Volleyball Has Left the Building!

Volleyball season is over... on to basketball!

Happy Birthday Mollie

Happy Birthday Mollie!!!!

Speedy Brownies

For all my busy Mom friends (and anyone else that wants a really easy and delicious brownie recipe) these are the best! Made from just a few ingredients that I always have around in the pantry.







Speedy Brownies (Quick Cooking Premier Issue)

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp salt
5 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine the first seven ingredients; beat until smooth. Pour into greased 13 X 9 baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan.

*I have also used white chips, peanut butter, milk chocolate- about anything I have around.

Today I mixed the chocolate chips into the batter and sprinkled with some M&M baking pieces.

Wordless Wednesday

Mollie meeting Mickey on her Make-a-Wish trip.
Last night I was answering some questions for another ITP mom and going through all the things Mollie has been through in the last 2 years. I wish after all she has been through we could say it is behind us... but it still continues. Maybe someday there will be a cure.

I Heart Faces- Pets!

STELLA

We have adopted two kittens over the last month. Our new kitty Stella. She has 6 toes on each paw and is so darn cute!!! The kids are so in love!!!

I thought this picture of her would be great for the
I heart Faces-Pets contest!


We have also added a tiny baby stray that was found under our pick-up one morning. Picture of that kitty to come later!

i heart faces giveaway

They are hosting a giveaway of these awesome camera straps.

A one-of-a-kind camera strap from Lori’s business, “Pepper: Spice Up Your Camera”!!

Check them out!!

Why did God create man?

I've been struggling with my faith lately (actually for about the past year now) and decided it was time for me to really start searching for some answers. I've been doing some reading, some soul searching, took a hiatus from going to church, some praying, some talking... on and on, just trying to figure some things out.

So these are some rambling on what I've discovered:

Bad things happen to good people. Good people do bad things. Some people are hypocrites.

This is where my struggles began! I think that for a long time I've been reading too much into life- think there was some great revelations I was supposed to have or some great reward if I did what was right and followed God's plan. That puts a lot of pressure on! Since getting married and having the kids I've wanted things to remain simple (less clutter, easy cooking, more fun, etc.) and I never realized that "simple" applied to God also.

I spent some time angry with God trying to play a this isn't fair to me card. Why do bad things happen? Why do I get the short end of the stick? So on and so on. I got tired of saying "everything has a reason and lesson to learn", but it turns out that even this led to a reason and lesson!

I know I don't put a lot of trust in God. I like to be in control and know where I'm going and how I'm getting there. So very early on I recognized that this is a problem I need to work on. Next, my bigger question became why would God what to walk me through life? Which then became why am I even here?

All the time- the answer was right on my book shelf, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Could it be so simple that God wanted someone to love? Could it be so simple that He wants to share blessings with the people He loves? Could it be as simple as wanting us to enjoy our lives? Sounded too simple at first. But after some more reasoning with myself it became easier to see...

When you read the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church it says that "God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life."

The same reason that I married and had children. I didn't have them so that someone would love me or because I was going to get something from them. I have my family so that I can share my blessed life with them.

Rather than working so hard to make this a complicated thing I think there really is something to be said for asking God to bless each day and surrendering the days events to Him. And rather than wasting sssssooooooooooo much time worrying about where I'm going and how I'm getting there, I'll just enjoy the ride.

Menu Planning Monday

This weeks menu plans!!

Monday: Yum Yums! (sloppy joes), green beans, cheese puffs, chocolate cupcakes

Tuesday: Easy Lasagna, lettuce salad, garlic bread

Wednesday: Beef Enchiladas, taco rice, fried ice cream

Thursday: Pigs in a Blanket, chips, fruit

Friday (husbands birthday): Chicken kabobs, dutch apple pie

Saturday: Garden Club Sandwiches, cole slaw

Sunday: homemade pizza, brownies

Check out more Monday menu's at I'm an Organization Junkie!

