‘til the cows come home

I was riding home the other day with the girls and we passed one of the cow pastures that are close to where we live.

The girls immediately started MOO-ing very loudly…

And of course, I immediately shouted, “Stop! Stop! No more MOO-ing! We don’t need any cows at home!”

Which caused an eruption of giggles and even more MOO-ing – even more loudly.

You talkin’ to ME?!?

You see, we have a tradition… one that was started many eons ago when my brother and I were children.

Whenever we would pass a cow pasture, we would start MOO-ing very loudly and with much gusto. The more we would MOO the more Mom would say, “NO! No MOO-ing! The cows will follow us home!”

And in our childish imaginations, the cows really did follow us home. So we would MOO and MOO and MOO – until, well, until the cows came home. (sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

It became a great game to play.

The more we MOO-ed the more Mom would become “distressed” and tell us to stop. What kid doesn’t love that?

And, somehow, this tradition has carried over into the next generation.

And so my girls now MOO at every cow pasture we pass. And I shriek in dismay and plead for them to be quiet so that we don’t have a herd of cows following us home. And they MOO all the more. All the while, I’m secretly rejoicing in the continuation of the tradition and thinking it might actually be pretty cool to have a pet cow… no matter what the Homeowners Association might think.

Hey, you got any hay at your place?

Ooey Gooey Goodness

I have mentioned before (once or twice) about how much I love Pinterest. I’m finding so many good things there – crafts, scrapbooking inspiration, and most importantly, new recipes to try.

I have also mentioned before (once or twice) about how I am so not a morning person. I don’t really get going until mid-day, mentally, and so the early mornings required of being a mommy of school-age children is rather challenging for me. Most days, I feel somewhat like a zombie shuffling through the routine. But, I like to have something warm and yummy for my girls to eat before they leave for school.

So, imagine my pleasure when I stumbled across this little gem on Pinterest last week. I knew it had to be somewhere in our future – it looks like a super-easy version of Monkey Bread.

So, this morning was the morning. I modified the recipe to suit what I had on hand and received no complaints from the monkeys in the house. They said it was like a cross between cinnamon rolls, biscuits and pancakes. Well, that is probably because it is!

I didn’t use the fancy tube pan – I just used my trusty loaf pan – same basic principle but much easier for me to dig out at 5:30 in the morning. (I said it was early, didn’t I?)

You can get the recipe over on Pinterest for the original version. Or you can use mine here. I think they’re so close they are virtually the same.

Great idea for a quick breakfast treat.

Gooey Breakfast Goodness

~1 Tbsp cinnamon (I just estimated)
~4 Tbsp butter
~1/2 c sugar (or brown sugar)
~1/4 cup pancake syrup
1 can Pillsbury Grands Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large measuring cup, combine first four ingredients. You may want to melt the butter/syrup in the microwave for about 1 minute to make the mixing easier. Mix well.
Pour about 1-2 Tbsp of the syrup mixture in the bottom of a well-greased loaf pan (just enough to coat the bottom.
In the pan, then stand biscuits on their sides like little soldiers marching along.
Pour the remaining syrup mixture over the biscuits and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired.
Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.
Allow them to cool for a couple minutes before diving in to the yummy goodness. Can be rewarmed in the microwave if any are left over.

Roundup January

Happy February 1st!

If you are a scrapbooker, you’ve probably heard of Katie the Scrapbook Lady. Well, if you are a scrapbooker and avid blog reader, you probably have.

Anyway, Katie does a monthly series called “The Roundup” in which she highlights the previous month by answering some questions and then captures it in a scrapbook page. I’ve always admired these roundups and thought it was a great way to get a snapshot of the month. But, I’ve never done them.

So, with my Project Life project in it’s third year and that process well established (loving my new Saturday afternoon scrapbooking habit) I decided to add a monthly roundup to my process. This will be a digital page that I’ll print (maybe even printing all 12 at the end of the year as a single book?) and include along with the Project Life album.

So, let’s get started…

my January Roundup

Books I read:

Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse

Movies, TV Shows, etc. I watched:

I’m hooked on Downton Abbey!

Fun things we did together:

Hiking and walking (until everyone got sick!)
Family movie nights

Gifts I gave/received:

Finally gave Jane her Christmas gift!

Accomplishments this month:

Walking (again)
Making better choices with eating
Started another knitting project
Attended Cup of Joy retreat
Project Life is current (and I’m loving it!)
Big Girl finished her speech (early!)
Little Bit was selected for a Principal Pal award at school.

Disappointments this month:

The kids both got sick.
It rained. (a lot!)

How did I do on my goals this month?

I didn’t get to walk every day like I had planned.
I did get back on track with my eating (no more cookies before bed!)

