Grandbaby Gender Reveal!!

Happy Tuesday to you!  Hope you're having a great day!  I'm not sure if I ever told you all..... But Stephanie and Ryan are going to have a baby!!!  She is due on July 8th and we are sooooooooo excited to meet this little one!!!  She is now 21 weeks along, and we just found out the gender, so I wanted to share that with you and how they shared the news with us!


They wanted to do a gender reveal party, but, since everyone is so busy, they gave us a scavenger hunt of sorts!  Ours was at our house, they did one for Ryan's parents at their house and they did one for Steph's mom also.  We were supposed to be at our house at 6:30pm for the big news. Andrew even came home from college for the big reveal, and Cooper was pretty excited too!!  We weren't how it was going to happen, but we got a text to make sure we were home at 6:28, then at 6:30, we (Tim and me) got this:

So, we looked behind the clock and taped to it was an index card.....  You can read the clue below.....

That was EASY!  Andrew is the biggest Detroit Lions fan I know, so we ventured into his room and looked inside his piggy bank. (Yes, it is ok for a 20 yr old to have a piggy bank.)  Once inside, we found clue #2, below:

Again, EASY.  The closet underneath the staircase has all of our games in it, so we had to find Connect Four and voila, ther was the clue!

Hmmmm, Monkeys, again, easy as pie!  Cooper's is known as our little monkey, so we looked under his bed.  Turns out the clue was taped to the bottom of his mattress, but we found it! Clue #4:

So.... out to the garage pantry where Hubby keeps his beer.  Ha.  Under that, we found clue #5:

Hmm, again, SIMPLE.  Cooper's Ball PIT!!!  Once we had that clue, we found a little white envelope taped to the bottom of his ball pit.  Inside was a pink card, that read this:

So there you have it!  We're going to have a grand-daughter and her name will be Kampbell.   We will be super excited to welcome this little baby girl into the world come July! 

We were so touched by the way that Ryan and Stephanie did the big reveal.  It was a fun time and it made us all feel super special.

Thanks for reading, I hope you all have a great day!

Meal Plan Monday

So, I’ve decided I’m going to *try* to share our weekly meal plans with you all each week.  I’ll also try to make sure I have a recipe for you so that you are able to take these plans an incorporate into your meal plans if you want.  Since this is my first post, I’ll need some feed back – please give me good and bad.  I appreciate all suggestions!!

First thing to note.  I come up with 5-6 meals for our plan (this week I have 7), and I DO NOT choose what day we’re having what (except when I’m going to be gone, then hubby has Manwich, more on that later).  We tend to change our minds from one day to the next, so I just plan one night ahead. 

Second, I said I plan one night ahead, because, I try very hard to make the next night’s meal the night before, once Cooper is in bed.  This way when we get home, I can spend as much time with my munchkin as possible.

Third, we have found that planning is key for us to keep in check with out weight watcher’s points calculating.  Each day we know how many points we’re having for dinner, so that makes it easy to plan breakfast, lunch and snacks.  This planning also helps us when grocery shopping, we know exactly what to buy since we know what we’ll be eating.  Grocery shopping is so smooth these days.  I don’t mind going at all.  Ok, on with the plan…..

Here ya go!

• Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake (I used light cream cheese and cooked the onions with the chicken with some pam so no oil, 56 weight watcher points in the entire recipe, we get about 8 servings)
• Tacos (ground turkey with taco seasoning, high fiber tortillas, light sour cream, low fat cheese, tomatoes, salsa, each taco has about 4 WW pts with 2 oz meat, 1 tbs sour cream and 1/2 oz cheese)
• Rosamarina Chicken (Chicken in the Wok) or here I provide weight watchers points on both links
• 2x4 (weight watchers points included on link)
• Stir Fry (we add about a pound of diced chicken to 1/2 of the bag and use 1 sauce packet)
• Grilled chicken with sautéed broccoli and mac and cheese (I season chicken with Weber Grill seasonings, sauté broccoli with light butter, beau monde seasoning and minced garlic, and I’ll substitute low fat cheese and skim milk in the linked mac and cheese recipe.  I will calc points for mac and cheese and let you know how it turns out when I make it, this is a new recipe for me.
• Sloppy Joes (Manwich, high fiber low fat hamburger buns and 1 lb ground turkey), and whatever else hubby wants to make.  This is for Tuesday night because I don’t like Manwich and I am going to visit a friend that night)

Well, there ya go,  this is our meal plan this week.  What do you think?  We usually eat pretty decent, we like a lot of casserole/combination type meals, and we often have left overs for weekend meals/lunches.  You’ll probably find more soups, pasta bakes and other combination meals here than usual places.

