Friday Stuff

I am going to warn you, after typing this I realize that I am rambling, but I'm going to leave it as it is!

We had Rock Group tonight. I love my RG. They are just the best and even though we haven't had an official bible study in a couple of weeks, I feel like I have grown spiritually. We just have a great time getting together and talking. We only meet a couple of times a month, but I have come to seek them out at church and I really care about how they are doing and they care about me and my family. When Sonya and Amos got married, my RG threw them a rehearsal dinner. We had a new family join us tonight. I hope they feel included and will want to join us on a regular basis.

The Littles figured out the door of the microwave is magnetic, how I don't know. They got quiet in the kitchen (that's never a good sign) and I looked over and the microwave door was decorated. It was pretty funny that they figured this out on their own. They had a great day. It is such a joy to watch them grow and learn. Today they just had a lot of energy and played really well together. Alex decided not to take a nap, so he went to bed early, which is nice.

Last night I was watching Celebrity Rehab, I am a reality TV junkie. One of the people on there called her grandmother for advice and it got me to thinking about grandmas. I am a total Nana's girl. I would walk to the moon if she asked me to. I try to call her once a week to check in and make sure she is doing alright. I don't get up there to see her as much as I should, but our weekly phone calls are the best. She has endured so much and has a great faith. I have always felt close to Nana. Sonya was closer to our Granny. I realized last night how much I value Nana's opinion and how much I rely on the fact that she is just there. It scares me that she is getting older, but aren't we all. It also scares me that there will be a day when she is not there. I just can't say enough about her.

Just a side not to explain who everyone is: Nana is my mom's mom. Papa Ed is my mom's stepdad. Granny is my dad's mom and PawPaw is my dad's dad.

I wonder what it is about Grandmas? When my mom was here one day through the week, Becca and Kaylee were playing with her and calling her MawMaw. I think it kind of upset Brianna that she might have to share her MawMaw with someone else. Alex was a big enough adjustment. I really want Brianna and Alex to have the relationship with my mom that I have with Nana. Although I think Alex will be a PawPaw's boy, which is fine.

I wonder if it is a grandparent thing? I remember Granny pulling our teeth and she thought that Coke's in a glass bottle would cure all of our stomachaches and everything else. I found Coke's in glass bottles in WalMart a couple of weeks ago and I have some in our fridge right now. I remember going over to Granny and PawPaw's and we always had to ask Granny if we could have a drink. She, of course, would always tell us to help ourselves and we knew what her answer would be before we even asked. I was telling Brianna just the other day stories about PawPaw cutting the grass. At the time my babysitter lived in their trailer park and PawPaw had a drink machine not far from the babysitter's house. A friend and I would wait until we heard him getting closer to us on the lawn mower and then we would run outside, because we knew PawPaw would get us a drink out of the machine. I remember pushing him in his wheelchair down the hall to his bedroom at night when Daddy would have to go over and get him in the bed. He would slip me a dollar or two. I would go spend the night with Nana and we would shop up a storm or eat junk food until we were almost sick. She would always buy junk food before I got there or we would make a trip to BiLo. Nana makes the best Chicken and Dumplins. I am trying to master those. I am getting close, but I don't know if they will ever be like hers. Granny would make the best fruit salad and "sticky taters." "Sticky taters" are sweet potatoes and I don't know how in the world she made them sticky, but they were sweet and delicious. Papa Ed would always get us breakfast from Hardee's. I wish my PawPaw and Granny could have met my kids. PawPaw died when I was in high school and Granny died in May before Brianna was born in August. I just want my kids to grow up with memories like those. I want them both to be telling their children about doing whatever with my mom and dad. I know I am rambling, but watching that show last night flooded me with some of these memories.

Sunday is the first day of our new youth groups. I am really excited. Robin and I have planned some stuff and I am praying the girls don't sit there rolling their eyes for 40 minutes. I just want them to know how much I already care about them and how much I want to watch them grow and mature. I have been praying for them since I signed on to do this.

That's all for tonight!

Steph

Yet Another Recipe

You guys are going to realize how much I love to cook, soon, if you don't know it already. I made Fried Green Beans tonight, thanks for the recipe Wanda. They were so good.

