Bluebirds?

Here is a pic of our bluebird? and her 3 eggs. Jeff put our step-ladder on top of two rocker chairs on the edge of the second story deck to get the pic of the eggs.  What a stud!  :)

  It should be interesting because she built her nest right on top of the sunshade we use every night when we eat dinner outside on the deck.  This should make for some hot dinners as it got up to 102 today!  I hope she and her babies make it ok...the wind is crazy and there's been wrens (?) flying around trying to get her eggs.  They are extremely annoying!  I can't wait to see the progress.    

The boys are super stoked since they saw the pic of the 3 eggs.  She built her nest last week so we should see the eggs hatch sometime next week or so.  I am just as excited to get to experience this myself for the first time with my two little younglings.  :)   I also bought a bluebird house today so we can be sure that next time, the nest is built in a good, safe place.  Life is so good that I'm a bird-watcher, reading bluebird blogs, posting on the blogs, and blogging about them now on mine, haha!  Love it!

Kindergarten, ack!!!

I can't believe my little guy is going to be in KG next year.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was getting him ready for his doctor visits in his carseat and weighing him at 8 pounds.  I have been preparing him for his assessments and he had them down! That is, until the teachers asked him the questions, LOL. 

Tyler has been adding, subtracting, spelling, and reading for a couple of months now.  His Pre-K teacher told me that he was the only child who was able to ID every letter and number at random without fail, out of 20 children in his class.  He is actually one of the youngest in his class, so receiving this feedback, I became over-confident!  :)

3 different KG teachers gave him his assessment.  I pray to my graceful and loving Lord that he gets a teacher with a sense of humor...as the one teacher who gave me feedback had none.  It actually makes the story even funnier, I think.  *snicker*  "Tyler said his alphabet to the letter K.", she began.  I instantly started laughing and looked at Tyler...then her...she must have done this before, right?  I have not...I found that info hilarious!  I told her he's known his alphabet since he was 2.  She also said he counted to 17.  I laughed again and explained that he and I have counted in the hundreds (grueling for me...so fun for him).She continued in her stoic way for a few minutes, explaining that Tyler did very well otherwise...knowing how to catch, throw, etc. and knew how to write, draw, and distinguish words. 

Here's the kicker-She came to the part when she told me that Tyler's answer to "What do you do when you break a toy?"   Tyler's reply-"You sell it."  I LOST IT!!!  Ok....she really thinks I'm crazy at this point.   I explained to her that his younger brother has had a habit of breaking toys on purpose recently.  For punishment, I have been adding a toy of my choice of his to my "Sale/Donate" pile I have in the garage.  It broke that habit quickly.  I thought I was a genius.  Apparently, she didn't. :P

I could not wait to tell my Mother about that story!  So darn funny!  He is so much fun, innocent (mostly), and imaginative. I love how he yearns to learn about anything and everything.  He names the planets from the sun to Uranus in order, knows every single character in every single Veggie Tales and Disney movie, recites them all to a "T", and tries to teach his little brother everything as well.  He understands recycling, how the body works, and the process of archeology...through his leapster and the help of Scholastic books.  It also helps that he has his head stuck in a book with me or Daddy every night.  :)

I am having so much fun laughing at everything he does that is silly...and making learning fun.  I really do pray that God gives us a fun teacher who teaches with love, caring, and smiles!!!  We have been so incredibly blessed at church for such a wonderful Preschool program for my boys.  They have learned so much more that I could have ever imagined. Not just academics, but the Word, love, forgiveness, and about friendships.  We are so blessed!

Superbowl bound and looking for recipes that are profound.

Sweet! Another trip to the Superbowl for the Steelers! DH is super stoked, of course, and we're anticipating a party in the mix. Time to break out the black and gold, chips, guac, and get ready for some FOOTBALL! If you have a recipe you love, share it. Thanks!

My first try at Hot pizza dip was a success for Bunco last month so I'll make that again:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I use low fat)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup pizza sauce
2 tablespoons chopped green bell pepper
2 ounces pepperoni sausage, chopped (I use turkey pepperoni)
2 tablespoons sliced black olives
small jar chopped mushrooms
Directions
1.In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, oregano, parsley, and basil.
2.Spread mixture in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate, or a shallow microwave-safe dish. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese on top of the cream cheese mixture. Spread the pizza sauce over all. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, then top with green pepper, pepperoni and olive slices. Cover, and microwave for 5 minutes. Throw it in a crock pot on low and serve it up with sliced french baguette or garlic breadsticks.


