Pizza Night!

Friday night is almost always pizza night at our house!  It's actually even more exciting now that our son who discovered on his 7th birthday just a couple months ago...that he now likes pizza.  We have waited a long time for this!  I used to have to make two meals on pizza night...one for us and one for king Brady ( I often refer to him as this because we seem to "cater" to his every need...which could be a post in itself!)  Anyway, last Friday we made cheeseburger pizzas and they were awesome!  My pictures didn't turn out so well...maybe one of these days I'll learn to take better photos!  

I used Rhodes dinner rolls (found in freezer section) for pizza crust.  You have to let them rise on the counter for a couple of hours...but it's worth it!

Cheeseburger Pizzas

8 Rhodes Texas or 16 Rhodes Dinner Rolls

1/2 cup ketchup

2 TBS. mustard

3/4 lb. lean ground beef

1 small sweet onion, sliced

1 cup cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded lettuce

1 medium tomato

1/2 cup hamburger pickles

Press 2 texas rolls or 4 dinner rolls together and roll into an 8 inch circle.  Repeat for remaining rolls.  Place on a large sprayed baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Keep bubbles from forming in middle of pizzas by pressing down on dough 5 minutes into baking cycle.  Remove from oven and set aside.  Combine ketchup and mustard and divide between pizzas.  Add browned burger to pizzas and top with cheese and onion.  Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and add lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.

Enjoy

May 27, 2000

This weekend my husband and I are going away for our anniversary...just the two of us!  We haven't done this since our son was born...and he is seven!    We're not going far...we didn't want to spend all of our time driving somewhere. I'm really looking forward to it!   Have a great Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Happy 10th Anniversary to my husband and best friend!

I can't imagine a better life!

I love you!

I Love This Show!

The Biggest Loser

 We look forward to this show every week and watch it as a family.  We actually DVR it and watch it the following evening after dinner, so Brady can get to bed at a decent time.  However, because this evening was the finale, we allowed him to stay up until 10pm to watch it.  We even had special finale snacks!  ( I know...that doesn't make a lot of sense...but whatever!)

I think the show is about so much more than just people losing weight.  I love watching the contestants get stronger and more confident as the weeks go by.  When people feel good about themselves, they are happier and believe anything is possible.  It's no secret, losing weight is hard work.   You can't help but root for these people as they make changes to lead healthier lives.  I can't imagine how many pounds have been lost and how many lives are regained because of this show.  It's still a reality show, I know, but with our growing obesity issues in America, it is our reality.



I'm so proud of almost all the contestants on the show this season!  The people were the heaviest the show has ever had...and they all worked so hard.  These people inspire me.   What an emotional season...I'm pretty sure I wept cried every single episode!  LOVE this show!

Truffle Recipes and a Few Bake Sale Ideas

Several people have asked for my truffle recipe.  I actually have two recipes. 

Mint Truffles

1 pkg. (10ounces) mint chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter
Any dipping chocolate - I like Baker's Semi-Sweet


Melt whipping cream and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add chocolate chips and stir until completely melted and smooth.  Pour mixture into a pie plate or shallow dish and refrigerate until mixture is fudge like.  Usually this takes about 2 hours.    Shape into balls and place on baking sheet with wax paper.  I like to chill them for a little bit and then dip them into the melted chocolate.  If your chocolate is too thick, add a 1/2 TBS of shortening for a smoother finish.  Makes about 24 truffles.


Chocolate Oreo Truffles
3/4 pkg. oreo cookies
1 8oz cream cheese
2 pkg. Baker's semi sweet chocolate

In food processor, mix oreos.  Some people remove the cream centers from the cookies...but my husband said he would call the police if I did that.  Add one block of cream cheese and blend/mix together with a spoon.  Roll into balls and dip into chocolate. That's it!  These are so easy to make...they're even good before dipping them in chocolate! 

One of the dad's at school painted these posters for behind our bake sale table and the mom labeled and lamenated them so we could always have them.  How nice was that?!

We had popcorn and grapes for kids who might not be able to have a sugar treat.  The popcorn was a huge hit....we refilled the tin many times!  I put the grapes in carrot shaped bags (leftover from Easter) to make them a little more tempting!

Dollar store marshmallow treats. The strawberry pie went to the best offer.

                                                                  

This quick and easy sign was made with paper plates!  I had balloons at each end of the table.  I just had to have the polka dotted ones!  I got 4 balloons for under $5.00 and they made a really big difference as far as presentation goes!  Unfortunately, we started to get busy selling baked goods and I forgot to get a picture of the entire set up and all the other neat things that were donated!  For more bake sale ideas from a previous bake sale I did you can go here.

