The Hunger Games Trilogy

Woho, Vacation Baby! I am officially off of work until April 9th! Other than maternity leave I haven't had a solid week off of work since my honeymoon! Super excited! But before we start the fun part of the vacation there is lots of stuff to do. We have to finish packing, Scott & I both have homework we need to do, Connor has Karate and a birthday party tomorrow and we also have Easter pictures, busy busy.

So we finally started up book club again! I received an e-mail a few weeks ago from Jeni and we all decided to start up again and meet tonight. They really wanted to read The Hunger Games and although I had heard of it and knew a movie was coming out I really didn't know what the hype was all about. They had mentioned possibly talking about all three books but I realistically didn't think I could read all 3 in that short of amount of time. WOW was I wrong! I started the first book last week Tuesday afternoon and finished the 3rd book this past Sunday night. Sarah was nice enough to lend me her kindle so I didn't have to buy the books (the waiting list at the library is ridiculously long!). OMG I loved them! I have to say the first is by far the best but I still enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd a lot. The detail in the first book was just so amazing that you really could picture a movie being created out of it. I really can't wait to see the movie now. Jessica and I are waiting until it gets to the $5 Tuesday/Wednesday night to go see it! Did anyone else read all 3 of the books? If so, did you read it in a ridiculously short amount of time like I did? I recommend everyone to read this book I can see how a vast range of people would love it. They did make it a book on CD so I have Scott's name on the list so he can "Read" it too, but it may take a few months for him to get it the list is pretty long! Hopefully he'll get it by the time it goes into Redbox so we can rent it! (Cause I know I'm going to want to watch it more than once)

Guacamole Chicken Wraps

Finally finished putting together the TuTu I've had waiting for awhile. 1/3 Pink, 1/3 Purple, 1/3 Yellow = Spring TuTu. It's super cute. I might have Savannah wear it for our Easter pictures that we're getting done this Saturday at JcPenney's, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

Recently I tried another recipe out of my Taste of Home cookbook - Guacamole Chicken Wraps - pg. 118. Ingredients: guacamole, spinach tortillas, salsa, Mexican cheese, southwestern chicken strips & lettuce leaves. I couldn't find regular spinach tortillas at the grocery store but I did find some garlic spinach, so that is what we used and for the Salsa we used THIS. These were SO GOOD. OMG. I want to make them again already! Next time though I wont try and eat 2 of them because I was super full!

Kitchen Sink

After a fun filled Saturday we have another busy day today. Family get together, a birthday party, bowling and I'm also going to try and finish the 3rd book of the Hunger Games series today. I started them Tuesday afternoon and am about 60% done with the 3rd one, so I'm pretty sure that's achievable.

So 3 years ago (approximately I think) we purchased a new kitchen sink & faucet from Menard's. Unfortunately it has just been sitting in the basement this entire time collecting dust. Well finally we got it installed!! It ended up costing us more money though because we realized our garbage disposal was leaking but thankfully they were on sale at Menard's for only about $45, so not to bad at all! I gotta save, I love how it looks. So much better!!! What do you think? Better?

Strawberry Apple Pie

Got to see my baby brother today, yay! I don't get to see him often enough but I love when I get to see him & his family. It was a great day, I wish it would have been warmer like it was earlier in the week but oh well, still well worth the hour drive up north!

Awhile ago I tried a new recipe, a Strawberry Apple Pie. Its ingredients include: granny smith apples, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, flour for the pie, then the crust stopped with sugar & ground cinnamon. I made the pie to take over to Aunt Missy's and according to Scott it was wonderful - so I'm going to say this recipe is a keeper. I got the recipe from page 224 of my favorite cook book - Taste of Home.

Raising Your Spirited Child

So it's Friday already! Only 9 more days until we leave for Disney, yay! But the time is going to fly by - lots of stuff to do in the upcoming week - we really need to start packing now! Any advice on traveling on a plane with 2 children? Any help would be appreciated!