Garden Club Sanwiches

4 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
2 Tbsp. Mayo
2 large slices tomato
1/4 cup sliced cucumbers
2 lettuce leaves
12 slices deli Shaved Oven Roasted Turkey Breast
6 slices Center Cut Bacon, cooked

TOP 2 toast slices with tomato, cucumber, lettuce, turkey, bacon and second toast slice.

'Fried' Ice Cream Recipe

* 3 cups cinnamon toast crunch cereal, crushed

* 6 scoops vanilla ice cream (1/2 cup each)

1. Place cereal in shallow pan.

2. Quickly roll 1 scoop of ice cream at a time in cereal to coat.

3. Place coated scoops of ice cream in ungreased jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch.

4. Cover and freeze about 2 hours or until firm.

5. Set oven control to broil.

6. Uncover pan.

7. Broil scoops with tops 6 inches from heat about 30 seconds or until coating is light brown.

Cheesy Meat Lasagna

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 large tomato, chopped

1 egg

1 container (16 oz.) Low Fat Cottage Cheese

1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

9 lasagna noodles, cooked, drained

2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

HEAT oven to 375°F. Brown meat with garlic and oregano in saucepan. Stir in spaghetti sauce; simmer 5 min., stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes.

MIX egg, cottage cheese and Parmesan. Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with layers of 3 noodles, 1 cup cottage cheese mixture, 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1 cup remaining sauce mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles and remaining sauce mixture. Cover with foil.

BAKE 30 min. or until heated through. Uncover; top with remaining mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, 5 min. or until mozzarella is melted. Let stand 5 min. before serving.

Make Ahead

Assemble lasagna as directed; cover. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, bake, covered, at 375°F for 40 min. or until heated through.

These cookies rock!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's!

These Reese's Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies are so good. A double batch disappeared in two days!!




The recipe:

1 stick real butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ground quick oats (chopped with handi chopper)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 bag Reese's mini baking pieces
1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter, shortening and sugars until smooth and creamy. Slowly beat in eggs and vanilla.


2. Combine flour. oats. baking soda, and salt. Slwly add to wet mixture until just combined. Hand stir in Reese's and chocolate chips.


3. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until just golden around edges. Let stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.

found at Blessed with Grace.

No Tackle-it Tuesday

I have no tackle-it Tuesday this week because Mollie will be having surgery tomorrow to have her port removed. I have a ton of things to get the other kids ready to be home by themselves for the afternoon! I don't leave them alone often so I'm leaving some detailed notes for them to help out!

We'll tackle-it next Tuesday!

Menu Planning Monday

Here is this week's menu:
[It's a bit goofy because of Mollie's surgery and Sam's birthday!]

Monday: sub sandwiches, chips and ice cream

Tuesday: nacho's, corn and brownies

Wednesday: Mackenzie will be in charge of either frozen pizza or mac and cheese because we won't be back from the hospital in time!

Thursday: mini meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes

Friday: Sam's birthday choice (still undecided!)

for more check out I'm and Organization Junkie's menu planning mondays!

Wordless Wednesday

A new use for silly putty!!

{Sorry picture is a bit fuzzy, but too funny to delete!}

Check out more Wordless Wednesday!

Crop for a Cause

Is anyone interested in a scrapbooking retreat that will not only help you get your projects done, but also help a worthwhile cause in Nebraska?

I am helping Make-A-Wish spread the word about their "Crop for a Cause" on June 19-20. The proceeds from this 26-hour long scrapbooking marathon are going to help a little boy named Cole fulfill his "wish" of being a cowboy. Cole is 7 years old and fighting lymphoma and they are working to send him to the Bar W Ranch in Whitefish Montana where he'll be able to rope cattle, sing campfire songs, and see a bank robbery reenactment. Feel good about getting projects done, feel good about helping grant wishes!

