The Life of a Newlywed!

I'm not a newlywed anymore

2009-06-04T18:24:00.002-04:00

Well, I think that I am going to move over to Jack's blog. We have been married for almost three years now and so we are hardly newlyweds anymore! Check out http://ourlittlepumpkinjack.blogspot.com.

I mean, really, who am I kidding, is anyone still reading this blog, really? Well, if you are make the switch - see you over there!

Life keeps going!

2009-03-21T18:01:00.003-04:00

We are nice and busy around here lately. We got Jack's professional pictures done and they turned out wonderfully! I was really worried because like always our weekend was busy and Jack didn't take his nap! So, by the time we got his picture taken he had been up for four hours! That is a long time for the little man! He ended up doing a good job, however.
I am keeping busy too! I am busy at work with teaching my students and a student teacher. I am excited about this because I may want to teach teachers in the future and this is my first experience with it! So far, so good. We are learning together! I am also keeping busy with my last master's class and my portfolio. It is a LOT of work and takes a lot of time - which is the one thing I never have enough of! The good news is that I have a good vision of where my project is going and there is an end in sight! I will graduate on May 8th and I am very excited!

Sick and skinny!

2009-02-16T20:39:00.004-05:00

First the bad news - Chad and I both have the flu! It is the nasty stomach flu and it makes us both feel sick, sick, sick. I am taking the day off tomorrow because I have a fever and I am not interested in getting 20 five year olds sick. So, Chad thinks he his going to work tomorrow so it will be Jack and me. He was quite understanding tonight - he chilled out on the swing or layed on the couch with me while I rested. I let Chad sleep for a while this afternoon and then I got to rest while Chad gave Jack his bath. We make a good team!

On a side note - muffin top be d@mned - I fit into my pre-preg jeans. While I still have about 10 lbs more to go to get to my pre-preg weight and another 15 to go to get to my final goal weight, it felt very good to get into those jeans (thank goodness for the stretch factor!)

Anyway, that is enough for now. I am going to try to eat a little something. Wish me luck that it stays down!

Once a month I guess!

2009-02-01T21:14:00.003-05:00

So, apparently I am only posting on here about once a month! Oops! I guess time flies when you're having fun! Jack continues to grow and change each day. He keeps us busy, tired, and happier than we ever could have imagined. As Chad and I said to Jack yesterday, "we can't afford toys now so you are our toy!" He is very entertaining and takes up LOTS of time! He is laughing, cooing, "talking", rolling )kinda), grabbing things, smiling, and reacting to everything. He always tries to watch tv so we call him Owl because he can turn his head almost all the way around if he's trying to sneak a peek!
Here are a couple of pics of the big man. He is so much fun and brings us so much joy!
As always LOTS of new pics on our Shutterfly site! Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T12:51:00.003-05:00

Chad, Jack, and I had a nice quiet New Year's Eve at home this year. If you remember, last year we got stuck in a ditch in 2 feet of snow so this year was much less stressful. We went to Meijer to get steaks and a bunch of food to cook for my in-laws to come over today. Apparently the rest of the residents in town decided to go to Meijer last night as well - nothing like waiting until the last minute. Oh well, Jack got a little fussy but he's a good little shopper so we made it just fine! When we got home we gave Jack a bath and put him to bed. He didn't want to fall asleep right away but we are working on him fallin asleep on his own which he did - eventually.
Anyway, Chad and I watched Stepbrothers with Will Ferrell and John C. Riley, ate our steak and tator tots and later I ate some ice cream. I also had my first alcoholic drink since last year on NYE because I got pregnant last January. Jack was a trooper and slept through the night so by the time I woke up I was bright eyed and bushy tailed.
We have been so blessed in 2008 and we are really looking forward to 2009. Happy New Year everyone!
Oh and we have about a MILLION new pictures on our picture site! Check it out!

Umm, oops

2008-12-09T22:07:00.003-05:00

Okay, I haven't posted in a LONG time - more than a month. I am really sorry - I've just been busy. It's hard to type with one hand and honestly feeding Jack and playing with him has just taken up a lot of my time! Jack is getting on with a better schedule, we had his baptism, and Thanksgiving has come and gone. Now we are getting ready for Christmas! Time is going quickly. I know I will regret this at some point but I am ready to go back to work and get back on a schedule. I love being with Jack but I need my routine again. I think that I will just sit back and enjoy my last few weeks home with my baby boy. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep checking our shutterfly site for more pics!

Names in the Sand

2008-11-04T08:56:00.006-05:00

So, Monday was my first whole day with Jack to myself. Of course, this was the day he chose to be fussy all day long for mommy. He was up at 9:00 a.m. and did not sleep for more than 5 minutes until 4:00 p.m. He would eat, poop, and fuss. Apparently he forgot about the sleep part. It was frustrating to say the least. It was really not what I had imagined for my short time as a stay at home mom. In fact, I was ready to go back to work yesterday. It was upsetting to not love every single second with Jack. Please tell me someone else has felt this way at some point.

Anyway, I browse through a few blogs when I have a second and I found a link to a very special blog this morning. It is a site where people in Australia write the names of babies who passed away in the sand as a tribute for their families. CLICK HERE for Names in the Sand. The site has comments, poems, and notes from the babies' families and it is really moving. I am glad I found this site this morning because it made me realize how truly blessed we are to have a happy, healthy little boy. In a sad way it helped me to appreciate how lucky we are and it made me want to snuggle Jack a little closer.

Anyway, I have snapped out of my sour mood from yesterday - at the very least Jack slept well last night. He went to bed at 9:30 p.m. was up at 1:00 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. Then he was up at 7:00 a.m. and is currently sleeping at 9:00 a.m. This is probably why he's up all day long. Of course, I don't mind the sleeping all night but it keeps him up all day long! Oh well, good thing he's so cute and snuggly! Now, if he will just stay happy for most of the day!

busy busy

2008-10-22T21:19:00.003-04:00

Sorry I haven't updated. Clearly I am busy with Jack and I am enjoying my last few days of Chad being home. I do NOT want him to go back to work. I like being home everyday as a family. I know I am lucky that he took two weeks off but I want him to be home MORE - I'm greedy!
Anyway, Jack is doing well. He's a cool kid - I like him quite a bit. I will leave you with a few pics but the Hungry Hungry Hippo wants to eat again!

Sleep - how precious . . .

2008-10-17T12:29:00.002-04:00

Jack's first two nights at home were great. He slept at three hour stretches, fell asleep after he ate and had a new diaper and even took a nice long nap in the morning (like 7-10). Last night, however, Jack decided to be a hungry, hungry hippo and he wanted to eat constantly. He would wake up, eat for almost an hour, and then go to sleep just to wake up an hour later. So, technically he was eating every two hours except it takes him an hour to eat so we only got an hour of sleep at a time! Oh well, he slept from 7-11 am so at least we got some sleep then. Its fine with me because I don't have to go back to work until January but in about a week Chad isn't going to be as cool with getting a bulk of our sleep during the day when he needs to go to work! Oh well, at least he is a good eater and goes to sleep when he's full - Jack, that is, not Chad. Well, on second thought, Chad too. I guess they are both good eaters and sleepers! :)
Continue to check out our Shutterfly site for more pics.

Jack Rolls Over

2008-10-14T11:58:00.003-04:00

Jack rolled over for the first time last night. Here's the video to prove it:)

He's Here!!!

2008-10-14T09:16:00.002-04:00

Jack Thomas was born on Friday afternoon at 12:58 p.m. via c-section. Everything went really well. He was a mover and a shaker right from the start! Here are some basic stats:

So far he has brown/redish hair depending on the light. His eyes are still blueish but they are getting darker by the day and I think he might have brown eyes at some point. He is a big guy too!
Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz
Length: 21 inches
Head: 14.25 inches circumference

That puts our little Jack in the 80-90th percentile in all of his categories. Oh yeah, and he was a week early! They said the head circumference alone likely would have been enough reason for a c-section.

I am feeling great - I am on lots of steroids so my Crohn's is under control, which even though its artificially under control, its enough for me right now!

Jack is eating like a champ and so far he sleeps fairly well (knock on wood and lots of prayers for continued sleep!) He is so calm and content so far - he loves looking at our faces and he just relaxes and coos. I could just look at him all day.
Check out our picture site CLICK HERE for pictures. We are trying to update them as much as possible but we get a little busy somtimes (surprise, surprise!)

Getting ready!

2008-10-09T16:49:00.002-04:00

Homework done - check
Laundry done - check
dishes done - check
house cleaned - check
classroom ready to go for sub - check
eating all of the junk food I can stomach - check

Tomorrow is the big day - I am going to have a baby - tomorrow! We welcome all of the postive thoughts and prayers we can get!

Oops, its been a while!

2008-10-06T21:25:00.002-04:00

Yeah, so, I've been a bit busy. I am trying to get a lot of things done and ready because I am having Mouser on Friday. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that? I am having a baby on FRIDAY!!!!! My Gasteroenterologist and OB have decided that the best thing for me at this point is to have a scheduled c-section for various medical reasons. I trust my doctors and I have decided to follow their advice. This weekend we lived it up a bit knowing that it was our last weekend ever without kids! YIKES! We are excited, nervous, and a little overwhelmed! I keep thinking that I have no idea what to do with a baby but it seems like most people figure it out.
I am not sure if I will be updating before Friday (I have lots to do!) so if I don't be sure to check our shutterfly site for pictures of our little Mouse and of course the big reveal of his real name!
Oh, and we will take any prayers and positive thoughts anyone has to offer. I am kinda scared of the surgery but I know that the Lord will take care of the baby and me too! I trust my doctor and I am just looking forward to meeting the little dude soon!!!

Shower from Kacey and Casey!

2008-09-21T21:53:00.003-04:00

I had a wonderful weekend. Two of my closest friends, Kacey and Casey threw a wonderful baby shower for me on Saturday. It was great! Those girls are wonderful. They worked so hard to make my day special! It was mostly my friends from work as well as my mom and Chad's mom. We had delicious food, great company, and of course a generous array of gifts! We got lots of clothes and baby essentials! It was so great to see everyone and to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our little dude. I can't believe how soon he will be here!
Check out all of the pictures here!
On Sunday, Chad and I went to WalMart to get all of the last minute things that we still need before he gets here. We had to get wipes, a few more bottle accessories, formula, and stuff for me to recover. Oh yeah, its starting to dawn on me that this little guy is going to get here one way or another and I am going to have to recover afterward! Yikes!
We also installed our carseats this weekend. Looks like we are almost ready for him to get here. Of course, I hope he keeps cooking in there for a while but as far as stuff is concerned we have what we need! As far as if we are mentally ready - we are getting there, I wonder if anyone is totally mentally ready when a baby comes? I guess we will find out within the next month! WHOO HOO!

Doctor's Appointment Today!

2008-09-18T22:15:00.002-04:00

So, I am 36 weeks pregnant now which makes me in my ninth month. I have less than a month left until we meet our little guy! Chad and I went to the doctor today to have an ultrasound and a regular check up. We got to see our little guy - well, what we could see of him. He is head down, way down, and face down. Which basically means we didn't get to see his little face. Its a bummer even though on an ultrasound they usually look like Skeletor anyway! We did see the back of his head, though, complete with hair!!!! YAY! I was born with a full head of dark, thick hair and it looks like Mouser will have some hair as well. I am so excited!
I talked to the doctor about a discussion that one of the other docs in the practice had with me regarding my Crohn's and delivering early. Of course, the were talking about 37 weeks - uhh, in case anyone lost count like I did, that would mean next week. Ummm, no thanks. I think I will just stick it out. I am not very interested in an amnio and a premature baby anyway - thanks! We had discussed that option if my Crohn's got worse or if it was harming Mouse. Since I am still fully functioning I figured let's let it ride.
The doc today mentioned inducing at 39 weeks (without amnio) if the Crohn's is still bothering me but I think at this point we will wait and see. Of course, the planner in me would love to plan an induction so I know when the baby would be here and I wouldn't have to just "wait and see." I think the best thing to do, however, is let God decide when this little guy is ready to see the world.

