Merry Christmas!

Christmas Break is finally here!

Christmas Break is finally here! I've been looking forward to this vacation since Thanksgiving and it's finally here. The boys are off for the next 2 weeks! It's been a very busy 3 weeks since Thanksgiving. I've been working (have to pay for my new van somehow :-), my Oldest has had a band concert and 4 Scouting events. My Youngest has been busy at school. A Christmas party at my Husband's work, a Cub Scout Pack Holiday Party, school parties, etc.

We also began attending Sunday School and Church again. When you mention God in a conversation and your Youngest asks "Who's God?", you know you've neglected their spiritual needs, so we've been going for the last month and my Youngest is really enjoying "church school". My Mom and I take both of my boys and my 5 year old nephew and it's a good thing. Tomorrow they will have their Children's program and he's looking forward to singing...my Youngest LOVES to sing.

This week I'm having a party for a few family friends, so the house has to be cleaned today and some baking needs to get done. I've usually baked 20 things by this time of year, but since I've been watching what I eat, I haven't done my normal baking. On the upside I am down 35 lbs. since August! My Mom, Brother and 2 nephews will be coming over for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be spent at home with my Husband and Boys!

Due to Unforseen Circumstances...

Due to unforeseen circumstances that I can never tell you about...(a promise made to my husband sworn to with blood...okay, not really, but I love my Hubby, so I won't tell you why!) I had to purchase a new vehicle. After much searching (about 30 minutes), a quick test drive (about 10 minutes) and 1 1/2 hours spent at the dealership, this is my new car!!!...

It's a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan...with all the bells and whistles!

It includes: 2 front windows that roll down (a plus in my book since the driver's window wouldn't roll down in my old van!), tape player, cd player, heated leather seats in the front, 2 automatic side doors and a back door operable from the key (the extra side door is something I've wanted since my youngest was a baby!), stow and go seats, 4 plug-ins for extra gadgets, and so much more!

I Love My New Van!!!

Zesty Chicken Tortilla Bake

I found a recipe in my latest Kraft Food & Family magazine (one of the places I find most of my new recipes) and had to try it, although I was a little leery of one of the ingredients.

Our Perfect Zesty Chicken Tortilla Bake

1/2 c. miracle whip dressing

1/2 c. flour

3 c. milk

2 c. cheddar cheese, divided

1 1/2 lb. cooked chicken, chopped

1/2 c. salsa

1/2 c. chopped parsley

10-16 tortillas

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Mix dressing & flour in medium saucepan with whisk. Gradually stir in milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened then add 1 c. of cheese, cook until melted. Reserve 1 c. of sauce.
• Stir in chicken, salsa and parsley into remaining sauce. Spoon 1/2 c. of sauce down the center of each tortilla, roll and place seem side down in a 13x9 baking dish, sprayed with cooking spray. (Mine made a 13x9 casserole and a 8x8 casserole). Top with the remaining sauce and remaining cheese.
• Bake 30 minutes or until heated through.

This is a great recipe and it's even better if you serve it with a salad on the side. Definitely a make again recipe.

7th Grade CODA Honor Band...

Last Saturday my Oldest Son tried out for the Central Oklahoma Directors' Association (CODA) 7th Grade Honor Band and...

HE MADE IT!!!

They take 150 7th graders from central Oklahoma (that's dozens of schools) and choose the best to be in their honor band. He tried out on the bassoon and out of the 8-7th graders trying out he made 3rd chair! They only took 4 bassoonists.

CONGRATULATIONS SON!

November's Menu

November's Menu:

• Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich w/Coleslaw & Fries
• Tater-tot Casserole w/Salad
• Pineapple Pork Chops w/Saffron Rice & Vegetables
• Chicken & Broccoli & Rice Casserole
• Roast Taco w/Refried Beans, Cheese & Chips
• Beef Potpie w/Mashed Potato
• Fried Chicken Legs & Thighs w/Rice & Peas
• Sloppy Joes w/Pasta Salad & Greenbeans
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup w/Ham Sandwich
• Spaghetti & Meatballs w/Garlic Bread
• Zesty Chicken Tortilla Bake w/Salad & Refried Beans
• Frzn. Pizza & Salad
• Hot Sandwich w/Chips
• Tastiest Cheddar-Bacon Burger w/Baked Mac & Cheese, Roast Broccoli
• Fried Garlic & Herb Chicken w/Angel Hair Pasta & Peas
• Salsbury Hamburger w/Mashed Potato & Butter Corn
• Marinated Steak w/Caramelized Onion, Scalloped Potato & Peas
• Chicken Pesto-Pasta w/Foccacia Bread
• Crispy Fish Bake w/Mushroom Rice & Roasted Broccoli
• BBQ Burgers w/Fries, Onion Rings & Coleslaw
• Pork Steaks w/Stuffing, Mashed Potato & Balsamic-Glazed Carrots
• Homemade Pizza w/Salad
• Catalina Cranberry Chicken w/Mashed Potato & Salad
• Fajitas w/Caramalized Onion, Refried Beans &Spanish Rice
• Fried Tilapia w/Coleslaw, Fries & Hushpuppies
• Beef w/Snow Peas & Rice
• Lasagna w/Salad

