Cooking is Therapy

Not sure if it the cold weather or the insane amount of time we have had to spend in the house but I have been a cooking fool! I have been trying to cook new things I have pinned on pinterest. I have loved cooking new things, especially when they are delicious but the clean up and my waste line are starting to suffer! haha Here are a few of the items I have cooked recently...

STRAWBERRY VALENTINE MIX

GO Here for the full recipe and instructions!

I give this recipe 4 STARS!!! It is quick, cheap, fun for the kids and SO good! Tex has eaten almost all of it (thank goodness or I would have!)

 

The next recipe I don't have a picture for! But they are SO delicious they are called

NO PEEK BEEF TIPS

GO here for the full recipe, pictures and instructions!

I give this recipe 3 STARS ONLY because they take 3 hours to cook so it took me forever to make the recipe because I had to wait till the weekend. I give it 4 STARS in taste!!!  I made egg noddles for us and mashed potatoes for the kids to put it on. I thought for sure I would like the egg noodles better but I ended up LOVING it over mashed potatoes!  SO GOOD and the whole family loved it!

COLESLAW

I made cheeseburgers and french fries Friday night and I started craving coleslaw??? None of the rest of the family likes coleslaw but I wanted it and since I am the one making it I went for it!!!

This is another 4 STAR recipe!! SO easy, cheap and GOOD!!!!

Go here for the full recipe and instructions!

 

CHICKEN SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

OMG Talk about comfort food! I will give this another 4 STARS too! It makes a ton I think I had left overs for a week and it was delicious!!! GO here for the full recipe and instructions!

Hopefully I will be making more recipes soon! They are actually going to probably need to be healthier recipes, more along the lines of weight watchers recipes :) Tankini season is right around the corner! haha

My sweet baby chan chan

I have been trying to post this forever! I was in the middle of writing it a few times when I got a call from the Daycare saying that Chandler was running another fever and I had to pick her up :( Since a week before Christmas Chandler hasn't gone more than two days in a row without a fever. It makes things stressful but I wouldn't change it for the world! This girl makes my heart go round!! She is the sweetest and most adorable baby girl in the world!. She pretty much sleeps thru the night, all of the time! She wears 3 to 6 month clothes and smiles all day everyday! I wouldn't go back for even a second ,she is the type of baby that makes you want to have 5 more (ok really maybe one more!!) I look at her sweet face and can't figure out how she will be my last... What is wrong with me!!! Here is what Chan has been up to in the last few weeks!

 

I couldn't figure out how to turn this around. Here is Chandler's "growth" paper at her 4 month appt ( a month late) Her weight was a little low because she has drank pedialyte probably 50% of the time for the past 5 weeks. Just in the last week she has probably gained a pound her appetite is back!

 

This girl LOVES her excersaucer!!!

 

Sweet, happy baby  at her 4 month appointment! She looks just like Palmer in this picture, even the hair!

 

This girl loves her sleep, this is me trying to get her up in the morning before school! haha

 

It seriously doesn't get sweeter than this face. We are all madly in love with this baby!

 

I had to throw this picture in.... Ann Mason was the photographer. After the 6 weeks of sickness we finally got to go out on a date with all of our neighbors! It was so fun and I was SO glad to get a few hours just to relax!

Pinterest Happy~

So.... one thing that I HAVE been doing despite all of the sickness going around is COOKING!  I VOWED at the first of the year to stop PINNING recipes and NOT making any of them! So at the first of the year I started my quest for making as many pinterest recipes as I possibly can! I have a lot more in the works but these are the ones that I have tried so far! I love to cook IF I can find the time!~Here are some of the recipes I have tried and what I thought...My reviews based on a 4 star rating :)
HOT SPINACH SALSA QUESO DIP
3 1/2 STARS. This was SO good and easy! Perfect for gatherings, potlucks and parties. Definitely a crowd pleaser!



Go HERE for full pictures and recipe!

TO DIE FOR CREAM CHEESE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
2 1/2 STARS I don't know what happened here.... this recipe had all of the ingredients to be amazing! Maybe it was my cooking, maybe it was too high of expectations, I don't know but while it was good it was a little bland and kind of dissapointing. I think if I made them again I would adjust the recipe quite a bit to spice things up!

Go HERE for full pictures and recipe!

BAKED SPASANGA
3 1/2 STARS This is seriously one of my fav dishes at Cheddars so I was super excited to find this recipe. Of course things always taste better to me when I am at a restaurant but this recipe was definitely a close second. It was great comfort food and even better as leftovers. There was a lot of ingredients so making the dish could get a little pricey but it made a TON so you could freeze even half of it and save it for another meal! I will definitely make this again!

Go HERE for full pictures and recipe!

SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE
4 STARS These were easy, cheap and delicious!!!! So great for mornings and were great even heated up a day or two after!!! We will make these all of the time!


 Go HERE for full pictures and recipe!

JALAPENO PIMENTO CHEESE
4 + STARS OMG!! I am SO glad I found this recipe it has now become one of my very favorites. Even my husband who swore he doesn't like pimento cheese just happened to eat half of this recipe the first time I made it. I think I have now made at least 3 batches. Get some wavy Lays and this is heaven on a chip! It's easy, it's cheap and it is SO good!!!


Go HERE for full pictures and recipe!

MASTERS AUGUSTA EGG SALAD
3 STARS Egg Salad isn't something I crave on a daily basis but I happened to be craving it a couple of weeks ago and ran into this recipe. It was definitely a great and easy recipe. There was nothing lacking in this recipe it is just not something I would eat all of the time. If I ever have another craving for egg salad I will definitely use this recipe again!


Go HERE for full pictures and recipe!