Oh, and as many of you know, I am having a bit of a big baby. Nothing astronomical or anything. Right now, according to the ultrasound he is in the 85 %ile. His estimated weight as of today is 7 pounds! No wonder I get tired at the end of the day! They estimate he will be about 8 1/2 lbs. when he is born. Chad and I were each over eight pounds so I wasn't really surprised when he told us that. I suppose only time will tell. Our little dude is growing and thriving. Of course, I only gained 1/2 a lb. over the last month. That sounds pretty good but its more of a sign of the Crohn's flare up than of me watching what I am eating or excersizing (hahaha). Of course, I am busy at work so that may help things along. I am not too much over my weight gain hopes so maybe I won't be too HUGE when this is all said and done! :)

Shower at Mom's House

2008-09-15T18:51:00.003-04:00

I had the most wonderful, beautiful, thoughtful shower at my mom's house this weekend. My aunts, grandmas, mil, and neighbors joined my mom to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Mouser. Of course, Mom calls him Stachu (Polish for Stanley, its an old joke, don't ask!) so we celebrated Stachu's arrival!
We had a Martha Stewart type shower with china coffee cups, baked brie, and a delicious salad bar. My very generous Aunt Penny made a beautiful dessert centerpiece (more like showstopper) to share with everyone. We had lots of duckies, frogs, and books at my shower. I felt so loved and I feel so blessed that our baby will be born into a family with so many people to love him! We received many, many gifts including a lot of precious hand-made items.

My grandma crotched an afgahan for my first baby a LONG time ago. Grandma is 90 so she made it knowing that no matter what, my baby would have something that she made just for him. I have been looking at that beautiful blanket for my whole life always thinking about getting it "someday." You know, someday when I was a grown up, with a perfect husband having our perfect little child. I knew that blanket was coming but I was still overwhelmed when I opened it and realized that someday was really here. Its like a realization that some of life's most important goals and dreams are coming true right now. I am so incredibly grateful that I got such a beautiful work of art, and even happier that my grandma was there to celebrate with me! In fact, both of my grandmas were there along with all of my aunts and Chad's mom.

I think the most important person there was my mom. She put so much time, effort, and love into my shower. I couldn't be more grateful to her. I had one of the best days of my life and I loved sharing the weekend with my mom. I have counted on her so much throughout my pregnancy and I am sure that will only increase once Stachu is here! I can't believe that soon I will be a mom to someone. It is really overwhelming but I know that my mom will be there if (WHEN) I need her when I am trying to figure this mom thing out. What an adventure!

You can click HERE for pictures of my wonderful shower!

Random Stuff

2008-09-07T14:50:00.003-04:00

Okay - so we have been very busy around here. I have some pictures to share. First, a new school year has started so I am busy, tired, and happy to be back with little kids again. As tired as they make me I still really love my job! So here's me on the first day of school!

Also, I got a new car! WHOO HOO! Oh wait, its a MOM car! In typical Amy fashion, however, I couldn't get anything less than something super cute and sporty so this is my version of a mom car. It has four doors and a big trunk. It also has leather, Monsoon stereo system, remote start, sunroof, power everything, and a pretty fast engine. Its the most mom I could do for now.

And finally - when we bought our crib set it came with a bumper which isn't considered safe to use with babies anymore. I didn't want to waste the great fabric so I decided to use some of it to make a valance. I cut out all of the stuffing, hemmed the edges, and sewed ribbon to the top. I think it turned out pretty great! What do you think?

Our Nursery - More Progress

2008-09-01T15:14:00.002-04:00

I made a new website that has pictures of the nursery and my shower from my mother in law. I plan to use this site after the baby is born so you might want to bookmark it.

Click HERE for our picture website from shutterfly.

Enjoy!

31 Weeks!

2008-08-12T10:09:00.003-04:00

How could I possibly have only 9 weeks left until I have this baby? Yikes! We went to childbirth class last night again and I think it freaked Chad out a little. It freaked me out a little for sure. You know on a Baby Story they don't show everything and I think they try to make the mother look cute. The women in the movie we saw were looking ROUGH, really really rough. Of course, they didn't have the beauty of the epidural, which I know doesn't always work or I know I may encounter a circumstance where the epidural isn't an option, but after watching that video last night I hope to become very close friends with the anestsiologist.

Of course the childbirth instructor is quite ANTI-epidural but whatever, she isn't having this baby, I am, so she can go fly a kite for all I care! Anyway, I just wanted to check in and show off my newest pic. I got my haircut so it was a good day for a picture! I hope everyone is well. I am continuing to work on my classroom to get everything ready for a new bunch of little darlings! I hope they don't tire me out too much, yeah right!

The Nursery Progress

2008-08-06T22:09:00.004-04:00

I just realized that I haven't really shown much progress on the nursery stuff for a while. Many of you have seen many of these pictures but I wanted to make a post of some pics that are the most recent with even more stuff in the room. I am going to IKEA tomorrow and I am sure I will find some stuff to use there. I really like IKEA, its so big and stuff is so cheap and fun! So, without further ado . . .

New Stuff

2008-08-03T22:56:00.003-04:00

So, sometimes I feel like we are getting stuff too early for this baby but then I think, hmmmm, we only have like 10 1/2 weeks left and frankly once school starts I am not going to have lots of time to shop around for stuff. So, though it seems early, things are starting to come together. Today in the Target add they had the travel system (carseat/carrier + stroller combo) on sale and we just returned something for my mom so we decided to get the system from my mom for my shower in a couple of weeks. Works for us because we can get it locally and take it right home and get it set up, works for mom because we take care of all of the details! Also, we picked up the travel swing she ordered for us as well. So, we set up the swing and the travel system today. We also have lots of clothes (hmmm, from mom again, she may be getting excited too!) to show off, including an outfit for his baptism (no little weird suits with bowties here). I will post a couple of pictures here but there are lots more here.

My night in Labor and Delivery!

2008-08-01T15:52:00.002-04:00

Oh boy! First let me say, I am just fine and the baby is just fine. My mom, Aunt Pat, and I got into a very small fender bender on Thursday at about 5:45 p.m. We were exiting the highway and inching forward to see if cars were coming and the dude behind us thought we were going so he hit the gas and rear-ended us. My poor mom hit her head so while I was asking her if she was okay, my aunt and my mom were like . . . FORGET ABOUT US! HOW ARE YOU! Then it occurred to me, oh yeah, I'm 7 months pregnant. I described it last night as having something around so much that you seriously forget. Like if you had an 11th toe, after a while it wouldn't occur to you that it was any different. But anyway, my seat belt was under my belly and we were stopped and the other guy wasn't going fast at all. But, of course as soon as my big pregnant belly emerged from the car the guy who hit us kinda freaked out. I have that effect on people nowadays.
So, I called the ob after hours line to see if they wanted me to come in (crossing my fingers that they would say just come in tomorrow) yeah right. I had to go in and be monitored for 4 HOURS! UGH!!!!
So, Chad and I went home got some books, said goodbye to mom because she didn't need to sit around l&d all night, then we got some McDonald's and went to the hospital. Before we even got there mom called and was like, I can't stand to go home, I need to know you are okay, so she came to the hospital too!
I got hooked up to the monitor at about 8 p.m. so I knew I would be there until midnight. They said I had to lay on my back until they could rule out that I was having contractions and then I could lay on my side. They said it would be 20 minutes. An hour later the nurse came in and was poking around at stuff and I asked if I could lay on my side. But she said NO! Ugh again! It turns out I was having contractions, though I didn't feel them. So then after a while and lots of contractions the doctor came in and said that I had to stay for 24 HOURS!!!!! He asked if that would be okay, I wanted to say, don't give me a choice buddy or you may not like what I say. Anyway, I decided to stay.
I finally moved to my overnight room (out of triage) at 1 a.m. and by the time I settled in etc, it was late, late, late. Chad and mom left just before 2 a.m. so they could go to bed. My baby was SO busy and moving SO much that the monitor kept not detecting him. I wasn't worried about it for a minute because he moved and moved and moved so much that I knew he was just fine. So the nice nurse came in constantly until about 4 a.m. when the baby finally went to sleep and stayed on the monitor without moving away. So, I slept from 4 a.m. - 7 a.m. A whopping three hours. Over that time, however, my contractions pretty much stopped which is great news. The doctor came in at about 11 a.m. and told me that I didn't have to stay the whole 24 hours and that I could go home!!! YAY!! So, my mom brought me home and I finally ate (I didn't even get water until 1 a.m. and then I had a clear liquid breakfast, ick!) so I was hungry and then I slept for 3 hours in my own comfy bed. I am so glad to be home and not have those pesky contractions any more. As eager as I am to meet the baby I would still like him to wait quite a few more weeks. Of course he only has 11 more weeks until I am sending him an eviction notice!
I hope everyone is well and had a better night than I did last night. I am so glad to be home, I am so glad to be done with my classes this summer, and I am so glad to not have to go to work for a couple more weeks!

Our Veggie Garden - Year 2

2008-07-17T18:13:00.004-04:00

So last year you may remember that we had a veggie garden. We thought it was so much fun that we decided to do it again this year! Although it is somewhat harder to pull weeds this year due to lack of bending, we have had a lot of success so far. In fact, despite Chad saying no, I picked two potatoes that made their way above ground today!!!! We have watermelon and cucumber vines, potato plants, lots of corn, a fledgling green pepper plant, and some questionable cauliflower. We also have a mystery plant that may be a volunteer tomato. We had a volunteer tomato last year as well (I guess from the previous owners? We have never planted tomatoes). I am not sure if the mystery plant is tomato or not, it could just be a very hardy weed that we have been scared to pick! Anyway, enjoy the pictures!!

Our New Furniture!!!

2008-07-17T10:13:00.002-04:00

We got a call on Tuesday night that the furniture we ordered was in so we bothered my cousin, Den, to help us bring it to our house (since we have little cars). We spent a bit of time upstairs in Mouser's room putting his furniture together. We even had a picnic dinner upstairs while we worked on the crib. The dresser was all put together and we thought we were all done when we realized that we didn't screw the feet into it. After lots of moving around we figured out where we want the furniture in the room (for now, until we change our minds 300 more times). So here are the pictures, we don't have the matress yet and the bedding should be in soon. Also, we are planning to get a glider for me to sit in and a bookshelf for Mouser's books. I can't wait to get it all put together. For now, though, we have a VERY good start.

3rd Trimester!

2008-07-15T21:32:00.002-04:00

No I am not kidding. Today begins my third trimester. I am 26 weeks and 6 days today. That is exactly 2/3 of the way through the pregnancy! WHAT?!?! How is that possible??? That means I have like 3 months left until this baby is here. Wow! Lots to do but I don't even have time to think about it with all of the school work I have to do. I am ready for that to be over but I am about half done or so with my classes this summer. Of course the second half of the classes tend to be a bit harder with bigger, longer, and more complicated projects but time seems to go very quickly because of the pace of the schedule which is good and bad. I know that I will want the time to go quickly because I want the baby it be here asap but thank God August is a slower time because I have things I always want to accomplish in the summer. I really don't get a lot of days off in the summer like people think. I haven't had more than two days off in a row (the first two days after school got out) without homework. August will be a welcomed break and I think I will be tired enough to enjoy the down time! It is also helpful to know that I will only have to work like 6 weeks before I get another 10 or 11 off! That's a bonus for sure! I know it won't be a vacation, but it won't be going to work either, its just different, I will be with Mouser which I might just enjoy!
I hope everyone is doing well. I am still feeling okay - starting to get tired more quickly and somehow everything causes me to have heartburn but I think the only cure to that might be childbirth at this point! I am sure I will feel worse and worse everyday but so far I am getting by! Mouser keeps moving and shaking in there and I am glad that I have the opportunity to sit down quite a bit for classes and homework. I hope everyone has a good day!

Happy Birthday to me!!

2008-07-11T23:26:00.003-04:00

Tonight Chad and I went to Babies R Us and got the furniture for the nursery. We should have it here at our house in a week or two. We are pretty excited.

Also, we celebrated my birthday tonight! Chad got me a cute little camera that fits in my purse for all of those necessary shots of the baby! It is light blue and very cute.

We also went out to dinner at Bravo Italian restaurant here in town. It was DELICIOUS!!!! We were going to get ice cream too but we were way too full. So now we are getting ice cream in Traverse City tomorrow for my real birthday! Here are some pics from tonight. I will post some pics from our trip to Kalmazoo sometime soon, they are on the 'old' camera!

He's Gonna Have Hair . . .

2008-07-10T11:10:00.002-04:00

Chad had a dream last night that Mouser was born. Apparently he had a head full of dark (yay!) hair! Also, according to Chad he "popped right out" with very little effort on my part. Now, let's all hope that Chad is psychic! Chad and I are going to Kalamazoo today to meet up with my sis and her husband to show our hubbys around the best school in the Midwest - Western Michigan University!!!! I can't believe I spent 4 years of my life there and other than my graduation I have never brought Chad there to look around. I am pretty excited. I think there are some changes but it will be fun to remember the good ole' days. Also, we are meeting up with some friends for dinner so that should be fun too. We are going to Old Penninsula or O.P. for the locals. They have really great locally brewed beers, my favorite is Raspberry Wheat. Of course, I can't have any this time but at least Chad can give it a try!

