Move over Paula Deen

Y'all I'm just kidding. I love me some Paula. I have her DVR-ed everyday at 4. Usually because by 4 I am slaving over a hot stove making some new creation I have found on Pinterest. Pinterest has not been kind to our waist lines. Or I am "at-side" with the girl trying to con her into going back in at some point before bedtime.
Ok. Brace yourself for this one. It is one of my current favorites. Of course, if your people are anything like Adam they probably won't like this. He doesn't care for spaghetti, lasagna, or Hamburger Helper. I have no idea how we ever got together.

Baked Ziti

Before I forget let me tell you. This recipe makes 2 dishes. In theory you eat one now and freeze one for later. I half the recipe because, call me spoiled if you want, I don't love frozen then cooked food. It sounds too much like left overs and I'm not a fan of those either. I am a woman of sophistocated, non leftover, non "pink slime" taste.

2 lb. ground beef (preferably without "pink slime")
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt/pepper to season ground beef
1 jar (4 pounds 3 ounces) Prego Fresh Mushroom Italian Sauce (7 1/2 cups) I am NOT a fan of mushrooms so I use the Onion, Basil, Garlic sauce or something like that.
1 pkg. (16 ounces) tube-shaped pasta (ziti), cooked and drained
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I use a touch more than this. I sprinkle the top until I sufficiently feel like it can no longer breath.)

Cook the beef and onion in an 8-quart saucepot over medium high heat until the beef is well browned, stirring often. Stir the sauce, ziti and 2 cups mozzarella cheese in the saucepot. Spoon the beef mixture into 2 (11×13) pans. Top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake at 350°F. for 30 minutes or until the beef mixture is hot. To make ahead and freeze: Prepare the ziti as directed above but do not bake. Cover the pans with foil and freeze. Bake the frozen ziti, uncovered, at 350°F. for 1 hour or until it’s hot. Or, thaw the ziti in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then bake, uncovered, at 350°F. for 45 minutes or until it’s hot.


Chicken Spaghetti
I don't have an exact recipe for this. I inherited this when I got married. (And my mother in law will probably cringe as she read what I have done to her recipe.)

Chicken breast- I buy the ones already cut into strips because I like to limit my encounters with raw poultry.
1 can of Rotel
4-8 ounces of Velveeta cheese (depending on yur love of processed cheese products)
Spaghetti noodles
Onions and bell pepper (mainly because it makes me feel good that I'm eating veggies)
Butter (if Paula were here she would say put in a whole stick)

Cook the chicken in a pressure cooker, but don't cook it to death like I tend to do. After it's cooked I cut it into bite size pieces.
Cook noodles as directed on the package.
Melt the butter in a skillet and saute the chopped onions and bell peppers. I am sure there is an exact amount, but I don't know what that would be. I usually do about half an onion and bell pepper.
Here is where the whole recipe takes a sharp right down healthy street. Add the velveeta cheese that has been cut into cubes. Stir occasionally until cheese is melted.
Add Rotel (or you can add the Rotel with the cheese cubes. I really don't think it matters)
Mix the ultra healthy/non fattening velveeta mixture and the noodles together in a baking dish (or cast iron skillet which is what I do because I think it makes me look like a true southern belle to use cast iron. Plus the first time I took the apple pie (that I also inherited) to my parents in a cast iron skillet they were stunned into silence.)(It's because they thought I didn't have it in me to cook with cast iron.)
Cook for a little while. I don't know exactly how long. I have found that if I cook it too long it causes it to dry out. It seems like the recipe says 30 minutes, but I wouldn't dare cook it that long.

If I'm your friend on Facebook you might have seen where I asked about a play kitchen earlier this week. Well, Thursday morning my sister called to tell me that she didn't know I was looking for a play kitchen. She took one to Mrs. Liz on Wednesday because she was cleaning out their play room. Oh, and a slide too. And Reese was the first one to get on it and slide when she got to daycare with it. Well, well. I bet Reese would have LOVED that slide in her very own play room. At her very own house. And no Heather, I will not ever let you forget that you overlooked your youngest niece and gave a perfectly good play kitchen to someone else. Reese is devestated. I hope you feel good about yourself.

