It's That Special Time of Year

   Along with my birthday, comes school vacation. I'm not a mom who despises these days. I enjoy vegging with my family. Taking it easy and enjoying their company~while we do our own thing lol. sure there is the bickering between the older children. sure nerves get shot, and limits get tested from so much closeness...but we aren't all so busy and consumed by what we have going on to appreciate each other either when we are on vacation.
   Usually it would just be me and the kids to enjoy this time. But this time around the O.M. is with us too. Its not a good thing he's here even if it like a vaca for him. it's hard. He isn't bringing in any money right now. this is the longest layoff we have ever experienced. in the month of February-the shortest month of the year-he has worked 7 days. It is the 23rd of February and my Old Man has worked SEVEN of these days. There will once again be a year of no saving, because the savings we would have put away-will be used to pay the bills O.M.'s (lack-there-of) paychecks didn't cover.
   We'll be fine. It just stinks to keep trying to put yourself in a position of bettering yourself, and you cant ever catch that break to get started!!
   The word around the proverbial cooler is that he will be going back again on Wednesday. but that doesn't guarantee he will finish out the week-or that he will even work at all next week either...day to day. Waiting and willing the weather to get nicer so the outdoor portions of the current site can be finished...or that bids finally go through on jobs they are hoping to get...fingers crossed here folks!!

Well, Well, Well...

   What do we have here?

SURPRISE!!! 

   So, Yeah-That's Old Man and I up there. At my SURPRISE party! It was a FANTASTIC night! Best Birthday so far!
   And that last one there-that's 30 year old ME. CHeese :)

30

   Well, People...

   It's my Birthday! I Love my Birthday-I milk it for all its worth.I don't have much else to say about it though ;) I let it speak for itself.
   In other areas things aren't so great, but I'm forgetting it all till at least Monday morning. And you know what my Big Fat Gift is...More time off from having to get the kids to school...yes my birthday is followed up by school vacation this year :)) and all this week thats ending now, Travis has been home, and willingly walking Elijah to school every morning, and walking to pick him back up too. Marlo hasnt had to enter her car seat but maybe two times this week! that's always a plus-not having to lug her around in it. I would much prefer to wear her for the walk to the school, but its still too damn cold.
 
   ...a couple more weeks...

   At the tail end of my Birthday weekend, we'll be making our first trip to Maine since the birth of Marlo. Visiting with my family...My Papa will be making a big Turkey dinner in recognition of all missed holidays and birthdays! It will only be for a few short hours before we head back home, but it's always a great time!

   I hope anyone who stumbled to my blog and read it has a wonderful weekend too :) cheer!!

Politics

   The Only thing that can wreck a potentially good debate-is when your opponent refuses to see your side like you are willing to see theirs.

   And them tell them why they are wrong. 

   O.o

What a Love filled Sunday

   And by Love filled, I mean Food. HA!


   You of coarse will remember that we do our Traditional Sunday Morning Breakfast any chance we get. But today was a Hallmark Valentines day. So besides sweet treats, we also indulged in some unusual entrees today. I wont lie, I hate cooking, but I LOVE food :) and I'm often consumed by food blogs, and food porn. And by food porn, I mean my favorite food pic/recipe finding site, FoodGawker. (go on and find the handy little link over on the right of the screen if you've never experienced the food porn that is FoodGawker-and by all means, if you know of another great site that's similar-drop me a comment :)
   After brunch today our late lunch came courtesy of the Noble Pig. Baked Eggs in Bread Bowls. Except I don't have the money for fancy herbs and stuff, so I skipped on them. Instead my egg bowls went something like this: Local grocer's bakery onion poppy dinner rolls, lined with a piece of deli ham. Then I cracked my eggs into a bowl one at a time, just so I didn't accidentally have to fish out a stray shell.  Here is the part i forgot about-but meant to do-a few drops of cream in each from the original recipe-but mine were fine w/o anyway. On top of the egg, a grind of sea salt & pepper, and some paprika! A sprinkling of Parmesan & whatever other shredded you have and bake according to original recipe. At the end when you add the tops back to the baking sheet, i tossed on a half a slice of pepper jack on the Old Man's & Mine :) Mmmm...
   Dinner, well a family favorite in our house happens to be tacos.  But ya know-as much as i love them, i wanted to do it different. So because it's a "Holiday" we're switching things up and we are gonna do it Nacho Style! Some tasty tortilla chips loaded with taco seasoned hamburger, re-fried beans, tomato's, lettuce, olives, avocado, sour cream, jalapenos, cheese..I cant wait-I gotta go start the cooking now folks!

   I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday like I did!

Someone Else's Chili

   That's the name I've decided to give it :) 

   I am a sort of Sandra Lee style cook, cept instead of doing half easy/half homemade, i add in a pinch of 'change-the-recipe' to suit my family. I find it hard to follow a recipe to the T. 

