It's Sunday already?!?!?!

This weekend went by a little too quick for my taste, but I have to say that I spent yesterday in the kitchen, which is like my favorite room in the house. Wanna know what I was doing in there???

Well, while I had Chunky Chili cooking in the crockpot, I set to work on Barb's Breakfast Burritos, which have become to me...breakfast, lunch and dinner.....yes I'm serious.....my dinner yesterday was a burrito and this morning I had one for breakfast and I just found myself in the freezer grabbing another one.....I would be worried, but really they are divine, so I don't care. LOL
My hubby loves them too Barb, thank you for sharing your recipe....he's already making plans to take them in for his lunches :)

So it's sunday and it's raining and cloudy and just one of those days that make me want to crawl back into bed and watch tv. You ever feel like that???
Just close the blinds, get under the warm covers and watch a chick flick on tv, without interruptions from the kids and the phone and life....you know how that goes right??? You're right in the middle of a good scene and something interrupts and you pause the movie, then start again and are completely confused and lost LOL I do that SO many times!!!

If you've gone over to my book blog, you'll realize that I haven't posted anything in FOREVER....I do plan to soon, but I am going to be busy today with the house and getting the Halloween decorations put away, so I don't know if I'll have time, but I will definitely try to go in and post some new books reviews :)

I need to make a run to the BX this afternoon for a couple of things...one of them being CD's so that I can go through my computer and backup a LOT of stuff. I'm one of these people that loves photos, files and videos and whatever....I think I download tons of things daily and after a while my poor computer starts slowing down, waving the white flag "please please lady, stop". So I'm gearing up to do a major Fall Cleaning on my computer this week.

Now there's a couple of things I want to bring to your attention, some goin ons in blogging world.

The first is my wonderful friend Courtney from "Waiting on my Soldier"...after 14 months of Matt, her hubby, being gone to Iraq, he will finally be home with them tomorrow, she's ecstatic and I'm sooooo thrilled and happy for her and the kids. If you get a chance go on over and show her some support and leave some Welcome Home messages to her wonderful soldier hubby Matt. :)

Tomorrow I'm redoing the Holiday Traditions post, and I'm sorry if I keep repeating myself, but I want to be sure to remind everyone so that they're ready to come and post their links. Like I said yesterday, I will repost the original entry and a new Mr Linky, I will however go ahead and re-enter all the links that were already on there, but if you did participate I suggest you come back and make sure that I have you, wouldn't want to miss someone :)

My other wonderful friend Laura from "I'm an Organizing Junkie" is doing a wonderful thing. I admire that lady immensely and she's just too awesome for words, always leaves us in awe of her organizational skills. SO, with that in mind she's putting together a "30 Day Organizational Challenge", go on over and read the rules and prepare to whip your homes into shape :)

Hubby and I are thinking about buying our first home. It's exciting but OH.SO.SCARY!!! I could use a lot of advice from all of you, really, anything you think we should know would help immensely. You know it's great to take such a big step but it's also terrifying, I always feel like I did when I got married and moved away from home...excited but as scared as a little kid. So feel free to leave as much advice as you can or want to, it will all be welcomed :)

And that is all I have for today, I need to get the kids ready and head to the BX. Hubby is back on midshift this week, which means he'll be going in tonight at 11pm....hence why he's still asleep at this hour. So, I'm taking the kids to the store and getting them out of the house, I'm getting tired of repeating the same thing over and over "SHHHH daddy is sleeping" or "Stop yelling at each other". See???? It's annoying after a while!!!

Before I leave though, I want to ask all my blogging friends to email me with their addresses, I'm working on my Christmas cards and I REALLY REALLY would love to send some to you. Please, Pretty Please, with a cherry on top?!?!?!

Have a wonderful sunday :)



Hubby's favorite is on the menu for tonight....Beef Curry. Go check out the recipe on my food blog if you're interested :)




7th Heaven

Eric refuses to tell Annie about his diagnosis despite the rumors cropping up about his condition. Elsewhere, Lucy babysits for Sandy and decides it is time to try again for another child.

Desperate Housewives

A hostage crisis at a Fairview supermarket leads to tragedy.

Brothers and Sisters

Kitty and Warren's weekend getaway in the country isn't so peaceful; Thomas and Julia explore options for starting a family.

Grey's Anatomy

Derek receives a surprise visit from his sister (Embeth Davidtz); Cristina scrubs in for a rare procedure, to the envy of her peers; Addison and George treat a pregnant woman with an unusual problem; and Alex ponders his future in medicine.