A few of the retreat highlights are their raffle prizes and food being provided. Not only can you win a ton of scrapbooking supplies, but you will also have a chance to win an iPod Shuffle, a Cricut Personal, and a Cricut Expression. Or, do you have a husband you will want to thank for letting you have a whole weekend to yourself? Another raffle item is an autographed football and two tickets to Coach Pelini's Big Red Kickoff Dinner. This is a fundraiser the Husker football coaches do for Make-A-Wish each July. All your meals and snacks are also being provided (Panera, Famous Dave's, the Cookie Company, and more!)

So, if you want to get a jump start on the summer, send in your registration for "Crop for a Cause".

A flyer with more information and registration form is attached or visit https://sites.google.com/site/makeawishcropforacause/.

Happy scrapping!

Tackle It Tuesday- Updated

In the spirit of keeping with the mommy blogger's it is time for me to try out Tackle It Tuesday.
I actually have two tackles for Tuesday:

1. I want to be able to see the kitchen counter!!
2. I want to start an exercising streak today.

Wish me luck!!!




Updated picture.

Menu Planning Monday

Here is what's on the menu for this week (May4th - May 10th):

Monday: Crock-pot Chicken Marsala

Tuesday: Salisbury Steak

Wednesday: Taco Roll

Thursday: breakfast sandwiches (pancake, sausage patty, egg and cheese sandwiches)

Friday: Tim's Choice

Saturday: grilling steak and hot dogs

Sunday: Sausage and Peppers

Join Laura's Menu Planning Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie!!!

I LOVE Alicia's Friday Photo Flashback. I am inspired to dig out my old prom picture (maybe!). In the meantime I have this scanned picture of Mackenzie when she was 14 months old. She was loving eating cheese doodles and drinking from her grandma's water bottle while we enjoyed a summer afternoon by the pool!

Each of our kids carried on the doodle tradition! Mackenzie will be 13 in just over a month...


it makes me sad to see her so grown up, but proud of who she is becoming!

[Alicia says: I started "Friday Photo Flashback" because I have so many pictures from my PRE-digital camera days. I thought it would be fun to scan them and share them here with you. I'm having so much fun doing this, that I would love for you to join me, too! So dig out the photo albums and put your scanner to good use! Be sure to visit her prom picture!!]

Taco Roll

INGREDIENTS:
1/2lb. lean ground beef
1(13.8-oz.) can Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust
taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Brown ground beef in medium skillet over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Add taco seasoning and simmer. Set aside.

2. Unroll dough; place on sprayed cookie sheet. Starting at center, press out dough with hands to form 12x8-inch rectangle.

3. Place cooked ground beef lengthwise down center, forming 3-inch-wide strip and to within 1/2 inch of short sides. Top with cheese. Fold long sides of dough over filling; press edges to seal.

4. Bake at 400°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Top with extra cheese, sour cream, lettuce, salsa, etc.

Salisbury Steak

Ingredients:

3 egg

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon pepper

2-1/4 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour,divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

2-1/4 cups water

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules

3 medium onion, quartered and sliced

3 (4 ounce) cans mushroom stems and pieces, drained

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, garlic powder and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture; mix well. Shape into two patties; dredge in 2 tablespoons flour. In a small skillet, brown patties on both sides in oil; drain. Set patties aside.

2. Add the remaining flour to the skillet; whisk in water until smooth. Stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and bouillon. Add the onion and mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Return patties to the pan. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until beef is no longer pink. Serve gravy over patties.

Crock-pot Chicken Marsala Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
1 T. vegetable oil
8 boneless chicken breast
1/2 t. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
mushrooms
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn starch

Spray slower cooker with cooking spray. In cooker, place garlic and oil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, place in cooker over garlic. Place mushrooms over chicken, pour broth over all.

Cover and cook on low setting 5 to 6 hours.

Remove chicken from cooker. In a small bowl mix water and cornstarch until smooth; stir into liquid in cooker. Increase heat o high; cover and cook about 10 minutes or until sauce thickens.

To serve, spoon mushroom mixture over chicken breast.