If anyone has one, I would love a good salsa recipe that's not loaded with cilantro. I usually make this particular salsa(recipe modified from my Pampered Chef cookbook) and it's a big hit with Tostito's Scoops:
Southern-Style Salsa
Ingredients:
1-2 ears fresh corn (I use 1-12 oz. pkg frozen corn, thawed)
1 small green bell pepper
1 small red bell pepper
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (or 1 T. chopped from jar)
1 green onion with top
1 tbsp (15 mL) snipped fresh cilantro (I don't use cilantro)
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 can (15 oz or 398 mL) Southern-style pre-seasoned black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) Black beans, rinsed
1/3 cup (75 mL) Italian salad dressing (I use fat free)
1/4 tsp (2 mL) hot pepper sauce (Frank's Red Hot)
1 can (15 oz) can mild Ro-tel (optional)---sometimes I throw it in for a kick
Large corn chips or tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:
1. Cut off tip of ears of corn, creating a flat base. Hold corn by husk end and stand upright on cutting board. Remove kernels from corn using Kernel Cutter to equal 1 cup (250 mL) corn kernels. Chop bell peppers and jalapeño pepper. Slice green onion.

2. Combine all ingredients in medium bowl with lid; mix gently and cover. Refrigerate at least 1-2 hours to allow flavors to blend, but overnight is preferred. Serve with corn chips.

Well, there's just a couple things we'll have. It will be a killer game, even if Green Bay wins.

Throwing the gift wrap around for 30 days 1-23-11

My Christmas tree is still up, there are a few decorations here and there, but I have survived my 5 and 3 year old's bdays within 30 days (includes Christmas right in the middle) so hoo-rah for me! Planning all 3 wonderful events always brings me incredible joy and fulfillment. Especially if there's giggles and screaming involved. Both boys have a massive amount of craft supplies, Hot Wheels, and Toy Story stuff . They got Steelers stuff , Hockey stuff , games from Hasbro , clothing, bedding , full sized beds and furniture , Iron Man golashes OMG-SUPER cute! , Batman stuff http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fisher-Price-Imaginext-DC-Super-Friends-Batmobile/11260186?sourceid=1500000000000003260420&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11260186 , MORE dinosaurs http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2333512 , room decor , and so much more random stuff. Overwhelming to say the least, really. Last year, I thought we went crazy trying to stock up gradually to avoid last minute impulse buying. Not so fast...we're talking about ME here. Yes, I did purchase several things throughout the year. I also bought many things on impulse. I found 2 bags of Christmas presents that I hid in 2 different closets last week and am laughing(again) as I type this. What can I say? I love my boys and I LOVE a good sale! The fun of it all has been getting the boy's rooms set up with their new beds, posters, pillows, and rugs. I love to change things and re-decorate as much as I possibly can. We get it all set up together and sit on the rugs playing games, building sky-scrapers, and seeking fresh meat for Little's Tyrannosaurus rex and 9.9 ton Spinosaurus. That's actually the MOST fun of it all. :) I have been trying to de-clutter this place for real since January 2nd. Better Homes and Gardens http://www.bhg.com/?ordersrc=google5bhg_home&cobrandId=ww5&s_kwcid=TC|5599|better%20homes%20and%20gardens||S||3062635168 has become my new "Has it come yet?" magazine, just above fashion and parenting mags. There. I said it. January's issue is filled with super cool ideas for organizing and de-cluttering. I felt anxiety just reading it...wanting to go straight to my closet and throw those hideous jeans and sweaters God knows needs to get to the consignment shop. My project this week is getting items for just that and promising myself to stick to that task only. God help me! Have you ever felt like it never gets done? I have finally figured out that the reason I never complete anything is because I never stick to just one thing at a time. You know the drill...after folding and putting away clothes in your child's room, you see books and cars all over the floor. You put the books back in the bookshelf and realize they aren't arranged by size anymore, and the cars are mixed up with the dinosaurs. Also, the sheets probably need changed (it's Monday) and the room could use a good vaccuuming. Oh, you don't know that drill? Consider yourself blessed! I find it funny writing about it, but truthfully I do need a real list to stick to and a promise to myself to get those few things done without getting side-tracked other than tending to the peeps. This next week is sure to be a challenge, but I am happy to tackle it! The consignment cash will go into the fitness fund. I'll blog about that later on. Happy New Year! xoxo