And here’s the scrapbook page:

You can see Katie’s round up over on her blog.

Project Life Tuesday 1.31.12

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! The Mom Creative

If you are stopping by from The Mom Creative, welcome & thanks for clicking over! If you are not, you might want to click over there when you’re done here for some more great Project Life inspiration!

I have two weeks’ worth of pages to show you since I shared pages from 2011 last week. So, let’s get started.

First we have the week of January 16:

I have an 8×10 insert in here – with Big Girl’s speech for school on one side:

Here is a close-up of the left hand side:

And the back of the 8×10 and right-side:

and the close-up of the right side:

I’m loving using PSE to create a 4×6 print with 2 4×3 images in it – so I can fit more pictures on the page… and using it to add journaling directly on the photo, like I did for the rock-face picture.

Here’s last week:

I used a 6×12 insert here (with 3 4×6 sleeves) for a little extra room for pictures and stuff related to the sicknesses that have overtaken our house.

Close-up left:

and both pages right-side and back of insert:

And a close up of the right page:

That’s all for this week! I don’t know how many pictures I’m going to have next week – I’ve got one still sick and my week so far has consisted of lots of doctor’s offices (which are not fun to take pictures of) I’m sure something will turn up, though.

I’m also adding to my stash:

Big Girl and I stopped at a local scrapbook store on the way home from the doctor – I got a few pages to use.

Love the Year-ography pages:

And these cute Jenni Bowlin embellishment/journaling cards:

and a few other journaling cards:

I think my “bug” is back… I can’t seem to stop thinking about scrapbooking again!

You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life Tuesday: 1.24.12 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Project Life Tuesday 1.17.12 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Project Life Tuesday: 1.10.12 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Menu Plan Monday 1.30.12

Well, hello, there, Monday!

Nice to see you again (not really) – and I’m all ready with my menu for the week, so I’m one step ahead of you. (nanny-nanny-boo-boo!)

Taking it easy on the spices this week – Big Girl is still not feeling well (we’re headed back to the doctor today) and so I am trying to fix things that will be easy on her tummy.

Here’s what I have planned for our week:

Monday: Meatloaf, macaroni & cheese, veggies
Tuesday: Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake
Wednesday: Crock Pot Sesame Ginger Chicken (new recipe) with rice & stir-fry veggies
Thursday: leftover night
Friday: not sure yet – it is the annual Father-Daughter Dance at school and they may go out for dinner.
Saturday: kids- pizza, grown ups- date night (yippee!)
Sunday: Small Group dinner here. Still finalizing the menu.

I also made some of my baked oatmeal for breakfasts and am planning another batch of bread for later today. Probably make some muffins for the girls or their favorite chocolate-chocolate chip bread.

What about you? What are you planning this week?

I made these chicken fingers twice last week (they were that good) and everyone loved them. And this potato soup, which was a toss-up. They ate it but I don’t think they loved it. Little Bit said it was like a potato milk shake. (hee hee) And since I can’t have the carbs, it will probably not get made very often around here. I was trying for something soothing for upset tummies.

Just thought I’d share!

You can find more yummy recipes on orgjunkie.com or Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, where she has her Pantry Challenge going on again for another month!

Monday, Please be gentle with me… (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday & some Random Thoughts (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Menu Plan Monday ~ 7 November (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Simple thoughts on Sunday

I don’t normally post on Sundays. I try to take the day as a true day of rest and focus on my faith and my family.

But I know I have been rather absent around here the past few days and lest you begin to wonder what was going on I thought I’d share a few tidbits.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Big Girl has been ill with a stomach thing. It’s still going on and I think we are headed back to the pediatrician on Monday. My thoughts are wandering down paths I don’t want to wander, like bacterial intestinal bugs and ulcers and the like. I want some answers and I really want my baby to begin to feel better.

We had big plans for Saturday that were put aside so that we could stay home and let Big Girl recuperate some more. However, life had other plans for us and we ended up at the children’s immediate care facility for Little Bit on Saturday afternoon! She is sick with a UTI (she gets them frequently – so fortunately we knew what it was pretty quickly) – the doctor said the cultures were “off the charts” – Lovely.

So, I now have two sickies and a worn out hubbie (he worked 60 hours this past week) and so I made the decision that we would all stay at home today and rest. It’s been a quiet day for us. I’ve done some cleaning (mopping and dusting) which is really therapy for me and helps me think things through while I work. SuperMan has watched movies and helped me with folding laundry. He needs the rest. The girls have played Barbies and watched movies, too.

As Sunday winds down, I’m wondering what next week will hold. Hesitating on putting together a meal plan until I know a little more about what Big Girl’s tummy will tolerate and thinking about what work commitments I might need to shuffle to take care of her.

