The hustle and bustle of the end of another school year

While I am not a teacher in the traditional sense, I do feel the hustle and bustle of the end of the school year.  Getting the remaining work done, getting extra work done, administering SOLs...it gets hectic!  And the teachers are as ready to be done with the year as the students.  That's the time of year it is for me right now.  I finished up with one student yesterday and will finish with my other one the beginning of next week.  I do have to say that regardless, I really enjoy what I do and we are very lucky that I am able to work part time and make decent money while not having to use daycare.  Now, if you know me, then you know I don't have a problem with daycare.  There are people that don't want to stay at home with their kids, and they shouldn't.  You will be a much better parent if you are happy in what you are doing and if staying at home doesn't work for you, then go to work and use a daycare!  There are also parents out there that don't have a choice but to work full time. That's what they're there for, so please don't feel like I think working is the "wrong" thing to do.  I'll come back from my sidebar now.  :)

Because my schedule has been super tight, I've been making more casseroles and freezer meals.  But really, about all of my meals you can freeze right now because I'm not at home to cook in the evenings.  Richelle turned me onto skinnytaste.com so I've been trying some meals from there this week.  We had the Skinny Italian Spinach Meatballs at the beginning of the week.  Not my best effort.  If I had done everything as written I'm betting they would have been better.  I didn't think to thaw my spinach and was out of time, so I thawed it partially in the microwave then put it in the meat.  Didn't take any of the water out of it.  I also was out of parmesan cheese, so there was no cheese in them at all.  I probably didn't use enough garlic either because I was running low on it.  (This is what happens at the end of the school year!)  I also didn't buy anything special for this.  I used the bread I had on hand, which I believe is 1 point a slice. I (we) am (are) lucky in the fact that my parents buy their meat from a butcher in Bassett and they bring us meat when they visit, so we have really good meat.  I will tell you without hesitation that I am a meat snob.  My grandfather was a butcher and I refuse to buy meat in a typical grocery store.  I will buy it on occasion from Costco, and will buy from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Fresh Market, but not the other big chain grocery stores.

Back to the menu.  I also made Chicken Divan, Lightened Up which Jefferson served with rice.  Again, I went with what I had.  For some reason I didn't make my grocery list very well even though I had the recipes in front of me.  While there's 5 of us, I didn't use 1 1/2 lbs of broccoli or 24 oz of chicken.  I used about a pound of chicken and about 12 oz of broccoli.  I cut the cheese in half and didn't put any on top simply because I only had sliced swiss.  Jefferson gets swiss on his sandwiches for work, so I almost always have light swiss slices.  I omitted the sherry because I'm too cheap to open a bottle of white wine for 2 oz and made chicken broth using Better than Bouillon, though I don't pay nearly that amount for it because I buy it at Costco.  I was totally out of parmesan still so I didn't use that either.  Regardless of the changes I made, it was really good.  There wasn't much left for me to eat when I got home. :)

Speaking of not much left, dinner from Wednesday night was a hit.  So much of one that Jefferson told me when I was on my way home to stop and get dinner because there wasn't any left for me.  Cheeseburger Casserole.  I didn't think that would be the best dinner ever, but apparently it is.  I added some more noodles because I thought it could use more and split it into two dishes for two meals.  Maybe I'll get some of the other one. :)

I did make a meal that was a blast from my past last weekend.  Its what we call Daddy Bob's Stuff, named after my grandfather.  The girls ate it like no other, so it will definitely be going into the rotation.

Daddy Bob's Stuff

1.  Peel, slice, and boil 3-4 good sized potatoes.
2.  Brown 1 lb ground chuck.
3.  Make a cream soup (I use this recipe.)
4.  Add about 1/2 C additional milk to thin the soup out a bit.
5.  Layer 1/2 the potatoes, 1/2 the meat, 1/2 the soup mixture, then repeat.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese then bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Really simple and really yummy.  Even Jefferson said he liked it this time, which he usually doesn't care for it.  I guess it really is the difference in cooking from scratch.

Until next time....

I'm baaccckkkk!

I'm baaaccckk!  :)  It hasn't been 1 1/2 years this time!  


The girls and I went to Grace's birthday party today at Beebs', which is always a good time.  Dori had a tough time deciding whether she wanted to go to Beebs' or to stay at school for stay day, but cupcakes and Grace won out.  :)  Plus I know Danielle has some wonderful pictures from today that I can't wait to see!