99 DAYS!

2008-07-09T09:54:00.002-04:00

So, according to my countdown on one of my pregnancy websites I have 99 days to go until I have an outside baby! YAY! It is getting closer and closer. Of course, those who know me know that while it is very exciting, this milestone gets me a little anxious about all there is to do! It will get done, though, it will be just fine! We might even get our nursery furniture later this week!!!!!! I can't WAIT for that!!! In fact, I may have to just buy the bedding set too so I can get something in that sad, empty nursery!

On a side note, I have the next 5 days off!! Better yet, Chad has them off too!! I have a TON of homework to do but I have been plugging through it so hopefully if I do a bunch everyday it will only be like 3 hours or so per day (yeah right) but we are going to Kalamazoo on Thursday and Traverse City on Saturday. Oh, and I REFUSE to do homework on my birthday Saturday. I DON'T do work on my birthday as a rule! I hope everyone has a great day!

Ooops! Sorry its been so long!

2008-07-07T22:13:00.002-04:00

Hi Folks! I have been really busy with master's classes, family commitments, and lots of other stuff (including plenty of pregnancy related naps). I am feeling quite well, the steroids are so amazing I hope that I can get everything back to normal soon.
I am enjoying my new classes and although they will be a lot of work I think they will make me a better teacher, which is important to me. I would love to write more but I have more homework to do and I have class at 8 a.m. So, I hope everyone has a great day!
I have my pic at the top. I am about 26 weeks along now, about a week until my 3rd Trimester!!!! Time is flying. Of course I say that now, I am sure that the next three months will be a bit of a challenge!

Crohn's Disease SUCKS!

2008-06-26T22:49:00.004-04:00

So, apparently, summertime for me means another Crohn's flare up. How exciting! UGH! I finally talked to the right person at the Gasteroenterology office so I could see the doctor. The 'wonderful' nurse there ordered blood work then apparently forgot about it. I called for the results after waiting for a week and she said, "oh, who ordered that for you?" WHAT!? She ordered it herself. My OB had already told me that my SED rate was more than twice the normal rate which usually means I am all inflamed somewhere. I also have some other exciting symptoms including lots of intense pain though it is usually just for a minute or two but it still HURTS! The other interesting thing is that being pregnant and having abdominal pain is really interesting. A couple of times my stomach will hurt and then I will get a little kick. Not great! :)
So, now I have to take steroids, specifically prednisone. I know what you are thinking, "Is that safe for the baby?" Believe me, my GI doc and I went over this before we even tried to have a baby. We talked about the pros and cons etc. And honestly, does ANYONE think that I made this decision lightly? It isn't like my doc was like, "Well, you aren't THAT sick and it might give your kid an extra head but its up to you." This is essentially keeping me out of the hospital again. Because honestly, if this doesn't work my doc said that will probably be the next step. I had to wait until I was healthy enough to get pregnant and it just turned out that I am having a flare up while I am pregnant. That is just how it is when you have a chronic disease. It isn't all that great at 26 to have to deal with all of this but oh well.
So, now that I am on steroids I hope that I don't have too many negative side effects. I am doing a "short burst" of four weeks of steroids. After this week I already start tapering off. It is a pretty small dose but I am really looking forward to the relief. Still, its not like I am not moody and emotional enough just from the pregnancy hormones, now with 'roid rages too, WATCH OUT! Poor Chad. Also, I was already super stressed out about weight gain from pregnancy and now add steroid weight gain. I don't want to be one of those humpty dumpty fat pregnant people. I am still looking kinda cute, I don't have cankles (calf-ankles) yet and I was hoping it would stay that way. I guess I have to worry more about getting better, life goes on.
So, any prayers would be appreciated but don't worry too much. Let's just hope the steroids work quickly, that they are a temporary solution, and that this is my last bout of Crohn's while I am pregnant with Mouser!

"You're lucky your house didn't blow up!"

2008-06-18T17:26:00.003-04:00

That is a DIRECT QUOTE from the poison control guy I called today. Thanks for the reassurance buddy, really comforting. I hope I get to talk to you when my kid swallows windex in a few years!

Okay, so apparently one of us turned a burner last night on our oven without knowing it. That means that gas flooded into our house all night last night. We didn't know until morning because we were in our room with the door shut and the sliding door open all night. When I went into the kitchen this morning the smell hit me like a ton of bricks. We had the whole house open in a matter of minutes and it cleared out pretty quickly. We opened the windows all day while we left and now the house seems fine. When I got home I wanted a snack but then I was worried about if the food was contaminated so I called poison control (I didn't know who else to call!) As you can see the operator was nice but less than comforting.

I am sure you are all wondering, what about the baby! Well, at the urging of my mom I called the OB today about the gas leak and I figured they would say, okay, let us know if you have any change in symptoms. NOPE! I was in East Lansing at a conference when they FINALLY found my chart, took me off hold and asked how soon I could come in. SHOOT! I didn't have my car and I was in the middle of this conference. So, my friend Casey threw me the keys to her van and off I went. It was an easy route to the doctor's office, I wasn't far away. Of course I had to wait awhile when I got there but good ole' Mouser was doing very well. The first think the ultrasound tech said was, "wow, he sure is moving!" Seems like a pattern when people see our baby! He is quite active! I am glad he is doing well and I didn't poison him with the gas!

So, that was my exciting day. A bit of an adventure but we all got through it. Praise be to God!

SCHOOL'S OUT!

2008-06-13T16:53:00.003-04:00

School's out for SUMMER! School's out for EVER! Well, maybe not but it is out for two and a half months! I know I will be busy this summer but Mouser (our baby) and I will get to sleep in soon and I couldn't be more excited! It was sad to say goodbye to my kids. I love them all so much and it is amazing to see the change they go through each year. I also love the end of the year because parents take the time to send such kind notes to show their appreciation. I always save the notes because there are plenty of days that I need a reminder that all of this hard work is for something important. It is so nice to hear that parents are happy and it makes me want to work even harder.

Ahhh, but for now we are going up to our parents' houses for Father's Day. I am going to do a bit of homework in the car but mostly it will be a nice relaxing weekend! Hooray!

Here he is

2008-06-06T16:25:00.000-04:00

I am sure that pic looks terrible but the formats are all messed up. I hope you can see it!

It's a BOY!

2008-06-06T10:14:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I stopped home to plug my phone in (too many calls to make) and I had 30 seconds to stop by and say, it is a BOY! I am having a son! I can't believe it. Also, apparently he is huge. 95th percentile! WHOO HOO! Giant baby! Hahahaha! I might not be so excited later! :) Everything looked good and healthy and we are excited to welcome our little one in about 19 weeks!

Too Excited to Sleep!

2008-06-06T07:03:00.003-04:00

Our big ultrasound starts in an hour and a half! I am SO excited! In fact I can't sleep any more. I can't wait to see our little mouser again. I will update later with how everything turned out, although it may not be until Sunday as we will be going to Detroit for the weekend.

Another Belly Shot!

2008-06-02T20:42:00.003-04:00

So, I am just a day or so away from being 21 weeks pregnant. We have our big ultrasound on Friday morning. I can't wait to see our little Mouser again. I had a horrible dream last night that our baby was really weird looking, scary, and evil. It had sharp little claws and it kept scratching me, oh yeah, and it had 4 arms and 4 legs! FREAKY! The dream was just so creepy all around.
On the cooking front we had one of my favorites, Kraft Mac and Cheese! Oh man is it good! Chad has a secret that makes it better. Just add one slice of Kraft cheese ripped up in tiny pieces. It makes it even creamier!
I also made some french bread in a new way. On Memorial Day Chad and I went to my Aunt Pat's house and she had a loaf of french bread sliced lengthwise. She spread both sides with butter and sprinkled lots of parm on both sides. Then she put both sides together and put it in the oven. YUMMY! So, I made that too! Lots of carbs tonight. Oh well, my snack today was cucumbers and I DIDN'T eat the cookie that the kids had today for snack, that took some will power!
Chad and I also went on a walk tonight. I am trying really hard not to weigh 300 pounds when I give birth. I am hoping that I can gain an acceptable amount of weight. So far I am 2 pounds over the "ideal" weight gain schedule. All I can do is my best. I am sure there are plenty of people who have gained more than 30 pounds and have gone on to lead very successful lives! I just have to get over it and keep working!
I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

Homework and baby furniture

2008-06-01T16:40:00.004-04:00

I would like to post something fun and exciting but mostly what I did today consisted of homework! At least I am getting a class done now so I only have to take two this summer! My class is pretty interesting and it isn't hard, its just time consuming and with working full time, keeping up with the house and gardens, preparing for the baby (i.e. sleeping), and getting the end of the school year wrapped up, time is the one thing that I am short on. Oh well, maybe it will make me a better teacher!
We started looking at nursery furniture today. Any suggestions on where we should go? We found a couple of sets that we like at Babies R' Us. I posted one of them below. We are just starting to look but luckily Chad and I have similiar tastes. We will have to see what we decide on eventually. We have plenty of time. We just were trying to figure out how much to budget for. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week! The big ultrasound is on Friday!

Paula Deen's Lemon Gooey Butter Cake

2008-05-26T14:54:00.003-04:00

Paula Deen is the queen of butter and let's face it people, butter makes things better! My very generous Aunt Penny went down to her restaurant The Lady and Sons in Savannah, Georgia and got me an autographed copy of her cookbook The Lady and Sons - Just Desserts.

My mom, sis, and I went down to her restuarant The Lady and Sons a few years ago and everything I ate was so delicious that I am trying to figure out when I can get down there again. In the meantime I can do my best to recreate her recipes.
Chad and I were invited to my Aunt Pat's house for a bar-b-que for Memorial Day weekend so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a new, delicious, fatty dessert.
As I looked through the book I saw a two page spread for Gooey Butter Cakes. Now these are legendary in Paula Deen land. She has a million different ways to make these Gooey Butter Cakes (which are really like bars). I decided to "lighten it up" hahahaha, by adding lemon.

Basic Recipe for Gooey Butter Cake - from Paula Deen's Lady and Sons - Just Desserts
Cake
1 18.25 oz. box of yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, melted

Filling
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 16 oz. box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, melted.

Directions:
Combine cake mix, egg, and butter in an electric mixer. Pat into a lightly greased 9x13x2 pan. This will be like a paste of sorts and will act as a crust. Set aside.

Next, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth, add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and add butter slowly. Mix well.
Pour onto cake mixture and spread evenly.

Bake at 350* for 40 - 50 minutes. It should remain a little gooey in the center. cool completely and cut into squares. These are rich (hence the TWO sticks of butter) so it should yield 20 - 24 bars.

Now, I decided to make it lemony - so there were some changes. I used a lemon cake mix instead of yellow and then added 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice and the zest of two lemons to the cream cheese mixture. YUMMY.

Some of the other suggestions are available in the cookbook or on Food Network

Cindy's Cheesy Potatoes - Easy

2008-05-26T14:45:00.002-04:00

My mother-in-law has some very interesting dishes that she makes. She claims that she isn't a good cook but she has some foods that she specializes in and she really does a nice job with them. One of them is cheesy potatoes. These are perfect for a bar-b-que or christmas dinner. They are SO easy and the taste great, what's better than a starch covered in cheese???

Cindy's Cheesy Potatoes
1 package of frozen hashbrowns (I told you this was easy!)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
8 oz (2 cups) shredded cheese
diced onion (optional, I clearly leave this out)

Mix all ingredients
Bake at 350* for 1 hour.

I forgot to take a picture! Sorry, it was great and everyone at my friend Ellie's bar-b-que loved them! Give them a try for your next party!

Lots of Gardening! - window boxes

2008-05-26T14:21:00.005-04:00

We also decided to put some plants in our window boxes this year. We went to a place just outside of Okemos called VanAtta's greenhouse. That place was amazing. I was a bit overwhelmed but the window boxes are in lots of shade which makes the choices a bit limited. The window boxes by the garage gets a bit more sun so we got to put Gerber Daisies in out there which I really like. We have begonias on the porch. All of the boxes have pansies, dahlias, and some other random cool looking flowers. I think we bought too many flowers, the boxes are REALLY full and they haven't even grown yet! Here are some pics, probably too many but I worked really hard!

Lots of Gardening! - veggies

2008-05-26T14:08:00.006-04:00

Well, its Memorial Day weekend which used to mean three days of sleeping in and goofing around. Now that we're homeowners holiday weekends become great excuses to work on the house! Ugh! Being pregnant makes some tasks a bit more difficult and I get tired very easily but the good news is that it all got done and we still got to do something fun each day, like go to the Tiger's game and go to a couple of bar-b-ques.

So, on Friday we bought our veggie seeds and then went to dinner. We bought watermelon, cucumber, corn, cauliflower seeds. We also bought a green pepper plant. I looked long and hard for potato seeds but then I thought, uhhh, potatoes don't have seeds! I called Dad and he filled me in on what to do. I was lucky (or lazy) enough to find some very well started potatoes in my cupboard. Apparently I had big plans to make a lot of roasted potatoes and I forgot they were in there!

