Lenten Lessons Part 1.

One of the things I worry most about as a mother, is that I may not be teaching them enough about the things that really matter in life...namely God. I strive day in and day out to take every opportunity I can to teach them, turn situations into learning lessons, let them know of God's love. Obviously being human, I struggle. Luckily for me, there are people out there that have helped pave the way, making the opportunities for lessons a little easier. I take no credit for the activity below. I borrowed it from http://www.catholicmom.com/ a site I frequent often for little tips. It helped we wonderfully this past January on pro-life activities for the kiddos. However this one is under kids, Lenten activities, jelly bean prayer. I came across it two years ago, but at the time I came across it, Lent was half over, so we have technically only done it a year. The kids are not fans of jelly beans. Actually I take that back, they love jelly beans, but I don't like them to have them so we used m&ms instead. The kids loved it and I really felt that it covered a wide range of actions. It did not just focus on sacrifice, but also forgiveness, not just actions, but also prayer. The kids looked forward to getting new colors and striving for the colors they struggled to get. It is kind of funny because one of the kiddos' sitter came over a few weeks ago and asked if we had started that m&m thing yet. I told her no, that it was for lent, and she was like "man, they worked so hard for those black ones, I thought it would be easy tonight." I laughed...apparently she liked the activity too. Luckily the kiddos went to bed just fine for her anyway. When I was getting all the stuff out to do it for this year even, Cohen asked if we could add some more colors. I asked him to elaborate. He suggested adding brown because his Rosary is brown and he thought maybe he could get brown for every time he prays his rosary. I don't know how many 6 year olds think about praying the rosary, but I am happy mine does! We are also in the process of constructing a crown of thorns...I'll keep you posted on this one as we have never done it:) I am always looking for new things to do with them, so if you have any, please share! I am still trying to come up with other stuff besides the usual (weekly Stations, Easter Cookies) so if I think of anything, or if anyone shares anything, I'll pass it on.

Here is our set up from last year....

Red is for the love He gave- Each morning they would choose something to sacrifice for that day. He had to be something they had the opportunity to have or do on that day.

Green is for the palms cool shade- green were earned for good deeds done (providing shade for Jesus with palms was a good deed)

Yellow is for God's light so bright- yellows were earned for kindness shared to others

Blue was for prayers at twilight- (these were supposed to be orange, but the kids thought the sky was more blue so we went with blue)- these were for good behavior with prayer or during special prayer times

Black is for sweet rest at night-these were earned for going to bed good:) Miss Miayla had just a few blacks-this year she swears she will get more

White is for God's grace- THESE COULD NOT BE EARNED

Purple is for His days of sorrow- these were earned after apologizing to someone you hurt through words or actions-asking for forgiveness

Pink is for each new tomorrow-pink were earned when we forgave someone who had apologized to us .

We set the jars up on Ash Wednesday and the kiddos could earn m&ms for the colors they performed whatever deed for. They COULD NOT eat them until Easter. The kids could not earn white m&ms, these represent God's grace, which is a gift not earned ourselves. Essentially though, on Easter morning, the kiddos woke up to find their jars filled up where they were empty (lacking) with white m&ms (God's grace)-All of those pictures are on a different computer that is all apart as we finish a basement...if or when I find them, I'll post the jars with white m&ms:) ---

I hated to spoil it for you if you were excited to see where this was going, but just in case you wanted to do it with your kiddos, I thought I would prepare you:).

God's Peace!

a slice of heaven

This has nothing to do with Ree, but everything to do with food. So last week I noticed on facebook, that one of my friends was making a skillet chocolate chip cookie. I commented that she should share the link and she, clearly recognizing that I am obsessed with food, said she was just getting ready to link it to my page because she knew I would like it. Well it was about 8pm and the kiddos were in bed. I logged off facebook and started baking. But despite all the goodies around me, I could NOT for the life of me get the image of the cookie out of my head. See the thing is Mel did not know about my love for the chocolate chip cookie. It goes back decades. I have homemade mixes all baggied and ready to go so I don't even have to measure anything anymore! I just grab a kit and whip up some cookies. The pennicle of my obsession is the Old Chicago Big Cookie. I get one every time we go....and I have a hard time sharing. I have made "big cookies" before. I have even made little individual cookies like the ones at OC before in little corningware dishes. However, when I saw the skillet cookie, it was if the skies parted and I realized my life would never be the same. So as I was baking, unable to get the image out of my head, I made one. I figured I would try it and see how it was. Cody asked who was going to eat it and sadly a part of me thought it was perfect that I could indulge all by my lonesome. This was afterall a test run, so why subject the kiddos to a possibly bad dessert? What kind of mother would I be if I did that?! When the cookie came out of the oven I just stared at it....waiting for it to be ready for consumption. Unfortunately that did not happen long enough for me to take a picture of it....

I HAD to have some. It was unbelievable. Cody kept looking at me while I ate it because of the noises I was making. It was soooo good. It was warm, gooey, and a thick cookie! I kicked myself for being selfish because this really could feed a few people, but hey, you live and learn.
I enjoyed my little slice of heaven that night and have made three times since last week. My life will never be the same! Thanks Mel.

Here is the link: sorry about leaving it out, thought I had it in there:)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/skillet-baked-chocolate-chip-cookie?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/chocolate-chip-cookie-recipes#slide_6

my Month with Ree- Day 16 and 17

One of another favorites of mine is Country Fried Steaks. It is one of those items I get whenever Cody takes me someplace that serves them. If it is an Italian restaurant-lasagna, an American grill- ribs, steakhouse- country fried steak. I LOVE THEM. I can't remember which family member it is now, but one of them traded me roasts for their minute steaks when we got beef because we go through them so fast! I LOVE MAKING COUNTRY FRIED STEAKS (chicken fried steaks to others). Yes they are bad for you, I realize this. But I hope you also realize that I clearly do not care. Country fried steaks are one of my comfort foods. They bring me happiness. I love my country fried steak recipe so i was a little leery about trying Ree's, but I did. It was funny too because I had a craving for it and went to get her cookbook to see how she made it. Except my mom had my cookbook....so I logged on and great minds think a like because Ree had posted it to her site a few days ahead of time (under Chicken fried steak). They were craving it too. See I know we would be friends. Anyway, I tried Ree's recipe and it was delightful. Very similar to mine, very tasty too. The reason this is the posting for day 16 and 17 is because I of course had to try her creamy mashed potatoes with it! Now these were AWESOME!! I'll never make potatoes the old way again. Her suggested ingredients made them so creamy. I did use whipping cream instead of half and half because that is what I had, but they still came out great. The meal brought me lots of comfort. Probably a few more pounds too, but oh well. I enjoyed every bite!

