Promises.

There are so many promises that are in the Word of God.  Honestly, I've not read through the entire bible yet.  I'm working on that.  I have also never read the book of Malachi.  But my lands I am in love with this verse. 

I had a meeting with a couple of wonderfully amazing ladies the other night and as I was talking with them, one of them says to me " I feel like God is giving me this scripture for you." We had to look it up, because Malachi isn't just one of those books that most people memorize scripture from.  It's not a Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Genesis, Proverbs, or Psalms.  It almost seems obscure at times.  But man oh man there is some good stuff in there.  I guess I should tell you that this is a picture of something that I had told them that I was looking for.  It's a really long story, and maybe one day I'll share it, but it's still quite a lot to wrap my head around right now.

Will you read through your bible with me this year and discover some of the wonderful promises our Savior has for you?

This is the one I am currently using and am loving it.  It does readings from the old, new and Psalms and Proverbs every day.  To me it keeps things from getting boring.  Because, let's be honest....some of the Old Testament can be a little dry.  

Charlie's Adventure Part 3

Part 1, Part 2

So Monday rolls around and we are both pretty nervous.  We spent the day watching TV, reading, and praying.  And by we, I mean me, because Charlie was pretty knocked out from the anti-anxiety meds they had given him.  Although not so knocked out that he wasn't still pretty nervous about the entire thing.

I had been praying a few times throughout the day that our favorite nurse Wanita would be back tonight since she was so helpful in calming us and is really just an overall excellent nurse.  Shift change comes around and in she walks!  I really couldn't contain my excitement.

When she came in I had told her that I had prayed she would be our nurse that night and I honestly didn't even know if she was working that day.  I then thanked God for small answers.  Wanita was wonderful.  She spent a good portion of the evening "preaching" to us, calming us, and praying with us.  She was amazing!

The next morning she woke us up pretty early (5am, I wasn't even aware there was a 5am!) to start getting Charlie prepped for surgery.  I was thankful she let me assist with this as it helped to take my mind off of what was coming next.

They took Charlie back and once again I found myself in the waiting room.  This was a longer procedure than the first 2 and was to last around 3 hours.  Our pastor came and sat with me the majority of the time and there was also another group in the waiting room that I talked with some and they were super nice.

The chaplain came in about every 30-45 minutes and updated me on the progress of the surgery and let me know that everything was going fine and just as planned.  About 2 1/2 hours into it he came and told me that they were getting ready to close Charlie up and he would be back shortly to take me to the counsel room to wait on the surgeon.

Honestly, this is my favorite part of the story.  I was sitting in the counsel room waiting on the surgeon to come and talk to me.  I really had a peace the entire time Charlie was in surgery, but the longer I sat waiting and the more times the chaplain came by to see if the surgeon had come out yet really started getting to me.  Crazy things started running through my head and I knew it was Satan putting these crazy thoughts in my head.  I threw my hands up in the air and cried out "Jesus!"  That's all I said, that's all I needed to say.  Just a couple of minutes later, I wrote the following entry in my journal:

"Waiting on the surgeon in the counsel room, getting worried because it's taking longer than I think it should."  I hear a small voice, "My child, why do you worry?  Don't you know that I've got this?"  

It still gives me chills typing it out.  Yes, Jesus, I do know that you've got this, and you have had it the entire time.  At that very moment all worry washed away and I was once again peaceful.  Just a few moments later the surgeon came in and told me that he did exceptionally well during surgery and everything went as planned.  He said we should be able to go home in 3-5 days.

I was able to go back to Charlie's room about an hour after he came back from surgery.  Honestly it was a terrible sight.  He was on the ventilator and had tubes coming and going everywhere.  The nursing staff had prepared me for this but there really is no preparation for seeing someone you love lying in a hospital bed on a ventilator.  They kept him on a ventilator overnight and extubated him the next morning so that his body could have some time to rest and recover from the trauma that was his heart surgery.  

The next few days were pretty rough on him, but he did excellent.  Five days after his major surgery we were released to go home!  We were both pretty nervous because we had had a pretty bad ice storm and the roads were in terrible condition.  But we made it and I don't think he had ever been so happy to see that semi-comfortable recliner that sits in our living room!  

Charlie has made amazing progress and I am so proud of how hard he has been working to get to where he is at.  He has been in so much pain and worked through it through physical therapy to regain his strength.  He still has some ways to go but each day is getting a little bit better for him.  He is now almost 6 weeks post-op and doing fantastic.  He should be able to go back to work very soon (hopefully)!  

