The Zoo and Pizza Hut

Since the end of the school year is winding down both Mike and Andrea's classes are trying to cram as many field trips in as possible. Mike hasn't had his yet and since I am the mom of a 5th grader I am not allowed to go. Not because of the school but because I have become an embarrassment to my son. I guess at the age of 11 ( or 10 if we go out to Chinese for dinner) it is not cool to hang out with Mom anymore. (Insert sad smiley from Facebook here)

Last week Andrea went to the zoo. This week she had a train ride and a trip to Pizza Hut. I forgot my camera for the train ride. What a bummer. But I do have pictures at the zoo and the Pizza Hut trip. ENJOY!!
The train at the zoo.



Going into the back of Pizza Hut.

First the sauceThen the cheese
Lots of pepperoni. Although she picks them off at home she ate them there. They must taste different when you make them yourself?


Now to devour it!

Dang it Facebook!

If you are addicted to Facebook please stand state your name and say you are a Facebook-aholic.
I will go first. Hi my name is Mandy and I am a Facebook-aholic. I haven't been keeping up with the blog like I should because I figure everyone is on Facebook and already knows what is going on with me. It's not like many of you read this thing any way. Right? That was until I checked it today and was told in a very stern text that I need to get to bloggin. So here I am Amy.

So here I am. We have been crazy busy. Bill and I took Andrea too our first ever regional. We had such a great time! It was so nice to meet all of the blog moms that we leave comments to. It was great to put names with faces. Even though I had a hard time remembering one of you. Sorry Sarah.


Andrea thought Emma was her best friend. She insisted that we go to Emma's house to see her. Meaning her hotel room. It was so nice that Andrea could come up to anyone and make friends with them. I can't believe how social she is.


While we were there we thought we would hit the museum. Even though I brought the wrong kind of shoes and my feet were killing me by the time we were finished it was well worth the pain.

Later that evening it was time to party! Andrea loves dancing. Plus not to mention she has more rhythm that I ever had.

Last but not least since Tonya decided to put a picture of me up on her blog in my swimsuit in the pool. Here is one for her. HEHEHEHE!

New Dryer

Bill surprised me and I have a new dryer coming today. YEAH! Our old one is putting holes in everything and I think the heating element is going in it. I can't wait until it gets here. I have so much laundry to do.

Have any of you started packing for Grand Rapids yet? Yeah that is why I need my dryer because all of our laundry needs to be done.

Also Bill is down at the hospital have tests done. He has been have kidney problems. So I will have to keep you updated on that.

Easter Picutres

We have been crazy busy around here. Bill went and got his kids from Michigan. We will be dropping them off on our way to Grand Rapids. Hope to see a lot of you there. In the mean time enjoy some great pics of us on Easter morning.







Handsome Austin


Heaven in her Easter clothes.


Austin with a chocolate cross that his mom made.


Mike trying to be cool.


I'm gonna shoot you!


Family picture before church. Minus Dad because he is sick.





The loot that the Easter bunny left .



Andrea with her Easter basket of goodies.

Andrea in her pretty Easter dress.

Five years ago this month I lost my mom to a brain aneurysm. She was 42 years old. It was one week before I got to bring Andrea home from the NICU. She would have been so proud to be her grandmother.
Mommy I miss you so much.

Reservations are made!

Well we have been talked into it. Thanks Tonya. We will be attending the Spring Regional in Grand Rapids. This will be our very first LPA event ever. We are really excited to meet everyone. It is one thing to talk to you all of the time on line but looking at you face to face is something else.
There are lots of things that will be going on while we are waiting to go. We have a Easter and then a major family event going on the same week we leave for regional. Everyone will be excited and happy.
Mike will not be traveling with us this time. He had already made plans to stay with one of his friend for the weekend. So it will just be Bill, Andrea, and I.
Grand Rapids is a 8 hour drive from where we live so we will be leaving bright and early in the morning to get there on time for the events.
Can't wait to see you all there!

My new Bargain Find

We were at Walmart the other day and I just couldn't help but look through the girls clearance section. They had regular priced Hannah Montanah and High School Musical nightgowns on sale for 1 dollar. Yeah that was not a typo. I just couldn't resist. You can never find jammies on sale for that price. So I picked up a few for Andrea. Andrea just loves the Hannah show. That and ICarly seem to be a favorite in our house in the evenings.
I scored huge mom points when I got home.