This afternoon starts my spring break so you might or might not hear from me over the next week. (After 3 post this week you will probably be glad I am taking some time off) If I am not reporting back to you by Monday somebody come look for me. I have some major cleaning planned and if you've seen my house in the last month then you know it could turn deadly.

Last thing I am going to say and I will be done. Yesterday after school we did a little shopping with Allison and Addison. If I heard "Ad-son" one time I heard it a thousand.

I bought Reese these little flip flops while we were at Target. They lead to the biggest meltdown I have ever seen this morning when I made her wear them. She pitched a fit, but I made the executive decision that I am the momma and she is a wee baby and I am calling the apparel shots for now. Did any of you daycare momma's notice if she was still wearing them after Adam left????

1 and a 1/2

She was 18 months old yesterday. I am going to try not to be dramtic about this, but y'all. If she keeps this pace up she is going to FORCE me to have another baby because really, in the grand scheme of things, I adore having a baby at my house. That exact thought crosses my mind at least once a week and then she does something like wake up at 2 A.M. and I roll my eyes at the thought of EVER having another one. Because why? Why would I do that to myself? I have this one trained to sleep through the night (most nights), and call for her milk when she wants it. My goodness she is practically raised.  


But then I look at that little face and I feel like it would be doing myself an injustice not to have another one. If she wasn't so darn cute:)




She and Autie have a love/hate relationship. It reminds me so much of my childhood because I don't remember a time that I didn't have a rat terrier that I was putting diapers on, painting its toenails, and pushing in a baby doll stroller. (Here's to hoping nothing happens to Autie because Adam says if something happens to our current K9's we are NOT getting another dog.)(We'll see.)




She would make a great little politican waving like she needs a vote.


She has a doctors appointment next week so maybe I will remember to come back and update her weight and height.

She wears 12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, size 2-3 shoes, and she HATES sandals. She only wants to wear her pink boots and Nikes. Saturday we had our first clothing argument. I wanted her to wear a little cotton dress, but she pitched a fit when I tried to put it over her head. She ended up wearing jeans and the Easter HOP shirt I had made her. She will only wear hair bows when she doesn't realize they are in her hair.

She has the craziest hair I have ever seen. You daycare moms don't judge me for the way she looks every morning. There is nothing we can do with it. I am thinking that another trim is in our near future. It is so frizzy in the back. When she wakes up and I tell her how messy her hair is she starts patting it down.

She has started being a good little napper. She takes roughly a 2 hour nap on Sundays after church. I usually have to tickle her and talk loud to her on the way home so she doesn't fall asleep during the ride home. Sometimes when I'm tickling her feet her little eyes are closing because she is so tired.  She goes to sleep around 7-7:30 and we get her up at 6:30 during the week and she gets us up around 7:30 on the weekends. See what I mean? Trained.

Why is it that when I type her monthly post I can't remember what all she can say/do? Here are a few words from her vocabulary that I can think of: "mook" (milk), paci, she has started calling me "momm-ie" and Adam is "dad-ie", "sixie" (Dixie), Aubie (Autie), "G" (Uncle G), MawMaw, PawPaw, D.D., some form of Big Daddy, shoes, socks, "thee" (three), "suse you" (excuse you), tank you (thank you).

She has 2 main loves of her life. Her paci and her "mook" (milk).

Speaking of her paci.Monday afternoon we went to see Rudy and on the way back she started saying something that sounded like "Betsy"...we thought she might have been trying to rename Rudy. She started getting mad when we couldn't figure out what she was saying. Y'all. She was calling for her "pa-ci." When we walked in the door she spotted one she got so excited and started laughing and reaching for it. I honestly have no idea how we are going to get rid of it. I keep reading about the "binky fairy" coming during the night and replacing the paci with a new toy, or sending them off in balloons. That's all real nice Clark, but I don't planning on waiting until she can understand what all of that means. She is absolutely adament about getting it in the morning on the way to daycare, in the afternoons on the way home, and at bedtime. I feel sure if she had a choice she would give me away before the paci.

She loves to be "at-side" (outside).

Anytime shoes are laying around the house she puts them on. No matter whose they are.