We appreciate each and every person that lifted us up in prayer during the time he was in the hospital, and those of you that continue to lift him up for continued healing.  You will never know how much it means to us.

Charlie's Adventure Part 2

* If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.

Charlie was being transported by ambulance to Bentonville so that the cardiologist there could do the pericardiocentisis.  I was an absolute nervous wreck.  But when my cousin stepped in the room to transport my husband it really made me feel a little more at ease.  I had just told Charlie a few minutes before they arrived that I had hoped that Brett would be the one taking him over.  Not that I don't have faith in any of the other wonderful EMT/Paramedics that our town has, but there's just something about having someone you completely know and trust being there with him when I couldn't be.

They gave me the directions to the hospital and I took off.  I sat in the parking lot for a good 5-10 minutes waiting for the ambulance to arrive, wondering if I had mistakenly gone to the wrong hospital.  When they finally arrived Charlie and my cousin were giving the driver a hard time because they had never had a family member beat them to the hospital!  And I promise, I drove the speed limit.  I didn't drive fast because I was spending this time in prayer.  It was the only thing that was keeping me calm.

We get up to the ICU and are bombarded with questions.  I'm trying to answer as many of the questions that I can because they immediately started hooking Charlie up to all the different machines and monitors that they needed him hooked up to.  Within about 10 minutes of us being there, they had already come in and started doing several different tests.

About an hour or so after we arrived, our new cardiologist came in and advised us that Charlie would be going to surgery first thing in the morning because there was so much fluid around his heart that it could quickly become an emergent situation.  That really took my breath away.  He doesn't get sick.  He barely gets a cold.  And now we are facing a near emergency surgery!

Honestly, I was scared.  Charlie was scared.  I did my best to keep strong when I was in the room with him, but there were many times I would step outside and cry and scream, beat my fists against the steering wheel, whatever I could do.  I also spent many hours in prayer.  As I said earlier, it was really the only thing that was keeping me going.

The nurse that we had that night before surgery was the best nurse ever!  I know she was sent to be our nurse and God had his hand in it every step of the way.  Her name was Wanita.  She had this amazing accent that I just loved to hear.  I could sit and listen to her talk all day long.  She was from Liberia.  She could see that we were both worried and kept telling us that he was going to be just fine because Jesus had this. She said you just tell Jesus to tell the devil he can hit the road and honey that stinkin' devil ain't got no choice. She said I'm a Jesus praisin' devil stompin' believer and I'm gonna be right here with you and I know you're gonna be just fine. God always knows just what we need right when we need it.

So he gets prepped for surgery, and I go wait in the waiting room.  This is supposed to be about an hour long procedure.  Around the one hour mark, the surgeon came out and took me to the consult room.  He told me that they were unable to do the procedure for a couple of different reasons and that they would be calling in the Cardiothoracic surgeon to make a small incision just below his breast bone in order to do a pericardial window.

So they bring him back to his room and I am able to go back and see him for a little while.  He's in pain, but overall doing pretty well.  Then he looks up at me and asks me the question I had not wanted to answer.  "Surgery?"  I wanted to tell him "No, everything is fine and we'll be going home tomorrow."  But I couldn't do that.  I had to tell him "yes."  I told him through stinging tears in my eyes.  While I watched the tears well up in his.  Surgery is scary.  Anytime.  But when you're dealing with the heart of an otherwise healthy person, it's really scary.

So we prayed.  We prayed hard.  I prayed for him.  He prayed for me.  As scary as it was, this was one of the most precious moments in our marriage.  There is absolutely nothing more amazing than hearing your spouse intercede on your behalf.  As a side note to Charlie's Adventure, I'd like to tell you that if you haven't prayed for your spouse I highly suggest you do.  I plan on doing a post soon about this but just do it!

Back to the story.  They came and re-prepped him for his second surgery and I once again went out to the waiting room.  This was also about an hour long wait, which in the world of heart surgeries is extremely short.  The surgeon soon came and told me that he had done wonderfully and that I could go back to his room and see him in about an hour.  So I ran and grabbed something to eat and came back to his room.

He was soooo sleepy.  He was on morphine.  As much as I hated to see my husband lying in that bed, my husband on morphine is HILARIOUS!  He's always been able to make me laugh in even my darkest days but the words that came out of his mouth while on morphine were fantastic.

