menu for the week

sunday: pizza cones (little caesers kit)

monday: pizza at bc (don't judge......... fundraiser)

tuesday: chicken marsala with garlic bread and fruit

wednesday: chicken stir fry, rice and egg rolls

thursday: luke soccer/tb appt breakfast for dinner

friday: jack soccer sandwiches (ham, turkey, etc on potato buns), salads and fruit

saturday:  art prize

sunday: hockey night   burgers, chips

monday: roasted pork tenderloin

funnies for a monday

funny #1
Dear Teddy and the 67 people on your email list, I am honored you remembered to invite me to your 45th class reunion however I think you have the wrong email address. I appreciate everybody responding to all and trying to keep me in the loop! Let's go Raiders!!! Sincerely, teresa class of 1998 and a CHS Viking 

funny #2 
luke told me his favorite person in K is emmy. i said but buddy you don't play with emmy much.....blah blah blah. his face just got happier and happier.......and it dawned on me so i asked "is she your girl friend luke?" "yup, but she doesn't know it yet!" :) LOL this is his 2nd red haired "girl friend".......... must love red haired little girls :)

funny #3
luke is obsessed with getting spanish books from the library! he loves loves loves to hear me read them to him :) the very hungry catepillar in spanish was quite lovely and it is probably a stitch to hear me read it! i have never had a day of spanish in my life! :):) glad my kid likes multi-lingual things!

farm fun

creative

creative. yup. that jack o is creative.

chickadila soup

this was tasty. easy to make. a keeper.

Chickadilla Soup

Ingredients:

(if possible, use organic ingredients)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs

30 oz. diced tomatoes

10 oz. mild enchilada sauce

4 oz. chopped mild green chilies

1 quart chicken broth

2 15-oz. cans of black beans

10 oz. frozen corn

½ medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon cumin, chili powder and salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

Serving options: crumbled tortilla chips or Kashi Pita Crisps, hot sauce, sour cream, lime wedges, fresh avocado, shredded cheese, fresh cilantro

Directions:

1.      Place all ingredients into a 6-quart slow cooker.  Mix. Cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on High for 3-4 hours.

2.      After a few hours, once chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove from pot, shred and return to pot for remaining cooking time.  Add serving options per tastes.

menu

menu plus side dish options

sunday: grilled pork tenderloin (trying a new marinade......white wine, worsteshire sauce, garlic, salt, mrs. dash and olive oil), herbed rolls, grilled asparagus and rice

monday: spaghetti, bread and salad

tuesday: burgers, french fries and fruit

wednesday: kielbasa, green beans, wild rice and fruit

thursday: enchalada soup (new recipe--i will post if it is good), tortilla chips, etc.

friday............ date night?????

saturday: farm

sunday: homemade pizza

breakfast........... fritatas :)

I made the recipe :) but what I did........... beat eggs with a tid bit of water and some herbs, greased muffin tins, poured the egg mixture into the muffin tins (about 2/3 full), added a bit of grated cheese and some crumbled cooked turkey sausage. baked 15 minutes at 350. Refridge for a week or freeze but thaw overnight. YUMMY! Last time I added roasted broccoli, red onion and sun dried tomatoes as well :)

breathe

breathe. just breathe.
seems like all i post are easy going topics: menus, biking, loving on my kiddos, etc. yay for me! right?!? well today's message to myself is to BREATHE.

living with a phobia is horribly debilitating. it stops me. it puts me in a spot that is all encompassing and "day stopping".

today my day stopped with two little words {jack's sick} followed by {going to pick him up from school}.................. and sick he was for a short amount of time. he threw up. he laid down. half hour later, he was eating. then playing. then running. then reading. then eating more and eating more and eating more! WHAT THE HECK!  

and because of these little words and my brain's malfunction, i am struggling to let go of the worry that i feel. the what ifs creep in.......... i despise the what ifs! what if it comes back. what if jack pukes again while sleeping. what if luke pukes. what if i puke. what if josh pukes. what if jack pukes at school. what is luke pukes at school. what if this starts the madness of sickness that we experienced for so long last year. blah blah blah. none of these are questions notice. i purposely put a {.} because they SHOULD NOT BE questions. 

so as i stewed internally...... God brought to my attention my fears....... luke told me, as i put him to bed, that he was worried about puking. we had a little conversation about the "so whats"........... so what if you puke? so what if you make a mess on your bed? so what is someone pukes on you? so what if you are sick? nothing! it is okay little one. i am here to care for you. sure it is yucky, ucky and gross but it is temporary and yes it shall pass. it is not there forever. it is not permanent. it is just puke. and as i said all these things to luke, i reminded myself of the "so whats".....and luke and i had a chuckle. "so what if you puke.....and i puke?...well i would clean you up buddy. nah mom....dad would have to do it!!! big smile" and with that, he changed the subject to being worried about nightmares..................and indicating to me that he probably was not really worried about puke after all and was just trying to get me to stay in bed longer with him. he does like that game. a lot.

so tonight. as i type. i need to let go and hear the advice i gave to luke. the advice that i am sure was a reminder from God. that the so whats all lead to the same answer--not a big deal! 