Desserts: Chocolate Caramel Shortbread, Caramel Apple Cake, Pumpkin Bars & Pecan Pie

I voted!

Have you?

Election Day!

The most important thing you can do as a citizen of this great nation is to vote...and today is ELECTION DAY!

It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican, get out to the polls today and let YOUR voice be heard!

Today our State is voting in our 1st Lady Governor! We're making history in this great state...whether she is Democrat or Republican is yet to be seen.

HAPPY ELECTION DAY!!!

Halloween Weekend

We had a busy Halloween weekend...How about you? I spent Friday at my Youngest son's school. The 2 Kindergarten classes put on the cutest little play Friday morning.

Here's my Youngest posing with the pumpkin that he helped carve on Thursday.

Hugs from Grandma after the play.

His Halloween party was later that afternoon and of course I forgot the camera!

Our city is the home of a major University and we had a home football game with 80,000+ people in town to attend, so the city opted to keep Halloween scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 31st rather than move it to Saturday like every other town in our vicinity did. These pictures are from Sunday (when we had 82 degree weather here...I was wearing my capris and a TANK TOP!)

My boys...weapons...FIGHT!

My almost 13 year old Warrior

My 6 year old Pirate Skeleton.

We live in the south in the middle of the bible belt...not only will you find the traditional Trick-or-Treating, but every other church (and we have them on every block) will hold a Fall/Halloween Festival. We went to 2 of these on Friday and 3 more on Sunday. They will set up booths where you can play games and get candy, often they have free hotdogs, chips and drinks and sometimes a non-scary walk through. Sometimes they set up in the parking lot and have a "Trunk or Treat", where they set up game booths in the trunks of cars and when you finish a game you get some candy. These are always fun, and my husband (who can be a bit of a "Bah Humbug" would rather attend these than go out Trick-or-Treating door to door.

Happy Halloween.

Great Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Recipe

(picture courtesy of Mommy's blog)

I found this recipe over at Mommy's Kitchen blog (found under favorite blogs), who found it in an old Rachel Ray cookbook and given by a woman named Janet (a longer history of the coffee cake can be found on the Mommy's Kitchen blog). I decided to bake it up for my boys this morning and "Yummo!" as Rachel Ray would say. Even my Husband who isn't the biggest chocolate fan in the world likes this recipe!

Janet's Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

2 - cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 - tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 - tsp cinnamon

1 - stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 - cup sour cream

1 - tsp vanilla extract

1 - cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 Grease a 8 inch square baking pan. If you feel like there is to much batter you can use a bigger baking pan. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon set aside. Using a electric mix beat together the remaining 1 cup sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture in two parts until just combined.Pour half the batter into the cake pan and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture and half of the chocolate chips. Spoon the remaining batter as evenly as possible over the filling. Spread gently and evenly. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon mixture and chocolate chips. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean 30 - 35 minutes. Baking time varies when using a 8 x 8 inch baking pan sometimes the middle can take a bit longer to bake.

My take: I found I actually had to bake it for 45 minutes to get the middle cooked.

Possible additions: I'm thinking it would be great with 1/2 c. chocolate chips and 1/2 c. butterscotch chips. I'll have to try that next time!

A busy Fall...

It has been a wild and crazy fall in our household this year...

This family has been going in a dozen directions this fall. Everyone has their thing to do and most nights sees 1 or all of us out doing something, so here's a general run down...

Dad...works, and runs our Oldest to Scout weekend camping trips, baseball practice and games.

Mom...has started working as a Substitute teacher. I've had several jobs all over the district and found that I like subbing in the library and for Pre-K. The money is going to be a nice addition to our X-mas money. I've also been walking (about 5x a week), attending weekly luncheons with my MOMS group, X-mas shopping with my Mother, a weekend camping with the family and the subsequent laundry. Then there's been the mass clean-out and re-arranging of the boys' bedroom and the dining room (which has been used as a store all for the last year), and helping our Cub Scout pack organize and recruit a leader for this year's Tiger den. On a high note, I have lost 20+ pounds and am feeling highly motivated!

