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Monday, March 29, 2010

Happy Half Birthday!!


Today Biggie is a year and a half (18 months for those that like math).  It seems like yesterday Sunny was celebrating her 18 month birthday!  It was funny because last night Mr. Wonderful and I were talking about it.  He said, "Where did we live when she was 18 months old?"  That is really how we have to figure out things these days when it comes to milestones and Sunny's age in relation to Biggies.  So, for those wondering we lived in Hazard, Kentucky when Sunny turned 18 months.
Here is Sunny when she was 18 months old in Hazard.
This seems like a million years ago now!



















Here is my tribute to the Birthday boy!











September 29, 2008




















March 29, 2010


Sunday, March 28, 2010

Recipe Sunday - Pork Fried Rice and Crab WonTon "thingys"

My kids absolutely love when I make this.  They do make an awful mess with it but they really enjoy it!You will need:


5 Boneless Pork Chops
6 chopped Green Onion
Frozen Mixed Vegetables
2 Eggs
1 cup Soy Sauce
 2 cups cooked Basmati Rice
Won ton Wrappers
Cream Cheese
Imitation Crab Meat

Here is how I cook it.  Pork Fried Rice:

I cook the rice as the directions state.
While that is cooking I fire up the Wok to med/high heat.
I cook and chop the Pork in a separate pan because I don’t want to get trichinosis.
In the wok I put half the chopped Green onions in and cook them for about a minute in 2tbsp of olive oil.  I stir it around kind of like Rachel Ray, except I am not as elegant as she is. 
Anyways, add the eggs and frozen veggies.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add cooked pork and cook for about another 3 minutes.  













Constantly stirring so you do not burn it.  Add the rice and mix.  Then add the Soy Sauce and Mix.  Waaalaaa!  There you have it!













For the Won Tons I mix in a bowl: Cream Cheese  (the whole thing), the other half of the green onions and about a half cup chopped crabmeat. 

Place a spoon full amount in to the won ton wrappers and use egg to close them.

Fry them in about 1-2inches of canola oil until golden brown.


























Follow it up with a pan full of brownies.  But don't eat the whole pan like me..or you might get sick!




Reality Check

We seem to lose sight of what is important in life.  This past year has been difficult for me, and I have been completely honest with all those around me. I am not exactly sure of the reason but I feel that it has been important for me to try and understand what exactly has been bugging me for some time now. I have reached a conclusion, but I am not quite ready to share it with the world. I feel when the time is right, I will be able to share and then I will truly be able to let go of what is bothering me.

My kids are my life. I think I get lost in the fact that I am able to care for them physically that I forget that they are little people that need support in order to grow into the people they will be when they are my age. There are times when I’d rather be doing other things than worrying about playing Operation or “tickle monster”. These last few weeks, I have been taking a long look at my life. I have been looking at the things in my life that do not make sense and simply tossing them in the trash.

It was really nice, the other day, when I was outside and it was just Sunny and I. It has been so long since I have felt so calm and generally happy. And then I felt that I have really taken what I have in life for granted. My kids are both healthy, I have a roof over my head, a husband that loves and takes care of me, and so much more.

From now on, I am going to be me. I am going to be honest with those around me and I am going to live my life to the fullest and enjoy my kids.

With this said; here is what Sunny was doing outside the other day that just tickled my spine.



















She was giving her "babies" a ride.


















The smallest things in life are what make it great!  I think we all forget that at one point or another.  It is time for self discovery and living!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

To keep him happy..

He just needs a little chocolate..





Monday, March 22, 2010

Not me Monday and more..

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This morning was not the best morning ever. I don’t know what it is but I feel pretty blah today. Maybe it is the rain, maybe it is my first day since my mouth surgery that I have been alone with the kids, or maybe I just need a vacation. I think it is the vacation, that sounds nice. Whatever it is, I have wanted to pull my hair out all morning. Thankfully, Sunny finally went to school and Biggie is napping. I should be working on my final paper for school, but I felt like blogging would make me feel better and plus writing about malpractice insurance is super boring anyways.

We have been working on getting Biggie off the bottle (from here on out referred to as the “baa baa”). He is a milk-a-holic and it is time. I do not need a 4 year old walking around with a “baa baa” in their mouth, 18 months is plenty in my book Imjustsayin. Parenthood is like a roller coaster. One minute things are fine and dandy and then the next step comes along and throws you for a loop. There is sleeping through the night, solid foods, sleeping in their own bed, sleeping in their own room, getting rid of the “baa baa”, feeding themselves and then my ultimate favorite potty training. Notice I left out one thing, passy’s or binky’s whatever your key phase is. Well I have been fortunate to never have to deal with those things. My kids just get attached to milk and their “baa baa’s”.

