that she got up, went to the bathroom and walked around in the hall. So, the nurse started getting us ready to go home.

Of course they wheeled Sophie out of the hospital in a wheel-chair and she loved that. She asked me if she was going to have to use the wheel chair when she got home.

We got home at about 3:00. Sophie was very hungry because she hadn't eaten since the night before. She ate a few bites of mashed potatoes, that I had already made in preparation of her soft foods diet. But what she really wanted was some CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!

After the mashed potatoes and ice cream Sophie took another long nap. Michael stayed outside with Bo and Reed so Sophie could rest. The worst part of the whole thing came a few hours later when the nausea kicked in. She really wasn't able to hold anything down, but she was still drinking a lot of water, so I didn't worry too much about it. She got out all of her goodies from her Nana and Papa and Meme and started looking through them, but was only up for about 20 minutes before getting too tired then she climbed back in bed. At about 10:30 she was hungry again so I made her some macaroni and cheese and she ate a big bowl of that.

Now, I am still reeling from a night of not-so-much sleep (could be the reason this blog is a little "wordy.") Sophie woke up with a fever and she got sick again at about 4:30. Got her calmed down and she went back to sleep until about 6:30. She woke up asking for scrambled eggs. So after eating a few bites of her eggs and drinking some water, she went back to sleep and is still on the sofa asleep. I hope she is able to rest today.

Michael is at Bo's baseball tournament in Peachtree City. He took Reed with him so I can concentrate on taking care of Sophie.

I'll post again soon with an update on Sophie.

If you don't know how to make good mashed potatoes, here's my recipe. It's very easy.

Mashed Potatoes (not low-fat)

10 med. Potatoes

1 stick of Butter

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1 cup Half n Half or Milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Place them in boiling water until they are well done. Drain and add butter. Using a hand mixer, mash the potatoes and add the rest of the ingredients. The measurements of each ingredient can be adjusted according to your taste. This recipe will make a big bowl full of potatoes.

School's out for Summer!

2009-06-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

Summer is underway! It has started off not so good for Sophie. On the first day of summer, she got an ear infection with a ruptured ear drum. And on Friday she is having a tonsillectomy and her birthmark removed. Hopefully after this week, she will feel better.

My tomatoes are looking good. I planted them in the ground at first but decided they were going to die because of drainage issues, so I replanted them into containers. I think they are finally perking up. I have about 12 green tomatoes growing right now and I am eagerly waiting for them to ripen up.

Bo is still playing some good baseball. He is always wanting to go, go, go. If he's not going anywhere, he wants someone to come over. Summer is going to get boring for him really fast if he thinks he has to always have some entertainment.

I can say for a fact now that Reed is potty trained! After a lot of false starts, we have finally reached the finish line.

Now that the kids are out for summer, it's hard for me to work on my real estate classes. I have not given up. I am going to get it done. I just can't believe how long it's taking me!

Here are a few picture updates. The end of the school year was a blur for me. But I am glad summer is finally here!

Michael's brother Daniel finally turned 30! We had a fun party with family and friends out at the pool. Reed just can't get any cuter.

Michael's Mom and Dad with his brother Daniel and Daniel's wife Angela. She is due in September.

Bo and his cousin Bailey. They get along really well!

Another one of our family functions where everyone just breaks out in dance. Can't remember what song this was, but aren't they pretty?

We also had Dad's birthday here at the house. This is all of us.

This is dad with some of his buddies.

We told them they couldn't go swimming until we got this picture. Isn't that mean?

The kindergarten classes performed at PTA. This is after the performance.

Then the PE coach turned on some dance music and the girls all started dancing. I love it!

Sophie's Kindergarten graduation

Mom and Sophie after graduation

Bo's end of the year class luau

Sophie's end of the year luau

Sophie's softball team party

More Bo and Bailey at the lake. They couldn't wait to get the boat out!

Michael and Reed on the jet ski.

The beginning of summer party at my house with the "cousins." They are some of the COOLEST KIDS you will ever meet.

Don't Tell My Husband About This Post... (Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream)

2009-05-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

Not Really... I never keep secrets from Michael. I can't. It's not my nature. I think I just feel guilty about sitting here at the computer and NOT working on my real estate class. I SAID I wasn't going to write any more blogs until I was through with my classes. Now I am finding myself not wanting to take pictures anymore because I won't be posting them on my blog anyway. So, I am breaking my own rule. Here are lots of pictures to let you know what's been going on around here.

Some of the neighborhood girls hanging out with Sophie and Reed in the backyard.

Reed and Cooper on a Field Trip to the Farm.

I fixed Taylor's hair for her Prom. Isn't she beautiful?

Most of you heard about the pound cake I dropped on the floor, but here is a picture of it. (I made this yummy pound cake for Teacher Appreciation Week and when I was transferring it to the plate, I dropped it. So, I made another one to take to the school.) By the way, we ate the pound cake that dropped on the floor. It was still good.

My Grandmother on Mother's Day. I couldn't get her to smile. She is the Matriarch of our family.

Mother's Day at my Aunt Jackie's house. I love hanging out with all the girls! In this picture we are planning Anna's bridal showers.

Occasionally, we break out and dance in the kitchen. Not really, Madi and Rebecca are trying to teach us the "Hoedown Throwdown." We are getting ready for Anna's wedding reception.

Reed and his cousin Jack.

I can't believe Sophie is swimming in the cold lake.

Lee fishing with Russ and Bo.

Michael, Brandon and Reed relaxing by the lake.

Field Day with Bo

Field Day with Sophie

Sophie got the GAME BALL after she hit a HOMERUN! And the Ice Cream truck just happened to be sitting in the parking lot as we were going to the car! Bonus!

The neighborhood kids all came over for a swim one sunny afternoon in April. I guess I was in a good mood that day!

Memorial Day at the house. Mom relaxing by the pool.

Sophie and Cheyenne

Cooper and "The Smile"

Baby Cydney and Carter

Caleb and his eyelashes

Michael and Brandon in a heated game of ladderball. Notice Michael's perfect form:)

Bo and Russ waiting their turn at ladderball. Don't think that's gonna happen.

For Memorial Day we had some delicious BBQ that Carter made. I would have to say it was the best BBQ I have ever had. Also we had hashbrown casserole, cauliflower salad, baked beans, brownies and homemade icecream. Mom made the ice cream and it was so good. She also brought some toppings. She made a raspberry chocolate sauce with chocolate fudge sauce and raspberry jam that was so yummy. But my favorite topping was the strawberries, mmm.

Here's the recipe she used for the ice cream:

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cans Eagle Brand Condensed Milk

1 pt whipping cream

1 qt half & half

Whole Milk

1 sm bottle vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients except milk and pour into ice cream freezer. Stir in milk until mixture reaches fill line. Churn until set.

Time to Catch Up!

2009-04-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have blogged and we have so much to catch up on! I am still working on my real estate license. I haven't given up, it's just taking me forever! There is a company of men outside my house right now cutting down some very large pine trees. This makes me so nervous! I am starting Jillian Michael's workout, the 30-Day Shred. Should be interesting. My tennis team made the playoffs!

And in other news, here are a few more updates with pictures. They are in SO random order:

Sophie had 7 inches cut off her hair! This broke my heart, but it looks really cute! She's been wanting to do this since the beginning of the year, but I told her to wait until after Easter. She also got strep throat again last week. I have an appt with the ENT in May. She's probably going to have to have her tonsils removed.

Opening Weekend of the Pool! It was in the 80's this weekend so the kids had a great time outside! Our pool heater is broken (Long, long story) so the temperature of the water was in the 70's still, but the kids didn't care.

It was Disciple Now weekend at our Church. I had the High School girls spend the weekend at my house. This is some of them out by the pool when they had a little down time.

One day last week the boys were outside playing after school. I told them they couldn't go swimming. This is what I found when I went outside!

Ice Cream after a day at the ballpark! Can't go wrong there:)

Knock on wood... Reed seems to be calming down a little at home with the "mess-making!"

Sweet Baby Cydney is getting big! She is up to 7.5 lbs now. Monica and I are trying to exercise everyday.

Bo ate the biggest grape I have ever seen! He said it tasted ok.

My tulips finally bloomed!

Sophie had her Fairytale Ball at school. She wore her flower girl dress. She had so much fun dancing with her friends!

I love it when all the guys come to hang out at our house! This is a few of them on the back porch cooling off!

Reed's in his big boy bed now. He has only fallen out a couple of times and he has gotten up in the middle of the night 3 times. Still working on it though.

Baseball (Bo is an awesome pitcher!)

Softball (She's a cute little shortstop!)

A Homerun! Sometimes a pound cake turns out perfect! This time it did! You can get my recipe for Mom's Five Flavor Pound Cake here. Instead of a sheet cake pan, use a bundt cake pan. Make sure to grease and flour it well.

Easter (Teacakes)

2009-04-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Here are my kids on Easter morning. Aren't they beautiful?

OK, so I am a little behind with my posts...

Easter started on Saturday morning with a very cold Easter Egg Hunt at Church.

When we left church, we took the boys to get a haircut. I ran by the grocery store and then we took the kids over to Mom and Dad's to color Easter Eggs and have another Easter Egg hunt with the cousins. Meanwhile I stayed home to work on my cooking.

We celebrated Easter on Saturday night with Michael's Mom's side of the family. It was a fun time to be with family we don't get to see too often. I took a Pineapple Casserole. We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and lots of good sides. Here is a picture of the kids and some of their cousins getting ready for another Easter Egg Hunt!