I use my handy dandy pampered chef coating trays for the coating meat process...

They really are handy. When I purchased them, I had chicken fried steaks in mind:)

Creamy mashed potatoes!! That is butter on top, not cheese!

DELICIOUS GOODNESS THAT RIGHT THERE!!

My happy place that quickly became my happy plate!

Chicken Fried steak

Grade A

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Grade A

I'm back....

So the last week and a half have been CRAZY here. Mainly there have just been three things that have consumed all my time, but I actually think they consumed more time than I actually had to give, so blogging was not an option. Oh I thought about it. And I thought about Ree and all her delicious goodness that I was not tasting, and all the stories about the kiddos that were not being shared, and all the times that I just wanted to post a thought to the world. But it simply did not happen. What have I been up to.... well...

1. The Britches and Lace Consignment Sale. I do this sale twice a year and it means a ton to me....a ton more than a sale should, but hey. The thing is, if you partake in this sale and are one of the "die-hards" this sale becomes your life for a few days. Cody and I do not shop that often. Actually, hardly ever. We have a very hard time buying clothes for ourselves and we hardly buy clothes for the kiddos....except for this sale. It is all things kid related, and it is where I get their wardrobe for the year and anything I think they will need (toys, games, sheets, decor) I go to the fall sale in September to stock up for fall and winter and the spring sale in march to stock up for spring and summer. The sale fits nicely into our budget, saving us tons. I used to like garage sales....kids do grow super fast and go through clothes faster. But I have mostly eliminated all garage selling when I discovered this sale. Granted you pay a bit more, it is like a one stop shop AND for the most part, most of the clothes come in outfits so you don't end up with a cute top and a cute bottom, but not a cute coordinating top and bottom. Another thing I LOVE about the sale is if you are a consignor, you get to shop early (the night before). It is CHAOS. MASS CHAOS, lots of mommas on missions. But fun:) If you barter or volunteer you get to shop even earlier (I'm going @ 6 the night before, yippee). And the other thing I love about it that garage selling is lacking is that kiddos are not allowed at the pre-sale:) With garage selling you are getting kiddos in and out of cars, in the heat usually, all for hoping you hit a good spot. This is a few hours of my life, kid-less, getting all our shopping done for two seasons. And Lana and Trina run a tight ship so they only take nice, up to date clothing, most of it is gymboree, childrens place, baby gap....you get the idea. If you are in my area, check it out!! you can check out the website @ www.britchesandlace.com . Look at the photos, and you will be amazed. Anyway....I have been busy trying to get stuff ready for that. Oh, I also have a "friend" pass for wednesday night. you would get in at 8 with all the other crazies. Let me know if you are interested.

2. The other big time consumer was my first really big bakery order. I had 1000 mini desserts to do for a school auction. It was a lot of fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it....but I baked soooooooooooo much. My kitchen was an inch deep in flour dust, but it smelled divine:) Trying to bake 1000 desserts was not so bad...it was the doing it pregnant with three little ones already that posed a bit of a problem. Actually the kiddos are amazing. I know one day it will all come crumbling down and they will start being hellions..but for now they are awesome. Sawyer just got used to moving his elmo chair to the kitchen and sitting and reading while I baked. It was awesome.

3. The family took the rest of the time. Obviously they are at the forefront of all of my life (I do the sale for them, and the desserts were for Cohen's school). When I got a spare moment, I cuddled, and read, and played.....i didn't blog, or read about Ree. And I am happy with my decision. They are my world and I think I handled the chaos nicely.

I am back though, and we will continue Operation Ree and being a crazy little family. Thanks for still checking in!

My Month with Ree- Day 15

One thing about getting 1/2 beefs is you get a lot of roast. Or at least it seems that way. Maybe it is because I don't like roasts so don't use them so by the time we get another 1/2 beef I am up to my ears in roasts....We have more dang roasts than I'd care to have. I know, I know, everyone loves roasts. Do you know how I like roasts? When Cody smokes them or cooks them or pretty much when I don't have to do anything with the roast, that is how and when I like them. Well...before now. We will now call this time B.R. (Before Ree).

I realized that I do have some amazing roast recipes, some easy roast recipes, however, I lacked patience with my roast. I lacked the proper care and preparation for the roast pre-roasting time therefore, I disliked the roast at eating time. I decided to use one of the lots of meats we have in the freezer and give the roast another go around. I chose Ree's "Perfect Pot Roast". It smelled perfect, it was easy to prepare, it was insanely similar to other roast recipes that I cursed myself for ruining all those roasts in the making of this roast. And Cody said it was the most perfect roast I have ever made. Yay. Looking at the dish it doesn't look like very much, but this was about a 1/3 of the roast. We had it again the next day and I am pretty sure there is still some left in the fridge. Although even though I am blogging about it at 9 am on a Monday morning, the thought of it is making my mouth water, so I may just go heat the rest of that up now:)

So tender-so good.
Perfect Pot Roast
Grade A

My month with Ree- Day 14

I usually only have russet potatoes on hand at home, so I have been trying to add red potatoes to the mix as well. I enjoy potatoes and since I married a meat and potatoes type of guy, we go through them pretty dang fast. Where as I do love a baked potato with butter and cheese and bacon, I am always looking for new recipes to try. Luckily Ree has some good ones too:)



I decided to try "Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes" with our meal the other day. They seemed super easy and I would be using the red potatoes that I had purchased earlier in the week. The picture of them reminded me of a steakhouse (guess they ring true to their name) and since they sounded pretty similar to my loaded mashed potatoes, I figured we should be on the safe side. Turns out they were indeed incredibly easy. Ree was right in saying to serve them hot with the fried onion strings because they did get a little crunch texture that you normally do not get in potatoes. I of course added cheese to my helping because I am a cheese addict, but without cheese, I hear they were still delish.

Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes

Grade B+

My month with Ree- Day 13

So our President's Day celebration turned into more of a Ree celebration. We had started out with her French Breakfast puffs, then for lunch Cohen requested beef and bean burritos, and for dinner we had sloppy joes because I needed something toasted. Because of all this food, and the left overs, I took a break from something new from Ree on Tuesday. I still felt her presence though as I continued to eat puffs through out the day.





For Day 13, I decided to try "Buttered Rosemary Rolls" at the suggestion of a friend. I was actually pretty excited about this "recipe" because I needed to use a cast iron skillet. Cody and I struggle with lots of things in life...one of them being the ability to care for a cast iron skillet. We have gone through a couple of them and I needed a new one. Since I needed the skillet for a meal, I thought it was justified to fit into our grocery budget. Yay me. So after I purchased OUR FAMILY another skillet, I was ready to try the recipe. I had bought a bigger skillet than the one Ree uses, and I should have put more rolls in there, but realized that after the fact so they were not as pretty as hers. They made the house smell yummy. I slathered mine with butter and their warm goodness made my night. And do you know who else loved them? Sweet baby Sawyer. He LOVED them, he had 4. Cohen ate too much chicken pot pie and was full so he didn't have any. Cody was gone this particular evening so he didn't get any, and miayla had one and thought it was delicious (although, I think she was trying to suck up because she didn't eat her pot pie and wanted dessert.) So the only grade I have to go off of are Sawyer's and mine, but since we loved them, I think it did well:)

He had just taken a bite....of his first one


This was on his 4th..I love his little hands.

Buttered Rosemary Rolls

Grade A

Family Night

Last Sunday night we had "family night". Cody and I decided to watch a movie with the kiddos (we let them stay up late (9p.m.) since they didn't have school the next day) and we ordered pizza (we usually make our own). It was quite funny because Cody and I had already picked out a kids movie and then Cohen came into the conversation when we were talking about dinner. I was asking Cody what he wanted to eat and Cohen answered "pizza from the pizza man." I looked at Cody and he looked at me and then Cody looked at Cohen and Cohen smiled. Then Cohen suggested maybe we could watch a movie too. I looked at Cody, Cody looked at me, Cody looked at Cohen and then Cohen smiled. Then He ran to Miayla and was like "whoa Mia, I just asked for pizza and they said yes. Then I asked for a movie and they said yes." Then she ran to us and asked if we could have a picnic and we said yes. They were both so excited and we loved that they thought it was all their idea:)

This is as close as Sawyer gets to a picnic...his chair got moved to the living room.
And yes, he only has a diaper and shirt on...he sweats a lot.



Cohen and Miayla at their picnic

I had to take another picture of Sawyer because he is just so darn cute and he was concentrating so hard on getting the meat on his fork. I think I watched him more than the movie.

I took a picture of him too because he is so darn cute as well and I am pretty sure I have spent whole movies staring at him too:)

I Got a package people

So the other day I got two packages in the mail:) I LOVE getting packages. If any of you out there want to send me a package, I'd love you forever. So the first package contained a gift from my hubby. He had ordered me Ree's new novel "Black High Heels to Tractor Wheels!" There was some mess up and it took forever to get here, but I did get it. I can't wait to read it. I have read some of the story on her site, but I am hoping this will flow a little better for me:)

It also came the day Sawyer's new kicks came (which coincidentally is now the same day I got grounded from babysteals.com). I ordered him the "cowboy boot" livie luca and I thought it was very fitting they both arrived on the same day. Apparently, Cody didn't think so. Which is why I decided to blog about my packages...because it doesn't look like I will be getting too many anytime soon. Which is why if you wanted to send me something........:)

My pretty tulips in the background were from Miayla and my momma. Miayla says just her, but since 1. she has no money, and 2. can't drive, I'm pretty sure my momma deserves the credit. And from what I hear from both of them, mom deserves lots of credit because she got to deal with Miayla at the store and explain why they shouldn't get the opened tulips. Knowing Miayla's stubbornness, by the end of the conversation mom was probably cursing me and thinking she deserved the tulips more:) Loved them mom! thanks

My month with Ree- Day 12

**I started this post then left--thus it being posted late in the week...

The kiddos were off of school today for President's day. It was kind of funny because Cohen had wanted to play outside late last night and I told him that he would have to wait until tomorrow (today) because it was time to come in. I assured him his friends would be out playing since they all had off of school too. He got very upset and assured me that they would indeed NOT be playing outside, because they would all be having "celebrations for President's Day"!! I laughed a little and was like "what are you talking about?" He proceeded to explain to me what president's day was and how it should be celebrated. In my mind I kept thinking "Gosh, I wish your dad was here to hear this because he doesn't "observe" little holidays." (Cody works all the time, I try to get him to take off for everything under the sun, but the kid has a good work ethic, so he goes into the office all the time.) But at the end of my lecture, it was clear that President's Day deserved some sort of celebration. Since the kiddos love to cook, I decided to make something special with them for breakfast. We would have a lazy morning and I would meet my Ree quota for the day:).

I decided we would try Ree's "French Breakfast Puffs". They were bread and had tons of cinnamon and sugar (my favs). They were incredibly easy to make (I am pretty sure Miayla and Cohen could have done it all by themselves if I let them, but the images of the book "don't wake momma" appeared in my head and we all know not to mess with me without my bread fix so I didn't dare let them.) The kiddos loved rolling the muffins in the butter and the coating. At one point, Cohen forgot he was actually rolling the muffin in the butter and it slowly started to fall apart. Whoops. The muffins were really delicious too and I loved the subtle nutmeg taste to them. Ree said they "reheat beautifully" if frozen so these too will be added to my freezer cooking day:)

**So it is now a few days later and these puppies still taste delicious. Still super moist and totally filling my bread cravings.