So this past week I finished reading Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a child that can be "difficult". The best part of the books for me was realizing everyone has a different temperament and the way they naturally react to situations can be different than yours. This really helps you put yourself in someone elses shoes and realize sometimes they aren't reacting in a way to try and tick you off, it's just their natural response. The book was also great in making you realize how important positive words are when describing your child. Instead of difficult you can use determined or some other word that sounds better. The book also helped me realize why I react to certain things in some ways and helped me realize steps I can take for me and Connor to make life easier. Now onto the next books - The Hunger Games Series.

A Birthday Party

So it's Monday once again. What a horrible Monday morning! I think we all got so much fresh air this weekend that we were exhausted this morning. We took a 3.5 mile walk last night and we also played for several hours outside this weekend as well. Its great to be able to get outside in the middle of March! Crazy!

So last Sunday Connor was invited to his very first birthday party! His classmate, Matthew, turned 5 years old on the 28th of February and had his party this past weekend at Chuck E Cheese. It was crazy loud in there, I think there were 6 parties total going on at the same time but I think all of the kids had a lot of fun. This picture is all Matthew's friends he invited, Paige, Corrina, him, his sister, and Connor. I was so excited that Connor was invited to his first party! He actually has his second party at the end of this month and he's already talking about who is going to come to his!

Chili Cheese Fries

Our usually Saturday is almost half way done already. Karate, Library, followed by a little TV time to relax in the morning. I finished watching Private Practice on the computer (anyone else have problems DVR'ing it the other day?) Now we're making some lunch and maybe going to take a nap before going to the grocery store and then Scott has bowling tonight. Nothing to out of the ordinary just a typical Saturday in our house.

So last Friday night we made Chili Cheese Fries (pg 64). Ingredients: French Fries, vegetarian chili, hot dogs, onion, and shredded cheddar cheese. I did omit the onion since I'm not a big fan and we also used the large steak fries. I didn't end up eating this for dinner with Scott & the kids since I got a last minute invite to Prime Quarter, however I did take a couple of bites as I was heading out the door and it tasted wonderful! Friday nights are our "unhealthy" dinner nights. Either pizza (home made), burgers (turkey), and fries (baked, not fried usually) or something else that satisfies our salty, greasy needs once a week. This will definitely be made again at some point!

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Wow! Can you believe the weather we are having?? In 12 days we saw snow and 80 (or at least pretty darn close) degree temperature! It's suppose to stay above average for at least the next week and a half too! Pretty busy around the house, gotta get some garage sale stuff worked on and also we leave for Florida in 17 days! Busy busy!

So last week I made Jalapeno Popper Chicken - from allrecipes.com. I followed the directions pretty much exactly except: my chicken breasts were rather thin so I really couldn't cut a pocket into them to add the mixture, therefore I just folded them in half and put as much of the mixture in between and then added a few tooth picks to each one. After I cooked it for a little while on the stove I realized a bunch of the mixture was falling out so I actually finished up the chicken in the oven. It still produced the yummy crunchy outside but by putting it in the oven I was able to finish cooking the chicken without loosing all of the mixture in the flipping process (I'm a big flipper - I flip very often, lol). Overall this had a really yummy taste and I would definitely make this again!

The Melting Pot

So I guess I'm officially on Spring Break this week. Well it sure doesn't feel like it! Why can't MATC line up their Spring Break with school districts in the area? Don't they realize lots of parents go to school there and it would be very beneficial if mine and Connor's spring break was the same week? Oh well, still looking forward to Connor's spring break - 20 Days Until Disney!

2 weeks ago for Jessica's birthday we went to The Melting Pot. They had been there once before but Scott and I had never been there. We started with our cheese fondue (we picked the Boston Lager Cheddar Cheese Fondue)- at first while I was eating it, I was like 'eh, this is okay, but when we got to the bottom and it got super thick and hot, yumm! That's when I started really digging it! Next were salads, Scott & I got the Cesar - he wasn't a big fan because it had nuts on it but I enjoyed it! Then was the main course - I think we picked Court Bouillon style, but I'm not 100% sure. When they brought it out I really thought I would still be hungry at the end but you aren't, it's the perfect amount of food! Then to finish everything off we had the Flaming Turtle Fondue - OMG, this was the best part! You get this wonderful fondue and you get to dip: marsh mellows, rice krispies, cake, strawberries, pineapples, bananas, cheesecake, etc. into it. It was so good. By the time we were all finished I was so full! I really want to go back mainly for the dessert (but the other stuff was awesome too!)