So, last week we prepared the beds so we were good and ready to plant on Saturday. We planted a few rows of corn along with the little green pepper plant.

Then we planted watermelon in little hills and our cauliflower

Lastly, we planted our potatoes (with some significant 'eyes' which were more like fingers) and cucumbers. I think this bed is going to get hopelessly overgrown but Chad seems to think it will be just fine! :)

I am looking forward to keeping everyone posted on our veggie plant growth and development. I always think it is such a fun science experiment. Especially when the whole thing costs so little to start up!

Are you playing ping pong?

2008-05-20T21:25:00.003-04:00

So, I can finally feel the baby moving around in there! I am about 19 weeks along and if one more person asks me "what are you having?" I might scream. I sometimes say, "I'm hoping its a human!" hehehehe, nothing like a sarcastic fat lady!
So, anyway, we go in for our 'big ultrasound' on June 6th. Contrary to popular belief that ultrasound is to check the baby's growth and development and *not* just an appointment to determine the baby's gender! :)

Our baby is quite active. I am sure Chad (an former avid soccer star) is thrilled to hear that our baby feels like a soccer player already! It is the weirdest feeling to know that there is a human being inside my abdomen. I know that it has been in there for a while, but when you can actually feel it moving, it is something different entirely! Honestly, most days I still kinda feel like I am talking about someone else being pregnant or having a baby, but when I feel that little mouser in there, I believe that it's mine! YIKES!
I will say this, though, this baby does NOT like to be squished up. Whenever I sit down and bend over (like when I am testing kids at work) the baby starts trying to kick me so I will sit up. Mouser does NOT like being squished! HAHAHA! S/He is fiesty like mom already! ;)

I hope everyone has a good day, I am looking forward to a long weekend coming up here soon! WHOO HOOO!

Kids say the darndest things

2008-05-13T16:05:00.004-04:00

So I told the parents of my Kindergarteners on Friday that I am pregnant. Honestly, I couldn't really hide it anymore and I was getting tired of people staring at my bulging stomach since no one should ever ask if someone is pregnant!
So yesterday and today my kids have been talking about it amongst themselves. It is funny to hear what they have to say about it.
At the end of the day, however, I had my purse with me because I had to go right to the GI doc after work. One little boy in my class said, "You have to go to the doctor so he can take your baby out!"
I said, "no, my baby has to cook a little longer in my belly."
Then he said, "are you going to eat your baby?"
I guess it was a valid question. I forget that they are very literal about everything and many of them are not developmentally ready to understand double meanings or jokes. It was just such a funny response!

Just don't worry . . .

2008-05-13T15:53:00.003-04:00

Okay, so we all know that I'm pregnant. I also have Crohn's disease which is an intestinal issue that is lots of fun, let me tell you! My disease is in remission right now and it is generally under control. In fact, with my medication I should be fine for a while. Of course, this disease like many others reacts to hormonal changes. Maybe you didn't know this but being pregnant messes with your hormones. There are a great many people that get a severe flare up of Crohn's right after they give birth when hormones are at their peak.
I went in to my Gasteroenterologist (well the PA, not my regular doc) today for a routine follow up after a small flare 6 weeks ago. I decided to ask her about what might happen after the baby is born, when to call, what to look for, what to do if there is a problem etc. She gave me some good answers and then said, "but just don't worry." Stress does increase an already existing flare but I found her statement hillarious.
'SURE', I thought, 'I will just forget all of the literature I read that said it is very likely to get sick after giving birth. I just won't worry about being too sick to get out of bed with a newborn at home that I am responsible for. I will just laugh off the fact that last time I got sick enough to go to the hospital for a few days, and I will ignore the fact that even if I catch it early, the treatment will be harsh enough that I will have to switch to formula.' Sounds relaxing to me! :)
Actually, believe it or not, I am not too concerned about it, I know there isn't much I can do to prevent it. I just found her response amusing! I just thought I would share!

Still pregnant now school too!

2008-05-12T20:27:00.003-04:00

Well, my next round of classes start up today. I am taking an online master's class from May 12-June 30th. It is about literacy assessment and I am very excited about the prospect of updating and changing the way I assess the kids in my classroom! I am also taking a professional development course that really picks up after school gets out. Then I am taking 2 more classes Starting July 1st. One of them meets two afternoons a week and the other meets once a week and then has an online component. SO at least I will keep busy this summer! The problem is that being pregnant, working full time as a Kindergarten teacher (they are NUTS right now), taking a class, and doing all the house adds up to a VERY tired Amy. Oh boy, it didn't take long to get me tired before but add a fetus, laundry and making dinner and I am all but spent. Oh well, I am sure I will make it through, I always do! I hope you are having a restful day!

So as it turns out . . .

2008-05-08T20:53:00.006-04:00

I'm pregnant! Most of you (family members etc.) know this already but I finally have some cute pics to post! The first pictures are right before my mom and I went shopping for a plethora of maternity clothes. Then you can see how cute one of my new dresses looks when Mom and I went to my cousin Amanda's baby shower.

So, I am 17 weeks along and I am due in October. I am not so sick anymore but that would basically account for my lack of posting. I have been pretty tired and my nightly naps have been pretty long. I do have to say that being a Kindergarten teacher and being pregnant are not a great combonation! I am not sure if we will find out if it is a boy or a girl, its up to Chad and he's not sure yet. He doesn't think there are enough surprises in life. I think that I will be just as surprised at 20 weeks as at 40! ;)
So, anyway, that is my big news. It's not a huge secret as pretty much everyone knows and if they don't they haven't apparently they haven't seen my big belly lately! I just wanted to share!

Where have I been? In FLORIDA baby!

2008-04-15T21:51:00.005-04:00

Hi Everyone. I have been missing lately and I was busy in Florida on Spring Break. It was lots of fun. Chad and I rented a Solstice convertible and enjoyed our fun in the sun. We go every year and stay with my in-laws. We stayed in a beautiful condo with views of a marina and Charlotte Harbor by Fort Myers in Southwest Florida. It was really fun and relaxing! I was glad to come home and get back to my normal routine but I would go back in a heartbeat!
On another note, I am SO happy about how nice the weather is outside. How wonderful to have the windows down, sunglasses on, and music blaring! I LOVE it!

I freaking LOVE Little House on the Prairie

2008-04-02T15:46:00.003-04:00

Seriously, I really like having digital cable. We get a million channels that no one would ever want to watch but every once in a while one of those channels will have a show I haven't seen in forever that I absolutely adore. Well, today we went on a field trip to the hands on museum and I was exhausted after work so I left right after the kids did. I was home early enough to catch one of the best episodes of Little House. Its called "The Richest Man in Walnut Grove" because the Ingalls fell on some tough times but Pa still thought he was the richest man in the town because his family was so great. Mary went to work sewing and Ma plowed the crops so Pa could do more work to earn more money. Poor Laura got made fun of by that mean ole' Nellie Olsen and Pa made her feel all better. Then later she punched her, it was GREAT. In fact she said, "My pa said that people that say that workin' folks smell bad have nothing better to do than stick their noses up in the air. Well Nellie, if you stick your nose up in the air, I'm gonna punch it!" YEAH! I love it!

Plus, Pa is such a sap but in a great way. Ma was plowing the field and was dirty and tired looking. She said, "I must look a fright" and Pa said, "your face is dirty, your hair is all askew and you are still the prettiest sight a man ever set his eyes on." Then to top off that hum-dinger he said, "the only thing I regret about marrying you is that I won't have the pleasure of asking you to be my wife again." I know stuff like that is crazy, utterly absurd, but on TV its kinda neat!

I think the best thing though is when they get all the money and go pay their bill at Olsen's mercantile. I love watching the look on that bitch Harriet's face when they have all the money they owe and buy more stuff with cash. Ahh man, that lady is one that you just LOVE to hate. I also love that even though Nells has lots of money and a big store he is blatantly jealous of Charles! In fact, HE himself calls Charles the richest man in Walnut Grove. I LOVE this show!

Random Chicken Casserole

2008-04-01T20:53:00.003-04:00

So, lately I haven't been taking out anything to make for dinner and we end up buying more snacks than actual dinner components at the store. My friend Kacey had her baby so my other friend Casey and I made her dinner so she didn't have to cook. So, I was going through a bunch of casserole recipes and I found a few that looked pretty good. Then I saw Paula Deen on TV today with an episode entitled "Fridge Finds." Then it occured to me that AGAIN I didn't take anything out to make for dinner. So, I got out a can of chicken (yuck! We bought a bunch at sam's and we are trying to use it up) and I made a casserole that was a mix between my sister's Broccoli Chicken Divan and Paula Deen's Chicken Bodine.

Amy's Random Chicken Casserole
1 (12 oz) package egg noodles (cooked and drained)
1 can cream of broccoli soup
1/2 cup milk
1 large can cooked cubed chicken (about a cup and a half)
1 1/2 cups broccoli cooked
1 cup (or a bit more) shredded cheese
2 tbsp. butter melted
1 cup bread crumbs

Mix milk, soup, chicken, noodles, broccoli and cheese. Place in a greased 9x13 pan. Mix melted butter and bread crumbs, sprinkle over the top. Bake for 25 minutes at 375*. Then I put it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the top. I don't think this was our favorite dinner ever but it was a good way to use that gross canned chicken. If I were to make this again I would just use leftover baked or grilled chicken.

Ducky cookie favors and cake - Kacey's Shower

2008-03-17T17:07:00.008-04:00

I think one of my favorite parts of the shower was the duck cookies I made for favors. It was my first attempt at royal icing and while it was messy and I don't think it tasted that great it looked beautiful.

I made sugar cookies from the Better Homes and Garden's cook book. I made the cookies on a snow day in February and then froze them until the shower. I made royal icing based on the Martha Stewart recipe. I made the royal icing with meringue powder because Kacey shouldn't have raw egg whites which are usually in the icing.

I decorated each duck cookie with yellow and then put a squirt of orange and spread it with a skewer for the beak. I also gave each duck a brown eye and a pretty pink bow. I was really proud of my work!

The best part was putting the ducks into individual cellophane bags. I tied each bag with a pink ribbon with while polka dots. I placed them on a big lazy susan that my mom made me and placed another sign in front of the platter so everyone knew to take one when they left.

I got a cake from Sam's club with a ducky on it as well. The chocolate cake was DELICIOUS! I will continue to get cakes from them because of the good taste, ease of ordering, and great price! It was much easier than making a cake, which was kinda out of the question since I thew the shower by myself!

Baby Pink Punch - Kacey's Shower

2008-03-17T17:02:00.004-04:00

So, I looked all over for the perfect recipe for Kacey's shower but I didn't feel like making that sherbert punch and I didn't want to put Jell-O in it so I made up my own punch.

Amy's Baby Pink Punch
1 can pink lemonade concentrate - thawed
2 liters of sprite
1 bag frozed strawberries
ice cubes (I made little star-shaped ice cubes)

Mix well in a punch bowl - enjoy!

Everyone loved this punch and it was INCREDIBLY easy to make. It was a bit tart but that's what made it fun. The strawberries were mostly for decoration and keeping it cold but it was quite pretty for a little girl baby shower.

Cheese Dip - Kacey's Shower

2008-03-17T16:56:00.006-04:00

For Kacey's shower I also wanted to have some munchies for people while they were waiting for everyone to arrive. I made my mother in law's tried and true cheese spread. I am tempted to make you try it before you read the ingredients. Everyone LOVES the cheese spread when they eat it but the ingredients are weird. They all work together very well but its hard to believe that it would work!

Cindy's Famous Cheese Dip:
Melt cheese (velvetta 1 large box) in a double Boiler

In a separate bowl mix:
1 cup of Catalina Dressing
1 cup of French Onion Dip
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

After the cheese is melted pour the cheese into the dressing, dip, butter mixture and mix with mixer. Pour into smaller containers.

Ooookay, I know what you are thinking, I warned you. Honestly, though, its SO yummy! You should really give it a try at your next get together.

Strawberry Walnut Spinach Salad - Kacey's Shower

2008-03-17T16:48:00.005-04:00

For Kacey's shower I also made a green salad, like I said I wanted to serve something spring-like so I decided to make this salad which has been a favorite of mine in the past and is WONDERFUL for entertaining. I got this recipe from Kraft Food and Family magazine.

Layered Strawberry Salad
4 cups baby spinach leaves
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
3 cups torn Boston lettuce (I used romaine)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, separated into rings (I put this on the side because I HATE onions, in fact it made me ill just to cut them!)
2 cups strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup PLANTERS Walnut Halves, toasted
1/2 cup KRAFT Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

I also offered Raspberry and Ranch dressings, most people chose raspberry. I also included the recipe card in front of this dish so that everyone knew what it was. This salad was a big hit again and it did make everyone long for spring again! I served the salad with croissants from Sam's club, they were SO flaky and tender, yum!