April Round-up:

A great idea from Katie the Scrapbook Lady! She suggests that at the end of the month you take a few minutes and roundup your memories, looking over your calendar, blog posts, or wherever you keep track of you schedule, and filling in a few quick notes using a simple format. I used her list of questions found below.

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

This month I worked on the Twilight series. I'm trying to keep up with my older girls so I know what they're talking about!!!

2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

We have bee watching Ghost Hunters and the Biggest Loser.

3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

We had a get together with the neighbors before Easter. We had a party for Mollie's first communion.

4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?

Nothing yet, but I have my eye on the new EAS sports active for Wii that will be out on May 19th.

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Mollie's counts have been very good this month. Our biggest problem has been with Caremark getting her medication to us!

7. What were my accomplishments this month?

I pulled off Mollie's party!!! I was able to get the house clean and have a prepared menu. I was able to find a dress for her to wear! I made her cake and decorated some cute cookies for her party!!

8. What were my disappointments this month?

I wanted to get more scrapbooking done.

9. Anything else noteworthy to include?

Starting to prepare the garden- we added a new section for the upcoming summer.

What other questions would ask yourself to remember the month? Let me know your suggestions!

Wordless Wednesday - My cracked egg

This is an older post that I saved as a draft. I was too heartbroken at the time to put these words out there! But now- with the success we have had with nplate I can breath a sigh of relief!

For many out there today is what's called Wordless Wednesday- posting a great picture that has some meaning. This is my first post for this and it has to come with the following explanation for the true meaning to be understood. After this original post-at the advice of our doctor we went with chemo treatments and Mollie lost her beloved ponytail. For months now she has been mistaken as a boy and had a messy growing out mop! To see her with her hair fixed and looking so beautiful was unbelievable for me.

************************************************************************************

(I posted this to Mollie's caringbridge site, sorry to duplicate)

Another ITP parent described their experience in a way that fits how I have felt for months now:

"It's like you've been handed an egg with a crack in it and been told not to break it."

How do I keep from breaking her? Better yet, how do I keep her from breaking herself? Now that Rituxan didn't work we are down to a very short list of options:

• chemotherapy to suppress her immune system
  
• nPlate (which will be FDA approved on July 23rd but the test in children are still going on)- has some side effect that concern me after using Rituxan
• splenectomy
• doing nothing

I've been spending a lot of time trying to research these options and any other I might find. Really I'm just running in circles because there are so few guarantees. Mollie has defied all the odds- she became one of the 20% that do not go into spontaneous remission within 6 months.

You can find more Wordless Wednesday post at

As They Grow Up
or
Wordless Wednesday

Crock-pot Italian Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:
1 package sweet Italian sausages
1 cup chopped sweet onion
4 garlic cloves
2 medium yellow peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium red pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 jar tomato pasta sauce
4 1/2 cups uncooked rotini pasta
shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Spray cooker. In cooker mix all ingredients except pasta and cheese. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 8 hours.

Cook and drain pasta as directed on package. Serve sausage mixture over pasta with Parmesan cheese.

Scrappers Block

I have had scrapbooking block for several weeks now! I just couldn't get a layout started. I would stare at pictures and start collecting some items and then freeze.

I finally got myself going yesterday! I found some favorite pictures from back in 2006 and started some pages... finally!

Is It Just Me

Today I did it... exactly what I never want to be accused of doing... I sat on the computer for 2 hours. I started out looking for something specific (I can't even remember what that was now) and I started looking at peoples blogs and then the blogs they followed, etc., etc.

I was amazed by how many of the bloggers were stay-at-home, organizing, frugal, Christian, crafty, homeschooling, tree huggers with a weekly menu plan women!

Now I am most of those things, so don't get upset if you fall in that list.

* I am a stay-at-home mom that carries an EXTREME amount of guilt about having this gift.

* I like to organize, have some things organized and would love to have everything organized. If I don't spend part of every day looking for something that has been misplaced call 911 because I'm dead.