The next few days were full of lying in bed, getting out of bed, trying to walk, what seemed like a million different doctors coming in and out, and meds around the clock.  His first surgery was on a Wednesday.  On Friday one of the cardiologist partners came in and told us that the window had not worked.  There was still too much fluid draining and they didn't like that.  So the new plan was to do an open heart procedure to strip the pericardium and also a MAZE procedure to correct the atrial fibrillation.

After having been in the hospital a week at this point and experiencing many ups and downs, I couldn't hold it in any longer.  I lost it.  Right there in front of my husband and the cardiologist.  I had tried so hard to control my emotions and be strong for Charlie while he was in this situation but I just couldn't do it any longer.  The cardiologist was excellent.  He knew exactly what to say to calm us both down and told me in not so many words that he knew I had a great husband because he could see the worry on his face because he knew I was worried.  I was still scared.  Charlie knew it.  We both were scared.  I knew many people that have had open heart surgeries but they were my grandparents and a couple of other people that were my grandparents ages.  Not my husband.  Not someone this young and healthy.

The cardiologist told us that more than likely the surgery would be scheduled for Tuesday because Monday was already booked.  This gave us all day Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to mull over the seriousness of the surgery and worry.  Because that's what we tend to do...worry.  Even though we shouldn't.  We do.  Because even though we know we have Jesus standing right beside us, we are still human and we still have troubles placing it all in His hands like we are supposed to and not worrying one bit.

This was the longest weekend ever.  Luckily for Charlie he was the patient so the doctor gave him some anti anxiety medication.  I on the other hand just prayed and prayed.  I really didn't know what else to do.

To be continued...

This kid...seriously.

Because who's child doesn't pretend they are a cat and drinks milk out of a small bowl?

Charlie's Adventure Part 1

November 23-November 26:

We are sitting at home having a relaxing Saturday afternoon just Charlie, myself, and Brooke.

Charlie lays down for a nap, which I thought was unusual considering it was only about noon. He said he was just feeling a little odd. Not sick, just kinda icky. A couple of hours later he wakes up and as he sits up he holds his chest. I ask him if he is alright and he responds that he just feels some tightness in his chest.

About an hour later I realize that every time he has taken a deep breath, he has grabbed his chest and winced some. I again ask him if he's okay and he responds that he's feeling some discomfort. He likened it to when it is very cold outside and the burning sensation you feel in your lungs as you take a deep breath.

I tell him we should probably go get him checked out just to be on the safe side. I called my babysitter to come watch Brooke and we head out.

In the back of my head I figure he will probably be diagnosed with pleurisy or bronchitis,  we'll get some antibiotics and be home in a few hours.

I never in my life imagined how wrong I would be.

Since he had chest discomfort he was taken straight back and an EKG was performed. Shortly after, the nurse asked if he had ever been diagnosed with any heart problems. I asked her if there was something that showed on the EKG, since when she asked she had a semi-concerned look on her face. She non-nonchalantly said he just has an irregular rhythm. Turns out this rhythm was atrial fibrillation.

We were both shocked. Charlie has never had any serious health issues, and frankly, rarely gets sick.  Even with colds.

They also ordered a chest x-ray which showed what looked to be an enlarged heart.

So, he was admitted. My husband has not been admitted into the hospital since he was 12 years old when he had his tonsils taken out.

Fear, worry, anxiety, shock. I felt it all within about .02 seconds. And I know Charlie felt all of these as well. 

Being that it was a Saturday evening and we were in a fairly small hospital who doesn't really do much on Sunday's,  we had to wait until Monday to find out what was going on. Yes, the Dr came in and spoke to us Sunday, but we didn't have any kind of answer until Monday.

They did an echo-cardiogram,  which is an ultrasound of the heart, and also did a 2 part stress test. Monday they did the first part which required an injection of radioactive dye and a ct scan. Tuesday, the second part of the test was completed in which the inject a medicine to stress the heart while they monitor it on an EKG machine and monitor his blood pressure and then they run another ct scan looking for blockages.

On Monday after the echo, Dr.  Butler informed us that Charlie's heart was not enlarged but that he did have a buildup of fluid in his pericardial sac. This is known as a pericardial effusion.

On Tuesday, the cardiologist informed us he wanted us to be transferred to a different hospital to have the fluid drained from the pericardial sac. And he also finished the stress test which showed no blockages.

So, Charlie was transported by ambulance to Northwest in Bentonville to the ICU.

This is getting super long and there's still many days left, so I'll give you a reading break and do a part 2 soon.

You can now read Part 1 and Part 2.

