My Saving Grace...

I am so grateful for some wonderful girls in my life that want to help contribute to my slow cooker predicament!

I have felt lately that our dinner routine has gotten to be just that, a routine. A rotation of dinners that we know and love, a little to often.

So the slow cooker has come into play.

Chelsea was awesome and sent me a pork roast recipe that I can't wait to try, next shopping trip for sure!

Bree lent me her slow cooker recipe book, with tons to choose from. I am actually going to try out the Dijon Pork chops in the slow cooker for tomorrow! I am really excited for that one.

Here's a photo of Bree and I! Such a good friend, and love that she is willing to contribute to my slow cooker preparedness!

And then there is this amazing blog/website I found that I think is going to be my favorite! EVER!

You have to check out www.skinnytaste.com

This woman is amazing! She has so many recipes, all low fat, and all amazing! I have already done a couple things from her site and am very impressed. She has so many things to cook. Everything from drinks and appetizers, to snacks and desserts. AMAZING!

So the cooking pick-me-up is going well, and we are all enjoying it, along with our bellies!

Personal Alphabet...

I saw this on a friends blog (Jessica) and thought it was kind of fun!

A - Attached or Single: Attached. I sure am a lucky woman!
B - Best Friend: Amber and Chels. Even if I need to be better at it! I love you girls!
C - Cake or Pie: Pie every day of the week!
D - Day of choice: Saturday! No work, school, just play time!
E - Essential Item: Cell phone, and planner!
F - Favorite Color: Pink, shocking right!?!
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears, the white/clear ones specifically.
H - Hometown: Ammon, ID. Wahoo!
I - Indulgence(s): Twizzlers sweet and Sour, Dr. Pepper (recently quit)
J - January or July: July. January is freezing!
K - Kids: Love mine, but they can sure get on my nerves sometimes!
L - Life is incomplete without: My wonderful family, friends, and see items from column I
M - Marriage Date: 1/8/05 I know I just said I don't like January, but it sure was beautiful!

N - Number of Siblings: 3 plus 2 brother in laws, 2 sister in laws, 4 step brother in laws and 1 step sister in law. I know it's a little crazy, but we love it!
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples, I love oranges too, but they are too acidic for me. I get major stomach aches.
P - Phobias or Fears: Spiders and Snakes, and I am terrified whenever I go somewhere new that I am going to lose my children or somebody is going to take them. I know I'm paranoid.
Q - Quotes: I don't believe in quoting other people, make your own stamp on the world!
R - Reason to smile: babies, weddings, a good love story, kisses from my boys!
S - Season: It's a tie between summer and fall. Summer is the host of the hottest weather and my birthday, but fall is so beautiful with the colors and leaves!
T - Tag Three Friends: Probably the only ones that will read this, Chels, Bree, and ummm?...Angela?
U - Unknown fact about me: I get seriously nervous about talking to people I don't know, especially if they are some sort of authority figure. Silly I know.
V - Very favorite Store: Oooh, IKEA maybe, or Tai Pan Trading. I can't choose!
W - Worst habit: Biting my nails, I used to do it a lot more, but whenever I get really nervous, I start to bite again.
X - X-ray or Ultrasound: Depends on where it's at. I've never had an X-ray. But I've had a few ultrasounds. The stomach ones aren't bad, but I had one on my ankle that KILLED!
Y - Your favorite food: I dunno, I like almost anything. But if I had to choose, probably Turkey Rex (family recipe)
Z - Zodiac:Cancer, I know that makes me crabby :)

The Pot...

This is a crock pot...



I'm sure you all knew that already.

You would think that being the busy mom that I am, I would invest more of my time in one of these, instead of doing the majority of my cooking on Sunday evenings and eating basically leftovers for the rest of the week while I am at school.

You would think...

However, this just isn't the case. I have recently received Crock Pot Cooking 101 tips from some close friends, and I am going to give it a try. But I need some help.

I only have a few recipes that will work for it. I did a roast the other day, and I made some Chicken Taco Soup that was delicious. But there was somebody home, either my husband or myself to monitor the food.

My issue I have with doing crock pot food is that I am gone for LONG days. I leave around 7 am and don't get home until around 5pm Monday-Thursday. Which means that I would need to leave it in "the pot" for at least 9 hours. And I don't want things to overcook, dry out, etc.

So this is where you come in...
I need some yummy recipes for crock pots that can survive a 9 hour cooking session on low, without having to be turned, or stirred, or pulled apart half way through. HELP!!!

I really want to make this work, because my Sunday nights are getting long, and eating right out of the pot sounds so much better!

You can leave recipes here, or leave me your email and I will send you my email address and we can exchange ideas! Thanks so much!

Spring Cleaning...ya I know

I hate cleaning...REALLY hate cleaning.

But school has been seriously busy this semester, so I really haven't done much. And since my spring break started officially on Friday, my Spring Cleaning officially started today. Unintentionally actually.

I started off sweeping the entryway...
then I mopped it.

