Well Wednesday

All is well here today... I dropped Monkey off... Made a loaf of bread... Ready Linebacker and dropped him off... Picked my husband and Peanut up for our session... Everything went well there... I stood up and took charge... It was definetely better without Linebacker there... Peanut was quiet and barely noticeable... My list was helpful... I left it to be put in the file... Should be interesting to see what happens in our next session... Picked Linebacker up... I have this awful sinus headache just over my left eye... UGH!!! Picked Monkey up... Walked 0.8 miles today... Turned the dryer on several times.. Takes forever to dry a load of jeans... Put Linebackers clothes in the wash... Monkey had ST...

Ts Tuesday

I couldn't just name today Tasty Tuesday because so many other Ts happened to us today... Thrilling day because our Little Flowers / Blue Knights order arrived... We are all ready for year II... I just love this program... I look forward to the day when I can just Travel and start this program in parishes... Sharing my Time and Talent with others... Looks like the Threat that appeared just after Mother's Day will finally be gone hopefully by the end of the month... We should have a letter stating to the fact soon... Woo hoo!!! Today is a double Tasty Tuesday because I'm sharing my Chicken Mushroom Fettuccine Recipe and my Old Fashioned Cookie Recipe...

Chicken Mushroom Fettuccine

1 stick Butter
5 Cloves Garlic, pressed (adjust to personal tastes of garlic)
1-2 pkg Mushrooms, washed and sliced (depending on how mushroomy you like it)
2 C. Milk
1-1/2 C. Powder Parmesan Cheese (I rarely use this form and usually grate my own fresh)
1/4-1/2 C. Flour (thickening sauce)
1-1/2 lbs Chicken, cooked and cubed
16 oz Fettuccine Noodles (cook as directed on box)

Saute mushrooms and garlic in butter over medium heat until tender... Add milk and cheese... Whisk till 'smooth'... Once mixture is warm add just enough flour to thicken and increase heat to medium high... Continue to whisk... After mixture is thicken reduce heat to low and stir in chicken... Stir occasionally till entire mixture is heated through... Combine chicken/sauce mixture and noodles... 8-10 Servings.
Old Fashioned Cookies

1 C. Butter
2 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Brown Sugar, firmly packed
2 Eggs
1/3 C. + 2 T. Milk
2 t. Vanilla
4 C. Flour
2 t. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Salt
Icing
Sprinkles (we call them pretties ::grin::)

Cream butter. Add sugar and eggs, beating well. Stir in milk and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl; add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Chill.

Roll dough to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut into circles (I used a floured biscuit cutter). Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Decorate as desired.

Yield: about 5 dozen.

Of course there was all the tantalizing fun of laundry, dishes and diaper changing today... ::smirk::

Tasty Thursday

It's been a while since I shared a recipe and I will share two today to catch up... ::smirk:: First I will update on the days events... We had our monthly pow wow with all of Engineer's service providers... Those who are uninvited were there... When we shared our latest news about the placement you could see the winds were taken right out of their sails... Should be interesting if they continue to harass us as they have been... They are supposed to call to set up an appointment to finally go over paperwork that we should have been given a month ago... Hopefully they will crawl under the rock that they came out from under and leave us alone!!! We set up another meeting with the placement people to talk about who great Engineer is and all his likes... School will also be in attendance to talk about what structure supports they used to help his day run more smoothly... What an exciting time in his life... I picked the boys up from their 2nd day of school... They had another awesome day... TBTG!!! I didn't have staff tonight so I filled our night with the baking of 4-1/2 dozen bars (recipe below) for the Parish bake sale this weekend... I also made from scratch Sloppy Joes (recipe below) to have for dinner Friday and Saturday... I worked on a monthly menu plan... I worked out dinner for August 24th - October 4th... Isn't that awesome? I am trying out several new recipes and will be sharing them... All that's happening with Engineer we will have to make some changes around here... It's also part of my Burn Out repair program... I walked 8 blocks (0.8 miles) today.. It feels good to be walking again... Peanut had her 2nd speech therapy at the new time... It went very well... We will be adjusting the schedule next week due to appointments I can't move... I worked on Engineer's hat a bit... Almost ready to make the brim... Here are the recipes... ENJOY!!!

