Wordless Wednesday

The house to myself....ahhhh what a feeling....

For the first time in over a week, the kids are all back to school.  Last week with our snow and ice, the girls were out of school for the full week and even the college closed up until Thursday for Tyler.  With yesterday being a holiday, they were all home again.  I love my children dearly and love to spend time with them.  There comes a time, however, when I need my space.  I now have a moment to think about all the things that I need to get done, but now want to only sit and enjoy the empty house.  I guess I can allow myself the time to enjoy the moment before proceeding to accomplish some much needed tasks.

One the agenda for the week is to begin planning for our August Disney Vacation.  This is something that I enjoy and can't wait to have everything all planned.  I can make our dining reservations on February 15th.  I hope that the park hours for August are online soon so that I can properly plan!!  A month or so prior to our trip, I will purchase the Ride-Max software again (ridemax.com).  This is the most awesome planning tool and is well worth the money.  I recommend it to anyone headed to Disney that doesn't want to spend the majority of their day standing in lines. 

Smiles and fun is what it is all about, not the lines.  I can't wait to spend a week at Disney with my family this summer!!

E-Readers

I'm looking into an E-reader again, but I've come into the same problem as before....choices!  Now some may think that having a selection to choose from is a good thing, for me, it seems to make my mind spin.  I've got too many different directions to go in and I'm not sure which direction is right for me.  The Kindle is a popular choice, but seems to have drawbacks.  A popular format (EPUB-?) is not supported on the Kindle.  The Nook-color sounds fabulous, but wouldn't be so good in the sun.  How often will I need to use it in the sun?  Both allows you to share books, but only once.  Who would I share with?  Hubby has an off brand E-reader, Astak or something and he seems to be happy with it.  He reads those nerdy publications and the older out of copyright books that I'd NOT be interested in.  I'm glad it works for him, but I'd rather stay in the mainstream market.  You see my dilemma?  This is just the tip of the iceberg of questions and concerns I have about e-readers.  All the bells and whistles they have added entice me, but will I use them.  The Nook can be used as an MP3 player and seems like a good thing.  Will I use it? 

So friends, I guess I need to further research and ask those of you who have e-readers to help.  What do you have?  Do you love it?  What are the pros and cons of the model you have?  Give me the good, bad and ugly! 

Wordless Wednesday - Oh how they grow!!

So funny!! I love to watch this over and over!

 

This is Sarah at the Great Wolf Lodge, spring 2010.

Back on the bandwagon....

I know I've been out of the blogging loop for quite some time now.  I'm going to give it my best shot to get it going again and keep it interesting.  I've joined another cooking group which will help me to blog at least once per week, but I hope to have more than that one post per week.  As my life goes, I'm very busy.  In saying, I must end this post to go straighten the hair of my 12 year old daughter. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Wedding Planning Blues on a Rainy Day!

Perhaps part of my mood is due to the rainy, dreary weather that we've had for several days. I think it's more to the fact that a girl (of any age) shouldn't have to plan her wedding without her mother.

I went to David's Bridal a few months ago and bought my dress. I went alone. If my mother couldn't be with me, I didn't want anyone with me. Today, the girls and I went back to David's for our dress fittings. I would have gone alone today also, but it would save me trip to have the girls get fitted on the same day. It may have helped me to have my girls with me. I think they kept me busy enough not to have a complete meltdown. I'm home now and all I want to do is crawl in bed and cry.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle the actual wedding day without my Mother. I am barely coping now. There are so many times that I want to pick up the phone and call her only to realize that I can't. I do still have her cell phone number in my phone. I've thought of dialing it many times, but I don't know what my reaction would be if the number was now answered by someone else.

Mom, I really miss you.

Avon

In all the hustle and bustle of wedding planning, dance competitions, SAT preps, Inline Hockey signups and everyday life I am now finding the time to post a short little blog.

I received a short letter from my SIL, Sandi yesterday. It's always nice to hear from family and to see how they are doing and what they are up to. Sandi is now selling Avon online and sent me a few business cards. In addition to handing the cards out to a few people, I thought I would advertise for her on my blog. In today's economy, everyone needs a little extra help. If you are an Avon shopper or if you are new to Avon and want to look at the products, take a look at Sandi's site. I just placed an order and got free shipping!!

Happy Saint Patty's Day everyone!!

What's for dinner??

I have found that I like to try new recipes. I run into problems when we find recipes that the kids really like (tough problem - huh?) and they want that recipe over and over. How am I supposed to continue to try new recipes if the kids only want the items they are familiar with and KNOW that they will like?

Here is a recipe that I found back in the early fall and have made it several times. Sarah especially loves this. It's really easy to put together on a busy night and tastes great too.

Baked Ravioli

1 lb ground beef OR ground turkey OR Italian sausage
1 bag frozen cheese ravioli
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
28 oz jar spaghetti sauce

-Pre-heat oven to 350
-In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown ground meat, breaking up as it cooks: drain: stir spaghetti sauce into meat.
-Spread a small amount of meat mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan.
-Layer 1/2 of the raviolis evenly in the bottom of the pan; sprinkle 1/2 of the remaining sauce over the raviolis; sprinkle 1/2 of the cheese over the sauce.
-Repeat layering once with remaining ingredients.
-Bake for 30 minutes.


This recipe is very easy to add veggies to if you would like. I always double the recipe and I often make to versions. I make a regular pan for the kids and then for the second pan I add red pepper flakes to my sauce to spice it up a bit and add some veggies as well. I usually just look into the fridge and add what ever I might have in the veggie drawer. I have added mushrooms, broccoli, squash, zucchini, onion, carrots, etc. It's really up to your tastes and imagination.