Oldest son...as busy or busier than the rest of us. School all week, debate club twice a week for 2 hrs. each, extra practice with the band teacher once a week for CODA coming up in November (state honor band), baseball practice on Saturdays, baseball games on Monday and Wednesdays (sometimes those are double headers), and Scout camping trips or merit badge fairs on the weekends.

Youngest son...not so much out of school, but in school he's mastered his ABCs and their sounds, he's begun learning numbers up to 100, colors, sight words, money, and before long he will be reading and writing! And all of this in the first 9 weeks of Kindergarten!

Coming up in the next couple of weeks...baseball is over tonight!!!! No more practice, no more games! I'm no longer needed as a Tiger leader, so Pack responsibilities have been reduced to once a month. My Oldest can start attending Scout meetings again, and after his Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Revue, he should have his 2nd class badge earned. Extra practice for CODA will be over in 2 weeks. The garage still needs it's mass clean out and the bathroom needs to be finished. Camping trips are monthly for my Husband and Oldest and school is still the boys' #1 responsibility. I hate working, but love the money...

So all in all a typical family life!

Menu Plan Monday: Oct. 11-17

Menu Plan Monday

October 11-17, 2010

Monday: Clam Linguine w/Peas & Mushrooms, Garlic Breadsticks

Tuesday: Mushroom & Swiss Sliders w/Spicy Fry Sauce & Onion Strings

Wednesday: Frozen Pizza & Salad

Thursday: Tomato Vinaigrette Chicken w/Parmesan Noodles & Peas

Friday: Chili-Rubbed Tilapia w/Couscous & Cheesy Broccoli

Saturday: Apple Glazed Pork Chops w/Stuffing, Applesauce & Rice Pilaf

Sunday: Ham & Cheddar Loaf w/Potato Cakes & Green Beans

Family Camping Weekend

The 1st weekend in October found us at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge on our first official "family" campout. We've been camping plenty of times as a family, but it has always been with a Cub Scout Pack or Boy Scout Troop...this was the 1st campout that just the 4 of us went on together.

Saturday morning: Gameboys in hand, Dad waking up...weather was beautiful...nice during the day and chilly (cuddle under the sleeping bags!) at night. My husband and I both had a restless night, between the elk bugling all night and some wild pigs snuffling through the underbrush behind the tent...but the boys slept like bricks.

Pancakes and sausage and coffee and hot chocolate...cooked on the campstove (which my 12 yr old Boy Scout had to light for me!)

My husband preparing the fire...for lunch...4 hours away...I think he just wanted to play with the fire!

Wrap some sausage in a pancake and my Oldest is happy!

My Youngest prefers syrup on his pancakes...

Sunday Afternoon:

I got out and played catch with my Oldest and a small football...he's nicknamed me "the cedar tree", because I was rooted to one spot and wouldn't chase after the ball!

See the radio in the tree? We went camping during the OU/TX game...that requires a crank radio in the trees so we could listen to the game...WE WON! YEAH! I didn't get a picture of him walking the radio around the camp every time the station went staticy. My husband didn't want to miss a minute of the game.

Hanging around camp listening to the game.

Playing Peek-a-boo with the tent fly...

Saturday evening:

It was chilly...the campfire was beautiful and warm!

My Heathens were dancing around the fire.

Beautiful! And HOT!

The one question my Youngest kept asking all week was "Are we going to have s'mores?", at camp the question was "When are we going to have s'mores?" So here he is enjoying his s'mores!

My Oldest too!

Sunday Morning:

Mt. Scott...the plains version of a mountain! It was windy and cold, but the boys enjoyed the view.

Look at the lake down below.

Boys had to get down and climb on some rocks...

It was a great weekend...very quiet and very relaxing.

Root Beer Cookies

I found a recipe over at www.makeandtakes.com/root-beer-cookies for root beer cookies and loving root beer and cookies I decided to make them yesterday for a MOMS luncheon I was attending. They are very good...make sure you like root beer if you make these. I'm going to post the basic recipe, but if you want more pictures and more insight into root beer concentrate or different ideas of what to do with the batter, jump on over to the above mentioned blog.