Girl has got moves let me tell you. One day I was saying that I didn't know where she got them and somebody said she must have picked up on some of the moves while I was pregnant with her at C'burg. Very good point.

Her favorite songs are the Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, and the Hokey Pokey which is what we do while changing her clothes.

According to her daddy her strong will and hard headedness comes from me while her best traits come straight from his side of the family. He clearly hasn't ever lived with himself. And her looks? Oh, she gets all her cuteness from him. Bless his heart. He clearly lacks confidence.

Yesterday afternoon while we were "at-side" playing he came back.


That is most certainly, without a doubt, the lizard that came in the house 2 weeks ago. Look at its tail. It has endured some kind of trauma that cut it off. It was me. I was the trauma.

Sweet Home Alabama

What is the opposite of a vacation? I need to know the correct terminology because whatever the word is it is exactly what I was on last week.

I have offically spent 72 straight hours with 50 horomone raging teenagers.  And it wasn't even on my bucket list. I am just a glutton for punishment. But I can now tell you what I'd like to see more of in todays youth. A little more drama. They are definitely lacking drama. I got to hear all about the questionable hotel we stayed in the second night, and "oh my goodness Mrs. Robertson we don't have cable! Go get it fixed! Please!" And, "Mrs. Robertson did you SEE the floral comforter on the bed?" Clearly, first world problems.

My favorite moment of the trip was when I witnessed a girl who might weigh 80 pounds soaking wet carrying a bag that couldn't have weighed an ounce less than 60 pounds up 2 flights of stairs because a girl can't get away for 2 nights with less than 6 pairs of shoes.

Seriously though it went so much smoother than I had it built up in my mind. Except Wednesday night. After I got them all locked in their rooms I accidentally let my mind wander to places of me spending a life sentence in the state penitentiary because I lost one of them. It caused me to break out into a cold sweat. I don't think my eyes ever closed that night. And it's a good thing they never closed because I had a student banging on my door at 3:30 A.M. throwing up. Good times.

I got in the bed BEFORE 8 Saturday and Sunday night and I am still exhausted this morning. Partly because I saw 1:00 A.M. Friday morning when rumor had it on the Beta Club street that I was the bomb dot com sponsor that let them stay up later than I had originally planned. And Lord knows my primary goal in life is to be the bomb dot com Beta sponsor.

We started the trip out by going to the aquarium which wasn't a great move on my part because it made me doubt I'll ever get back in the ocean. And I certainly won't ever get back in the lake. Ever.

Every night ended with masking tape over the door to ensure they didn't try to escape. I got more than a couple of calls claiming, "we accidentally opened the door! Puh-lease! Don't send us home!"

Don't they just scream fun? Fun mixed with horomoes and topped with drama.

We arrived back around 4 on Friday where MeeMaw was kind enough to bring my girl. She was waiting with her arms out when I stepped off the bus. I don't know who was more excited. Me or her. Or her daddy that I was back to do the required cleaning and laundry.

Saturday we drove to Rome Georgia to see our friends Jared, Elizabeth, and Sarah. It was a landmark day in my life because we had pictures made at the house that is in Sweet Home Alabama which happens to be one of my all time favorite movies. It takes me back to senior year of high school because BFF Steph and I went to the movies to see itt and that was a point in life we had it all figured out. And quiet frankly I like how that felt because 10 years later I wish I knew half of what I thought I knew then.

When we got there I was star struck. I just knew that Pearl and Earl would be there, and I had some lingering quesitons for Pearl. Like what in the world is bologna cake? Sadly, they must have gone back to their double wide to fry something because they were no where in sight.

Remember this scene? Where Bobby Ray and Colonial Murphy shot the cannon and it fell right through the roof. Elizabeth confirmed my suspision that they brought in a fake replica so that the roof could be destroyed.

This is where the wedding was held. I was hoping I was going to walk back there and see Melanie slapping Mayor Kate across the face for talking trash about her momma and the south.

The last time we had pictures made was for Reese's first birthday. It did not go well. She wouldn't crack a smile. I am happy to report that she slept for an hour on the ride over and was much more cooperative during this photo shoot. Except one picture where she was on Adam's shoulders. She did not appreciate being carried like a sack of tators. (Now there is a southern saying that didn't make the movie but should have.)

