First Day of School & Freshman Frustration

The first day of school went fairly smoothly. McKenzie didn’t sleep very well the night before, so I was surprised that she got up and got going as quick as she did. We even had a little time left over to take a few pictures before the bus came.
I had asked her several times if I could take her to school, but she insisted that she wanted to see all of her friends on the bus. Who am I to fight the connivance of the bus?

Morgan got ready on her own and decided to be dropped off at a local taco place to meet her friends for breakfast tacos and that way they all could ride to school together. My husband asks if we needed to have a party for everything.

Morgan’s reply.. “Yes, isn’t that what High School is all about?”

We are in BIG TROUBLE!

Freshman Frustration

On Saturday night Morgan’s high school had a BBQ and Pep Rally to introduce the football players and kids that participate in different sports and sprit organizations. It was a lot of fun seeing the parents of the children that you have watched grow since elementary school to young adults and starting to mature. I also enjoyed meeting the parents of new friends from the other activates that Morgan is starting to participle in.
My dear friend Debbie, who has a daughter who is now a sophomore, has kind of taken me under her wing. She called me a few days before the dinner, to let me know that I needed to be there early to draw “lottery” ticket, so that you can meet later, another night to pick your seats in the stadium.
“You what?” I asked her in amazement. “You have to get a lotto ticket to be able to know when you can buy football tickets.” This was all new to me. A freshman mom…
I decided to get there early, 3:30; the dinner would not start until 5. I realized that I was not the only early bird, there were at least 31 other people ahead of me. These people mean business! My friend Debbie joined me a little later; Morgan was saving her place in line. She asked me if I had bought my “Sprit shirt” yet. Dazed and confused I stumble to the row of tables lined against the wall. Tee shirts, jackets, button downs, caps, bleacher seats, just to name a few things. There were so many choices. One mom decided to have mercy on me and told me that most of the moms had bought the black button down. So that’s what I ended up with, plus a few shirts for the rest of the family. I go get back in line and about 30 minutes later, the line starts to move> FAST! Within seconds I was being hand a paper and force through the line.
I would relive the same experience again on Monday night trying to pick our stadium seats. I know that it must seem like a simple task, but trying to figure out what side of the field your daughter will be performing for a whole 2 minutes a game can be a little confusing. Thankful Debbie just said put her here next to us. So, $300 dollars later, I have tickets to high school football games.

Week Before School Starts

This week has been crazy, from Pep Squad practice to Birthday dinners. We have been on the go nonstop, and it is getting ready to get worse. I sat down with my day planner and tried to combine all of the kid’s schedules for the next two weeks and figure out dinners so that I can go to the store to avoid all of the mass confusion that is going to start next week. I tried to plan meals for the next two weeks to cut down on the trips to the store, and then made out a grocery list trying to use some of the same ingredients for the next two weeks. For example I needed cream cheese and frozen spinach for one recipe, so I tried to find another recipe that called for at least one of those ingredients, because it would normally go to waste if I didn’t use it. To Adam’s amazement, I only spent $138 for two weeks of groceries. Now I might have to grab milk here and there, but I got most of what I needed for dinners and snacks. I was pretty proud of myself.
To keep the kids straight in my planner, I color code them. Each child has a set color for the year, that way when I glance to see who has what I know what color they are and keeps some of the confusion down. This usually works pretty well, until the kids steal my gel pins.

I have included a couple of recipes that we made for Adam’s birthday dinner:

Morgan made this all by herself!

Peach Crisp

Prep: 20 minutes Bake: 40 minutes
Ingredients
· 1/4 cup granulated sugar
· 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
· 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
· 7 cups 1/2-inch fresh or frozen peach slices (8 peaches about 3-1/2 lb.), or 1/2-inch cooking apples, such as Granny Smith
· 2 Tbsp. honey
· 2/3 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers (5 squares)
· 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
· 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
· 2 Tbsp. rolled oats
· 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
· 1/3 cup butter
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. For filling, in a bowl stir together granulated sugar, the 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Add peaches; toss to coat. Spread in 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Drizzle honey over peaches; set aside.
2. For topping, in a bowl stir together crushed graham crackers, brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, rolled oats, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over the peach mixture.
3. Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 8 servings.

