Congratulations Chrissy!!!!

Hubby's little sister Chrissy graduated from TSU on Friday. After graduation, we went to her house and had a fajita dinner...mmmm....Congratulations Chrissy, we are proud of you!!!

Hubby's mom and dad

The family...

Hubby's Grandma...

Us with hubby's two sisters...Candice and Chrissy

Show Us Where You Live Friday!!!

Welcome to this week's edition of "Show Us Where You Live Friday!" TGIF and happy Friday everyone! This week's room is...the living room! Our living room is fairly small, but to us, it's "homey" feeling. This is what you see when you walk in our front door...

This is the view from the hall/kitchen eating area. I haven't been able to find a coffee table and end table set that I just love yet to match our entertainment center so, we're making do with what we have!

Our entertainment center...


This is probably my favorite wedding gifts, it sits on the top shelf in our entertainment center. One of my students made it for us!!! How special, we absolutely love it!



These signs hang on the wall that leads to our hallway...not too much else to see around this wall, but I LOVE these signs!

Well, that is our living room! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a happy mother's day to all of you moms!!!!

Lunch With the Girls

Today is now our last day of "vacation." We go back tomorrow, yes they bumped our start back day up from Monday to Thursday. (After we have just readjusted our plans etc. to start back fresh on Monday!) Anyway, I thought it would be fun to have my team from school over for lunch. I totally love the team that I am on, we really enjoy working together and we work well together... and we're still able to have fun with it all at the same time! Wow! It's SO nice to have coworkers like I do, I wouldn't trade these girls for anything!!!

The girls: Kristi, me, Karyna and Andrea (and her sweet baby girl, Mallory)...Elsa is taking this picture!
Don't you just love those sweet cheeks and that precious smile??!!!

Karyna and Elsa! This pic turned out darker than I thought...

My team!!!

Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad

This is what we had for lunch today....so yummy! Here is the recipe, if you'd like to try it! I got it from a friend who hosted a kitchen shower for me, when we got married.

6oz cooked corkscrew pasta, drained

2c cooked chicken (I used Tyson's Fully Cooked Grilled Chicken Strips)

1/2c Italian Dressing

Blend the following:

1/2c mayo

3T Lemon Juice

1 T mustard

(Pour on top of pasta, chicken and dressing and then add the following)

3/4 c cucumbers, diced

3/4 c black olives- sliced

3/4 c celery

1 tomato diced

2T salad seasoning

Combine all ingredients and chill for 2 or more hours. So yummy!

Dinner With Friends

Since I've had quite some time off, I spent most of the day on Monday with my good friend Valerie. We went shopping in the afternoon and that evening, we made dinner for our hubbies...can't you tell we had oh so much fun?!!

Us girls hard at work! You want one of Valerie's "tool belts," right?! (It is really a new blet thing that she got for a fishing trip!) She makes anyone who she is with laugh!

Valerie and Brandon

We made oven fried pork chops, ranch mac and cheese, a spinach salad and then Brandon decided he needed to get in on the cooking fun...he made the squash! We also made a yummy chocolate/cherry cake....yummmmmo!!!

Valarie is all about having a good time and she can blow really big bubbles!!! I am currently trying to get her, along with some of my other friends to get into the blog world, I know they'd have oh so much fun!!!!

Welcome to My Kitchen!

Since I am home now...until at least May 11th and I've cleaned just about every surface of my house and I've already been to the grocery store (at 6:30 AM...that is, by the way the best time to grocery shop, so I found out this morning while trying to get there before a bunch of other swine flu germs made it into the store!!!). I thought I'd participate in the home tour over at Kelly's Korner. My hubby did our countertops and backsplash about two years ago...I really like the way they turned out! My Kitchen is my favorite room in our house, I spend a lot of time here...

My favorite cookbook stays by the stove!!! Southern Living's: Our Best Easy Weeknight Favorites

I love these canisters!!!! I have a lot of roosters in my kitchen, so their tops are perfect! The middle jar is currently empty, but it is normally used for...what else...COOKIES!!! Maybe I'll bake some today!


This is where I do most of my prep work!(The baggie in the background has some fresh carrot-oatmeal muffins that I baked yesterday...mmmm!!)

Our kitchen table, we actually sit here to eat every night!

This is one of my favorite, goofy, pictures from our wedding..."We Love Our Sweet Potato Fries!"

