Update on my Little Brother

Thank goodness for technology and for Facebook! And thank goodness for Mitchell's friends putting up pictures of him online so that I can see how he's doing. I thought maybe I'd share some on here for anyone else who's interested. He's currently stationed in Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. Let me know if want his address if you'd like to send him a hello or something :)

My Day Off :)

Perfection.

{taken from this post, which is also lovely}

Dinner and a Movie

Anyone else remember that show? Ha! Actually, it's probably still on, I just wouldn't know since we don't have cable anymore.  :)

Just wanted to share 2 quick things from my week so far:

First, last time we were at Wade's parents' house, I snagged a recipe that was originally from Ms. Sarah Monroe, as I'm a sucker for anything with tomato sauce and mozzerella cheeze. I made it Sunday night and it was de-lish! So, thanks Sarah! :)

Don't Cook the Pasta Manicotti

1 (8 oz) pkg uncooked manicotti shells

1 lb ground beef

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 cups tomato juice, divided

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
4 cups shredded mozzerella cheese, divided
1 (15 oz) carton ricotta cheese
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese


In a large skillet, brown meat w/ garlic, pour off fat. Stir in 2 cups tomato juice, tomato paste, oregano, sugar, salt & pepper. Simmer while preparing filling. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups mozz cheese, ricotta, thawed & drained spinach, eggs & parm; mix well. Preheat oven to 350°. Stuff uncooked shells (I used my hands), arrange in 9x13 pan. Spoon mean sauce evenly over shells, pour remaining tomato juice evenly on top. Cover w/ aluminum foil; bake 1 hour. Remove from oven and remove foil; immediately top w/ remaining mozz cheese. Serves 6-8. (Perfect for leftovers!)

And second, you've got to watch this little clip. They were on Ellen today and could not get any cuter if they tried!



Have a great Wednesday!!!

{Manicotti picture found here}

New Year, New Blog. I love playing around with this thing! ;)

These are the words I would say

Little Guy,
I know you're only two years old right now and just learning your ABCs, but you won't always be so small. For some reason, every time I hear this song I think of you.

Be strong in the Lord and,

Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,

I already know,

God's got His hand on you so,

Don't live life in fear,

Forgive and forget,

But don't forget why you're here,

Take your time and pray,

Thank God for each day,

His love will find a way,
These are the words I would say

~The Words I Would Say by Sidewalk Prophets

I love you, Beckett Leo!

What we've been up to...

Lately, we've been busy...

 1) ...eating sushi with this cute little family. Ed's a rockstar who makes his own sushi and it was pretty darn good.

2) ...at the OB getting a little peak at our littlest one. Yes, we found out the gender and no, we're not telling. Wade really wanted to find out, but I kinda didn't. So I made a deal with him and told him we could find out, but had to keep it a surprise for the rest of you! I know it's kind of a bratty thing to do, but I'm 99.999% sure it'll slip by Reese or one of us, so you'll probably find out sooner rather than later!

 3) ...eating Snow Ice Cream! Mix together 5-6 cups of fresh, light, fluffy snow, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, and 1 tsp vanilla. Not too bad! We made another batch to show Daddy, but I put in only half the amount of sugar (1/2 a cup seemed like a lot and it was reeeally sweet) and mixed in some almond milk too.

4) ...playing with our new Christmas toys. Favorites include this marble tower, a Barbie, a basketball hoop, a train set and some sparkly dress up high heals. :)

5) ... relentlessly cleaning our house from top to bottom for an open house and various showings by appointment. We have another one tonight from 6:15-6:45. Wade's gone at a church thing, so do I take the kids and grab fast food somewhere or stick to our normal dinner plans and eat later? I think I already know what I'll end up doing. I'm so lazy.

6) ...helping out this mama and celebrating the birth of these two sweet girls' little baby brother, Zion Edward.

Congratulations again, Simmer family! :)



Grateful.

Today, I am grateful for:

1) The library. Seriously, sometimes I can't believe there's a place where they let me pick out and take home books, movies, music, magazines, books on CD for myself or the kids for FREE!  (In theory, because I'm pretty sure I keep our public library up and running with all the fines I manage to rack up. Currently, Dora's Kite Fiesta was due last week and is MIA. Not cool.)

2) My sister's boyfriend, Mark & my brother's girlfriend, Nicole. Who knows how long they'll be around, but I'm not too worried about that. Right now, they are making my brother and sister happy and I LOVE that.

3) Little elbow jabs. The small kicks in my belly are still small yet compared to what they will be, but it never ceases to amaze me that there is a tiny PERSON inside of my body!

4) Coffee. I'm about to go make some right now. :)

5) Our troops. Whether here at home or across seas (like my cute little brother, Mitchell) these men and women are sacrificing their time and lives for our awesome country. For that, I could never express enough gratitude.

I hope you have a FANTASTIC day. :)

2010 in Review

2010 has gone by so fast, and what a year it has been!

I started this post last week and wanted to get it published when it was...uhh... still 2010. I forgot that I told a friend we'd come over and play this morning, and I still have half of the dough for our annual Christmas cinnamon rolls sitting in my fridge, waiting to be made. The house is a disaster, we have no groceries, and I have yet to put away the Christmas decorations. It's only the beginning of 2011 and I feel like I'm already behind!

At any rate, here's a little recap of our awesome year. I loved 2010 and am sad to see it go. I can only hope that this next year can live up to the high standards that 2010 set! Thank you to all the people who have stuck by us. You mean more than you'll ever know. Anyway, just pretend you read this last week, okay? ;)

2010 Highlights

January: Repainted bedrooms (3 of them) and finishing the basement. Reese continued gymnastics at the Y and dance at Allison's Dance Center.

February: Costa Rica w/ Roger & Mary! AMAZING!!!!

March: Marriage Retreat for a weekend in Story City, took the kids to The Children's Museum for the day. I continue to watch 2 little girls and Wade is super busy with planting season at work. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary.

April: I begin training for my big race, we had a small Easter egg hunt part at our house.

May: Beckett began potty training

June: I ran the Dam to Dam 20K, Reese attended her first VBS, took our first family trip to the zoo.

July: Lots of popsicles & pool parties at our house, purchased a van, Reese turned 4!

August: We celebrated Wade's 27th birthday with a surprise party, held a garage sale, went to the Iowa State Fair, Reese started preschool, my sister moved in with us, my little brother was shipped out to start training before he leaves for Afghanistan.

September: Beckett turned 2! Roadtripped to Pennsylvania for my friend Cathy's wedding, visited friends in New Jersey and spent the day in New York City.

October: Found out we were pregnant with #3, Wade went with Reese on a school field trip to the fire station.

November: Travelled to Kansas City for the Erickson family Thanksgiving, attended my sweet friend Jessie's wedding in Des Moines.

December: Put our house on the market, attended my brother's graduation from Iowa State.

 Valentine's Day, our family's homemade 'gormet' meal

 

Costa Rica, Wade's first time scuba diving

Summer fun

Our family's favorite place in the summer.

Reese had her first dance recital.

Me, participating in the French Silk Pie competition at the fair



Halloween

Camping in PA & New York City

Let's go, 2011. We're ready for ya.