Fruit Salad - Kacey's Shower

2008-03-17T16:42:00.004-04:00

For my friend Kacey's shower I made a fruit salad that was delicious. Our friend Heidi is allergic to pineapple and anything it touches so I decided to leave it out even though I LOVE it. So here is my fruit salad recipe it was PLENTY (more than enough) for 20 people.

Fruit Salad
1 canteloupe
1 small seedless watermelon
3 kiwi fruit
2 cans of mandarin orange segments
2 big boxes of strawberries
1 small container of raspberries
1 big bunch of green grapes
1 big bunch of red grapes

I sliced all of the fruits the day before and kept them in seperate containers so that the fruit salad didn't get mushy. It was SO yummy. I also put a menu card in front of the fruit salad at the shower so everyone knew what was in the salad. I embelleshed it with a duck to go with the theme!

Kacey's Shower

2008-03-17T16:21:00.011-04:00

Okay, so I threw a baby shower at the beginning of the month and I haven't blogged about it yet, so sue me! I am excited to show all of the little details that went into making a special day for my friend and fellow Kindergarten teacher, Kacey.

I had about 20 people over on Sunday, March 2nd to celebrate Kacey's second baby. I know its kinda taboo to have a shower for a second baby but Kacey lived in Florida and none of us knew her then. At that point she only had one very small shower and didn't get to celebrate in a big way. Now, the other big factor here is that Kacey has a four year old boy and Kacey is VERY excited to welcome a baby girl! So, we were all excited to get her some cute, frilly girly outfits and accessories. We were all happy to get together to celebrate the birth of her new daughter.

Okay, so first I decided that I was sick of winter so I had a spring menu of fruit salad, croissants, and green salad with strawberries, mozzarella, and walnuts. I also made a delicious punch in my mom's deluxe punch bowl. I made ice with a star shaped ice cube tray. The punch was simple with frozen pink lemonade concentrate mixed with sprite and frozen strawberries.

I had a duck theme so the cake had ducks and the favor was a duck shaped sugar cookie that I made and decorated with royal icing. I also had some cute decorations to make everything just right.

Here are some pictures:

I'm bad at blogging

2008-03-05T21:17:00.003-05:00

So sue me. I am terribly lax lately and I am truly sorry. Blame American Idol, Project Runway and laziness. I will be more active soon. Seriously, that baby shower I threw was really cute. I will get around to posting about it soon! I hope everyone is well! I will try to be better soon!

Happy Leap Day!

2008-02-28T22:08:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone, we have been given the gift of time this month, a whole extra day! Well, to me it just seems like an extra day of winter and one day longer before March. We booked our trip for Florida and flight prices are CRAZY! We are also renting a Pontiac Solstice convertible while we are down there. Its kinda crazy because my in-laws will have to pick us up and drop us off at the airport because that little two seater won't even fit our luggage! Ha! How terribly impractical, I guess that's why its called vacation.
I am throwing a baby shower for my very close friend Kacey on Sunday. I should be a lot further along with the cleaning and preparing but it will all get done! Now, all I have to do is figure out how to get 23 people in my living room comfortably and how to get 30 hours in a day! Ha! I will try to take some pics of all of the yummy food I am getting!
I hope everyone is well. Remember, even though this is the snowiest February on record here in Mid-Michigan there are always a couple of warm days in March. Oh, and its light out on my drive to work everyday, what a difference the sunshine makes!

Sick of Winter!

2008-02-19T21:47:00.002-05:00

I am so so so sick of winter. Yeah, I know I live in Michigan but give me a break! February seems SO long. I am just getting a bit bogged down at work with lots of testing and trying to keep up. We have had several 4 day weeks and it seems that I have to do the same amount of stuff in those four days. I didn't send home the weekly folder I generally send home on Fridays last week because not only did we not have school on Friday but we also had a Valentine's Day party and a whole bunch of other junk and still trying to catch up from all of the snow days from the week before. So now it seems that people are all up in arms about not getting this stupid folder home. There was a note to go home about the Daddy Daughter Dance (which is as big as prom at my school) and it isn't due for like 3 weeks. Well, I am going to send it home this Friday. It isn't the end of the world people!
Okay, enough venting for now. Work is just making me a big batty right now.
Anyway, everything else is going well. I can't wait until we go to Florida. And until then I will just keep dreaming of my VERY favorite day of the year. You know, that first day that you can drive around with the windows of your car rolled down, sunroof open, music blaring with the smell of Spring in the air. I LOVE that day, seriously. I mean, its probably like 55* when I do that but it feels like 85* when we have had such cold days! I hope everyone can keep dreaming about Spring to get them through those cold days we have left.

Our New Table . . .

2008-02-11T15:54:00.000-05:00

is gigantic! I mean, really. I was worried that it was going to be big and it REALLY is. But I generally overreact. We used to have a fairly small table in there before so I am used to that room having a lot of space. I think that it is growing on me but at first I was ready to send it back! :) Except I could never send it back because I love it SO MUCH!
It is a mix between mission style and shaker style. Mission style furniture (with its clean lines squared edges) is my favorite. Most mission style tables, however, have a pedistal, which I don't like. But we special ordered our table so we could have whatever we wanted. So we got a mission style top and chairs with shaker style legs. They are a bit tappered and still mimick the mission style. The odd thing is that our table actually has 5 legs. That is because the top is solid oak and over time it would bow due to the weight. So there is a leg in the middle for extra strength. You don't really see it unless you are looking for it because the chairs block the way. It has a redish tint to the stain and it is BEAUTIFUL!
We got two chairs with arms on them for the short ends of the table and four side chairs. The chairs have an indent for comfort on bottoms and the backs ae also contoured for comfort. The top of the chairs comes to a really cool peak and it really gives it some style. We will leave it set up with six chairs all of the time I think. We have a leaf too, but it makes the table almost too big for the room so we will only use it a few times. It only cost about $40.00 though so it was totally worth getting it when the table was purchased.
Here are some pictures of the details:

It is SO F-ing COLD!!

2008-02-10T21:42:00.000-05:00

And of course by F-ing I mean FREEZING!!! It was so cold this morning on our walk into church that my lungs ached when we got inside. The sidewalk was a sheet of ice from all of the blowing snow and even though it wasn't snowing the wind made the snow on the ground blow all over! It was so miserable. OH MAN! The thing that makes it worse is that I know that my mom, my sister, two of my aunts and uncles, my grandma, and my cousin are all happily in Florida, enjoying the sunshine. Then they have the audacity to say that 70* is cold. If I could go down there and strangle them I would, but frankly it is too cold to leave the house!!!
Our table is coming tomorrow! We took apart Aunt Pat's old table and put it in the basement today so now the room looks pretty empty. I can't wait to get the new table tomorrow. I am always worried, however, about being home alone with the delivery guy/guys. It seems like it goes against everything I know to invite strange men into my house. I talked to the delivery guy a few times though and he is really nice. I will be just fine, I just get a little overly-paranoid. Too much CSI:Miami and Law and Order *dun-dun*
I hope everyone is warm where they are. At least warmer that we are here. Just think, it will be Spring before we know it. I mean, it will be Easter soon, it should be warm by mid-March, right, HAHAHAHAHA! I can just see all the little girls in their Easter dresses and white sandals all bundled up in snowsuits! Nothing like an Easter Egg hunt in the snow! Gotta love Michigan!
Enjoy your Monday! Just four days with kids this week and then a four day week after that, thanks Presidents for having a day! I will post pictures of our new table soon!

We got a little snow

2008-02-06T20:45:00.001-05:00

Well, make that a LOT of snow. By Chad's estimation we got about a foot (though I am sure it looks like a bit more when you are snowblowing it). I had Friday off of work for a snow day, a two hour delay on Tuesday due to fog and today off for snow and ice. Yikes! It hardly feels like I am working anymore. I love it, don't get me wrong, it is just throwing me off! Oh, and now our table isn't going to be delivered until Monday. They are delivering it from Omer which is way up north and the guy said he was going to have to leave there at 6:30 a.m. since he has 6 deliveries down around here. He was worried about the roads and I don't blame him. Oh well, so we will just enjoy our table on Monday instead! I hope everyone is nice and safe and staying off of the roads if they are bad where you are.

My new curtains!

2008-02-03T19:25:00.000-05:00

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Well, we got a call on Saturday that our new table is in and will be delivered on Thursday! How exciting! Well, I told myself that the verticals would be down before the table came but I was thinking I had a few more weeks. In light of recent spending events I decided to try to find some less expensive curtains that did cost an additional $15 to ship! So, we went to Marshall's and I found some really great curtains. They are a teal/seafoam color similar to the curtains in the living room. They have a brown velvet ribbon detail along the sides and bottom. The linear nature of it compliments our style well. These curtains are 90 inches long. This means that with our 8 foot ceilings they are only 6 inches from the ceiling and it also means they are 6 inches above the top of the sliding glass door. I know it seems weird but that is the new style. Apparently if you mount your curtains higher on the wall it elongates your ceilings and makes the room appear larger. I have to get used to it I think! We used a large brown rod with heavy brown leather fineals on the ends. I think it makes it look a bit more formal. Here are some pics! Enjoy!

My Night In! Lemon Ricotta Spaghetti

2008-01-29T18:11:00.001-05:00

Chad is working late tonight due to the State of the State address by Governor of Michigan. He has to stay there to listen to the speech and maybe some receptions afterward. The roads are going to get bad quickly so I hope he just comes home.
Well, when I found this out I got excited about what I am going to have for dinner. I am having a recipe from Ruth at 4Every Kitchen for Marscarpone Herb and Lemon Spaghetti. I made it once before and it was so yummy. I am sure Chad wouldn't like it so I have to wait to make it just for me. Then I thought, OH BOY this is going to be so good for lunch this week at work! So, I made it. I used Ricotta because Marscapone is SO expensive and I am cheap! My dinner was SO delicious. You should try this INCREDIBLY easy recipe. I mean, you don't even cook the sauce!

Lemon and Ricotta Spaghetti

Ingredients
8 oz Spaghetti (or other type of pasta)
the zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 cup Mascarpone or Ricotta Cheese (I used lowfat, naturally)
2 tbsp each chopped basil and flat leaf parsley (I did that this summer when I had an herb garden but today I used dried *gasp*)
1/2 cup coarsely grated parm. cheese

Directions
1. cook the pasta according to package directions
2. meanwhile mix mascarpone or ricotta and zest and juice in a large bowl
3. drain pasta and mix in the cheese
4. mix in herbs and parm
5. serve and enjoy

It is seriously that easy. It is just as easy as Kraft Mac & Cheese. This recipe is SO GOOD! You should try it, it has very few ingredients and a lot of good flavor. It made me feel all summery during such a dreary day!

Panera Chocolate Duet Cookie rip off

2008-01-27T21:19:00.000-05:00

So we often go to Panera Bread on Sunday mornings to get delicious food and read the newspaper. It is a really relaxing way to start the day. One of my favorite things about it is the cookies we get. They have delicious Chocolate Duet Cookies. They call them that because they have milk and white chocolate chips in chocolate cookies. They also have walnuts. I tried to find a copycat recipe online but I couldn't. So I found a chocolate chocolate chip cookies and changed it up a bit.

Amy's Chocolate Duet Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup butter (I used half butter and half margarine butter is too expensive!)

1 small package walnuts
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350* F
Mix together dry ingredients (MINUS SUGARS) in a large bowl
Cream together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla
Add dry ingredients to butter mixture
Stir in chips and nuts
Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet
Bake 9-12 Minutes

Well, the instructions I had first said combine dry ingredients and then later it said to cream sugars, eggs, and butter. So of course my freaking sugar was my already mixed with my stupid flour and cocoa powder. Anyway, it turned out okay. The batter was delicious!!! I know I shouldn't eat raw batter but I don't care, its yummy and gooey. These cookies turned out surprisingly like the original. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a rule follower and that goes with recipes too. I am always nervous to go without a recipe so it was nice to try to make something new without a plan. I think Chad will like them and they made SO many cookies that I am sure to gain a pound or two before they are all gone! In fact, I should take some to work, otherwise we are both going to get sick on these cookies!

What'da think?

2008-01-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

So I NEED to put up some curtains on our sliding glass door in the dining area. We are getting a new dining table very soon and it is pretty formal and very dramatic. Right now we have *cringe* vertical blinds (please don't judge me). They came with the house and we can only do one room at a time. The first floor of our house has a aqua blue with brown theme. It isn't over done but the rooms all flow together so it would be hard to get a completely different color in the dining room that link the kitchen and living room. The color scheme is nowhere near over done (yet) just the curtains in the living room and the small valance in the kitchen along with the pillows in the living room and some mugs/kitchen towels in the kitchen. The new table is a dark brown and it will be pretty big. I want to keep the curtains light in color otherwise that area will look too dark.

