Recap of Our Trip to Columbia & Other Stuff!

Last week Matthew & Jacob were off school on Wednesday thru Friday so we had planned a trip to Columbia to visit my sister and her family. We had such a great time...absolutely no plans of doing anything...just hanging out and enjoying watching the kids play. We got there just in time Wednesday to head to Levi's baseball game, and then Noah & Ira's t-ball game. We got to see about 3-4 innings of Levi's game, and then a very dark sky/lightning/thunder/etc. forced us to leave the ballpark. On the drive home it was raining extremely hard it was difficult to see the road at times. Thursday we got moving kind of late...the boys played pretty much all morning & afternoon and then early afternoon we headed to Shakespeare's Pizza...if you're ever in Columbia with kids it's a great place to go. The kids get their own little pile of dough to play with while you wait for your pizza. And, best of all, the pizza was great! When we got home the boys all played outside while Elizabeth & me just sat on the porch...it was just gorgeous outside. The kids played kickball, football, played on the swing, and then hunted for mushrooms in the woods...they found a huge pile full! Later that evening we all got cleaned up and went to a Chinese buffet which was just great. Friday we just hung out at their house until it was time for us to leave...it looked like a huge storm was coming so we headed out early and tried to beat the storm. That's it in a nutshell! Thank you, Elizabeth (and Kevin!), for having us...we had a great time!

Last night Matthew had another baseball practice and he got to hit against the machine. Rob took him and he said he did great. I went to my monthly crop at Linda's house...we had such a good time. I just took stuff along to plan for the weekend...we're going on a scrapbook retreat to Paducah...I can't wait. More on that later.

Tonight I fixed Stuffed Green Peppers for supper - one of my favorites. I don't make it very often but now I'm going to add it to my meal planning sheet. I've decided to plan my meals a little bit better, writing everything down and stuff. I've kind of done this before but I never really wrote things down and actually PLANNED my meals. I'm doing this to really try and NOT eat out. It's just too expensive to eat out! Here's the recipe:

Stuffed Peppers:

4-6 green bell peppers (depending on the size)
1 lb ground beef
2 TBSP chopped onion
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup uncooked Minute Rice
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 eggs
2 cups tomato paste

Preheat oven to 350. Cut tops from peppers, remove membranes & wash. I usually then cut my peppers in half and just lay the halves in my 9X13 pan. Combine ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fill peppers and place in baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 50-60 minutes (I bake mine about 20 minutes longer then with the cover off...just to make sure the meat is done). Enjoy!

Below are a few pics of our time spent in Columbia!

Check out my Slide Show!

A Recipe to Share...and a few photos

I made this on Saturday thanks to my sister, Elizabeth, giving me the recipe. She got it from the Pioneer Woman's website. It is, to say the least, FANTASTIC. My whole family loved it...I'm adding it to my monthly menu chart!!!! If you need more detailed instructions just check out the website.

Chicken Spaghetti

2 cups cooked chicken
2 cans Cream of Mushroom
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
1/2 cup finely diced onion

1-4 oz jar diced pimentos, drained
3 cups dry spaghetti, broken into two inch pieces
2 cups reserved chicken broth from pot
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste
1 additional cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Cook 1 cut up fryer (I used 3 chicken breasts) and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar. Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover & refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (if the cheese on top starts to get to cooked, cover with foil)


Included are a few photos of of Matthew's last soccer game last Saturday, as well as my Mom's surprise 70th birthday party last Saturday. We pulled it off...she was so surprised! We had it at St. Andrew's Activity Center (my sister and her family attend there) and all of the boys (and adults!) had a great time playing kickball, basketball, soccer, etc. We had our meal catered from The Pilot House...that worked out great because we could spend more time visiting and less time working in the kitchen!!! We all had a great time...I think my Mom was most surprised when her little granddaughter, Maria, appeared! They are from Atlanta and made the trip!

Happy Monday tomorrow!

So Much to Blog About...But Not Tonight!

I'm headed to bed...can't believe it's been over a week since my last post! Since my last post we've had a 70th SURPRISE party for my Mom...which she was, in fact, VERY surprised...to say the least! We went to Matthew's last soccer game for the season, one of Matthew's friends came over to spend the night...and, the boys and I traveled to Columbia to visit one of my sisters and her family. I have LOTS of photos to share...but not tonight!

Happy 70th Birthday, Mom!

Today was my Mom's 70th birthday...it just doesn't seem possible. After school the boys and I went over to my mom & dad's house to wish her a happy birthday. I made little individual strawberry pies (thanks for the recipe, Shelly!) that I took over. They were enjoyed! Don't tell, but we (my 5 brothers & sisters, and spouses, of course!) are having a SURPRISE party for her on Saturday afternoon. I'm hoping that she doesn't have any idea yet...we gave her our gift today, instead of at the party Saturday, hoping that would help in keeping everying under raps! I'll post pictures after the party on Saturday.

Is Teaching a Second Career for Me?????