**So now it is 5 days later and these little guys are gone. I consumed the majority of them;)

So delicate and moist and cinnamon sugary:)

I made mini ones for Sawyer too:)
French Breakfast Puffs
Grade A+

100th POST

So I was signing out of blogger the other day when I noticed that I was coming up on my 100th post. At first I felt like a big disappointment because I have had this blog for 2+ years now and am only at my 100th post. Seriously J? Com'on Man. Then I started thinking about it and this blog was never meant to be lots of thoughts through-out the day, or a day to day occurrence of my life. It was initially set up to help capture some of those memories we are creating on our journey and it was a way to share pictures and stories with those that don't see the kiddos regularly. I wanted to have my blogs printed at the end of the year in a blog book, and I wanted to have entries that I would look back on and want to read about. Something that I could have on the bookshelf and the kiddos pull out and look at and say "I demember this"!! So outside of last year, we dubbed it The Year of the Sawyer since life was just about readjusting to life with a baby, I have been able to capture some of the bigger memories. And looking through pictures and journals, just because I didn't blog it to the world, doesn't mean it did not go unnoticed.

So for my 100th post, I thought I would blog about 10 things that are important to me or that I cherish. Ideally doing something with the number 100 would be cool, but who would want to read 100 things about me? I don't even think I would want to write 100 things about me. Ten may be pushing it...we will see how far we get;) I am thinking that I am going to do 10 installments of 10 things, the first being the 10 most important, that way if I don't get too far, you have the basics:) One thing that I have learned as I age, is who and what matters. I am proud of my life, my choices, and the path I am on and I thank GOD everyday that He has gotten me this far. Here is my list, happy reading:

10. Books. Literacy is something that I think so many take for granted. I think of how many countless hours I have devoted to reading and cannot even fathom the inability to read. I take this privilege very seriously and read often;) I had taken a bit of a hiatus from reading novels or anything that was not a board book or dealt with friendly characters for a few years. When Cohen and Miayla were both born, we were still in school so reading was an every night occurrence. (well with Miayla technically I wasn't in school, but Cody was in graduate school, so I read with him every night (see #7)). But once school got out, the books were few and far between. Then Sawyer came... a hungry Sawyer. And he would nurse for hours, or what seemed like hours, then sleep on my chest.. and this was all we would do. So I read. I read a ton. I was reading hundreds of pages a day, and I LOVED IT. I love that the kiddos love to read, I love that at the end of the night when Cody and I sit down to read, Sawyer grabs his books and sits down in his chair by himself and reads too. I love having Cohen read to me. That has been one of my bigger joys the last year and a half. That kid can read. His voice only sounds sweeter when he says "momma" :) I love snuggling up with kiddos in beds and reading to them or with them, or them to me. They have book lights in their beds and every night they read after I turn off the lights. And I love reading in bed with Cody at night, reminds me of Mike and Carol Brady:) LOVE BOOKS

9. FOOD. Clearly if you have been reading my posts lately you know I love food. I actually picked up a magazine yesterday and there was an article about how a woman had cheated on her husband with food. Cody and I laughed and acknowledged that would be my kind of affair:) Food brings me happiness, lots of happiness. It also brings me something else that ends in two "s" but that is for another post. I love gatherings with food and I love having people over to share food. I thoroughly enjoy eating. A few of my favs are Granite city BRUNCH, and Sweet Basil for lunch during the week. Both ironically are buffets, which Cody and I both despise, but I make exceptions for these two places. yummmm, food.

8. Bedtime Routine for adults. Don't worry, this is completely G-rated:) I am crazy about Cody James. Drives me bonkers, but love him. One thing that I love about him (you couldn't honestly think he would be this high up in the list) is our bedtime routine. From the very beginning we have never gone to bed with out the other. It is something that started out cute-can't-get-enough-of-you sweet and now it is so routine. I know LOTS of couples where she will go to bed and he will stay up watching TV or vice versa. We always go to bed together and not only do we go to bed together, we race to the bed to see who has to turn off the light. When he was going through graduate school, I would stay up and read. When he was going through certifications of sorts, I would stay up and eat. And now he is going through more "initials behind his name" so I stay up and read and eat. On warmer nights, we sit out on the patio and talk about our life together when "we grow up". I cherish this time when it is just him and me and I look forward to it every night.

7. Close Friends. If you are reading this and it makes you smile, you know it is you. I have just a handful of them. The ones that get the full Jeny. The ones that get notification when something happens, namely the conception of a child and or it's birth (seems like that has happened a lot over the last 6 years). The ones that know what is going on sans FACEBOOK. The ones that see me in sweats (or I guess hang out with me in sweats, cuz Lord knows EVERYONE sees me in sweats), the ones that come over and hang out with the kiddos. The ones that play with the kiddos and ask them questions and hold them with out asking. The ones that call or text and say I'm thinking about you. The ones that go to my kiddos games and ask about practices and recitals. The ones that know I love to eat and take me places with food. The ones that give Cody hell. The ones that i know I can call on if I need anything and they will be there. LOVE THEM and I hope they know that.

6. MIKA. Mika is my bestest. We met in college and became close friends sophomore year. She was the 3rd person to know of Cohen, Cody and I being 1 & 2. And she didn't tell a soul, judge, or do anything except give lots of hugs and let me know life would be okay. And it was. Actually, now that I think about it...she has been the 3rd person to know of all 4 of my kiddos. Props to Mika. I say that like it is some honor to know about them:) Mika is the epitome of #7. I love the way our relationship is. She is the friend that you can call and not say anything and she will 1.start talking, or 2. if something is wrong, know that something is wrong and start talking because you don't know what to say. One thing I love about Mika is the way she loves my kids. You lose friends when you have kiddos, it is no secret. But I think of it as the time you find out who your true friends are. She is a huge fan and she takes them in. For two summers in a row we have gone on "bacations" to Mika's. She always has their favorite foods (she knows these from knowing them), fun things lined up, and PATIENCE. That girl has patience. Which you would have to if a friend and her 3 soon to be 4 kids invaded your life. She plays games with Cohen, pampers Princess Miayla, and cuddles with Sawyer informing him of his future girlfriend, Peyton, her niece:) I would be lost with out her and she deserves all the happiness in the world. Words really cannot do Mika justice. LOVE HER.