I love this sign above our fridge!

It's your turn!!! Share your kitchens, if you haven't already!!!!

No School Until at least May 11th!!!!

What?? Yes, no school for us until May the 11th, thanks to the swine flu that is popping up in our area. Uggggg!!!! My school district decided last night to shut down, along with two neighboring school districts to quarantine the schools. We had 33 kids out on Monday and then 22 out yesterday (not all for the flu, it was either other things, their parents were scared or they were having flu-like symptoms). They are recommending that people don't go out where they will be around 20 or more people. Fun stuff (not really)! Now, we are just waiting to hear if we will have to make up all of these lovely days...so sad that it is SO close to the end of the school year. I'd honestly much rather be teaching the next nine days...as long as there wasn't any illness going around because I really don't want to get sick either! I suppose my house will be sparkling clean by May 11th!!!

Let's Go Astros!!!

Last weekend, we went to visit my mom and she got us tickets to the Astros game! It was a really good game...even though they lost in the 11th inning! They played the Brewers in one long game, hanging on until the very end. I will say though, they are just not the same without good ol' Craig Biggio!!! Our favorite Astro is now Lance Berkman.

Here are some pictures from the game...

Thanks Mom for a fun weekend!!!

Weekend

We had such a nice weekend this weekend! Who doesn't love the weekends anyway, right?! Friday night we went out to eat with our good friends Andrea and Emilio and their sweet, baby girl went as well. She was SO good and so much fun just to watch...don't babies just make you smile?! So Sweet!

Saturday, hubby and I went to Valerie and Brandon's so the boys could make hamburger meat out of their deer meat from this season. They made so much hamburger meat, it was crazy! We won't have to buy any ground meat for a very long time! While the boys did that, Valerie and I snuck away to do some shopping and we stopped on the way home for appetizers and a margarita...fun stuff!

Sunday, the weather was just perfect! A few of hubby's friends called and invited us to go out on the boat, so we did just that! The weather was amazing and it was so relaxing! When we got home, we cooked out and had dinner with my dad.

The weather was just about perfect here again today...too bad we can't stretch out those weekends!!!! Have a great week!

What's for dinner???

This is what we had on Monday night: Creamy Chicken Casserole!

Here is the recipe!

3 Cups chopped, cooked chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1(8oz) carton of sour cream (I get the light kind to be a little more healthy!)

1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

1 1/2 cups crushed round butter crackers

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Combine the first 4 ingredients and pour into a greased casserole dish. Crush crackers and sprinkle over mixture. Melt the butter and dizzle on top. Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes. This is So yummy!!!! (and easy too!)

Here is what we had last night for dinner: Chinese Pepper Steak

Here is the recipe!

1 pound round steak, cut into strips

3 Tbsp. shortning

Pepper

1 Can condensed onion soup

1/2 soup can of water

1/2 cup chopped can tomatoes

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 large green pepper, cut into strips

3 Tbs. flour

In a skillet, brown steak in shortning; pour off fat and sprinkle with pepper. Add soup, water, tomatoes, soy sauce, and green pepper. Cover; cook over low hat for 30 minutes or until tender. Stir every now and then. Mix flour with 2 Tbs. of wather until smooth; gradually stir into sauce. Cook, stirring until thickened. Serve over rice!

Let's Rodeo!

This weekend, my brother and sister in law came down and we all went to the rodeo. My parents have a booth down there, so we went, wondered around, ate a lot and had a good time with everyone!

Us at my parent's booth!

Eric and Heather

Brooks & Dunn, can't you tell?? We had really good seats!

They have fried what???!!

Mom got a fried Twinkie!!

Cody and I had fried Oreos!

Mmmmmm....

Welcome Ty Morgan!

Our good friends Morgan and Lindsay welcomed their baby boy last night, Ty and his mommy are doing well. We are going to visit them tonight and we can't wait to meet him! Congratulations Morgan and Lindsay!!! We are so happy for you guys and wish you all the best!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy TeReSa...!!!!

This weekend we had a surprise 50th b-day party for my mother in law...I think we pulled it off pretty good, I'd say she was surprised! ...Happy Birthday!!!!!

M&M's

My mom is so thoughtfull!!! She ordered these adorable M&M's for me to give to my class for their Valentine's day party! The kids LOVED them and just thought they were "so cool!" Check them out...Thanks mom!!!




