All up in the kool-aid, dont even know the flava

Meal Time

I know the best plan for dinner time is to be prepared. Write up a list of the meals your family likes, write down all the ingredients to make those meals, go to the store and buy those items. And life is really easier when I do this, but somehow I often don't. But the past two weeks I have tried really really hard.

Nachos/Taco Salad

(mine)

(Jason's)

Ingredients:

• tortilla chips
• black beans
• ground beef with taco seasoning
• tomatoes
• shredded cheese
• velvetta or nacho cheese
• black olives
• shredded lettuce
• salsa
• sour cream
• onions

I dont know why we dont make this all the time. It was SO SO good. I generally tend to stray away from meals that involve lots of little things (cutting, separating items into little dishes etc) but I ended up doing a lot of the prep work on my lunch break. I cooked up the ground beef with taco seasoning, and cut the tomatoes and onions. I saved myself a big step by buying the pre-shredded lettuce in the grocery store and I buy canned sliced black olives. There was plenty left over for lunches the next day and I only used 1/2 of the lb package of meat.

Foldovers/Calzones

With the other half of the ground beef, I cooked it up (again, on my lunch hour) and seperated it into two containers for two different meals.

For the calzones:

• pillsbury pizza dough in a can
• shredded pizza cheese
• garlic
• onions
• canned diced tomatoes seasoned with basil and oregano
• black olives
• meat for Jason

If you use one of their 33% more cans of dough, you will get two HUGE calzones. You could easily cut yours in half (see above) and save the other half for lunch the next day. (Jason and I rarely do this. We prefer to cut it in half, pretend we will save the other half and then stuff our selves silly by eating it all)

About half way thru cooking (15 minutes or so) Jason spreads melted butter and garlic on the tops to give them a nice golden brown glow.

SO GOOD

Spaghetti

I dont need to tell you how to make spaghetti, but it was  great dish to make the following night and Jason could throw the other portion of ground beef into his sauce.

Enchilada Casserole

               

It's pretty much impossible to cook a decent meal when I am home alone with Emma, so if we are going to eat decently, I have to do a lot of prep work on my lunch break. (Thank GOD I work a mile from home).

• tortillas
• shredded mexican cheese
• black beans
• onions
• fresh tomatoes
• enchilada sauce
• (not used in this example but I've previously used: corn, black olives)
• sour cream for garnishing
• yellow safron rice for a side dish

This was pretty easy to put together in about 10 minutes and then stick in the fridge until dinner time. Took about 45 minutes to cook. In the above example, I used too much enchilada sauce (way too much) and Jason didnt care for the onions, he said they were too strong- whatever.

What was great about these 3 meals is that they all had a lot of the same ingredients so if I chopped some extra tomato or onion one day, I could use it for the next day.

Tonight? Angel Biscuits and eggs.

Christmas Card Hopefuls

Christmas Card Hopefuls
Originally uploaded by alfredsmom

So, Monday I ordered my Christmas Cards. I think. See, W*lmart.com is suppose to send you a confirmation email, which they never did, but they did charge my account. So, I guess, for sure, I can say that I have paid for my Christmas Cards, wheither or not I have ordered them? I dont know. What I do know is that my silly pregnancy brain selected to pick up the Christmas Cards at the W*lmart by our old house. 1 hour away. GAH.

I should get points for finally making a decision on the photo for the card though. That was tough. Last year's photos were great and I finally decided that they were so great, they couldnt be topped, so why stress?

Click on the photo to see pictures from Shoot #1. None of these were used for the Christmas Card photo, but I love them all still. And if you are one of those readers that always asks me to post a picture of Bella, be sure to click on the link!

Emma's List

Many other mommy bloggers have been posting lists about what they think are the top gifts for their kids this year. It's been really helpful to see what others are getting their little ones, and I finally feel like I have enough ideas to make a similar post! If the price seems high on some of these, be sure to shop around, sometimes Ebay, Craigslist, or other retailers will have better deals.

Emma's List

1. The AquaDoodle mat

We actually found a great deal on this the day before Thanksgiving at Target and picked one up. This plus a toy truck from Kohls will be Emma's presents from us this year. I wish it could be more, but selling our house is actually costing us money (in the short run), so... c'est la vie. You fill the pens with water and the kids can write all over the mat without any mess! The "ink" dissapears after a few minutes. I liked the wall version of this too but thought that might inspire Emma to think drawing on the walls is ok. :)

2. Wooden Multi-Color Blocks by Lillian Vernon

After looking around at all the blocks out there, I found this 100 piece set for $19 to be the best deal. Target has a similar 30 piece set for  $16 that is also nice.