Caroline's Bars:

2 Eggs
2 C. Sugar (I use cane not beet)
2 C. Creamy Peanut Butter (PB)
1 t. Vanilla
1 bag of your choice of chips... I made one with PB and one with chocolate...

Combine the first 4 ingredients until well blended... Stir in gently the chips... Press into a 9x 13 pan evenly... Bake 20 minutes (watch so they don't burn on the edges) in a 350 degree oven... Cool completely... Cut into bars...

Approx 56 bars (if I cut the pan evenly ::smirk)

Sloppy Joes

2 lbs Hamburger browned, drained
1 Med-Lg Onion, coarsely chopped, sauteed in butter*
2-4 cloves Garlic, pressed*
1 C. Ketchup
3 T. Steak Sauce*
3 T. Brown Sugar
2 T. Mustard
2 T. Cider Vinegar

Place browned meat in crock pot... Add remaining ingredients and stir well till meat is well coated... Add 1/2 - 1 C. of water if needed... Cook on High 1-2 hours or low 2-4 hours... Serve 2-4 T. of Sloppy Joes on Buns with Cheese and Mustard (as desired)...

*Onion, Garlic depend on personally taste as to how much you put in...
* Steak Sauce - Recipe calls for Worcestershire Sauce which we never use so we use Steak Sauce (A1 or Generic)...

ENJOY!

Tasty Tuesday

I made a fun recipe today... ENJOY!

Blueberry Focaccia

More Water - Monday

So, what do you think of my backyard? This isn't flooding from the river... This is what happens when the snow first melts... Lovely huh?
My oldest is having a good time... The tops of his feet are completely covered... He wears a Men's size 6... He's wearing his 'mud boots'... They are just pretty much the standard issue farm boots... Solid black w/ the orange soles...
Here he is building his own 'levee' to hold back the water...
Today was a quiet day... I made a chicken, noodle dish for dinner... I also baked more cookies... This time I made Monster cookies... I scrubbed the fridge... I chatted with a friend on the phone... I started and finish the Walton's Season 3 Disc 1... I have many errands to run tomorrow... I will be dropping in the box... I'm excited for the next disc... This one only had two episodes... It seems like there was no time inbetween when I finished the 2nd season (library has that) and started this 3rd season... I dream about my own large family living out on the mountain some where like the Waltons do... I can't wait to go back to a slower time and move away from all this go, go, go and technology... I did several more loads of laundry today... I'm looking forward to empty baskets and filled drawers... Off to fold mine and Linebacker's... I wish mine with baby when I'm nursing and use a gentler 'baby' type laundry soap... No dreft! I don't like the way that stuff scented at all... We used Ivory snow for years too... I grew to not like that scent either... I'm all about no perfumes and no dyes now... Today I struggled with eating enough grains... Otherwise I did quite well...

My eating day went as (recommended in parenthesis):
Grains 8-1/2 oz (10 oz)
Fruits 2-1/2 C. (2-1/2 C.)
Veggies 3-1/2 C. (3-1/2 C.)
Milk 3-3/4 C. (3 C.)
Meat/Beans 8 oz (7 oz)

I could use some prayers for Linebacker and I tomorrow morning... Thank you...

Tasty and Time Clock - Tuesday

I felt like I was punching the time clock day long today... I dropped the boys off and dropped Peanut off... I stopped in the grocery store for some juice, Linebacker snacks and breakfast... I ate the breakfast as I drove to the monthly meeting for my oldest... We had a good meeting... We are working on another extension and ways to coordinate his education with his general home life... I left there and went over to the PO to mail a book from my husband... I stopped in the local Ace Hardware store to use my 'rewards' coupon... I found an awesome stainless steel 'measurements' magnet... The one I have now is from a Tyson Chicken package... It is 'well loved' to say the least... I left there in plenty of time to pick up Peanut and head home for lunch... We are having fresh from the freezer my famous Mexican Lasagna that I made my friend when she had her twins... It tasted like I just made it this morning... I called the roofer about putting a tarp on the roof before the rain this weekend... Peanut, Linebacker, and I all took another walk today... It was shorter only about 10 minutes because I didn't realize the time and we left later then I wanted... I did a bit better in my eating but it was a struggle near the end to meet my daily recommendations... I had to eat a bunch of 'snacks' to fill in what was lacking... I was still a bit short...