A Sad Farewell....

 It has been so nice knowing you!

I guess I have been in denial since these Caramel Frappe's showed up at McDonalds.  I've been going through the drive through two or three times a week (usually after I leave the gym) to get a small one.  I knew they tasted too good to be low calorie/low fat....but I continued to get them anyway...pretending what I didn't know wouldn't hurt me. Until the other day, as I was picking up my drink ( I ordered a small but they gave me a medium, oh yea!), I asked the nice lady at the window if she knew how many calories were in one. She kindly handed me a sheet of paper with all the information on it. Oh my word!  No wonder my capris have been feeling a bit tight!  A medium Caramel Frappe' has 550 calories in it and 24 grams of fat!  I could have had a Big Mac for a few less calories!   I'm sure anyone with any control would have tossed their drink right out the window....but not me.  I drank it knowing it would be my last one....and enjoyed every last drop of it!

All Sugared Out

My son's school is having a bake sale fundraiser Friday evening.  I have baked and packaged goodies all day today.  I have tasted and tested and tried a little bit of everything and I'm sure I will have a food hangover in the morning!  Here's a few of the things I worked on today...I'll post more on the bake sale when I have more energy!

Strawberry Cupcakes w/ Choc. Strawberries

Mint Cookie Truffles

Chocolate Cookie Truffles

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter icing...these did not come

out like I wanted.  It was warm in the kitchen and the icing was too soft.

They taste good though...I tried one.  (okay two)

I did not make these flowers...but I wish I did!

I've never been good at making cookies...maybe this

mom could give me a lesson!

I wrapped them individually and found this basket for them.

This is a chocolate cake with red icing, white chocolate shavings

and slices of round (fruit roll up) pepperoni.  Another mom made

the cake and I made the pizza box.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Countdown to Summer!

My son asked me the other day if we could make a countdown to summer chain.  At first I didn't know what he was talking about.  But then he said, " you know Mom...like the chain we make at Christmas time!"  My son isn't into doing crafts...so I needed to jump on this before he changed his mind!  While we were at it we made a list of things Brady hopes to get to do this summer.  He then suggested we write the ideas on the chain and then put them into a jar so we can remember his ideas!  What a great idea!  Maybe my son has some craftiness in him after all!!!

Brady came up with all the ideas except for feeding the ducks! 

I suggested "reading" too but he said , no thanks!

After he tears the chain he puts it in the jar. Not really sure why he wanted to do this. 

  He said this summer when he pulls

a slip from the jar...we will do exactly what it says on that very day.  Um no...that's not how it will work!

We are very much looking forward to summer!  Can't wait!

What is on your list of things to do this summer?

Blog Award

This award is from Jen over at Jen's Ink Pen!  Yippee!

My first blog award!  Love Jen's blog....I mentioned it in a post I did on

blog envy....enough said!

  Wow!  I don't know what to say!  Thank you Jen for thinking I was deserving of this!   I don't really have a speech prepared....not sure who to thank...I don't have an agent or an assistant....hmmmm?  I guess I will just thank all my blog friends whose blogs inspire me everyday!  There's so many smart and talented woman out there that I can learn from!   It blows my mind though to think that someone would even read my blog in the first place!

Here are my picks for the Trendy Blog Award:

Paige- Life is a Pheonix
Nicolle- Boy'd Crazy Mama
Cathy-Check it Off
Karen- Stairstep Boys
Bridget-Among the Chaos
Bringing Pretty Back
Sweet Little Smoothie


Make sure you post your award and choose a few blogs you think are derserving too of the Trendy Blog Award!



PS.  Now that I have won this award....I wonder if I will get paid lots of money to blog?  I'll probably get a phone call in the next day or two...so, I'll let you know when I hear something!

A Note of Appreciation

If you can read this...thank a teacher.

~author unknown

I've heard so much talk lately about end of the year teacher gifts.  What to give, how much to spend, etc. Now,  I like to give gifts as much as the next mom, I really do.  And even more importantly, my son loves to give his teacher little gifts throughout the year.  Sometimes it's something as little as a picture he has colored or a few flowers he has picked on his way to the bus stop.  But, I have to say, I think the most important thing you can give your child's teacher (especially if he/she is a good one!) is a heartfelt note of appreciation. A thank-you.   Some people say, well it's their job and they get paid, blah blah blah.  When I hear someone say that, it really makes me mad.  My son is at school seven hours a day....his teacher spends more time with him during the week than I do!  And, with only twenty days left of school, my son still continues to be excited to go every morning.  And, one other thing, he has learned a heck of a LOT of stuff this year!  So, I will  definately be sending in a note thanking my son's teacher on the last day of school.