Chicken Parmesan Bundles
Prep Time:35 min
Total Time:1 hr 5 min
Makes:6 servings
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1-1/4 cups KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
6 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
1 egg
10 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)
1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated
PREHEAT oven to 375ºF. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 3 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese until well blended; spread evenly onto chicken breasts. Starting at one of the short ends of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired. Set aside.
BEAT egg in shallow bowl or pie plate. Mix remaining 3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese and the cracker crumbs in separate shallow bowl or pie plate. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF). Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve topped with the spaghetti sauce and remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Lighting and a Hole in the Wall

Some of you might ask what one has to do with the other. Well, our little home is about 50 years old, and apparently has changed hands more than a couple of times over the past decade or so. It seems that each owner must have had their own ideas of what needed to be done to the little home. One of the owners thought that she needed a larger closet, therefore removed one of the two bathrooms to accommodate this. The owner before us added a corky little master bathroom and decided that the kitchen area need more light, so he decided to put a pass through (a hole) in the limestone wall that separates the formal living/dining room, and the kitchen/family room. It is the typical 50’s ranch style floor plan. Therefore I am left with this great big hole in the wall, and still very little light over the little table that is against the wall (that is another issue for another post).

I could do several different things:

1st, I could add a glass window or iron work:

2nd, I could leave it as it is and just hang a light over the table.

Or, I could just move….

Oh Boy!

When I found out I was pregnant for the third time, we had hope for a boy. God had blessed us with two beautiful girls, and we would have been happy with another girl, but we really hoped that it would be a boy.
Little did I know what I was getting myself into. My delivery was full of complications, after 10 hours of trying to deliver; we decided to do a c-section. It turned out that his umbilical cord was wrapped around his little neck twice. But, thankfully he was ok. Over the past 19 months he has grown into a very happy, healthy and active little boy.
This past month, he has started to be more interested in the potty. He will pull off his diaper and run for his little potty. Most of the time he has already gone, but from time to time he makes it. It is so funny to watch his little naked hiney run through the house and you can’t help but laugh. This has become a common thing around our house, I will look up from whatever I might be doing at the time to see a flash of nakedness streaking through the living room, with the diaper on the floor. But, yesterday I glanced up from cleaning the kitchen to see him with the diaper in hand and a little steam coming from his body onto my tile floor. I’m still not sure why I just stood there and watched him, I guess it was disbelief that my child was actually peeing on the floor. I had never had this experience with the girls. By the time I had realized what was going on I had a very nice sized puddle on the floor. So I wasn’t sure what to do first, cover or clean. I decided to cover, might be best and once I got a diaper back on him I ran to get the paper towels to try and clean up his mess. When I returned, Mason was helping me clean it up with his hands. What a helper he is.
You know, I had always wondered about little cherub fountains of Italy and what the appeal was, now I know. Apparently I have a real live one in my living room.
-Cheers, Amy

Fall Cleaning

I’m not sure what it is, but about the time school starts, I start my fall cleaning. I guess most of you refer to it as spring cleaning, but most of mine is done right as the time school lets back in. I don’t know if it’s because of the summer heat, and we tend to stay inside most of the time, or because the children have been home for a large periods of time and they make huge messes, that can only be truly cleaned after they return to school. Whatever the reason, I tend to do most of my big cleaning once school starts back up.
This past week, I decided to clean and rearrange my bookcases, I know that you are thinking, “big deal, she cleaned some book cases,” Oh no, could it ever be that simple with me…
You see I have a tendency not to only take everything off the bookshelves and clean them, but I have to rearrange everything and redecorate them, I guess it comes from my retail days of contently changing the displays and making them look fresh. I am also affected by wanting to put my Christmas tree up in September, but my family would really think I’ve lost it.
Anyway, I have been working on these darn bookshelves all week. I normally just decorate the bookcases and not as much on the mantel, but this time I decorated the mantel first. I like the way that it turned out, but now I didn’t want the book shelve to be cluttered. So, now I’m at a standstill and have just left it the way it is.
-Cheers, Amy

Saturday Shopping

One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning is slip away and go shopping. This time I took my camera along. I love to go to shops that are off the beaten path, and they tend to be a bit more reasonable. One of my favorite places is called The Arrangement located off West Avenue. This adorable little shop is owned by a mother daughter duo who are just as cute as they could be. Let’s take a look at what all I found.

I loved this old church door, I want to reuse it later on for a pantry door.


Only in Texas would you see cute décor and a Long Horn Head on the Wall, Hook’em Horns!

Hummingbirds

I have a special place in my heart for hummingbirds, as a child I can remember my grandfather always having hummingbird feeders outside his windows so that he could sit and watch them throughout the day. He was always sure that they had just the right food and their feeders were always full. I thought about that this week when Janie at Southern Lagniappe posted a picture of a beautiful hummingbird picture that she had found at a garage sale. I am truly touched by how a lovely creature can bring back so many memories of loved ones and every time I see a beautiful hummingbird, I am reminded of my loving grandfather. –Cheers, Amy