Weekly Menu

(This post is dedicated to Leslie W. who told me via Facebook and in person today that she expects some sort of blog post ASAP.  We took kickboxing together at the gym today and I saw her moves...I don't want to piss her off!!)

so without further ado, here's my...

Weekly Menu

Monday:  Crab Cakes and Spicy Mustard Sauce & Salad

Wow those crab cakes look huge!

They were hugely delicious as well.

(even the harshest critics (Lauren and Tyler) devoured them)

That looks better with them next to my salad.

(Don't tell my family but I added a can of solid albacore along with the canned lump crab.

No one noticed a thing.  Not even Matt who is a huge restaurant crab cake snob.)

Tuesday:  Cheese Ravioli with Pesto & left-over biscuits & applesauce (not pictured)

Yumm!

a hit with the kiddos as well

(I omitted the pine nuts)

Wednesday:  Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella & frozen veggies (long-time residents of the freezer)

Thursday:  left-overs

Friday:  neighborhood Bunco - so Matt and kids are on their own

Saturday:  Stuffed Cabbage Rolls & Honey Roasted Red Potatoes 

Sunday:  Buffalo Chicken & Buttermilk-Blue Cheese Smashed Potatoes

Others:

Angie's Egg Biscuits (to have on hand for breakfasts and meals on the run)

Mexican Inspired Vegetable Soup (my favorite "lose-weight" lunch)

Sweet-Tooth Mix (kid snack for school-lunches and after-school)

Good Eatin' Y'all!

(Thanks Leslie for your threats encouragement.  This post wasn't all that hard to do.)

Still Here

We're still here.  The kids have been back to school for three weeks now and they are loving it.  I wish I had something exciting to write about but we've just been doing the normal day to day and I'd hate to bore y'all.  I'm working on a 10 year anniversary post but it's slow in the making.  In the meantime you might enjoy this Taylor Swift song that brought me to tears this afternoon.  Seriously, I heard it for the first time today and teared up.

I'd love for my kids to Never Grow Up.

Taylor Swift - Never Grow Up lyrics

What Have I Done?!!

Look what I've gotten myself into:

The volunteer coordinator at the Elementary School called last week while I was at the gym.  In her message, she said she was looking for a Room Mom for Lauren's classroom and would I be interested?
I conveniently took my time getting  back to her thinking she'd find someone else.
(I am SO NOT Room Mom material.  I've come to terms with the fact that I am not a leader nor one of those Type As like Room Moms are supposed to be.)

This week, while I was at the gym, the volunteer coordinator called and left a message AGAIN.
She was still having trouble finding a Room Mom and would I please consider it and call her today to discuss.
She got me thinking:  I may not have the confidence but I certainly do have the time.
I'm lucky enough not to have to work outside of the home.
My one and only reason for not working is to be there for my kids..

So I called her back and said, despite it being out of my comfort zone, I'll be Room Mom to Lauren's class.
Very much relieved, she reassured me everything would be okay and she'd give me more direction at the Room Mom meeting tomorrow evening.

When Lauren got home from school I told her I was going to be her class's Room Mom.  I told her I was nervous because it was something I had not done before and it was the same feeling she gets when she does new things.
She told me I should cry a lot then because that is what she does when she is nervous.

I felt an immediate shift in my thinking when I heard her say this.
It went from being about (poor) me to about being a good example to her.

Although I may be nervous and out of my comfort zone I'm going to give it my all, do my best and have fun. 
Lesson to learn:
It takes courage to go out of your comfort zone but the rewards will be worth it.
 (I hope!)

signed:
Lauren's 2nd Grade Room Mom

Oh My Weekend

Oh My Goodness.

This has been quite the weekend and we are only half way through.

Lauren is at her absolute BEST* right now.  

*said with sarcasm!

Last night she attended her first birthday party of the school year.

It was a Slumber Party but from what I heard there was not much Slumbering done.

Host Mom said they went to bed around 2am and woke up at 7:30am.

