Play Date

Today we had a playdate with Hope and Caden. Hope and I met when we were in college at Barton. Little did we know we had grown up only a few miles apart! We also found out we were distantly related. What a small world. We have been close friends ever since then. This is a picture of us our last year of school (not that long ago! :)

She had her first child Caden exactly 2 weeks before Avery, and it was on my birthday (Feb. 5)! 
This is Caden and Avery when they were about a month old..Caden wasn't too happy that day.

This is when they were 7 months old. Aren't they cute!

Anyway, we met at Andy's (yum!), I didn't bring my camera so I don't have any pics from there. We chowed down on some yummy cheeseburgers, Chick o' phillys, and of course some fries. You have to cheat every now and then right? :)
Then we went back to my house to play. Poor Avery was exhausted and needed a nap, so it was just Andrew and Caden. They had so much fun playing with Andrew's toys. Andrew needs to learn to share a little better, we're working on that. Before they left, Andrew rode Caden around on his Gator.

We had a fun day, I just wish Miss Avery could have been awake to play with us!

Tasty Tuesday

Remember what I said yesterday about being busy today and not snacking so much. Well, scratch that..ha! We have a blueberry bush in our yard that is FULL of blueberries. Derek and the kids picked some the other day and have been begging me to make some muffins. Of course I had to comply, and here they are.....

My house smelled so good! Wish you could all have one :)

Another Monday

We didn't do anything too exciting today. That's fine with me, I'm enjoying having a lazy summer! We made homemade pizzas together for lunch.

Everyone was excited about eating them, as you can see! They followed lunch up with a dessert of homemade popsicles. No reason to worry about being messy.

         Doesn't it look like our day was full of food! Thankfully we have somewhere to go tomorrow so maybe we won't snack as much..ha! Isn't that what summer should be though? We aren't on a schedule, no annoying alarm clocks, fussing at Andrew to get up, making sure everything is packed, running around like a crazy woman to get to work on time, flying home to spend some time with my babies before they go to bed. That is my life during the school year, so we're taking advantage of this time. They are a handful, but they are also so precious. They keep me laughing. 

I cooked supper again. I found another new recipe, and I tweaked it a little. I coated chicken breasts with bread crumbs and cooked them in a saute pan with minced garlic. Then added rice, cream of chicken soup, a little water and mixed it together. I let it simmer for a few minutes and added some parmesan cheese. That's the condensed version, if you would like it in more detail just comment on here and I will give it to you. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

(could not get this picture to center!! please excuse it being out of line with the others!)

Needless to say, it was enjoyed by all! Now the dishes are done, the babies are in bed, and I'm pooped. Goodnight!

What's for Dinner?

I finally watched the movie Julie and Julia this weekend. I know, sadly I am sooo behind. You have to remember that I have 2 small children. I watch a lot of Disney and Nick Jr. I thought it was such a great movie! It also got me thinking that I don't cook enough, and that I cook the same things over and over. I decided to look online and find some recipes and cook something different for dinner tonight. (My husband says I'm picky and don't like to try new things. I know that's not true, I'm not that picky :)
I also love to watch the Food Network. I found a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis for Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina. I went to the store and got all the ingredients, whipped it together, and it was DELICIOUS!!
I had to share this recipe, hope you enjoy!

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

Ingredients:

1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)

1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Bring back the 80's

I grew up in the 80's and early 90's. Now that I have children, I see how different things are than they were when I was their age. Television shows are nothing like they used to be. It's sad that a child cannot watch family sitcoms at night because there are no more family sitcoms. Most shows now are full of filthy language, sexual content and violence.
About a year ago I was at Target and saw a Rainbrow Brite DVD and of course I had to buy it! I could not believe they were even selling it. We always watch movies on the way to the beach so I decided to pop that one in and see what Andrew thought. Derek of course had a fit because it was Rainbow Brite :)
How many of you remember all the awesome cartoons, TV shows, movies, commercials, and toys from that time? I love to remember that time period. It takes me back to when I was a kid with not a worry in the world.  I'm going to list some of my favs and I want you to comment and list some of yours or even post on your own blog.
Cartoons:
Jem and the Holograms

Gummi Bears
Tiny Toons Adventures
Smurfs
She-Ra Princess of Power

Lady Lovely Locks
Mighty Mouse
Care Bears

Muppet Babies
Ducktales
Chip and Dales' Rescue Rangers

Toys:
Teddy Ruxpin

Popples

Jem and the Holograms
Cherry Merry Muffin Dolls
Misfits
Barbie and the Rockers
Pound Puppies

My Little Ponies

TV Shows:
Pee Wee's Playhouse
The Cosby Show
The Golden Girls
Swans Crossing (not a lot of people remember this, but I loved it!)

Salute your Shorts

Hey Dude
Who's the Boss
Step by Step
Full House
Just the Ten of Us
Growing Pains
California Dreams
Saved by the Bell
Mr. Belvedere
Out of this World
Kids Incorporated

*You have to watch this You Tube video if you loved the 80's! This one is a collection of commercials and bits from CBS Saturday mornings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7uv1jCLa4A



..I could go on for days, tell me what your favorites are!

Down by the water

Andrew loves to go down our street to the docks. He would stay in the water all day if I would let him. We walked down there so he could walk around a bit. I didn't have Avery so I could spend some time doing what I love...taking pictures. I wanted to share a few of them..

Blog Header

I need your advice...
Keep the new header that I have created or should I use this header that I just created??

Any other suggestions..comments?

Summer Fun and Future

So I know it's been an extremely long time since I've updated. I won't make excuses as to why, but life can really get in the way! Blogging is a passion of mine, so I've promised myself to stay up to date. One of the perks of being a teacher is of course...summers off! Me and the kids are thoroughly enjoying our summer break together. This has been our schedule so far....sleep late (around 9ish), pool, swimming lessons for Andrew, beach, play outside, lots of visits to Chick fil A for lunch, and more trips to the beach! It's been wonderful being able to spend so much quality time with the kids. Andrew will lay back in the pool and say, "Ahhh, this is the life!" haha..he watches too much tv!
We spent the 4th of July holiday down at the beach. We had to come home today because Lacie had a vet appointment, Andrew has swimming lessons tomorrow, and we have an appointment at the bank tomorrow (I'll get into that one later).  Our neighborhood always hosts a parade, huge cookout, beach music band (Tommy Black and Blooz) and they end the night with fireworks. Here are a few pics of our weekend...

anxiously awaiting the parade

It was great to spend so much time together as a family, I hope I'm creating great memories for my kids.

On to the bank appointment. Derek and I have been planning on building a house at some point. We have talked about it for years, but the timing has never been exactly right. We live in a beautiful house, it was my great grandparent's house and it's in great condition. We just have NO room! This will be the first major thing Derek and I have done together since we've been married. We've bought cars, furniture etc., had children, but this is a huge undertaking. We are meeting just to learn what loan options are there and to figure out where to start. We have some house plans in mind, we just need to meet with a builder. So wish us luck! I'll update you tomorrow on how our appointment goes.