Let me know if you found something you like!  Share some good recipes with me!!  I love trying new things, just remember, hubby and I are on weight watchers, so we’ll skinny down everything as much as we can!

Have a great Monday!!!

 

old pictures from our honeymoon

So last night, I was perusing through some old pictures.  I found a few from 2008. 

These three are from our honeymoon.  We went to Gatlinburg, TN and visited Dixie Stampede.  Hubby got called down to play horseshoes with toilet seats.  It was a great time.  He won.  and they congratulated us on our wedding.  It was fun.  There he is center stage with the host of the show.

This picture is in our cabin, the hubby decided that he would put some a pair of each of our underwear on the antlers of this deer.  the window above was our bedroom in the cabin and he hung them out the window.  He’s a crazy crazy man.

On our way out of town, we stopped at a knife shop.  I used to watch a knife show every Friday night with my dad, so this was a fun stop for me.  and.  I look at this picture and think, I want back in those jeans.  I’m going to get there, that was one of my “skinnier” days.  I still needed to lose some more, but I was closer than I am today.  I’ll get there.  Hubby thought it was funny that I was so diligently looking at knives.

That was a blast from the past.  At least I blogged today.  ha.  Enjoy your Thursday!

My boy & photo booths

This past Saturday, on our way up to visit Andrew, Tim had a quick meeting and it was at Bob Evan's. Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I am not a big fan of that place, but I went along like a good wife. While we were there, Cooper found the photo booth app on the iPad. We He had some fun! Enjoy!

Have a great Tuesday!

Meal Plan Monday? Should I share??

Happy Monday to you all.  How was your weekend?  Ours was good, see this post to find out what we did.  We pretty much stuck to that plan except for my lunch with Aly was canceled, due to family circumstances.  Anyway, it was a good weekend.  I even fit in the meal planning and grocery shopping!  Score.

So, I've been going back and forth with sharing my weekly meal plans with you and how we either stuck to them or failed.  Would anyone be interested?  I can also share the recipes I use and the weight watcher points values if you'd like.

Let me know, and I'll work on that for next week!

Oh, and a GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT to HOLLY!  That girl is making strides with her weight loss and she has been a great support for me, you're doing awesome babe!

Have a great day!!  The sun is shining here and I'm loving it!!

The Weekend Ahead

I THINK...

Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to having two days off work, but this weekend will be busy and this Mama needs a little down time if you know what I mean!!!

Tonight should be pretty normal, home to get dinner ready, play with, the monster, Cooper for awhile, and at 7:30, Stephanie and I are off to my neighbor's house for a Lia Sophia party.  Thankful that I have a husband that is willing to endure the bedtime madness tonight.  I have a necklace of Lia Sophia's along with two pairs of earrings, and I LOVE some of their stuff, but it's more than I like to spend on jewlery that I only occasionally wear.  I'm a cheapskate, what can I say???

Tomorrow the family is heading up to visit Andrew at BSU.  We'll visit campus, take him and possibly his gf Sami out to lunch.  Then visit some more and head home.  Tomorrow evening we're having a visit with some other folks.  Should be a good day, abeit a busy one.

Sunday....  We aren't going to church, it seems the measles have broken out in Indianapolis, and specifically at our church.  They have advised anyone with little ones and those who are unsure about their measles innoculations to steer clear.  So hopefully we'll watch the service streaming from the web.  Then I have a hair appointment and am off to a late lunch with Aly.  We've been scheduling things and keep having other things pop up so we're going to *hopefully* make this one happen. 

Now, somewhere in all of that - I need to meal plan, put together a grocery list and go shopping for the miscellaneous items we'll need for the week.  I'm not sure where yet, but I'll figure out a way!

What's on your agenda for the weekend?  Whatever it is, make it happy and safe!!

POTW

I'm linking up with Aly today to share my product of the week.



Aly's Blog



My product this week is this wonderful Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion.  This stuff is the best.  It goes on smooth, not at all greasy, and it is fragrance free, so that it doesn't interfere with any perfume.