   So this chili recipe came from a 'friend-of-a-friend'. And seeing as though i just got my Crock Pot for Christmas this past season, I'm new at it! I'm still tweaking to Our taste, but for now-this is what's in it. Served with fixin's on the side.

   Someone Else's Chili

2-3lbs. ground hamburger/turkey-your preference
1 jar Ragu sauce
1 can stewed tomatos
2 cans of kidney beans
2 cans of condenced tomato soup(but you'll only need one and a half)
1 packet of chili mix powder (found usually with other slow cooker packets, or gravy packets) 
 some chopped onion, some green pepper, some garlic, salt & pepper

*Fixin's*
Fritos Corn Chips or tortilla strips
sour cream
hot sauce?
shredded cheese
Bread w/ butter?

   can you think of anything else? 

   To start, brown your meat in a skillet with your chopped onion and garlic and salt & pepper to taste. Once browned, drain. While the meat is cooking though-start opening your jars and cans and add them to your crock pot (i like to rinse my beans first). Including the packet of chili seasoning. When you get to the 2 soup cans, you want to add one full can plus its equal can of water-then get rid of half the second can, and add water to make it a full can, then add it. We're just trying to eliminate it being too liquidy. Then chop up your green pepper (i only had a half of one) and throw that in the crock. Turn you crock pot on high or low to get it warming up. (the chili packet says 4 hours on high-or 8 on low~I do 3 on high-then 3 on low!) Once your meat is browned and drained, add it to your sauce & beans in the crock and wait :)

   ~Enjoy!

   P.S. if it seems to liquidy still at the end half hour of cooking-remove the cover and return to HIGH setting till it reaches desired consistency.

  

Everything In The Cupboard

Today i made my cereal treats. And they really are anything in your cupboard treats. There are some staples to start with, and all measurements are subject to change depending on on how much you're adding to the dry ingredients.
These are great for any 'ol day! Great for a school event, a snowy day-or a lazy weekend, a holiday get together...any time!

Amanda's Everything In The Cupboard Cereal Treats

1 to 1-1/2 cups semi-sweet morsels
1 to 1-1/2 cups white chocolate morsels
spoonful EACH* of Nutella & Peanut Butter-smooth or crunchy (optional)

3-4 cups of your favorite healthy cereal (I use a mix of both Cheerio's & Kix)
* also optional- One cup of nuts (I use pecans)
* flaked sweetened coconut

* wax/parchment to line
* something close to a 9x13 vessel, can be smaller though.

You could melt the chocolates, peanut butter & Nutella over a double boiler if you wanted to-but im lazy. So I do mine in the microwave. Take the Chocolates, peanut butter and Nutella all in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute-STIR-microwave for another minute, and you should be ready to add and stir it into all of your dry ingredients already mixed up in a separate larger bowl. Once you mixture is completely mixed through-transfer to your vessel, and stick in the fridge to cool. Once cooled either break apart to smaller pieces, or slice.

Enjoy :)

Monday Random.

Sooooo....I was just in my kitchen making Cheeks her lunchtime bub, when my eyes lingered on the collection of fruit-stickers on the edge of my sink. You know the ones. The stickers you have to peel off your fruit before consuming said fruit.
Well I realized, maybe it's odd that I actually have this 'collection'. In fact I know it's odd lol! Why do I have this weird sticker collection? on the edge of my sink? I do it when I'm rinsing the fruit clean...why I never walk it to the trash at some point I'll never know!

In other (crappy) news around casa de la Little Stars, Old Man had a 4 day weekend, not by choice (He's a commercial painter & there currently isn't enough work to be done-fingers crossed there is work tomorrow!)...which has enabled me to get things done i was too lazy to do over the weekend :) ...including but not limited to-putting a roast in the crock, and finally getting my formula-drool covered sleepy wrap in the wash! YAY! CleanWrap!

How bout you? What sort of stuff you got going on? Did some misfortune turn out Okay for you? (slightly okay-his ass better be back to work tomorrow!) Any Oddities lurking behind your doors?!

It's Sunday Ya'll!!

Let me start this one by saying-I got to sleep in till EIGHT AM THIS MORNING!! WOO!!
That's the latest since i had Cheeks (McGee) almost 3 months ago! small wins mean everything to a mom.

Now onto the not-so-small loses...My Saturday turned into something other than the day it is intended for in my house. I got nothing accomplished that i was suppose to. My family went in all different directions, and i was left for the remainder of the afternoon/night to myself and Cheeks.
It started mid-morning, as i would have normally gotten myself out the door. My 5yr old was invited to a birthday sleepover with her favorite cousin. Then my lovely sister-in-law (yes i call her SIL, because O.M. and i have been together for 9 yrs-Common Law, Common Law!) calls us up and invites O.M. and Elijah out to Pats Peak (sp?) for snowboarding/tubing/skiing all in one! At Night!
So by afternoon, I'm scrambling to get two kids ready to go in two different directions, rather than heading off to do my errands. I don't like to be rushed. I will admit I had a small hour i could have tried to get my errands done, but i wouldn't have made it and I'm glad I didn't try. Everyone in my home was gone by 1:30p and it was just Marlo & I.

