what ya got cookin'

I've been trying to branch out of my regular go to meals and add some variety to our menu.  Of course, Pinterest always comes through for me.  I made this cheesy veggie black bean tortilla casserole the other night and it was really good.  Jason even liked it and it didn't have meat in it.  I left the tomatoes out because I have an aversion to warm tomatoes (unless it's spaghetti), but it would be good with shredded chicken and a side of salsa and sour cream.

 

 

via:NutriciousTip.com

I've recently started liking pesto, whether it's pasta dishes or sandwiches, I'm obsessed.  I've never actually made anything with pesto, but decided to give it a try.  I did a variation of this recipe.  I just got thin chicken breasts and spread them with pesto, sprinkled them with mozzarella, and rolled them up.  I skipped breading the chicken.  It was really good!

 

 

via:Kalyn's Kitchen

 

I stumbled on this recipe a while back when I was taking a meal to a friend.  I doubled the recipe so we'd have one for ourselves.  It was SO good and best of all, Bryce LOVED it.  He even requested it for his birthday dinner. 

 

 

via:Mess for Less

 

What's a yummy dinner without a yummy dessert?!?  I've been participating in a wonderful bible study for the past 8 weeks and the ladies fix us the best meals each week.  One week lunch was a tailgate theme and we had this peanut butter dip for dessert.  I can't even begin to tell you how good it is.  I made this for our small group this wee and I got pretzels, mini vanilla wafers, and chocolate graham crackers for dipping.  I think apples would also be good for dipping too!

 

 

via:Crazy for Crust

 

This obviously isn't something you can cook, but you can buy it!  I'm not a big fan of yogurt, I think it's a texture thing for me.  I was really nervous to try greek yogurt, but I do love dark chocolate so I decided this would be a good place to start.  I only bought a single container at first just in case I didn't like it.  Let's just say, I went back the very next day for the four pack because it was just THAT good.  Go get you some!

 

 

Happy eating, y'all.

 



the rest of the week

Last night Taylor's school was having a fundraiser at a local pizza buffet place with games like Chuck E Cheese.  It's one of the kids' favorite places.  After dinner we headed to the arcade for a few games.  Emmy won right off the bat!

 

 

Bryce couldn't let his sister get ahead.

 

Chase had to come over and see what the fuss was all about.

 

Counting the tickets at the end is the best part.

 

Bryce had the letter "V" for show and tell today so he took in Virginia shaped cookies. 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but they actually still looked like Virginia after I iced them.

 

While Bryce was at school eating cookies and making volcanoes, Emmy was at home looking cute and having a play date with her friend Avery.

 

Jason got a package in the mail today with TONS of packing peanuts.  Bryce predicted there were 500 of them in the box.

 

Jason and Bryce put the peanuts in piles of 10 and counted them up.  They had 294. 

 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

I can't keep up

I want to get back to better blogging, but I just don't take the time to take many pictures any more and that upsets me.  I tried to get a few snapshots of our days this week.

 

 

We had a picnic at the park on Saturday to enjoy another day of spring weather.  Except it wasn't really spring weather and the wind made it feel like winter.

 

Jason and I had a dinner Saturday night for my bible study I've been doing so the kids spent the night with Nana and Pap.  It's always a good time!

 

Emmy wasn't quite herself on Sunday morning when we picked her up.  She has been a bit under the weather with teething symptoms (all 4 molars), but Sunday was different.  It was our Sunday to teach so we went ahead to church, but I decided once we got settled to let Jason take over and I'd go home with Emmy.  As I picked her up to leave, she got sick all over me.  Luckily that was it for the day.  We went home and got cleaned up and I painted her toenails and then she fell asleep on the sofa.

 

Bryce went home from church with MeMa and he came home with the Frozen movie.  It was a cold and rainy day so it was perfect to put on pajamas and relax.

 

Jason even joined us when he got home from a youth event.

 

Nanny took us out to dinner on Tuesday and we headed to Sweet Frog for dessert afterwards.

 

I needed a few more things from the grocery store yesterday so I let the kids get their own carts and they had tons of fun.  Such great helpers.

friday funday

We got a little taste of spring on Friday so we soaked it all up because it may be snowing again by Tuesday, ugh!!

 

 

We invited Thomas over for the afternoon since his house was filled with girls for his sister's birthday party.

 

Emmy girl loves the cozy coupe.

 

Love that it was warm enough for snack outside in the sun. 

 

Emmy and I had fun drawing with chalk.

 

Once Jason got home we headed to Subway for dinner before we traded kids.

 

Emmy and I stayed behind while the boys went to an arena race with Jason.

 

Unfortunately, Jason had Emmy's only paci in his pocket when he left, so we had to go to Target to get more.  Emmy LOVED picking them out.  I was really hoping to get rid of Emmy's current paci once she chews it up, but I couldn't try to rid the paci last night because she's working on all four molars and there is no way I'm going to make her sleep without it!

