Let them Sleep

It's a rainy day around here, and has been for two days now, so we're all rained out. Boo. My boys are outside so much now that they've got the cutest little farmer tans (despite all the sunblock that I slather on them). I'm one proud Momma when my little ones ask to go outside more than they ask for TV or video games.

But all that fresh air and sunshine brings about the best side effect of all: naps!

Caught Red-Handed

So I went into the kitchen for some more tea, and this is what I found:

 

Yup, that's my littlest (he must have plumber in his veins) with a contraband box of cheez-its hiding underneath the kitchen table. He must have known I wouldn't have approved it for his snack, so he went into hiding. I thought it was too cute so I snapped a few pics. The sound of the shutter snapping got his attention.

 

 

He then knew he had gotten away with it and even turned to face me. I smiled and laughed at my silly boy and then the oldest had to get in on the action:

 

 

Monkey see, monkey do, especially if that involves a tasty treat. Happy Friday!

 

World's Easiest Stuffed Green Peppers

I'm always on the lookout for quick and easy meals, especially since I don't like to cook particularly and my children are inevitably picky eaters. One meal that I can get them to eat is Stuffed Green Peppers. I inherited this gem of a recipe from my mom but I'm not sure where she got the original.

What You'll Need:
2 large green peppers, sliced in half horizontally to form "cups" and seeded
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup rice (you can even use the microwave variety or the boil in bag variety if you want)
1 can Sloppy Joe sauce
1/4 log of Velveeta, dice (you can use more or less depending on how cheesy you like it)

What You'll Do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or 175 celcius).

2. In a medium or large saucepan, place cut and seeded green peppers. Cover the peppers with water, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes (just until the peppers are no longer firm, but have a little give when you poke them with a fork). Remove cooked green peppers from the water and place in a 8 or 9 inch square glass baking dish.

3. Meanwhile, make your rice according to the directions, especially if you need to boil water for them and they take awhile.

4. Also, start cooking your meat in a skillet on the stove. Be sure to thoroughly cook the meat, and then drain the fat away. Then add in the can of Sloppy Joe, making sure to stir well.

5. Dice the velveeta into small squares. Stir into the Sloppy Joe/ground beef mixture (it doesn't have to melt now; it will in the oven).

6. Fill each green pepper half with cooked rice and the meat mixture (you can do half of each mixture or more of one or the other, depending on your preferences). You can even thinly slice more Velveeta and top each pepper with it. Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Monday Musings

So I've been absolutely terrible about writing on here. Which is sad. I really like opening up and posting designs and "meeting" wonderful people. There's such a wealth of information on the internet and I meet some of the most amazing people through here. At any rate, things here have been hectic. I guess that goes without saying. I've had two sick boys, a sick husband and a sick me to take care of. You can guess which one got put on the back burner.

I know my last message was kind of dark, well, really dark for me, but I guess you could say I had the world's most horrible birthday. It was pretty awful and I guess the real problem is that I had expectations. Whenever you set yourself up like that, you're bound to be disappointed. It wasn't that I wanted anything amazing or outlandish; just to be recognized. Without two sick kiddoes would have been great too. I hate when my babies are sick.

Speaking of sick, we're finally (KNOCK ON WOOD) over everything, I think. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully. Took Link to the doctor today to check out his rash; in my opinion it should have gone away and not gotten worse over the weekend. They were calling it a medicinal reaction rash, but if that's true and his last dose was Wednesday, why was it so bad on Saturday and Sunday?!

We took him to the doctor today and he's not convinced that it's a medical reaction but he's not convinced otherwise either. Very helpful. (sigh) It's actually looking much better today so we're just keeping tabs on it. The doctor says that it most likely isn't anything else since he just had strep throat and scarlet fever so he shouldn't have any other bug. To me, that's ridiculous logic. I would think that his immune system would be compromised so it's perfectly logical that he could have something else (like fifth's disease). But our doctor is mostly..well, I won't go there because it just makes me upset. Going to go online today and request a new doctor. That should fix atleast some of our problems! Hopefully you all had a much better week of things!

Happy Birthday Drake!