I am excited to try more pinterest recipes! Now if only I could try this with EVERYTHING I pin on pinterest my life would be a lovely! My house would be clean and organized, I would have the best make up, hair and clothes, I would be an awesome crafter and DIY person and I would make the most gourmet meals :) haha

***SICKNESS UPDATE*** Chandler has a double ear infection so now 3 out of 5 of us are on antibiotics I am truly hoping the 5 week streak of sickness is ending, I don't think I can take much more!

Making memories

Well I have finally caught whatever is going around my house and it is not fun! I have a sinus and double ear infection and it feels more like the flu! I am home with both girls which doesn't really qualify for relaxing...
Despite the sickness we have tried to have fun being couped up in the house with crafts, games, coloring, etc... Ann Mason has really taken an interest in whnoen mommy and daddy got married. she wants to watch the video, ask questions and the other night she begged me to try on my wedding dress. I was secretly thrilled I always wanted my daughter to ask me that but I didn't know it would be when she was three :)
I never got my dress persevered like I should have but then we wouldn't have started a new tradition :) thanks to pinterest I.am going to take the girls pictures in my wedding dress every year on our anniversary and then we they get married I can give them the pictures! It was such a special moment when Ann Mason looked at me in my wedding dress for the first time... Priceless!!!  Here we are having some dress up fun!

January....

January has kicked our tails in the sick department! Poor baby Chandler has had the flu, the stomach bug and RSV in a month!!! I just took Ann Mason to the dr today and she has a viral infection. Palmer has had the stomach bug, etc.... you get my drift. Between rotating shifts at work between me, Tex and the fam, running kiddos to and from the dr office, disinfecting the house, it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks!

I am ready for warmer weather and healthier kiddos! We have managed to have fun in between the bouts of being on lock down at the house. Here are some of the things that the New Year has brought us...

Palmer started his first Upwards basketball league! Tex is the coach and his two best buds are on his team. He LOVES it and really enjoys playing! They are cute and hilarious! It is definitely a nice way to start the day on Saturday watching the cuties shoot hoops!

This pic cracks me up with the fake smile! This girl continues to be a diva and the outfits are getting more and more crazy! She has a vision and likes to stick to it :) I try and persuade her as much as possible but it doesn't always work. The more bling the better for her!

 

This was Ann Mason the morning after we went to Walmart and she found the most "ADORABLES" (as she puts it) scarf and HAD to have it! She let me tie it all cute and everything, she even wore it to school all day like that! I must admit I think I have just as much fun or more fun that she does getting her ready!

 

Poor Baby Chan Chan! She is still the sweetest, most smiling, most cuddly baby in the world. I could literally eat her up and do on a daily basis! Since she has been so sick and on so much pedialyte I decided to try cereal and a few solids just to supplement. She is not a fan just yet. She wont open her mouth for anything! :) We will wait a few weeks and try again! She is so stinking cute though, I don't care!

 

My big girl sits and plays in her excersaucer all of the time now and loves it! I really, really am struggling with her getting bigger, I want her to be my bitty baby forever :) She truly is the sweetest baby ever and she is pretty much adored by everyone in the house! haha

 
Ann Mason finally started gymnastics and LOVES it! I think she likes the outfit as much as actually doing it but still... I knew it was really important for her to have her "own" thing these days so I am so glad she enjoys it and it is just more time that her and I can go together and spend some quality time with each other!

 

So even though it has been a sick month we have still managed to stay busy and have fun! More pics and posts to come!!!

2012

As I reflect on 2012 it is with mixed emotions. The highs were high and the lows were definitely at times pretty low. It was a year of blessings, change, finding myself a little more, learning I am growing everyday, heartache, loss, gain, love, fear and everything in between. I found a quote which is deep but so meaningful and kind of fits how I feel.

From The Tale of Two Cities
IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us...

Focusing more on the highlights (cause they're a lot more fun, right?) I will share some of my most treasured moments of 2012

Announcing that we were growing by another "two feet" and our trip to Disney! Disney was by far the best family trip that we have had so far! Can't wait to take everyone back in a couple of years!

Annie-licious turning 3 at her Pinkalicious party!!! How is it possible Miss Priss is going to be 4???

Seeing the beach!!! Always a treasured moment watching the kids run in the sand and ocean.

Dad turned 60! It was a great celebration of the last 60 years!

Palmer turned 5 and had a superhero bowling party! This kid loves a good birthday party!

Sports!!! We loved sports this year. It kept us busy, active and allowed us to meet SO many wonderful new people that became great friends!

Palmer went to KINDERGARTEN! It is still hard for me to believe, he is growing up so fast! Wow! What an emotional time, in this picture I was 8 days from having a baby and my first baby was leaving to go to school for the first time! So glad he loves it!

By far the best moment of 2012 was the moment I saw my daughter being born and held her for the first time. It amazes me how that unconditional love is immediate, without question. She has been a joy from the moment she was born she has literally been the life of the family!

Learning to grow as a family with 3 children! Not always easy to navigate thru the jealous moments and being out numbered but oh so worth it. 4 1/2 months in things are seeming to be settling in. Chandler is right where she belongs in this crazy crew :)

Meeting amazing friends!!! The kids and I both have met amazing friends this year. One's that we treasure and formed an instant bond with, so blessed to find that!

Growing Family! 2 babies 3 days apart is a treasured moment for sure!

In Nov it was mom's turn to turn the big 6-0! A great time was had by all!

Loving being a family of five!!!

I must say the first of the year was the roughest but as the year progessed it seemed like things went better. Having Chandler and watching the kids get to love another sibling has been the biggest blessing by far. Tex and I both have jobs that we like, we have a roof over our heads and food in our belly's! God is good and has blessed us in so many ways. I don't really have any major expectations for 2013 yet. I think sometimes when we expect less we appreciate more so that is my motto for the year :) We hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and New Years!