Short-term Goals

When I say short term, I'm talking within 3 months. I'm trying to set short term goals for myself in 3 month intervals that way I can keep a better gauge on where I'm at. I also have super short term goals which are weekly or monthly goals. Like doing x amount of lunges or squats or walking x amount of miles in a week. I just cannot get the hang of this running thing, at least for now I'm gonna do power walks and maybe eventually work myself up to running. Who knows we'll see.

There is an outdoor gym just over 2 miles from my house. I think it is exactly 2.2 miles. My short term goal is to be able to walk to the gym, get some decent arm and leg workouts in, and walk back to the house.

Last night I had my husband drop me off at the gym (his knee is bum right now) and told him I would just walk home. There is a huge hill (huge for me, elev. is about 120 ft) shortly after I started my walk back to the house and I completely underestimated how much that would take out of me. I got halfway back to the house and had to have my husband come and pick me up. I just couldn't take it anymore.

I really need to work on pushing myself more too. I know my head is giving out way before my body is and it's making me mad. I have to find a way to make myself work through the pain. I will never see results if I keep doing things the way I'm doing them now.

I can really tell that I haven't had hardly any activity whatsoever in the past year. A couple years ago a mile or 2 wouldn't have really bothered me that much and now 1/2 a mile and I feel like I'm dying. I push through until I hit at least a mile but seriously! I can't wait to start seeing this progress!

Getting Started (Even though it's been almost 2 weeks now...)

I can't say for sure how many times before I have said I was going to lose this weight and how many times before I have given up. The difference between then and now is this time I'm determinded. I have never in my life wanted to be healthy as much as I want it right now. I need to be a better example for my children. I need to be the mom that I always envisioned I would be, instead of the mom that is always tired and never wants to do anything. I need to do this for me. I am so ready to feel better, to not hurt all the time. I have had tests done, I know that the reason I hurt so bad is because of this extra weight. (Side note: It's finally raining!! YAY)

Ok, back to business. So what is it about a 30th birthday that will make you reevaluate your life so much? I gave up smoking and other than a few light cravings have absolutely no desire to have a cigarette. I would rather have a good workout than have a cigarette. These are just my Week 1 changes and I know that there are many more to come. I'm trying my best to not get hung up on scale numbers, because I know they don't mean much in the big scheme of things. I'm trying to focus more on eating healthy and exercising. And I have to say, I'm really enjoying this new lifestyle change that has been made....as a family. :)

Baby closet dividers

My best friend, a girl who has been my sister since we were in 5th grade (umpteen years ago!) is having a baby!!!!! I can not tell you how excited I am for her! She's having a precious baby boy.  We had her baby shower this past weekend and I spent several nights up well past my bedtime working on fun projects to give her.  I've still got more stuff that I have to make and I need to get busy because this kiddo is gonna be here before we know it!

One of my favorite things I made was the closet organizers. They are so stinking cute! And seriously easy :) Because I try not to make things unless they are easy! I found this idea on Pinterest of all places ;) She did a little girl theme and they are beautiful!

I started with some pre-cut wood shapes (I'm pretty sure they are Christmas ornaments) that I found really cheap at JoAnn's! I used an Elmer's paint pen and painted the sides of the shapes because they wouldn't be covered by the scrapbook paper and I wanted them to have a finished look. 

Sorry for my blurry, crappy phone pictures!

The next thing was to trace my shapes onto the scrapbook paper.  I used a striped paper for my background and traced the shapes so that when I put them on they wouldn't all be going straight up and down.  I wanted a little variation.  I traced 2 shapes per piece that I had, one for the front and one for the back.

 

 

And cut those puppies out! Seriously, this was probably the longest part just because I was trying to cut these so perfectly.

 

 

 

For some reason, I don't have pictures of the next couple of steps, probably because it was 2 in the morning and I forgot! But seriously it's really easy.  On the original pin that I got this from she has a link to a onesie pattern that I used.  I had to make mine a little smaller because my wood shapes are smaller than the ones she used.  I found this super cute jungle print card stock that I cut the onesie shapes out of (and I lied, cutting the onesies out took FOREVER, I rough cut them and then used my X-Acto knife to get the corners sharp) and then mod podged everything on.  Then I used some scrapbook stickers and put the sizes on and tied some ribbon on.  I used about a 22" length of ribbon for each divider to make sure that there would be enough room to go around the closet rod.  And....drum roll.....here's the finished product!

 

I just love the way these turned out! If I were to do them again though, I would get 2 packages of the stickers so I could put different sizes, such as 0-3, 3-6 etc.  That's more how the clothes are sized but these are gonna be great for now! 