My eating day went as (recommended in parenthesis):
Grains 10 oz (10 oz)
Fruits 3-3/4 C. (2-1/2 C.)
Veggies 3-1/4 C. (3-1/2 C.)
Milk 3-1/4 C. (3 C.)
Meat/Beans 8 oz (7 oz)

Now I'm going to fight my house back into an acceptable state... It seems to falling apart in the housekeeping department for some reason... I'm sure how since we haven't been here to make a 'mess'...

Monster Cookies

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 1/4 C. brown sugar
1 C. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla
1-1/2 C. peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 C. M & M baking bits
1/2 C. chocolate chips
1/4 C. raisins
2 t. baking soda
4 1/2 C. oatmeal

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2.In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in, in this order baking bits, chocolate chips, raisins, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop onto cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not over bake.
4.Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.

ENJOY!

Frosty - Friday

We had quite the snow event today... They had said 1-3 inches but we had at least 4-6 in my part of town... It was beautiful snow... Very light and fluffy... I ran out for errands around the new hour... I also took Peanut to the doctor... She failed her hearing screening... She has a cold and a sore throat but no strep or ear infections... I baked the bars for the funeral... I picked Monkey up and we went to Soccer... The children had an awesome time... I dropped off my many items to my friends... I saw so many of my FMCHE friends I hadn't seen for a while... Each of us has had our share of illness not to mention weather that keeps us from being able to visit each other as often as we would like sometimes... I cleaned up a lot of papers that had been cluttering the computer room... Filled on our of 'paper' trash cans... I watched a couple Netflix movies online... Now I'm going to head to bed early... I'm sure tomorrow will be another busy day...

Nursing Necklaces / Butterflies / Pot Pies

I've decided to make instead of buying a nursing necklace to entertain Linebacker... He loves it! Here is what it looks like...

I used a random combination of the beads highlighted in the center with some 'sport ball' beads that consist of a football, baseball, basketball and soccer ball...

They are primarily used to entertain a distract able nursling... They can also be used to entertain baby/toddler while being supervised during activities such as a diaper change... It is a great learning 'tool' to teach colors, counting, matching, shapes and other things depending on the type of beads used... I used foam beads so they would be soft and baby friendly...

Sunday night I went outside to visit with my husband who was stripping 4 layers of paint (white, baby blue, baby pink, and primary colors {in that order they were added}) off an antique (made in early 1900s) dresser we own that was one of the first items manufactured in the Bassett Furniture Factory in Bassett, VA... My daddy's family is from this area... I saw this butterfly hanging out on the patio... I let the butterfly walk into a toy beach bucket and placed the butterfly over our fence into the yard for the butterfly nibble and maybe find a home for the night... The butterfly was either hurt or confused... I do believe it is a female Monarch Butterfly...

I made another 'old fashioned' pot pie... I'm not sure if I shared the recipe last time or not... Here is before and after baking... It was delicious! You don't use Bisquick and you don't use canned soup... I had extra 'pastry' so I made a little design... ::smirk::

Today was supposed to be my 'off' day for the week... I had to go to the PO and then the van wouldn't start... It took several minutes for a man from MN to jump start it... I noticed my battery was July 07 and had a Walmart 3 year FREE replacement sticker on it... So, I took it over to Walmart ASAP for fear it wouldn't start again even with jumper cables... It was replaced for FREE... I saved $80! That was the extent of my excitement for the day...

Holy Saturday

Today was a VERY busy day... When my husband woke up I headed out to run the errands I need to... I first stopped at the bank before heading downtown... I had a library book on hold I needed to pick up before they re-shelved it... It is called "Spiritual Midwifery" by Ina May Gaskin... I'm really enjoying and learning so much from her "Guide to Childbirth"... I am almost done with it... I have lots of great information to share with my doula and friend, Karla, who will be at this birth... I'm feeling very excited that this will be the best birth yet! I then headed west to Walmart... I picked up about 10 or so items needed to prepare for Easter Dinner... Next I went to TRU to use a couple coupons... I picked up my oldest son's Easter Basket Train (already had the other two children's trains)... I also picked up a huge thing of Alphabet Blocks for next to nothing... Next I headed to the grocery store for things Walmart didn't have... I only picked up 5 things there... Including our 10.04 lb ham for Easter Dinner... I also had to pick up baking milk (as I like to call it) because Walmart was sold out! I picked up the last of the Easter Candy we needed... Reece's Peanut Butter Eggs... My FAVORITE! Back home I went to rest and unload... I was gone about an hour... I came home and my husband headed out to do things he wanted... I spent the time he was out making 2 Pumpkin Pies, Oreo Cookie Pie, 2 Apple Crisps, and a Cheesecake... I also had a little bit of a nap... We had lots of snack type foods for dinner... We watched the first episode of the Sixth Season Part II of the Sopranos... We made up the Easter Basket and went to bed...