3. Bristle Blocks 

Nicole told me about this great set of interlocking toys. The set is $28 at Target and seems perfect for little hands that are still trying to put things together.

4. Dora Kitchen

This $70 play kitchen is (from what I've seen) at the lower price end of the play kitchen selection. It features 28 accessories and a talking Dora.

I just found this kitchen on our local CraigsList site for $40. That wont do you any good, but be sure to check out your area for similiar great deals!

5. Wooden Peg Puzzles

I think Emma would really love some wooden puzzles like this one. The website says it is $16 for one puzzle, but I KNOW when I was at Target the other day that had some much better deals. Here's a link to a $3 one on Amazon! 

6. Little People Set

Little People are the rage right now. I think Emma would like any Little People play set. I just chose this one because she likes cars too. I found this one for $31 at Walmart.

7. Outdoor playset

This $129 outdoor play set is the perfect size for Emma. Low enough to the ground that I dont have to fear for her life if she falls off. Now, if you are like us, you dont have $129 to spend on such a thing, but maybe we'll get lucky and find one used somewhere.

8. Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair

This chair, $70 for the insert and $29 for the slipcover is great for little ones to climb in and out of. Emma loves it when we put her booster seat on the floor, so I know she'd love a piece of comfy furniture all her own. You can also check Ebay for good deals on this item.

9. Musical Instrument set

Let's face it, kids (especially mine) like to make lots of noise. This little musical instrument set, $25 at Target is the best set I've seen for the 2 year old category.

10. baby dolls

I cant link to a picture because there are TONS out there and frankly, I cant make up my mind. So if you've got a little girl, baby dolls are probably a sure thing. Any doll.

11. Books

That link will actually take you to a list of books I think are great for Emma's age. Emma LOVES books. And if you have to get a gift for a toddler, a book will be a hit with the child and the parent. 

12. Trucks

Boy or girl, everyone loves trucks. This one is only $12.99 at either Target or Amazon. Great deal for a truck with lights and sounds.

Thank you all again for your well wishes and prayers for the sale of our house! It would be the best gift of all!

The Big News

WE HAVE A CONTRACT!!!!

**Now, don't you ease up on your praying because a lot of puzzle pieces still have to fall in place btwn now and December 17th! **

7 Wierd Things and some hidden undertones

I'm avoiding talking about something big. I was going to talk about it today, but I want to post now, and I havent gotten the all clear to talk about IT yet, so, you'll just get to see me ramble about other stuff. Arent you lucky?

So, everyone's been doing this 7 Wierd Things Meme. I havent done it (at least in a couple years probably) because, let's face, I'm not wierd. (Just kidding!). So, let's see what I can come up with...

1. This will totally disgust many of you, and I suppose I am risking losing some readers here, but I live by (at home only!)  the "If its yellow, let it mellow" rule. See, as a pregnant woman, I pee a lot. If I pee at 10pm at night before I go to bed, I dont see the point in wasting the water to flush the toilet when I will simply be peeing again in a few hours. Now, if I pee during the day, I flush.

2. I always wear socks to bed. I tried to not wear socks one night, and I couldnt sleep. I dont like for the bottoms of my feet to rub up against the sheets.

3. Every morning, I wake Emma up by singing the Good Morning Song. (I dont know the origins of this song, or where I got it or made it up) "Good Morning, Good Morning! It's time to wake up and shine! Good Morning, Good Morning to You!" Repeat.Then I say good morning to Emma and too all her stuffed animals that slept with her. She loves this.

4. I dont really like to talk on the phone. I think I am much wittier over email. :)

5. I love crunching on ice. I'll fix a big glass of ice water and ask Jason to drink the water so I can have the ice (the ice needs the water to help it get to the optimum crunching state).

6. While I am always aware of what reality is, I am very much a dreamer. I can always find the positive and always have hope for great outcomes. I think it is entirely possible for us to win the lottery one day. I know the stats, but someone has to win. If you give up hope and optimism, you give up really living.

7. I have to pull the covers up over my head (leaving a small air tunnel) when I go to bed at night. Sometimes it takes a long time to get it just right.

Well, this list took me two hours to make. Sad isnt it? And I know there are lots of wierd things about me. Sigh.

Thanksgiving recap!

Did you have a good holiday? I dont have internet at home, so I havent been by to see you yet, but Im on my way there, don't you worry!

