Snow Day #6

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Yum-o!

We had a great dinner tonight. I'm sure Andy was glad since he was NOT pleased with the cornbread I made last night. I used my mom's recipe but it was my first time making it and it didn't turn out as nicely as hers. BUT to me it still tasted like cornbread...Anyway! I redeemed myself tonight, with Andy's help.
He put meat in the crockpot today while I was at work for Barbecue Sandwiches. He's so good to me. I left the recipe out and open to the right page and he did it! It saves me from fighting the meat with two large tongs. Both of the recipes I used tonight were from my sister. Try them!

Homemade Mac & Cheese- (Everyone had seconds. Luke kept saying "yum!")
3 T butter (I used margarine)
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk (I used skim)
2 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
12 0z cooked macaroni (I used the 14 oz box)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 2 qt dish. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook over medium heat, whisking for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in milk. Whisk well and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until sauce boils and thickens. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add cheeses, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheeses have melted. Fold in macaroni. Place mixture in baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes, until bubbly.

**I omitted 1/2 cup sliced scallions and the following step b/c I was out of bread crumbs: Put 1 T butter in small skillet and melt. Add 1 cup bread crumbs and stir until lightly toasted. Sprinkle over mac and cheese and then bake.


Chuck Roast Barbecue- (made by Andy)
2 1/2 lb. boneless chuck roast
2 small onions, chopped
12 oz. coke
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 T apple cider vinegar (he used white vin. since we were out of the other)
1 1/2 tsp. beef bouillon granules
3/4 t. dry mustard
3/4 t. chili powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper (Andy used 1/4)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. butter
hamburger buns
1 c. ketchup

Place roast in crock pot. Add onions. Combine cola and next 7 ingredients. Cover and chill 1 cup of sauce. Pour remaining sauce over roast. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or on LOW for 9 hours, or until roast is very tender. Remove roast and onions from crockpot using slotted spoon. Shred roast with two forks.. Combine reserved 1 cup of sauce, ketchup, and butter in saucepan. cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated. Pour sauce over shredded meat. Stir gently; spoon onto buns.

**The boys ate both things. Wilson even had some salad as did Andy and I! Mine and Andy's stubborn-ness over Luke's picky eating habits (see here and here) and REALLY paid off!!!!

Thanks to Cara for some yummy recipes!

Season 2

Okay, so Season 2 is good! Again, it is hard to pick just one favorite episode. I've had it narrowed down between 2 for a while... The One Where Ross Finds Out and The One with the Prom Video. Season 2 also has the story line of Phoebe and Rachel getting tattoo's, which has always been a favorite. Rachel gets a heart on her hip and Phoebe gets a blue dot. Remember that one? Rachel tells Ross "Phoebe got the whole world," referring to her tattoo so that her heart tattoo won't seem like such a big deal!

In The One Where Ross Finds Out, Rachel is finally 'over' Ross because he has a new girlfriend, Julie. So Rachel just found out Ross and Julie are going to get a cat. Rachel goes on a date with some guy and talks about Ross the whole time. She drinks too much wine and borrows a cell phone. She leaves Ross a message saying she is over him. The next morning, she has forgotten what she did. Ross stops by to pick up some cat toys before he and Julie go get a cat and he checks his messages. He hears the one from Rachel and has to decide between Rachel and Julie. At the end of the episode he shows up at the coffee house and they end up kissing and it is so sweet. Monica is Chandler's personal trainer and works him to death. Those are the two funny story lines.

But the BEST episode from Season 2 is The One With The Prom Video. Joey buys Chandler a big gold "Mr. T" bracelet to show him how much he means to them. Chandler hates it and is so funny about it. Rachel tries to tell Ross it is over all because of the list he made about her and Julie's pros and cons from a different episode. Phoebe encourages Ross to keep waiting, that Rachel is his lobster, and lobsters mate for life. She does this funny hand motion of holding claws. Monica is without a job and had an awkward interview at a restaurant where she was making a salad. At the end, they are watching a video from Monica and Rachel's prom. When Rachel sees how Ross went to get ready to take her to her prom since her date was late he is totally embarrassed but it means so much to Rachel. She walks across the room, without saying anything and gives him a big kiss. Then, it has one of my all time favorite quotes from Phoebe "See, she's his lobster."

