Weekend Recap

Hey ya'll I hope you guys had a fabulous weekend! We had a pretty good weekend! Lets see Friday night once the hubs got home we decided we were going to go to the movie store for Brayden. Brayden rented a video game and two movies, Spy Kids, and Reel Steel. I decided to rent I Don't Know How She Does It and The Help. I Don't Know How She Does It was not as good as what I thought it was going to be...but I love SJP! The Help was soooo good I can not wait to read the book! We also decided to order some Chinese instead of pizza.

Saturday morning Brayden had a basketball game. It is so funny to watch these little kids play against each other. Some kid that Brayden was guarding was taunting him and kept saying "in your face" well that ticked Brayd off and he puckered them little fat lips and had his finger just a pointing. Finally a kid on his team came and put his hand on Brayds shoulders and told him to calm down. Then in the third quarter they were at half court seeing who they were going to guard with the exchange of the wrist bands Brayd put his fingers to his head and stuck out his tongue then blew the kid raspberries. We died laughing! It was a very good game. Our little section was very loud yelling and cheering on the kids. We came home and ate some lunch. We started watching Reel Steel. Well about a half hour through it Gannon went down for a nap. I decided to retreat for some mommy time and watch my girly movie. We ended up just kind of hanging out the rest of the day and ordering pizza that night.

Sunday we went over to my in laws. My father in law had made some ribs, potatoes, green beans, and chocolate eclair cake (made by my mother in law so good). We hung out there for a few hours. Grandpa, hubs, and the kids and one of their six Golden's went upstairs and played Kinect. We came home took baths and got the kids ready for bed.

We had a very fun weekend! Did you do anything fun this weekend?

My daddy

One of the men in my life that I have not talked about is my daddy. My daddy is one of the best men that I know. When growing up he was (still is) a hard worker. He always held at least two jobs sometimes three. He has been a school teacher for 38 years. He has taught at the same school the entire time. He has taught sixth grade when starting out and then ended up teaching seventh grade. He has taught many subjects such as Geography, World Geography, Map Skills, History, Health and Safety, Drivers Ed, and P.E.  There could be more but that's all I remember at the top of my head.

I am the only child so it was always dad, mom, and myself. When I was in first grade my mamaw and papaw moved to Florida. Dad took mom and I down to see them every Spring Break. Instead flying which would have obviously gotten us down there a heck of a lot faster we always drove. Looking back I am so glad we drove. We got to experience different states together and as the years went on we looked forward to certain spots that we would stop and eat or gas up. Can't forget all the great memories that three of us made together.

We posed like this at my mamaw and papaws when I was a little girl. This picture was taken back in 2008

Mom and dad enrolled me in gymnastics when I was three. I took a little break from it when I was in third grade. Once I got in junior high I got back into it and was on the competing team. I loved that I had both my parents travel with me. I was very grateful that every competition I wanted to enter they would enter me in. Dad never missed one meet. 

When I was getting married I knew I wanted to have a wedding because I had always dreamed of my dad walking me down the isle to give me away. I remember walking down the isle holding onto dad so tight my heart was beating out of my chest but just by him giving me one look I knew everything was okay. Our first dance was to Butterfly Kisses. That has always been our song. One year for father's day I got him a journal type book titled Butterfly Kisses, both of us took the time to fill out different portions of the book. A few years ago I got a butterfly tattoo because of him. If you ask him about it he would just give a look like I'm crazy. He is not one for the spotlight to be on him. 

He is a pretty awesome papaw if I say so. My boys are totally in love with their papaw. When Brayden was only about four months old he started staying the night with my parents. Dad has always spoiled Brayden. When Brayden was younger he would always want to go on a tractor ride. They would ride the tractor all over the yard and in town. Now dad has to take turns on giving the boys a ride because Gannon loves his rides too. 

Brayden and papaw waiting on Santa Train

 

 When I was pregnant with Gannon we had a hard time coming up with names. Todd named Brayden and it was my turn to name our second child. I knew right away that if it was a boy I wanted to name him after my dad, Stephen. I told mom right away but held the secret from dad. I wanted to wait for the perfect time to tell him. We decided on Gannon's name a couple of weeks before he was born. My plan was to hold out on telling dad until he was born. Dad's birthday was before my due date, it was his 60th birthday so a milestone. So in the card we all signed it then I added Gannon's name to it. It said "Happy Birthday" Gannon Stephen. So that is how he found out. 