Mexican Chicken Lasagna

Still have a ton of homework to do today, yuck! But also, I have to take Connor to his 1st Birthday Party and make a pie for dinner tonight at Aunt Missy's - so lot's to do with only a little bit of time to do it in, so why am I posting today with everything I have to do? Cause I want to, lol! That's a good enough reason, right?

So recently we busted out Pampered Chef's Season's Best Fall/Winter 2009 Book and made the Mexican Chicken Lasagna. The ingredients are: fresh cilantro (I just used the dried stuff we had at home), cream cheese, Monterrey jack cheese, onion, enchilada sauce, corn tortillas, and cooked shredded chicken. It was made in the microwave using the Deep Covered Baker (LOVE). Wow was this super good to eat! However, it had to be HOT for me to love it, so once it started getting cold I'd pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to keep it really hot (I have to have all of my food hot in order to like it). This recipe made enough for us to have it for dinner twice, which is always good as some nights it is hard for us to have time to make a new meal. We will definitely be making this again!

The Help

So I'm suppose to be doing homework right now - which involves reading 3 textbook chapters, doing an article, studying & taking a test......... yuck! So instead I'm taking a little break, catching up on some Facebook and decided to make another post! Much better, hehe!

So 2 weeks ago I went over to the Moore's house to watch The Help. I had read the book when it first came out awhile back, but now Chrissy finished reading the book and we both really wanted to watch the movie. I have to say I loved the movie however it wasn't as emotionally draining as someone told me - however I think that is because I had read the book and knew what to expect. There was obvious things left out from the book, they couldn't have added everything, but I think most of the main parts were there. There were a few things that were completely different from the book but I think they do that in almost every book to movie combo. I really need to sit down and watch it again though because Scott was trying to watch 4 kids under 5, which didn't go 100% smoothly so there were many breaks and it did take us about 4 hours to watch the movie, lol. Maybe I'll put it on my birthday list and someone can buy it for me!

Elimination Chamber

Holy crap, slacker here! I really don't have an excuse. Yes, we're super busy like always, but like I just said we're always busy and I use to find more time to blog. Does this mean I'm out growing blogging? No, I don't think so. I like to let everyone know what's going on in our lives and the great things I've read, seen, etc. I think everyone just goes through spurts of not really wanting to communicate often and I'm kind of in that mode right now. We'll see how long it sticks around!

So it's been over 2 weeks now but I wanted to post the super cute picture of Jim, Chrissy, Connor & Scott at the Elimination Chamber in Milwaukee. Part of Scott's birthday present from the Moore's was a ticket to go and then I purchased an additional ticket for Connor so he could go as well. If you didn't know Scott when was was young (and also now for that matter, lol) you know he's a huge WWE nut and Connor is turning into one as well. My nights are now filled with Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smack Down, the multiple DVD's we have and also a PS2 and WII Game. I now know way more names of wrestlers than I will ever want to admit to, lol. Needless to say, Connor's 5th Birthday Party will be WWE themed.

Happy Birthday Pat

So on our typical Sunday morning/afternoon, I am once again working on homework (and also taking a break at the current moment, lol). Also, Scott has to run out in about an hour to help the Moore's pick up their new bedroom set. I really want a new bedroom set! We finally just finished paying off Connor's that we got him for his 3rd birthday and I really don't feel like having a furniture payment right now (even if it is at 0% interest), so I guess we'll just wait for awhile...... even though I hate waiting, lol!

So 2 weeks ago was Pat's Birthday (yes I'm a little behind, I've been slacking on the blog front lately). We met up with everyone at the VFW to eat some breakfast and we gave her her present then. We gave her a movie set that she wanted, some of her Oil of Olay soap that she really likes and also Connor painted a plate and we put his hand print on it. After breakfast we all parted ways and then met back up at their house at 2 p.m. to eat a late lunch/early dinner of Little Ceasar's. Not a very eventful birthday for her but I hope she thought it was wonderful!