snowy randoms

i have had a post on my mind for a few days...nothing significant...just random thoughts... :) i always think i should write down what i'm thinking because i will forget...and i do... :) i feel like i had all this wise knowledge to share...hehehe...must not have been too wise or i would have remembered it, huh?! :) i know it's not wise knowledge...just the ramblings going on in my brain... :)

*we enjoyed our first snow day today... it was pure joy to see that Madison & Albemarle was closed this morning around 6... i love having Ry home to have a "shut in" day with the three of us (+2 pooches)... :) it's kinda like the best little present... :) and, from the sounds of road conditions and the fact that the temperatures are going to be in the teens tonight, it looks like we'll have another "shut in" day tomorrow... :)

*i'm even more glad for having a snow day because i have a terrible sore throat and the "feelings" of a sinus infection... :-\ boo hiss...

*we only got around 3 inches of snow...but things just don't operate like they do in the North when it comes to snow removal in VA....and i'm OK with that... :)

*i loved not waking up last night with my sweet daughter... it has been a choppy/sleepless last few days ever since we experienced the fast moving stomach virus on Sunday night... i am still not sure what's going on with her sleep habits - they're puzzling... she slept until 11 AM this morning...yes, 11 AM...no, she isn't a teenager :) she didn't fall asleep until close to 11 last night (again, her sleep schedule is all off...naps are later in the afternoon, so that makes for a late wake up time...which pushes bedtime back...)

*i was all ready to make an assembly line with Ry to get our christmas cards mailed...but alas, i don't have address labels so that i can print off everyone's address... (and now that i think about it, i remember thinking, "i need to get more labels" last year when i printed our addresses :)) i would personally address the cards, but...well, i worked so hard to get all those addresses typed out... :) maybe we can venture out tomorrow afternoon for labels so that people can get our christmas cards before June... :)

*i had a 32 week check up yesterday with the OB...going every 2 weeks now... it's so uneventful, but i guess they have to check your blood pressure and urine for signs of trouble, so that's a good thing, i guess... the doctor told me i was measuring at 34 weeks...probably just the extra layer of fat i have :D i kinda feel like a moose anyway... more bulky than i was when i was preggo with K...

*i was going to make some cookies...but i don't have one ingredient, of course... don't you hate when that happens? i will probably make a different kind of cookie instead... sadly, out of that list i put up almost 2 weeks ago, i've only made one of those recipes... :) yah, i dream big, don't i? :)

*i need to think about starting dinner...and getting K up... :) so i will leave my random thoughts for now... :)

hope you are enjoying your day... :) white stuff or not, i hope it was a good one :)

meals for 12.13.10 through 12.19.10

greetings from frigid VA... we're sitting comfortably in the teens right now... winds blowing around 20-30 miles per hour... so incredibly nice.. it would be better if there was some white stuff on the ground and roads so Ry didn't have to go to work... :)

we had a nice little stomach virus pass through the house in the last 24 hours... the only victim being my poor, sweet daughter... while it was swift, thankfully, i still don't think that there is anything worse than seeing your 2 year old so sick she can't stop shaking and crying... ugh! thankfully, other than a low-grade fever, she's a lot better today/this afternoon... we'll just pray that this is the end... :)

meals for the week... this isn't the original plan for the week - things got changed since i spent most of the day tending to K and snuggling :)

Monday: macaroni soup & grilled cheese

Tuesday: homemade pizza

Wednesday: spaghetti

Thursday: morning star buffalo wings, mac and cheese, and veggies

Friday: take out - TBD :)

Saturday: Ry will be gone for dinner - leftovers for K and me :)