Laundry
Vacuuming
Steam Cleaning Carpet
Taking down Halloween Decorations
Running to BX

I'm stealing candy from a kid.....literally!!!

Think I'm kidding??? My poor kids have started bringing me candy bars, now I don't know if it's because they love me or because they just want to keep this nutty mom away from their candy.

Yeah yeah, keep laughing, but you know I can't help it....every Halloween we go through this, they bring all their candy in those cute little buckets, and mommy turns into the chocolate thief, sneaking in behind their backs and grabbing those evil tempting little snickers, Reese's peanut butter cups and Twix bars....do you blame me though???? *Stop Laughing* LOL

But it's ok, this will pass as soon as all the candy bars are gone, and then I don't touch another chocolote for a whole year....wanna know what's the best thing though??? I've lost two pounds eating all this chocolate!!! WHAT?!?!?!?! 2 POUNDS?!?!?!? LOL Yeah...go figure!!!

So it's saturday and I have a house in desperate need of attention, I've been lazy this past week and the mess seem to be escalating around here, so I'm turning on "Cleaning Mom Mode" and going for it, I can't wait to get in there and scrub it all away, I think I'm going to use this as a little exercise for myself too, kinda like scrubbing away all the negative feelings and thoughts I've had this past week, and bringing back the newly clean and improved Sandra....what do you think???

Now back to blogging news, don't forget on Monday I'll be redoing the Holiday Traditions post for all those that didn't get a chance to participate, I'll look through the previous links and add them all to the new Mr Linky and then anyone new wanting to participate can just come and add their posts, how does that sound???

I'm also going to be updating the food blog and the book blog today, I haven't had much time for anything lately and there's a couple recipes that I want to share with you all, plus a few book reviews for some that I just finished reading.

So I'm leaving you this morning with my Five Senses Saturday post. I'll be busy today cleaning and making Barb's Breakfast and Lunch Burritos, go check out her recipes they sound divine :)

Have a great weekend everyone :)




::Hear::



- Rain hitting the windows
- The hum of the heater in my car keeping us warm
- My husband saying "I love you"
- General Hospital video clips on the computer
- The sound of my family's voice on the phone


::See::



- Halloween candy all over the house
- Frost on the grass in the morning
- Such wonderful comments from you all the past few days
- The fabric layed out to make Christmas Ornaments
- My crockpot cooking away on the counter


::touch::



- The pugs sitting on my lap
- The pages of the book I'm currently reading
- The blanket wrapped around me on the couch
- Spreading my favorite body lotion on after a shower
- The hot water around me in the bath tub


::taste::



- Warm Smoky Flavored BBQ Ribs
- First cup of coffee in the morning
- Arby's HUGE Roast Beef Sandwich
- Donuts at the Pumpkin Patch
- Pumpkin Soup


::smell::




- My favorite perfume
- Chunky Chili cooking in the crockpot
- The smell of freshly ironed clothes
- The first smell of chocolate after you unwrap the candy bar
- Pinecones in my backyard

You guys ROCK!!!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments and the prayers, it really does help to know that there are others who understand what I was feeling. If there is one thing you will all learn about me is that I DON'T like looking or feeling sorry for myself, I just can't stand it, but you know even the strongest of people sometimes need help and need to be vulnerable.

I've had a rough past few days, but I'm slowly coming around again. Yesterday I managed to get everything done and I managed to hold on to the Lord's hand, I didn't let go and neither did He....things ran smoothly and I had a pretty good day.

I didn't tell anyone what the real issue was, and I think that it's only fair that I do, I'm a pretty open person and don't mind sharing my thoughts and feelings.

For those who have read my blog for a while, you will know that I had two miscarriages in 2001. The funny thing is that though time may pass and it may divert your attention from it, it never leaves your mind or your heart. It's one of those incidents that forever stay ingrained in your mind and heart....and for the most part I do fine, I go on with my life, but there are some days that the smallest mundane thing will spark a memory and then it feels like I'm right back there, going through the emotional and the physical pain of the miscarriages.

One of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that NOTHING I did caused them....because let's face it, and I'm speaking from my own experience, I always felt like it was MY job as the mom to make sure the babies were safe and healthy, so when I lost them it felt like a slap in the face, like I didn't do everything to protect them, I MUST have done something wrong, maybe I didn't eat healthy enough, maybe I pushed myself or maybe, maybe maybe maybe, it's that little word "maybe" that gets you.

