Here in COland

This past week seemed to be long as well as busy for us. We have those weeks from time to time. We did a Halloween themed week in school of course, much to Jason's liking. The boy LOVES him some Halloween. Everyone seemed to be under the weather as well which thinking about it, might have played into the week seeming so long.

Friday night we attended "Trunk or Treat" at our church. Great experience and awesome turn out of people. It was a lot of fun, albeit VERY cold. Jason dressed as Mario since it was asked for costumes to be nothing that would scare the younger kiddos. Jason had a good time. We all got Starbucks afterward which was oh so GOOD!

Saturday was sort of errand day for us. Grocery shopping, getting gas in the cars, dropping off Kevin's/Daddy's clothes at the dry cleaners. We had some pretty yummy pizza for lunch and then spent the afternoon watching some SEC football. The GA/FL game to be exact. We started watching the Auburn game but had to stop and record the rest. Last night was "Treat Street" at the high school which we go to every year. The entrance fee is canned goods for the local food bank. Worthy cause and they really do a fantastic job. Michael and Nathan drove out and went with us. Jason did Mario again. Michael wore a sock monkey something. Zombie? I forget. It was fun. We all went to the local Mexican place after for dinner. It is ALways good food. ALWAYS! Came home and finished watching the Auburn game which was AWESOME!!!!!

Today we went to church, of course which was also awesome. Had lunch at Village Inn which was really good food, as it usually is. We came home and rested a bit then carved the two pumpkins and put all the raked leaves in bags. Pot roast has been simmering all day in the crockpot and smells SO good.

Hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween and a great first week of November!

Yes, you would be correct, I still love my crockpot!

So, while I was sitting here this morning going through email and reading a couple blogs, with my coffee, of course =), it hit me. OH no. Dinner. That evil thing at the end of the day that can and DOES creep up on a busy wife and mom. Today was the day I was taking Michael to get his cast off and it was right smack in the middle of the day so I knew school would not take place until after we were home. I also knew I had to stop by Safeway to pick up my prescription refill which was ready, and also milk. I declare I spend a good portion of my life buying milk. Anyway, dinner was starting to look like a definite fast food kinda night. I didn't want that because we did that twice this weekend. Long story, but we did. Then it hit me....BAM! Well helllllo crockpot, how you doin? :) I had all the ingredients for beef stew. This I thought, could easily all be thrown in and cook all day. Good idea, until I realized there was NO beef in the freezer. What to do, what to do. I quickly realized I had tons of frozen boneless/skinless chicken breast and I also had broth and such. So, we had chicken stew instead. YUM. Yummy yum. So easy, so good, smells amazing:

Chicken Stew

Coat the pot of the crockpot with cooking spray. Defrost chicken in microwave(unless you just have some in the fridge to be cooked)and cut into fairly nice size chunks. Throw them in the pot a long with celery(I used 4 stalks), onion(I used a whole one)carrots(I just happened to have a bag of precut so I used that)and potatoes. I had little potatoes so I used them. I chopped everything into about the same size as the chicken. I poured one jar of chicken gravy, and a carton of veggie stock. I also used some of the stock to pour into the gravy jar to loosen up what was still in the jar and also added 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika and 2 tsp garlic powder to the jar and used the jar with the stock to mix the spices. I then poured that into the pot and put the lid on. It can cook at low for ten hours or high for about 6. SO good. So, so good.

I love my crockpot!

It's no secret, my crockpot is without a doubt, one of my best friends. I can't imagine a kitchen that doesn't have one. Oh the joys that kitchen is missing! Having had a rather busy week, and finding out I'm seeing a cardiologist on top of Jason having a couple issues with some girls at the end of our street(I had a post on my wall already about it)AND him not feeling well Friday or yesterday, I opted to plug in my always helpful and eager crockpot last night. I found a, now get this, "BREAKFAST" that can be made overnight in ones crockpot. GENIOUS! I had done it once before, this past Christmas. I put everything in before we went to bed and then Christmas morning breakfast was ready! WIN! I found a similar version and threw everything in last night for this morning. Sunday mornings are, without fail, hectic for us. We enjoy attending the early service each week which starts at 9:00. Breakfast is always hurried. I think however, I've found the answer with my crockpot. The recipe can be varied so it isn't always the same, and as long as you remember to have the coffee ready to go as well, you're good to go! Jason isn't feeling wonderful this morning. Better, but not great, so it looks like we'll be hanging around home. He doesn't have any real symptoms, just doesn't feel good and has had a mild fever.