I've already started Season 3! I finished 2 last week :)

Snow Day #5/Weekend Update

Well we got out of school early on Thursday due to ice and had a snow day on Friday. Not sure why, it seemed all the ice had already melted to me. Anyway, I enjoyed my day at home with the boys because I was leaving Friday night for a small group retreat. So, on Friday we just hung out around the house and went to eat lunch at CFA. After eating we let the boys play. Wilson was being very brave, climbing all the way up the playland and sliding down, so Luke wanted to go up too. He couldn't climb the tower to get up so Wilson would put his hands on Luke's bottom and push him up. Sometimes one-handed! It was so sweet to see Wilson taking care of Luke. They probably climbed up together 5 times or so. It was cute.
Friday night I left with my small group for a 1 night retreat. It was hard to leave, Wilson was screaming, but easier since I had been home all day. The retreat was wonderful. We sang praise songs, had quiet time, roasted marshmallows in the fireplace, talked, and played games. It was great! A much needed re-centering. Then I was home Saturday by mid afternoon to hang with the fam.
About to start another week, hopefully a 5-day week. It will be easy for me, it is my student teacher's solo week. I will be stationed in the hallway, writing my next National Board entry. I have a little revising on the 2nd one to finish up as well. I want to have the 3rd one written, revised, and packed for shipping by the end of next weekend. Then I'll only have one more entry. I have 37 days until it must be postmarked...PRAY!

My Cutie Pie's

My boys are soo cute! The things they say and do are just adorable! I love ages 2 & 4! Here are some of the cute things going on around here.
* Luke has to hear Twinkle Twinkle before bedtime. I'll sing it two times in a row and he'll say over and over quietly "winkle, winkle" until I start singing it again. Then when I lay him down I have to hold his hand and sing it 1-2 more times. If I try to sing something else he quietly says "no, winkle".
* Luke also found out a few days ago that he loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider. So we read that book and sing the song (he's learning hand motions!) several times before we start the twinkle ritual.
* Luke gets scared easily. Wilson was walking around the house behind Luke saying Goonies and Luke was afraid! He says "cawee" for scary!
* Wilson wants to hear Prince Wilson stories made up by daddy before falling asleep.
* He can't pronounce his v's- they are all b's. (But daddy is trying to teach him).
* He is trying to learn the beginning sound of words. He'll say c-cat. That starts with b, right mommy?! I smile and say no, c-cat starts with c. He thinks everything starts with b. Even though he'll say the word right!

That's what is on my brain after this evening! Love 'em!

Ahhh...Three Day Weekends!

I love having an extra day to the weekend. It makes it feel like a weekend! I can actually take a day (or two, ahem) to just relax. And I still have Monday to do laundry, grocery list, etc. So now you know what my agenda is for today! My Aunt Susan and cousin Ashley are in for the week from Plymouth, MA. So last night we went to my Maw and Paw's for chili. It was fun. Good to be with the fam. Andy had youth so he couldn't be there. Saturday Andy went snow-skiing with the youth group. He had a great time. Here is a video of him skiing!
Andy and Wilson are building something with Legos right now. Wilson keeps telling his daddy he is a 'genius', the best daddy in the world, his hero! It is hilarious. Luke is collecting choo choo's and pushing them around the hallway. Wilson is off to the music store his Gampa works at in a while with Gamma, Susan, and Ashley. He's getting new drumsticks for his drumset. He's excited. Not sure what else we'll get into today, but looking forward to it!

Snow Day #4

Are you noticing a pattern?! A lot of snow days!! These two days off in a row have allowed me to accomplish several things! The boys and I did get to play outside in the snow this afternoon. Andy and the boys took me to Panera for a Valentine's lunch since I was off today. It was yummy! I went into school (with my boys in tow) to set up for the "Goodies for Guatemala" bake sale for my friend, Jenn. Read about the first bake sale here. The boys had a great time at school building with Legos and running up and down the hallways. I did go to the new Walmart - the smaller one - for the first time. I had to get some ingredients for the special Valentine meal I'm making for dinner tomorrow night and to get something to bake for the bake sale. Tomorrow night I'm making Olive Garden Fettucine Alfredo, garlic bread and salad. For the bake sale I bought a cute box at Target that has pink polka dots on it and I'm filling it with the baked oyster crackers that have ranch seasoning on them. I thought that might go over well. Here are a couple pics from our time outside. It was cold!

Snow Day #3

Last night school was cancelled a little after 10pm. We'd gotten snow, maybe and inch and it was turning to sleet and ice overnight. We woke up to a layer of ice on everything. So we didn't go out to play- too slippery! We did go out to renew my license and to run to Target. The boys had fun walking on the slippery grass and through the slush. We took it easy today- lots of playing, everybody napped, and lots of play-do. Andy and I are making a big pot of chili and I finished up laundry. Gotta enjoy a day off!