Recipe for Root Beer Cookies:

Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. root beer extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup water (optional–only use if dough is too dry)
Root Beer frosting (recipe below)

1. Cream butter and dark brown sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the root beer extract. Whisk dry ingredients together. Add a little at a time to the creamed mixture.
2. Chill for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease several baking sheets, or line them with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Roll into small balls (about 1″ diameter). I like to use a mini-ice cream scoop so that the cookies end up evenly sized. at least an hour.
4. Place them on the pan, leaving a bit of space between the cookies. Gently press the tops of the dough. (If you leave out the water, sometimes the cookies don’t spread very much.) Bake for 6-8 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through.
5. Let cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting Recipe:
1 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. root beer extract
a few tablespoons hot water

1. Beat butter on high with an electric mixer until it is fluffy. Add a little powdered sugar and the root beer extract. Beat until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar alternately with a little hot water until a nice spreading consistency has been reached.
2. Frost the cooled cookies and let stand for a few minutes to let the frosting set up. (It should dry a bit on the top.) You can leave out the root beer extract and you’ll have a tasty, soft brown sugar cookie.

Heart & Sole

Heart & Sole is a 6 week program sponsored by the local Hospital to encourage people to get out and walk for a healthier lifestyle. Area residents can sign up as an individual or a team and they record their steps daily. There aren't any prizes, but of course some of the groups are very competitive. I've joined my MOMS group team and we hope to beat the MOMS group from across town!

It gives me a reason to get out there and walk as often as possible. So far I've been out twice this week and my goal is 5 days. I walked a mile this morning (about 3300 steps) and I'm thinking I can up that to a mile and a half either at the end of the week or next Monday!

An exhausting week...

I had just walked into the house with my groceries Monday morning and my phone rang...on the other end was the call system for an afternoon substitute job at a nearby school...and I thought, "Okay, I can do half a day..." I get to the school and the secretary looks at me with a "deer in headlights" look and tells me that she had put in the wrong day for the library substitute job, BUT, one of the teacher's needed to leave on an emergency family call and they could use me in her spot. It turned out the teacher would need to be out of work for the week and so I spent the last week in a classroom of KINDERGARTNERS!!! I've been exhausted! Who knew a classroom of 5 yr. olds could wear a person down. Oh well, its OVER! and now I have a nice bit of extra money to start buying X-mas presents with.

I think I'm going to take this week off...except for the library substitute position which is later this week, and I'm going to do some shopping!

Operation "A New Me"

• It's been 2 weeks since my last update. Things are going slow...not how I want it to go, but it is going. Last week I had re-gained 2 lbs. from my last lose of over 9, so I was pretty bummed! I seem to be busy all the time and it has gotten hot and humid again...and yes these are excuses for not exercising the last 2 weeks!

I've re-lost that 2 lbs., so I'm holding steady at the weight I was 2 weeks ago, but I have to start getting that exercise into my routine. My goal this week is to walk 3 times. I need to get "my rear in gear"!!!

My goal is to only eat 1500 calories everyday, but it usually turns out to be about 1650-1700. I can live with that number, if I can get the exercise in, I know I will start dropping the weight, since 1700 calories is probably 1000 calories less than I was eating 3 weeks ago. If I can stay near that 1500 number, I allow myself a little candy every night...and believe me I want that candy!!! so I really try to stay at 1500 calories.

• Water is my friend. I have upped my intake from about 1 cup a day to 5-6 cups a day...some of them come in the form of crystal light, but not all. I'm remembering how much I like drinking water. I've cut a lot of bread from my diet. Burgers are usually bunless now and last night when I read the calories for a cup of couscous and realized that I couldn't eat that much in a sitting, really boosted my confidence.
• I think I'm doing alright. Even my friends are amazed that I'm sticking to the diet. They are VERY encouraging. Thank you friends and family!

Happy Birthday Hubby and Son!

My Husband and Son were both born on Labor Day, although they have different birthdates, so we usually spend Labor Day weekend celebrating their birthdays.

My Youngest decided he wanted to go with an Indiana Jones theme this year, although it was a toss up between it and Star Wars...I steered him toward Indiana Jones, since he had a Star Wars birthday last year. Unfortunately my Husband doesn't usually get his own cake. One a weekend is enough in this house! He did get Bratwurst (his favorite) and he went and bought himself some imported dark beers from the liquor store.

Indiana Jones 2 for the DS...he's been asking for this game since it came out.

Grandma has to buy him clothes...he loves his new Star Wars shirt.

Star Wars and Legos...2 of his favorite things combined!

Some of the Cousins were here for the party. Aren't they cute?

Grandma and her boys. It was a great party.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

It's been a week...

It's been a week since I started operation "A New Me". This last week I worked on losing some weight...okay I'm working on losing A LOT OF WEIGHT!, and this morning counted as 1 week since I began. In the last week I've lost 9.4 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited and very encouraged by this number.

• I started by changing the number of calories I could eat each day. I decided to go with a 1500 calorie a day diet...which after spending a week recording all the food I eat is probably half of what I used to eat every day. Of course I only had 2 days where my calorie count was under that, but I'm averaging about 1640 calories per day. I splurged on Friday...who knew that 1 meal at Qdoba would equal 1200 calories!!!