This is a picture of Michael and his Grandfather. Everyone calls him Strawberry, or Straw for short.

After a great church service Easter Morning, we headed over to Robert and Judy's house. (Judy is my Dad's cousin.) I grew up very close to all my cousins on this side of the family and now we all have kids of our own. There are always a lot of kids to play together and there is so much for them to do. Most of the kids in this picture are third cousins. I love it!

Along with an inflatable bouncy, a huge playground, and alot of land to wander around, there are several 4-wheelers that are running all afternoon. This is my second cousin Jon, taking Sophie on a joyride.

Regretfully, we didn't make it to Michael's grandmother's house to visit with his Dad's side of the family or over to my Aunt's house to visit with my Mom's side of the family.

I made A LOT of teacakes this Easter. I took some to Robert and Judy's and sent some over to my grandmother. I think I was in college when I first went over to my Grandmother's house to help her make her teacakes. She made these for every holiday. She made them for my birthday. She made them for my graduation parties from high school and from college. My Grandmother is known for her teacakes. After I learned how to make them, I started helping her on the holidays, to save her time. I also started taking them to parties of my own and bridal and baby showers. A lot of people that try them say they remind them of cookies their Grandmother made. I am proud of this recipe and of being able to make them like my Grandmother did. She says she makes them like her Mama used to make them. There is a lot of heritage in cooking, which is a whole post of it's own. Here is a picture of my Grandmother holding Reed when he was a baby. I can't believe I can't find a more recent picture. You can bet I will have one soon..

Grandmother's Teacake Recipe

I never make just one recipe of these cookies. For Easter I made 4 recipes. I think that made about 7 or 8 dozen. Usually, I will make the cookies one day and ice them the next day.

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups White Lily self rising flour, sifted

1/4 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla. Mix with flour and milk. Divide dough in half, wrap in wax paper and chill for several hours. Well chilled dough is easier to roll out. Sometimes for the sake of time, I will put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350, depending on how your oven cooks you may need to adjust the temp. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out with round cookie cutter and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 13 minutes.

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.

Now it's time to ice the cookies. For the icing:

1 box confectioners' sugar

3 Tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup whole milk, heated in microwave for 30 seconds

Few drops of food coloring

Mix sugar, butter, vanilla and food coloring. Add milk gradually. You may not need all the milk. Consistency: You should be able to spread the icing to the edge of the cookie and the icing shouldn't drip off the sides. You will need to keep stirring the icing so it stays smooth. This is how I do it:

This is the finished product. Yummy!

Coldest Spring Break Ever!

2009-04-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great Spring Break! It was cold and a little miserable, but it was a good time to get away. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Reed just came up to me and said "take my picture." Then he went and laid down on the sofa and did this. What a ham!

Tiffany brought a portable DVD player and the kids had fun watching movies on the bed.

Bo, Madi, Russ and Sophie played their DS all the time. It's good they brought them because we were cooped up inside alot.

I never took my jacket or sweat pants off while we were outside.

You would not believe how cold it is outside by the fun that the kids were having.

Reed loved playing in the sand.

Sophie played in the sand for a while. She finally got brave enough to get in the water, but she was so cold.

Russ, Bo and Madi got wet from the beginning. The cold water was warmer than the cold air.

We made tacos one night for dinner. One night we ordered Pizza. The other night we went out to eat at Lulu's. It is one of our favorite places to go while we are there. They have a huge sand area for the kids to play in. Apparently, Lulu's is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister. Every time I go I get the "Cheeseburger in Paradise." It's soooooo good! If you go, be prepared to wait. It's worth it though.

While we were there I also enjoyed reading a book. I didn't think to bring one of the many books from home that I plan on reading. But I was really in the mood to read, so I read one of the books that my Aunt already had in the condo. The book is Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy. It wasn't my favorite book ever, but after reading all of the Twilight books, it was a nice easy read that I didn't have to pay too much attention to. Every morning, I would get up and make a cup of Instant Coffee. Yes, you read that correctly. I normally don't do "Instant" but I LOVE General Foods International, French Vanilla Cafe. When I was in college, in the Education Building, there was a vending machine that sold this coffee by the cup. I would drink this everyday during my break. Just the smell of it brings back such vivid memories for me. Every now and then I will get in the mood for this coffee. Now that they have the decaf version I can drink it a little more often.

Every time I called Michael while we were gone he told me about this "project" he was working on. He wouldn't give me details. When I got home I found our Powder Room to be completely redone. (It really needed because of the towel bar that was hanging from the wall by one side with a scratch mark all along the wall where it broke. Sophie had also added a little artwork on the wall in the form of a smiley face girl with a bow on her head. The toilet paper holder was also broken.) I was so Happy! Michael is not an indoor project person. If he is going to work around the house, it's mostly going to be the outdoor stuff, like landscaping. The last time I asked him to help me paint was before Bo was born and he almost had a nervous breakdown from the tedious nature of painting. So when I saw that he painted the bathroom and put up beadboard and crown molding, I had to question if he really did it himself. He said that he got a little help with the woodwork, from his cousin David. But I was shocked to find out that Michael actually did all the painting. It looked really good and he even picked out a color that I liked. What a good, good man! I love him!

Overall, Spring Break was a lot of fun. I think the kids really had a good time and I know they will always remember these little trips with their cousins.

Happy Birthday Madi! (Mac n Cheese)

2009-04-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

Today is my niece Madison's birthday. I am so proud of her. 11 years ago today we were all biting our nails, pacing the halls, and driving the Doctors and nurses at the hospital crazy. You would have thought the future queen of England was about to be born. Undoubtedly, Madi has lived up to all the hype!

We love to watch her dance! I can't believe how good she is. She is so sweet to all of my kids! She helps me watch Reed. She treats Sophie like a friend, not like a little cousin. And Bo thinks she is cool.

One of Madi's favorite foods is macaroni and cheese. I found this great recipe for macaroni and cheese and I am definitely going to try it one day soon. Check it out here.

These are just a few pictures of Madi that I have taken over the last week.

We love you Madi! You are beautiful!

Here and There (Pan Sauteed Chicken and Vegetables)

2009-04-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

Good Times!

Last weekend, Tiffany's kids spent the night with us! It was a cool rainy night and I made a big pot of Chili. The kids play so well together. When it's time for bed, I make a big pallet (sp?) on the floor, start popping the popcorn, fix the drinks and put in the movie. Usually this settles everyone down until they fall asleep watching the movie. This week they watched The Gameplan. When I came in to check on them at 12:00, Cooper the 3 yr old in the red pjs, was the only kid still awake.

On Saturday night the kids went to stay with Mom and Dad while Michael and I went to a Birthday Party for my cousin Wayne... at Stars and Strikes. Normally when you think of Stars and Strikes, you think of kids' parties, but Wayne just turned 36. None of us brought our kids and it was so much fun. I bowled the best game of my life! I bowled 2 strikes in a row and on my next turn I almost got another strike, I just left one pin standing. Now, I am not a bowler by any means, so this was huge, HUGE for me! Here's a picture of Michael and me on our way out the door. What a fun night!

Back to the kitchen, I have been trying to incorporate more vegetables into my cooking lately. I don't think my kids are getting enough vegetables because they don't really serve green beans or carrots at Zaxby's or Chick Fil A. This is a new favorite recipe for me, although the kids didn't really get into the carrots. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but this is what it looks like before you cook it in the oven. It was delicious!

Pan Sauteed Chicken and Vegetables
I got most of this recipe off of the back of the Swanson Chicken Stock container. I just changed it around to suit my tastes.

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs. all purpose flour
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 large onion, cut into thick slices
1 lb. baby new potatoes, cut into quarters
5 medium carrots cut into thick slices
5 cloves of garlic
1 - 2 cups Chicken Stock
Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Put flour in a large baggie and then add the chicken. Shake the bag to completely coat the chicken with flour.

Heat oil in large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until well browned on both sides. Remove chicken.

Add onions and potatoes. Cook 5 min. Add carrots, garlic cloves and chicken stock, scraping down the bottom. Heat to a boil and return chicken to skillet and cover.

Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-04-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

I am turning 38 today! In honor of this special day, here are 38 random facts about me that you may or may not find interesting:

1. I love to bake! I learned this from my Grandmothers. One of my favorite memories of all times is sitting in my Grandmother's cramped, 3 ft by 4 ft kitchen and learning how to make Teacakes. Now, I'm the person in my family who makes the teacakes every holiday. I am proud to be able to do it. I can also remember as a very young child helping my Meme make biscuits.

2. I have an insatiable sweet tooth. My favorite candy is Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. I love strawberry pies.

3. I drink decaf coffee every morning. I just like the way it tastes. I also like coffee with dessert. I hardly ever drink anything with caffeine in it. Caffeine really messes with my sleep.

4. I love to nap. I love to go to bed early. I love my bed. I hardly ever sleep late anymore. I guess I am getting old.

5. I think it's neat that even though my Pop (my Dad's dad) died when I was in high school, he knew my husband from church. My Pop and Michael's grandad worked together at the local mill when they were younger.

6. I love it when people say that my daughter looks just like me. And I love it when people say that I look just like my mom.

7. My boys look just like their dad and I think their dad is the most handsome man in the world.

8. Michael (the hubby) is a multi-tasker and can do lots of things at one time. This is one of the things I love about him because I am a "one thing at a time" person.

9. I love reality TV. American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Big Brother, Survivor... the list goes on and on.