I am really glad that I was picked to be my dad's daughter. We have a wonderful relationship with so many memories. There are some memories that he has forgotten that I still remember and I remind him. It takes him a second to believe me. One of my favorite is he was my drivers ed teacher  and drove me while we were on our way home from one of my gymnastic meets. He also had me drive with another teacher because he wanted to be fair. The other teacher wanted to give me an A. Dad said no give her an A- I don't want to play favorites. Needless to say he got an ear full once mom found out! HA HA He was my softball coach....he was always so involved in any sport I did. He even managed to hit a fly ball to me and it missed my glove and knocked me out. I was so mad at him I wouldn't talk to him on the way home from the ball field. He taught me to swim, drive, ride my bike, play softball and much more. I am so thankful to have the best daddy in the world. 




I love you daddy!

The Bachelor

Did anyone else watch the Bachelor last night? Do you guys ever watch Courtney the model? First off she has no lips...she is always biting them. I am not sure if it is a nervous thing or just because she is/was a model and she is hungry so she nibbles the lips? I also think she likes to cause fights. What is with her always saying Winning? Is she Charlie Sheen now or something? She just rubs me the wrong way and I do not think her and Ben match up at all!

She is probably thinking to herself winning

The date with Jennifer kind of made me laugh. They seemed to get along well with each other but it didn't look like they matched up as a couple. They looked more friend like. What really made the hubs and I laugh was at the end of the evening at the concert when Jennifer says "he made this concert happen just for me". If it was just for you then why were there other people there?

My fave girl for him is Lindzi and Kacie B.  They both seem like the girl next door who would be a great support for him. The other girls are nice but I just don't see it for him.



What do you guys think? Who is your fave girl for Ben?




**All photos came from http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-bachelor/the-bachelor-recap-ben-her-43607.aspx

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was not very exciting. Friday night the boys including the hubs played xbox. I sat in the recliner and read my kindle. While I was sitting there I could hear it starting to ice. Next thing I knew our deck was covered with ice. The bff was keeping me update on the weather back home and keeping me updated on the basketball game.

Saturday Brayden was suppose to have his basketball game at noon. By 9:30 we got noticed that it was cancelled. Todd and Brayden were already gone they had to go get their haircut from the barbershop. Gan and I were still in our pj's when they got home. Gan also decided it would be so much fun to get up at 6AM on Saturday and not take a nap the entire day. Needless to say he went to bed early. I decided since we were stuck inside I was going to make Taco Soup. I had never made it before so I was going by what the cookbook had said. Once I got all done I looked at it and there was no liquid that was suppose to be added. I called the hubs over to look at it and he gave me a strange look. The hubs is not a fan of soup, me on the other hand could eat soup everyday in the winter. So we went with plan B...we made a nacho/taco salad kind of thing. It was fabulous! So I sent the hubs to the store to pick up a few things and Brayden decided to go with him and talked him into going to the video store and picked up a video game and a movie. I ended the evening by finishing up a book I was reading on my kindle.

Sunday we started the morning out with the hubs making his fabulous french toast. This is to die for french toast. He added strawberries on mine which was so yummy. It kept us all so full we didn't eat until way late in the afternoon. Gan did decide to nap on Sunday. I managed to find a different book to read. I started it and and the IU basketball game playing in the background while I was reading. I ended up falling alseep. The hubs and Brayd ended up watching a "boy" movie together.

That pretty well sums up our weekend. How was yours? Did you do anything fun?

Remember once we get to 100 people there is an awesome giveaway I am going to do! Be sure to tell your friends!

Giveaway

Once I'm up to 100 followers I've got an awesome giveaway that I'm doing!

Friday Confessions

I am linking up to do the Friday confessions with A Blonde Ambition. If you haven't checked out her blog you should!

1. I am really over this cold weather already and winter is not even half over. I really wish we could either take a vacation somewhere warm or live in a warmer state.

2.  I love to cook but I secretly look forward to the weekends so we can "fend for ourselves".  It's really hard to come up with different things to make every week. I sometimes feel like I make the same things over and over.

3. The hubs sprung on me Saturday that he signed me up for a photography (beginner) class in March. I am super excited! I am always taking pictures of our boys so I am very excited to learn how to take better pictures!

4. I really wish I was better at crafts. I see really cute things on pinterest and want to do them but when I try it's a complete fail. Luckily the hubs has OCD and he comes in to save the day. The crayon wreath below he totally took over including the bow. He is totally Martha Stewart with the glue gun.