Then I had the kids clean up their rooms...
then I vacuumed them.

As I started making my way vacuuming down the hallway, I stopped at the hallway (kids) bathroom. I decided it needed a little pick-me-up too.
Toilet clean
Walls washed
Garbage out
Mirror clean
Sink clean
Floors washed by hand

I know! I am just as shocked as you are! And that wasn't even all I did!

Then the kitchen/living room was calling my name.
Dishes got washed
Floor swept
Counters washed
Dinner started (yummy chicken taco soup!)
Living room vacuumed
All the while doing laundry in between all the other stuff, and wiping down walls as I made my way through the house.

It took a few hours in all, but it was seriously needed. Tomorrow I plan on cleaning the master bathroom/bedroom and the house should be done! So yes I hate cleaning, but I LOVE a clean house! Happy Spring Cleaning everyone! (Willing to clean for $50/hour!) haha

Daylight savings is really a savior!

Every year I usually dread daylight savings time in the spring because that means it is lighter outside later.

Which means my kids want to stay up later.

Which means I go crazy.

Just a little.

I was terrified this particular spring because the boys for the past month or so have been waking up REALLY early.

So I figured they would be staying up later, and getting up earlier.

Making for crabby, sleepy children.

And an even crabbier, sleepy mommy.

But no. They have been going to bed around 8pm. Which is the normal time, but I have been able to sleep until my alarm goes off!

I know nobody ever gets excited about an alarm, but I do if I can sleep until it goes off!

I have actually had to wake my kids up the past couple of days.

It's bliss.

Happy sleeping!

My addiction...

Everyone has their vices, some more than most. I came to the realization today after receiving a package in the mail what mine really is (or at least what it's becoming).

SHOES!!!

Hey it's better than alcohol or drugs right? That's what I thought. So here is the latest addition!


I got them to go with my dress for my Interview I have next week for the Education Program at ISU. (Because every shoe has to have a specific purpose or outfit! Duh!) Ben doesn't quite understand, but I have my justification for this pair at least. It's for an important interview that I need to look absolutely PERFECT for! So that's my deal, but if you have the same problem as me, maybe we should create a CSA group (Cute Shoeaholics Anonymous) That is a word you know. I'm an English major, I would know!

The dishes can wait...

Today Adam has been sick, Wyatt is tired of being cooped up, and Ben is just plain grumpy. Being a Sunday I wanted to do something as a family that doesn't require leaving the house. So I decided after dinner, the piles (and I mean piles) of dishes could wait. We broke out the JENGA! We broke up into teams, I think Ben got the short end of the stick because he got Wyatt, and Adam really surprised me on how good he was!

Of course Ben wouldn't give me a nice smile, but the boys were so excited to play, they gave me the best smiles they had! Love them!

Wyatt was psyched to get involved, he just kept banging the table when he and Ben got one out, almost knocking over the tower from excitement.

Adam was actually REALLY good at Jenga. I was surprised at how steady his hands were. Even though I had to direct him to the parts he could remove, he did an awesome job!


I love this picture because it shows just how excited Wyatt was every time they got a piece out. He would look so nervous then start clapping like crazy when it was done!

But the best part was Ben...


His face says it all! We played two games, and each time it fell, his face looked exactly the same. Wyatt's did too actually, closed eyes and everything.

So moral of the story is that the dishes can wait, have some fun with the family, it's the best!

My beautiful gas guzzler!

Having a family of four, that will be growing even larger in the future (don't worry I'm not making any announcements, yet) means that we need a vehicle that can hold all of us. Let me put this out there that I am NOT a minivan kind of mom, and I think my hubby would freak out if I ever came home with one. So this is what I drive...

As beautiful and convenient as it is to drive and how practical it is for our family, I feel like I am giving my first born to the gas station every time I have to fill it up! I've always been used to paying a little more at the pump seeing as we have always owned some type of SUV and my husband's truck, but I had a silent heart attack this morning when I saw that gas prices have gone up 10 cents in a week! A WEEK! This pushes my tank to cost around $80 when I fill it up!
GRRR! That's my piece for the week, sorry I had to vent! Why do I have to love my vehicle so much!?!

I dont know who you're talking about!?!

Lately, and I say lately as in for the last month or so, my boys have been difficult sleepers. They haven't wanted to go to bed, and once they do, they keep getting up. Adam usually only once, but Wyatt, a ton!
The other day, after putting him back to bed for probably the 4th time that night, he thought that using a disguise would help his chances of staying up. Here's how it went:

Sound of Wyatt's bedroom door creaking...

Me: "Wyatt?"

Wyatt: "I'm not Wyatt..."

Me: "Wy what are you doing, go back to bed."

Wyatt: "I said my name is not Wyatt!"

Then this little stranger comes around the corner...


With backpack on upside down, snow hat on backwards snow boots on and pet monkey in tow, Wyatt tried to convince us that he was asleep, and this was somebody else! Gotta love their imagination.