Trevor's 9th Birthday Party

Yesterday we had Trevor's 9th Birthday Party!

We started the day off with ice skating. Jess has some good pictures on her phone that I'll have to get later. This is the only one I have. You can't tell but he was really happy.  While the kids skated my brother and I huddled under a heater we finally discovered. 

After we got home the family came over to celebrate.

Here's my little do it yourself dollar store cupcake stand. I was up at 6 am giving it one more coat of paint. I think the can of spray paint I got was defective or something. It kept spraying out in large droplets.  

Look at how big my niece is already.

Meeting her great grandma

For some reason a bunch of my pictures turned out blurry. I don't know if it's the camera or the operator.

Trev looks so much older with his hair long.

I know this is super blurry, but THIS is why we have birthday parties.

And a few hours later, getting a fo-hawk from his cousin.

I think he had a good time! 

Chicken Lasagna, Daffodils and Seedlings

So last night's dinner went MUCH better. I made this recipe for Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna. I thought it turned out pretty good. Maybe could have used a little bit more seasoning. I was thinking it would be good if instead of doing the milk & ranch mixture you used a can of Alfredo sauce. 

It looks like spring is coming here! My daffodils are starting to open. Aren't they pretty! I just wish they were holding their heads up.

And my little seedlings are really taking off! These over achievers are Finny's seeds, go figure!

Well off to work. I have a ton of stuff to do for Trevor's party tomorrow. I kind of wish I could just skip work and get right to it. I don't have to sleep tonight right?

Pinterest Flop and Dentist Idiot

So this describes last night's dinner

Let me just tell you that it was so gross. Gross doesn't even begin to describe it. I'm not usually one for throwing food out, I'll usually try to fix it somehow but NO, just no. If it makes you want to gag when you bring the fork towards your mouth? You know it's bad.

That was my "quick dinner" after taking Melissa to the dentist. Where they were trying to tell me that even though they only charge  $550.00 for the inlay she needs, my "insurance" contracts it for $795.00 but only pays $94.40 so my portion was going to be $700.60. 

Now, I'm not exactly a rocket scientist but shouldn't something only cost as much as it cost? I don't see why I should have to pay MORE than it cost. The girl looked at me like I was a total idiot when I was trying to get her to explain the reasoning behind this. I mean, if anything, throw out the insurance that's not even paying much of it and just charge me the original fee right? 

So I'm going to call today and talk to the girl that usually helps me (I'd never dealt with the one yesterday before) and see if she can get that down a bit. 

After my dinner flop and being a basket case from the $700 projected bill I ended up taking Melissa to youth group. Trevor and I went to to the dollar store and got some stuff for his party. Then we had dinner at McDonald's in Wal Mart and we picked up dinner for everyone else at another McDonald's on the way home. 9:00 for dinner? Guess sometimes it just has to work.

Almond Blossoms and Orange Chicken, Pretty and Tasty

My view most of the way to work today. Gorgeous blossoming almond trees. They may or may not be why I can't breate through my nose too. I just love waking up in the middle of the night with snot dripping out of my nose. Disgusting! Doesn't my nose know I don't have time to be sick??

I have Trevor's birthday party this weekend and a bunch of stuff I want to get done for that, not to mention cleaning up the house. His bedroom looks like a war zone and should probably be cleaned up before then. He's going to love when I send him in to do that. Last time he was in for an hour and got about 2 square inches cleaned up. It's time for the mom clean up anyways, lots of stuff he never plays with anymore needs to move on!

At least dinner will be easy. I got it all in the crock pot last night and just popped it in this morning. I'm attempting to make this orange chicken recipe.

 

Source: examiner.com via Mom Taxi Julie on Pinterest

I'll let you know how it turns out! I was good and made my menu for the week and then went shopping and bought everything I needed. No excuse for eating out this week!

Melissa has a dentist appointment today. Hoping she doesn't have any cavities, that would be nice. That way it won't cost me anything! Gotta save my Care Credit account for Jessica's wisdom teeth getting pulled out next month. Cha-Ching!

Well, here's to a great hump day!

Weekend Rap Up

Sometimes I wish no one I knew knew about my blog still. It sure was great for getting things off my chest and working over things in my head. I'm starting to think of making another one and being a bit more secret about it. :)

Friday after I got off from work I decided that I'd had enough. I HAD to clean out the inside of my car. I thought about taking some pictures for blogging purposes but it was too gross! By the time I was done I had removed twenty plus water bottles. Yeah. I think I need to clean out my car a little more often. I scrubbed the seats down, vacuumed, and Armour alled the inside. I still need to wash the outside but the inside feels fantastic! So nice to have a clean car.

I got done just in time to get ready to go out with my two sister in laws and a few other gals. It's so nice to finally have sister in laws that like me. All six of us went out to the Elephant Bar. I've never been there before. I ordered a Mai Tai and the Hardwood Grilled Teriyaki Rice Bowl. Then I ordered another Mai Tai. My bill, with tip was almost $30, just for me. That was a lot of money to spend just on myself! The company was interesting. One girl, who I find absolutely hilarious, had us all laughing.  I couldn't help but notice another girl was trying to hide her horror of what the funny girl was saying. Definitely totally different types of people there! BUT everyone was nice to each other and we had a nice dinner.

After dinner we were trying to decide what we wanted to do. Eventually we ended up going to the liquor store and getting some booze and 3 of us went back to my one sister in laws house. I told them I was going to sleep on the couch since it was already ten thirty and I didn't want to have to drive home so late (and be sober). So we sat around and watched the end of a Harold and Kumar movie. I've never seen one of those and OH MY not for the faint of heart (or children under 30). Crazy!