~~Lauren said she had the BEST time and can't wait to have her friend over for playdates.~~

I'm happy for her but Lauren and only FIVE hours of sleep is not a good combination.

She's already lost 50 cents for saying bad words.

  --->  "Be Quiet Tyler!"  <---

(said with the same meaning, sass and emotion as "SHUT UP" so treated with the same punishment)

((yes, her parents are soooo mean))

Bed time coming up shortly!

In other Oh My Weekend news:

14 cars were broken into in our neighborhood the other day.

We have about 100 houses total.

I know we're close to Atlanta but I like to pretend, being the distant suburb we are, that we are free and clear from Atlanta's crime.

Thoughts are this was an inside (inside the neighborhood) job and that one juvenile has been caught.

Matt was working out of town when this happened but now that he's back I had him put up a motion sensor light by the garage.  It's a cool one with bells and whistles and timers and dimmers.  I can't wait for our first trespasser!

Dinner tonight was fantastic.

I love it when Matt makes sounds as he's eating.  This tells me it is good and should tell you to most definitely try it!  =)

Stuffed Cuban Pork Tenderloin

(I used kite string to tie it together)

Served with sliced apples, oranges and Smoked (fingerling) Potato Salad.

Oh My Weekend...

Despite Lauren testing everything, everyone and my very last nerve right now... it's been fun.

More fun to come tomorrow.

We have a Mom's Club Fiesta Party to attend.

Time to put the grouches to bed.

Night Y'All.

tin and aluminum

Matt and I are quickly coming upon our 10 Year Anniversary!

August 26, 2011 will be 10 years of wedded bliss.

(all Bliss...right Matt?!)

((He said right!  well I'm sure he'll say "right!" when he reads this post.))

I've had the best 10 years of my life so far.

(of course I had a great childhood...so Mom, Kevin and Brian...don't feel left out)

When I was young and silly (last year?) I thought we'd celebrate our 10 year anniversary with the traditional gift of "tin or aluminum" or the modern gift of "diamonds."

However, I am much wiser now.

  Unbeknownst to Matt I bought my own 10 year anniversary gifts:

an actual composter

(my neighbor's will thank me for getting rid of my see-through compost bins)

 

and some new workout gear

So instead of the "traditional" gift of Tin and Aluminum I'm quite happy with my 10th anniversary gift of 

Dirt and Sweat!

(Of course, I won't say no to a date night with Matt as well.)

Happy almost Anniversary Matt.

I love you.

wonderful wednesday

 Look what greets me everyday after school.

(It makes missing them all day worthwhile.)

All the way up the drive-way Tyler is shouting, "Momma, Momma!"  He can't wait to tell me about his day.  (especially who was naughty, crazy or wanted to marry him.)  Even Lauren chirps in now and then.  I love hearing about their day and am so happy they still want to tell me about it.

BFF Weekend

We all survived the first week of school.
It was a big adjustment for all of us.
(In addition to separation anxiety, getting up at 6am again is hard.)

To celebrate the first weekend of the school year we all had a fun and relaxing weekend with our BFFs.

I played Bunco.

Matt played Tiger Woods (on the PS3 with the glow wands?)

But, most importantly Lauren and Tyler played almost constantly with their BFFs.

 Tera and Lauren
at the park

BFF picnic at the park

Tera & Lauren

Big Tyler & Little Tyler and Me

Tyler & Troy

in the sandbox

The weekend eventually came to an end and we're back to our weekday schedule now.

The kids are back at school, Matt is back to work and I'm back to making tasty dishes to eat.

Sunday dessert was:

Bourbon Glazed Peaches with Yogurt

(the picture looks funky but they were delish)

Dinner tonight was very kid centered (since Matt is working out of town.)

We had Baked Mozzarella Bites, Kid-tastic Pizzadillas, steamed asparagus and green salad.

It was a Kid-tastic Hit!

(Matt texted to say he had Chicken Fried Steak...I'm still thinking our dinner was better.)

I hope you all had a great weekend and spent some quality time with your BFFs just like we did.