Evidently Reese was tired of getting her picture made.

But then they hugged and made up.

Saturday night we met up with Adam, Adrianne, and Uncle G for mexican. Reese loves her some chips and salsa. It has to be directly linked to the amount of mexican I ate while she was in utero.

Last night she was walking around the house pushing her shopping cart with my sunglasses on her head. And talking on my cell phone. They learn quick don't they?

 On the way back from eating Uncle G taught her some dance moves. Uncle G thought this move was called the cabbage patch, but wasn't entirely sure. He also told her, "your getting right about the age that I'm going to really like you. Then you'll outgrow it and be annoying."  

P.S. These pictures are brought to you straight from the new iPhone I bought myself. Adam kept trying to give me his, but NO WAY! Because if, Lord forbid, I lost it I would never hear the end of it. You lose one cell phone and everybody becomes a critic.

Sorry Ladies...

My Daddy is taken.

Seriously people. Isn't this shirt perfect for the daughter of a man called A-master? I think so.  I knew if I ever got back on speaking terms with the sewing machine I would be making this shirt. We started speaking again Saturday night. Then we met up again last night and it was all very civil. Not one disagreement.

Guess what else we did Saturday?


From the looks of it we performed surgery. Except not. We inhaled enough mold/unidentified air particals while cleaning out MeeMaw's storage building to put us all under one of those croup tents. We pondered through storage box after storage box of junk  stuff from our childhood while periodically stepping out to cough up a lung. It was precious family time.

Reese helped PeePaw feed Rudy his "bobble." Every time I mention Rudy she says, "bobble." She feeds him now and later he will feed her. It's the circle of life.  


Saturday night Anna Kate and Emmalee stopped by to see Reese. Emmalee is a resilient little thing. Bless her heart. Reese shoved her paci in Emmalee's mouth, squeezed her neck, poked her eye and that was just while I was looking.




Although this picture is fuzzy it is my favorite. Look at those happy little laughing faces. So sweet.

Personally I want to hunt down the people who still insist on this whole time change thing and kill them with my bare hands. Really, why do we still do this thing with the clock? Raise your hand if you need extra daylight to go out and gather the crops? See. Nobody. Lets decide on a time and stick to it people! Reese got up at 6 on Sunday morning which was really 5 in her world since little people don't understand the whole time change thing. On the way home from church she fell asleep for 10 minutes then she went to bed at 6:30 last night and I woke her up at 6:30 this morning. That little princess should be well rested today.













When LaRae came by she showed me a few monogramming trick so I was itching to work on this little creation.





















And because that went so well I monogrammed Reese's beach/pool hat. In a perfect world the R would be scooted down just a fuzz, but since we still live in a world where we fall back/spring forward with our clocks perfection is clearly not what we're after.

























When I realized that this week is spring break for most colleges it made me a little sad because back in the day we would be at the beach with our favorite peeps this week. Sitting in my favorite lounger (without sunblock), talking about important things like hair color and shoes while reading a trashy romance novel. Ah. I miss those days.  Instead, later this week, I will be heading out with my Jr. Beta Club to the convention. Fifty 7th, 8th, and 9th graders, 1 charter bus, 1 sponsor who hasn't spent the night away from her baby until now...it should be an INTERESTING trip.

Meet Rudy

As in Rudy Ribeye.


I had some concerns about Rudy before he even showed up yesterday looking so cute. Actually just one concern. If  When I develop an emotional connection with Rudy I feared it would create a problem when the time came to...well, you know. Eat hamburgers. Or steak. Or tacos. Or, my personal favorite, spaghetti. Just as that thought was going through my mind Rudy slammed my hand against the side of the cow trailer while I was trying to feed him a bottle, and now that isn't a concern anymore. Then I saw this article on the news last night. If you love beef and have no way of raising a Rudy of your own then I do not recommend clicking on that link. It could tramatize you. Needless to say when that day comes and we all say our goodbyes to Rudy we will say the blessing over our next meal with thankful hearts that "pink slime" isn't on the menu. Or ammonia.