 

These two boys love racecars and couldn't wait for the race.

 

They stayed for the entire race.  I guess maybe the cotton candy gave them a little energy boost to last until 10:00.  Boy that's late for a five year old!

 

They had a great time.  Who wouldn't love a night of racing with their best friend?!

just some things

I am so glad we don't live any further north than we do (which we really aren't north at all).  I cannot imagine winter being any colder and snowier than it has been here this year.  People up north would laugh at that comment, but enough is enough.  I thought these next few pictures would be fun.

 

Here are Bryce and Chase at our new house on March 20th when we moved in 4 years ago.

 

Here is the view out our back door today, March 18.  Can you see why I'm so OVER winter.  I'm used to sun and short sleeves by now!

 

The kids were out of school yesterday so Bryce missed yet another fun school day.  At his age, he doesn't really look forward to snow days, because he only goes to school three days a week for three hours at a time and they still do FUN stuff.  Already this year, they have had to postpone pancakes and pajamas day for the letter P, the Valentine's party, and Dr. Suess' birthday celebration, and now their green day snack for St. Patrick's Day, all due to SNOW!  When I was teaching, there were years we couldn't even buy a snow day and now look at us, ha! 

 

I just had to add this because it is hilarious.  Jason and I went out to dinner on Saturday night and passed the Peeps car on the interstate on the way home.  Too funny!

T.G.I.F.

Thankfully there wasn't any snow this week and we were able to get back to our regular routine!  I personally love the effects of the time change.  The kids are sleeping until 8 am and there is more sunlight in the evenings.  The kids enjoyed the rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel after dinner on Monday night.

 

 

The weather was supposed to be decent on Wednesday, but a little rain snuck into our plans.  We headed to the park after school and played for about 10 minutes before heading to the cars for a picnic.

 

The big kids ate in one car with Ms. Barbara.

 

Emmy and I ate in our car and it didn't take long before we were wrapped up in our picnic blanket because the rain and wind were cold.

 

Jason was off today so we headed to Home Depot for supplies to start repairing our deck.  Emmy was content to ride and draw!

 

Macy had a little issue this morning so we took her to the vet and she came home with a new accessory.  Poor thing has to wear the cone for a week.  It's pitiful trying to help her eat and drink and just get comfortable laying down.

 

Bryce had his first baseball practice of the season tonight.  Jason is coaching again this season and it looks like I'm going to end up being team mom again.  We'll be back at the ball field again tomorrow and Monday for practice.  Spring sports are here, I just wish the spring weather was here to go with it!

longer days and lots of fun

Saturday as WARM and SUNNY.  Two things that make us VERY happy!  We went and watched Chase play basketball and I had the kids stop and pose for a picture since they looked so cute in their shades.

 

 

Seating was slightly limited this week, but Emmy and Taylor were happy to sit on the stage steps to free up some seats.

 

Chase's biggest fans were there to cheer him on.

 

Jason went to a VCU game on Saturday night and brought home some treats for the kids.  They were the perfect accessories for church!

 

Luckily the sweatbands came off before their performance during church.  This Sunday was youth Sunday so the kids got to perform a song they have been practicing on Wednesday nights. 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Bryce and Chase went up to church to play basketball this afternoon so I kept the girls at our house.  Emmy had so much fun having Taylor over to play.

 

The longer days are here.  Now we're hoping the weather warms up so we can enjoy some evenings outside!

make up your mind

I probably say this every year about this time, but this has been the longest winter EVER.  I know the time frame of winter is the same every year, but I don't think it's typically this cold or snowy.  I'm tired of the 60-70 degree weather that has been teasing us on the weekend only to turn super cold and snowy during the week!  This past Sunday we were outside enjoying every bit of the spring like weather, knowing full well that the following day old man winter would rear his ugly head again.

 

 

The boys spent the afternoon playing baseball, jumping on the trampoline and playing basketball.  They were hot so Jason finally convinced them to take their shirts off to play.  The boys were hesitant, but Jason insisted that basketball players play without their shirts, ha!  Jason got his seeds planted for this year's garden and now my kitchen has been turned into a green house until the sun and temperatures cooperate long enough for some outside time.

 

By Monday morning we were snowed in and school was cancelled and I had two kids already getting on each other's nerves.  I set Bryce up with a puzzle on the kitchen table and tucked Emmy into her rocking chair with the magna doodle for a few minutes of sanity.  Luckily Jason only worked for about an hour before heading home. 

I was so thankful that Jason took the kids out to play so I didn't have to!  I've taken advantage of these lazy snow days and have actually done some deep cleaning around the house!

 

Bryce went over to MeMa's house today while Emmy was napping and had fun building a snow fort with Chase.  I'm pretty impressed! 

 

I sure do hope this is the last of the snow.  I want spring!!

 

And just for fun, here are two songs I'm really enjoying right now!

 

 

Chris Tomlin - Lay Me Down

 

 

Mercy Me - Shake