This is what the area currently looks like:

We currently have some more interesting pictures with dark brown frames along the blank wall which will go with but not overly match the new table.

This is the living room that opens up to it:

So, do you think these curtains would work? I don't really love tab-top curtains but I don't necessarily hate them. Any thoughts?

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

2008-01-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

So, I had a blast in South Carolina. It was a lot of fun to visit with sis and aaron and to just relax for the weekend. The weather was not as hot as I was hoping for but it is SO cold here that it was still an upgrade.
The big news is going back to work. My kids are SICK, SICK, SICK. They are getting sicker by the day. I had 10 kids gone on Tuesday and 8 kids gone today. I have had a couple of kids gone for over a week now. The big problem is a weird flu that seems to be highly contagious. It is weird because it is a wet, wheezy cough for a day and then a quick fever and the kid is out of commission for the better part of a week. I had two parents try to send their kids to school today sick as dogs. WHY oh WHY do parents insist on sending miserable, fever ridden children to school? I don't want to get sick and I don't want to get the only well 12 children in my class infected. STAY HOME. I am sorry if you have to take a day off of work or take your child to Grandma's but honestly, I am so FREAKING tired of getting sick needlessly. I anti-bac-ed my classroom about 100 times today and each kid had to wash their hands if they so much as touched their face (which in Kindergarten is constantly). It is very, very difficult for me to miss work, especially when I am sick and I can't plan ahead.
Enough venting for now. Tomorrow is Thursday, which is awesome. I have enjoyed watching Idol all week and Project Runway is on tonight too! I hope everyone is enjoying their week!

The best gift in the world!

2008-01-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems like only yesterday when I opened the most thoughtful gift for Christmas. My husband got me a trip to see my sister, Mary, in South Carolina. At the time it seemed like it was a long ways away. But now it is TOMORROW!!! I can't wait! I saw her at Thanksgiving but I missed her so much at Christmas.
My sis has so many awesome plans for us. We are getting pedicures, going to a comedy festival, and seeing 27 Dresses. I wish my sis lived closer to me so we could do stuff like that all of the time. It seems that for the last couple of summers we were so busy with our weddings that we haven't had much time to spend just the two of us. What's worse is that I feel like I never get to see her husband so I am really excited to spend some time with him as well! I think that we will have LOTS of fun while I am down there. I get to stay at their beautiful house and spend some time with one of my favorite people. Who could ask for more out of a long weekend?

American FREAKING Idol!

2008-01-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

I love, love, love American Idol. I know that I sound like a 14 year old but I really like it. Right now they are doing the audition phase which kinda sucks and is mostly cruel to the off-beat people of the world. There are so many people who really, truly believe that they are super talented singers. They honestly believe they sound as good as Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood, I mean, really. The only problem is that they SUCK SO BADLY! (which reminds me that people leaving the -ly off of adverbs is beginning to drive me crazy in our society. Get with it people!) Anyway, I just watched AI after cooking a very extensive dinner for a weeknight. Its off to a shower and then to bed. I should publish some more recipes soon but I am too lazy. We had pan-fried breaded chicken breasts today (breaded in parm cheese/bread crumbs), homemade mashed 'taters, and cresent rolls. I am having leftovers for lunch tomorrow! YUMMY! I hope everyone is having a good day!

Quick Week!

2008-01-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

Well, tomorrow is Friday and it has been a quick week. It is amazing how differently time can pass when you are busy or bored. This week was like most during a regular week of work, with one awesome exception, no classes! I don't have a bunch of homework or papers. It makes it pretty lazy around here once I get home. Of course when Chad gets home each day we take a high quality nap for like 45 minutes. I think its my favorite part of the day. I know I should work out during that time but we sang about 4 jump and dance songs at work today so that should count for something. There was a new Grey's Anatomy and ER tonight, so that was cool. I basically sat like a lump for a few hours today. Ahhhh, how nice. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Back to work!

2008-01-08T20:57:00.000-05:00

So I have been back to work for two days and it hardly feels like I had a two week vacation but not necessarily in a bad way. I have realized lately that although my job is a LOT of work, and I mean a lot of work, I love it. A lot of people think that Kindergarten teachers must be crazy. They are probably right. Usually people say that just as everything in a classroom is falling apart. For example there are generally a few parents lingering outside of my classroom door at the end of the day. This is one of the craziest times of the day, imagine getting 22 children bundled up in coats, hats, boots, gloves, etc. Imagine that only a few of them can zip their coats, they can't get anything else in their over-stuffed back packs, there is always a last minute note to send home, and one of the kids gnerally doesn't know if they are getting picked up or riding the bus and they are crying about it.
So, also at this time the parents outside the door are looking at me with a look of, well, I'm not sure. Sometimes I think it is judgement (too much yelling, too much chaos) and sometimes I think they are feeling pity for me. One parent said to me just before Christmas, I think we should get you a bottle of Jack Daniel's for Christmas. I didn't know how to take it so the next day I asked her. I figured she thought I needed to relax like I am too stressed and I couldn't handle my classroom. She told me that with the job I have I deserve a stiff drink at the end of the day.
I guess sometimes I feel a bit self-concious about people watching me teach. Most people don't understand what it is like to manage 22 children at a time. It is MUCH different than 2 or 3 kids at a time. I know that I am not a mom, that job is much harder than mine, but I just always feel like people are judging me. That is understandable since I spend 6 hours a day with their children. I think I am so sensitive because I take my job so seriously. I love my kids so much and I want to be a nice, calm, caring, put together teacher all the time but admittedly there are times that I raise my voice, have you tried to whisper over 22 five year olds? And there are times that I lose my patience but with that said, I still LOVE my job. I love my kids and I am always trying to improve. I think it is good for me to keep self-evalauating. Any teacher who won't self-evaluate is the one to worry about as far as I'm concerned.
Enough rambling, I hope everyone is getting back into the swing of January. Post holiday time is always a bit sad for me but I have a trip to South Carolina soon to see my SIS! YAY!

Well, at least I worked out today

2008-01-02T23:07:00.000-05:00

I didn't leave the house today. Usually that would be really depressing but we have been so busy lately that I really enjoyed it. I slept in kinda late and watched a bit of T.V. Then, believe it or not, I worked out! I was pretty proud of myself. Surprisingly, I weighed myself this morning anticipating a huge holiday weight gain and I didn't really gain any weight. In fact, I actually weighed less this morning than I did before Christmas break started. I think I am a bit dehydrated now because I drink so much water at work and my schedule is all thrown off. Overall, however, I must not have gained that eight pounds that surveys claim the average American gains during the holidays. Maybe it just hasn't caught up with me yet. I have had a lot of chocolate! It had to go somewhere!
Oh well, I had a wonderful lazy day today, no blowdryer, no flat iron, no makeup, and I wore loungey pants all day! I may never go back to work. :)

No work until Monday!

2008-01-01T22:09:00.001-05:00

Well, I am still on vacation until the seventh and I have to tell you that I miss my Kindergarteners! I was very busy with Christmas and New Year's and Chad had most of the time off with me but now I will be home alone for the next three days. Oh well, I found the Harry Potter series to fill up my time. I can't put them down. I have three left and they are HUGE. Oh well, I have nothing but time on my hands.
Enjoy all of the posts below to see what I have been up to!

New Year's Day and the BIG game - Pork Tenderloin

2008-01-01T21:54:00.001-05:00

Well, it is New Year's Day and after our ditch episode last night (see 2 posts below) we had my Aunt Pat, Unc, and Chad's parents over to watch the game. We had lots of snacks including Cindy's famous cheese spread (I will publish the recipe soon) with garlic toast, Aunt Pat's veggie tray, more taco chips and dip and a delicious lunch. We had pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes (which were a suprise even to me!)
I made the marinade for the tenderloin on New Year's Eve and let it marinate overnight. It came out moist, tender, and delicious. It was my first tenderloin so I was nervous but I was very happy with the results.

Pork Tenderloin
courtesy of the Food Network

Ingredients
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. pork tenderloin
Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon dry red wine
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger (I omitted this because I didn't have it)
1/2 teaspoon groun cinnamon
2 green onions (green part only), chopped. Yeah right, I used onion powder.

Combine the marinade ingredients in a measuring cup and whisk together. Pour over pork in a plastic bag. Marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350* F. Bake for 45 minutes until the meat is 145* F internally.
Well, I don't have a meat thermometer so I just cooked it for 50 minutes because my oven tends to undercook things. I cooked it in a 9x13 pan lined with aluminum foil. I turned the tenderloin over a couple of times while it was cooking and used my basting brush to get the juice on top of the meat twice during cooking.

Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes. Then cut into 2 inch pieces. Drizzle some of the juice over each piece before serving (I just used my brush to brush each side with a bit of the cooking juices on the serving platter). I was really happy with how this turned out! It was so delicious!

We finished up the gameday meal with the other half of my trifle (see recipe below). I made it right before I served it with the other half of my ingredients.

Plan B- Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2008-01-01T21:48:00.000-05:00

So I was planning on roasting some potatoes to go along with my pork tenderloin but I got out the bag and they were soft and wrinkly. I knew I couldn't use them but I already had people over so I had to find a plan B. Then I remembered a couple of months ago when Meijer was having a sale on boxed potatoes and I bought a box of Betty Crocker garlic mashed potatoes. The box had two pouches of 4 servings so it was perfect for our group of 6. They were extremely easy to make and it was actually a much better idea than screwing around with a bunch of potatoes in the oven. They were really good and I think I will make them again when people come over!

New Year's Eve, the ditch, and Chocolate Toffee Trifle

2008-01-01T21:32:00.000-05:00

For New Year's Eve we decided to go to my friend Alison's house which is about 20 minutes south of where we live. It was 3 couples and my friend Kacey's three year old son, Evan, who is obsessed with Superman. In fact, he has a cape that he refuses to take off and if he for some reason is not wearing a Superman shirt and you call him Superman he will say, "Ahhm Clarr Kennn" which means "I'm Clark Kent." It's pretty funny.
So anyway we played games, ate food, and got stuck in a ditch! OH YEAH! Lots of fun in the 8 or so inches of snow we got. Fortunately we were right outside of Ali's house on the way home when it happend. We waited a long time for AAA to send us a tow truck so we decided to call one of our own. By the time it all resolved it was so late and the roads were so bad that we ended up sleeping at Ali's. It worked out well because I didn't want to drive home in that junk, especially with the New Year's drunks on the road.
But anyway, before all of those dramatics we ate some delicious food. I made taco pie cups, taco dip (see below), and Chocolate Toffee Trifle. I think it is my new fav desert. I used the recipe below but I made half of it for New Year's Eve and I kept the second half of the ingredients seperate for New Year's Day. Don't assemble this dessert too far ahead of time or it could get soggy.

Chocolate Toffee Trifle
courtesy of the Food Network

Ingredients
1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's Food)
1/2 cup coffee liqueur
2 cups fudge sauce
3 chocolate covered toffee bars (Heath Bars), broken into pieces
2 big containers of Cool Whip or whipped cream

Directions
Prepare the cake according to the box instructions in a 9x13 pan.
Cool throughly.
Poke the entire top of the cake with a fork and pour the coffee liqueur over the cake to soak in.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Slice the cake into 1 inch thick pieces.
Then line the bottom of a large glass bowl with a layer of cake. Pour 1/3 of the hot fudge sauce and a 1/3 of the Heath bar on top of the cake. Then top it with whipped cream. Repeat this two more times.
I used some of the chocolate sauce on the top to make it pretty.

Like I said, I only used 1/2 at a time and it made a big dessert. Enjoy!

Taco Pie Cups and Taco Dip

2008-01-01T21:22:00.000-05:00

So I thought I would make something at Alison's that everyone would like. I know that Kacey, Ali, Chad, and I all love taco pie so I decided to make taco pie in a muffin tin to make it easier to eat at the party. It was just like the original but it was a bit of work to make the cresents do what I wanted. Also, I didn't have too much room for the layers so each cup has Taco Doritos, meat, and cheese. I couldn't do the double layers of chips and cheese but it worked out okay. Honestly, my favorite part is the cresent anyway. To make the cresent rolls the right shape I took the larger rectangles and pinched the seam and cut them into squares to put into the cup. I cooked them for 6 minutes empty, layered in the ingredients, and cooked for about 15 minutes.
I brought them in my new pyrex portable that Chad got me for Christmas. It was so handy! It turned out to be a good party food!