I discovered this lotion at work, a friend had it on her desk and I had to sneak over every day and steal a squirt or two :)   This stuff is truely amazing.  My hands feel so good after I apply this stuff daily.  And it lasts for 24 hours, I'm talking once your hands are washed, they are still soft and not dry.  I use this stuff all of the time.  I have two bottles at home, one in my bathroom and one downstairs in the kitchen.  I find that my hands are pretty dry after washing them so much in the kitchen, so I stuck a bottle down there too. 

 I don't just use this lotion on my hands though, I use it as lotion for my entire body and for my 2 year old son also.  Cooper's skin is so dry in the winter time, I usually lotion his entire body after his baths.  I don't know about you, (and I might be the only one) but I cannot stand the smell of Johnson's baby lotion.  So Aveeno has won me over with this product. 

Try it today, you'll be glad you did! :)

 (no, I was not compensated, I just love this stuff so much that I'm wiling to sound like a commercial!!!)



WILW

Link up with Jamie here.

Happy Hump Day all!  I'm linking up with Jamie today for another WILW.  Wednesdays used to be my favorite day because I would get to tell you all what I'm loving every week!  I've missed linking up lately, so I thought I'd get back to it today. 
Today, I'm loving........

this guy.  he just never ceases to make me smile.  even when he's being a terrorist bad boy, he still does things that just make me want to pick him up and give him oodles of kisses.

this man.  even when we have our ups and downs, he is the one that i count on.  he is my one true love.

now onto more material things....

this watch.  i saw it yesterday while perusing kohl's website and i'm in love!  i may just have to break out that Christmas money i was trying to save up and go and make a purchase.  what do you think?  you likey?

these measuring spoons.  i've always been a big fan of measuring spoons, i think i have about 6 sets of them, but these are by far, my favorite.  my mom got them for me for Christmas and i just love them!

What are you loving this week?  Be sure to link up and tell us!

A Recipe: Rosamarina Chicken (Chicken in the Wok)

Hi Everyone, Happy Valentine's Day to you!  Since today is a day where many people cook for their loved ones, I thought I would share a family favorite.  My entire family loves this dish, it's got a little bit of everything, chicken, veggies, noodles and a tad bit of spice to "kick it up a notch."

The recipe is called Rosamarina Chicken, although my family usually just refers to it as Chicken in the Wok.  I hope you'll enjoy this just as much as we do.



A picture before the cheese is added.



After the cheese is added, yummy!



Ingredients:

·  2 WHOLE MEDIUM CHICKEN BREASTS (more or less depending on how much protein you want, I usually have about a pound, maybe more)

·  2 SMALL GREEN PEPPERS

·  1 CUP ROSAMARINA OR DITALINI (we always use ditalini, Rosamarina is the same as Orzo, but my family prefers ditalini) 

·  2 TABLESPOONS COOKING OIL (I usually omit this, by spraying pan with cooking spray)

·  1 MEDIUM ONION

·  ½ TEASPOON GROUND CUMIN

·  ½ TEASPOON GROUND RED PEPPER (reduce or omit depending on your like of "hot")

·  8 OZ CORN

·  ¼ CUP CHOPPED GREEN CHILIES

·  ¾ TEASPOON SALT

·  2 TOMATOES PEELED AND CHOPPED (we have been using a can of rotel to substitute, which also adds spice)

·  1 CUP SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE

Method: 

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. 

Cut peppers into strips. 

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. 

Meanwhile, add cooking oil; preheat wok over high heat. 

Stir-fry chicken 3 minutes or till lightly browned. 

Add green peppers, onion, cumin and red pepper; stir-fry 3 minutes adding more oil if needed. 

Stir in drained pasta, corn, chili peppers, and salt. 

Cover and cook 2 minutes or till hot. 

Stir in tomatoes; sprinkle with cheese. 

Cover and cook 2 minutes or till cheese melts.  Makes six 1 cup servings.

Weight Watchers Info:  By omitting the oil above, and using 2% milk reduced fat cheese, with 16 oz boneless skinless chicken,  everything else the same as above, the entire recipe has 44 weight watcher points.  It's up to you how you split this up into servings.  We split by cups and each cup has around 7.3 WW points.  It's pretty filling, especially if you add additional veggies and chicken.  Just remember to count up those points when you add additional ingredients!!

Micellany Monday

Linking up with Carissa for Misc Monday!

This post will be quite boring, as I have no pictures today, and I've been quite lazy the past week not going through any pictures that I have taken.  Life is keeping me busy!

