Tackle it Tuesday #6

This week I tacled my scrapping space. One day I hope to have a room devoted to this, but until then, it is all crammed into my dining area. And I say area, because it's not a separate room. It's open to my living room and kitchen. I am not all that thrilled that when you walk in my front door you can see this space. But I "need" it! I really do! And what started as just the corner has now expanded about as far as it possibly can. I even took over my china cabinet (stored all my dishes that were in there) to house more of my supplies. So it may not be all that pretty, but it works for me for now. I also have all my teacher's guides and resources in this area, so it is really packed. And when I'm doing a lot, it gets QUITE messy! It really needed to be tackled!
Here are the before shots. (Hanging head in shame)


















And here are the after shots. (Head lifted a bit higher)

















And I still need to clean the things off my table, but I'll get to that...eventually!

For more tackles, be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Menu Plan Monday #5

Is it Monday already? And is it REALLY the last day of April? Oh my goodness - 1/3 of this year is already gone! How can that be? And that means that in just 30 days, I'm going to be the mom of a teenager - that can't be right!!!

Our menu last week got a little bumped because the night we planned to grill out, Chip was working in the yard until late, and by the time he was done, we decided it was too late to fire up the grill, so we had Taco Bell instead....no complaints from me! So Quesadillas have been bumped and re-added for this week.

I tried the Southern Fried Cabbage, and I loved it. Chip would have liked it to be a little less crunchy (I like the crunch), so I'll probably try it again soon and cook it a little longer. He did agree that the flavor was great.

Here's what this week looks like:

Monday: Chicken, Spinach & Tomato Pizza (Saw this in Leslie's menu last week, and it looked so yummy!) ~ Salad ~ Bread

Tuesday: Sandwiches (Just the kids and me)

Wednesday: Mexican Lasagna ~ 7-layer dip ~ Chips & Salsa

Thursday: BLT's ~ fresh broccoli and carrots

Friday: Chicken Nuggets ~ Corn

Saturday: Quesadillas ~ Adobo Rice & Black Beans ~ Chips & Salsa

Sunday: TBD

Also this week:
Breakfasts are usually quite simple around here, and sometimes we'll have bacon or sausage, and eggs, maybe with biscuits, maybe on an english muffin with cheese, something like that; but more often, things like cereal, oatmeal, waffles, etc. I'm going to start trying one recipe a week for breakfast stuff, just to change it up a bit. This week I'll be making Bacon Muffins.

Lunches are similar - either leftovers from dinner, sandwiches, maybe a frozen pizza, whatever. I'm also going to do the same and cook something different for lunch one day a week. This week it is going to be BLT Fritatta.

And, I'm going to make one dessert a week. I'd make dessert more often, but I would end up eating most of it myself (not kidding!) and I don't need to do that! And I may not make one every week, it just depends. But this week it's going to be Pretzel Surprise.

And that's the week for us! For more menu ideas, be sure to visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Contest!

Amy over at Amy's Random Thoughts is having a contest beginning May 1st. It is a Blogging Scavenger Hunt, and she's giving away prizes! So if you want to play along, run over and check it out!!!

Photo Hunt....Rare

This week's theme was very difficult for me. I had an extremely hard time thinking of something rare that I either had a picture of or could take a picture of. Then I thought about my son. I know this may seem a very odd take on the word Rare, but it's the only thing that came to my mind, and it stayed there. Not rare as in unusual, but more undone - as in a steak that's not completely cooked.

So...this is a picture of my sweet baby boy (who turns 13 in 32 days!!) when he was born. I was only 24 weeks pregnant when he was born. So, he wasn't "fully cooked" - he was "rare"! Instead of spending those last months "baking" in my womb, he had to do so in an incubator. So there's my very odd take on RARE!




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Friday Funny

Apparently, I say "Honey" a lot to Chip. Ruthi has picked up on this. She will run through the house after him saying, "Honey Yait!" (Wait)
The other night he was going to bed, and she was leaving the bedroom, turned and looked at him and said, "Good night honey." Chip replied, "Good night baby." To which she quickly replied, "No, call me Rufee." Oh, just too cute!