So anyways, Biggie is going through “baa baa” withdraw and it is not a pretty sight. He has been going crazy, crying, whining “baa baa”. Now, I wasn’t strong enough 3 months ago, I gave in and gave him his “baa baa” back, but not this time. I will stand strong. In a week he will forget all about the infamous “baa baa” and hopefully be back to his happy self.

So back to my morning of terror, it all started like a normal morning. But about 30 minutes into it Biggie was hollering something fierce as if he had not ever been fed in his entire life. So, being the supermom I am, I got up and fixed pancakes. I gave Biggie some cereal while he waited, which he then decided to smash with his new and improved big boy cup. Not cool. After I made the first pancake I gave that to him, he then proceeded to feed the dog. WTH?! 5 minutes ago you were screaming for food, but now nothing?

After breakfast, I like to enjoy a little downtime before I have to begin cleaning, dressing, changing, and combing so I was watching one of my shows on the DVR. Biggie then decides to throw himself hysterically onto the floor. Now I always tell him he is going to fall and “bust his face in” and that is exactly what he did. This boy is going to get the best of me.

We have the house baby gated so he cannot get out to where the stairs are. He thinks it is a game now; he climbs out and runs from me. Godhelpme!

And finally, when I have to brush his hair or teeth it is an ordeal and it makes me not even want to bother. But being the supermom I am, I do it.  I have to chase him down, hold him down in order to get him to let me do it. Man boys are a handful! They need to come with instructions or warnings. Something along the lines of; this child will do 90 to 100 percent of the following by the age of two:

Poop and Pee on you (in some cases more than once).

They color on themselves, furniture, carpet, car doors, pets, walls and basically anything that is decent looking to begin with.

He will run from you, but strangers will take joy in saying “oh how cute”? *Then why don’t you chase him a little while *thankyouverylittle*

He will bite you (sometimes more than once, and it will hurt).

Poop in the tub.

Climb and jump from the highest heights, giving you a heart attack more than once.

Climb on the kitchen table and pour out all the salt and pepper shakers.

Grab the toilet bowl brush and run around the house with it, pretending it is a wand.

Growl at you.

He will run out the door at any given chance to chase the FedEx man down the driveway while saying “Hiya”.

He will hit the TV with a baseball bat.

He will hit his sister with a princess wand.

He will rip books in half.

He will smash pop tarts into the carpet.

He will squeeze the milk out of their bottle into a puddle on the floor.

He will also squeeze a juice box onto the floor as well as their high chair. This will cover their food in a nice pond of juice.

He will also adore his mother.


So, with that said here is my Not Me Monday.

While making breakfast and trying to keep Biggie from screaming I would not ever in a million years give him chocolate chips, nope not me!

I would never let Biggie eat a cookie he threw over the couch the next day because I just do not have the strength to get it from him and hear him cry, nope I would never do that. Not me!

I would never feed my children ham and cheetos (all natural) for lunch and then get myself McDonalds. I would never ever do that it is just not right. Not me.

I did not clean out the car and throw away ever single toy that was in there. I would never throw away the 397 McDonald’s toys in the car. Not me, no never.

Finally, I would never leave the children with Mr. Wonderful to go and buy salt. Then wander aimlessly around Target for over an hour just to be without my kids. I would never ever ever do such a thing. NOT ME.

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger right?

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Tiny Bubbles

What a wonderful day..



















for bubbles,



















shorts,



















and fun in the sun.



















I love when the snow melts and the sun shines.
You know what that means right?


















Its time for Yoohoo!



MckLinky Blog Hop

Sunday Recipe - Sheppard's Pie

Tonight I made one of our favorites and since I have my wisdom teeth issues going on it did involve mashed potatoes. My kids love Sheppard’s Pie. When Mr. Wonderful and I first got married, it was the one thing I could cook and I would cook. The only difference now is that I home make the mashed potatoes. I don’t know how we would ever think those potatoes in the box were any good.


So for this recipe (serves 4-5 people) you will need

1 lb Ground Angus Beef
4 large potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cream Cheese
About 4tbsp shredded sweet onion
¼ cup butter milk
1/8 cup milk
¼ cup sour cream

Brown the Ground Beef.














Peel, cut and boil the potatoes.














In a bowl while the potatoes are boiling you can put in a half of a bar of cream cheese, onion, buttermilk, milk and sour cream.














Boil the potatoes until you can stick a fork in them and they fall apart without any additional pressure.

Drain and rinse the potatoes and pour into the mixture of cream cheese, onion, buttermilk, milk and sour cream. Mix with a mixer until smooth.

In a baking pan, pour in the layer of beef, top with mashed potatoes and then cheese.



