My office closed at noon the day before Thanksgiving. AWESOME. We actually used the half day to go out to eat with the in-laws and Jason's sister Michele since she was in town. Then we went house shopping for her since she will be moving back to town in February. House shopping is always fun. She wants a real fixer upper. Something she can work on over time and then sell for a good profit.

Anywho, on to Thanksgiving!

I was in charge of the vegetarian stuffing. I used this recipe.

It was fairly easy to make and the flavor was wonderful. For next year though I need to remember to bake it at least 1/2 of the time with the  casserole lid OFF so it doesnt end of so mushy and bread pudding like. I also might throw in some sage, since the recipe didnt call for it. But, very good all in all.

After I made that, we headed to the In-laws. I had told my MIL that we would get there as soon as Emma woke up from her nap, so we might not be there early, but we'd be there   in time. Well, I got a brief (and unnecessary lecture) about how dinner would be at 2pm, with or without us. Well, we ended up getting there at 1:15, and Jason's brother's family got there at 2pm. With the cheese ball that was suppose to serve as the pre-dinner snack. No lecture for them, of course.

Anyway, here are some pictures from dinner:

The menu included:

• Turkey
• ham
• two kinds of stuffing
• vegetable medly casserole
• peas
• sweet potatoes (I prefer the sweet potato casserole my MIL makes, but this year the FIL's sweet potatoes won out)
• mashed potatoes
• angel biscuits (so yummy)
• cheese ball
• celery
• vegetable tray
• hot cider
• pumpkin pie
• lemon meringue pie
• cranberry relish
• cranberry jello salad

Very good.

My SIL Gina had a great time teaching Emma to stick black olives on her fingers and eat them. I think Emma ended up eating about 8!!

 

It was halarious.

We decided to bring along Alfred to hang out during Thanksgiving Dinner. I knew the weather would be nice during the day and the kids would enjoy playing with him.

    

Sorry buddy, its time to eat.

Dinner was great! Emma was great! Family was great! I took approximately 1.2 million other pictures that I will share this week.

Thanksgiving

It's been a rough year, but regardless of the hardships we have gone thru, I have a lot to be thankful for.

WOOOHOO! It's TURKEY DAY!!!

This year, I give Thanks for:

• Jason. He is an amazing person. Really. I cant imagine going thru all this house stress with anyone else and surviving.
• Emma- That's an obvious blessing!
• Our new house. Sure, its smaller. Much smaller. But I am thankful that we were able to buy a new house without having sold the old one. That was a rare blessing. And I love all the character it has.
• My job. I am thankful that when I needed to get a job, I was able to get one, a decent paying one, pretty quickly. I love having my own big office and being trusted to work on projects by myself.
• Family. I really married into a great one.
• Jason's job. Not only does it afford him the opportunity to earn extra money working a few overtime shifts, but his schedule has worked out great for us and his job environment has provided some great blog material. :)
• I am very thankful that this year we don't have to drive an hour with all the dogs, to spend Thanksgiving night with the in-laws while the dogs shiver outside in the cold on the in-laws back deck. When we are done eating? We can drive a couple miles to our house. And if we want to drive back over later for leftovers? We can. And the dogs can enjoy being inside and warm and cozy.
• Being able to meet so many of my blog friends this year! Somehow, God provided that opportunity.
• Being a fairly positive person. Sometimes, you just have no other choice but to find the positives in crappy situations!

I love you all and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving or a Happy Thursday to my Canandian Friends!

Here's the link to last year's Thankgiving, should you care to see a 22lb Turkey.

Because its just too funny not to share

Ok, normally we're all rainbows and sunshine over here. Positive attitudes, nice things to say, all that jazz. Well, I want to share something funny with you. And what I am about to share will likely make me look a bit... tacky/bitter/some word that starts with a capital B.....

Very Very long story short, my SIL (Jason's brother's wife, not to be confused with Jason's sister Michele, whom I adore)Gina, can sometimes be a bit difficult. The Easter before Jason and I got married, she decided that not only were she and her family not coming over to the In-laws for Easter Dinner, but the In-laws were also forbidden to come deliver their grandkids' easter baskets. Apparently I was allowed to come over, but not Jason's parents. It was a horribly awkward situation, and one that I felt I need to bring up to Gina the next day on the phone. Me- a then 23 year old with no kids, and her a 30 something with 2 kids. I told her it wasnt fair to Jason's parents to not get to spend time, espeically holidays, with their grandkids (they live a mile down the road people!). Anyway, she took it as me telling her she was a bad parent, and from that day on she and Jason's brother didnt talk to the family for 3+ years.  Didnt come to our wedding, returned gifts and cards we mailed them, didnt acknowledge Emma's birth, didnt come visit Jason's parents on their birthdays or Mother's/Father's Day (again! they live a mile down the road!), didnt visit Jason's dad when he had a heart attack 3 years ago.nothing.