This is just one of those stages of life – one of those times when I am thankful that I’m strong and resilient and that my momma taught me well about caring for others. I’m happy to nurse my girls and nurture my sweetheart. And I’ll be happier when they are all running amok in a few days and I’m pulling my hair out because they are all nuts. (which is our version of normal)

So, if you don’t hear from me, know that my focus is elsewhere and that I’ll be back soon.

Right now…

It’s been “one of those days” today. The kind that sends the “I want to plan every second of the day” part of me into a tailspin and causes me to drop the plan and make it up as I go along. Which, I can do. But I don’t like to do. I’m a creature of habit. I like my routines.

So, after I got the mid-morning call from the school telling me I needed to come get Big Girl (she is sick) I envisioned myself as my GPS whenever we miss a turn along our route…

“Rerouting” it says.

Yep, that’s what my day has been like… actually, that’s what the past few weeks have been like – personally and professionally. It’s been one of those MONTHS.

Rerouting…

But it’s OK. I’m adjusting. I’m adapting. I’m surviving. (and sleeping really well at night. All this adapting makes a girl tired!)

So, today, I think I will focus on right now…

Right now: I’m nursing my sick one, making her favorite foods, keeping her hydrated and entertained (thank goodness for NetFlix streaming)

Right now: I’m enjoying a cup of a new tea I discovered at my retreat last weekend. Light and refreshing. Like Spring in a cup.

Right now: I’m wishing I had the luxury of time to curl up and read (or knit) and sip some of that tea for hours on end… and realizing I would probably be so utterly bored if I really did have that kind of time.

Right now: I’m thankful for the warm weather, tired of the rain and gloomy days, and wishing (at the same time) that we had some really cold weather and snow (Yes, I know that is a little nuts)

Right now: I’m marveling at my girls’ creativity – these are their pottery creations they painted last week on their day off.

Right now: I’m also marveling at the girls’ teachers and their creativity. Look at what Little Bit did for math this week – well, math and science. How cool?

Right now: I’m utterly hooked on Downton Abbey and watching the first three episodes of the new season over and over and over again. I can’t wait until the next episode.

Right now: I’m thankful for rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I just don’t have it in me to cook dinner tonight. I’m thinking rotisserie chicken, rice and a salad works.

Right now: I’m trying to plan ahead, realizing that it is probably futile with a sickie in the house… but trying to plan nonetheless. I can’t help it. It’s genetic.

Right now: I’m listening to the 9,037th episode of Phineas & Ferb blaring in the living room and remembering to be thankful she is happy and occupied rather than annoyed at the sound of such a silly show.

Right now: I’m missing my momma and wishing we lived closer so we could sit together and enjoy a cup of tea and conversation whenever we wanted.

Right now: I’m going to go be with my baby.

I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Rerouting…

Comfort food

When it’s cold and gloomy outside (like it’s been the past week or so)

or when someone is not feeling well (like I’ve had around here off and on for the past week or two)

it’s a good time to turn to the foods you know will not only fill you up but that will comfort you and make you feel good, too.

Big Girl has been under the weather today. So, my initial menu plan for Asian Chicken stir-fry was probably not going to be a good choice. She’s got a tummy bug and any kind of Asian food is not a good choice when you have a tummy ache.

So, enter Plan B – soup.

Potato Soup, to be exact.

I absolutely LOVE potato soup, but don’t eat it very often since my surgery. It’s pretty much a carb-fest (which is why it is so good) and my little tummy doesn’t like a carb-fest very often. But with Big Girl’s tummy needing something soothing, I decided to make her some.

As a matter of fact, Potato Soup was my food of choice as a girl. We had a family friend that would make it for me whenever I asked and I absolutely loved it. I’ve never had a match to what she used to make. It was just the right mix of creaminess and chunks of potato. Absolutely divine.

I found a crock-pot recipe on Pinterest (I love that website!) and edited/altered to suit what I had on hand and what I knew my family would like.

All I can say is YUM. It is sooo good. I can’t wait to serve it to everyone tonight. (that’s black bean soup in the baby crock pot – I’m trying out a new recipe and will post when I get it mastered)

I’ll toast some bread in the same fashion my family friend used to make – she would cut bread slices into “fingers” and toast them until they were golden brown and crispy. Then you dip those into the soup – heaven. Absolute heaven.

Topped with some cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of pepper, this is simply divine. This is the closest to Mary’s soup I’ve ever had.

Comfort food at it’s best.