10. I am athletic. I play tennis, I'm not very good but I hope to get better. I have also played and/or coached golf, softball, basketball, soccer, track and gymnastics at some point in my life.

11. I don't love to dance! I think I am too inhibited. I DO love to dance to the "oldies" with a partner though. Sometimes I think I should have lived in the 1950's or 60's.

12. I love old movies. Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn, Carey Grant, and Grace Kelly are some of my favorite actors. I love Breakfast at Tiffany's, An Affair to Remember, and Pillow Talk.

13. I love the "80's" I love the music (Come On Eileen), I love the movies (Sixteen Candles), I love the hair, I love the clothes. I loved being in high school in the 80's.

14. I am a rule follower. I drive the speed limit.

15. I love my Dad. He has been making me laugh for 38 years. He has always been around for me. He coached my sports teams growing up. He was at every game I ever played as a High Schooler. Now he comes to all of my kids games. He's so wise about everything and he is a good listener.

16. I got a new camera for my birthday and I can't wait to learn how to use it.

17. I am creative. I am good at crafty things.

18. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist so when it comes to the "crafty things" I mentioned in #17, it usually takes me a while.

19. I am very patient and laid back. I am not bothered easily by people or circumstances.

20. I have a new elliptical machine and I love to work out on it.

21. I can't wait to go swimming again in our backyard pool. Next week is Spring Break and I hope to be spending a lot of time out there.

22. Unless we go to the beach. We are spontaneously planning a trip to the beach for Spring Break. I love spontaneous trips.

23. I love to wear sweat pants.

24. I am going to let Sophie get her hair cut after Easter.

25. I am going to MAKE Bo get his hair cut before Easter.

26. I ABSOLUTELY HATE, with a fear that many people have never known, the dentist. I would say, this is my biggest weakness.

27. I can't wait until the tulips bloom in my front yard. Any day now.

28. I am content. I love my life right now. Thank you God!

29. I wear a size 9 shoe. Most of that is my toes. I have really long, skinny toes.

30. I love to wear dresses in the summer and spring.

31. Even though I look like my mom, I hope to act like her too. She is someone who will bend over backward to help the ones she loves. She is the true example of the Proverbs 31 woman. I love my mom!

32. I am very close to my brother and sister. My brother is in Belize right now sharing Jesus with the kids in school. He will be home this weekend. I see my sister everyday. I keep her 3 year old (Cooper) while she teaches 4th grade. Her son, Russ and Bo are the same age and Madi is almost 11 years old. Sophie looks up to Madi like a big sister. And Madi is so good to Sophie and Reed.

33. I love to plan parties and menus. I am good at delegating, but sometimes, I just like to do everything myself.

34. Both my grandmothers and Michael's grandmothers are still with us. Including Michael's grandfather, my kids have 5 Great-Grandparents around to teach them and love on them. I love to hear stories from our grandparents.

35. My main job in high school and college was being a life guard. I also cleaned house for a sweet little Jewish woman for a short time in college. I also worked at HoneyBaked Ham during the Holidays. My family called me the "Pork Princess."

36. When Bo was a baby, the Paulding County Sheriff's dept. stormed my house looking for a fugitive car thief, while we were home! (Long, scary story)

37. I have never broken any bones.

38. This was harder than I thought. I usually don't really focus on myself.

I'm Changing the title of my Blog (Chili)

2009-03-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

A BLESSED MESS! That's more like it these days. It seems my life is one big continuous mess! Poor little Reed, I'm not blaming everything on him and I LOVE HIM! But oh my goodness that boy can get into things... Let me just give you a few examples from this week:

You know the big, big boxes of Goldfish crackers that you buy at the grocery store? He dumped the whole thing out onto Sophie's bed.

Oh and the Q-Tips! Those stinking Q-Tips! He loves to empty the box and spread them throughout the house. Q-Tips are not very easy to put back in the box once they come out either.

Here's a picture of him after he dumped my canister of rice out into the floor of my pantry. He started to clean it up, but then he liked the sound the rice made as he put it back into the canister. It got worse from there. (Sorry all you organized people for the messy pantry.)

And here's another picture of the mess he made after emptying our TV armoire of all the movies.

I'm not going into detail and I don't have a picture for this, but yesterday, Reed gave a whole new meaning to the words "Poop Deck." Luckily for me, I was away at Bunco and Michael was on call to clean this one up.

Do you think I never watch him? I do!!!! It just seems like every time I turn my head he goes to find the first thing he can get his hands on.

I don't care what he does, he will always melt my heart with those big brown eyes. Even as I sit and clean up all of his messes, I never get mad at him. I am fine with him being two and being a "mess - maker." He's my last baby and I'm just not ready for him to grow up.

I read a great quote from Katie Holmes about cute little Suri. "I've never met a 2-year old who is terrible. I'm so cool with every stage my daughter goes through. I just think she's amazing. I hope she's not looking at me thinking, Mom, are the terrible 30's coming on with you?"

Reed, Sophie and Bo are my precious gifts from God! I love every minute of being their mom!

The cousins are coming over to spend the night tonight and I made a big pot of Chili. It's been a rainy and dreary couple of days around here. All of our Ballgames are cancelled for tomorrow. So tonight, we are going to stay in, have a bowl of Chili and watch "Twilight."

Have a Great Weekend!

Here's my Chili Recipe:

2 lb ground sirloin
1 med onion
2 packets Chili seasoning
2 large cans diced tomatoes
2 large cans Hunts Chili beans
5 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
3 Tbs Franks Red Hot Sauce

Brown the ground sirloin and the onions in the bottom of a big stock pot. Drain. Add the Chili seasoning packets and stir. Add diced tomatoes, chili beans and sauces; stir. If you like a soupier Chili, add a can of V8 or some water. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes to an hour (The longer the better).

I serve my Chili with Fritos, Sour Cream, Mustard, Mozzarella Cheese and crackers. We will probably have some hot dogs also in case the kids don't want chili.

Baby Cydney (Hashbrown Casserole)

2009-03-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend: 1 softball practice, 1 birthday party, 1 tennis match and 5 baseball games that ended with us winning 1st place in the tournament! I also lost Reed once which was a little scary, but after a lot of help we found him. Here is a picture of our team after they won! Way To Go 'Horns!

This is what Reed does during a baseball game. He is filthy!

The concession stand is Sophie's favorite part of baseball!

The highlight of my week was the birth of Baby Cydney Claire Check, daughter of one of my favorite people in the whole world! Monica left for the hospital at about 9:00 on Monday night and at about 9:00 the next morning, Cydney was born with a head full of black hair! It's going to be so fun to have a baby around again. Here she is at the hospital on the day she was born. I think she has stars in her eyes.

We took dinner over to Carter and Monica's house on Friday. I made some fresh green beans, hashbrown casserole and bought some rolls and a turkey breast from Honey Baked Ham. I also made an egg custard pie for dessert. Here's my recipe for Hashbrown Casserole:

Hashbrown Casserole

2 lb bag frozen hashbrown potatoes

1 tsp salt

2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cup sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

Corn Flakes

1 stick melted butter

Mix all ingredients together except Corn Flakes and butter. Place in a greased casserole dish. Crumble up several handfuls of Corn Flakes in a single layer over the top of the casserole. Drizzle melted butter over cornflake topping. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Russ' Birthday (Baked Salmon)

2009-03-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

I'm still here working on my computer real estate classes. I've decided to push back my test date to May. This will give me a little more time to finish my computer work and I will be able to take the "Cram Course" before the test. Apparently this cram course is helpful for taking the state exam and I need all the help I can get.

We had Russ' (nephew) birthday party last weekend. Tiffany took all the kids to see "Race to Witch Mountain" and then they went to Stevie B's for dinner. After that, we all met at Tiffany and Brandon's house for Cookie Cake, Ice Cream and Presents. Bo and Russ are really into Bakugon right now, so that's what we got him for his birthday. Here's a picture of Bo and Russ at the party. Russ is actually a little taller than Bo, but he was sitting down when I took this picture.

Because we really like to celebrate a birthday for as long as possible, on Tuesday, we met at Taco Mac for Russ' actual birthday. Here are the cousins being silly and playing "the claw" after we ate. They all make me so happy!

Russ was Bo's first best friend! I can remember when Bo was barely talking, I would go to his room every morning to get him out of his baby bed and the first thing he would ask me was "Where's Russ?" They get into a little mischief sometimes. Just as an example, when they were about 5 years old, we found them in the middle of a kudzu patch down behind our church one day. It was actually pretty dangerous, because that was some thick kudzu, but Tiffany and I couldn't stop laughing at the sight of them. We could barely see their heads poking out of the top. We just had to take a picture!

I'm so proud of Russ and the kind young man he has turned out to be, but mostly I am thankful for him being such a good friend to Bo.

On another note, I made some really good Salmon last night. Sophie loved it and she had 2 helpings. Here's a picture and the recipe:

Baked Salmon

1/2 pound butter

4 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp prepared mustard

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 - 3 lbs of a fresh side of salmon, skin and bones removed

In a small saucepan heat all ingredients for sauce until almost boiling. Set aside half of the sauce to serve with the cooked salmon.

Baste both sides of the salmon and place on an aluminum foil lined pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily.

A Quick Friday Note...

2009-03-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

I have been working on the computer all morning while the boys are playing and taking it easy.

I just thought I would let you know about how DESTRUCTIVE my baby boy has become.

Yesterday, Reed emptied a whole bag of sunflower seeds out into the floor of Sophie's bedroom. It took me a while to clean that one up. I found sunflower seeds in her bed, under her bed, in her closet, in her bookshelf and in her baby bed. I am still finding them.