Fried Green Beans

Green beans, if canned drain them, I used frozen because they were on sale.
Onion, sliced
Salt
Oregano
Olive oil
Butter, just a little

Heat olive oil and butter in pan. Add all other ingredients and cook until onions are tender.

Yum-O

I got a new cookbook for Valentine's Day, I know that sounds real romantic, but I love it. We made two new recipes for dinner tonight. I have to say, both were good.

Wild Rice Pilaf

1 (6 oz) package long grain and wild rice mix, cooked
1 (14 oz) can Mexican-style corn, drained
3 chopped green onions
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, tossing well to combine. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I didn't have green onions, so I used a little onion powder. The only vinegar we had was red (left over from Sunday's Subway platter) and it was still good.

Cola Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup ketchup
1 cup Coke
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. grape jelly

Place chicken in greased baking pan. Combine remaining ingredients, and spread over chicken. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.

I used 3 chicken breasts and it was still good. We poured the extra sauce over the chicken. Even Brianna liked it and she doesn't normally eat baked chicken of any kind!

When I post recipes on here, I will tell you how I differed it from the original and who liked it and who didn't.

Dinner tonight

Tonight we had nachos for dinner and I wanted to post my recipe for taco seasoning. It's much better for us to make it than to buy those packets, also I just make up a bunch of it and don't have to worry about it for a while.

Taco Seasoning

1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (I leave this out)
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Brown beef/turkey and add mixture with 1/2 cup water. Cook until water dissolves.

This makes 2 Tablespoons.

Good Friends and Coffee

I had coffee with a great friend of mine today. Jenny is the type of friend you can not see for a while and it's like you have talked everyday. She is such a great person. She brought her little boy over to play with The Littles and Alex just thinks he is the greatest. It was so nice to sit down for a couple of hours and just talk and watch the kids play. Our conversation get deep sometimes. Some of our life experiences take place at the same time. I have known Jenny for about 5 years and her personality never changes. The first time I met her she had red hair that was short, the next time I met her, she had a blonde crew cut. She is a great mom and I have learned a lot about being a mom by watching her with her kids and how she is with my kids. I just can't say enough about her.

After talking to her for a while, I realize that great friends are few and far between. I'm talking about the kind of friend you can call no matter what the time, no matter what the circumstance, these friends will drop what they are doing and talk to you or come to your rescue. It's truly a blessing to have any friend in your life, but the "great" friends you love. God gives us different kinds of friends and we are blessed to have each one in our lives. You have the great friends and the "others." By "others" I mean the kind you have have just surface conversations with, we don't get too deep. We hang out, and they know what is going on with you and the family. I think we have an adundance of those, but we only need a few of the "great" friends and of those few, your spouse should be one.

Jenny and I had great coffee today. We tried out the Dunkin Doughnuts coffee and it was good. What made it great for us was the creamer. We tried the International Delight Limited Edition Marshmallow Mocha and White Chocolate Mocha. Both were really good, the White Chocolate Mocha tasted just like Starbucks and I am excited that this will save me $4 everytime I want some Starbucks. Brian says I drink girl coffee, with creamer and flavored syrup. He would never order coffee for me at the coffee shop. He says he drinks man coffee, just black. We also had Cream Cheese Squares with our coffee and she and her little boy loved them. Thanks for sharing the recipe Sonya.

Here's the recipe:

2 can crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Ground cinnamon
8 oz cream cheese, at room temp.
3/4 stick margarine

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Roll out 1 can crescent rolls flat into bottom of the pan. Mix cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over crescent rolls. Roll out other can of cresent rolls flat on top of the cream cheese mixture. Melt margarine and add 1/2 cup of sugar; stir. Pour evenly over top of crescent rolls. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes.

Steph

Kid Stuff

I have come to realize time is cruel. My kids are now 7 and 2. It seems like yesterday that Brianna was just a baby. Alex is such a little man. They are truly the best things I have ever done.