Sunday: Ry will be gone for dinner - leftovers for K and me :)


hope you all have a wonderful last full week before Christmas... :) ENJOY each other and your time together... :)

k-ism

we have interesting meal times here... mainly because my sweet daughter is a very picky eater...
the "every day" things she will eat are:
unlimited fruits
any crackers
cheese (deli sliced american and string cheese-mozzarella)
yogurt (mostly with a straw)
sweet potatoes (on occassion)
toast
waffles
cereal
chips (mainly tortilla)
peanut butter (on crackers, which she will scrape off and eat... she won't eat it on the cracker)
pudding
ice cream
candy
cookies

the main coarse meals consist of:
spaghetti, but only spaghetti, not other shaped pasta
Kraft three cheese mac n cheese
lasagna
pancakes
french toast

i think that's the menu...
so we work, really hard, to encourage K to eat... usually, she will hen pick at what's on her plate...it's rare for her to eat a "good meal," but when she does, we usually try to reward her with dessert... (i've read not to deny children of dessert, regardless if they eat their dinner or not...i'm not sure where i stand on this because i don't understand the "thought" behind it, yet. but i admit that i haven't gotten into the practice of giving K dessert when she doesn't eat her dinner...)

tonight, K had some cheese, spaghetti, applesauce, and some honeydew...
she ate a pretty good meal, so i asked her what she wanted for dessert...a cookie, some pudding, ice cream, etc. she quickly replied that she wanted some candy...

so, i opened up a new bag of holiday M&Ms - dark chocolate - and she loved the red and green candies that we put on her little paper towel...
she's had M&Ms before after Halloween...from her small stash of candy... but she didn't remember what they were...
as she was starting to enjoy her dessert reward, we had this brief conversation...

me: mmmm, are they good?
K: mmmmm, candy....mmmmm... (she picks up 2 or 3 to put in each hand)
me: what colors are they, do you know?
K: (drooling a bit as she talks) rwed and geeen
me: what are the candies called?

she looks down at the few on her paper towel, looks in her hand, and promptly replies, "beans!"

i laughed out loud and told her they were M&Ms...
my poor daughter... :)

meals for 12.6.10 to 12.12.10

well, it's another week already.... :) seems like we just got started on last week... :) but time keeps marching, doesn't it... :) on some days, i long for a pause button for life...

a note on last week's menu... those pillsbury crescent rolls with ham and cheese were so yummy and FAST and EASY... i used ham that we had from some occassion in the past (it was in freezer and i have A LOT more to use)...and i used thin slices of Velveeta as my cheese... yum! :) i'm sure it would be good with deli ham, too... perfect combination of buttery, salty, sweet and just good... :) highly recommended...especially as some of you will probably have leftover ham in the coming weeks if that's your main meat dish for Christmas... :)

this week, i've kind of taken more of a basics menu... i have the goal of making some Christmas cookies, and i don't want to spend afternoons and evenings in the kitchen... so, the meals, while still good, i hope, will be easier and quick... :)

on the Christmas cookie front, while i don't know what i will make on what day, i've decided that i am going to be making:

• my great-grandma's sugar cookies (cut outs)
• maybe some other sugar cut out cookies (a recipe from a past student's mom that were SUPER yummy)
• the infamous ricotta cookies
• raisin puff cookies
• salted caramel thumbprint cookies
• and maybe some buckeyes...

all the cookies, except for the salted caramel thumbprints and the "other" cut out sugar cookie recipes are family recipes... :)
looking at that list is kind of daunting, honestly :) hehe :) but, it's my hope to get a package ready, with cookies, to send to my grandma. she's impossible to shop for (what can you get a lady who is about to turn 89? :)) and loves to have some cookies and things of that sort to snack on... she was the most INCREDIBLE cook...but a stroke took her ability to read and she doesn't see too well, either... so i figured these cookies would be perfect and comforting, too... :)

ok...our meals for the week... :)

• Monday: rotisserie chicken (thank you, Sam's Club :)), mashed potatoes, veggies
• Tuesday: Navajo soup (the "friendship" soup for Sarah and me :))
• Wednesday: leftover chicken and fixins
• Thursday: leftover Navajo soup
• Friday: blintzes
• Saturday: christmas cookie party at the Strongs (we're taking a super simple but yummy hormel chili dip)
• Sunday: tacos

i hope everyone has a great week! :) ENJOY your time together :)