Yesterday afternoon, I popped a bag of popcorn and left the whole bowl of it on the table for the kids to snack on. I was in my room getting ready to go to Russ' baseball game and when I came out, I found Reed sitting on the kitchen table throwing every bit of that popcorn to the ground. It was scattered and stomped on all over the kitchen, breakfast room, living room and hallway. No, he didn't just spill them, he was throwing the pieces of popcorn in different directions... and laughing.

Now, this morning, Reed was sitting in Michael's recliner and drinking his milk and watching his favorite show. I didn't worry about it being so quiet because this is the calmest part of my day. When I strolled back through the living room to fix another cup of coffee, I noticed white fluffy stuff all over the floor. It looked like a cloud had landed right there on the floor. No, it wasn't a cloud. Reed had figured out how to open the zipper of the cushion of the recliner and he had pulled every bit of the stuffing out of the cushions and had thrown it out on the floor.

All this in less than 24 hours!

What is it about boys and messes?

I love him to pieces though!

It's Been a While, I know... (Lemonade Cookies)

2009-03-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

My schedule has been pretty manageable lately. For the most part, I have kept up with the laundry. I have even been cooking. The reason I haven't been blogging is that I am working on getting my real estate license. Right now, every spare minute I have at the computer is put into working on the on-line courses that I have to take in order to get to the Final Exam (just the word "exam" stresses me out!). I'm not really doing it to get into a full-time career in real estate. I have family members who can help you there. My goal is to be able to help Michael with his customers who want to buy rental property. For anyone who reads this that doesn't know me, Michael, my husband is a mortgage banker in Douglasville. So... I am learning something new and we will see how it goes. I am trying to be finished with the on-line part of my classes by the beginning of April.

Meanwhile, back to the kitchen. Sophie and I had a fun time making chocolate chip cookies the other day. We even videoed it in the form of a cooking show. I would love to post the video here because it is too cute! Sophie does everything herself! She uses the mixer and splatters sugar and butter all over the place. She tells what all the ingredients are. I especially love it when she says, "Next you add the manilla." Unfortunately, I can't figure it out and it just won't come up on my blog. I will try to get Michael to help me if I can lasso him down long enough. Here's a picture I did manage to pull off of my video.

I had a kitchen "FLOP" last week too. 4 words: Split Pea Soup = Disgusting!

On Saturday, Bo played 2 baseball games. It was such a beautiful day! Here are Mom, Dad, Michael, Bo and Russ hanging out after the game.

We had a home tennis match on Sunday and I was in charge of bringing something sweet. I made Lemonade Cookies and they were wonderful! I wasn't prepared for how long it took me to make these, but they were worth it. Here's a picture and the recipe:

Lemonade Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

Lemonade Icing

In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter. beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, lemon zest, and lemon extract beating well.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed, blending well after each addition. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each portion in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 6 - 8 minutes. Let cool in pans for 2 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Decorate with Lemonade Icing and Sprinkle with decorator sugar or sprinkles if desired.

Lemonade Icing:

3 cups confectioners sugar

6 Tablespoons butter, softened

6 Tablespoons frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, butter, and lemonade concentrate. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer until well combined.

Shower Food (Petite Fors)

2009-02-27T06:57:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at the shower last night. The food turned out really good and I wasn't stressed out about getting everything done. I started cooking early in the week because I didn't want to have to do everything the day of the party. My petite fours were a huge success! (See recipe below.) I will definitely make them again. It wasn't hard, it was just time consuming.

The Menu:

Jello Slush Punch / Coffee / Tea / Water / Soft Drinks

Cheese Straws

Toasted Pecans

Spinach / Strawberry Salad

Croissants

Hot Chicken Salad

Mixed Fruit (Thanks to Missy)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Petite Fors

I found Pink Hershey Kisses at Walmart that said, "It's A Girl." I got a good deal on white roses from Sams. I put pink balloons everywhere, even on the mailbox. I got my plates and napkins from platesandnapkins.com (thanks Jackie). They were pink and brown and they were perfect. We did play one shower game where everyone had to guess the flavors of baby food just by looking. It was fun and a good way to let Sophie be involved in the shower.

Speaking of Sophie, she lost another tooth yesterday. She looks so cute!

I'm heading into the kitchen now to clean up my mess. It's not too big of a mess thanks to my friends who helped with clean up last night. I've also got to get to work on laundry because we have another weekend full of baseball. Hopefully we won't get rained out, but it's not looking good. Have a great weekend everyone!

Jodi's Petite Fors

Pound Cake

(I used my mom's "Five Flavor Pound Cake" recipe and baked it in an oversized cake pan.)

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 tsp each: coconut flavoring, rum flavoring , almond flavoring , lemon flavoring, vanilla flavoring

Cream together margarine, shortening and sugar. Add eggs and beat thoroughly. Sift flour and baking powder. Add milk and flour to butter mixture and mix well. Add flavorings and mix well. Bake in a greased and floured over sized rectangular cake pan. (I also lined my pan with aluminum foil and greased and floured it again because I wanted to make sure it didn't stick.) Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes. Grabbing the aluminum foil, pull the cake out of the pan and place on wire rack to cool completely. Wrap cake entirely with foil and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Teacake Icing:

(I used My Grandmother's "Teacake" Icing for this. I just made it a little thicker than I normally do.)

2 lb Confectioners Sugar

6 Tbs. melted Butter

2/3 cup whole milk (heated for about 30 sec in microwave)

2 tsp. vanilla

Few drops of Food Coloring

Mix everything together and stir until smooth. Don't add all the milk at first. You will need to add it gradually until you get the consistency you are looking for.

Icing the Petite Fors:

This is the time consuming part. First, I trimmed off the edges of the cake. The scraps are a good treat for the cook:) Then I cut the cake into squares, as consistently sized as possible. ( I used the bottom of the cake as the top of my petite fors, does that make sense?) I then spaced three cake squares out on top of one of my wire racks. I placed a large bowl underneath them. Then I poured the icing over the cakes one at a time. I made sure to put the icing on top pretty heavy and it dripped down the sides. The leftover icing went into the bowl and the rest stuck to the cakes. I did need to use the back side of a spoon to make sure the icing was covering the sides of the cakes evenly. This took a while and I had to stop several times to empty the icing from the bowl underneath my wire rack. I also had to make sure there were no cake crumbs in the icing, because that's just not pretty. Finally, for decoration, I made another batch of icing and colored it brown with cocoa. I put about a cup full into a plastic baggie and poked a whole in the bottom. Then I made stripes on the tops of the Petite Fors. (I tried to make polka dots but I couldn't make them not look like yummy, pink and brown dice.)

Good Times with the Family!

2009-02-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

I have a very busy week this week, so I am just going to post a few pictures to let everyone know what we have been up to.

On Friday afternoon, Tiffany, the kids and I went with Meme to our favorite restaurant, Steak and Shake.

On Friday night, Michael and I went on a date to Fogo de Chao. I can't even explain how good this was. It's a Brazilian steak house where they bring the meat around to your table on skewers and carve it right on to your plate. We went with David and Missy and it was a delightful night. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I didn't.

Saturday morning, Lee came over for his birthday breakfast. I made him and omelet with all the fixins'. (One day, I will write down my omelet recipe and include pictures. This is one of my classics.) It was a fun time with Lee.

We spent the rest of our weekend at a baseball tournament for Bo's team. Bo's good buddy Will rode with us. I just think they are "Hot Stuff!" We came in second place in the tournament and it was absolutely freezing during the playoff game. For the final inning, Sophie, Reed and I sat in the car with the heat on. All the players were wrapped up in blankets when they were in the dugout. It was fun though. One of the highlights was when the game was tied, we were the home team, we had the bases loaded, it was the last inning of the game and Bo was up to bat with 1 out. Strangely enough, I wasn't nervous at all. I knew he would pull through for his team and he did! With a full count, he got the game winning hit which advanced us to the playoffs. Whoohoo! That was so exciting!

I'm hosting a baby shower on Thursday, so you won't hear from me again until Friday. I will definitely take pictures. I'm making petite fours for the first time ever. I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a great week!

Winter Break Update (Peanut Butter Poundcake)

2009-02-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

We are in the middle of winter break right now and I love it! We stayed around the house yesterday. I got caught up on the laundry and the kids worked downstairs cleaning up the playroom. Now, we can enjoy the rest of our week together. We will probably go see a movie tomorrow and maybe we will visit the park later in the week.

Friday night Bo and Russ spent the night with Lee and Cheyenne (Sophie's BFF) spent the night with us. Sophie and Cheyenne have been best friends since they were 2 1/2 years old when their brothers were on the same baseball team. I remember they used to play in the dirt together. Then they went to preschool together and were in the same class for 2 years in a row. Now they are in kindergarten at the same school, but not the same class. We also live in the same neighborhood which makes playing together very convenient. On Thursday afternoon, Sophie walked down to Cheyenne's house to deliver her early Valentine gift to Cheyenne. It was a best friends shirt and they both wore them to school on Friday. Here's the picture, precious:

We also enjoyed putting a 1000 piece puzzle together this weekend. This is something that everyone in our family loves to do, especially Bo. He is so unbelievably patient for an 8 year old. Sophie likes to take a piece out of the part of the puzzle that is already completed and put it back in the same spot. Reed will sit at the table with us and just ask if he can help. We usually just say no and he understands. He will be able to join us one day. For now, I'm just thankful he doesn't try to destroy the puzzle.

