Menu Monday

I really want to thank all of you for the kind words and encouragement regarding Little Miss' hiccup.  I didn't get a chance to respond to all the comments with the events of our weekend, but I wanted you to know they really mean a lot.

The second kid birthday party in one month is over.  Thankfully I have a full year to gear up for Birthday Season again.  We still have Steven's to celebrate in December, but at least I don't plan a full out party for him.  Just family.  Family, I can do.  Forty plus people is exhausting.  However, I am so grateful for the forty plus people who came over to celebrate Little Man's 5th year of life.  Some of the best people I know were here.

I seriously can't believe Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away.  My mom and I have already made our menu for the meal we'll eat with my grandparents in Springfield, MO.  With all the talk of Thanksgiving food, this preggo girl had to add a little Thanksgivingish food to the menu.  The baby was pratically demanding it.

Monday-Spaghetti, Green Beans, Salad, Cheesy Bread
Tuesday-Baked Fried Chicken*, PW's Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Stuffing
Wedneday-Cresent Chicken Roll-Ups with Green Bean Casserole
Thursday-Chicken Bacon Sandwiches, Sweet Potatoes, Salad
Friday-MDA Benefit Tailgate Night
Saturday-Tacos with Chips and Queso Blanco
Sunday-Dinner @ Mom's

*We actually ate the Baked Fried Chicken last night.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Very tasty and crispy.  I would definitely recommend it.

Finally Friday

It's finally Friday which means we are one step closer to Little Man's Movie Party.  It's all coming together nicely, but I have a thousand things to check off my list before tomorrow.  Thankfully, cleaning the house is the last item on the list.  I really don't feel like doing that today.  Let's get real.  I really don't feel like cleaning the house on any day.  Instead I think I'll finish the popcorn bags, make a concessions poster, pack goodie bags, and finish the party supply shopping.  Yep, that sounds much better.  Avoiding the house cleaning. 

I'm also glad it's Friday because it means yesterday came and went.  It as a hard day for Little Miss.  Lots of little tests and a visit with a doctor she's unfamiliar with.  She did so well through the echocardiogram and the multiple blood pressure checks, but she got us on the EKG.  Steven was sitting next to her while she was on her back on the table.  She did well as they put the 13 stickers across her tiny chest and stomach, but when the nurse hooked up all the wiring I noticed Steven was tearing up.  Then I saw why. 

As I hopped up to see what was going on, I saw Little Miss' face.  My tiny three year old was laying on the table with silent tears streaming down her cheeks.  No sobbing.  No wails.  No audible noises.  Just tears welled up and pouring over.  My little thing as scared.  She had been so brave through it all, and she as trying to hold it in.  I couldn't stand it.  I went straight to the top of her head and sang her most favorite song.  By the time I was finishing up, the test was done.  Shortly after the cardiologist came in and gave us the news we were hopeful to receive. 

Little Miss is completely healthy.  Although she has two heart murmurs, they are nothing more than noises.  Her heart is performing just as it should, and she will never need to be seen again for this condition.  We knew that no matter the results Little Miss would be restored to the way God intended her to be, but to hear that we will never ever need to look into the murmurs again was the icing on the cake.  God is good!  So here is my little lady healthy, whole, and no doubt showing off her sassy self.

A Little Hiccup

I really contemplated not sharing what we are doing today, but it's been on my mind today to share.  This morning, Steven and I are sitting at a specialist's office waiting for Little Miss to be evaluated.  We are personal when it comes to struggles we face as a family, so sharing this is a little out of the norm for us.  Usually when hard times come, we usually take it to God and resist talking about it with others.  God's pretty big and more than capable of taking care of our issues when we activate our faith.  We're doing the same thing in this situation, but for some reason I know I'm supposed to let it out.  So here it goes...

Last week I took Little Miss to the doctor for her 3 year old check-up.  Everything was going fine until the stethoscope came out.  I noticed the doctor taking a little more time than usual listening to her chest and back.  Before she said anything, she went over to Little Miss' chart to review her file.  I knew what she was looking for.  She was looking back to see if there was a history of a heart murmur, and I knew there was.  My heart starting pounding.  I thought we had already overcome this.

At two months of age we had to take Little Miss to get an echogram on her heart.  The results showed a little opening, but nothing that was of concern at the time.  Up until this moment, there had been no mention of a murmur.  However, three years later we're back at the same point.  The doctor decided that she should be seen by a cardiologist for further testing.  That's exactly where we are today.

When you hear news like we heard, it's easy to go into freak out mode, but we knew we had other options.  We could either freak out or to trust what we believe in.  We chose to do the latter.  Standing firm, this is what we believe...

• God cares for Little Miss far more than we, as her parents, could even conceive.
• She is a thriving little girl who, even though she's tiny, has had acceptable growth throughout the years.
• Satan is an equal opportunity hater.  He's going to try and snatch our family's joy anytime he can.  It's not going to happen.
• God's word says, "By His stripes, we are healed."  He did not send His son to die, for my daughter to have health issues.  She is healed.
• God is good.  He wants good for us.  He wants good for my girl.  He is not the author of sickness or disease.

I say these things to myself often for my kids and my family.  In times when we are well and times when we are sick.  As a family, we truly believe God has only good for us.  When these little roadblocks come our way, we deal with them.  Satan will not steal the joy from our family.  Little Miss is going to be just fine.

I hope that whatever you are facing today, big or small, that you are able to stand on what you believe in as well.  God is good!

{My healthy, happy, and completely whole child}

Final Installment: Getting Kids to Write

Are you ready folks?  It's the last part to the series of Getting Kids to Write.  If you missed the first parts, you can click the links to go back...

