House Guest.....

The other night I was getting ready to go to bed and noticed something on the door. I thought it was a moth, but when I got closer, I discovered this...



Luckily it was on the outside, or I may have screamed just a little!

I've seen several little bitty frogs in the flower bed, but never any on our door. I was somewhat tempted to wake the boys to show them....like I said, somewhat!

Here is one in the flower bed...although I guess this may be a toad...I'm no expert!



We may soon have our own little bitty frogs. My MIL ordered this for the boys and we sent off for our tadpoles. I procrastinated on sending off for them until early May. They had some sort of problem with their supplier and then it was too hot to mail them. Anyway, as soon as it cools off some, the tadpoles should be on the way. I know the boys are going to LOVE it!! I guess that is a good thing, because upon further research, I learned the frogs that come with it have an average lifespan of 30 years....and you are not supposed to release them in the wild. Needless to say, we may have pet frogs for a while!!

More around the house.....

Man, I did not realize just how much money it takes to keep a LITTLE flower bed looking nice. I guess more especially when you aren't good at gardening and have to rip out what you previously put in. Not only is it a waste of money, but a waste of energy and sweat!! Sweat....and I HATE to sweat!

You may recall this post about my new flowers. I was pretty happy with how it all turned out, but a few days of neglect led to a flower bed with more weeds than flowers. According to the guys at Lowes, I most likely had some dormant weeds that decided my nicely fertilized flower bed meant they should spring to life. I'm not kidding either!! It had been pretty yucky out, so I didn't get to pull weeds and when I finally could, they had killed some of my plants off. I just didn't have the patience to wait and see if I could revive them, so I ripped it all out. This time I ripped the Creeping Phlox out, too. My, does that stuff have some serious roots!!

So, back to work on trying to get the area looking nice. This time I put landscape fabric down and Preen mulch. I didn't want to risk the pesky weeds taking over again!! So, after making no less than 10 trips (okay, maybe not THAT many) to Lowes, I finally got it done (and yes, this is another project I've had complete and am late to post on!). Once I had to return to Lowes because I didn't have enough pins to hold the fabric down. I had to return at least two more times for not buying enough mulch. I seriously underestimated how much I would need. Anyway, here are the results of my hard work......

Museum of Natural History....(WW)

Logan trying to "hear"the ocean...LOL!

Lucas the Grump....

Lucas has been very fussy the last few days. Last night (or should I say early this morning), he woke after midnight. He literally thought it was time to get up and was heartbroken that we put him back into bed. It makes me feel like a bad mommy to hear him cry, even though I know that isn't the case. When I put him back in bed, he sounded a little congested, so I thought he might be getting sick. He is also still cutting a molar, so I gave him some tylenol and orajel in case his tooth was causing problems.

Well, tonight after dinner I was wanting to go grocery shopping. We typically all go together, but I was considering going by myself because of the way Lucas has been today. Well, I asked him if he would be a good boy at the grocery store. I wish you could have heard him, because me saying this is not near as funny. He laughed the cutest, rotten laugh and said, "No". The laugh was almost asking me if I was crazy! At least he was honest!!

Around the house.....

Okay, so we have lived here for 1.5 years and I am just now getting around to hanging some of my pictures (to my defense, I actually did this end of June!). I had been wanting to hang pictures in the stair well and just had not taken the time to do it. I finally did and I love it!!

Before:

After:

Now I have another empty stair well going to the finished basement, but I don't have enough pictures already in frames. I need to stock up on frames!

Don't Worry.....

A few days ago I stripped Logan's bed and was washing his bedding. Well, we were out running errands and I forgot to finish drying it all. We were getting the boys ready for bed when I noticed, so we let Logan stay up. Well, on the way down the stairs, I told him not to drink any juice because he had already brushed his teeth. My husband, trying to be funny, told him "no drinking alcohol either". Logan's response: "Don't worry, I don't even like alcohol."!!! Oh my, where did this kid come from??