My favorite thing about this weekend was our tennis match. It was a beautiful day and the kids got to play outside all day long. Michael and I finally got to play together and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes people say it's hard to play with their spouse, but not me. I loved it! We ended up playing 3 sets and finally won the match in a tiebreaker!

It was a home match and I was in charge of bringing a dessert. I woke up early Sunday morning with baking on my mind. I finally decided on a Peanut Butter Poundcake, from Johnnie Gabriel's cookbook, and it was delicious. Here's a picture of the leftovers and the recipe:

Peanut Butter Poundcake

1 cup butter

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

5 large eggs

3 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lour a 15-cup tube pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Put the milk in a small bowl and add the vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the sides and the bottoms of the bowl. Fold in the mini chocolate chips . Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on wire rack for 10 - 15 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack and invert again onto a serving plate.

I frosted mine with a chocolate buttercream frosting and sprinkled with mini chocolate chips. Next time I will try the cooked fudge frosting.

Valentine's Day Fun! (Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Rice Krispie Treat Kisses)

2009-02-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

I had such a fun day with Sophie's class! I had an hour an a half to do Valentine's Day centers with the kids. I've been planning this for a while and 3 other moms came in to help. I started off by reading the kids Froggy's First Kiss. Then we started the centers. Valentine's Bingo was at one station. We made Frog Bean Bags at another station and then at my table, we made Rice Krispie treat kisses. I brought my wok into the classroom so we could melt the butter and marshmallows. The kids helped me read the recipe and after we mixed everything together, I crammed a serving of the rice krispie treat mixture into a well-greased funnel and placed it on the table. After letting it cool, the kids lift the funnel and . . . the Rice Krispie treats are in the shape of a (Heshey's) Kiss. To finish them off, we wrapped them in aluminum foil. They were so cute and the kids had fun making them with me. Mostly, I just let them measure the cereal and pour it into the marshmallow and butter mixture.

For the last several years, I have made chocolate covered strawberries as teacher gifts for Valentine's Day and this year was no different. Tiffany always gets me to make them for her kid's teachers too. Bo especially loves chocolate covered strawberries and me too. During the week of Valentine's, I start looking for some really good, big strawberries with the long stems if possible. This year I found some really nice ones at Walmart, believe it or not. Walmart also had the best prices on the Bakers Chocolate Dipping tubs. I think I ended up buying 8 pounds of strawberries and 9 tubs of the dipping chocolate. I made 11 teacher gifts.

Michael and I probably won't do anything special for Valentine's Day. We have a birthday party, 2 basketball games and a very long baseball practice tomorrow. Although it will be a busy day, it will be a great day being together with my family.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kids In the Kitchen (Semi-Homemade Pizza)

2009-02-11T04:54:00.000-08:00

The weather has been so gorgeous around here lately! We have been taking every opportunity we can to get outside. I know it won't last, because it is just mid-February, but I have my fingers crossed!

Last night, Bo had a 5:30 baseball practice and we were going to have to leave at 4:30, so we had an early dinner and I let the kids help. I totally recommend trying the Chef Boyardee Pizza Kits. I buy the Cheese Pizza kit that makes 2 large pizzas. I will also buy some ground beef, sausage, or pepperoni to go on top. I usually make the dough and brown the meat and then I let them add all the toppings. Next time I'm going to try one with all the veggies I like. The kids love helping me in the kitchen and I love to have their help.

We've had a great week so far! This is Sophie on Monday night getting ready for picture day at school the following day. She picked out this outfit and I went with it!

I just couldn't resist getting a close up because she thought I was going to let her wear make-up to school. I hope you can see the baby blue eyeshadow, frosted pink lips and the all over glitter.

Bo and Reed are buddies! Bo is so patient with Reed and helps fix him drinks and snacks for me. The other day they jumped on the trampoline together for at least an hour. At dinner time last night, Bo went to get a drink and Reed followed him and said, "I want a cup just like Bo." I bet this is just the beginning of the "just like Bo" stage of Reed's life. Here they are sitting together watching TV. I think they were watching SpongeBob or something.

Baby it's cold outside! (Sausage & Rice Stew)

2009-02-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

We've been freezing here! I can't believe how cold it's been. If it's going to be this cold, we should at least get some snow. I made Sausage & Rice Stew on Wednesday and it was yummy, perfect for a cold night! Here's the recipe:

Sausage & Rice Stew
1 pkg (16 oz) smoked turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 lg sweet onion chopped
3 lg garlic cloves minced
1 Tb canola oil
2 cups water
1 can (14 1/2 oz) reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cans white kidney beans or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups fresh baby spinach

In a dutch oven, saute the kielbasa, onion, and garlic in oil until onion is tender. Add the water, broth beans, rice and seasonings. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in spinach *. Cook 5 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted.

(*I'll admit that I didn't add the spinach for the whole family. I only added about a handful of the spinach to my bowl. I knew the kids and Michael wouldn't go for it.)

We have yet another busy sports weekend coming up. Bo played basketball last night, Sophie will play tonight. They both have basketball games tomorrow. Bo also has baseball practice tomorrow and I get to go to a baby shower for my girlfriend Janell. I decided I would sit out a week of tennis so I could go to Bo's first scrimmage game on Sunday. I think Bo's team is really good so I can't wait to see how they stack up against the other teams he will be playing.

Tag, your it! (Brown Sugar Bars)

2009-02-04T07:55:00.001-08:00

I've been tagged twice by Tiffany and Angie! I'm always up for a good game of tag!

So, here's what you do:

1. Go to your 4th folder where you store your photos.

2. Select the 4th photo (no exceptions).

3. Post the picture with an explanation.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

5. I tagged Allison, Flo, Jill and Julie

The 4th photo in my 4th folder was this picture of Sophie in Oct 2005, asleep in the car. She sleeps just like I do, with her mouth wide open:)

Speaking of Sophie, my poor baby is sick again today. She has strep throat AGAIN! I can't remember how many times this is, but it's a lot! We are going to visit the ENT soon, I hope she doesn't have to have her tonsils removed, but if it will help we are definitely going to do it. Anyone have any recommendations for a good ENT?

Also, speaking of tonsils, did you know your tonsils can grow back? I had strep throat around Christmas and I went to a "minute clinic" type place to get a prescription and the Dr said I may have to have my tonsils removed again. Yesterday, at Sophie's dr appt, I asked if tonsils can grow back and the answer was yes. Very interesting...

So here's Sophie, at home with me today. She is full of energy and bouncing off the walls! I couldn't send her back to school today because she is still contagious. . .Although, she was probably just as contagious yesterday when she called me from the school complaining of a sore throat. Poor baby, I didn't go get her because I didn't really think she was that sick. I thought she was just wanting to come home:( She called me on Monday, from the nurse's office because she bumped her head on the table at school. Then on Friday of last week, she called me from my Mom's office (Mom is the book-keeper at my kids' school! Awesome for me!) saying she had a tummy ache. So, when she called me yesterday, I just put my foot down and said, "Just try to stay at school and if you aren't feeling better after lunch, you can call me." I decided to go ahead and make a dr appt for her after school because Cooper, my nephew, had strep throat and Sophie was around him all day on Sunday. Sure as the world, she had it and I am holding the title, "Worse Mom in the World!"

I did hyave some fun in the kitchen some this weekend! We had a home tennis match and I made some Ham/Cheddar wraps. These are perfect for tennis, because they are easy to transport and easy to eat. They were really good too. You just lay out a flour tortilla, spread a small amount of mayonnaise on it, layer it with good deli ham, lettuce shreds, and some shredded cheddar. There are tons of other stuff you can add to it also, but for a crowd, I try to keep it simple. Then you just roll it up. Depending on the size of the tortillas, you can cut them in half or leave them whole. Then I wrap each one in plastic wrap so they stay fresh. I also bought some Hebrew National "pigs in a blanket" from the freezer section at Publix. They were delicious and very low maintenance.

For the Super Bowl party, I made Brown Sugar Bars. I wanted something pretty simple to make and something I could make on Saturday, because Sunday's schedule was going to be tight. Here's that recipe:

Brown Sugar Bars

I wish I had taken a picture because they are really fancy looking with the almonds on top.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 (12 oz) pkg semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, roasted

Beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture beating until blended.

Press dough into an ungreased 15x10 in jelly roll pan with lightly floured fingertips.

Bake at 350 for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden. Place pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over warm cookie. Let stand 5 minutes; spread chocolate chips evenly over top. Sprinkle evenly with almonds. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Make about 3 dozen.

Vacations Revisited

2009-02-02T07:18:00.000-08:00

I am a single mom until Wednesday. Michael is flying out today to go to Washington DC to meet with a different branch of his company. He told me what the meeting was about, but it just went in one ear and out the other. I will miss him when he is gone. He is such a help with the kids and around the house. I am pretty lucky because he's the neat one. He always puts his clothes away, he cleans the kitchen after I cook (sometimes) and he always gets up with Reed during the night. Reed usually sleeps through the night 80% of the time, but that other 20% really gets to me. Michael is a good dad and husband.