i will not worry tonight. i will not worry tonight. i will not worry tonight.

i will not worry about puke happening tomorrow.
i will not allow puke to control me. i will not let my phobia debilitate me.

i will breathe. i will love. i will move on.

as always, thanks for listening.

rice krispy chicken

NEED
chicken breasts (i like to slice my thin)
herbs (optional)
rice krispies
butter
salt
pepper

DO
dip breasts in butter
dip breasts in krispies
place on a "pam coated" foil lined tray (trust me the foil is well worth the effort)
sprinkle with salt and pepper
drizzle a little more butter on (worth the extra calories... mmmmmmmmmm)
bake 400 degrees until chicken done. watch so krispies do not burn.

enjoy

menu for the week

sunday: broasted chicken from meijer (re-heated), fruit salad and baked potatoes

monday: leftover tacos from dustin's open house

tuesday: homemade pizza on prebaked crusts, fruit

wednesday: rice krispy chicken, aparagus and rice

thursday: warmed sandwiches, chips and fruit

friday: spaghetti

saturday: want a date night SOOOOOOOOOO badly............ but alas probably having roasted pork tenderloins, roasted potatoes and broccoli

sunday: kielbasa, wild rice and applesauce

monday: burgers?

generations!

re-wiring mom b's cottage....... love that grandpa g :)

great grandpa george and great grandma shirley (gg pa and gg ma) came for a visit from MO! we are so fortunate that the boys still have a set of gg parents :)  there was lots of hugs, snuggles, laughter, games of farkle, food and of course some work (gg pa does not sit still very long very well....he is an electrician and re wired mom b's cottage with aaron's help!)

gg pa loving on o

out sweet nephew o mowing

love love love love this pic of o

boys with gg ma

both gg pa and o enjoying pie

love love love love this pic

ben

a picture is worth a thousand words. he is growing up. slowly relationships are repairing. not as fast as i want or as easily as i had hoped but i have picture and that means a lot to me. it still makes my heart break to know tom is not here for his son.

eagle!!!!!

dustin, my mentee, has made eagle and i am beyond proud of him!!!! he has over come so much in his life and i am inspired by his positive attitude. i am honored he chose me as a mentor and to m.c. his event.

keep on growing dustin and serving others! you have a lot to share :)

wordless wednesday a day late

bikes bikes bikes

bike stop flatt river

bike stop river with mama

bike stop local elementary school playground

down at the church parking lot!

daddy and jack coming down the hill. our next stop was the danish kingdom playground!

bikes waiting for us patiently. notice training wheels....early in the summer!

tough man on two wheels! showing his muscles!

oh yeah! ice cream stop at the dairy barn in the middle of our ride!

we bike. a lot. i mean--a lot! we are always on bikes with the boys and i love it!!! we all will bike around our "block". i will take the boys down to the church down the road to ride in the parking lot. josh takes jack into town to ride mountain bike trails. the four of us ride on the paved paths in and around greenville. we have a lovely time and get lots of good exercise as well! this as been the summer of bikes bikes bikes!

fun at aj's

we had a blast at aj's fun center with aunt lynda and uncle john....too bad it was the last weekend of the summer!!!!! we rode go karts, drove bumper boats and played LOTS of arcade games. this was the summer that we also found craig's cruisers!!!! oh there is lots of fun to be had in the years ahead :):)

these boots are made for walking.....

aunt lynda and uncle john spoil their nephews! both boys got new boots and hats from their aunt and uncle. aren't they adorable!!! :)

fiesta for the 7 year old!!!!! :)

jack had a lovely birthday party! more pictures another day but the quick and dirty is that we had a pool party at a local athletic club and then headed to el ranch for a fiesta with our amazing neighbors (and scott's sister).

what a wonderful day for my BIG 7 year old :)

boating, tubing and water time!

 

jack and luke were so brave! the friday of labor day weekend, we had a spontaneous picnic with aunt sarah, uncle aaron, and cousin owen.....and of course they brought their boat! the boys were brave in the sense that 1. they got on the tube. 2. they went fast on the tube. 3. they wanted to continue to be on the tube! this is HUGE! they are becoming less afraid of the water (but still have  a healthy sense of respect for it). we had a lovely picnic and so much fun on the boat!

 

big day for thing 2

TWO WHEELS!!! luke is now on two wheels!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i went away with jack for an hour and returned home to find luke on TWO WHEELS! did i mention TWO WHEELS???? my just turned five year old is getting so grown up ;)

danish fest and lessons learned

poor josh had to attend ayso coaching 'school' all day saturday.... so the boys and i were on our own for danish fest in greenville. through ayso, we volunteered to do parade route clean up. i was amazed at how mature my boys were!!! they did a great job cleaning up and there was minimal complaining. instead there was a LOT of child led talk about littering and choices that people make! Jack said, "Mom littering is a CHOICE! A lot of people make a bad choice and we have to pick up. It's not right but let's volunteer again next year." Both my boys are such little environmentalists! Good job boys! oh my boys made me so darn proud as we cleaned up!

afterwards, we played hard at the kids inflatable area! :) and of course had cotton candy........... 

v, c and l visit pictures

luke (5), jack (7), logan (6 months), carter (3)