Absolutely...NOT...although I DO really enjoy substituting! As I mentioned yesterday, I substitute taught today for one of our 4th grade teachers and it was an amazingly fun day. We started off the day with Bible Study where we talked about the story in Luke of the men with leprosy. We then proceeded to spelling, reading (the kids were reading one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books...I may have to get them out again sometime!), language & finally, math. My favorite subject. We had an easy subject today...decimals to the hundreths. The kids had no problems with it at all. Next on the list was gym class...I finally got a break to eat my banana and look over the remainder of the schedule. I was really concerned when I got to the word "science"...science is not exactly "my thing". Luckily, all that they were doing today was reading over the subject...chemical reactions...thank goodness we weren't actually DOING anything. We read over it quickly, I asked a few questions, and then I let them use the remainder of the time to read! I got thru science as quickly as possible...like I said...it's not my thing!!!

Have a Fun Tuesday and Stay Warm!!

Today MUST be the day...

for BLOG updates! Many of the blogs that I regularly read were updated today...I feel obligated to update mine!

This week has been a busy week... I think my last post was on Monday. We've been busy with dentist appointments, soccer, haircuts, etc. Thursday night was my monthly Bunco night...had a great time. Friday morning I had MOPS at church. I must say, this year our MOPS meetings/speakers have been such an encouragement to me. Our speaker Friday spoke about true hospitality...I had a lot to learn! Friday evening Matthew had his spring concert out at Saxony High School. It was a cute concert. After we got home, Amy and I headed out to the movies to see 27 Dresses...very fun movie...I think I'll purchase it to put in my "chick flick" collection!

Saturday morning Rob & Matthew headed out very early...it was Youth Turkey Season this weekend. It was really cold & super windy...they did see some birds but had no luck with shooting any. This morning when they went out they heard several, but again had no luck. On the way home, right in someone's front yard, there were about 10 birds...just sitting there waiting to be someone's dinner! Unfortunately, shooting isn't allowed in someone else's front yard!

While Rob & Matthew were hunting Saturday morning, I took Jacob to Messy Morning at the Show Me Center...he had a lot of fun but wasn't too interested in all the "messy" stuff! He would have sat with the guy building blocks all day long! I've included a few photos from that.

Saturday afternoon Matthew had his first baseball practice...it was really cold but he didn't seem to mind.

There's also a photo included of our hallway...just for you, Julie!! BTW, all of our baseboards are now up!

Tomorrow I'm substituting for a great group of 4th graders at St. Paul...I'm looking forward to it!

Have a great Monday!

Never knew there was a toilet under our kitchen sink!

I had just gotten back this evening from dinner at the Olive Garden with my small group from MOPS. Rob & I were talking in the living room and I heard a bedroom door open. Here comes Jacob...walking down the hall...he's saying "I gotta go pee"...he continues walking down the hall...right past the bathroom door and in to our kitchen...he opens the cabinet door underneath our sink...and, thankfully, I catch him before he does his business!!! I then proceed to take him to the bathroom where he continues to remain asleep...he goes potty...I carry him back to bed where, within seconds, he's fast asleep!

Matthew scored his first goal of the spring soccer season on Sunday afternoon!!! He was so excited. We continue to tell him that it doesn't matter if he scores a goal or not...what matters is that he helps his team out...but, at his age it continues to be important to try and score a goal! We were so proud of him!

Our flooring is completely done...it looks awesome...I just take the Swiffer over it and all the dust/hair/etc. is picked up. I LOVE it! I'm still working on getting things in place...and, our baseboards aren't up yet because Rob's brother needed his saw back...but, soon they'll be back up. I'm sorry I haven't posted pictures yet...I'll try and do that tomorrow.

I'm headed to bed...have a great Tuesday and hopefully the rain will STAY AWAY!!!

"I am NOT a carpenter!"

These are the words that I would normally hear from my husband at LEAST 20 times a day while doing a remodeling work in our home. And I just say, "But, honey...you work for Penzel CONSTRUCTION Co.!" (For those of you that don't know, Rob is a heavy equipment operator...he operates bulldozers, cranes, backhoes, etc. etc. etc...so he really doesn't do the typical construction work that people think he does when he tells them he works for a construction company.) I am happy to report, though, that laying this hardwood laminate that he's been doing here at the house has actually been something that he's enjoyed! When he got finished doing the hallway, he said..."I might as well just finish the bedroom"! We had intended on doing the bedroom at some point but I honestly felt that he would be tired of it by the time he got down the hallway! So, he's working on the bedroom and it should be finished by the weekend! We are, however, having a man come in tomorrow and paint the living room and hallway. Rob despises painting (he is actually painting the ceilings right now though to save a few bucks!) so he wanted to have someone come in and just finish it. So, by tomorrow evening, we will have a beautiful olive green color in the living room & hallway! I'm so excited, except for the fact that the painters will be here at 7:00 am!!!

I'll post final pictures this weekend!