This week will consist of Michael getting his cast off and we sure hope everything healed and he won't require the surgery to put in the metal plate. Friday evening is "trunk or treat" at church and we're looking forward to that. We have a few things up out front. A not so scary spider and ghost. :) And our two scarecrows which aren't very scary, either. I am not much the Halloween person, but I do enjoy seeing what costumes the little kiddies have on.

Now, here is the overnight breakfast crockpot dish:

So simple, spray the crock's pot :o), dump in a bag of frozen hash browns(NOT the shredded kind), a large bag of shredded colby/jack cheese, a can of cream of mushroom soup and mix it all fairly good. Layer enough cooked bacon over the top and pour a dozen(beaten)eggs over it. That's it. Put the crockpot on low and it cooks for 10 hours. For variation, you could use ham, or no meat at all I guess. You could use different cheeses and soups. Kinda need the eggs, so no variation there. The house smells AMAZING all night and upon waking. YUM! Add coffee brewing to that and OH MY!!

Enjoy!!!!

Another week came and went......

Sitting here looking at my desktop calendar, I truly am amazed that it is already October 17! Wow! It seems like it should be June or something. I usually have to pay close attention to this time of year. For me, it somehow manages to jump from Halloween to Thanksgiving Day without my knowledge each and every single year! Don't know how it happens, but it does.

We had a short week of school last week. Kevin took Thursday off for an eye appt. and therefore Jason and I doubled up on school Wednesday so we could take the day off, too. We had a really good day. Brunch at Village Inn, a nice visit with friends at Barnes & Noble and dinner at TX Roadhouse with Michael. We all stopped in World Market as well before heading home. I'll be going with Michael on the 24th to have his cast taken off. We're sure hoping he has healed and won't need surgery.

With it being Monday and all, and well, I just love my crockpot, I have dinner already going. It'll either be beef stew(if I cut up the roast when it's all done)or pot roast. I have carrots and little potatoes in with it. Either way the house is gonna smell good.

This week we're mostly doing our unit study for school and I have an appt. finally, with my doctor to discuss ole flappy. I sure hope he can change my current medicines or give me a new one or two or whatever. I stay determined to NOT let it keep me from life. Life is too precious and short to let something keep you from enjoying it!

Have a great week!

Fall in CO. You gotta love it!

We have lived in CO for a total of 14yrs, if you count our time here back in the '90's when Kevin was in the AF and yet somehow, every, single, year it amazes us both in fall and then again in spring. What amazes us you ask? The WEATHER! We know for instance that through late April(and into May isn't unheard of)there is always that chance of really cold weather and snow. Fast forward through summer and we know that every year it can be hot(we had on short sleeves and shorts October 30th, 2010, it got to 78 that day)and then we are teased with cool air and snow before the month of October is over. We had an unusually hot summer here followed by some unusually cool weather the beginning of September. And you guessed it, then we were treated to above average temps and record low moisture. This past week we were hovering around 80 most days and then.............BAM! Saturday we woke up to snow and 30 degrees! We didn't mind at all. Jason was totally excited and there is just something about the first snowfall of the season! It's never a big snow or anything, but it is exciting every single year!

We stayed inside and had a pretty quiet, yet fabulous Saturday! Sometimes it is just nice to keep your jammies on and snuggle with your man and your 9yr old while watching football! Not that Jason was still long enough for him to have really snuggled, but. I tried a new chili recipe that simmered all day in the crockpot and also a pumpkin pie spiced buttermilk pound cake. Both were "ok" but nothing terribly special.