Bake on 375 for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Aggravation

Needless to say I am a little annoyed right now. I need to vent. I had my wisdom teeth taken out on Thursday. It really was no problem. Everything has gone wonderfully since then. Today, I really have had no pain. So I figured it would be nice to go out and get some pizza with the family. But before we even got the pizza I felt a nice string hanging in the back of my mouth.

Yes, my stitch on the top left side has come out. LOVELY. So here I am, I am waiting to see what kind of torture I now face. You know how you always know something like this is going to happen and that nothing can ever just go smoothly. I understand mistakes happen, but why couldn’t they happen during regular business hours.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A break..

I am getting my wisdom teeth out in the morning, so I will be down and out for a couple of days.  I'll leave you with these pictures I took today.

My kids seem to take better pictures when we are outside.



















Look at that handsome Biggie!



















Sunny putting on her socks because her feet were cold. :)

A case of the Mondays..

Monday was just one of those days. We have all been there, more than once. Everything started off fine, I was able to sleep in and I wasn’t late taking Sunny to school. Kids were fed and clean. But after about 3pm things seemed to fall down hill; although things could have been much worse than they actually were. I have always been known for my dramatic dictation of events.

I picked Sunny up from school, and the teacher pulled me aside (with other moms and grandmas). The teacher proceeded to tell me about the attitude Sunny has been showing towards another student. Here is where the conflict comes in because Sunny does not like this girl. What do you tell your child? For me, it is really hard to tell her to be friends with someone she does not like. But I sucked it up, I told Sunny that she should ignore the child and be nice to here when she had to. I am sure this will not be the last time this occurs but it was kind of embarrassing.

Well, later that day I lost track of time and realized that I was starving my children when I looked at the clock and it was 6pm and I had not even given a second thought to cooking dinner. So while I was whipping up some breakfast (for dinner) I put Biggie in his highchair. Standing 5 feet away from him I did not have any clue that he had gotten a hold of a pen. He then proceeded to create artwork on his body, without me having any clue as to what he was doing. By the time I got a hold of him he looked like this. What is up with my kids and pens?  You may remember some artwork Sunny posted for me last month.



















Look at this face, it says "what me, I didn't do anything".



















I guess it could have been worse, at least it didn’t say “I hate you” or “Mommy is fat”.  :)

To top all that off, when I had both the children in the bath tub, Biggie decides that it’s a potty and does the “poop poop” in the tub. SO not cool. Especially since I had just cleaned the bath tub (which I despise doing) the day before.

Afterward, Biggie thought he would give me a heart attack by doing this.



What can I say though? In the end of the day, when the kids are fed, clean, and asleep it all really does not matter too much anymore. When you can sit down and think about it, you thank God for helping you make it through another day.

How was your day today?

Monday, March 15, 2010

I could never do such a thing..



It has been one of those days. It is always important to realize that we all do the best we can to survive parenthood.

This morning, I did not ignore the baby talking in his crib at 7:30 so Mr. Wonderful would have to get up to get him and then proceed to sleep until 9:00 am. No never ever would I do such a thing. NOT ME.

I did not laugh when Sunny got in trouble at school today for having an attitude toward the girl that told her there is not a Santa. Nor, did I feel that the girl deserved the attitude she received from my daughter.  Seriously, NOT ME.

I did not let Biggie play in a box while I took a shower, because I knew he could not get out of it. I would never do such a thing. No way..NOT ME.

I did not eat a bowl full of semi-sweet chocolate chips for lunch. Not me!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A shot of Biggie

When I try and take pictures of Biggie they usually turn out a little something like this:























































The other day, I was able to get his attention and he actually said "cheese" while looking at the camera.  I was able to get some nice shots of him.



























Maybe I am partial, but he is soo cute!

Two for the Price of One..Sunday Recipes (Broccoli Casserole and Macaroni and Cheese)

I totally forgot about posting a recipe last Sunday..my bad! So here are two of my favorites.


Broccoli Casserole

You will need:

4 stalks with the tops cut off (if you use fresh)
or 4 cups of chopped frozen broccoli
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup (or Cream of Celery)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups of crushed Ritz crackers

The first step can be kind of stinky but you need to "man up" and cook the broccoli.














While it is boiling, you can mix all the ingredients minus 1 cups of crushed Ritz. 













Looks yummy huh?  I put a little sweet onion in it as well.
Once the broccoli is done, drain it and add it to mixture. 
Mix well and pour it into a pan.
Top with remaining crushed Ritz.
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.














Macaroni and Cheese

2 cups elbow macaroni
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1 tbsp mustard
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
Paprika
Salt and Pepper

Boil macaroni













In a bowl mix all other ingrediants except 1 cup of cheese (save this for topping)













Once the macaroni is cooked and drained, mix with the bowl of ingredients.
Pour into a pan. Sprinkle with paprica and salt and pepper.
Top with cheese and bake on 375 for 20-30 minutes.