 

A Few of My Sewing Projects

I have been on a sewing/crafting kick lately.  And when I say kick, I really mean obsession.  When I was little I can remember sitting in the living room floor with my Nanny helping her piece a quilt, crochet a rag rug, watching her sew clothes for me or my dolls. She was always doing something crafty. I watched her a lot but don't remember really getting many "lessons" from her.  How I wish I had paid more attention. 

Mom and dad gave me a sewing machine several years ago for Christmas per my request.  After I received it I made a few pillows, some curtains and a few other things here and there. Last year I made my families Christmas stockings, which I wasn't really all that happy with but they worked.

 

I didn't know much about sewing/cutting around corners (our stockings have no toes!) and I didn't really know anything about how to do the hanging ribbons nor the top hems.  I want to make new ones this year since I halfway know what I'm doing. These were from some fabric I had on hand but this year I want to do some a little more season appropriate.  We'll see.
I've been working hard to teach myself how to use the machine and how to do different techniques.  Last week I made my daughter a slouchy tote bag from one of her old hoodies.

 

There are a few things (like the top hem) that I'm not pleased with but I should have done that before I sewed the hems up the side on this one to make it a little easier.  Sweatshirt material isn't really the easiest to work with.  Oh, well.  I'll get better the more I practice.  Today I made a couple things.  I attempted my first applique`, which wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but I will definitely need a LOT more practice!!!! This shirt looks neon green but it's actually about the same color yellow as the dots in the applique` fabric.  Darn crappy cell phone pictures ;)

 

Then I made a cute little pincushion to strap to my sewing machine, because I'm always afraid my tiny little pin case is going to spill when I'm pulling pins out of whatever it is I'm sewing and they are going to spill all over the floor!

 

This was just a little scrap of fabric I had left over from the stockings last year, and is tied on with a ribbon. I'm already loving it!!! So convenient. And then I made a grocery bag holder.  We always have them strung everywhere and I'm so tired of having them all over the place, stuffed here and there and usually getting in my way when I need something.  So, I finally made one! We had one at our house when I was younger and it was nice to just be able to go over grab one and go.  I think it turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself! I'm going to be making a few more of these, so I might make a quick tutorial for you all.  It's so easy, it's ridiculous!

 

I've got a few more projects planned that I won't be able to post until after Christmas, just in case any of my family reads my ramblings, but there will be a few Christmas decorating projects that I'll be posting here and there! So watch out for those :)  Happy sewing!!!

Recipe: Creamy Burrito Casserole

I love Mexican food.  I don’t necessarily love the spice, but the great thing about me making it myself is I can control that part.  Charlie likes his super spicy and it took me a good year after we were married to convince him that not everyone in the world liked their food as spicy as he does his.  He usually doesn’t like mine as well because to him it is bland but for me and the kids it has just the perfect amount of spice.  He can add hot sauce, jalapenos, salsa afterwards if he is so inclined and then everyone is happy.

So, last week as I was preparing our weekly menu, I came across this pin.  It’s a creamy burrito casserole.  Now might be a good time to let you in on the fact that 1) I love creamy foods and 2) I am very fond of casseroles.  Especially when I am cooking.  I can throw everything in one dish, stick it in the oven and be done with it.  And a lot of the times we don’t even have any side dishes with casseroles. 

I saw this recipe and thought it sounded delicious so added it to our menu.  I really even didn’t have to pick up a lot of things from the store because we already had several of the items we needed.  Now when it comes to cooking, I generally use the recipes as guidelines and not an absolute.  That’s why I like it.  I can take something that someone else has done and make it my own.  I generally don’t have to follow the rules. J

And that’s just what I did with this one.  It layers a lot and frankly I don’t like to layer most of the time.  I know I’m lazy.  There I said it.  Now let’s move on.  It’s a great comfort food, and perfect for a chili fall evening.  Anyway, here’s what you’re reading for….the recipe.

  *Note* I doubled this because my kids like to eat but the recipe below is not doubled.

 **Also, the directions I give below are for how I made this but you can see the original directions at the link above.

1lb ground hamburger

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

Shredded cheese *I used cheddar, you can use whatever you like.

½ onion

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Flour tortillas

1 can refried beans

4 oz sour cream

 

**Cook onions and hamburger add seasonings.  In a separate bowl, mix sour cream and soup.  Put ¾ of this mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.  Layer tortillas on top of this mixture.  I took the refried beans, and the rest of the sour cream/soup mixture and mixed with the cooked hamburger at this point.  Now pour your meat mixture over the tortillas. 