I'm still alive...and a recipe!!

Yes, I'm still here and things are alright (thanks to those who checked in on me!). I've just been busy trying to come up with a routine that works around here. Two weeks has really flown by. It doesn't seem like it has been that long since I posted.

I'm posting this recipe because we all love it and when we find something we all like, I don't want to forget about it!! This doesn't fall into out current diet, but I'm adding it here anyway!!

My husband loves to experiment in the kitchen, but there are pretty much only two things that he experiments with. Sandwiches and Mac and Cheese. He recently came up with a Mac and Cheese recipe that is a winner. Tasty and easy….it doesn’t get any better than that!

Cheesy Mac and Cheese
2 cans Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup
1 soup can milk
4 cups Cheddar cheese, divided
1 box macaroni (16 oz.)
2 T. olive oil
dash of salt

Preheat oven to 400º. Bring water to a boil and add salt, olive oil, and pasta. Cook pasta according to directions, but leave a little firm. Drain pasta and set aside. Put soup, milk, and 2 cups cheese into pan and stir until cheese melts and ingredients are mixed well. If the sauce seems a little thick, add more milk. Once it is the consistency you like, add the pasta back in. Toss to coat and place in a large casserole pan. Top with the remaining 2 cups of cheese (we use Cheddar, but a Mexican blend would be tasty with green chilies added in–we kept it simple for the boys!). Bake at 400º until cheese just starts to brown!

And....because I don't have a picture of the Mac and cheese, I offer you a picture taken by Lucas!!


And here is the photographer trying to get back around to take some more pictures!!

Little Men on the Moon....(WW)

These were taken at the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Menu Plan Monday...

This week is starting week number 4 on our diet. So far, so good!!

Last week our favorite meal was the miso girlled veggies and coconut milk soup! So, so good!! I wasn't sure how I was going to like the soup, but I LOVED it!! I didn't take a picture of the soup, but here is one of the veggies.



On to this week!!


Monday--
Breakfast: Fresh Canteloupe
Snack: Pears
Lunch: leftover Cilantro-Lime Chicken Cacciatore
Snack: Celery Sticks with Almond Butter
Dinner: Chilled Asian Red-Meat Vegetable Salad (didn't have this last week)

Tuesday--
Breakfast: Blueberry Smoothie
Snack: Fresh Grapes
Lunch: leftover chilled Asian salad
Snack: Pecans
Dinner: Roasted Cornish Hen with Orange-Rosemary Glaze and Green Beans w/ Citrus Vinaigrette

Wednesday--
Breakfast: Onion, Pepper and Goat Cheese Omelet
Snack: Orange
Lunch: leftover Cornish hen and green beans
Snack: Pumpkin Seeds
Dinner Teriyaki Burger and Eggplant-Goat Cheese Salad

Thursday--
Breakfast: Yogurt With Pineapple
Snack: Nectarines
Lunch: leftover teriyaki burger and eggplant salad
Snack: Raw Almonds
Dinner: Tuna Steaks Oriental Style and Miso Grilled Vegetables

Friday--
Breakfast: Strawberry Breakfast Smoothie
Snack: Pineapple
Lunch: leftover tuna and veggies
Snack: Carrot Sticks
Dinner: Salad with Turkey and Goat Cheese

Saturday--
Breakfast: Onion, Pepper and Goat Cheese Omelet
Snack: Apple
Lunch: leftover Salad with Turkey and Goat Cheese
Snack: Pecans
Dinner: Tomato Basil Soup and chicken salad lettuce wraps

Sunday--
Breakfast: Turkey Sausage and Cheddar Fritatta
Snack: Orange
Lunch: Salmon Salad Lettuce Wraps
Snack: Pumpkin Seeds
Dinner Lentil Soup and Roasted Veggies

For more menu plan Monday fun, head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Momma's Cool Helper....(WW)

Big brother swooped in and stole it....amazing what they will fight over!!

Whew, he got it back!! He almost had a meltdown

You talkin' to me??