This is a note I wrote last year.  I'm not the best writer that's for sure...but it's the thought that counts and I

wanted Mrs. Kurtz to know how much we appreciated her!

Brady and Mrs. Kurtz

What an awesome teacher!

Big Time Blog Envy

I might need to get this!

I'm not really computer savvy.  Sure, I can send emails, check Facebook, and upload photos...but that's usually about as far as I venture.  It's actually crazy that I started this blog and was able to figure it own on my own!  Well, I haven't totally figured it out...I'm just kind of "winging" it!  I haven't even been blogging two full months yet...but I can't help but be a little envious of so many bloggers out there that seem to know exactly what they are doing and have awesome looking blogs!

For instance, I'd love for my blog to have a fun background.  My friend Karen has a cute green background with polka dots! I love that she chose something girly for her blog...as she is mom to four little boys!  Karen has been blogging just a little longer than me...but she obviously was able to figure out how to do it!  I only tried once to add a background to my page and it took away my header that I had worked so hard to figure out!  I'm not sure how long it will be before I get up enough nerve to try that again! 



And speaking of a header...this has probably been one of the biggest frustrations for me!  It took me so long to put something together and it's not actually what I want at all.  Black and white pictures?  How boring is that?!  I was having trouble getting the color photos to match up and look nice so I just decided to forget it!   Once again, I'm afraid to change it because it was so hard the first time!  One header I really really like is Pam's.  Wow!  Her pictures are just amazing and she lives by the beach!  I'm not positive on this...but I think she changes her header every month or so.  When I first clicked on her site, I kept scrolling back up the page just to take another peek at it!  



And then there's Jen's blog.  It's so darn cheery and bright!  I especially like the cute things on the side of her page.  These things might be called widgets...or they might not!  I'm not even sure!  She has a yummy cupcake on the side of her blog that I look at everytime I visit her.  I tried to get something similiar...but no such luck!  Didn't work.  Something crazy came up (under my header and it wasn't a picture!) and then it took me awhile to try and get it off!  She also has these little signs that say "about" "follow" and "archives".  I want them too!


I've kind of been stalking this little "hello hey hi" guy over at Suzanne's blog.  I want that guy really bad! I actually clicked on him to see where she got him from....but again...actually getting him to come to my blog is probably another difficult task.  Plus, I don't want to be a copycat....I just want some personal touches on my blog too!  Oh and one other thing...I want my profile picture to look just like Suzanne's!  Do you think she would mind?!



Do I really need fancy FONTS?  I should probably have my blog at least a year before I consider this, right?  Well, I found a site where I could learn how to do this.  The directions for changing your font was about four pages long!   Really?  Does it need to be that hard?  Forget it....I think I'll just drool over Natalie's fun fonts!  She has "labels" for her previous posts and each one is in a different crazy cute fun font!  To say I am a smidge jealous would be a big fat lie.  The colors in her blog are awesome.  It looks so professional....I want mine to look professional too!  Maybe I could see if she would want to switch with me?



And one final thing.  I'm a bit confused about the kind of column I want.  I really like the look of Missy's blog...it just makes me smile.  Sometimes I think my two column blog gives me too much space to work in and the words can get lost.  I think the 3 column keeps your post right down the middle and easy to read.  Although,  Sarah has a 2 column and her blog is very neat and tidy.  So, I guess you could say I'm a little indecisive at this point!

When I first started my blog, my husband said I should "not worry about the details."  He thought I should just get started on my blog and go back later and fix what I didn't like.  First of all, my husband knows I'm all about the details!  But he also probably figured I would still be sitting here trying to come up with a cute header two months later without any sign of a blog actually being lauched.  He's probably right.  So, maybe I will tackle one thing at a time...or maybe I will try and find someone else to do it for me!  I know the saying...something like... blah, blah, blah if you do it yourself you will feel a greater sense of  accomplishment or whatever. 


Anyway, even though I am envious of other's...I am thoroughly enjoying my new blog and reading everyone elses!  I have met some really cool women out there in blog land and have been inspired in so many ways. 

Stairstep Boys

Views From My Kitchen Sink

 Jens Ink Pen

Beachhouse etc.

Stickles Family

The Little Green Bean

Clover Lane