 

Layer with cheese, add another layer of tortillas and cover that with cheese. Also, I added a little bit of salsa on top of the picture here just to make it pretty ;)  (We like a lot of cheese in our house) Put it in the oven on 350 for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is really good and melted. 

 

Enjoy! Let me tell you, this is a very filling dish.  None of us could eat all we had even put on our plates and it really wasn't much.  So there was some for lunch the next day as well. 

 

Happy November

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween and are gearing up for a great Holiday season with your loved ones!

I'm in love with Pinterest!

Don't tell my husband though! I have been surfing Pinterest the last week or so while I've been laid up sick and have found so many amazing and easy projects.  I know this is not something surprising to most of you and I have done several Pinterest projects in the past but here lately the crafting bug has bit me and bit hard.

Yesterday I made a bib for a friend who will be having a baby soon (I can't wait to meet this little guy!!) It was my first time sewing sharp curves so it didn't come out exactly like I wanted but I have some time to work on this!  I had cut a pair of jeans off for Brooke and used the cut off part for the denim and the backing is from a receiving blanket that Brooke had when she was little.  This blanket has special meaning for me.  I found out I was pregnant in December of 2007 and had a few issues.  On Christmas Eve we got a phone call that everything was fine and my mom got me this blanket and a few other baby things for Christmas that year.  It was the very first thing she bought for Brooke.

My mom thought of my friend as her other daughter so I know she would be proud to see me making something for her baby boy that she had put thought into for her baby girl :)

Like I said there is still some practicing I need to do for this one but I think if I can bang out a few more then it'll be no problem. I used the pattern found here for this one.

I also made a pair of sleep shorts that was going to be for Brooke but I measured wrong so they were a wee bit small....but seriously the easiest way ever to make a pair of pants and I will definitely be making more! This tutorial is amazing!

This afternoon I made a short sleeve shirt into a long sleeved one.  I found this blog where she takes socks and makes them arm warmers, but I thought I would try sewing the socks onto the sleeves so she wouldn't lose them.  Because I know she would!!! It was so simple and took maybe 10 minutes just because I was going slow to keep my stitches straight and pinning the socks to the sleeves took a little bit, because I used a ton of pins to make sure they stayed put.  But Brooke loves her new-ish shirt!

Hopefully I can get her to take it off soon so she can wear it to school tomorrow!

What are some of your favorite Pinterest projects that you've done?

Peacetime

Yesterday I'm trying to take a nice, hot, relaxing bath.  Just sitting there soaking and listening to some relaxing music on my phone and someone gets a little jealous that mommy is getting alone time.  She starts yelling for me.  I tell her I'll be out shortly, she continues, Mommy I want to take a bath with you.  I tell her she can take one when I'm done. 

Then there's this...

But mommy, she says, I stink! Haha!

This kid will do anything to not let me have a single moment of peace.  But I did end up getting my bath to myself and she doesn't stink anymore as she got a bath as soon as mine was done! Happy Sunday y'all!

Interview B is so much fun!

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
You’re a sweet princess.

2. What makes Mommy happy?
Me!

3. What makes Mommy sad?
Having to spank me.

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
When you say I am a sweet princess it makes me laugh.

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Me!

6. How old is Mommy?
Old!!! (I’m thinking I need to go over this with her again….Mommy will never be older than 25 J)

7. How tall is Mommy?
(holds her arm up) This tall

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Eat ice cream (I have to say the kid is pretty close)

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Text Sassy

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Me! (She’s probably right)

11. What is Mommy really good at?
At being a mommy ;)  (I sure do love this kid)

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Not very good at shooting people (I’m not sure where this came from, but I guess that’s a good thing right?)

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Takes care of my house.

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
Ice Cream!

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Papa told me too.

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A baby Bratz….(Hmmm..)
17. What do you and Mommy do together?
We watch TV together, and we make cookies.

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
We are both princesses.  (I’m loving this kid even more) J

19. How are you and Mommy different?
Our hair is different colors.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Because you always tell me you love me cause I’m your sugarbutt.

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
Papa’s house J

Super Delicious Porkchops

C & I were perusing Pinterest this morning trying to figure out our weekly menu when we came across this pin talking about the best pork chops you will ever eat. We've been buying quite a bit of chicken lately so decided that we wanted to change it up a little and went with pork chops.  This sounded really good and the only ingredients we need to buy were the pork chops and Parmesan cheese.