Dinner is cooking as I type, while i'm working in the crock pot.  We're trying a new recipe (thanks Pinterest and Danielle!).  It smelled absolutely wonderful when I left for work, so hopefully it tastes as good as it smells.  The recipe can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/6ofvdn2.  I'll let you know how it is! (and if the girls ate it! :))  Though with Dori at gymnastics this afternoon, she'll usually eat well when she gets home.  I guess an hour and fifteen minutes of gymnastics will do that to a girl.  Now how to convince Jefferson to go to Boyer's for ice cream after dinner....


Boyer's is this wonderful local ice cream shop on Patterson that is super yummy!  Check them out....http://tinyurl.com/7wg2vo2.


Outback is running a coupon right now for $10 off 2 entrees if you like them on Facebook.  Get 2 sirloin meals and basically you get one free.  Totally worth it for Outback, but don't forget to tip your server on the full amount of your check, not just the discounted amount.  


We are in the process of getting Dori's tuition money together for St. Catherine's in the fall.  One, I am super excited she'll be attending there this fall, but two, really, how is she going into Kindergarten?  I look at the girls and cannot believe how old and big they're getting.  


I am excited we're back to having nice weather.  I was able to walk with Anna Mae and Claire this morning while Dori was at school.  It was nice to get out and get some exercise and have adult conversation, though it seems recently I've had more adult conversation than normal since Danielle is in town and we have been able to get together. 


Speaking of conversations, I am not the type of person to not be able to just drop things.  I want to know why something happens, even if I think I know the reason.  Ever have a person just fall out of your life and disappear?  I feel like i'm a good person and a good friend, so when this happens I always wonder what I could have done differently.  This has happened a couple of times in the past few years and I just wonder what happened.  


Until next time.... :)

A New Life for the Blog??

Let me begin by saying I have been wishy washy on starting this back up.  There have been many times that I decided I wanted to blog just because, but never sat down and did it.  Now i'm sitting, as I usually do while working.  My student, whom I am really enjoying working with, is taking a test, so I have a little while.  


I started this in August of 2010, then got pregnant with our 3rd child and never came back to it, for a number of reasons.  That one was a rough pregnancy.  I was sick through the entire thing, with a few days of not being sick around the 28 week mark.  I was then put on bed rest for high blood pressure.  Thank God my mom is retired and could take the girls to their house and keep them while I was on bed rest.  Fast forward 9 months and Amelia is healthy, happy, and lively.  She tried to keep up with her sisters.  Its only a matter of time before she lets go and is running.  She won't let go yet, but practically runs when holding on to something.  


I don't know what the point of this blog will be but a mish mosh of my life.  Maybe this will be therapeutic somehow?  :)  We shall see.  


We're taking the girls to see NC State women's gymnastics this Friday at William and Mary and i'm super excited.  I told them about it this afternoon and you should have seen their faces light up.  Maybe this will light the fire under Dori that sometimes things are hard and you have to work for them?  She has been wanting to go back to her previous gymnastics class because its easier, however when its easy for her she's bored and does what she wants to.  Not exactly a way to get ahead.  I know she's only 4, but some things need to be instilled in them early and a good work ethic I believe is one.  I will not be a parent, however, that makes my child continue something they truly dislike.  If she makes the team and doesn't want to do it, then so be it.  She can try something else.  


Ginny is taking a dance and gymnastics combo class and loves every minute of it.  We get to spend more time together because Dori has preschool 3 mornings a week, so when I drop her off, its just Ginny, Amelia, and I.  


Amelia is 9 months old and moving along.  She finally cut the latest two teeth and now has 6.  She's calling her dada which he eats up and happy as a lark, unless she's hungry.  


Ever feel like you don't have enough time to do what you need to, let alone what you want to?  My house is not ever the cleanest around, but I have 3 happy healthy kids, a happy, wonderful husband, so what else do you need?  I try to remind myself of that when I'm freaking out about the house being dirty or a lack of funds. 

So, that's just it.  I don't even have anything fun and exciting to post for dinner because I don't have any idea what we're having yet.  I'll figure it out when I get home from Target, which is where i'm going when I get off work as soon as my student is done with her test.  My goal is to get back on and stay on weight watchers and to be able to exercise more.  Since daylight savings time is here again, I can exercise once I get off of work since Jefferson will be at home with the kids, then he can go while I cook dinner.  Sounds like a great plan right? Well, we'll see.  I have a lot of great "on paper" plans.  :)  


Plans for the evening....help J finish his application for school, make some towels, maybe make a table runner for a gift.  :)  We shall see.  I'll let you know when I make something fun and exciting for dinner as its usually on the healthy side and quick.  Until then...