5.  I LOVE watching the Bachelor on Mondays (the hubs watches it with me) and I Love watching Jersey Shore. Those have to be my two fave shows of the moment!




Do you have any confessions?

Creamy Chicken and Noodles

I feel at times I get in a slump on cooking. I feel like I make the same things over and over for my family. My oldest son Brayden is such a picky eater so I try to make a lot of things that I know he will eat. Our youngest which is 17 months is a tank will eat anything. I seriously mean anything.

3-4 boneless chicken breast
2 10 3/4 cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 c butter
4 10 1/2 oz cans of chicken broth
24 oz frozen egg noodles

Combine first four ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 hrs. One hour before serving remove chicken and shred it and return to slow cooker. Stir in frozen noodles. Cover and cook on low setting for one hour. Serves 6

Sorry for the horrible photo it was taken with my iPhone

I wanted to serve the chicken and noodles with something other than mashed potatoes. So I opted for cous cous and some rolls. Everyone was a happy camper Tuesday night! 

What are some of your favorite recipes?

Confession Friday

I have noticed a few blogs doing confession Fridays. So I kind of like the idea and I am going to try to start doing it either every Friday or every other. Depending on how exciting my week has gone. This week has been kind of interesting! So let's get started shall we?

1. Even though I have lived in Indiana all my life I have always hated winter. I would love to live in the South somewhere. I have always felt like I am more of a southern girl than and midwestern.

2. I am in love with Pinterest. It is like crack! I could stay on it for hours and hours. Because of it I am redoing my decorating in my house. Instead of doing one room at a time I am currently doing three rooms. We are doing our oldest sons room, my kids bathroom, and our family room.

3. I can't wait to go to my hometown tomorrow. This weekend I get to see my friend Jodi who is totally talented. She has a site on fb called The Olde Crow Mill. If you haven't checked it out you need too! I am pretty excited to hang up this bad boy this weekend that Jodi made for me.

Told ya she is pretty awesome!

4. My mom had her left knee replaced on Wednesday and I have yet to make it to the hospital. I was suppose to go the night she had it done but the hubs got home from work to late. Then I was going to go last night but the hubs and my daddy wouldn't let me because the roads were getting to slick. I may have had a little emotional melt down because I miss my mom. So hopefully I get to finally see her tonight! My mom is my best friend.

5. I may or may not have sent an email to my gym that was suppose to go to my mother in law. It would not have been so bad if I had not been talking about my chest and having surgery for it. Can we say mortified! LOL



Do you have any confessions on this cold Friday afternoon? :)

Camera

I need some opinions...I want a big girl camera. I use my iphone a lot and I have a cute little Kodak Easy Share camera but I want a big girl one.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Digital-SLR-Cameras/25462/D3000.html


I am kind of digging this camera but not sure. What are your opinions?

I told the hubs I wanted a big girl camera so he of course started looking. I told him the best part is I could get a cute little camera strap. He gave me a look and then such a man answer you don't need a cute camera strap just use the one it comes with. HELLO he should know who he is married too. I like cute things! LOL :) 


Thanks!

Lins

Baked Ziti Fra Diablo

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been MIA lately. Things have been so busy around here with the holidays and all. The hubs was off work for almost two weeks so we spent a lot of family time together and toy playing with the boys!

Our local news station puts out a cookbook every year around Christmas time. This was the first year my husband picked one up for me. Last night I tried the first recipe out of it. Let me tell you it was sooo yummy!

Kosher Salt
1lb penne pasta
1/2 C Marinara Sauce
2 tablespoons pesto
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1C shredded mozzarella cheese


1. Preheat over to 425 degrees
2. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil and then add pasta. I like to add salt to my pasta once in the water that way it flavors it.
3. In a mixing bowl combine Marinara, pesto and crushed red peppers. Mix well. Once pasta is fully cooked add to the mix and stir to make sure the pasta is covered in the sauce. Then add the pasta to a baking dish and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese. Bake for about 8-10 mins until cheese is nice and bubbly.

Sorry for the crappy picture it was taken with my iphone

I then decided to grab some rolls out of the fridge and add some pesto and mozzeralla cheese to them too. So what I did was melt some butter and spread that all over the roll then spooned some pesto then added some cheese. Baked at 350 degrees for about 10 mins. 

These are the rolls before I baked them. I didn't get a picture after they came out. The hubs dug into the rolls. What can I say we love our pesto around here! 

* I took the easy way out with the pesto and purchased it from the store.

**Source for the recipe was Sunrise Cookbook Home for the Holidays