* I'm frugal- to a point. Yes buying in bulk saves money. Coupons and sales save money also. But I don't take ketchup packets from restaurants and squeeze them into my bottle at home.

* I'm Christian- but I'm a struggling Christian. I have a lot of questions and I don't have matching faith. I want to, but there's something missing and I'm still searching for that.

* Crafty- ok that is me.

* Homeschooling- all I have to say if HA!

* I have lived in Colorado, which by Nebraska standards makes a person a waffle stomping tree hugger. I am not a green freak. I recycle the things I can, (considering where I live) paper and chipboard, printer ink cartridges, pop cans. I'm starting to save plastic and glass- I can drive these to Laurel and drop them off (it'll be a 30 mile round trip just for recycling so I'm less motivated with this idea). We've changed most of our light bulbs.

* I sometimes have a weekly menu planned. The problem with that weekly plan is life... it sometimes gets in the way of my perfect plans!!! So I'm trying to find some ways around the weekly planning that will still produce the same effect.

Ok, ok -so get to the point Jennifer. The point is that I spent 2 hours looking at these. It was very interesting to take a small glimpse into a person's life. Some where inspiring, some boring and some had just off the wall ideas (from my point of view).

I've been toying with the blog thing for a long time now (since 2006). I primarily just wanted it to be a stop for family and friends to see some pictures, that kind of stuff. A place to check in and get little more indepth that Facebook but not as much as a 3 page letter with photos. I really need to take my own advice from January and follow through with it- succeed at keeping everyone up to date! Nothing preachy or poetic- although I will blog for money. Just some of our funny stories and some pictures.

We'll see, maybe I'll get it done!

No rotten eggs

Follow Food Safety Guidelines When Handling Easter Eggs

From University of Nebraska-Lincoln Notes :

LINCOLN, Neb. — Don't make the fun of dyeing hard-cooked Easter eggs turn into a food safety disaster when eating them later, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln food safety specialist says.

The first step to avoiding a foodborne illness when eating Easter eggs is to make sure the eggs don't crack when boiling them, said Julie Albrecht, UNL food safety specialist in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The best bet for cooking eggs is to put them in cold water, bring to a boil, then turn the heat off and let them sit, covered, for 20 minutes.

Full article - http://ianrnews.unl.edu/static/0904060.shtml

2009

Yes, I know that it's almost February, not exactly the declare your new years resolution time!! I'm running behind already this year but I'm determined to get caught up.

Rather than a new years resolution this year I have a new years word. I do a lot of searching for quotes and cute tag lines for my scrapbook pages and started reading some of the poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I came across this quote from him:

"Words are alive. Cut them and they bleed."

I thought this was an interesting thing to say because I'm always asking the kids to chose their words carefully. Tim and I work hard to teach the kids to use what we call their "on deck circle". In baseball you step up on deck circle to have a few practice swings and analyze the game situation. Because baseball is a team game, a successful at-bat may not be one that results in a base hit. A player doesn't step to the plate and swing at every ball. In the split second before the ball crosses the plate a player has to analyze the pitch and decide if they should take a swing.

Like baseball, there is that split second before you open your mouth that you analyze the situation. So we often ask the kids to stop and ask themselves 'do I really want to say this', 'will this hurt someones feelings', 'is this appropriate to tell someone', and so on. Some of our children are better at this than others but there is hope that they will all attain this skill.

So back to the point- I decided to practice what I preach and take in the power of words. Rather than a long drawn out list of resolution (that will likely never be reached!) I'm choosing a word and going to remind myself of it every day. So what is this word you ask.... (insert drum roll)

SUCCEED

The definition of succeed is to turn out well or to attain a desired object or end also to follow in sequence and especially immediately.

I have lists of unfinished projects and it is my goal to finish these projects and free myself from the burden I carry knowing they exist! I'm going to spend this weekend creating my list and then work to chip things off- DAILY!

My first goal is to make this list and place it here because one of the first things on that list will be to keep my family updated better with pictures and stories about what we've been doing.

What's your word?