(In my defense, the problems with Gina started long before I came into the family, I was just the one to...call her on it)

So, fast forward to this May. We move back to town, I call them up randomly and leave them a mesage that we are in town and do they want to meet Emma?

Well, I think my MIL nearly had a heart attack when they called back and said, "Hey! Let's all go to dinner together! Tonight!".

And every since then, everything has been normal.  Eeerily normal. As if nothing ever happened. As if everything has always been rainbows and sunshine. The grandkids get to spend lots of time with Jason's parents, Gina and Scott (J's brother) spend lots of time over at the in-laws. normal.

Sometimes, the change is a bit mind boggling. Here's an entire family that we are suddenly speaking to again and talking about exchanging presents with and doing holiday dinners etc.

(Hmm... I just realized I really gave you the long version of all of this didnt I? Well, you're all better for it.)

So, I have no idea what to get my neice and nephew (6 and 10) for Christmas. I don't know them that well, and I don't know what that age likes or needs. So I emailed Gina yesterday and simply asked, "Do the kids have Christmas Wish Lists?"

This is the email I got back:

I do, but they really did not ask for much of anything and what they did ask for is out of everyone’s price range.  He is really hard to buy for, he does not like any type of art / craft kits.  Something that you could do is a gift certificate to Book’s-A-Million.  Even buying him books is not easy, this way he could pick out what he wanted to read, with my approval.  Please do not do movies or music, as he is really reaching an age that we need to be very careful about what he is watching and listening too.  We keep a very close eye on what the kids watch.  No Pokemon, Shrek, Power Rangers, SpongeBob, etc. 

As for Sid, books (chapter books for beginners), art/craft projects…she really likes to make things, color with markers.  Anything pink, she does not really play with toys or baby dolls.  No hair stuff as she will rarely wear it now.  She likes her hair up in a pony all the time.  It stays out of her face.  If you do clothes, please make sure that it has nothing written across her on the bottom of pants and that if it says something on the front that it is appropriate, or she can not wear it to school.  We only do positive messages.

I am sorry there is so much information, but the kids are not the easiest to buy for, even for me.  They really do not ask for a lot of things, especially toys. 

I hope this helps, if not…call me. J

So? What do I go and do? I forward her email to my MIL and say, " Gosh, I guess I'll have to take back those shorts I bought for Sid that say Nice A$$ on the bottom..."

And more halariously, my MIL shows Gina's email and my email to everyone in her office. As in, "now you can understand Gina's personality."

Seriously? Does she think I have no common sense what so ever? She needed to say, "We only do positive messages"? Come ON!

Thanksgiving Dinner tommorow (yes, with all of them) should be an... event.

Question Day

1. So, stoneware (more specifically, Pamp*red Ch*f) is not suppose to be washed with soap. Just use the little scrapper thing. Well, Jason put our pie shaped stoneware dish in the dishwasher. Oh sure it looks fine, but my question to you, Is it really fine?
2. My forehead is dry. Very dry. Like flaky dry. Just the forehead. So, recently (very recently) I've started applying a good moisturizer (M*ry Kay TimeW*se or something, I like it) to my forehead every night and morning. But I dont think this is going to solve it. The best idea I can come up with is to slather my forhead in petroleum jelly and hope for the best. Do you have any better ideas?
3. I want to get Emma a baby doll for Christmas so she can get used to babies. Criteria: Not creepy looking, not too many crazy annoying featurings, want it to be able to drink from a bottle that is included with doll and have removable clothing. Do you know of a good doll?
4. I really like these blocks for Emma. We debated about wooden blocks versus big cardboard blocks, but I think we are leaning towards these for a few reasons including, they store easy in the included tub, there are 100!, and they are durable and long lasting. However, I just want the opinions of those of you that have knowledge on children and blocks. Good choice or not? Would she prefer a big tub of giant legos?
5. Fudge, Pralines or brittle?
6. What does your family/extended family do for Christmas presents? (like inlaws)Do you draw names? Put a price limit? What?
7. No one in our extended family has asked for ideas for what to get Emma for Christmas. Maybe they have great ideas, maybe they have no ideas, maybe they arent getting her anything. If they don't that's fine, but would they appreciate a list of possible ideas? I could send out a link to her wish list to family and just say, "While you do not need to get Emma anything for Christmas, here is a list of possible ideas, should you need them". Pushy? Too much? Tell me.
8. Any questions for me?