*Tonight I'll be finishing up my 2nd national board entry. I only have 1/2 a page to write but have to watch my teaching video to cite specific examples.

Valentine Cookies

Last night the boys and I made heart shaped Valentine cookies. I took the easy way out and bought the bag of dry cookie mix. Then just had to add an egg and butter. Wilson and Luke helped roll out the dough, used cookie cutters, and best of all added sprinkles! Here are a few pictures! There aren't many action shots because we were busy little bakers!

Season1 - Friends

Okay, remember this post? Well I've finished Season 1 (last week actually) and finally am ready to tell about my favortie episode. I really love all of them. I had a hard time choosing. You know how every Friends episode has 3 story lines, well I had to find one where I really liked all 3 plots! I thought about The One with the East German Laundry Detergent but I don't like Joey's story line with his ex. Then I thought about The One with the Blackout but I don't really like Paolo! So, drumroll please, my favorite episode from Season one is The One with all the Poker. I'll try to help you remember it since it was about 14 years ago. Wow, that is hard to believe!

The episode starts out with all 6 of them whistling a tune from the seven dwarfs as they stuff Rachel's resumes. She wants a job, anything but a waitress. They have an assembly line going. As they are almost done, Ross notices a typo "good compuper skills" and so they unstuff all the letters. Rachel's funny line is "oh, do you think it's on all of them?" Part of the episode is about Rachel waiting for her mail to see if she has any new job opportunities. She gets an interview at Saks Fifth Avenue as a buyer. She's so excited because she'd be shopping. In the end, the job doesn't work out.

The second story line is about Ross being hopelessly in love with Rachel. He tries to tell Chandler he's over her but as soon as she walks up to them in Central Perk he melts. The episode has a lot of tension between Ross and Rachel.

The third story line is about Poker. The guys get together for Poker nights without the girls. The girls convince them to let them join in. Monica makes snacks and the girls try to help each other in the game, all frustrating the guys. The guys say this is why they don't ask the girls to play. So Monica calls her aunt who is a great poker player to come over and show the girls how to play. She is tough and scares Rachel and Phoebe. She teaches them some stuff and the girls are ready for a rematch. But they still lose. The aunt does some more teaching and the girls surprise the guys at the 3rd poker match with how good they are. It comes down to being between Ross and Rachel. Rachel is egging Ross on and changing the rules of the game since she just lost the Saks job. In the end, Rachel wins. Ross acts like she beat him, but you are left thinking he said she won when really his cards were probably better.

There are so many other funny parts, but this is the gist! Now, go watch some Friends!

100th Post!

Here is my attempt to write 100 things about me and my family. In no particular order, just the randomness from my head!