The original pin had some weird link on it that took me to a beauty blog but the caption on the pin simply said "Pork chops ..dipped in ranch dressing and coated in Italian bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese and garlic".  Simple enough, I thought.  So, C went off to the store and got the few things we needed for this.  I made them tonight and I have to tell you, they pretty much live up to their name.  I'm not sure if they are THE BEST but they are certainly near the top of my list.  And I love something that is delicious and super easy!

I have fixed the link on the original pin after doing a quick Swag search, this had the original picture posted, so I linked this page to the pin.  I did do things a little differently than the original blogger did, mainly because I didn't find the page until after I had already eaten my chop :) But mine still turned out amazing!  So here's how I did mine:

You'll need:

5-6 medium/large boneless pork chops
2 cups Italian bread crumbs (*These are usually at Aldi's for about $.99)
1-2 cups of Ranch dressing (not the seasoning)
Grated Parmesan cheese ( I used an entire small block that I grated myself, we like a lot of cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

Mix bread crumbs and cheese together and pour the ranch in another dish.  Dredge these just like you would if you were going to fry.  Ranch first then the bread crumb mixture.  Also, you want to shake off any extra ranch, you want just enough to have a thin layer for the bread crumbs to stick too.  This will help your chops to crisp up.

I put mine in a 9x13 glass baking dish.  However, after reading the original posting and some of the comments, next time I will use a darker pan with a rack in it to allow the air to circulate all around the chops.  Mine came out a bit soggy on the bottom, but were still yummy!

Next, place in your 400 degree oven and I cooked mine for 25 minutes, make sure to check for doneness before eating.  Raw pork is not something you want to consume.  Mine were perfectly cooked after 25 minutes so it will depend on your oven.  Some of the comments left on the original blog were cooking theirs upwards of an hour.  My chops were also only about 1/2 - 1 inch thick.

You can see here were some of the crumbs were still a bit soggy, but really I didn't mind that so much.  The crisp parts were delicious as well but either way it's totally going to be something that will be made again at this house!  My brother ate dinner with us tonight and he couldn't stop raving about them and about how this is the only way he is ever going to fix pork chops again! 

Enjoy!

Another conversation with B

Four year olds are funny creatures.  They come up with some of the most interesting things to say.  She keeps us entertained on a daily basis and can make even the absolute worst day seem not so bad. 

I decided since the last conversation I did with her was about me that we would do this one about daddy.  She loves doing these and having her "work" published.  She thinks it's super cool for mommy to show here where I put her words on the internet.  I sure do love that little girl.

My Daddy is 4 years old.

His hair is grey and his eyes are blue.

Daddy likes to wear clothes.

He loves to eat chicken.

He is smart because he knows I break things.

My daddy works hard at school.

Daddy always tells me he loves me.

It makes my daddy happy when I’m good.

If he could go on a trip, he would go to the park and he would take the computer.

I really love it when my Daddy is happy.

If I could give my daddy anything it would be a present.

My favorite thing about my daddy is when he takes a nap with me.

 

Love, Brookie

 

 

New Crockpot Family Favorite

A friend of mine sent me a list of crockpot meals last week that had some amazing recipes on it.  There were a couple that sounded exceptionally good and something I knew my family would eat.  I planned my menu out last week and found a great deal on skinless boneless chicken breasts.  There were 8 HUGE breasts in the package for right around $10 and I knew I could make that last for at least 2 meals. 

Today I threw 4 of them in the crockpot with a few things and made a new family favorite meal.  I had intended to make Creamy chicken chilli that was on the list my friend had sent me, but ended up with something just a touch different.  I didn't realize this meal would be bloggable so I didn't take any pictures but I'm going to be super nice and share my made up recipe with you all.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

(Serves 5-6)

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: Crockpot 4 ½ hours on high

 

4 large boneless skinless chicken breast

1 can vegetarian beans
1 pkg cream cheese
1 medium onion (optional)
2 small cans Cream of Chicken soup
¼ carton chicken broth (equal to approximately 1 ½ cups)
Garlic powder
Cumin
Salt
Chilli powder

 

If you wish you can cube up the chicken before you put it in the crockpot, but I just left mine whole.  Put the chicken on the bottom them pour in the beans, cream cheese, onion, cream of chicken, and chicken broth.  I then stirred the mixture up and added the seasonings.  I added approximately 1 -2 teaspoons of each but it will depend on your family’s taste.  Mix all this together again.  I then let mine cook for 4 hours on high and then shredded the chicken, put the lid back on and let it cook for about another half hour on high.  My crockpot has a keep warm function so I turned that on until dinner time.  We served ours with yellow corn tortilla chips and it was amazing!