And thankful that PeePaw is willingly to get up on cold mornings and tend to Rudy and all his bottle feeding needs.

Reese was busy being a little angel when I made the announcement that Rudy had arrived. She got so excited and started running to the door. I think that shows she is going to be easy to entertain because she had NO idea who Rudy was. All she knew was that we were going somewhere.


(I came THIS close to not posting that picture because I fear you may question my parenting abilities since she is not in her proper seating harness.)(But Rudy just lives right THERE.)(In other words she is in greater danger of eating pink slime than not being in her carseat.)

Rudy was still a little unsure about his new surrounds yesterday so this was as close as Reese got to him, but I bet in a couple of days she'll be petting him and riding his back.


And on a completely un-Rudy-related note sewing is alive and well at our house. I quit being mad when MeeMaw showed up with this little piece of monogramming heaven. I wanted to take off yesterday and play with it all day, but then reality hit me and I remembered I have a staggering 6 sick days. And a little baby that is bound to need me to stay home with her one day when she's sick. So my projects will have to wait till this weekend.

Words about our weekend, but no pictures because at the time of pubIication I can't find my memory card

Well. The people have spoken and an overwhelming 2 of you want me to leave the blog in its current form. After I read Mrs. Joyce and Mrs. Beverly's comments what kind of person would I be if I made the blog private and ran the risk of them not being able to read it? A stupid person considering they think I could write a book. I am pretty sure the only other person on earth that thinks that is my mother (and lets face it- mothers are obligated to think their kids can do anything). But on the bright side, when I am blissfully unemployed next year I should have plenty of time on my hands to start a rough draft. Adam has decided the title of this book I will never write should be... Sexy Beast: Memoirs of a wife whose husband is to hot to handle. (I don't know why that is white, but I can't get it to change.)

Bless him Lord.

Friday night we ate at Big Daddy and D.D's and because our car is possessed by the devil, as soon as we got out and closed the door the horn blew notifying us that the door had automatically locked.  The keys were still in the ignition. Wasn't that nice of it? It almost left us stranded there for the night except D.D. bought a $2 car seat at the thrift store a while back so we used it and came home in their car. I never thought I'd see the day that I looked at a thrift store car seat as the bright side of things.

Saturday morning I saw the face of Jesus when I blacked out because a brown lizard jumped out of the mop I brought in from outside. I squealed like a little school girl when I composed myself enough to realize what was going on. Reese stood in shock while I possibly broke all of its legs trying to sling it outside with the mop. Then a spider fell out of the mop and I took it as a sign that I didn't need to mop the floors afterall. But cooler heads prevailed when I started calculating how long it had been since I had mopped. (Long enough for the mop to become a habitat for wildlife.) Thank goodness watch dog Dixie was on standby when I got the lizard out the door. It almost hit her in the face when it exited the house. The last I saw of it she was nursing it back to health. She's a compassionate soul, and not at all what I had hoped for when looking for a fierce watch dog.

Oh and speaking of wildlife. Last week Autie had a large...I don't know if I can bear to say it...rat in her mouth. That she had hunted down and killed with her tiny little paws. Hence the name rat terrier. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that she left the premises to kill it because if she didn't I am going to hate it that we have to move. I have really enjoyed living here.

Since Adam had to go be in the cabinet business again on Saturday morning and Reese got us up at 6 A.M. she and I went to look for her Easter dress.  (If there was one thing I learned last year it's that the early mother gets the Easter dress.) I had almost eaten a bowl of oatmeal before we left, but thank goodness I didn't because we passed right by a Hardees on our way, and the car voluntarily turned in and ordered 2 cinnamon raisin buscuits. One for me and one for Reese. And do y'all know that she hated it? Gagged when she tasted it. We left there and went straight to the hospital looking for her real mother because no child of mine could ever gag at a cinnamon raisin buscuit. It is perfection covered in sugary goodness, and I ate both of them. Since I'm trying to be a little healthier I opted for a diet Dr. Pepper and I didn't get my usual order of hash rounds. But today after school I hadto go pay the cinnamon raisin piper and run it off.