5. Family. I love my family-(extended family-to some, but I consider them all core family). I have the greatest parents. They have taught me so much and luckily I have been open-minded to listen. They have tried to give me everything they could and know that I am loved. They instilled a strong faith in me, one that I have not forgotten about, one that has gotten me through dark hours. They have stood by my side on everything. Even if it wasn't right, they were waiting in the wings to catch me if I fell. They adore the kiddos and the kiddos adore them. Just yesterday Cohen informed me that he might move to "uella's" house. blogging about my parents could take forever, so I will stop there for now. Anthony, my brother, I consider more of my oldest child. He is the light of my life. Well one of them. One thing my parents have blessed me with is the "extended family". Truth be told, we are not close to my dad's side of the family, so we just have my moms' side. Which I really feel like they are more my mom & dad's side of the family because they adore dad just as much. My aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandpa are completely important to me. We have family dinner the 3rd Sunday of every month and I think in all the time we have been doing it, I have missed maybe 3. I will reschedule stuff around them, they are important to me. Family dinner is just one instance I am surrounded by them. They come to ball games, we ZUMBA together, shop together, have game nights and pj parties together. LOVE MY FAMILY.

4. Babies. I love babies. I love being pregnant with babies. The gift of life is precious and I feel unbelievably blessed that God bestowed this honor on me. For those of you who don't know. I used to not want kids. I look back now on that time and think of how selfish and cheated I would of been if I did not have them. To see life through a child's eyes is amazing. To experience things with them is breath taking. I feel that God has given me a task to defend life and to be an advocate for the unborn. I love that every night when the kids pray they both pray for the unborn, or as Miayla says "the babies that are born and not born yet." This past January we did lots of "respect life" activities and I feel like they had an impact. If I accomplish nothing else in this life, I hope they grow up to defend life and love babies as much as I do:)

3. My children. Having life in you is an amazing thing. To feel another human being moving, heart beating, growing, is the greatest thing in the world. To experience their first breath outside of the womb is timeless. To see them for the first time and know you created them is life-changing. I love watching them grow and experience new things and accomplish things. Each of them is different, yet they are all similar. And it is so weird how you never knew life with out them. I look at Sawyer and think, "how did I get a long with out you for 26 years?" my children are very well behaved and very kind. They think of each other all the time. Do you know how many valentines I have right now for the baby?? Every place we go they ask about each other. First thing in the morning Miayla looks for Cohen if he is not in the room. They both run to Sawyer. We all run to Cody when he walks in every night. We have nigthly dance parties, crazy dinner conversations, more inside jokes than we should. I adore my little family. Cohen, Miayla, Sawyer and baby #4 are everything to me. I hope they know that.

2. Cody James. I'm smiling just thinking about trying to blog about him. I LOVE Cody, the most. We are completely different.... except in loving each other. Which lucky for us, is where it counts. I was raised to find someone that I loved, loved me, and would help get one another to heaven. Found him instead.... JUST KIDDING! Cody tells me that my faith and love of my faith teach him. Cody and his love for everything else, test my faith, and somehow I am hoping all of it will get us God:) Again with the sarcasm. Cody is unbelievably smart and so incredibly handsome. I love his hands, his blue blue eyes, and the scar on his right cheek and next to his left eye. I love the way he loves me. The way I fit under his chin and how he can wrap his whole body around me. I love that he is one of the fastest typers I know, wears a suit to work everyday, yet can run a combine and change my oil and build me a house. And I love the way he looks when he sees his baby for the first time. The way his hands go from strong, holding mine as I squeeze the blood out of them, to gentle and magical. How excited he gets about changing the first diapers and how he loves sharing the new baby with it's siblings. I love that he cuddles with them, that he takes them out on dates, teaches them, laughs with them, prays with them. I love our story and the journey we are on. I LOVE HIM.

1. God. My faith is the most important thing to me. The priest at our church was telling us about a guy him and a brother priest encountered on a trip and about how the said guy had a shirt on about God not existing. Fr. Weldon said "what's the point?" And I could not agree more. What is the point for any of this if there is not a higher being? God exists. You see it everyday, through out the day. The fact you are even here is testament to His existence. I don't understand how some people can get through life with no god or even how some people can be raised to know God and his teachings and then when grown, leave those beliefs or forget about Him. I know that I cannot change the world, but what i can do, is be a witness to His glory. To live my life to where others see it and my faith. The greatest experience in my life, which has happened on multiple occasions, is kneeling at Mass with my family. Now obviously we go to Mass all the time together, but a couple of weeks ago, Cody put Sawyer down while he was kneeling. I looked down the pew (another goal of mine is to have a pew full;) and every single one of my family members was kneeling and had their hands folded and heads bowed, including sweet baby Sawyer. I thanked God. The two oldest are angels at Mass all the time. When we go to weekday Mass or if we go at a time Cody can't make it, they sit and listen and participate. I will leave to get up with Sawyer and they are so well behaved in the pew and I love watching how Cohen takes care of Miayla. Now realistically, this day, it may have been coincidence on Sawyers part to kneel and pray, although every night at dinner he claps his hands together at prayer. I am hopeful God was working through him to remind me that we are on the right path, even if that path detours to the narthex of the church with a laughing baby. God has blessed me immensely and for that I am thankful. I will continue on the journey He has for me. "God has created me to do some definite service. God has committed some work to me which God has not committed to another. I have my mission; I may never know it in this life....but I shall be told it in the next." Blessed Cardinal Newman

My month with Ree- Day 11

I have always been one of those predictable Type A people. I have no less than 5 lists at one time. I have three different calendars and plans for everything. All of these can be blogged about another time though! One of those predictable patterns deals with Italian food, just ask Cody James! EVERY TIME he takes me to an Italian restaurant, I get the same thing, lasagna. I enjoy lasagna--well basic lasagna. Meat and cheese lasagna. I tell ya what I am not a fan of, spaghetti! I have disliked that since I was a wee one and I have never made it in our home. Even when my mom bought all the stuff for me because the kiddos and Cody like spaghetti, I still did not make it! (sorry mom). I like chicken spaghetti (yes I know Ree has a recipe for that too). But something about spaghetti drives me bonkers. Which is why some people are so fascinated by the fact that I LOVE lasagna. I often get, "aren't they similar?" "They are practically the same." but no, no they are not. Lasagna is a fine selection of ingredients that blend well together. It is a strategic dish. There are layers involved-steps. Totally perfect for a type A. Spaghetti, that is noodles with meat sauce thrown on top. Lasagna is so much more sophisticated!