I also used my other pyrex portable to bring taco dip and chips to Ali's. I just used the extra taco meat from the taco pie cups. It worked out wonderfully!

Chicken Noodle Soup!

2008-01-01T21:14:00.000-05:00

So I made my first chicken noodle soup from scratch. It was funny because I told my friend Deb about it and she asked me if I made the noodles. HA! I thought I was pretty good making my own soup instead of opening a can. Hehehe. Now that I know how easy it is I can see the point in her question. That soup was as easy as making spaghetti. So, here is my recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 or 4 carrots chopped
3 or 4 stalks of celery or celery hearts chopped
6 - 8 cups chicken broth
1 lb chicken cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb noodles (I used Kluski)
I think you are supposed to use onion too but anyone who knows me knows that I clearly wouldn't add them! ;)

Directions
put the oil in the bottom of the skillet with the veggies over medium heat. Cook until they are a bit tender, then the stock and bring to a boil and add chicken and noodles. Cook 10 minutes. Eat.
I also made cresent rolls to go with it but I cut them in half so that they would cook through. This was so easy and so comforting with all of the snow we have been having!

Stay Tuned . . .

2007-12-31T16:22:00.000-05:00

I have recently made my first Chicken Noodle soup (with my new food processor!) and I am currently in the process of making a marinated porkloin, chocolate toffee trifle, taco pie cups, and taco dip. I will be blogging about them soon.

Christmas WHOO HOO part 4 (Scroll down to start on Part 1)

2007-12-28T15:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so finally on Christmas Day we went to my mom and dad's house for Christmas. We foolishly didn't take any pictures but we got a lot of wonderful gifts and my mom made a YUMMY meal. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli and cheese, rolls, and chocolate pie. Oh boy was it good! My grandma, Uncle Joe, his girlfriend Jamie, and my cousin Cristina came over to share dinner with us. We then watched Animusic which is a cool computer generated music DVD my dad loves. We had a nice time and it was really hard saying good bye to my mom and dad. Then later we went to my grandma's assisted living home and then back to Chad's grandma and grandpa's house.
Christmas night rolled around and our friends Megan, Evan, Chris, and Sarah came over along with Chad's brother and girlfriend to Chad's parents house and we all played on the Wii. It was lots of fun. So, overall we had a great holiday and although it was busy we wanted to see everyone! I hope you had a great holiday too!

Christmas WHOO HOO part 3

2007-12-28T14:55:00.001-05:00

On Monday, Christmas Eve, we went to Chad's parents house I visited with his grandparents for a while and ran some errands with Chad's mom. Then it was time to get ready for mass. We picked up Chad's grandparents who have a hard time getting around while Chad's parents, brother, and sister-in-law (almost) saved us seats. Mass was nice it was good to sing all of Christmas songs and the homily was cool because the priest brought a bunch of kids up to help him with the sermon. Then we went back to Chad's parents house for a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. Later that night we opened our gifts from Chad's parents and brother and girlfriend. It was lots of fun. Here are some pics . . .

Christmas WHOO HOO part 2

2007-12-28T14:20:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went to my Grandma's house for our family Christmas. We had lots and lots of fun and opened a million gifts. My mom has 8 brothers and sisters and all but 2 of them were at Grandma's along with their kids and grandkids. It was great to hang out with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. There were so many people and so much laughter. I am so happy that our family all gets along so well that we can have so much fun together! Our family is huge and I used to think it was weird but now I love it so much. The only sad thing was that my sis and my little cousin Sarah (who is like my sis) both weren't at Grandma's. Oh well, maybe they will come next year. I get to visit my sis in January anyway, thanks to Chad!
Here are some pics from the family party . . .

Christmas! WHOO HOO! Part 1

2007-12-28T14:06:00.000-05:00

So we had a few Christmases this year (as always). Our first Christmas was at our house with just the two of us. We had lots of fun at our new house with our own tree and our gifts to each other. I have to say that overall, I cleaned up! Poor Chad hardly had anything to open. He got his Wii and PS3 in the last couple of weeks but he didn't have much to open during our Christmas. We are a couple of dorks, however, and took pictures of all of our stuff. So, if you can bear it, here is what we got each other . . .

I got two pyrex portables to bring delicious dishes other places.

My Western Michigan University flag. This is me saying GO BRONCOS!

Ornaments and a Taylor Swift CD. (I also got a snow globe, necklace, and Dance Dance Revolution dancing game for the Wii)

AND A brand new, chrome colored, 9 cup Kitchenaid Food Processor!

I think the best gift of all, however, was clearly the most thoughtful. Chad got me a trip to go down to South Carolina to visit my sister because she couldn't come home for Christmas. Chad knew how much I missed her and decided to surprise me with a plane ticket. What a nice hubby!

Poor Chad didn't get much

He got this sweater with red stripes and one with light blue stripes

Smartwool socks and gloves

And Chad's favorite gift . . . Guitar Hero for PS3!

We had a great Christmas together. The next morning we woke up and went to my Grandma's for our family Christmas!

Nintendo Wii

2007-12-17T21:37:00.000-05:00

Alright, so we are twenty somethings with no kids. We are what people call DINKS. That stands for Dual Income - No Kids. It basically means we have more disposable income than most people. It is usually a temporary condition. We know for sure that it is temporary for us and I think Chad is feeling the pressure to spend money on himself when he can. SO, the day after Thanksgiving he got a Playstation 3. I thought, okay, he is trying to get fun stuff now when there are no diaper or daycare costs, that's cool.
Then we were at Best Buy on Friday we were looking at the Wii and it looked kinda fun. The guy at the store said they were getting 140 in on Sunday morning and the Wii is still so popular that people have to get in line early in the morning to get one. Crazy people, like my husband. So, those 8 inches of snow fell and the roads weren't plowed and my idiot husband drove to best buy at 5:30 to stand in line for a Wii. Well, I went back to sleep and he came home with a Wii, two games and two controllers.
At first I was a bit skeptical but that thing is AWESOME! With the Wii you move your body and the remotes to move the characters. We got a couple of sports games and I think my favorite is boxing. I totally kicked Chad's butt. It was so cool. We worked up quite a sweat. Awesome. So anyway, Chad is playing bowling and I am going to go beat him again (I'm a bit competitive can you tell?)
Now if only my shoulder would stop hurting from the non-stop Wii! :)

SNOW DAY - sort of

2007-12-17T21:30:00.000-05:00

Well this weekend we got about 8 inches of snow and the back roads were still pretty bad this morning. Most of the districts around us had the day off and even the charter school in our town was off of school for today. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. hoping for the most joyous phone call that there was no school but alas, no call. I drove into work. The highway was fine but most of the side streets were still pretty rough.
Then, during the kids recess my co-worker came in to tell me that we won't have school TOMORROW! What? I thought she was full of it. Then she told me that the water main outside of our school (which has been on life support for months) has finally gone and they are cancelling school tomorrow to fix it as we wouldn't have any water in our school at all, which means no toilet flushing, yuck!
So, now I will have time to go shopping for the schools giving tree and have lunch with my friends but most imporantly . . . SLEEP IN! WHOO HOO!

So much to do, so little time!

2007-12-13T21:45:00.000-05:00

It seems as though there are SO many things to do around this time of year. We have been making SO many Christmas crafts in our classroom this week it is starting to get ridiculous! We have been reading LOTS of Christmas books. Yesterday I read my favorite Christmas book which (embarassingly) is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I love that book and I love the movie. I am always sure to share both with my Kindergarteners each year. Today I read The Polar Express which is a wonderful book. Many people now know the movie but the book is really well written and beautifully illustrated. The kids all sat there listening to the story in complete silence. They were hanging on every word and hardly interrupting the story, which is a Christmas miracle in itself this time of year!
I think tomorrow I will read The Night Before Christmas. I have found that the old fashioned wording in that books makes it harder for my kids to attend to but they still enjoy it. This class has been really into The Twelve Days of Christmas book/song this year.
On Monday we are making gingerbread men (wish me luck) and at some point we have to make parent gifts! I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season and are making many happy memories. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-12-09T21:16:00.001-05:00

I am getting pretty excited about Christmas. We did more shopping this weekend and I did plenty of wrapping. We attended my work Christmas party and I made my Chocolate Mousse and I think people liked it. The party was at a coworker's house who happens to be a neighbor. We actually walked over in the snow carrying the big bowl of Mousse. It was a great party. I had a few cocktails and we enede up staying and visiting with the hostess and her husband until after 2 a.m. I got home and felt okay but right before I went to sleep I remembered that one of my many tummy meds said DO NOT TAKE WITH ALCOHOL. Oh well, I thought, no harm done I seem to be just fine. Well, it hit me the next day. The beauty is that we slept until 11and then we went to Charlotte to look for a dining room table and then came home and relaxed for a majority of the afternoon.
Anyway we did more shopping today and we are doing pretty well overall. We basically have one weekend left before we go home for Christmas so we have to get a move on to get our shopping done. Unfortunately, my sis won't be coming home for Christmas this year so I have to get her present asap so I can ship it to her before Christmas. Oh well, I have decided to embrace the season and not get stressed out! I hope everyone is having fun getting ready for Christmas. We are making many Christmas things at school this week so I am in the mood for sure!

WHOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!

2007-12-04T19:51:00.000-05:00

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I did it! I finished my big, fat, complicated action research project for my inquiry in teaching master's class. YEE HA! What a feeling! I finished my online class on Sunday. I have a presentation board to make for this big project but the major bulk of the work is DONE! I feel GREAT about it! It has been hard work teaching full time and taking two classes. I knew I could do it but I am looking forward to so many other things in the Winter semester. I have a list of books to read, decorating to do, and cleaning to catch up on. Hitting that submit button was fantastic!

Outdoor Christmas Decorations!

2007-12-03T21:26:00.000-05:00

When I lived alone in my little one bedroom apartment before we were married I put some white Christmas lights on my little balcony. Other than those two years I have never had an outdoor space to decorate. This year, as our first Christmas in our house, I knew I had to decorate. We live in a house with a big, white, wrap around porch. It was just SCREAMING for garland and a big wreath on the door. My hubby took the pics outside (way too cold for me) so I am not sure if you will be able to see how beautiful everything looks, but we are quite proud of our work.
In addition to our garland and wreath, we put up two animated deer (well, the lights didn't exactly work so we put some extra lights on them) and we also put up 3 light up trees (which all blew over today despite being staked to the ground). We plan to put some lights on a few more trees but I thought I would share what we have accomplished thus far. Enjoy!

Christmas Decorations!

2007-12-03T21:05:00.001-05:00

Well, this is our second Christmas as a married couple but the first in our house. We lived in a beautiful apartment last year but we still had a small Christmas tree and no outdoor area to decorate. So, with the help of my Aunt Pat and Unc we picked up a 7 1/2 foot pre-lit Christmas tree from Sam's Club and they donated many outdoor decorations to us as well!

We looked everywhere for a Christmas tree. I love the pre-lit kind but many didn't have enough lights. 800 lights over 7 1/2 feet sounds like a lot, but it isn't. Our Sam's Club tree has 1500 lights! It is BEAUTIFUL and HUGE! I have lots of ornaments (too many for last years 4 1/2 foot tree) and they look great on the big moehusker in our living room this year.

My hutch, that my generous mother bought for me at an auction, has become a display area for all of my snowglobes (at the top) and our stockings.

My mom made my stocking (on the right) for me before I was born (do you think they were hoping for a boy or what?). She made them for us because her mom made them for all of her siblings when they were children. I carried on the tradition by making one for Chad and I will make one for each of our children. I love my blue stocking with turtles, frogs, and of course an orange. I made Chad's to reflect his love for sports and the University of Michigan.

I also put up our Nativity Scene that we bought from Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth. If you haven't been to the world's largest Christmas store, you are really missing out. There were 5 aisles of Nativity Scenes to choose from and I found the perfect one as well as a handmade creshe. Check it out:

I hope you enjoyed our indoor decorations. We have some wreaths, an advent calendar, bathroom decor, and welcome mats as well but I will spare you the details. If you want to see more you will have to stop by sometime!

Thanksgiving!

2007-12-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

Well, I know it is December but I have been busy with working full time, taking two master's classes, and decorating for Christmas. But, I wanted to share some pics etc. from Thanksgiving.
First, Chad and I split our time between both of our families during Thanksgiving. Our parents live about 25 minutes from one another which is both a blessing and a curse. We seem to run ourselves ragged going back and forth several times in a couple of days. I think, however, that we are lucky in the fact that we get to see both families instead of having to choose one.
We started at my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. There are always a MILLION pies (and my mousse in the back left corner) and PLENTY to eat. There are also a million people there. I can't imagine a Thanksgiving with less than 20 people. Here are some pics:
Here are all of the pies and desserts

Dad and Sis

Chad and Unc

Then we went to Chad's mom and dad's house. We had another Thanksgiving meal just a few hours later. Chad's brother's girlfriend made a huge dinner for us. It was really good!
Chad's Mom and I

Lots of food!