Lenten Friday and CCM Induction Ceremony

I had a long and tiring day... I woke and dropped my oldest off... I then put my coffee cake in the oven in hopes it would finish in the time for me to leave in 40 minutes... Well, it finished in time... Just BARELY! Then I realized I hadn't cubed the cheese for the children's snack... So, I'm chopping cheese, helping the 2 littles ones with dressing, packing all the things I needed for CCM... Well, needless to say I didn't leave till 15 minutes after when I needed to leave... I stopped at my appointment which luckily they were having a slow day so I didn't have to reschedule... I finished that up... Peanut had her monthly weight in... She is almost into the 50% for both height and weight... She still hasn't reached 30 lbs yet at 32 months old... She is however almost 36" tall!!! Woo hoo!!! Next we went to CCM... After I brought my zillion of things in I was able to settle down and relax a minute... The children loved the snack... I didn't bring home but a tiny bit... Up stairs the ladies love the still warm coffee cake... They also loved the Lenten/Easter Activities I printed off to share with everyone one which included Stations of the Cross in a Box, Resurrection Rolls, Easter Cookies, Jelly Bean Prayer/What the colors of Jelly Beans mean for Easter... I had planned on going to noon mass with everyone else but it took us (me and the 2 littles ones) quite a bit of time... By the time I had everyone dressed well we had missed 15 minutes of mass... We drove to the Hardee's to pick up a snack and snacked while circling the block to find a door closer to the Cathedral (SE Corner)... Our CCM meeting are in the Parish Center (NW Corner)... It was another bitterly cold day so walking around the block was NOT an option... I did finally find a spot and dropped the little ones off in the social hall and went up stairs for the Induction Ceremony... I made it upstairs just as they were finishing communion... I found a seat near my friend Jen... Mass ended and we prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet... We all moved up front and waited for the Fr. W to return... I brought my camera so I could share PICS of our induction...

Fr. W laying out the medal we would receive for the induction:

Fr. W leading the ceremony:Fr. W blessing the medal:Fr. W blessing us with Holy Water: Fr. W giving me my medal (I had to repeat after receiving the medal "Mary, help me to be a better wife and mother"):

All 4 of us after the induction with Fr. W: (left to right, Jen S., Me, Fr. W, Lisa G., and Bernadette L.)

I am now a lifetime member even after my death... I and all my children will be remember at all CCM Masses around the world and every time a group of CCM women come together and pray our special prayers that we start every official meeting with I and all my children will be remembered then too... You may ask what is CCM... Here is a brief description:
Confraternity of Christian Mothers (CCM)
CCM was founded in France in 1850. The group was started because there was a need to unite and pray with other mothers, to discuss their problems, and to advise one another regarding the Christian rearing of their children. They knew that their new found group would not gain success without the blessings of spiritual direction. So, they petitioned their priest to oversee the group. Once the priests showed interest, the groups spread rapidly. Now there are 6 Archconfraternities in the world. It was in 1881 that the Capuchin Fathers and Brothers started an Archconfraternaty in Pittsburgh, PA. The CCM's spread from there since then. You may ask, Why is there still a need today for such an old organization? The answer is returned with a question. Is there not a need to bond with other mothers and discuss needs and ideas to raise a Christian family in this day and age? Of course there is. Now maybe more than ever. There are several organizations that young mothers can belong to, however, there are no other ones that have as their primary goal the "training and sanctifying" of their children. The CCM members pray for each other and their children. They discuss issues relevant to current times. Rather than being an organization that focuses on self-fulfillment, CCM reaffirms women in their roles as wives and mothers.

