Back in the Swing

C finally had another baseball game last night! The games and practices had been rained out for the last 2 weeks. It was sort of like we were starting all over. C did really well! He played catcher for a few innings, but he told us that was boring. The funny thing about that is that he hasn't fielded a ball in the outfield the entire season (not his fault, they just don't go out there that much at this age :), so playing catcher could not be any more boring than just standing in the outfield! This is my cousin M (the one whose wedding we are all in in a few weeks) trying to reclaim his seat :) You can see a little someone tried to take it.

This morning AP was cracking me up with her wardrobe choices so I had a little photo shoot with her. That is her beach hat and you can't see that she has on her green Rudolph socks with her tennis shoes :)

And here is another one of AP's hair masterpieces. I considered trying to rock the side ponytail and bang bow at church tonight, but decided I would be a distraction to the 2 and 3 year olds I teach :)

Things I'm Loving

My most favorite thing right now...

Those are our open windows! The weather today is absolutely gorgeous in our neck of the woods, even if it did take us forty days of rain to get here. It was totally worth it.

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Taco Melts!! At the encouragement of a friend I tried this recipe for our small group meeting yesterday. There were just a few left and the kiddos LOVED them. So I thought I'd share another recipe since I'm in a sharing mood (I think it has something to do with the open windows :)

INGREDIENTS :
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso® taco seasoning mix
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef, cooked, drained
1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated biscuits (any variety)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Mexican cheese blend (4 oz)
1 cup sour cream, if desired

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. In medium saucepan, cook taco seasoning mix, water, 1/2 cup of the salsa and cooked ground beef until thickened.
3. Press each biscuit into 6-inch round. Fill each with taco mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese. Fold dough over filling and press to seal. Place on greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 9 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with remaining salsa, cheese and sour cream.

I cooked 1 pound and a half of ground beef and was able to make 16 melts using 2 cans of biscuits. Easy and yummy!

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I love how cute these pails turned out. I am a member of a one man committee that welcomes new babies into our church. (I'm not complaining about the one man part. I love doing things like this, it's my happy place :) I found a great deal on these galvanized metal pails and added polka dots and furry trim.

Then I found a bigger metal tub that I thought would be perfect for a baby basket that C's class is putting together for an auction at their school.

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And last, but not least, C's first real school picture! Love it!

(yes, I took a picture of the proof)

Oh Mickey You're So Fine

Yesterday was Mickey and Minnie day at C's school to end their week of studying the letter M. I couldn't resist a picture of C and his little friend in their matching shirts!


Later that night the same two met up at a birthday party. Notice the wardrobe changes, they were dressed as superheroes for the birthday party theme.



The kiddos went nuts over the Spiderman pinata!!


As we were leaving the park, two teenage boys came over with their skateboards and were entertaining the kiddos that were left at the party. They had their undivided attention. I heard the kiddos yelling out scores to the boys. There were also lots of shouts of "You are awesome!" (I just noticed when I posted this picture that my son is sort of doing the plumber thing!)


Then this morning I took the kiddos to another friend's birthday party. The kiddos got their faces painted there and both chose footballs in honor of the UT game today!


As soon as we got home it was time for the boys to load up and head to Knoxville for the UT/Ohio game tonight. Our friends were taking their son for his birthday so they all went together. What a fun birthday he will have!

Some Days You Just Have To Be A Ninja

I have this theory that after twenty non-stop days of rain (I really don't know if it has been twenty, but it feels like it), children start to go a little crazy!!! At least mine do. They can only take so many days of not getting to run wild outside and expend some energy. We'll call it the cooped-up-until-they-lose-it theory :)

This is what I am attributing C's decision to become a ninja at school today to. He had an incident of "karate chopping" a friend during his related arts class and then "ninja kicked" a friend on the playground. Geez. This is from my laid back, non-aggressive child. When we talked about it after school, C said "I looked in S's eyes.... and I could see that he wanted to fight." Seriously?! We had a long talk about keeping our hands and feet and all ninja moves to ourselves, at least until we get home.