1. I met Andy when I was in the 5th grade.
2. He was my ‘boyfriend’ in the 6th grade. We barely spoke to each other!
3.We were dating in 10th-11th grade.
4. He still gives me a hard time for breaking up with him the summer before our senior year of high school.
5. We started dating again our junior year of college.
6. That was after he made me wait a year for him to give me another chance!
7. We went out for a month before we became engaged.
8. I helped pick out the ring. A lot of you probably don’t know that!
9. And you know the rest of that story.
10. My favorite color is purple.
11. I like to read. Once I start a book I read in all my spare time until it’s done.
12. I can play the clarinet.
13. I teach at the school I attended elementary school at.
14. I have my master’s degree in elementary ed with a specialization in reading and writing.
15. I wish my master’s was in Moderate/Severe Disabilities.
16. I was always afraid I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant.
17. I have two wonderful boys who mean the world to me.
18. I love bagels from Panera.
19. I’m working on my National Board Certification- it is going to kick my butt.
20. I hope I pass NBC in one year but will be happy if I pass in two years.
21.I get easily overwhelmed.
22. I have anxiety issues.
23. I knew I was going to have a yellow lab named Lottie before we rescued her!
24. In order to adopt Lottie we had to sign a contract stating she would not ride in the back of a pick-up truck!
25. Luke is my snuggler and he is so sensitive.
26. Wilson is tough. He is a sweetie too though. But I think his pain tolerance is higher than mine!
27. Wilson is really into Lego’s right now.
28. Luke loves his Thomas Lego trains.
29. I don’t think I could have a baby without an epidural.
30. I like to go camping.
31. I didn’t really like backpacking when I was 3 months pregnant with Wilson!
32. I love my small group.
33. I love my teaching team!
34. I have wonderful family and friends.
35. I have the best Maw and Paw a girl could ever dream of.
36. I can’t wait to meet Silas. I hope he let’s me hold him!
37. I can’t wait to meet Avery!
38. I don’t feel old enough to have been married and taught for 7 years.
39. Or to have 2 kids.
40. I wish I could sleep 8-9 hours every night.
41. I love sleeping in when I get the chance.
42. I like to cook.
43. I wish we had cable!
44. My favorite flower is a Gerber daisy. But I love roses, tulips, and many others.
45. I actually cried before my wedding over the bridesmaid bouquets.
46. My sister had to calm me down, telling me the flowers were beautiful.
47. I cried through saying my vows.
48. Andy and I had the perfect wedding for us on a very snowy evening!
49. I wish we would have at least 1 snow storm a winter. Why don’t we ever get a lot of snow anymore?
50. I wanted to be a drum major for my high school starting in the 6th grade when the band came to my middle school. I was drum major in the 12th grade!
51. My dad was a drum major too!
52. I can’t lie. I hate when I know others are lying.
53. I hate fakeness.
54. But I wouldn’t call people out on either. I hate confrontations.
55. We wish Andy’s parents would move back home.
56. No disrespect meant, but I am always thankful that Andy didn’t join the military like the rest of the males in his family.
57. Cara and I used to fight over everything.
58. She got the front seat of the car on even days, I got the front on odd days.
59. I love Dove chocolate.
60. I went to my 10 year high school reunion.
61. I still keep in touch with some of my friends from high school.
62. I wish we had a basement.
63. My next house will have a fireplace too, I hope.
64. I’ll probably have to trade my Jetta in for a minivan in the future.
65. I think I’ll be ok with that.
66. Then I’ll really look my age.
67. I love getting a back massage.
68. I hate waking up by 5:30 on school days.
69. Wilson was SO excited when I brought him some books home from the library the other day. 70. That made me happy!
71. I love the beach but I hate dealing with the sand.
72. I’d like to go on a cruise someday with Andy and the boys if it’s a Disney cruise!
73. Sometimes I wish I’d had the nerve to go away to college. Or to live in a bigger city for a while (Chicago or Atlanta or something!)
74. I want to go to NY sometime.
75. This is harder than I thought it would be.
76. Friends is my all time favorite TV show.
77. I really like Grey’s Anatomy too. (I hate the writer’s strike.)
78. I like keeping up with my friends and family’s day to day life on their blogs.
79. Grammar mistakes bug me, but I can never get apostrophes in the right spot!
80. I like being at home. But I love to go out with my husband or friends too!
81. I hate spiders.
82. If I wasn’t a teacher, I would have been a neo-natal nurse, like my aunt. I just didn’t think I could do the whole hospital thing.
83. I almost have 9 nieces and nephews. One is due this spring and Silas will come home soon we hope.
84. When I was pregnant with Luke I was sick the whole pregnancy. I remember celebrating over not throwing up for 3 days in a row.
85. I love when people write comments on the blog!
86. I’m trying to grow my hair long.
87. Andy asked me to for years. I caved. And I like it!
88. My nickname for Andy is Drew. I picked that up from his dad.
89. I’m also thankful that Andy didn’t go to medical school. He listened to God’s call and he is a wonderful Youth Pastor.
90. I kind of have a rebellious nature. Andy would totally agree. I don’t like to feel like people are telling me what to do. I get it from my mother.
91. My dad raised me to be an independent girl. I have a hard time admitting that I can’t do it all.
92. I have 5 tattoos.
93. Just kidding. I have zero. Just seeing if anyone made it this far.
94. I can drive a standard pretty well. I still get nervous on steep hills.
95. I’ve been to Ecuador.
96. I have meat issues. I don’t like to think about what I’m eating. Andy cuts all the raw chicken. I’ve made one pot roast and you can read about that adventure here.
97. One of my favorite stores is Ann Taylor Loft.
98. I love my new school uniform (it’s optional) Khaki’s and a CME shirt! No thinking required.
99. If you make it to the end, will you leave a comment?
100. I made it to 100! Thanks for reading!

PEOPLE: We have internet again!!

(Yea! I have internet at home again! Now I can post what I wanted to post days ago!)

First, Happy Belated Birthday to my fabulous sister, Cara!

Don't worry, we all shared the cake!

Here is a picture of my family that went out to celebrate our birthdays!