I've learnt to handle the days that I'm feeling that way. I just ask God to help me through it and to stop the enemy from implanting these doubts and these if's and maybe's in my head, and then I can find the peace within myself to realize (yet again) that it's not my fault. I may never know the reason why it happened, I do know that if I had HAD those two babies, I wouldn't have Nicholas right now.....so that in a way brings me comfort, and just looking at him each day reminds me what a blessing and a miracle he really is....after the two miscarriages I didn't think I would ever be able to carry a baby to full term. It wasn't easy, I was high risk, I had bleeding, I had preterm labor a number of times and he had a decrease in his heart rate a couple times too due to the cord being tightly wound around his body. Guess that was his way of holding on and being determined to see it to the end :)

So that my dear friends is what I go through every once in a while, and when I do, my first reaction is to hide and withdraw, but I've also learnt to not allow myself to dwell on it. I allow myself to cry and get it out for a little but then "life must go on", I have another two beautiful children here with me and they need me to keep going. So I do, and that is why I thank you all for the prayers and words of encouragement, they really do mean a lot :)

I think I may have just set a record for myself, talking about ONE subject for quite a bit of my post, wow, that's something!!! :)

One thing I realize I haven't had a chance to do, was share the pictures of the kids in Halloween Costumes...I can't believe I haven't done that yet, I really HAVE been a little nutty haven't I??? LOL

Here ya go, I present Spiderman and Glamor Witch.

They were really happy that daddy got to go Trick or Treating with them, he was able to work something out with another co-worker so that they both were able to take an hour off to take their kids, isn't that sweet??

Since so many of you mentioned the Holiday Traditions post, I want to tell you that I've decided to redo it on monday the 6th, so mark your calendars and remember to come back and post your links, in the meantime I'm going to copy down the links of all the participants that already shared their traditions, and will link them again for you all, does that sound fair???

I'm sorry I did the meme at a time when there was so much stuff going on, but honestly, and in my defense, when I decided to do it I had no idea about half of the other meme's going on that week. But it doesn't matter, we'll redo it, and this way more people will get to participate and have a chance to read everyone's traditions :)

Well I need to get ready to pick up Jasmine from school. Oh btw, we had her Teacher Conference yesterday and she is doing awesome at school, the teacher loves her and says she's an extremely smart girl, she's reading at a fourth grade level and is still getting 3's in everything...we're so proud of her. :)

You know what I wish??? That I could transmit smell over the computer because right now I have my Smoky Flavored BBQ Ribs cooking in the crockpot, and OH.MY. GOODNESS, they smell divine, enough to wake up hubby and have him come looking for them LOL

I'm out of here, I hope you all have a wonderful friday and I'll see you back here tomorrow for my Five Senses Saturday :)

God Bless,


Smoky Flavored BBQ Ribs cooking away in the crockpot....wish I could mail you all some LOL




Rachael Ray

A Soldier's Surprise
Rachael has an emotional surprise for a dad about to be deployed. It's a 40th birthday he'll never forget when his favorite singer, Edwin McCain, is singing just for him! Plus, guilt-free ideas for re-gifting and clever ways to make care packages for any occasion.

General Hospital

Luke and Laura return to where it all started.

I don't know whether I'm coming or going!!!

Slow Cooking post is just below!!!

It's been absolutely crazy around here, and at times it's almost like I'm on the outside just staring at another mom and thinking "GOOD.GRIEF!!!" I'm sure you've all noticed that I haven't been here as much, it's just I feel like I have no time for anything, I haven't even been able to give my house the attention I usually do. It's nuts I tell ya!!!

So I'm starting today with a video from Christina Aguilera....not that I like her personally, I think she could use some more clothes on her body, but whatever, I do like her voice and I love this song, and it's my blog so "I can do whatever I want to???" right??? LOL

Anyway, I'm sitting here with a cup of hot coffee and some chocolate chip pancakes. Do I NEED the pancakes??? NO, but my hips are thrilled, they're all jiggly and happy.

Thank you to all who participated in the Holiday Traditions, I was hoping to see a lot more people, but you know how it is...even in the blogging world you need to know someone who knows someone who is popular. Since I'm not for popularity contests and clicks, I am just happy with the friends I do have that participate in all my nutty meme's LOL
So Thank you, I loved reading all about your traditions, you guys have such awesome things going on during the holidays, I got a lot of great ideas for myself from reading your posts :)

So due to Parent Teacher conferences today and tomorrow, Jasmine only has school for 3 hours each day, now my question is, why even bother then??? Couldn't they just stay home??? I drop her off come home and before I even get to start any housework I have to run back out to get her and then go back again at 1:30pm for the conference. *Sigh*


Since I've had no time for anything, I've noticed that things just get more and more crazy and out of control. See, when you neglect time with God and try to do things on your own, without His help, everything seems to spiral out of control, it keeps building up until you throw your hands in the air and plead for His help.