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I was cleaning the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink. Ruthi came in, squatted down and said, "Yat you doin' Mom?" I replied, "Cleaning. You want to throw this away for me?" She says, "OK", runs to the trash, returns and says, "Yat next Mom?" When did she get SO big? (Yat=what)

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Chip recently bought Ruthi a plush Curious George. Ruthi *ADORES* this monkey - he goes everywhere with her!!
A few times this week, she has walked up to me, cuddling George and says, "I got George. Daddy get me George home. Sheet Daddy." (translation: Daddy brought George home for me. Sweet Daddy.) And one time "sweet Daddy" was replaced with "So nice Daddy"

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While standing at the refrigerator, pulling on the handle, Ruthi says, "Abbrae", which is spanish for Open. (I have NO IDEA if that is spelled even close to correctly!) Apparently watching Dora is really rubbing off on her, as before she was just saying open. I thought this was so cute!

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Yes, I realize these are all about Ruthi, but CJ just doesn't say as many cute things anymore!

Tasty Thursday #5

Hosted by Trista at The Pumkin Patch.

I LOVE this recipe. It is great as an appetizer or a side dish, or even for lunch. I used to make this for parties, and Chip would ask why I didn't make it for just us? So now I do. It is YUMMO!

Hot Pizza Dip

1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 8oz. can pizza sauce
2 Tbsp. chopped green pepper
2 Tbsp. chopped scallions
Breadsticks or crackers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl, combine cream cheese and Italian seasoning. Mix well and spread over bottom of an 8 inch round pan or pie plate. Lightly toss mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses to mix, and sprinkle half of the cheeses over the cream cheese. Spread pizza sauce over cheese. Top with remaining cheese, peppers, and scallions. Bake 15-18 minutes or until cheeses are melted and Pizza Dip is bubbling around the edges.
Serve hot with breadsticks or crackers.

*I like to add chopped pepperoni to the toppings as well. You could add any thing you like.

**This can also be heated in the microwave. In a microwave-safe dish, heat on high 2 minutes. Rotate and microwave 2-3 minutes longer, or until mixture is bubbly around the edges.

For more recipes, be sure to visit Trista at The Pumkin Patch.

Visit with Granddaddy

On Sunday we went for a visit with my Granddaddy (and my Mom & Dad). We had a very nice visit. I don't know why I didn't think to take many pictures, but I did get a few. We went out to eat at the place that has a buffet of southern-style cooking. YUM!!! I know I ate way too much! (Oh - by the way - Thank you Daddy!)
Here is a picture of my Granddad with the kids.


And I think this is the sweetest picture of my Dad and Ruthi.

Tackle it Tuesday #5

I wanted to tackle so much more today, but I didn't sleep well last night, and today I have a really bad headache, so I'm not getting the stuff done that I really wanted. So I did a couple smaller tackles.
The first is an open cabinet in my kitchen. I took everything down and cleaned off the shelves. Since this cabinet is open, it collects things that don't belong there. Those things went to their proper homes. I rearranged a little to make room for the dinner plates that I didn't have in there before. Not an obvious big change, but it feels much better to me!
Here is the before:

And the after:

And the second tackle was under my sink. I've just been tossing things under there and not putting them back neatly, so it was a mess. I cleaned it out and threw away a few things. It doesn't look too much different, but at least I know where things are now again! And seeing these pictures makes me realize how much the cabinet is in need of a touch up paint job.

Before:

After:

For more tackles, be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Menu Plan Monday #4

OK, I tried the Penne pasta last week, and it was WONDERFUL! I absolutely loved it. My guys liked it, but they are weird and added hot pepper and ranch dressing to it (yuck!) because I think their taste buds are dead and they needed more 'flavor'. I loved the light, kind of mellow flavors. And the creamy sauce - oh yum!

Yesterday we visited my Granddad, and we ate at a Southern-style buffet restaurant that is so yummy. They had a cabbage casserole that was so incredible. I'll be searching for a recipe and hope I can find something similar. And all the fried green tomatoes I could eat...oh my were they good, as well as fried zucchini! YUM! I had my fill of fried foods for the month I think!

Now for this weeks menu:

Monday: Grilled chicken ~ mixed steamed veggies ~ garlic mashed potatoes ~ crescent rolls

Tuesday: Chili Mac

Wednesday: Leftovers/Sandwiches

Thursday: Cube Steak ~ Southern Fried Cabbage ~ green veggie TBD

Friday: Quesadillas

Weekend: TBD


** - I saw this recipe last week on Carrie's menu and decided I need to try it.

For more MPM participants, or to add your own, go see Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Photo Hunt....Steps

Yes....I have found yet another bloggy thing to participate in! This one is like a scavenger hunt. There is a theme each week, and we are to post a photo (new or old) that fits that theme as we interpret it. Fun, right? I think so, but some of the themes already have me a bit stumped, so I don't know if I'll come up with one for each week...we'll see!