Last year at this time we were on our way to Lake Tahoe with David and Missy. I love to take vacations with Michael. We usually take 1 vacation a year without the kids. I don't think that's going to happen this year. So, I will just reflect on our previous vacations and dream.
Here we are at the top of the slopes in Lake Tahoe (2008). I love this place! Michael and Missy loved to ski the "moguls," so one day, I went to the spa, David went to the casinos and Michael and Missy stayed on the slopes. I don't know the last time I have been that relaxed. One of my favorite things was to ski all day then come back to the hotel and sit in the hot tub out in the middle of the snow. One of my all time favorite restaurants is in Lake Tahoe, Fire and Ice (http://www.fire-ice.com/). We never had to take a car anywhere we went. We walked everywhere. We also went Ice Skating, that was my favorite too.

This is a picture of us in Cabo San Lucas (2007). I really hate this picture because it was before we lost alot of weight, but it was such a beautiful place. My favorite memories of this place are the guacamole, the infinity pool and the fresh pastries and coffee that were delivered to our room every morning. We also saw whales playing out in the sea every day. In 2006, we went on a cruise to St Martin, St Bart and St Thomas. It was LOVELY. I loved every bit of it. One day Michael and I rented a car and navigated the very tiny, very skinny streets of St Bart. We had lunch in a small cafe and went to a secluded beach by ourselves. Another day was spent with friends on a charter boat "island hopping." This is a picture of us at the Soggy Dollar. It's called the Soggy Dollar because there is no dock, you have to swim to shore. What you can't see from this picture is that we are out in the middle of nowhere. We are standing on a beach with a restaurant behind us. I was about 6 months pregnant on this trip and everyone treated me like a queen!
In 2005, we vacationed at the Ritz Carlton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was probably my favorite place to stay EVER! This was also where Michael lost his wedding ring playing football on the beach. My best memory of this trip is when we went to a near by hotel, The El San Juan, to wait on some friends. Michael left me sitting in the lobby to go to the bathroom and one of the locals approached me and asked me for my autograph. He said I was very beautiful and asked me if I was famous. Hee Hee. Michael said he was just hitting on me, but I don't care. I was flattered! Another night, we rode by taxi to a local restaurant where we had the best lobster I have ever had! I cracked up in the taxi listening to Michael try to speak Spanish to the driver. We would never make it on Amazing Race.

In 2004, we went to St Kitts in the Caribbean. This was our first trip with Michael's company so we didn't know many people yet. Michael won an award for being the "Rookie of the Year!" I loved sitting out by the beach everyday and reading. We had some great volleyball matches, our branch won! I can't remember much more about this trip other than we were in shock at how extravagant everything was.

Before we started going on trips with Opteum, Michael and I liked to go to Brasstown Valley Resort (http://www.brasstownvalley.com/). It is just a few hours drive away in North GA. It has the best Breakfast buffet I have ever had with an awesome omelet bar. They have a beautiful lobby with a huge fireplace and a breathtaking view of the mountains. I'm hoping to go back one day soon.

Hope I didn't bore you with my "trip" down memory lane. It's good to remember all these fun times that Michael and I have experienced. We Love to vacation together!

Random Notes from the week (Amish Friendship Bread)

2009-01-30T06:36:00.000-08:00

I love Fridays! It is the one day of the week that I can stay in my pajamas and not worry about hurrying off to get somewhere. It's been a good, fast week for us.

I dared the mall on Monday because I HAD TO GET new glasses. My eyes were a little infected from something, so I had to give the contacts a break for a while. My friend Monica met me there and she helped me pick out a cute "hip" pair that I wouldn't be embarrassed to wear. I was totally afraid that if I picked them by myself, I would end up with a pair of glasses that were a cross between Harry Potter and Sally Jesse Rafael. Sorry there are no pictures of me in my new glasses, but here are my two darlings being so patient with me.

It was such a nice day on Tuesday, the whole family loaded up and went to Bo's baseball practice. I did not know that the temperature was going to drop dramatically when the sun went down, so we ended up freezing. Poor little Reed got into the car with his teeth chattering. We went to Longhorn for dinner because I was going to be cleansing on Wednesday and Thursday. I LOVE the Salmon Dinner at Longhorn! Here is a picture of the kids goofing off that night. I'm sorry about the ketchup on Sophie's face.

We always eat good at Longhorns. Reed gets the macaroni and cheese, Sophie gets a hot dog, and Bo get the kid's steak. Bo also eats the oranges off of the other kids plates. They won't eat them.

Wednesday and Thursday were quick days for me. I was cleansing, so I wasn't eating anything. I was drinking as much water as I could and I would drink some juice that I bought through Isagenix, so I wouldn't be depriving my body of what it needs. I did pretty good with my cleanse. I lost 7 pounds. This isn't as good as I was hoping. But, It's a start and I am motivated to continue with the program. I also made it to the gym 3 times this week. With tennis on Sunday and hopefully I will fit in a little treadmill time in the basement, I will feel like I have exercised enough this week.

Last week, my sweet neighbor/friend gave me a starter for Amish Friendship Bread. Sophie and I love to "play" in the kitchen together so this was fun for us. We fed the starter on Sunday, which was day 6. Then on Thursday, day 10 (my last cleanse day), we baked our bread. It's always fun being in the kitchen with Sophie and Bo likes to help sometimes, when he's not too busy. The bread smelled HEAVENLY as it baked. I must have done something wrong because it didn't rise a bit. The only thing I can think of is I must have mistakenly put plain flour in my self rising flour canister. It tasted really, really, good, but...it was not pretty and it was as flat as a pancake. I am going to try again in 9 days. I am keeping some of the starter for myself and I am going to give some away. I will let let you know how it turns out. Here's the recipe for the bread. It's a little different than the one my neighbor gave me. But I found this one on the Internet and I just cut and pasted, didn't feel like retyping. Let me know if you would like some of the starter.

Amish Friendship Bread
Important Note: Don't use metal spoons or equipment. Do not refrigerate. Use only glazed ceramic or plastic bowls or containers.
Required Main Ingredient
1 cup live yeast starter (see above)
day 1:
Do nothing with the starter.
days 2-5:
Stir with a wooden spoon.
day 6:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir with a wooden spoon.
days 7-9:
Stir with a wooden spoon.
Day 10:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each into three separate plastic containers. Give one cup and a copy of this recipe to three friends. To the balance (a little over one cup) of the batter, add the following ingredients and mix well.
1 cup oil 1/2 cup milk 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:
2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1-1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 - (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup nuts
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Busy Week Ahead (Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad)

2009-01-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

We had a good weekend, full of sports. Sophie had a basketball game, I had a tennis match, and Bo had a basketball game and 3 baseball practices. Sophie is trying to decide what she is going to do this Spring. She wants to play everything from soccer to softball, now she is even thinking about tennis.

This week is going to be so busy. There's something everyday of the week. Here's a rundown of the activities on our calendar:

Sophie - basketball practice, dance lesson, basketball game, birthday party

Bo - basketball practice, 4-5 baseball practices, basketball game

Me - bunko, Mom's taxi, tennis, basketball coach

Michael - 2 flag football games, coach for baseball and basketball

Reed - bless his heart, he's just along for the ride... He does get to go to a birthday party though!

We will all be watching the Super Bowl with my whole family on Sunday. I love Super Bowl Sunday because I get to see aunts, uncles and cousins that I don't usually get to spend a lot of time with.

I am still on my cleanse. Today is day 8. Only 4 more days to go. I am feeling so good right now. This morning, I got out of bed and got the kids off to school and got to work cleaning the house from this weekend's rush of activities. Usually, I go strait to the recliner and watch the news and drink my coffee. I love having this extra energy that comes with being healthy. For 7 of the 11 days of my cleanse, I am replacing 2 meals with protein shakes then having 1 healthy meal, between 400 - 600 calories. I have totally cut out all of the sugar and believe it or not, I am not drinking any coffee. One of my favorite low fat, great tasting meals is Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad. I found this recipe on-line and I make it every time I do a cleanse. I also make it a lot in the summer time because it is so light. Here's the recipe:

Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sesame seeds
½ cup roasted sliced almonds
2 (16 ounce) packages bow tie pasta
½ cup canola oil
2/3 cup light soy sauce
2/3 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup chopped green onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
2/3 cup chopped red or yellow bell pepper
DIRECTIONS
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame seeds, and cook stirring frequently until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain pasta, and rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to a large bowl.
In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds, ginger, and pepper. Shake well.
Pour sesame dressing over pasta, and toss to coat evenly. Gently mix in chicken, cilantro, celery, tomatoes, bell pepper and green onions.

Staying out of the Kitchen!!! (Chili)

2009-01-23T07:49:00.001-08:00

Here it is Friday and I haven't posted 1 blog all week. The main reason is that I have been trying to keep myself busy. The reason I am trying to keep myself busy is that I am hungry! Most of my friends know that I am into Nutritional Cleansing through Isagenix (http://jodistallings.isagenix.com/). I slacked off a little during the summer and over the holidays I think I went into SELF-DESTRUCT mode. I ate anything I wanted to and I never exercised, so here I am trying to catch up. I am on day 5 out of 11 and I am definitely on the upswing.

I've got a couple of things motivating me:

1. I have a pool in my backyard and I want to be able to enjoy it without feeling self-conscious.
2. My 20th class reunion is this September, enough said.

3. I just want to be healthy and be a good example for my kids, especially Sophie. I never want her to feel self-conscious about her body and I don't want her to see that in me.

With all of that in mind, I made Chile this week:) It was really good because it was REALLY cold this week. Luckily, it's warming up today, because Bo has his first outdoor baseball practice.