Weekend Recap

Friday

I left work early and Jason and I headed off to a movie! By ourselves!

We used our credit card rewards program to recieve movie/popcorn/drink passes and decided to see Dan In Real Life.

One word?

AWESOME.

Seriously, the best movie I have seen in a long long time. I laughed so hard and loud (as did the other movie goers). I dont ever remember laughing that much in a movie before. Now the movie isnt all comedic, it has its darker moments, but the combination of emotions was terrific. Go see it!

Then we picked up Emma, and her 1st EVA school pictures (will share tommorow) and headed to the In-laws for dinner. Actually, I ate Taco Bell and they just sat around and watched me (they were full from a big lunch!).

Saturday

Jason worked, so Emma and I headed out in the morning to Kohl's (department store) because I had received a no strings attached $10 gift card in the mail from them. I didnt even have to spend a certain amount! So, I picked up a pair of church shoes for Emma (yes, she's been going to church in her pink sneakers...Am Horrible) and a toy truck that makes noises for her for Christmas. Here are the shoes:

Yes, Adorable. I know. And the halarious part is that when Jason put them on her feet for the first time Sunday morning, she danced around and stomped and stared at her shoes with a big smile on her face. As if, "Gah, finally, some church appropriate shoes! Thank the Good Lord!"

Between the shoes and the toy truck and my gift card, I only spent $3!!! Awesome.

After lunch and a nap for both of us, we headed over to the in-laws to make some biscuits. See, my grandmother always made "angel biscuits" for holiday meals. Since we spend all of our holidays with Jason's family and his parents dont have to worry about whose family we will visit for which holiday, I decided it was pretty justified of me to decide to incorporate some of my family's traditions into his family. So, in addition to bringing my own stuffing this year, I am bringing angel biscuits as a replacement for the rolls my MIL usually buys.

Now, my MIL suggested we make the biscuits before Thanksgiving and freeze them (freeze the dough in biscuit shapes) so they would be ready to pop in the oven on Thanksgiving day, right before we sit down to eat.

We went ahead and baked up one batch to test them out. Yummy! Not your traditonal fluffy biscuit, but very nice with a touch of butter and maybe a jelly.

Here's a recipe I found for angel biscuits online. It's fairly similar to my grandmother's. 

I made up about 40 biscuits, froze them on a cookie sheet and then moved them to a big ziploc bag to stay in the freezer until Thanksgiving morning.

Then Emma and I headed home and made a quick chili and cornbread meal for dinner for when Jason got home from work.

After Emma went to bed, Jason and I watched Kevin Costner in "Mr Brooks". Very good, but very dark. So if you don't like dark, creepy psychological  movies, then don't watch this one.

Sunday

We joined the church! Yippee! And as our free gift, we recieved a church cookbook! lol.  All of our young adult church friends were so excited we were joining. They have kids Emma's age, so it is so exciting to know they will grow up together! We had to stay after church and stand in front of the altar so everyone could shake our hands. And for the first time EVA, Emma didnt cry when we left her in the nursery! In fact, they said she had the best time ever! (Guess it was the new shoes??)

Sadly, those two hours at church were Emma's only non-whiny/miserable times on Sunday. She's got a cold (a mild one) but was in SUCH a bad mood all day long. Of course, Sunday is the day I had alloted to take the holiay card photo, so that made the photo shoot oh so much fun. I got a couple decent pictures, but none that WOW me. Of course, the prospect of trying again really tires me, so you might be recieving a less than stellar Christmas photo this year. It was soooo much easier when she just sat there...

(last year)

Here's a few of the reject photos from yesterday:

I need to order my Christmas cards by Thursday, so Im just not sure if I'll have time (daylight) to take more shots. Oh well.

Then we went grocery shopping, ate dinner, and stayed up with an incredibly cranky Emma until about 10pm (she normally goes down at 7:30pm). I dont know if its new molars, or gas or WHAT, but yesterday was a very difficult day.

And it did not help that all the while trying to rock Emma to sleep I had to watch the Music Awards on TV instead of Extreme Home Makeover and Desperate Housewives. GAH.