One thing I dislike about some lasagna is the lack of meat and cheese, sometime the tomatoes try to overtake the dish. Well this did so not happen with "the best lasagna.ever." I could tell when I read the recipe that I would not be disappointed and I was right. I even used two of the meats in the freezer from the initial mission at hand, so that was an added bonus. Let me tell ya folks, this was Little Italy type lasagna. The kind where you wished you were in Rome, sipping some wine, listening to some large lady sing in the background. I say that like I have been to Rome, which I have indeed not. I have, however, been to Little Italy in NY twice, and I can attest to that claim. The other super bonus about this dish was that because it was so filling, it lasted in our home for a couple of days, which makes me very happy, because the last couple of days have been chaotic!! Ree said that it freezes nicely too, so before baby #4 comes, I will add this to my freezer cooking day and stock up. DELICIOUS!!

This was before I actually baked it--thought I'd take a picture....

This was after I baked it---looks quite the same, lol.

My fellow "masagna" lovers LOVED IT!!!

Extra cheesy!



This is more like how a princess eats:)

Little man was mostly fed by me, but he is becoming more adamant about feeding himself with the fork so I took a picture:)

The Best Lasagna. Ever.

Grade A+

My month with Ree- Day 10

So clearly we have established that I LOVE BREAD!! It brings me so much joy! Well this particular night for dinner, we did not have any regular bread besides the sliced store bought stuff and I felt like a failure!! What warm gooey goodness could I give to my family to go with their roast and potatoes? Something that did not need to rise for 3 hours...something that would satisfy their bread craving, or mine at least. What I ask? What? I panicked, then I turned to Ree:)


I came across her "monkey muffins" and they fit the bill perfectly!!! I had everything on hand, they were easy, incredibly easy, and they totally gave me my fix, I mean our fix;) As much as I would have liked to have used real bread dough, all I had were biscuits in the fridge, so i cut those into thirds and carried on, feeling like a failure yet again. The good thing is they worked just fine for the time being and since I was short on time anyway (like an hour til dinner) there were not too many other options. I may have over-cooked them a tad, but the sweetened condensed milk, set and made them gooey helping me not to end up as a total failure for the night. Which I use sweetened milk on a variety of desserts, but I would have never thought to use it as an icing per se on a roll. They were fabulous!! I will add these puppies to my list of go-to's, and you should definitely try them!!

Because I used biscuits, I was only able to make 10 "muffins"-- which ended up being okay because the kiddos and Cody each had 1 a piece, leaving me 6. At first I was sad I only got 6, then I thought about it and realized that although I could eat more, I realistically shouldn't eat more. I was proud of myself for practicing some restraint.

If you could smell it, you would of been proud of me too. Of course though, if you could have smelled them, you wouldn't have blamed me for initially being sad either....

Monkey Muffins

Grade A

My month with Ree- Day 9

For Day 9, I was going to try "Beef and Bean Burritos". I make burritos all the time, a variation or them, but when I saw Ree's post about using "el pato" I thought I would give those a try, while at the same time, incorporating meat back into my "Operation Ree". Day 9 was a particurly busy day, so the fact they were also under Ree's 16 minute meals was an added bonus. I started the burritos at 11:48 and we were sitting at the table for dinner/lunch (depends if you're asking the hubby or the children) at 12:04!! That makes a very tired mommy and a very hungry family very HAPPY!!!

I really enjoyed the taste of the sauce/ "el Pato". I always smother our burritos in some sort of sauce and cheese and I will definitely keep this in the pantry for that go to source!! I did feel like this particular sauce did have more of an authentic flavor than most and I didn't add any taco seasoning to the meat, which is what some people think you must do when making any "mexican" dish. The family loved it and Cohen liked the fact that the sauce on top wasn't as hot as it usually it...whoops;) He was concerned though when he saw the can because he read it first and thought it said pata, which is foot in spanish and he was like "what foot are you using at lunch?". I told him that it was PATO, which means duck and that I honestly had no idea why a duck was on the can, but that we were having cow for dinner, not duck or feet, so either way not to worry! We had the burritos with Ree's restaurant style salsa and all was tasty in my piece of the world.

"The duck sauce" as it is now dubbed by my Cohen
Beef and Bean Burritos
Grade A+

My month with Ree- Day 8

So we are 8 days into my "Operation Ree" and I have clearly deviated from the task of using meat in every recipe and now I risk the chance of getting kicked out of my family. When my mother reads this, I will probably get a "family lecture." Oh well, this is a learning experiment and sacrifices had to be made.

For day 8, I decided to make "Restaurant Style Salsa"...big time no no!! I come from a long line of amazing Mexican cooks, and the fact that I would be making something #1. that they serve @ Tex-Mex restaurants (not authentic Mexican) #2. no offense in the least bit, but from a "non-Mexican" website, #3 that it came from a website at all!! I knew I would be in trouble. The thing is everyone loves my parents' salsa. Anytime they make it, everyone wants to take some home, they get requests for recipes, and it never lasts longer than a day. So why in the world would I want to make something that is different than what is in "my blood". Well, Because I wanted to and it is okay to be different. Would I not be a child if I different irk my parents even at an older age?! And, I married Cody, who thinks he is a salsa connoisseur, loves trying different recipes and he loves all types of salsa, so I knew he would eat it even if it was different. I used to work in one of those "tex-mex" restaurants in high school and I remember sitting there eating bowl after bowl of this great, but different salsa. So when I saw Ree's post about it, I thought how great. Not only will the salsa take me back to those days in the booth at work, but it will also be great for the hubby. Which leads me to a combined reason of deciding to try it--my salsa lover and I rarely get to go out to eat anymore so we could get the restaurant experience at home. Yay us. My little chef, Miayla, helped me make this and it was incredibly easy!! It did taste similar to the restaurant salsa, but I think I need to work on perfecting it. (yes, I will attempt to continually get lectured). Cody really enjoyed it and the recipe made a lot for our family. Cody wanted it chunkier, which I told him was not possible because that was one of Ree's big no-no's:) He said fine, and continued eating a ton!!