These are a few pictures from our week. On Monday, MLK jr Day, Michael decided to ride his bike to work! This is normally a 30 - 45 minute drive. He said it took him about an hour and a half. I did go pick him up at the end of the day because I didn't want him to ride home in the dark in busy Douglasville. Michael loves to ride his bike. Sometimes, he will get up at 5:00 AM and ride his bike then come home and leave for work before 7:00. He's crazy!

Cooper and Sophie play really good together. Now that she is in Kindergarten, he really misses her during the day. It's just not the same playing house with Reed, although he does try. This is a picture of Cooper and Sophie playing "Super Spies" one day when Sophie got home from school.

Here's my really quick, really easy chili recipe (I got it from Tiffany):

Chili:

1 lb lean ground beef

1 red or green pepper, chopped

1 sm onion, chopped

1 chili seasoning pack

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp. Franks red hot sauce

1 15 oz can Chile beans, undrained

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Brown meat with pepper and onion, drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Weekend Update (Strawberry Spinach Salad)

2009-01-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

We had a GREAT weekend! First of all, it was freezing cold on Friday. All I wanted to do was stay in my sweats and wrap up in a blanket. We did go eat lunch with Bo and Sophie at school. Cooper (nephew) and Reed ate the Lunchroom Pizza and they loved it! I wish I would have gotten a picture of their faces because they did get messy.

Friday night was Family night. We got "take out" for dinner and did puzzles. Here is a clip from the first part of our night when Reed and Sophie were working on their puzzles.

First of all, I would like to apologize on Michael's behalf. He didn't know I was recording, otherwise, I am sure he would have put the sandwich down. Secondly, it was a spur of the moment decision to video this puzzle time, so I just used my digital camera. Sorry for the poor quality. Lastly, in the background you can hear Sophie talking on the phone to Cheyenne. I think it's hilarious that Sophie's response to Cheyenne telling her she didn't like to do puzzles is "Well, you're just missing out on all the fun." We had a great time working on puzzles and just being together for a night at home.

Saturday started off with basketball games. Bo and Sophie both "unofficially" won their games. I am really enjoying coaching Sophie's team with Lee. Michael is helping Brandon coach Bo and Russ' team.

Saturday night was a special treat. We went to David and Carol's (Michael's coworkers and friends) house for dinner. They made a fantastic meal for us. Carol even made my favorite Strawberry Spinach salad. It was my recipe that I had giving her around Thanksgiving. Somehow it is just better when you don't have to make it yourself. (See recipe below) After dinner we went downstairs to their amazing media room and watched Iron Man. We all had a great evening, but Sophie left feeling like a queen. Carol gave Sophie so much girl time and attention. They didn't watch the movie with us, they just talked the whole night. Carol said we wouldn't believe some of the things Sophie told her. I can only imagine!

I woke up Sunday morning at 8:00 to Sophie tapping me on the shoulder. After she realized she had successfully woken me up, she asked if we could invite David and Carol over for dinner that night. I regretfully told her no because we had a busy day ahead. A little while later, I heard Reed calling me from the monitor. When I went to get him, he told me there was a monster in his closet. We had to go check the closet to make sure. We made it to church, then we all went our separate ways. Michael and Bo headed over to baseball practice. Sophie and Reed went to Nana and Grandaddy's. And I went to my tennis match. I played with Lee again and we won! I love playing tennis, but it's so much more fun when you win! After tennis and baseball, we all met back up at Nana and Grandaddy's for Angela's (Sister in Law) birthday dinner. Angela is pregnant with her first child and I can't wait. Hopefully she will start feeling better soon. She is just about a month pregnant and she is already pretty miserable.

When we got home, Sophie went strait to bed. She was exhausted from our wonderful weekend! Bo helped get Reed settled down by reading him some books. Every time Reed went to his room to get another book, he watched Bo the whole time saying "you stay there, I'll be right back." Reed was so afraid Bo was going to stop reading him books. Bo was so patient and sweet and read to Reed as long as he kept bringing the books. I have to believe that these are the best days of my life!

Strawberry Spinach Salad
(EVERYBODY asks for this recipe after they have tried it.)

1 pt. strawberries
2 oz sliced almonds
2 Tbs. sesame seeds
1 bag baby spinach (stems picked off)

For Dressing: ( I usually heat this for about 30 seconds in the microwave to dissolve the sugar. Then I will refrigerate it overnight before I serve it. If I don’t have time to chill it overnight, then I don’t heat it and just make sure I shake it REALLY good before tossing it into the salad.)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp. paprika
½ cup canola oil
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup cider vinegar

Slice strawberries and set aside. Toast almonds and sesame seeds for about 5 minutes in 350 degree oven and set aside.

Just before serving, toss in strawberries, almonds, sesame seeds, and dressing (shake well).

Back in the Saddle Again

2009-01-16T07:21:00.000-08:00

Anybody want to do a nutritional cleanse with me? I started replacing 1 -2 meals a day with protein shakes on Monday, just to get ready. Next week, I will start my cleanse. For 11 -days I will be starving myself, not really. I have just gotten into the bad habit of eating whatever I wanted for so long and now I have to get back to reality!

By the way, my Magic Bullet is a favorite kitchen tool of mine. It's perfect for my protein shakes.

Yesterday, I took the kids to get haircuts. Reed was first. When he was done he found a bowl full of balls and arranged them along the windows of the shop. This place is so stimulating, I could barely get him to look at me long enough to take a picture. His hair is a little short, but I guess it will grow.

Next, Bo got finished pretty quickly. He was pretty bored so they let him play video games in one of the empty chairs. Bo is beginning to not like getting his picture made anymore. I wonder why?

Sophie was last. This was the first time she has ever had her hair cut by anyone but me. I figured is was time for her to get a real hair cut. Here she is admiring her reflection. She got 3 inches cut off! It looks really healthy now! They also put glitter in her hair when she was done.

Overall, I would call our trip a success! I can't figure out if I like the Snip Its in Douglasville. I liked the haircuts, but as soon as we were in the car, I noticed the manager SCRUBBING down the bench that Reed was playing on. She wasn't just wiping it down, she was thoroughly SCRUBBING the thing! I can't decide if I'm offended or not. My kids were basically well behaved for a children's hair salon. They were clean and well dressed. I'm trying to decide what would make that lady feel like she had to disnfect the whole store after we left. Maybe, not the whole store.

Sophie's Birthday (Lemon Squares)

2009-01-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

We had such a great weekend! For most of the day on Friday, I was preparing for Sophie's Hello Kitty birthday. At about 4:30 our first guest, one of our neighbors came over and started playing with Sophie. This was perfect timing because Sophie was getting really anxious about the party. Eventually, the other 4 girls got there. My dad came and picked up Bo and Reed so us girls could all ride together. We then made our way to the mall for a "food court" dinner, where we met the rest of the family and the boys. The girls were already having so much fun!

At 7:00 we moved on to Build A Bear Workshop where the kids had a blast! We played games, we ran around the store, and we stuffed and dressed our bears, kitties, and rabbits. After a long time at Build A Bear, we headed home for cake, ice cream and presents! Sophie loves each and every one of her friends.

The rest of the night was kind of a blur for me... We headed downstairs to work on some crafts, which I totally enjoyed! I think the girls had fun too.

After crafts and some dancing, we went outside so the girls could jump on the trampoline for a little while. Then we came back in for "Makeovers at Midnight." I don't know what I would have done without Madi and Ashtyn.After the makeovers, I got everyone's sleeping space ready, popped some popcorn, and put in High School Musical. The girls finally got settled down and I think Sophie was the first one to sleep at about 1:30. The rest of the girls dozed off shortly after Sophie. We only had 1 "casualty" of the sleepover. We did have to make a 4:00 AM wake-up call to one of the girls parents to let them know she was ready to come home. I couldn't let the girls sleep too late on Saturday morning because we had to leave at 10:30 for Bo's basketball game.

Sports Update: In Bo and Sophie's basketball league, they don't really keep an official score. BUT... the coaches keep score anyway. Bo's team won and Bo scored 6 points. Sophie's team won too. She didn't score any points, but she played awesome defense and caught a pass and got a shot off. I couldn't believe she actually knew what to do! I played tennis with my brother Lee as my partner on Sunday and we won. This was Lee's first official ALTA match and he was a nervous wreck about it. I couldn't believe how AWESOME he was at tennis. He is pretty athletic and he is pretty tall, so it shouldn't have been that surprising! I would be his partner any day!

Lastly, for Sophie's birthday she requested a Cookie Cake from the mall. Since we were having dessert here, I decided to make some lemon squares too.

I LOVE lemon squares! Here's the recipe:

Lemon Squares

crust:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup butter, very cold, sliced

Filling:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/3 cup lemon juice

confectioners' sugar

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 X 9 baking pan. For the crust: combine the flour, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and butter slices in a food processor until crumbly. Press evenly into prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes. For the Filling: In a separate bowl combine flour and baking powder and set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the filling over the baked crust and bake for 26 minutes. When cooled, cut into squares and sift a light coat of confectioners sugar over them before serving.

Kids in the Kitchen (Sausage Balls)

2009-01-09T05:21:00.000-08:00

I am proud to say that we didn't eat out once this week. We have had a homemade dinner every night. Last night we had breakfast for dinner. The kids love the "backwards" nature of this meal. I love breakfast for dinner because it gives me an excuse to make another pot of coffee. I made the scrambled eggs and grits and the kids made the sausage balls.

Yes, Sophie is wearing her bright red lipstick. She doesn't care about the size of the sausage balls. She really likes to make a pretty design on the cookie sheet.