I'm guilty of that, I've been neglecting my time with Him, and I am feeling the repercussions. For the past two weeks, my days no longer run smoothly and I no longer have time for everything that I want to accomplish. You know how some of you asked many times how I did it all?? It wasn't just me, I had the Lord's help, and the minute I neglect that, that's IT, I'm on a rollercoaster going full speed and desperately trying to get off and slow down.

One of my favorite books is called "Diapers, Pacifiers and Other Holy Things" by Lorraine Pintus. In one of the Chapters entitled "Big Things, Little Things" she talks about our day to day and how to incorporate God into it, even in the mundane things we do like wiping our children's nose.

Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities - Luke 19:17

The message in that??? We must be faithful in little things if we expect to be responsible for big things. Let's face it, as moms we don't have the most glamorous jobs or the most adventurous (though I would like to challenge that at times), it's the small things that we do everyday, those things that don't change no matter what.

Doing the laundry
Fixing meals
Giving kids a bath
Helping with homework
Cleaning the house

AT times I do stop and think "why do I bother? I've just picked up the couch pillows 2 times in the past 30 minutes, why do I even try?". But I have to keep reminding myself that everything does count when your heart is in it and you have the right motive. Like did I make a meal for my family because I HAVE to, or did I make it because I want to give them good nutrition and because I want them to be happy??? See the difference.

So anyway, I am welcoming God back into my day to day, no matter if I'm scrubbing toilets or running errands, without Him, things just don't run smoothly.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive and inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23, 24


Well moving on, last night for dinner I made my Steaks with Pepper Sauce. It's a pepper sauce that I made even before getting married and many times my dad would as me to make it, he loves it. It's really easy to make and I've posted the recipe on the food blog, so go check it out.

I'll also be posting the recipe for my Spaghetti Sauce, this one:

Doesn't that look good??? And it's so easy to make too, so I'll let you know when I put that recipe up.

Well I'm off again, I've been interrupted a couple of times during this post so now it's already 11am and I need to get ready to pick Jasmine up in 30 minutes. Have a wonderful day everyone, and don't forget that Slow Cooking Thursday is up, come share your favorite Slow Cooker recipes :)


Right now I have Chicken Parisienne cooking in the slower cooker, it smells SO good. If you want the recipe, check out my Slow Cooking Thursday post below :)




Rachael Ray

Barry Manilow
The Fanilows go crazy when Barry's in the house! Then Dennie’s got practical “relationtips” to help keep the sizzle in your sex life, and Gretta shares her secrets for reinventing your old clothes.

General Hospital

Jason and Sam manage to evade the police as the head for a safe house;
Ric accepts Sonny's deal but wants something in writing;
Alexis wants to reclaim her job;
Elizabeth tries to keep the photos of her and Jason from Lucky;
Laura is missing

Ugly Betty

Executive producer Salma Hayek guest stars as a woman who makes an immediate impression on playboy Daniel. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina gets a surprise visit from her daughter, and Betty and Hilda face a financial crisis.

Grey's Anatomy

Derek receives a surprise visit from his sister (Embeth Davidtz); Cristina scrubs in for a rare procedure, to the envy of her peers; Addison and George treat a pregnant woman with an unusual problem; and Alex ponders his future in medicine.

ER

Luka waits anxiously for the jury to return with its verdict in the malpractice case brought against him by his former patient Curtis Ames (Forest Whitaker); Neela has a vivid dream that causes her to question her feelings for Gates.

Laundry
Vacuuming
Teacher's Conference

Slow Cooking Thursday!!!

With fall just around the corner and so many wonderful recipes being shared, constantly, amongst the blogging ladies....I thought that it would be neat to have a feature every thursday, just for crockpot recipes.

What do you think??? Do You have some great recipes to share, or perhaps you're looking for some delicious ones to give you a reason to pull out the ol' crockpot???

Well it's thursday ladies and you know what that means. Time to pull out those crockpots and put them to good use. If you want to join in, just grab the banner and add your name to Mr Linky :)

The recipe I'm sharing today is actually what I have cooking away on my crockpot right now. It's from the new Crockpot Cookbook I picked up last week.

CHICKEN PARISIENNE

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cans (4 ounces each) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup sour cream
6 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Place chicken in slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.

Add soup, mushrooms and wine to slow cooker; mix well. Cover; cook on HIGH 2 to 3 hours.

Add sour cream during last 30 minutes of cooking. Serve over noodles.