Monday, February 27, 2012

Bacon Mushroom Swiss Burger!

I've seriously slacked at cooking lately. But my mojo is back. These Burgers were AMAZING, and easy to make.

You can easily put your own spin on it but I mixed 2 lbs burger with minced garlic, worcestershire sauce  (did I spell that right?!?), salt, pepper, onion flakes in a bowl & pattied up 8 burgers. Next time I'll only do 6 so they are just a tad bit bigger. Throw them on the grill & let them cook.

Meanwhile work on your condiments...
I got to break out the new knives for this. It was exciting. Really exciting. So exciting that I ran into the living room to tell the husband how great the knives were. And I managed to use the new sharp knives without cutting myself....that's a real plus.







And saute your mushrooms, make your bacon (I forgot a pic of the yumminess there!)

Arrange your toppings, burger, cheese, mushrooms & bacon slices on bun and TADA....
It was sooooo good & without the cheese & tomato it was Monster friendly so he enjoyed it along side us.


Sunday, February 26, 2012

Ducks Unlimited

Last night.....The Ducks Unlimited Banquet in Van. was a blast! I don't even know how to go about putting it into a post!! Most fun I've had in a long time, for sure.


My wonderful husband took care of all 5 animals & the dog while I had my hair cut & colored. He's the bestest, really he is. He even was nice enough not to fight me about a picture of us together with my hair all did up.



We went to the banquet with a few friends, enjoyed a few beers, had some yummy food and then hit up the raffles/games/silent auction.  My bidding partner & I took on stalking the silent auction at the end. It was nice to have a partner in crime. hehe.






Hovering over the silent auction items worked out in my favor. We got a new clock & I got a Fossil watch (Ducks Unlimited 75th Anniversary) both at amazing prices.





Also won a nice 75th Anniversary Ducks Unlimited Cutlery set. I no longer have to spend the rest of the year whining to my mother that I need knives for Christmas. But now she's going to need a new idea for our gift this year.  I don't have pictures of it yet, but its pretty. Really Pretty.

Kids of course all had fun spending the night with grandparents. Baby boy missed his mommy though. He was cranky this morning until he got his snuggle time with me & he's been an angel since!

I can't believe we had such a good time. Seriously I'm in shock over how much I liked it. Definitely going back next year!!


Friday, February 24, 2012

40 bags in 40 days - Day 2

One bag trash from a vehicle.
Two bags clothes to donate pulled from laundry.
More clothes pulled from laundry & put in totes for storage.
Extra bed sheets & pillows to storage totes.

My current donate pile (because it's better than a picture of trash) :





Thursday, February 23, 2012

Noah Jason, Forever in Our Hearts

Amanda,

My dear, you are an amazing friend, wife & mother.  Your strength is an inspiration to me. The struggles you have been forced to face I cannot even imagine going thru, but I want you to know that you are loved by us immensely.

This is my candle for your baby boy. I know he's in heaven watching over you & enjoying the play time with all the other angel babes (him & John are probably best buds!) I <3 you lady.




Indianapolis, Monster Style

As life would have it, we haven't cooked a "real meal" since my last post. This is virtually unheard of around here, but hey when you're having a rough week you call out anything that makes it easier (or any food place that delivers!)

Yesterday was a big day for Monster. He had a dermatology appointment at the Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.

I was freaking out. Freaking out bad. I was going alone to a city I'd never been in, seeing doctor's we've never seen & had a wild almost 2 year old along for the ride.

After a stop at McDonald's in Terre Haute, we managed to get to Indy with no big meltdowns from either of us and no traffic issues either. Listened to my little GPS voice on my phone & looked up ahead to see this:






Yep, that's right. We went right along the Lucas Oil Stadium. And then were stuck behind a limo driving around it.  It's not quite as good as being near Busch Stadium & the Arch for most of Monster's appointments, but at that point I was willing to take what we were given.

On to the real stuff though. After meeting with the doctors there, I realized that leaving my job really was the best decision in taking care of M. The new regiment of creams & skin care & oral medications are time consuming and are expected to happen 2-3 times a day. That combined with continuing his special diet is a fulltime job in itself!!

The doctors there gave me hope though, they were incredibly nice. They seemed to understand his sensitivity to everything & were supportive in all the decisions we've made for him thus far.

The drive sucks. Really really sucks. The drive home is 100 X worse. Getting home at 7:30pm & still needing to do dinner & bedtime stuff is not fun, BUT I trust these doctors & they seem to care for my baby & we'll be going back in a month to followup & make med changes. 

I go today to get his meds, which should also help him sleep at night. (AMEN!) and we started the skin care routines this morning, so I'm hoping after his nap he'll look less red at least.....he looked pretty good when he was being all slathered up with moisturizer earlier :)


That's all I've really got for an update (and I know it's a little all over the place but I'm stinking tired still & can't focus yet!)

Oh and just because he's so darn cute......Here's Monster & his attention seeking big sister :)



40 Bags - Day 1

A friend shared with me this activity as an alternative for giving up something for lent....

"40 bags for 40 days...its like clearing out your clutter...making more room for God. So you make a list of 40 different things to go through, then each day of lent you fill up bags of stuff to either throw away or donate."

I'm doing it in addition to my sacrifice. 

Here are the results from Day 1 -- the Little's clothes :


Admittedly, I didn't actually sort thru their things, I took these out as the laundry cycle was happening in my house. But they are bagged up & ready to go!! I'll tackle the clothes in the Little's room on another day this season.

Monday, February 20, 2012

It's ONLY been 4 months!!

The last few weeks the kids & I have made some amazing meals & desserts and Every.Single. Time. after devouring them I think "Shoulda taken pictures during this process & started a blog"

*sigh*

I still forget the taking pictures during, but here's a picture of my plate last night. 







Stroganoff with deer meat rather than beef. (Paula Deen's recipe, btw, minus the onions because a trip to the store wasn't in the cards)

It was AMAZING. So stinking good. Yum Yum Yum. 

Now I must go cry. That was the last pack of stew meat from my deer in October, It only took us 4 months to eat it all up. October seems sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo far away :(