1) The weekend.  Cooper and I visited family in southern Indiana.  It was a great visit, I got to see a majority of my family, minus my brother and his family :(.  I was excited to see Miss Madelynn, my cousins 3 week old baby girl.  She was precious, just precious!  I remember when Cooper was that little.  Ahh, the memories.

2) Meal Planning.  Since I've been on WW I realize how much meal planning really works.  I am able to budget out my meals and know what I'll eat for the entire day and not be hungry.  The actual plan making isn't my favorite part, but once I make the plan, sticking to it isn't bad, AND it sure makes grocery shopping easy!

3) Healthy Living.  To date, I've lost 14 lbs and I'm working my way down that scale (at least I hope!)  I've been walking at least 4-5 days per week, mostly walking daily (except this past weekend when we were out of town visiting family.)  The meal planning really helps with the healthy part and keeping fresh produce and other low point snacks on hand also helps.  I've also been drinking at least 72 oz of water per day while at work, then more at home.

4) Cooper.  He is getting so big so fast.  He's still obsessed with The Wiggles, can't get enough of his toy guitar and is using all of his baseball bats as microphones.  He's saying please and thank you when he should and he loves God.  As we pray every night, we be sure to tell God thank you for all of his family, Jesus, and to help him be a good boy.  He still loves ice cream, dancing around in front of his mirror and his Nana.  

5) Hair.  Currently my highlights have grown out to a ridiculous length, leaving 2+ inches of roots.  It's been almost 3 months and a new 'do is past due.  I'm going to get my natural color reinstated next Sunday.  I cannot wait.  It's gross.

6) #Febphotoaday.  If you follow me on twitter you've already seen this, but I've failed at the #febphotoaday challenge.  The day that was supposed to be a picture of the sun got me.  It was dreary here and I just stopped.  If it isn't a routine in my life, I just forget it, and the next day I forgot and every day since.  So, I'm a big fat quitter on that one folks.

I think that's it for now, just wanted to write, since I haven't in a week!  Eek!  And to my second mom Mary, - I hope you read this because it's all for you!  I'll try hard to keep up with this from now on, (don't count on it though)!

CMT Crossroads Carrie Underwood & Steven Tyler

This weekend was lots of fun!  The SuperBowl was in Indianapolis and with that came lots of fun, events and entertainment.  While we didn’t get involved in many of the events, we did get tickets to go to the CMT Crossroads Fanjam with Carrie Underwood and Steven Tyler.  It was a loooooooong but great night.  

First, we had to stand in line for what seems like a million years, because the tickets were completely free, but once we got in and the musicians started, it was well worth it. 

The first group that played was a local group called the Jester Kings.  They did lots of covers and they were really good.  Here are a few pictures. 

Next up was Sugar Ray, talk about a blast from the past…… Anywho, they started out kind of rough, but they ended up being pretty good in the end.  One tidbit about Mark McGrath.  He is a cheeseball.  I mean he’s as dramatic and corny as they come.  It was interesting to see one of the bands I liked from high school all these years later.

		Sugar Ray VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Then came the reason we stood in line for over an hour and waited in the arena for 3+ hours for these folks (not that the other entertainment wasn’t good, but it wasn’t Carrie Underwood!)

Carrie and Steven were WONDERFUL!!!  I had a great time.  If you have a chance, make sure you find this episode of Crossroads on CMT and watch, they really were amazing.  I made a short video of the pictures that I took, it is only pictures, so be sure to take a peek, several of them turned out pretty terrible, but I rooted through them to come up with these gems!  Enjoy!

That was my Saturday night, what did you do this weekend?  Happy Monday all, have a great week!

*s*u*p*e*r* INDY

Since Indianapolis is hosting the Super Bowl this year, and we have a “Village” downtown, Tim and I headed down to check out all of the changes to our city streets.  Here are some highlights.

a view down the street

the stages

more views down the street

a fun game for people, launch the football

the superbowl ice scuplture

another game, run in a wheel like a hamster

all the helmets lined up on the building

more…..

husband next to his favorite team’s helmets

one of the main the concession stands

the helmets for AFC/NFC

outside:  the zipline and the turf “football” field below

in the field

The Zipline (views from below) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

the NFL experience, at least the outside

We walked around for awhile, watched people being silly and froze to death.  Tell me, why didn’t we wait until this week to go while the temperatures were in the 60s???  Oh well, at least we made it down there.  I was so glad to get to experience these big events while they are taking place in our city.  Happy Friday Friends! 

Don’t forget to take your #FEBphotoaday!!