I had to cancel Peanut's ST because the induction ran later then we had planned... So, we stayed for the pot luck that followed... We all packed up and headed back south to pick up my oldest... We ran quick to Blockbuster and dropped off a movie my husband had rented... When I arrived home my surprise was here that I've been telling you all that would come today...

What do you think:

The children really love it... For right now we will use it this way... When our blessing arrives it has a special attachment for his car seat that will go on the front instead of the child cup holder/snack tray... Peanut will be in the back where Monkey is right now which has separate safety restraints for both sitting and standing.... I'm so excited and blessed to have this wonderful item for my children... I guess that is about all that happened today that I can remember to write about...

Wednesday

I think I waited too many days... It's hard to remember what happened Wednesday... Let's see... I worked on my round robin... I'm very close to finishing... I made Easy Chicken Parmesan... I will share the recipe later... I received a call and details about what we are doing for surgery... I didn't make it to my 'mommy' group... Can't remember why now... Peanut had ST and did well... No, OT for my oldest this week because OTist is out of town... I received a letter saying I don't have gestational diabetes... Woo hoo!!! A big storm is expected to hit tomorrow... I have no clue what happened today... I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars... They were delicious... I tried to go to bed early because I knew I had to be up but couldn't sleep... My husband had to snow throw what snow had fallen and put out the trash for trash pick up tomorrow... I guess I will end the post and hope I didn't miss anything too important... LOL!!!

Many Changes Monday

I will be sharing two new recipes (will update tomorrow)... One is for Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bars and Homemade Bread... I don't know if it's the cold possible sinus infection or what but I'm just dragging and very emotional lately... We are having many issues at home right now that are related to things we own and it is just setting me into an emotional upset... Like issues with our refrigerator and washing machine... Normally it wouldn't bother me... Just feel so frustrated and that I can't get a handle on things... However things between my husband and I are good and no issues with the children... Just my house seems to be really giving me a hard time! Well, I sat down and wrote a 'Family Routine' for our family... It is broke into 15 minute increments... It has everything our family SHOULD accomplish in one day... I know we won't follow it every day exactly if any day but it is there to help us not sit around and stare at the TV or Computer for hours... It is also going to help me with myself care... Which is really been neglected for many years... I'm tired of being the poster child of exhaustion! I want to sleep a decent number of hours at night waking up refreshed... I want to be able to eat 3 meals a day instead of 1-2 on my lucky days... If I continue on the path I'm on it could only have one end result and that is disaster! Many prayers while I try to organize myself would be appreciated... I will try to update and let everyone know how it is going... My good friend and mentor Michelle helped me tweak it a bit... The routine really puts things into perspective! Nothing much else excited happened today...

Food Friday

I filled out a form this morning to apply for something that will greatly help our family... They will call me for an interview once the paper work is processed... I hope we qualify because this could mean so much to our family... Today is Pay Day always a happy day in our house... We will be doing some more shopping this weekend for Christmas probably... The first of the Christmas gifts that arrive VIA the mail came today... So, I will be taking the children out each individually to pick up things they need... The boys have grown and worn out their shoes yet again... So, we will wrap the boxes and the boys will use them... My little princess is wearing out her tights... I also hope to find her some thermals (mini cuddle duds)... That will save wear in tear on her tights... She is a very active peanut... My friend and I weren't able to visit the Asian Markets again today... Her mother came in from out of town and they spent the day together... It was a pretty quiet day at home... I wrapped my husband's birthday present... What do you think?

Weather Channel™ Combination Radio & Cooler
Take your music anywhere you go — to the beach, the park, fishing or just hanging out in your backyard. Plus, it's insulated to keep your food and drinks icy-cold. AM/FM radio.

He asked for this... His current one is all worn out... He has a mini igloo type one now... He uses it to keep his check book, coupons, recipets, frequent shopper cards and stuff like that so his wallet isn't all fat... He doesn't use it to keep stuff cold except on occasion he will toss a couple soda cans in if we will be out for a while... I prefer a bottle of water...

I know he will be excited when I give it to him... I will share b-day PIC soon... We need to find a cake carrier (round)... He wants a double layer chocolate cake this year with white icing...