This week's theme is Steps. I decided to post a couple of pics from when Ruthi was just learning to walk, thus, her first steps. Seems like yesterday! She's growing way too fast!






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Friday Funny

I don't have any cute new pictures to share, so I thought I'd share a couple funny things from this week.

After Ruthi was able to sit at Nana and Poppy's house and eat jelly beans to her hearts' content, I think she will relate their house to eating candy for a while. Case in point:

Ruthi:
(After spotting a lone jelly bean that had dropped into a box)
"Go Nana house eat candy." (except candy sounds like it has an o and no n or d - 'con-ee')

(and then after seeing the pictures I had taken on the computer)
"Go Nana house. See eggs. Peeeeese!"

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I can't remember exactly when this happened, but it was recent and I did write it down. I thought it was funny.

CJ: (in a very encouraging voice to Ruthi) "You know what will make Mommy very happy? To pick up all your toys and put them in your room! How does that sound?

Ruthi: (Big gasp) Yeaaaah!

CJ: Then pick them up!

Ruthi: CJ pick up my toys!

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Ruthi's "phrases of the week"
Oh My!!! Said every time she hears something that excites her or makes her happy, she says this, and it is sooooooo cute!
And a few times she has said, "Oh booey" (Oh boy) which is pretty darn cute too!

The other big one is, "Who that sound?" (sound has 2 syllables - see-ound) every time she hears something and is not sure what it is.



**Oh, and Mama - you'll be pleased to know that Ruthi LOVES that little puzzle book, and has played with it more than anything this week. She discovered that the pieces will stick to the refrigerator. This morning when Chip got home, she said to him, "I play puzzle, Nana got me!"

Easter Pics....better late than never!

We didn't have Easter on Easter Sunday. I was exhausted and still feeling 'icky' from allergy stuff. Ruthi wasn't feeling 100% and had been dealing with a runny nose for a couple days. CJ woke up at 5:30 that morning 'barking' with the croup. And, I had spoken to Chip at work on Saturday and he wasn't feeling well, so I knew he was probably going to want to come home and sleep. And that's what we did. We slept in. We did catch the service on line, which I suppose, is the next best thing to being there. Anyway, we relaxed and rested all day.
We had Easter the following Sunday. We headed south, stopping on the way to pick up CJ, as he had spent Friday and Saturday night at Chip's parents' house. Then onto my parents' house where my Mom had lunch ready. She had wonderful Easter baskets for the kids - they were personalized and stuffed full. And she had clothes for each of them - several shirts for CJ (which he needed!), a couple of really cute outfits for Ruthi and a new Dora nightgown. I think they were both quite pleased.
We had planned to color and hunt eggs, but it was so incredibly windy and chilly that we decided against it. CJ didn't care, and Ruthi didn't know the difference so we just didn't do it. I kinda miss having cute pictures of Ruthi hunting eggs, but it'll be ok! We decided to play a game my Mom had picked up. We had to re-title it though, at least until Ruthi fell asleep. It is called "Fact or Crap" and is a VERY fun game! However, we changed 'crap' to 'fiction' as we did NOT want her running around saying crap - and she would have for sure! We played right up until it was time for us to head back home.
Here are a few pictures of the kids and their Easter baskets, and a cute little Easter Bunny!

Tasty Thursday #4

Hosted by Trista at The Pumkin Patch.

I saw versions of potato soup on a few menus this week and thought for today's Tasty Thursday I'd share mine. I LOVE this stuff!!

Bacon & Baked Potato Soup

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 1/4 cups milk
4 med. red potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
2 cups cheddar cheese, finely shredded
2 Tbsp. green onion slices
1/4 cup sour cream

Boil potatoes in large pot of water until just tender. DO NOT OVERCOOK! Melt butter in heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Add onion; cook and stir until crisp-tender. Add broth, milk, potatoes, salt and pepper; bring to boil, stirring constantly. Slightly crush potatoes with back of spoon. Reduce head to medium-low; simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Simmer until cheese is melted, stirring constantly. Serve topped with remaining cheese, bacon, green onion and sour cream.

Makes about 6 - 1 cup servings

For more recipes, be sure to visit The Pumkin Patch!