• The second change was exercise. I didn't really do enough in the last week, but I did throw in a 30 minute "Dancing to the Stars" routine that wore me out! and 2-1 mile walks around the park. Again those were tiring...not as stressful as the "Dancing" one though. I like walking better and the weather is getting to a point that I'll be able to do more of that now.

• Goals: Continue to eat 1500 calories a day and try to walk or exercise 4 times this week.
  

A New Me.

Now that I have both boys off to school for most of the day, I want to work on something I've been pushing to the back burner for the last 13 years...ME. I thank God that I have my boys, my husband and my health, but since I married Husband and had my Boys, I've let myself go...especially in the weight, looks and clothes department, and I want to change that so here are my goals:

1. Lose Weight! I need to lose 100 pounds. I don't know if I can do this and although I really don't want to post something so boring on here, I have to...I need something to hold me accountable.
2. Start wearing make-up again: not all the time, but I want to start helping my face age naturally and to enhance what I've got. I'm seeing the little laugh wrinkles at the corners of my eyes...I don't mind a few wrinkles (they're a sign of Wisdom!), but I don't want them to get out of hand either. I'm told I have a beautiful eyes (not sure I agree) and so I want to start enhancing them more, even out my skin a bit, add some color to my lips and I'm starting to feel like the me from my youth.
3. New Clothes: I have survived on jeans and t-shirts and 1 pair of sandals that are starting to fall apart. I need new clothes, but I can't splurge...my Husband needs good work clothes and the boys still need winter clothes, but I am going to start working on my image.
4. Activities: I can't sit here on the computer all day. I have to do something...but what? I've signed up to be a Substitute, but I might never be called in to do that, I will be helping with our local Cub Scout Pack as the Tiger Coordinator until we can get a Leader in there and trained, my Youngest's Kindergarten Teacher asked me if I could help her with a project this week...so I'm on that, this house is full of junk...CLEAN OUT THE HOUSE!!! My MOMS group is starting a lunch group that I want to go to and spend time with some wonderful Moms, and it looks like Fridays will be the "Do something special with my Mom" day.

So what have I done so far?

1. I went shopping with Mom last week and picked up a pair of pants and 2 shirts that coordinate with the pants. The outfits are nice and dressy enough that I can wear them when I'm substituting or when I'm out with my Mom.
2. Went to lunch with Mom on Friday. This was FUN! She ordered a sandwich, I ordered a sandwich and we split them. We both discovered that we do not like the MONTE CRISTO sandwich from CHEDDARS, but the Teriyaki Chicken sandwich is Yummy!
3. Bought some new make-up. Not much but I need to replace some of the stuff I've had for years.

This morning I started my new school day routine:

1. I exercised for 25 minutes and was worn out by the time I got half way done.
2. I started cleaning the boys' room, but there is still so much to do.

This is my plan, I hope I have good news for you next week.

1st Day of School!

Another school year is here and today is the 1ST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

I can't believe it's here! We've kicked off another school year in this house. It's going to be different for me this year since both boys will be in school ALL day this year, so I've signed up to be a Substitute Teacher, I plan on shopping with my Mom, I need to lose weight and a new regiment will start on Monday, and I always have housework, but enough about me! Lets see the 1st day of school pictures:

My Youngest is in Kindergarten this year. He gets to go all day, have 2 recesses, learn reading and writing and math, science and social studies (although they really concentrate on the reading), lunch in the cafeteria (something he's really been looking forward to), computer time, snack time and music/P.E. every day. Whew, I wonder if THIS schedule will tire him out, nothing else seems too.
His new Teacher, she seems really nice and I've heard great things about her (to be fair, I've heard great things about all of the Teachers at his school and since my Oldest has had several, I believe the rumors that the Teachers are AWESOME!
My Oldest is in his second year of Middle School this year (he's a 7th Grader!!!) This year doesn't have the excitement and nervousness of his 1st year in middle school, but he isn't really jaded like he will be next year as a "top of the food chain" 8th grader. He was excited to get to the school this morning and spend time gabbing with his friends. Of course he wouldn't let me actually get out of the car and take pictures when I dropped him off, so I took these this morning and got both boys before school.

As a 7th grader he gets to take science (they will be discussing weather, the metric system and the body), social studies (world geography), algebra 1, language arts, band and home economics this semester and leadership next semester. Today he gets to spend all day in his Advisory class, and get his locker, learn the routines and (maybe) get his new laptop that the school purchased through a grant and which will be handed out to all the 7th and 8th graders for their use in the classroom and at home (this is both exciting and nerve wracking for his mother!)