Saturday we had a slight change of plans and went to eat at Yume for Adam's cousin Jaycie's birthday dinner. You have not tasted adventure until you have ridden with Adam in town on a crowded Saturday night. We missed MaKenna's birthday party and Anna Kate called to tell me that "I miss you so much" when she found out we wouldn't be there. I feel sure it was Reese that she was missing, but I am going to pretend it was me too.

Unfortunately we have fallen into the Reese sleeping in the bed with us rut. She is cutting teeth and one thing lead to another and she thinks she needs to cry around 4 every morning and come to our bed. Except last night it was 11:00 and her daddy was in a foul mood because of it this morning. He misses an hour of sleep and he is hard to deal with.

P.S. Sewing/monogramming is dead to me. I had 2 birthday gifts I needed to make last week and neither happened because the sewing machine decided to lose its mind right when I needed it most. Seriously, I am so done with it. Until next week when I forget how mad it made me and I ruin yet another shirt trying to put a bunny on it.

P.P.S. One of my former C'burg students put on Facebook, "You know how they say you are what you eat? I'm sorry, I don't remember eating a sexy beast this morning." Adam is SO mad that he didn't come up with that, but he has big plans of using that quote once or 94 times in the future.

Thursday thoughts

I have a few random thoughts that are weighing heavy on my heart today, and I think I would feel better if I share them with you.

1. I slept 12.5 seconds last night. Reese woke me up somewhere around 12 by doing the shrieking cry while saying "MAMAMA" so she slept with us the rest of the night. Somehow she ended up on my side of the bed and I was in the middle. She would not share my pillow with me. When I asked Adam to share his he grumbled something along the lines of, "you have 3 pillows in this bed why do I have to share mine"?


Then he started asking me about the weather since it sounded like we were about to be blown away and I thought for sure he was talking in his sleep, but he wasn't. He was reminding me for the umpteenth time that we need a weather radio and blah blah blah. I might or might not have thrown away a weather radio that came in the mail one time and good gracious I will never hear the end of it.

2. Last night Reese rekindled her friendship with her bouncy chair while I told her about how she slept in it right beside our bed when she was brand new. I fought the ugly cry that I could feel burning my eyes because wasn't that just last week?



3. A couple of weeks ago our friends Abby and Jeremy brought their new baby Elli over to meet everybody. Reese did not appreciate Elli taking all her thunder at D.D. and Big Daddy's. Her behavior when I tried to hold Elli answered a lot of lingering questions I had about her ever being a big sister. It simply won't work.

4. When she reads her books she likes to kick back and relax. And she ALWAYS crosses her legs because she is a lady.






5. I am considering making the blog private because I am highly paranoid and more than a touch crazy. What are your thoughts? (About making it private not about me being crazy.) If you have to login before reading it will you go to the trouble of doing that? Or just be annoyed with me and never read the blog again? (I won't know that you login or anything like that. It will allow email addresses of people I have given access to see the blog and no one else.)

6. I started running this week. Well. Walking/running. Nobody is more shocked by this than me. I have also been sick for over a week now so I sound like a 90 year old who smokes 2 packs a day while I'm running. In sticking with tradition I would have probably only ran a day or two and then quit (because that's what normally happens and I don't want to break any personal records), but a girl I work with has started going with me so there is a slight chance I might stick to it. (For at least 2 weeks and when my legs don't appear to be getting any more toned I will fall back into my usual cycle of eating a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits for breakfast and sugar cookies as a late night snack.) But, really, it makes me feel so much better to get a little exercise.

7. Reese has her PawPaw right where she wants him. Outside counting the cows while playing in his hair. There is a rumor PawPaw is getting a baby calf to bottle feed (and later use for meat, but don't tell Reese. That could devastate her.) and she is going to be so excited when that calf arrives. Bless its heart. She may love it to death.

8. Teaching 7th and 8th graders is hands down the most challenging thing I have ever done. The drama, oh the drama. It is never ending and has caused me to march myself right to the brink of insanity and peer over the edge. The level of immaturity has caused me to almost lose it standing right in front of the black board. Any helpful suggestions? 10th graders had problems, but it was NOTHING like this.

9. That's all. Yay for tomorrow being Friday:)