We didn't do a damn thing but hang!

So now my Lazy Sunday has been shifted into a busy day. Jalynn isn't here, so breakfast is out-especially since i don't have any fresh fruit. O.M. and i spoke about how we could do a FULL-ON breakfast with all the works with the ingredients in the cupboards, but as of (*looks @ clock*) 8:53-all he's done is make a cup of coffee...looks like no bacon, or sausage, or pecan sticky buns...the only thing we are really missing is the O.J. & fresh fruit...(those breakfast items we do have are because we are highly fond of breakfast for dinner!)

Besides, Elijah is still sleeping anyway, & Jalynn obviously isn't home yet either-the boys are both going to be very sore today...(HA!)

I guess i could leave you with a recipe of one of my go-to meals found at the ModernMatriarch's food blog-Chop.Stir.Mix. Its an Egg/Breakfast Bake, that i have modified in many a different ways from her original recipe...but do it how you like it! Enjoy!

Chop.Stir.Mix. (Breakfast Bake)

I'm Up-Are You?

What-you might ask, am i doing up at 7:30 on a Saturday morning blogging for? HAHA, the life of a mom! at least this one anyway! Truth of the matter is that ive actually been up since SIX thirty! (on a Saturday morning!)
Had this been a little over a year ago, i would most likely still be snoozing...because i had the life of a mom who's kids were self sufficient enough to pour their own Cinnamon Toast Crunch...but im a fool, and decided to go ahead and have that 3rd baby-(i wanted to keep hidden in my loins forever)...and here i sit!
Im barely 3 months out on the two years it's going to take to recover from having another baby. (thanks Hormones! *SQUEE*) But, DAMN am i so relieved to have my body back! now if we can work on that pesky sleep...

So, like the subtitle says, how about a bit of random? Because im not the sort to stick to one subject...

Today is my "Do-It-All" day....(im the super woman of this gig, ya know) I opt out of shopping with my kids thanks. sure they can behave in public, im pretty sure anyway-see cuz i dont ever go in a store with them unless it cant be avoided! So when the Old Man (O.M.) ( & by Old Man, i really mean my dear wretched fiance Travis-9yrs) is finally home on Saturday, i do it all-Groceries, Walmart shopping, and any other lame thing that i need to take care of that i have to wait to be free of the kids. Or that Ive put off all week (cough-Laundry, cough cough, dishes...)
Look-they are lucky they get a hot cooked meal. (60% of the time) Im in Survival mode here!
The World might end if i can't get to the grocery store on a Saturday. At least that's what my kids think. So when the Old Man works on the weekends, you can bet this day is rather tricky to pull off! And the groceries must be done on Saturday, because the bags must contain the ingredients for our...

"Sunday Morning Breakfast"

The one morning meal we can ALL be together for (usually-sometimes O.M. picks up extra work on BOTH weekend days-he's a glutton for punishment) It's my favorite day. Sunday. Day of rest. I do NOTHING if i can help it besides this breakfast! Generally consisting of a bakery item, fresh fruit, sausage, with juice & coffee....AH lazy day...
Then I follow it up with a nice Lazy Monday! LOL! I HATE Mondays! If i can help it-i plan nothing but the kids getting to school on this day too :)

...and because Ive been single-handedly taking care of the lovelies this morning, little Marlo is already set to take her first nap at 8:30am, while O.M. is still sleeping...

Here's hoping you all enjoy your weekend. Cheers :)

Amanda

The First Time

Ive always wanted a blog, but never had the courage to do it. well today, busier than ever before i figured i had to bite the bullet and do it. i cant quite say how often I'll make it here to post, but i love to write!

I think my content might include personal stories, pictures of my family, and link to content on the web i find enjoyable or useful.

Things about me: i overuse the dot.dot.dot., and the smiley faces, and the word 'So'.
I'm a stressed-out stay at home mom to 3 wonderful kids! My oldest son is Elijah and he is 7. i had him when i was 22. my middle is my sweet girl Jalynn who is 5, and rounding out the heard is little baby girl Marlo aka; Cheeks McGee. (Now some in the blog world might recognize that last name there, and in the near future if someone is truly interested in the story of how i decided to use it, i will probably do a post on it. i just don't want to jumble this first post with a sidetrack story (insert smiley face) :)

Let me also just add, that setting this blog up is no easy feat.

there's so many random things about myself i could add to this post, but I'll save the crazy for another time!

...crazy like cookoo, not crazy like a good time! HA!

this blog thing might be fun :) Happy Friday!