quick update

just a quick post...sorry no pictures (i hate blog posts with no pictures) will post some soon. danielle left this morning after being here for a week. we had so much fun--one morning in particular will forever be referred to by me as "the funniest two hours of my life"!!! mckinlee and i were sad when she left. i've been in service all day. we have the c.o. here this week--it's their last visit. i got to work with her this morning. she reminds me of princess diana. she is so pretty and sweet. (and she's a scrapbooker!) we're about to leave for mck's gymnastics. will try to post more later!

over the weekend

after service on saturday we met yvonne and her girls at studio movie grill and saw the new hannah montana movie. it was the first time we'd been to this theater and it was really neat! you sit at either a long bar or a little table in front of the bar--it's a restaurant too. so you order your food and then eat as you watch the movie. we had already eaten but we got a beautiful brownie sundae that was delicious! the movie was so good--even if you don't have young girls! when we got home, mckinlee and i found the "hoedown throwdown" dance on youtube. (the big dance they do during the movie) we tried to learn it, but it's harder than it looks (or maybe i just have no coordination whatsoever!)

saturday night we went over to the leary's (a family in our hall) house for dinner. this was what was left of the parmesan crusted chicken--it was fabulous! we also had broiled asparagus, green beans, creamy cucumbers, lemon-zested rice and wonderful (simple) desserts. one of which was organic coconut yogurt with fresh blackberries on top. oh my goodness was that good! after dinner the guys watched basketball and the girls looked through scrapbooks. fun times!

sunday after the meeting we went to a place called babe's. it's a real rustic, down-home cookin' sort of place. there are no menus--your choices are fried chicken, chicken fried steak, catfish, pot roast and grilled chicken. so you order your main dish and then they bring out all you can eat of their 3 veggies: creamy mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans (some of the best i've ever had) and sweet cream corn. there is also the best salad which is just iceberg lettuce and a dressing of vinegar and sugar (doesn't sound good, but it is!) and old fashioned biscuits. every once in a while, the waiters will all stop and do the hokey-pokey. kids come up and dance with them. (none of ours did, though. mckinlee looked aghast when i suggested she should go up there!) afterwards mckinlee and alexa went outside where there is a bunch of old farm equipment and took some pictures.

well that was our weekend. kind of packed--we usually don't do that much over the weekend. i just realized that everything we did revolved around food! no wonder i feel so bloated this morning! (better get on my bike and ride it off.)

i will try to post something tomorrow that doesn't involve food...by the way, my soup that i made friday night turned out wonderful! not low fat, but so tasty.

yummy-ness

these are the cookies mckinlee and i whipped up after school. they are so easy and so good! (don't they look pretty on my new target plate?)

Chocolate Cake Cookies

1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil (i used olive oil)
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (this was a little bit too many in my opinion)

Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes.

Here's what we are going to have for dinner tonight.

Creamy Mushroom & Chicken Soup
6 T. butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 T. flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
6 c. chicken broth
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
3/4 c. sliced celery
3/4 c. chopped carrots
2 c. quartered baby red potatoes
1 c. chopped yellow squash
1 1/2 c. frozen corn, thawed
2 tsp. thyme
2 c. light cream
3/4 c. grated parnesan, plus more for garnish if desired
2 c. chopped cooked chicken

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper-mix until smooth. Gradually add the broth, then turn heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil. Add the mushrooms, celery, carrots, potatoes, squash, corn and thyme. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until veggies are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add cream, parmesan and chicken. Heat for additional 10 minutes, but do not let it boil. To serve, ladle soup into bowl and sprinkle with more parmesan. Makes about 15 cups.


i've never made this before, but it sounded so good and i'm trying to make different things--i'm so tired of the same old things i make.
(i got both recipes off becky higgins blog.)

Have a good weekend!

random-ness

so i think thursdays are going to be my posts about random things that don't tie together in any way!

i went into mckinlee's room after she'd gone to school to straighten it up a little and make her bed (since we seem to be getting up later and later each morning) and this is what i found:

isn't that sweet? she doesn't have time to make her bed, but she tucks her animals in so they will be cozy while she's gone! sometimes i will go to make my bed and find an animal wrapped in my blanket...one day i found one wrapped in her t-shirt propped up on the stairs! she's growing up so fast, sometimes it's hard to find anything still "little girl" about her--so when i find something like this she still does that is so sweet, my heart just melts!

next random picture...this beautiful card. at my stamp class yesterday, i took several pictures of great cards. this picture doesn't do this one justice. it's just a piece of cardstock embossed and folded over, a ribbon tied around it and a stamped sentiment. in real life it is so elegant and simple. these days that's all i can do! (the simple part...not elegant!)

these next two were just darling! they both use stampin' up's top-note die that cuts out that cool shape. the purse is just the die cut out using double-sided paper, folded over and a piece of ribbon to make the handle. so cute!

the other one i just loved because it is using a stamp set that i would have just looked right over. i don't know if you can see the little blue bird sitting on the branch--love that! (and i don't even like birds!)

final picture...monday mckinlee participated in her school's fun run to raise money for enrichment programs, etc. because it had rained, they had to run laps on the pavement. i volunteered to mark how many laps they had done on a sticker taped to their shirt (that kind of cut into my picture taking--so this was the best i could get!) she did a great job and ran 12 laps in 40 minutes!

that's all for now...tomorrow i'm going to post recipes! (ooohhhh--the excitement! :)

Bikes

This year for our anniversary we just asked for money to help buy new bikes for all of us. We went Saturday to a local bike shop and in an hour we had bikes, helmets and gloves! We got to test them out before we decided to make sure we liked the feel and everything. As soon as we got home, Chris and McKinlee headed out for their first ride (I stayed behind--too windy!)

We were able to take our first family ride Sunday after the meeting. The sun came out and it was so beautiful! We rode for an hour and had the best time. This morning, though, my legs and rear are feeling the pain!

Memorial 2009

Just a few pictures from Memorial. We had the late one at 9:00, but we still had 362 in attendance!

what a difference a day makes & off to the races

the pictures are out of order, but here i am sunday after my run. while not looking my best, at least i had a smile and didn't feel like i was going to die. the first picture is how i looked monday after my run. i truly thought my feet, legs, etc. were going to explode! i was trying to do the dishes and everything was throbbing so bad, i thought i would fall into the sink! i am really trying hard to stay positive about this running thing and keep thinking how good i will look this summer in a bathing suit...if i live to the summer!

here are chris and mckinlee heading out the door saturday to nascar. mckinlee, initially, was less than thrilled to go see, as she said, "cars go round and round." but when they got home, neither one could stop talking about the fun they had and going back in november! sunday, chris dvr'd the race and that's what we got to watch sunday evening! they kept talking to each other in "race lingo" i'm so glad they shared this together--it's a great daddy-daughter kind of thing to do.