Restaurant Style Salsa

Grade- B+

My month with Ree-Day 7

Disclaimer: Initially when I decided to do this "operation ree" per se, I saw myself sitting at the island in my kitchen, each night, as the dishwasher ran, and my kiddos slept and Cody worked. I figured I would blog about whatever I had made a few hours previous.... THIS DID SO NOT HAPPEN!!! So now I am playing catch up--Big time. Enjoy posts 7-11 and please note that I DID NOT consume all of it in one day:)

Bacon. Bacon is one of those staple items in our home. If I could eat it everyday, I would. No questions. I would probably die of a clogged artery one day, but that would be okay, because I am confident the heavens are lined with bacon shops! And to top it off, I married a fellow bacon lover and we have created a bacon loving off-spring. Miayla is the worst. People are constantly amazed that a tiny, petite, beauty can devour bacon the way she does. But she does, and a little part of me is proud:) When we order our pig, bacon is always the first to run out. Hands down. We love bacon. And luckily my friend Ree does too! I stumbled across many recipes that had bacon so another goal for this operation, was to try as many as those too! I decided to give "Marlboro Man's second favorite sandwich" a go try. It is topped with bacon and cheese, two favs!!!

This recipe was super easy to make! It took no time at all and I believe Miayla took a good deal of frustration out on the chicken. She hit it so hard, she tore the wax paper, yet she kept pounding away! I know in Ree's blog about this sandwich, she comments that you can change it and vary up the seasonings and what not...I decided to make it as called for. And as much as it pains me to say it...it was not a hit:( This was the first recipe we were not crazy about. Miayla took the chicken off and the sandwich with just the bacon, cheese, and bun. Cohen ate half of his, then took his bacon off and ate it. Cody was a good boy and ate all of his. I ate most of mine, hoping each bite would be the one that made me fall in love with the sandwich, but it never happened. I think it was the lemon seasoning that did it for me. I am not the biggest fan of lemons, and it didn't help that I had thoroughly cleaned house earlier that day, so I was a little on lemon smell overload. I will attempt to make it again, just with different seasonings. It was my first defeat for the month. You can't win them all though, and I am pretty confident that tomorrow we will jump back on the happy eaters bandwagon:)

Look at all that bacon and cheese:)

Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwich

Grade- C

The Boy is Back in Town

So you may remember a week and a half ago when Sweet Baby Sawyer got exiled from our house due to illnesses from his siblings. He initially was gone Thursday day and night--then that turned into overnight through Sunday afternoon. It was tragic. We missed him. To say we missed him is an understatement. Cohen and Miayla cried for him. We skyped with him at least 5 times a day. I visited him. We colored him pictures, wrote him letters. Shared stories about him. It was all quite sad. It made my heart heavy for all of those that have had a child taken from them. I know this fails in comparison, but just 4 days from him broke our hearts, I could never imagine a lifetime. I pray nightly for those parents. But back to Sawyer. Sawyer is a cutie. Laid back, fun, random. He has his favorites spots and the things he is taking and always getting in trouble for taking, but that is Sawyer and that is why we love him.

So last Sunday, Feb 6th, he arrived back home. I had already decided that Sunday would be Sawyer Appreciation day (I used to have to endure these growing up for my brother, Tony. We would have all these "Tony appreciation days" but never had them for anyone else--that's the last kid for ya. The day would consist of just loving the "subject" of appreciation. Their whole, can do no wrong, status for the day. Much easier to do for a little 1 year old--not so easy to do for a turkey teenager- but I did it-I guess it paid off in the end since he is the reason we are getting Sawyer back;) So We were all waiting for Cody to return with the prodigal son. All ready to love on him, play with him, appreciate him...... And do you know what Sawyer did as soon as he was carried in? Well first he clapped, then when Cody set him down, he went straight to the cabinet because he noticed that the child lock was off...

and he proceeded to take things out of it.

Then he went for his favorite spot---
The table and chairs!


Then he found Cody's hat on the table--it is autographed and Cody rarely wears it. Kids don't touch it...except today one did. He not only touched it, but he wore it, bent it, threw it to the side when he was done with it....it was fun to watch.

Such a cutie!

Then he noticed Cohen and Miayla's door was open! This is like the promised land. He never gets to go in their room. It is a little sad sometimes because they will be in there with the door shut and he will lay on his belly and look under the door and just wait....:(

Well his wait was over

Not only did he make it in the room, but he made it in a chair, to their art table AND even got his hands on a leapster 2!!! HEAVEN!!

Inspite of all the ornariness, we still appreciated him.

Then the next morning, because I was feeling generous, introduced him to powdered donuts. Usually I have him eat toast and yogurt, but I thought he would like a little treat...Boy did he!!!

Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen??

HE LOVED THE DONUTS!!

And because I missed him so much and the mere thought of him being gone makes me sad, he has continued to have donuts every morning for breakfast since:)

My month with Ree- Day 6

Cheese, who doesn't love cheese? Well, I am sure there are actually people who are thinking, "me, I don't like cheese." However, I am not one of them and this question was not for you anyway. I LOVE cheese...especially when it is melted. Like over potatoes, or smothered on lasagna, or douced in Ranch over a crisp green salad. Do you know how else I like cheese? Processed. Pasturized. In a box. Easy. I am not for sure if this entry really counts for the month since it is something that I make quite often, but I am going to count it because it held an igredient that we had lots of, sausage. If you can't remember why I started this little "Operation Ree" it was to get rid of the meat we had lots of. Since this technically accomplished that, I figured it counted. And because when I do usually make "queso" I just use the rotel, velveeta, and taco meat, so there was enough variation that it made the books. I chose "Chili Con Queso-Revved up". I made it for a sporting event of sorts on TV, but since I am behind on posting, I cannot remember what it was for. Ree was completely right in saying that it needs to stay warm because if not, it gets that sticky film over it that is so annoying. I found eating it over the pan, while the pan was on worked great in avoiding this problem. I even have a picture of Cody James doing the same thing, but I decided not to post it since he thinks he has a reputation to uphold, lol.