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

This last part is all about publishing, so I should be short and sweet.  After the child has finished the editing stage and had some time away from their work, you can pull it back out and dust it off.  It's time to finish what you've started. 

This is the real exciting time.  In public school we didn't have the time to type out the work and I needed to assess handwriting (in cursive), so I'd have the kids rewrite their final draft in cursive.  This gave kids a couple of opportunities.  One, to teach them how the hand written word should appear on paper, and two, utilizing legible handwriting for a purpose.  Both pretty valuable skills that often get overlooked because we love the convenience of our computers. 

For the rewrite process,  you should allow at least 2-3 days for the child to complete their work.  This will give the child ample amount of time to create a piece they would be proud to show off to their friends or classmates.  Adding an illustration is another great way to make the work really 'pop'.  It allows the new author to show what they were visualizing in their mind as they were writing.  After the rewrite and illustration is complete, be sure to find an opportunity for your child to share.  It's important to show off their hard work.

There you have it folks.  My secrets to teaching writing. There are lots of different ways to introduce lessons for the various genres of writing, but these basic steps will get you going in the right direction.  If you are looking for ways to assess your child's final writing, let me know, and I'll share some of my rubrics I used when I was teaching.  Rubrics are the best way to accurately assess the work.

Hot Dogs and A Whole Bunch of Other Stuff

I haven't mentioned anything on this blog yet, but my SIL is pregnant!  She's about 15 weeks and they just found out they are having another little boy.  Chunky Monkey is going to be a big brother.  Rene and Lindsay were really hoping for another boy.  I, on the other hand, was hoping for a girl.  Poor Little Miss.  She's got a whole lot of hot dogs hanging out around her, and so do I.  We girls will have to stick together and make sure we teach all these boys how to aim for the toliet and not the floor when potty training time rolls around for the babies.  In all seriousness, we couldn't be happier for Rene, Lindsay, and Chunky Monkey.  A growing family is such a blessing.

Since we're on the topic of pregnancy, I thought it would be time to show you my growth.  Warning:  This is a full belly shot, and I have on NO make-up.  If gigantic stomaches and bare faces gross you out, simply scroll down with your eyes closed to skip it.  I really won't blame you!  Here it comes...

{Baby #3 @ 24 weeks}

Moving on to non-pregnancy related material, I mentioned yesterday that Little Man turned 5 on Sunday.  It really is hard to believe.  His party is scheduled for this weekend.  He wanted to have an outdoor movie party with his closest friends.  Funny how he's old enough to tell me who he wants at his party.  I hope to post lots of pics from the party because I think it's going to turn out pretty cool.  At least it looks really cool in my mind.

Since my mom is pretty much awesome, she threw him a family party on the night of his birthday.  Decorations and all.  She spoils him, and I love it.  Here's just a few photos from his special day...

Gosh I love him!



Menu Monday and My Little Boy x5

Little Man hit a monumental mark yesterday.  He turned 5.  My precious little baby is now heading into mega boyhood.  If I wasn't sure of this, his requests for gifts sure sealed the deal.  If you are against little boys having guns, you should probably stop reading.  My little 5 year old boy asked for a gun that has a strap so he can carry it like a hunter climbing through the mountains.  Then his father one up-ed him and purchased a fake M16.  He pretty much thinks he's a hunting Rambo.  I think he's just a cutie pie.
He had a great day.  Presents from us, his Papi, and my mom and her husband.  His party for his closests friends and our family will be next weekend.  We like to stretch out the partying as much as possible.

As for the menu this week, here it is...

Monday-Zucchini Bake, Cheesy Bread, Salad
Tuesday-Dijon Crumb Chicken, Green Beans, Seasoned Potato Wedges
Wednesday-Creamy Chicken and Noodles, Steamed Veggies, and Buttered Bread
Thursday-Frito Chili Pie
Friday-Seasoned Flounder, Trees & Raisins, Cheesy Biscuits
Saturday-Pepperoni Sandwiches and Mozzarella Sticks
Sunday-Dinner @ my mom's

Nacho Pie

*This recipe comes from my mama*

First off, I can't even say the name of the recipe without saying it the way my kids do.  Na-CHO pie-eye-eye-eye.  I don't know where it comes from, but they do this with 'nacho cheese' too.  They sit in the bathtub and try to squeeze in tight until they can see their little faces in the chrome.  Then they say over and over and OVER, "Na-CHO chee-ee-ee-eese."  They are weird.  I have no idea why they do it or how it got started.

The only thing I find comical in their weirdness is I too have a thing that runs along the lines of nacho cheese.  My absolute favorite joke has it as the punchline.  When I was a teacher I told this joke every year and found myself laughing hysterically.  Even when no one else was, which rarely happened because you always have at least one kid who feels sorry for you and gives you a courtesy laugh.  So get your courtesy laugh ready 'cause I'm going to tell my infamous joke...

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

Nacho Cheese!

Now I can add a new line to my all time favorite joke...

What do you call a pie that isn't yours?

Nacho Pie!

So here's the pie that isn't yours...

Nacho Pie
1 tube crescent rolls
2 cups crushed Nacho Cheese chips
1 lb cooked and drained ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• Season cooked ground beef with taco seasoning and tomato sauce.
• Pressed crescent rolls into a greased pie pan.
• Sprinkly one cup Nacho Cheese chips on top of crescents.
• Layer on ground beef mixture.
• Spread on sour cream.
• Sprinkle remaining chips and cheddar cheese.
• Bake @ 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until crust is brown.

I fully anticipated taking step by step pictures.  Here's how far I got...

I know.  I'm so awesome!  I captured the first two steps.  You're welcome.  We can't all be overachievers like me, now can we?

Happy Friday!!!