Clueless

So did you know we had a lot of storms last night? I sure didn't! I know it rained all day yesterday and there were tornado warnings (or watches, I can never keep those straight). But I put the boys to bed, worked on my national board video with Andy, watched Friends, and went to bed. Didn't become conscious again until by alarm went off at 6:30. I'm taking a National Board Day so I got to sleep in a little bit. (Hard to call that sleeping in, I know). And yes, I'm at the library working on a portfolio entry, just needed a short break. Andy might give me grief for posting during my NB work day! But it's going to be quick and short. So anyway, I just had to tell you that I slept hard and my dear sweet protector husband was staying awake, watching the weather, to make sure that everything was ok. He was ready to get me and the boys up if a tornado came through or anything. That just made me feel so good. Here, I was clueless to the world, in a dead sleep and he was up to make sure we were all okay. I love him! Thanks, baby. So anyway, I got up and started working on NB. Jenn called to tell me that our school had no electricity. So the kids that were coming in were in the cafeteria, some kids were going straight back home, and some who rode the bus ended up at the nearby high school! Crazy! Here I didn't even know it had stormed yet because I hadn't talked to Andy. I'm glad he let me be clueless last night because I was SO tired!

Still no internet...

Well, I guess I'm learning what life is like without the internet! I'm secretly logged into my neighbor's wireless right now. Andy and I became desperate. I guess I need to call Windstream AGAIN. For the 3rd time. Little frustrated with all that.
Tomorrow is my third National Board Day. I'm really hoping to finish entry #2. Then I'd only have two more. I put the one I've been working on in the official envelope for it today and sealed it closed so I won't revise or change it anymore.
Wish me luck and pray that I don't get overwhelmed and that the writing comes easily for me tomorrow. Thanks!

I'm a dork!

Okay, so I'm at the public library, with Luke. He's playing Thomas the train on the train table. Cause you know it's not like we have one of those at home or anything! He's happy though! Wilson is with my mom and Terry at the park. Luke was napping when they came to get Will so he's with me!
Anyway, I woke up Saturday morning to no Internet. I hate that! Usually it's an easy fix like restarting the computer or unplugging and replugging something. But not this time. Andy had to call Windstream and they have to come to our house and fix it. Of course they tried to come Sunday morning while we were at church. So I had to call them back again for the to reschedule a visit. I was going crazy without the internet so that is why I decided to bring Luke to the library today!
Last night was b-day dinner at PF Chang's. It was so much fun and the food was fabulous. I'm mad at PF Chang's though. They have a menu change. They took the Lucky 8 off the menu. I was really looking forward to getting that for dessert since we were with a big group. I only got to have it one time. And now it is off the menu. The big wigs at PF Chang's are crazy. They obviously didn't consult me. So instead our group of 9 got one slice of chocolate cake which was HUGE. We all had plenty of cake. That is how big it was.
Andy has been crazy busy this weekend with the Souper bowl lunch and now the youth Super Bowl party. They are having their own Xbox superbowl while they watch the game. So, hopefully my internet problems will be fixed soon!

Luke's first ear infection with tubes :(

Well, almost 9 months, tubes are expected to come out at the end of February, and Luke's cold turned into an ear infection a couple days ago. Thankfully we were able to locate the special ear drops the ENT gave us 9 months ago and have been treating the ear infection at home as instructed. It's goopy and crusty and gross. It hurts him. But, he likes getting the drops! Which is huge! He laughs and tells daddy it tickles.

My boys have the BEST daddy in the world. He takes such good care of them while I'm at school. He's also enjoy his two days a week where both boys are at parents day out so he can get some quality office time at church! I'm so glad he is getting a break.

Luke's appetite hasn't been good. We made the meal he gobbled up here a couple days ago and he wouldn't touch it!

I'm soo tired! Friday's are always like this for me. The week went fast but I'm worn out!

Tomorrow is Cara's birthday! Happy almost b-day to my wonderful sister. Make sure to follow-up on their adoption here. I'm really looking forward to celebrating tomorrow evening. Me, Andy, Cara, Jason, Mom, Dad, Maw, and Paw (notice no kiddos!) are going to dinner at PF Chang's! To celebrate mine and Cara's b-days. Cara and I are sharing one baby-sitter for the cousins. We'll actually be able to have adult conversations! That doesn't happen much at family get togethers with 4 toddlers running around! Soon to be 5 when our sweet little Silas (linked are pics from his orphangae he's the one in a blue walker with an orange shirt) comes home to be with his family! Hugs and kisses, Silas! Your family is so ready for you to be home. I can't wait to see you and hold you. I hope you let me!