We had a great time at both Thanksgivings. We are so blessed to have such great families to celebrate with!

Grandma's Famous Chocolate Mousse

2007-12-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

My Grandma is 89 years old and one of the best cooks I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She always had some home cooked goodness (minus the smokey links that I pretended to like). You could always count on grandma to have some pudding or cookies or pie hiding in the house somewhere! She currently lives in an assisted living home and recently gave my sister, Mary, and I her recipes to split between the two of us. I am really looking forward to the prospect of looking through the box of edible memories. I think what I love about Grandma, besides her sense of humor, is that her cooking is totally down home. She doesn't mess around with fancy shmancy gourmet stuff, she cooks with meat, potatoes, and other "all american" ingredients.
Every year for Easter and other holidays at my parents' house Grandma would bring her famous Chocolate Mousse. More importantly she would always bring it in a beautiful glass bowl shaped like a strawberry. I LOVED that bowl, I would admire it and fawn over it. When Grandma moved to the assisted living home she gave away many of her possessions and she was sure to give me the mousse bowl.
This Thanksgiving I carried on the tradition of the Chocolate Mousse. It is rich, creamy, and frankly too easy to believe. Deb cover your eyes, you will be appalled at this recipe:

Grandma's Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
4 oz package chocolate instant pudding POWDER ONLY(the fat free/sugar free is like 1.3 oz, it is basically the smaller box or 4 serving package)
1 cup cold water
1 large cool whip container (one size up from the small one)

Directions:
Combined condensed milk, pudding mix, and water. Beat until well blended. Chill 5 minutes.
Fold in cool whip and chill.

I know it sounds like it would be kinda gross but it tastes very good and it seems like it would have taken a lot of work. I had several people ask for the recipe at Thanksgiving, so here it is! Sorry it took so long!

I know!

2007-12-01T23:14:00.001-05:00

I know that I haven't blogged in forever and that I promised a few people a few things here in the blog but I have been VERY busy, like I'm sure the rest of you have been. We put up the Christmas Tree and all of the outdoor things (our first Christmas in a house!) and I can't wait to share all of that with you guys (all 2 or 3 of you) but right now I am so exhausted that I don't have time. I will also put some pics/recipes from Thanksgiving (seems like months ago). Sorry I am so behind but I promise to catch up soon (after that 15 page paper is written tomorrow maybe?) I hope that December has found everyone well. I am hoping for more snow and a snow day on Monday *wishful thinking*

Cinnamon Muffins, The Easy Way

2007-11-20T17:37:00.000-05:00

A little girl in my class brought in some cinnamon muffins for her snack day. Let me tell you, I don't usually eat the kid's snack but the muffins looked so good that I had to try one. They were SO good. In fact, I liked them so much I wrote her mom a note asking for the recipe, I thought I would make them for Thanksgiving morning because my in-laws don't keep breakfast food at their house.
On Monday, the little girl came in to school with a box that I thought was for the food drive. Then she told me that it was for me. Upon closer inspection I saw what the box was, it was a box of Cinnamon Strusel muffin mix.

This was the recipe for the muffins she brought in! HA! I thought it was great!
I still decided to make them for Thanksgiving morning. I am not against mixes, in fact, I am all for them. I have been so busy this week getting ready for two Thanksgivings and making sure my students are doing enough Thanksgiving turkey crafts to sustain them. I was more than happy to add egg whites (for a healthier version) some oil and milk to the mix and pop it in the oven. They look and smell DELICIOUS! You should consider this mix because it tastes great!
We are leaving right after work tomorrow for our Thanksgiving whirlwind so I won't be blogging before the big holiday. So, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy your turkey day!

Taco Pie!

2007-11-18T20:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went grocery shopping and Chad suggested that we get the ingredients for one of his favorite dinners, Taco Pie. When Chad and I first met and after I proved to him that I could actually cook he asked me to make taco pie. His friend, Geni, used to make it when he was in college and he just loved it. So he emailed her for the recipe and he printed it off for me to make. It seemed weird to me but I decided to try it. I have entertained with it and everyone always asks for the recipe. It is way too much for just Chad and I but we make it anyway! Without further ado . . .

Taco Pie
Ingredients
1 tube cresent rolls
1 lb ground beef (we use sirloin or X-tra lean)
1 packet of taco seasoning mix (and the water called for on packet)
Taco flavored Doritos
1 2cup package of taco shredded cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350* F
Unroll cresent rolls and piece together to form a crust in the bottom of a 8 or 9 inch pie pan
prick with a fork and put in the oven for 6 minutes just to start it to be sure it is cooked through at the end.
Meanwhile brown the meat on the stove and follow the taco seasoning directions.
Crush some of the taco Doritos on top of the cresent crust
Next top the Doritos with the meat
Then put 1/2 of the cheese on the meat
Next add another layer of crushed Doritos
Top with the remaining cheese.

Put the pie in the oven for 15-20 minutes
Enjoy the deliciousness!

Thankful

2007-11-13T22:03:00.000-05:00

My friend Becky on Parenting with Whine has started listing reasons to be thankful as she counts down to Thanksgiving. It reminded me of Oprah's thankfulness journal. So it got me thinking about what I should be thankful for. I usually find myself complaining about certain aspects of my life so I am going to turn those complaints into reasons to be thankful.

I hate getting up early - but I am thankful everyday to have my dream job. There are literally thousands of teachers in Michigan who cannot find work. I found a job my first summer searching and I have a wonderful group of co-workers and students. I feel at home in my school district and I have a certain amount of freedom with my teaching that I am very thankful for.

I am so sick of writing papers and doing homework - but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to get a master's degree. There are many people who would love the opporunity to get a high school diploma and thousands who aspire to get a bachelor's degree and here I am complaining about getting a master's.

My husband bugs me sometimes - but I am thankful to be in a marriage blessed by God. I truly believe that Chad and I were made for each other and that the Lord has a great plan for us in our lives. I love my husband more than I knew I could love anyone.

I am sick of my car needing repairs - but I am thankful that my very generous parents gave me that car for about $1000 when I started teaching. I have such great parents. They have been so supportive for my entire life and I count my mom as one of my closest friends.

I am tired of being pulled in so many different directions during the holidays - but I am thankful that so many people want to celebrate with Chad and I. It is hard to complain about too many people loving you.

I hate that I have to constantly struggle with my weight - but I am thankful that I always have enough food to eat and that I don't have to worry about making ends meet. We live a very blessed life, now if I could only stop eating!

I hate cleaning my house and doing laundry - but I am thankful that my husband and I can live in such a big house at such a young age. We don't even know what to do with all of this space, we are so blessed to live in our dream home in our 20s. And that laundry, I am thankful that I have so many clothes to wear. (Every Thanksgiving my sister would say the things she was thankful for and she would say our house, food, our family, and clothes, don't forget clothes!) Good ole' sis!

So, the next time I find myself b*tching and complaining, I will just remember all of the wonderful things I have to be thankful for! As it turns out, I have it pretty good!

Alfredo - hold the fat

2007-11-05T19:20:00.000-05:00

I really love alfredo sauce but once I looked at a full fat recipe and I have never again ordered it at a restuarant. I also looked at the fat grams etc. of traditional alfredo sauce and I nearly passed out! So I was so happy to find a cooking light version of alfredo sauce to try.
I got the recipe from Melanie's Favorite Recipes. She got it from Cooking Light.
I am going to post this on Presto Pasta Night on Ruth's wonderful blog.

I changed the recipe a little bit to suit our tastes and because I took out the cream cheese to soften and then I forgot that I did that and thought I was out of cream cheese. No problem, I used some ricotta instead. I also halved the recipe because only two people live at my house.

Chicken Radiatore Alfredo - Hold the Fat
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups 1/2% low-fat milk
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (I used ricotta)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups hot cooked pasta(I used Radiatore)
1 can pre-cooked canned chicken or leftover chicken breast
1/2 cup broccoli florets, cooked

Directions
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt.
Meanwhile heat chicken on stove and heat broccoli in microwave if desired.
Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

This was quick, easy, and delicious. I loved getting the alfredo flavor without all of the fat. Honestly, between the two of us we had 1/2 tablespoon of butter, less than a cup of 1/2% milk, a bit more than 1/2 a cup of parm cheese, and a tablespoon of lowfat ricotta. Seriously, no large amounts of fat anywhere. What a great way to get the yummy taste without the extra time on the treadmill.

Michigan vs. Michigan State

2007-11-04T19:35:00.001-05:00

So this was Michigan/Michigan State weekend and we had a couple of people over to watch the game. Now, I live pretty close Michigan State's campus but wouldn't you know that we were all Michigan fans at my house. The game was exciting, our team won, and we had PLENTY to eat! I think the coolest thing was the military jets that did the fly over at MSU's stadium were killing time all by our house. So we got to see (and hear) them making lazy circles in the sky until they ZOOMED off toward the stadium. It was very cool!
So, when I have people over the first thing I think about is, what will we eat? I always have new recipes to try so I gave a few new recipes a whirl. I will post them each seperately to make it easier to find the recipes later. I made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, cheesy potato soup, and spinach artichoke dip.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

2007-11-04T19:22:00.000-05:00

I made BBQ pulled pork sandwhiches for the football party because I knew I could make it ahead and have it in the crockpot for whenever people were hungry for it. This has been an extremely popular recipe on my What's Cooking board on The Nest, so that is where I will credit this recipe. I don't really eat BBQ sauce or much pork so I had a taste or two but I didn't eat a sandwich. Honestly, I was so full from spinach artichoke dip and soup that I couldn't have fit one in my tummy! When I had the porkloin in the crockpot with the rootbeer I couldn't believe how STINKY it was. I had two candles around it at all times because I couldn't stand the smell. It gave it a good flavor, however, when all was said and done! Also, I didn't have any idea that pork tenderloin was so expensive! Luckily, it was buy one get one free at Meijer so I threw one in the freezer. So, without further ado . .

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Ingredients
2 lbs. Pork Tenderloin
12 oz. Rootbeer
1 18 oz. bottle BBQ sauce (Chad likes Sweet Baby Ray's)
Hamburger buns

Directions
Put pork tenderloin in crockpot.
Pour rootbeer over pork.
Set crockpot on low for 6 hours.
After 6 hours take the meat out and shred it with two forks, it was so tender that the shredding was extremely easy.
Clean out the crockpot, empty the rootbeer.
Mix shredded pork with the bottle of bbq sauce.
Cook 1 1/2 hours more in crockpot on low.
I kept mine on low for longer than that and then put it on low during the game.
Serve on hamburger buns (toast if desired).

Cheesy Potato Soup

2007-11-04T19:11:00.001-05:00

Honestly, what is better than a crockpot full of delicious soup on a cool fall day? Oh I know, add a bunch of cheese to it!
I got this recipe from Good Eats and Sweet Treats. The original recipe called for broccoli too but I wanted Chad to eat it. As it turns out he didn't eat any anyway, so I guess I could have had some yummy broccoli in there too! I also added some bacon, because really bacon makes almost anything better! This soup was so incredibly easy that I could totally make it on a weeknight after work. I always have these ingredients at my house! Its good to know I can have this delicious soup whenever I want. MMMMMM!

Cheesy Potato Soup

Ingredients:¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 (14.5 oz) cans low sodium, fat-free chicken broth, divided
3 cups peeled, cubed potatoes (about 1.25 lbs)
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped (I omitted this)
1 small onion, chopped
1 ¼ cups 2% reduced fat milk (I used 1/2%)
1 (8 oz) block 2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I bought a 2 cup bag of shredded cheese and used about another handful from another bag. We like it cheesy)
2% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping (optional)
chopped green onions for topping (optional)
Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)

Directions:
Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup chicken broth until smooth. **Set aside**

Combine remaining chicken broth, potatoes, broccoli and onion in a Dutch oven (or large saucepan). Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes.

Stir in milk & 8 oz. of freshly shredded cheese. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until cheese melts. Add salt & pepper to taste. Top each serving of soup with shredded cheese and green onions as desired.

I then put it in a Crockpot on warm and it was good in there for several hours!

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip

2007-11-04T19:05:00.000-05:00

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip
From Kraft Food and Family Magazine
Ingredients
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, finely chopped
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
3/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup KRAFT Mayo Light Mayonnaise
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients until well blended.
SPOON into 9-inch pie plate or quiche dish.
BAKE 20 min. or until heated through. Serve with TRISCUIT Reduced Fat Crackers and assorted cut-up fresh vegetables.

I served mine with Tostitos Gold chips, pretzel sticks and Tostitos Scoops! YUMMY!