I can hardly believe that four years ago my oldest son made me a Mommy. I feel so blessed to have him in my life and it's amazing just the depths of love that I have for him. He's been here just four short years, but it seems like I've known him my entire life. He makes me want to be a better person, one that is deserving of such a sweet little boy. On this his fourth birthday, we celebrated.

Can you guess where we went?

Bowling!

Anxiously watching the ball go down the lane (be it ever so slowly).

I'm so disappointed I wasn't on him for this shot. Still really cute of the moment when he knocked all the pins down.

Link's turn!

Eagerly awating the results.

Woohoo! I hit them!

Way too cute. Love this expression on his face after he knocked the pins down.

Today, Drake is FOUR!

Mommy helps Link and Drake bowl.

Cupcakes!

Blow out the candles...

Relight the candles, and this time sing Happy Birthday, and THEN blow out the candles. 

Every present was, "WOW!"

From his Uncle back stateside. He loves building.

Link doing what he loves: shovelling food into his cute face.

We had a wonderful day and I'm so thankful that I got to spend it with my two boys and my sweet husband. Happy birthday, sweet baby Drake!

Easy Crockpot Chicken Recipe

With my new job which keeps me away from home until well past 6pm, I'm thankful for my new crockpot. It means I can have dinner on the table as soon as I hit the door, and that's a good thing with two toddlers who are often starving and impatient. Here's my latest foray into my crockpottery:

Easy Crockpot Chicken:

What You'll Need:

1 to 2 lbs. chicken breast or tenderloins (I used frozen)

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings (basil, oregano and garlic powder)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
4 medium potatoes, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

What You'll Do:
Mix salad dressing, seasonings, and cheese together in measuring cup or bowl. Pour half of the mixture into the bottom of your crockpot. Then add your chicken into the bottom, and top with the remaining half of the mixture. Throw in the assorted vegetables around the chicken. Set the crockpot on low setting, and let cook for 6-8 hours, until chicken is cooked and potatoes are tender.

This serves well on a bed of rice or with rice as a side dish. Enjoy!

Halloween 2011

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. It's so much fun to dress up and in this case, watch my children enjoy the season. This year is probably the last where we can tell Drake how to dress. He's definitely got his own opinions about what he likes and dislikes, but we did manage to convince him to go as Luigi from the Mario brothers this time. Link went as Mario and together they were too cute! They had a blast trunk or treating.

Hope your Halloween was just as enjoyable!

Soccer, toddler style

We enrolled Drake into a pre-soccer training camp thing on base. It lasted for eight weeks and they were learning the basics of soccer. They had their last practice this past Monday. I honestly couldn't tell you any single thing specifically about soccer other than you're supposed to use your feet and not your hands. But I'm proud to say that my boy thoroughly enjoyed it and that makes it so worthwhile to me. He wasn't just learning the basics of soccer. He was learning how to listen to other adults, how to make friends, how to be patient, and how to be a good sport. These are lessons that I cherish.

At the end of their last practice they had a fun ceremony where the kids all received a participation trophy (usually I'm against these as it teaches kids that it's okay to be mediocre or that you get rewards in life just for participating, but they're three so I think it's fine for this age) and a certificate. All the kids got different "awards" like bravest defender, best listener, etc. Drake got the Hustle Award for always being first in line and the first to volunteer. I definitely think it fits him.

Besides, I have video of him playing goalie and randomly running off from his goalpost whenever the opposite team came at him so best defender or even adequate goalie were out for him.

Dinosaur Park!

Last weekend a friend of mine and I took the boys to the local dinosaur park. They have huge statues of dinosaurs as well as a park, soccer field, and a playground all inside the compound. It's really a lot of fun for the boys. Every time we go they have a blast. This past weekend they had displays of pumpkins in the theme of fairy tales. The boys were unimpressed with the pumpkins, and more interested in the slides and the playground. Oh well. It was nice to get out and do something "fallish" with the boys.

This is the cheesy smile you get when you have to bribe your child to sit for photos. Ugh. lol.

"How big is it, Drake?" "BIIIIGGG!"

My friend holding Drake up so he can see the pumpkin displays.

Beautiful fall foliage

Rawr!!!

No photos, please.

He was entirely uncooperative the entire time and I have maybe 2 photos of him from the entire outing. boo.