I hope you’ll give it a try sometime. (And I’ll be sharing the Black Bean Soup recipe soon, too – it’s yummy but I’m still working on consistency. Once I get that right, I’ll post the recipe)

Here’s the Potato Soup recipe:

Crock Pot Potato Soup

1 32 oz bag of Southern-style hash brown potatoes (the chunked kind, not shredded)
1 box of chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup diced onion (I used the frozen diced ones)
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves if you use fresh)
Salt/Pepper
1 package Low fat cream cheese (not fat free) (should be room temp)

Add all ingredients (except cream cheese) to the crock pot.
Cook on Low for 6-8 hours. (If you are going to be home, start it on high for about 2 hrs and then drop it down to low for the remainder of the time)
About an hour before serving, put the cream cheese in the soup. Use an immersion blender to mix the cream cheese into the soup and to puree the potatoes. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could scoop out some of your soup into a blender of food processor and mix the cheese into that soup and then add it back to the crock pot and mix it all together.

Serve with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, diced cooked bacon, diced scallions (if you desire) and toasted bread “fingers.”

Project Life Tuesday: 1.24.12

Happy Tuesday!

I didn’t do much on my Project Life last week – I took pictures and collected things, but I was out of town all weekend, so my plan of working on the week’s pages every Saturday was not going to happen. I have everything figured out, just need to print my pictures and slide them in the pockets.

That’s one of the things I love about this type of scrapbooking. Even when I get behind it doesn’t feel overwhelming. I know that I can catch up pretty easily.

I’m trying out a journaling program called Oh Life – you can set it up to email you every day to remind you to post a quick entry. You just respond to the email and the entry is logged. Super simple. I’ve done a few entries – some days I have nothing to say – but it helps when I sit down to do my Project Life because I have something to refer back to.

I also use my calendar to keep track of happenings – I jot down a few notes and then I also have our schedule there to help jog my memory if I get way behind. That was how I was able to do four months’ worth of catch up in just a weekend not too long ago.

I do have the pages from the week before last, so I thought I’d show those to you today:

This was the week both girls were sick – and we were socked in with rain. So, that is what my journaling is about mostly – sickness and rain. And the bottom right picture are the biscuits I made for breakfast that the girls didn’t eat – heart-shaped biscuits. They were yummy – the girls just didn’t feel like eating that day. (strep and tummy bugs will do that to you)

I included a New Year’s card from a friend, the church bulletin for the week, and the kids’ report cards in some smaller page protectors.

And on the back is Big Girl’s justification as to why we should let her get a kitten for her birthday (not!) It was too cute not to save.

I still have to print Saturday’s picture and put it in there and add the journaling for the second half of the week. The bottom left is a sweet card my friend sent me that I wanted to save.

So, that’s my week.

I’ll get caught up on last week and this week on Saturday, I hope. I have to go get some more printer paper – I ran out! (that’s part of why I’m behind!)

You can see more Project Life pages over on The Mom Creative via her Project Life Tuesday link up.

A mucky Monday

It’s raining buckets here today. It has been raining buckets for days.

So much so that I am starting to wonder if we all need arks to get around or if maybe God is trying to tell us something? (like clean up your act!?!)

I’m back at home after spending a beautiful, relaxing and peaceful weekend at a women’s retreat in NW Georgia. It was at the WinShape Retreat center on the Berry College campus. Absolutely beautiful.

This is the grounds of the retreat facility. The buildings used to be dairy barns and they have retained the rustic ceilings inside and created beautiful meeting spaces and lodge rooms for the guests.

Every time I go I hate to leave. It is so peaceful and the staff is so welcoming. You feel cossetted in a cocoon of loveliness the whole time you are there. It is a perfect place for a retreat.

This was my second year attending the retreat. Last year we were blanketed in snow and it was freezing. This year, we had rain and gloom but the temperatures were pretty mild.

I actually went for a walk on Saturday afternoon – in the rain, initially, and then it cleared up. I walked to the “Old Mill” that was the original grain mill. It was waaay back in the woods, but well worth the walk (even in the rain) as it was beautiful to see.

I wandered around campus for a while, enjoying the scenery and then went back to my room for an epic nap. The kind that songs should be written about – it was that good.

The afternoon and evening were spent with some very special ladies and then Sunday morning we had one more session and headed back home to our families. I hated to leave and yet at the same time I couldn’t wait to get home to see SuperMan and the girls.

Now I’m back to reality and have been kicked out of the cocoon until next year.

I need to figure out how to sustain that “retreat glow” a little bit longer…

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Gooey Breakfast Goodness

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my January Roundup

Books I read:

Movies, TV Shows, etc. I watched:

Fun things we did together:

Gifts I gave/received:

Accomplishments this month:

Disappointments this month:

How did I do on my goals this month?

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Crock Pot Potato Soup

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