Seriously, my family could not stop raving about this meal.  My husband took one bite and said this was definitely something he wants to eat again. Let me know your thoughts and if you try this out I would love to hear how you liked it.

 

P.S. I will be doing the drawing for the giveaway tomorrow, so make sure you got your entry in!

Homemade hair detangler

B's hair is crazy curly and crazy tangled in the mornings.  She is also a wee bit tender headed.  M's hair is a super straight but super thick but her hair tangles extremely easy and she is one of the most tender headed people I have ever met.  So in order to keep my girls happy in the mornings I have to use a detangler.

I have been buying it at around $2-$4 a pop depending on which brand we bought.  I was testing a few different brands out to see which one worked better for them.  Well, none of them worked great and I was still having hurting girls.  So anyway, one morning I realized that we were out of detangler and with no time to rush to the store before school, threw a little concoction together.  They don't cry anymore!!! Best thing ever!

Basically all I did was take the top off the empty detangler bottle, fill it about 2/3 full of water, then dump in about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of regular conditioner.  Shake well and spray on.  My girls are much happier in the morning and I am much less stressed out from brushing hair.  This is a great leave in conditioner as well and their hair doesn't look greasy after it dries either. 

This nice little recipe only costs a few cents per bottle (we use Suave organics so I estimate our cost to be approximately .14 per bottle of detangler, price per bottle will vary depending on what kind of conditioner you normally use) compared to the 2-4 dollars we were spending every couple of weeks.

Conversation with a 4 year old

I asked my 4 year old daughter if I could ask her a few questions, to which she replied, "Why? What are you going to do with them?"  I told her I was going to put her answers on my blog.  She said, "Ok, I approve this message, lets get started." She's such a ham. 

An interview with mommy:

1. What is your name? Uhm...hmmm...Brookelyn.

2. How old are you? Uhm...hmmm...4!

3. What is your favorite color? Uhm...hmmm...PINK!

4. Who is your best friend? I have a very nice dog friend, and a Talyn friend, and a Sabra friend, and an Eddie friend, and a Tristan friend, and a Nicklaus friend, and an Eli friend.

5. What is your favorite animal?  Elephant

6.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  A ballerina

7.  What is your favorite movie?  Cinderella

8  What is your favorite book?  Cinderella

9.  What makes you happy?  You mommy!!!! :)

10. What makes you sad?  Spankings

11. What is your favorite food?  Eggs (I thought for sure the kid would say hot dogs)

12.  What is your favorite song?  Sunshine (You are my sunshine)

13.  What is your favorite game?  Girl games

More reasons I love my husband

I told you there would be more reasons that I love my husband. I didn't want you to have to spend hours on end reading one post about why I love him. So I'm breaking it up and plan on making it a series. If you missed the last post you can read it here. Here are just a few more reasons why I love the man I call my husband.

He downloads music he doesn't like just so I can have it. If you know my husband at all you know this is a huge deal. He is a huge music afficiando. There are several bands/musicians that I had never even heard of until he and I started dating. But, most of what I like he doesn't like (mainly country), however, over the last 8 years he has learned to appreciate my music as well. He made me a few mixed tapes (my car didn't have a cd player) while we were dating so I would have what he called great music to listen to. He also came up with the soundtrack that was played at our wedding (I approved of it first) :)

He tells me I'm beautiful nearly every day. He has always done this. It means more now to me over the last year than it ever has. Since I was diagnosed with Alopecia (read more about that here) he has been so supportive and makes sure to let me know that no matter what I look like he will always find me beautiful because it's what is on the inside that makes him love me.

He takes over.  When I'm overwhelmed or feeling defeated or whatever, he makes me stop, sit and fixes me a glass of ice cold water and tells me to just sit there for a while and not to worry about whatever is bothering me.  He then takes over whatever task had me feeling defeated and finishes it.  Maybe not always the way I would have done it but it gets done none the less and I am always grateful for that.

He never fails to make me laugh. I can be in the absolute worst mood and he will find some sort of way to make me smile and/or laugh.  But he also knows the times when I don't want to laugh and will just be there to comfort, console, listen, or whatever he knows I need at that time.



When he sings, he sounds like the lead singer from one of my favorite bands.  Poor guy (just like me) can't carry a tune otherwise but if he's singing along with Crash Test Dummies it's awesome!  And never fails to send chills down my spine and make me smile :)