Sunday we were up with our alarm yelling at us and got ready for church, had breakfast and headed to church. Our church does 4 identical services over the weekend. Saturday evening at six(but helllll0, this time of year that is prime football watchin time), then one at 9:00 Sunday morning and again at 11:15 and again Sunday evening at six. We have gotten in a habit for lack of a better term, of going to the 9:00 Sunday service. Jason absolutely loves the 4th grade classroom this year at church. We stopped by Walmart on our way home and Kevin purchased one of those thingies that converts old vhs tapes into dvd's is it? We have SO many old vhs home movies that needed to be converted. We spent Sunday afternoon doing just that. We converted 3 or 4 movies. You watch them on your tv as they're being copied over. We did 2 tapes from England. One when Chris was 2 and one when he was 3 and Michael was born. We did one from '93 after we'd moved here when Kevin was stationed here and then we did the tape Gari & Eric had gotten put onto vhs from old video of them and the kids when they were young. I always LOVE watching Kevin when he was a baby. We used to watch this every Christmas Eve, but afdter our old vhs player died, we haven't watched it in several years. It'll be nice doing that again this year.

And now, I will leave the blogosphere with the chili recipe, someone out there might make it and think it is better than just "ok"!

Gameday Chili:

brown 1lb lean gr. beef(I use 96%) with one small or half a med size yellow onion until "most" of the pink is gone. Spray the cooking pot of the crockpot with cooking spray and add beef/onion mixture. In a bowl combine one can petite diced tomatoes(I used something new I found from Hunts, I think, that is especially for chili), 2 cans tomato sauce, and 1 jar of beef gravy. I think that is what intrigued me to try this. You can add a can or 2 of kidney beans or chili beans if you want, I didnt'. Then add 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2-1 tsp Mexican chili powder and 2-3 tsp regular chili powder and up to a half cup water. Mix it all well in the pot and cover and cook on low up to 10 hours.

Monday's and stuff

It is Monday, at least at our house it is and my calendar says it is, and it certainly feels like Monday.

Our weekend was not the weekend we thought it would be, but sometimes you gotta just go with the flow. Friday was a decent school day thankfully(not that we've had a lot of bad ones). We ended up with Culver's for dinner. Wasn't planned, just happened. One of the "go with it" moments of our weekend! Saturday morning we knew we had things that needed to be done. The men got haircuts and picked up dry cleaning(I never made it Friday to pick it up), and I went grocery shopping. I.Do.Not.Like.Walmart.On.Saturday. People seem to lose their sense of EVERYthing on Saturday. I went about my shopping anyway and about half way through on the baking isle, BOOM! A familiar sharp/stabbing pain around my heart. I was NOT amused! For those of you wondering, "what the heck", I have "Mitral Valve Prolapse". I do not like it. I do not want it. But, I have it. Lots of family members seem to have it in my family. It has something or other to do with a flap that does or doesn't do something it should or should not do. I don't know. It at times, causes your heart to skip beats. Mine at times causes it to race, and then there are the times where it hurts. And let me tell you, when it hurts, it HURTS. It stops you in your tracks. It hurts to breathe. But, anyway, it passed and I finished up the shopping with help from Kevin and Jason who came after their errands were done. We then were treated to a fantastic ballgame on CBS. That's right. Auburn was on and beat South Carolina. That's right. Awesome game.

Sunday morning found me awake by 6:00 because the stupid heart flap thing, caught, or does whatever it is that it does and sharp pain woke me up. I was again, NOT amused. We went to church and came home after stopping at Walmart. Again with the Walmart? Really? We did see Jason's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Brooks there with her son Sam. We talked for quite a while with her and then got the stuff we needed and came home. I tried to rest, but ole flappy would have none of that!

I did manage to make meatloaf for dinner last night and then tried resting, again. Turned out that flappy did NOT care for me being on my left side. After fighting with it forEVER I ended up with insomnia. I mean, really? Seriously?

Today is going to be a very easy school day and Jason has his yearly well child checkup with his doctor. That is about all I believe I care to do today. And here's hoping flappy stops it soon(it always does, sometimes after a day, sometimes takes a week).