The cheese in all its melted goodness:)

Chili con queso- Revved up
Grade A

My month with Ree- Day 5

One thing about this Ree thing is that she is helping me come out of my comfort zone. I am a pretty picky eater. In the last post I mentioned my lack of enthusiasm for onions...well peppers are a close second. The only time I used peppers was for fajitas (onions too), salsa, and I am sure Cody used them on the grill. However, I do eat them if they are in foods, well some foods. So I was kind of stepping out of my box when i decided to make Ree's Sloppy Joes. BUT I am soooo glad I did.

We have always been a sloppy joe kind of family. NO NOT MANWICH! I am talking about homemade sloppy joes. We have them a couple times a month (take no time to make) and Cohen loves them. Cody is not a fan of bread when it comes to sloppy joes. He likes his on a slice of wheat bread with a cheese slice, then the meat hovering on top. Since he is not a fan of hamburger buns either, I rarely buy them. We just use bread. Which has worked out great to this point because I use my handy dandy Pampered Chef sandwich closer (cut-n-seal technically) which makes our sloppy joes less sloppy when kiddos eat them:) However, I am stuck with just two slices of bread and a slice of cheese. NEVER AGAIN! I will toast my buns from this day forward. hahaha!! Ree's recipe was great and easy, surprise! The onions and peppers were great in it and everything was a nice balance. Cody even commented that it "looked country", while also admitting it was the best he had. SCORE! All those married to those well fed momma's boys know what I am talking about. lol!

I only made half the recipe because...well, I don't know why, but I did:)

Check out that toasted bun:)
Sloppy Joes
Grade- A

My month with Ree-Day 4

When I was pregnant with Sawyer I craved two things: 1. Cantaloupe. I would eat a cantaloupe a day. Seriously. I have many a people who can attest to this, including a destination wedding party that not only saw me travel with cantaloupe, but also eat it through out the day:) Cody would feed me it at night before bed (I know, gross, mushly love stuff, but at this point in the marriage, that is what the mushy love stuff consisted of). Cohen and him had planted cantaloupe in our garden, so it was nice having access to cantaloupe and Cohen loved that I craved something he grew. LOVED CANTALOUPE!

2. Onion strings. I know odd. I had always liked onion rings (more of the breading though) and onion blossoms-douced in ketchup of course, but I was not a big fan of onions. Didn't cook with them too often, NEVER ate them on a hamburger, rarely bought them. Then as cliche as it sounds, one glorious day at Cheeseburgers in Paradise in KC, it was as if the heavens opened and I was introduced this tiny tiny creation AND it was love at first sight. Our good friends the Geyers and my best friend Mika, witnessed this blessed event. I am sure they thought I was crazy. Maybe over-reacting, but I loved them (the stings--well our friends too I guess;). From that day on, I would talk about them. Think about them. Dream of when we could meet again! I would send Cody to our steak house in town to get an onion blossom to try to suffice, but it didn't compare. There was something so delish about the tiny tiny string. Then a burger place opened a few miles from our house, SMASH burger, and they also had onion strings! I quickly became obsessed with that place too. Ask Mika, I took her there too:) Well i had Sawyer at this point, but I still loved the onion strings and as luck would have it, another place a few miles down the road from me had onion strings, and they were fabulous, close, and cheap! Like $1.70 for a huge plates worth:) Amazing.

Well with this pregnancy, I crave many a things (namely pancakes the most though), but when i came across Ree's onion strings, I just had to try them. So I did:) I even sent my dad a picture on my phone because he too was victim to craving runs so he knew all about the onion string craze. I rarely have buttermilk on hand, mostly because I know that you can just add 2 tbsp of lemon juice to milk and let it set and get the same effect, but I think that was the only thing I did different. They were fabulous. The onion made a ton, but I couldn't stop eating them so the picture doesn't look like that many. And then because I was eating so many, I decided not to finish the batch because I knew I would probably just make myself sick. I will definitely be making them again though with their tiny tiny goodness:)

get the ketchup ready!! Momma's coming!

Onion Strings
Grade- A+

My month with Ree- Day 3

Comfort food=Bread. I love bread. I crave bread all the time! The way to my heart is through bread:) I can go to Sam's (Cosco) and buy a platter of rolls and eat them all by myself...within a short amount of time. We have bread with every meal. Usually it is hot bread. Usually it is homemade. And I usually have it with butter and honey spread on it. Just blogging about it is driving me crazy, lol. Rolls, loaves, biscuits--if it rises, I eat it. Now intensify that by a trillion, and that is how I feel about bread while PREGNANT;) A few months ago Cody noticed the huge increase in bread products (we had homemade beer bread, white bread, drop biscuits, and cinnamon rolls (Ree's) in less than a 24 hour period) and commented on how much he enjoys my pregnant bread craving phase. He followed up with how much his waistline doesn't enjoy it, but by the fourth pregnancy he has learned that how he feels about food just simply doesn't matter;)

So for my 3rd day, I made "homemade cinnamon bread". This, like so many other Ree recipes, was incredibly easy. The kiddos helped make it (they love to cook with me, Miayla even wants to be a chef when she grows up--well this week atleast) and it made the house smell divine! This is also where I wish I had blogged about it the day of because now I can't remember anything about the process except for the fact that I literally watched it rise because I was so excited. I have tried other Ree bread recipes, so I knew my waiting would be worth it. And it was! So good. In fact, I think I may even make it tomorrow.

Hot out of the oven--Cohen was so proud!

Ree said to let it cool, then store it in a Ziploc bag until you were ready to eat it....That did so not happen. I cut it, about 3.7 minutes after it came out of the oven. Burnt my hand, swore, put butter on it, and chowed down. Then I did it all again. Then I put it on the table to serve to the family with dinner. They loved it too. There was some left over, which we ate the next morning, toasted with butter. Delicious.

Homemade Cinnamon Bread
Grade- A++

Now I am going on a bread hunt:)