Aren't they cute??!!

It's Rodeo Time!

Hubby got rodeo tickets from work for Valentine's Day! The Rodeo was GREAT, the seats were AWESOME...the show, not so much!!!! We have decided that Billy Ray Cyrus is just gross!!!! He's totally one of those "old" guys who is stuck in a midlife crisis, trying too hard to be "cool." I don't think we've ever laughed so hard in a concert before! He had to be on something, he was so spastic with his moves and he even had to be directed to which way the stage was when the truck brought him out! The crowd thinned out pretty fast once he sang the first few songs and he ended with oh yes, The Achey Breaky Heart!!!!! Classic! (I could go on forever!!!)

So how was your Valentine's? I hope it was sweet! We had a good one, now we are off to work on our fence and enjoy the rest of our long weekend! We hope you had a happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Wholegrain Jam Squares

I have friends from time to time ask me for some of the recipes that I make regularly...usually what they see me eating for leftovers at lunch! Today I was asked for this recipe, so I thought I might start posting a recipe here and there, every so often...so here we go! This is my mom's recipe, she used to make these for use when we were little! (She is the BEST cook, the things that the bakes/cooks are always so yummy!!!!) These are yummy for a quick breakfast or a snack!

Wholegrain Jam Squares:

2 cups uncooked quick oats (oatmeal)
1 3/4 cups flour
1 Cup butter or margarine
1 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 Cup jam (I like strawberry, but you can use any kind. I also just use a whole small sized jar.)


Combine all ingredients except the jam in a large bowl. Beat at low speed until mixture is crumbly.

Reserve 2 cups of the mixture and press the remaining onto the bottom of a greased 13x9 pan. Spread jam evenly onto the base. Sprinkle with reserved mixture.

Bake in a preheated 400 oven for 25-30 minutes or until just golden brown.

Cool then cut into squares and enjoy! :-)

HaPpY BiRtHdAy MOM!!!

We went to visit my parents this weekend for my mom's birthday. We had a good time shopping, eating out and going to the movies. We went and saw Gran Torino...pretty good! We, along with my brother and sister-in-law gave my parents a gas grill for Christmas. Hubby helped get it put together and then we grilled steaks for a late lunch on Sunday. It was nice just being home for a few days, but the weekend went by way too fast!

We actually ended up getting new bedroom furniture this weekend...yay!!!! It will be delivered on Saturday and I can't wait! ...now I just have to figure out how to get rid of the current stuff we have!

She is here!!!

Our friends, Andrea and Emilio had their baby girl today! Mallory arrived at 4:53PM and weighed in at 7lbs 2oz! We can't wait to go and meet her...I really can't wait to hold her! Both the baby and the new, proud parents are doing well! I hope to be able to post some pictures of her in the next few days....

Fast weekend!

This weekend went by way too fast! We went to eat with our friends Andrea and Emilio on Friday...We are anxiously awaiting for the arrival of baby Mallory! Andrea could have her any day now!!!

We went to our friend's Morgan and Lindsey's couples shower for their baby Ty this weekend. We had a great time catching up with friends. We can't wait to meet baby Ty!!!! He will be here just in time for spring break! We couldn't tell who was more excited the mommy or the daddy to be!

Now...it's Monday and I'm ready for Friday! Sad, right?!

Cedar, Cedar, Go AWAY!!!

Well, it is cedar season here and boy am I feeling it! I hate this time of the year! Thankfully, I really don't have any other allergies to gripe about, I just have to stick out the stuffy nose, sneezing and watery/itchy eyes etc. out for about the next month! Fun stuff!

Today has just been one of those day where I am just annoyed! We learned today at school that from now on, when a child gets head lice, we have to keep them in our rooms!!! Tell me that is not nuts! Yes, that is right, we're supposed to send them to the nurse to get their hair cleaned out and washed (poor nurse for having to do that fun job!) and then back to our rooms they go! I am kind of panicking now because, I've had the outbreak of all outbreaks in my room this year...now they get to stay in my room!!!! Do these "bright" people up at the higher levels not realize that once a child has them, they are highly contagious and their house also must be treated?? So, we'll get rid of them for the moment at school, they'll go home, get them again and share some more the following day at school! Oh my gosh! I am praying that I don't get it, just hearing that news today made me itchy all over!!!!

Other than that, things here seem to be going well! We hope that all is well with you and your family!