Rachel Ray's Sasauge and Lentil Soup

The other night I made a recipe from last weeks Rachel Ray Show. It sounded really good and quite inexpensive. Which all of you know I am all for. Some of the ingredients I had to substitute because my grocery store did not have them. But all and all I would give it 3 stars.
Minus 1 star because Bill had stomach issues from eating it. He as IBS ( I am sure he wanted everyone to know that) and it made him .....well let's just say it wasn't pretty. So if you are someone with this I do not recommend making it because it has lots of garlic and tomato base. Two things that do not bode well for IBS people.
Of course it goes especially nice with a fresh loaf of Italian bread from the bakery section.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 pound bulk turkey or pork Italian sausage, regular or hot
• 1 cup lentils
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, grated or chopped
• 1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced ( I used the sliced button ones)
  
• 1 baking potato, peeled and diced ( I used 3 medium ones)
  
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
• 3-4 sprigs thyme, leaves removed ( I had to use dried)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 bunch kale, thick stems removed and discarded, leaves shredded ( We used half of a small red cabbage)
  

Preparation

Place a large soup pot over medium-high heat with one turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Once hot, add the sausage and sauté for 3-4 minutes, breaking it up into small pieces with the back of a spoon or a potato masher as it cooks and browns.

While the sausage is browning, pour the lentils out onto a light-colored plate and sift through them. Discard any small stones – sometimes you find them and sometimes you don't, but better safe than sorry.

To the browned sausage, add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, potato, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and the tomato paste. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes.

Add the stock and 2 cups of water, turn the heat up to high and bring up to a bubble. Add the lentils and the kale, stir until the kale wilts in, then turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Serve.

Free Stuff

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You can get a free Weber Spatula here just scroll down to the bottom of the page. Good for the first 7,000 people.

There are 2 new buttons on the side of this blog. Both of these blogs are great mom blogs. They both help me help my family by saving money. I hope that you will take the time to check them out.

Feeling Better.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. If you follow me on Face-book you would know that Mike was sick the last couple to days also. He had a stomach bug and I had a cough that I just couldn't shake. I am happy to report that we are both well again. Mike will be back in school tomorrow.
Thanks again to everyone that prayed for us.

On another note. Just 4 more days till the end of wrestling season. Can we get a Woot woot!


There is talk in the house about wrestling the spring season also. It is a further drive. Almost 1 1/2 hours each way but Mike really wants to do it. So we are debating on it. I would like to have my spring and summer to myself. Though for the last 2 years Mike has wrestled part of the spring season. It does keep him in shape. I am just not sure. He will be going to a huge wrestling camp this summer and this would keep him in shape for that.
The down side is Mike's dad is the one that would have taken him. (We are divorced) But, he is in Iraq serving in the Nation Guard. I would love to take him but it is 3 nights a week and 1 of those nights we have cub scouts.
Well on with the great debate. We will have to see.
Ta- ta for now,

Drug Recal

I just found out about this. I thought it was important because it is cold and flu season. A lot of people could be taking these or giving them to your children.

DRUG RECALL - VERY SERIOUS - CONFIRMED BY SNOPES.COM < http://snopes.com/> & FDA


All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled.


STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke ( bleeding in brain )
among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use
of medication The FDA recommended that everyone ( even children ) seek alternative medicine.

The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine :

Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant
Acutrim Plus Dietary Supplements
Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control
Alka-Seltzer Plus Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold medicine (cherry or orange)
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine
BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder
BC Sinus Cold Powder
Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief
Day & Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules
Contac 12 Hou r Caplets
Coricidin D Cold, Flu & Sinus
Dexatrim Caffeine Free
Dexatrim Extended Duration
Dexatrim Gelcaps
Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free
Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets
Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels
Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir
Dimetapp Elixir
Dimetapp 4 Hour Liquid Gels
Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets
Dimetapp 12 Hour Extendtabs20Tablets
Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops
Permathene Mega-16
Robitussin CF
Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal Congestion
Triaminic DM Cough Relief
Triaminic Expectorant Chest & Head
Triaminic Syrup Cold & Allergy
Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough

A friend just found out and called the 800# on the container
for Triaminic and they informed them that they are voluntarily recalling the following medicines because of a certain ingredient that is causing strokes and seizures in children

Orange3D Cold &Allergy Cherry (Pink)
3D Cold &Cough Berry
3D Cough Relief Yellow 3D Expectorant

They are asking you to call them at 800-548-3708with
the lot number on the box so they can send you postage for you
to send it back to them, and they will also issue you a refund.
If you know of anyone else with small children,
PLEASE PASS THIS ON. THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF!

DO PASS ALONG TO ALL ON YOUR MAILING LIST so people are informed They=2 0can then pass it along to their families.

To confirm these findings please take time to check the following:
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO YOUR CHILDREN IN CASE THEY GIVE IT TO THEIR CHILDREN OR TO FRIENDS WHO HAVE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.