The Happy Couple

Although they married the day before Easter, I'm just now posting a pic. My dear friend Penny married her Prince Charming. It was a beautiful and incredibly sweet wedding. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house! And they exited to "I Feel Good" which got a really good laugh from us all. I snapped the picture as they were cutting the cake, made by yours truly! CONGRATULATIONS PENNY & DJ!! I'm SO HAPPY for you guys!

Tackle it Tuesday #4

Wow, I haven't posted a tackle for 3 weeks! 3 weeks ago, I just wasn't in the mood for a tackle (don't ask!), the next week I spent the day at a friend's house helping her out, so technically I did a tackle, it just wasn't at my house, so no photos! And last week I was under the weather and not much tackling got done. But I did try to get a couple things started. And though I didn't complete it on Tuesday, I did get lessons planned for the rest of the school year - woo hoo!!

My tackles are basically catch up, since not much has gotten done over the past week and a half. I started today's tackles yesterday so that I could get done and post before midnight tonight. I got up this morning and got busy, and now I'm almost done!!
No pictures, but I totally tackled Ruthi's room...again. It was MUCH worse than last time, simply because I didn't touch it while I didn't feel good, and just kept putting it off...Oh. My. Heavens. It was HORRIFIC, and I will NOT be posting photos of that! And I posted after photos last time I did her room, so I'm not posting them again either.

Also, I tackled the master bathroom. Sorry, no photos of that either....NO WAY!

Let's see, my hardwood floors got tackled, but it would be pointless to show a picture, because you wouldn't be able to see much of a difference in the before and after.

I also tackled Mt. Washmore - that's the one I'm almost finshed with.

I still need to go to the grocery store today, and then plan to get some "office" related work done - hopefully lots!

So, not a photo day, but lots getting done!! Hopefully I'll have stuff next week that I: a)can take pictures of; and/or b)won't be embarrassed to take pictures of!

For more tackles, be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Menu Plan Monday #3

I missed posting last week, I had a menu, just didn't get around to posting it.

Here's what's on the menu for this week:

Monday: Pizza

Tuesday: Carbonara ~ salad ~ bread

Wednesday: Homemade pizza pockets ~ fresh broccoli & carrots

Thursday: Sandwiches

Friday: Penne a la Vodka (Can't wait to try this!)

Saturday: Tacos

Sunday: TBD

Yes, I realize I have Pizza, and then pizza pockets. But tonight, Chip will be at work, and I'll just throw a frozen pizza in the oven for the kids and me. Chip loves the pizza pockets, and the kids won't be complaining about 'pizza' again. And I realize I have two pasta dishes this week, but oh well!!

For more MPM participants, or to add your own, go see Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Still Here

No, we have not vanished as it would seem. Last week was very busy plus I wasn't feeling very good. And over the weekend the entire family ended up a bit under the weather. We took the first couple days this week quite slowly, allowing our bodies to recover, and now I'm trying to play catch-up. We are feeling better now thankfully. However, I'm finding it difficult to catch up this week! I'm trying! Hopefully things will be back to "normal" (whatever that is) by the weekend, and I can get back to the 'regularly scheduled programming'! I'll be posting pictures of the wedding cake from the weekend (which I was pleased with!) and catching up on here as well. Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Menu Plan Monday #2

It's time to plan the menu again!

Monday - BLT's ~ chips

Tuesday - Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches ~ corn on the cob ~ baked beans (double meal - preparing for another family too)

Wednesday - Chicken Nuggets ~ steamed mixed veggies ~ fresh fruit

Thursday - Sloppy Joes ~ fried potatoes

Friday - Brats

Saturday - Will be at my friend's wedding - if we are hungry after that, it will either be leftovers or sandwiches.

Sunday - Easter! Not sure what we are doing yet.

For more menus or to add your own, be sure to visit Laura at (I'm and Organzing Junkie).

Shower Success

One of my best friends is getting married this coming Saturday and I couldn't be more happy for her. Her first husband went to be with the Lord a little over 3 years ago after fighting brain cancer. It was devastating and we still don't know why God chose to call him home. But God is awesome and has brought an incredible man into Penny's life, and it's been like a fairytale. They are so much in love and so excited to begin their new lives together. It brings me so much joy to see her so happy after all the pain she went through.
anyway, I gave her a shower on Saturday night, and we had a blast! I think we were all on a sugar high between the cake, the eclairs and the chocolate fondue we dipped strawberries, marshmallows and pretzels into. YUM!
If you want to see a close up of the cake, the gift I made for her and the party favors, I've posted them on my craft blog.