I got up early Saturday morning (I never can sleep in at other people's houses!) and then drove home. I was home by 8. I crawled into bed and read and slept for a few hours. I didn't do much of anything important that day. Although I did get Trevor's birthday invites done and my veggie seeds planted.

Sunday I decided to tackle the laundry monster. I had it all done before I went to bed which is like a major accomplishment to me. I'm going to try really hard (I know I've said that before) to keep it up. Although I'm going to have to buy some more hangers or get rid of some clothes so they can all fit where they belong.

So Monday I had off work. Hubby had to work but the kids were all home. My step mom had invited me on my birthday to come over and craft and or scrapbook in her craft room. She made us lunch and a cake and then we played around with some paper. I made this cute bunny she had printed out the directions for. If it actually stays together for Easter it will be a miracle. I think I need to tackle it with a glue stick so everything is sticking together better.

I brought Trevor with me so he could hang out with my step brother's son who lives with my dad and step mom part time. He is 14 and they hung out for awhile. I thought maybe they would play video games together or something but they just seemed to play them separately. Kids are weird.

I ran to the grocery store afterwards since we had about one egg and a bottle of ketchup left in the fridge. I was trying to make it until Tuesday to go to the grocery store but had to give in. We needed something for dinner and lunch stuff. Tacos it was. Um delicious. I could eat Mexican food every day.

Well tomorrow is back to the grind. Four day work weeks are much better than five. My youngsters have Friday off too so only three days for them. It's like a mini vacation.

Magazine Clean Up Pinspiration

                                 

 From Woman's Day January 2012

This issue had some inspiring stories of women that lost over 100 pounds.

Here's one that has a blog (Healthy Strides).

It takes some big determination to be able to lose that much weight. Amazing! 

And then, because we all have to eat anyways (it's all about portion control right?) 

I actually heard someone the other day say something about how we shouldn't want to eat something that tastes good, we should just eat to live. How boring would life be is that was the case? 

Chicken and Spinach Parmesan 

.

Doesn't this look delicious? 

My kids are always whining when they see we are having chicken for dinner.

From Woman's Day February 2012

Butternut Squash Risotto

I'm pretty sure I've never eaten butternut squash. Does it just taste like zucchini?

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower 

and Red Onions

I wonder if I'd end up eating this all by myself. 

Although Trevor does like regular cauliflower.

Veggies Coming Soon!

Well I got one thing accomplished today besides Trevor's birthday invite. I finally got some of my seeds started. Scott bought me a seed starting kit and some seeds (mostly things for salsa) for Christmas. Plus I won some seeds from Finny. Hers are on the right there :)

I have another set I bought last year that I need to get out and get more pods/soil for. This one is just a little bit different. I of course need to plant some squash and zucchini along with a bunch of other stuff. Getting excited thinking of all that fresh practically free food!

Captain Underpants Invite

I just finished making Trevor's birthday invites, what do you think? He's all into Captain Underpants books right now and that's what he wanted on his invite. Silly kid!

Valentine Murder Mystery Book Club Book

Well three cat naps today and I finally finished reading my regular book club book selection for the month.

Valentine Murder was a quick easy read mystery about Lucy, who just can't help but investigate who could have possibly killed Bitsy the librarian.

While I was reading this book I had to go find the copyright date because of a few things:

1.) The use of the internet is "new"
2.) Leaving her child in the car while she rain in to Quick Stop
3.) Cell phone is for emergencies only
4.) Stops to use a pay phone even though she has a cell phone in her purse!
5.) Her pre-schooler is suddenly old enough to not use a car seat.

So the magical year was 1999.

Those were the days eh?

Let's see, this time of year 1999 I had just turned 25 and was seven months pregnant with  Melissa. You know THAT was a good time. Since I was totally sick the whole time I was pregnant with her I was more than happy for the next two months to hurry on by!

I was an assistant Girl Scout Leader of Jessica's Girl Scout troop. Jessica spent part of the day at Kindergarten and I didn't have a computer yet. I had quit working on December 31st. My house was SPOTLESS and I had a count down to the new baby's big day on the fridge with what I had to get done by what day.

Oh and I scrapbooked. A LOT. I was on a mission to get all Jessica's stuff caught up so I wouldn't get it mixed up with the new babies.

Funny how this productive thing I call my friend aka computer has helped to make my house a mess! Free minute? Computer!

I also didn't have a cell phone, not even for emergencies. We finally caved and got cell phones after Scott saw a bum using one. Oh and he had broke down and had to walk most of the way home. One of our neighbors even drove passed him and waved. Yeah, he REALLY likes that neighbor now.. I don't know what year that was but I know it was way after 1999.

Electronic Age

Have you ever noticed that most people can do electronic "gadget" things according to their age?

My 2 year old niece knows how to open up an iPhone and play games on it.

My 8 year old son can hook up the Wii and get it going just fine (they beat the Sklanders game the other day. I told them they better be able to play it more after I bought so many characters for it)

My 12 year old can run all the electronics in the house.

My 17 year old can program wireless things to talk to each other, find the lock button on my Kindle so the screen quits flipping around and program any phone you bring into the house.

Me well I can work things after I push buttons for awhile and figure it out through trial and error. If I can't figure it out I hand it to Jess and she does it for me.

Scott knows how to get on the computer.

Today I was helping my Mom set up her new Kindle. She got the 3G one (I have a Fire). It took me forever to figure out how to show her how to use it. I can already see a lot of phone calls in the future ;)