Bo is letting Reed help him. He doesn't really like it when Reed makes them too big or too small and he really can't stand it if they are not in perfect rows. And yes, Reed is not wearing a shirt. But he does have his pants on.

Sausage Balls

1 lb sausage

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 1/2 cups bisquick

Mix it all together and shape them into balls. Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes.

I LOVE PUBLIX!

2009-01-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Today was the Grand Opening of the Publix in our area and I am so happy about it! After I picked up Reed and Cooper from preschool, I conveniently stopped by to see what it was like. We got so many samples of the food, I didn't think the boys would eat their lunch. But, I did end up getting some of the deli chicken fingers that we love and the boys cleaned their plates.

Now, I'm going to get my house ready for Paul to come clean and then I am going to get to work on planning Sophie's party. We have 6 little girls coming to spend the night with us tomorrow night. That should be fun. I have a feeling I won't be drinking my decaf coffee on Saturday morning.

Here are just a few random pictures from the last couple of days that I thought I would share:

Reed eating his "healthy" breakfast of syrup and pancakes. Can you see the eyelashes?

This is my notepad that I keep all my lists in; grocery, things to do, things for Michael to do, etc. As I was flipping through looking for a clean page (Sophie likes to make lists too) I found this drawing. It just made me laugh.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day (Vegetable Soup)

2009-01-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

This is what I saw when I looked out my window yesterday morning. I don't know if it's the rain or the "after Christmas Lull," but I am so BLAH right now. I did make some homemade vegetable soup for dinner. That would be my number 1 comfort food. When I was little, my grandmother would always cook me a birthday dinner and my request was always vegetable soup with macaroni. I vaguely remember going to the restaurant, "Campbells" as a child with my grandmother and their vegetable soup had macaroni in it. I don't make it with macaroni now, but a lot of my food memories start with vegetable soup. Here is the recipe I used last night. It changes often, depending on what I am in the mood for:

Vegetable Soup

3-4 lb roast

1 carton (26 oz) beef stock

2 lg cans diced tomatoes
1 carton Chicken Broth
some salt and pepper
corn, green beans, onion, potatoes, baby lima beans, carrots, celery (just add the vegetables you like)
1 can V8 juice

First, I cut up my roast into big chunks. Then I put it in a large Ziploc bag and put some flour and a little salt in it. Then I shake it to make sure each chunk is covered with flour. I then put some olive oil in the big pot I am making my soup in and let it get real hot. Add the roast in a single layer in the bottom of the pot.

The roast will start browning very fast. Let it sit for a minute or two then turn the pieces so you are browning each chunk on all sides. This doesn't take long and the bottom of the pot will get almost burnt looking. Don't worry, that's the good stuff. After the beef is browned, not cooked all the way, add the beef stock and a little water, so you are covering the beef. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all the drippings. Cover your pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, making sure you stir it a couple of times.

The next step is to add the tomatoes and the chicken broth. After your meat starts to become tender, start adding the vegetables. The ones that need the most cooking time need to go in first, like the potatoes, onions, carrots and celery. If you want to add macaroni, you need to add that just about 30 minutes before you serve the soup.

I love soup nights. It doesn't really take that long to cook and it is so worth the extra effort of chopping up all those vegetables. Usually, the kids love my vegetable soup.

Here's a picture of Sophie and Reed waiting on dinner to be ready:
And yes, Sophie did come strait home from school and put on her princess dress up clothes, tiara and all. And you don't realize it from this picture, but Reed isn't wearing any pants. Since we are working on potty training, he is all about taking his clothes off. I am really lucky I caught him with a shirt on.
I am telling the truth when I say my kids eat my vegetable soup. Here's Bo enjoying a bowl:
He thought I was crazy, taking a picture of him while he ate! Thank goodness Bo went back to school today. He was sick on Monday and Tuesday. I still don't think he feels great, but he was well enough to go to school.

Best Cup of Coffee Ever!

2009-01-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

I knew last night at 11:00 when Sophie was still jumping up and down and singing in her bed that it was going to be a rough morning.

At 4:00 Reed woke up crying, he had an extra cup of milk last night before bed and he was totally soaked. So Michael gave him some Tylenol because he was complaining that his mouth hurt and a little more milk. He went right back to sleep.

At 5:00, I heard a weird noise coming from the kids side of the house. Normally, I would say it was just Bo up making his early trip to the bathroom, but there were some different sounds too, I just couldn't figure it out. So I woke Michael up to investigate. Before Michael could even get his slippers on, Bo came into our room shivering with fever and said he had just vomited. Luckily, he is old enough to know to go to the bathroom when this happens, so we didn't have a big mess to clean up. I gave him some Sprite and some Motrin and he went right to sleep in our bed with us.

At 7:00, we realized Michael had turned off our alarm clock and had slightly overslept. I went to get Sophie up, where her alarm clock had been going off for a full 30 minutes. She got a new Hello Kitty alarm clock for her birthday and she was so excited about using it. To make a long story short, she was very tired, she cried a lot, and she was mad that Bo didn't have to go to school and she did. Eventually we got her out the door and to school.

It was a rough morning, but everything seemed to settle down. Bo is still asleep in my bed (It's 12:15 as I am typing this) poor baby. Reed slept until 11:15 and Cooper slept until about 11:30. So I had a nice quiet morning trying to get a few projects done, like cleaning out Sophie's closet.

I don't usually resort to caffeine in times like this. I usually just drink my plain old Dunkin Decaf and know that I will eventually wake up. I really try to stay away from the caffeine. Since I got a coffee grinder from my brother for Christmas, I decided to get some Whole Bean regular coffee. I have loved my coffee so much since I started grinding my own, I haven't had my decaf since Christmas. Fresh ground coffee does taste really good, especially this morning. This is a picture of my coffee/tea station in my kitchen. It gets used everyday!

The coffee grinder is on the top shelf. It's a little loud, but I don't mind. You may notice the Michael Buble coffee mug. He's my favorite! It was the best concert I have ever been to. You may also notice that I am almost out of my creamer and sugar. Some people say that I usually have a little coffee with my cream and sugar. I am trying to cut back on the sugar.
Sports update: Bo had baseball practice yesterday and Michael said it went really well. He is building his fundamentals and his strength. I can't wait to watch this team play. I played tennis yesterday, without Michael. We lost. We didn't win a single line. Hopefully this is not an indicator of how this whole season will go. Bo and Sophie both have basketball games this weekend.

Happy New Year! (Antipasto Bites)

2009-01-03T18:20:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas full of family, food and friends. The kids got a trampoline from Santa that has been used almost everyday since.

We spent New Year's Eve with our Best Friends. We ate a lot of food, watched football, played games, and had an amazing fireworks display. The kids enjoyed the sparklers and Carter enjoyed throwing firecrackers at my feet and watching me jump!

**New Year's Day was spent as it usually is, at my Mom and Dad's house, eating ribs, black-eyed peas, collard greens and cracklin cornbread. I truly enjoy this time with my family, especially my cousins, because we always end up playing cards at the end of the night. I love to spend time with them and learn more about them. We've all gotten older and have our own lives to keep us busy, so I look forward to New Years Day and spending time with them and I know they feel the same way too.

**Reed (2 years old) is still working on being "potty trained." He would probably be doing a lot better if his mother and father were a little more consistent. Reed is learning to speak in sentences now. I love to hear him through the monitor in the mornings, "Moommmmyyyy, get me OUT!" I can't seem to make the transition from the crib to the bed yet. I think it's because he isn't trying to climb out of the crib and he does sleep good still. It may be a little of the fact that he is my last baby and I really don't want to admit that he isn't really a baby anymore.

**Sophie is reading and writing up a storm. I can't believe she just turned 6. On her birthday, we went to see a movie, came home and baked cupcakes. Then we went to Stars And Strikes with all the Grandparents and Tiffany's family. She got in on the Hula Hoop contest and won a $5 game card. Sophie had a fantastic day that was topped off by her winning 3 humongous stuffed animals from the giant Crane Game at Stars and Strikes. We will do a real birthday party with her school and neighborhood friends on Friday at Build-A-Bear workshop.

**Bo (8 years old) is growing up! After I boxed up all of the Christmas decorations (about 10 big ones) he took everyone of them downstairs for me and put them away in the storage room. He always wants to spend the night with someone or have someone spend the night here. He loves watching sports on TV with his dad. He loves PLAYING all kinds of sports. We are about to start our basketball games, we just finished football in November and baseball seems to be a year round sport for us now that he is playing on a traveling team. We'll see how that goes.

**Michael and I are playing mixed doubles tennis together on Sundays now. Our season will start tomorrow. We have had a fantastic year. We have put a pool in our backyard, we have finished and furnished our basement, we have made some new friends and become closer with the old. We are so thankful for our family, our rock, our stronghold. I just can't count all the blessings in our lives.

**I am looking forward to 2009 with hopes of happiness, good health and a deeper knowledge of God and His plans for us. We will let His light shine through us!

**Antipasto Bites**

I took this appetizer to Mom's house on New Year's Day this year. It's a new recipe that I got from my cousin Lisa.

2 8oz cans crescent rolls
1/4 lb genoa salami
1/4 lb provolone cheese

1/4 lb pepperoni

1/4 lb swiss cheese

12 oz roasted red peppers, drained

3 eggs, beaten

grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Open one can rolls. Spread on bottom of greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Layer the meats and cheeses in order. Place peppers on top. Pour most of the egg over (reserve a little for the top). Sprinkle a handful of grated parmesan cheese over egg. Top mixture with second can of rolls. Top with remaining egg and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.