Only 1 more to go!

That is wrestling tournament. I will be so glad when we are finished because that means a much needed break for me. We have been at this since December. I think wrestling is the longest season of all. If we win next week we will go to states. I probably won't happen this year because Mike has a really tough weight class.

Today was a tough day. He lost his first match. It was so close. He lost by 2 points right at the last second the kid got a take down. Mike was winning until then.

His second match he won 14-5. Although Mike was kneed in the groin in the second period he still won. It was a great match. His take downs were great!

The last kid was just tough. The kid was way stronger than Mike. I mean he was ripped. Mike was also knead in the groin during this match. He laid on the mat screaming in pain. He worked through it and finished the match. Although the other kid won Mike didn't give up and he didn't get pinned. He wrestled hard the whole match. I was very proud of him.

So we are home now and Mike has been iced down and he has soaked in the tub. He is feeling much better. Now I am on a mission to find him some decompression shorts to protect his man parts from being damaged. You know Mom would like to have grand kids one day:)

Sick

I have been running all week. I think it got the best of me because now I am sick. I just can't quit coughing. I think something has settled in my chest. I am praying that it won't stick around long. I just have to much to do. Please pray that I get better soon.

Thanks,

New Header

I really wanted a new header for my blog. I have been trying to work with a paint.net program. I was finding it very difficult to figure out. I am not a very big photo shop person. So I was looking on the internet for something I could use that had everything and I could just drag and drop.
Well I found one! It is called scrapblog.com. I just love it! You can use the photos that you have on Facebook or Photobucket. It was so easy to use.I created the new header using it. It did take me awhile to figure out how to get it from there to my Blog but, I finally figured it out.
So if you would like to create your own or just play for awhile check it out.

Scrapblog.com

Jamie's Recipe Collection

Over on Jamie's blog. She asked everyone to post a favorite recipe. So I thought that I would post one of Bill's favorites. It was a toss up between my meatloaf and my Shepherd's pie. After a discussion between Bill and I. He thought I should post the shepherd's pie recipe. Here it goes.


Ingredients:

!.5 pounds of ground beef (for a meaty pie use 2 Bill likes it meaty)
8 ounced of shredded cheddar
1 large can of diced of tomatoes
1 can og green beans ( you can use any veggies you want. Bill doesn't like peas.)
1 can of corn
1 box of instant mashed potatoes
1 Large can of tomato sauce

Steps:

Brown the ground beef and drain
Prepare the largest serving of instant potatoes on the box in the microwave

In a deep 9 x13 baking dish add the cooked ground beef, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and vegetables.
On top of that add the mashed potatoes and smooth it out like frosting. Top with cheddar cheese.
Put into the oven on 350 degrease for 40-45 min or until the cheese is golden and bubbly on top.

Take out of oven and let settle for 5- 10 min. Then serve.

This will feed a family of 4 with enough leftovers for the next day. Hope you enjoy it!

New Memeber of the Family

We decided that Mike is ready for his own pet. Since we are not allowed to have dogs where we live the next choice is a cat. We already have one that is mine.
I have had him for a very long time. He is a Persian and gorgeous. He looks like a wise old Chinese mad. His whiskers hang down like a Fu Man Chu. His name is Chubbers and he was the last thing that my mom had given me before she passed away. So he has a great deal of sentimental value to me.




This is wise old Chubbers


We have some friends from wrestling whose cat just had a litter of kittens. We told them that we would take one of them. Hoping for a male. Of course it will belong to Mike. It's food and cat box will be in his room. So it will be his responsibility to take care of it.

It's name it was decided before we brought it home. It would be Bernie from Bernie Kozar the quarterback from the Cleavland browns. Mike is a huge Browns fan.
We were suppose to get a male but, they brought us a female. Mike didn't want to change the name. So her name is Bernice and we are calling her Bernie for short.

Welcome to your new home Bernie!

Look what Daddy brought home

Daddy brought home some great stuff for his girls on Valentines day. We were both quite surprised.Even though I had to be out of the house by 6 am he made my day quite nice.

This thing is huge. Way bigger than she is.


This is what Daddy brought home for Mommy. They are white and black diamond earrings. They are beautiful. This is the first pair of earrings that I now own. That is not from Clair's. Along with this I got a dozen red roses. Daddy is so nice and we love him bunches and bunches.

Finaly back to normal

Well the business of the last few days is over. Things seem to be getting back to normal.

Here are a few pictures of the kids from Andrea's school play where she is a bob cat and Mike with the scorpion key chain his dad sent him from Iraq. His dad is deployed there until October.

I'm a Bobcat!





Deadliest scorpion in Iraq.