Brianna is in second grade and the phone calls from friends are starting. Brian says as long as it is girl friends, we are good. She is hoping to get a speaking part in the second grade play that will take place in April. She loves to read and does great in school. Her current "free" read book is the first of the Harry Potter series. She has to read AR books for school, but 2 days a week we take a break from those. She has already met her 10 point AR goal for the quarter. She and I are running a 5K in March. I am loving watching her become a great young lady.

Alex is a mess. He is into everything. He will eat anything you put in front of him except mac and cheese. I am told he is the typical boy, but having our girl first I am clueless what "typical boy" means. I am assuming it means we run everywhere and love to throw things. When 252 went ice skating Saturday, Alex was mesmerized by the hockey game that was taking place in the neighboring rink. We had to stand there and watch the game.

Weekend

Yesterday a really good day. Started off kind of crazy with Alex waking up at 6 am and Brianna going to the doctor at 8:30. Then, around 5, the youth from church went ice skating. Everyone had a great time. It was nice watching the kids grow closer as a unit. We played broom hockey for an hour, ate and then had free skate. Brianna even made it out on the ice to hug the wall around the rink. She did a great job and her goal for next time is to not touch the wall! One of high schoolers and her friend rode to the rink with us. It was funny, just listening to them talk. Come to find out, the friend has a sister in Brianna's class. (It's a Small World is running through my head)

Today, the 252 leadership team was announced to the kids. I think there is going to be some resistance. Some of the kids just don't like change, but they will get over it and realize it is for the best. The kids will be doing more outings, which let's face it, we loved as teens. We had a leadership meeting and for some reason, I was just not into it. I think I am still tired from Brianna waking me up. I feel worse if someone wakes me up in the middle of the night than I do if I go to sleep late or wake up early.

Book Review

I just finished Kay Hooper's Blood Dreams. It was great. It is one of those books, that when I started it I could not put it down. This is another of her SCU/Bishop books. Haven is the investigative team running the show. The team is tracking a killer who is killing women of the same build, hair color, and a couple other commonalities. If you haven't read it and are a murder mystery fan, check it out. If you haven't read Kay's other mysteries, check them out also. You can easily pick this one up, without reading the others. This book is the first of a trilogy.

MInd Dump

I have several things on my mind this morning:

School shootings are stupid. Congress should be investigating how to keep kids safe in their classrooms and not spending tons of money on which athlete is using steroids. Kids should be safe at school, not worrying about whether they will get shot or not. We should not be asking why this happened, we should be asking, how to prevent this in the future.

Friends of ours are going through a rough time right now. Joe was diagnosed with a brain tumor several years ago. After surgery and possibly some treatments (we didn't know them then), he was given the all clear. He had no signs of a tumor for almost 5 years. Now, they have been on a rollercoaster of it being back. When they do surgery, the doctors tell him it is just scar tissue. This man has had his head cut into more times than any man should. Joe and Ellie have two great children. Both are in high school and are worn out with this rollercoaster ride. Ellie is so strong, she amazes me. Both her and Joe have incredible faith. I'm sure they have their moments, but I honestly don't know how they do it.

I have homework due in a week for a leadership team I am on at church. It has been forever since I had homework due. Needless to say, I have not even started.

Introduction

I am a SAHM. If you don't know what that is, it is a Stay at Home Mom. I have two children (DD 7 and DS 2), but care for 3 others. Yes, I have 5 children in my home on a daily basis. You may think I am crazy, but let me tell you, this is what God intended for me to do! I love having all of the kiddos around. I even miss the extras when they are not here. Alex and Olivia have been nicknamed "The Littles."

We live in NC, in the Concord area. I have lived in NC ALL of my life. I love this state. We have mountains and beach all in one!

I love to read, am training for a 5K, love to cook, and make homemade cards. Right now I am reading Janet Evanovich's Plum Lucky. I just started it last night and everytime I read one of her books, I fall in love with Grandma Mazur! She cracks me up and I think she makes the books worth reading. She is a golden character. I am also on the leadership team for the youth at church.

On this blog you will find recipes, book reviews, vents, and possibly pics of the latest project I am working on.

This afternoon, I am going to be working on my homework for the leadership team I am a part of and work on some treat bags for DD's class for Valentine's Day. Thanks for joining me on this bumpy ride called life!