When we got home this afternoon, there were a few rain-free hours that we took full advantage of with a few friends. Shortly after these pictures everything was wet again :(

Popping bubble wrap is always fascinating! I kinda wanted to jump in myself, but they popped it all :)

They said they had to ride 100 laps.

How cute are they?? I can't wait to show them these pictures when they are in high school.

If AP Called The Shots

• She would always choose her own clothes with NO input from anyone resembling a parent
• She would wear a "mommy" shirt and jeans every day
• She would wear multiple necklaces, bracelets, and headbands
• She would wear her hear "in the back", meaning in a ponytail, with "no bow cause it makes me mad" (yes, this breaks her bow-loving mama's heart and I still force them some days)
• She would pierce her ears and her nose!
• She would have a tattoo
• She would listen to music "really loud" and fast, there would be no ballads allowed
• She would eat chicken with "manch" (ranch) at every meal, but she sometimes might allow pizza rolls for breakfast
• She would drink only strawberry soy milk
• She would chew the same piece of bubble gum for days on end (she saves it on her dresser at night)
• She would always ride with the windows down, even if it was raining
• She would sleep in her swimsuit
• And she would fix mommy's hair every day!

Am I raising a teenager or a preschooler????!!!!!

It's Football Time in Tennessee

Actually, it's been football time for three weeks now, but you really KNOW it's football season when you break out the tailgate foods and football-shaped crock pots :) We went to a little tailgate party today to watch the Vols play in The Swamp. I made a new dip that I fell in love with and friends raved over, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Beefy Beany Cheesy Dip

1 lb ground chuck

1 medium onion, chopped

2 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese, softened

1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chilies

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 (8 oz) pkg. shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers

1 ( 8 oz) pkg. shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 2 quart baking dish. In a large skillet combine first two ingredients and cook until beef is browned and crumbles. Drain well. Stir in cream cheese, beans, and chilies. Cook, stirring frequently until combined. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream, cumin, chili powder, salt, Monterey Jack and 1 cup cheddar. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake 30 minutes or till hot and bubbly. Serve with Fritos.

I found the recipe on BooMama's Diptacular Post. Seriously, if you ever need a dip recipe, this is THE place to look. There are over 260 dip recipes there!! This one is actually a Paula Deen recipe, so you know it's good!

Here we are ready to cheer on our team!

Look Honey

This afternoon I was cooking dinner and Hubs was on the computer and I said to him "Did C just go down the driveway on his bike without training wheels?" You see we had taken the training wheels off his old bike a few months ago and he FREAKED. He wouldn't even sit on it, didn't want to try, I think there were actually tears involved. But, in true C fashion he tried when he wanted to and on his own terms and mastered it within ten minutes!! Hubs went out to help him a little and he was so proud of what he had accomplished!!

Seeing Triple

Tonight was my first experience with triple coupons at H@rris Teeter. They TRIPLE all coupons up to 99 cents (just for the special promotion time). That's a big deal. The only catch is that you can only use 20 coupons at a time. I wanted to see it for myself so we made the drive to the other side of town. You know what I saw there? Other ladies with their binders out and counting their coupons! There are some serious deal seekers at Harris Teeter. I was really impressed by a young girl who was checking out next to me. Her total was $60 before they scanned her coupons, and her out of pocket cost was $6!! So here is how I fared. I got everything above. The total before tax and coupons was $57, my total after coupons..... Just over $16. Not too bad.

Witch Finger

If I haven't mentioned it yet, C is doing great in kindergarten! He is learning so much, so fast. He can read short books all by himself and is acing all of his spelling/reading tests. He is still not the best at sitting still and staying focused, but he's learning nonetheless! Yesterday was the first time that he got to bring home a special book from the classroom for us to read and send back. His teacher also sent home a special witch finger to wear. She is teaching them to track where they are in the sentence with their finger and this was just a fun way to do it.

He read the entire book to me with no help at all!

AP followed along with him.

But, she wasn't too sure about the witch finger!