Last minute trip.....

We decided to take the weekend off and drive down to Charleston. Have a great weekend!!

Tonight's Dinner....

I decided to try a new recipe for dinner today. So, I made Skillet Lasagna. It was really great though I did have to tweak it a little from the original recipe. Also, it took way more than twenty minutes to cook the noodles. The kids all loved it!!


Skillet Lasagna
Use a 12-inch nonstick skillet with a tight filling lid.


-1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
-Water
-1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
-Salt
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-1 pound ground beef or turkey. (I used a package of sliced mushrooms for a veggie version)
-10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
-Pepper
-1 cup mozzarella
-1 cup ricotta cheese
-3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1. Pour tomatoes with their juices into a 1-quart measuring cup. Add water until mixture measures 1 quart.

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until onion (and mushrooms if using) begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add ground meat and cook, breaking apart meat, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

3. Scatter pasta over meat but do not stir. Pour diced tomatoes with juices and tomato sauce over pasta. Cover and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

4. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on mozzarella. Dot with heaping tablespoons of ricotta, cover and let stand off heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Serve Enjoy!

First day of school......

Today was Victoria's first day of public school. She was extremely nervous this morning (and so was I). I want to go eat lunch with her to see how her day was going, but according to her that is no longer "cool", so I had to wait until she got home to talk about her day. I was excited to here she had a wonderful first day. She said everyone is super friendly and she has already made a few really good friends. It helped that she had a familiar face to start the day. Her cousin Nick who she is very close to, has almost the same schedule as she does. Next week I am going to set up a conference with her new teachers just to check in and she how she is adjusting.

Victoria and I before school

Victoria and Tiger

On the way to school

Outside the building

Soccer time!

Yesterday was Chandler and Maddie's first soccer game. It was a really chilly morning. In fact, Maddie played the majority of the game wearing her jacket. Maddie's team played first and won. Chandler's team was up next and played hard but lost. It's cute watching them play at this age. They aren't really sure of how to get control of the ball or what to do with it when they finally do. At one point Chandler was running circles around two players on the other team and making strange noises. Later I ask him what he was doing, He told me he was trying to distract them...lol!

Middle school girls are so brutal......

I have decided to pull Victoria from the Charter School. Don't get me wrong, over all, I *love* the school and am leaving Chandler and Maddie in it. The problem is the 7th grade has roughly only six girls in it. All the girls hang out in one big group and have decided to turn on Victoria. It started last year and things seemed to get better. But then, this year they seem to have taken an ugly turn. These girls are harassing her via the internet and the phone. I even had to tell one of the girls not to call my house again if she couldn't be more respectful to my daughter. What makes me so angry is these are not girls she doesn't get along with in general. These are her best friends. These are girls who spend the summer at my house and went on trips with us. These girls are the ones Victoria has counted on to get her through tough times. So Rodney and I, with a sad heart, are dis enrolling her from the Charter school and putting her in public school. She is very happy with this decision and I hope it works out for the best, but I am worried for her. It's hard to be the new kid and it's even harder when you are going to be dealing with critical teenage girls. Keep her in your prayers on Monday. Thanks.....

Quote of the day!!

So the kids got their school picture proofs back yesterday. Victoria was looking through them and decided she thought Chandler's was the best. She said his eye's matched the flowers in the background well. Once we got home Chandler ask me if he could see his proof, so I showed them to him. He looked at it for a second and said, "I wish I wouldn't have smiled". I got upset and thought maybe he was self-conscience about his over bite or something. So, I was worried and ask him, "Why buddy, what's wrong"?? So he very matter of fact answered me with "I just don't want to be *this* good looking!!!!!...LOL Gotta love his modesty.

Here comes the sun........

It has been so nice the last few days. It's exciting to see the first signs of spring. The kids have been excited to get to wear shorts to school! Victoria is growing like a weed so it's time to buy her some new school shorts. Here are a few pictures I got today while the kids were outside playing. Victoria was at dance so I didn't get any of her :(.


In this photo the dog Maddie is holding she bought with the money her Nino gave her for Christmas, she takes the dog *everywhere*. Chandler used his money to buy the "Ben 10" watch he is wearing. Thanks Nino!!!

Merry "Christmas"....

My in-laws came down this past weekend and we had a wonderful visit. Because they live so far away and we don't get to see them over the holidays, we just had Christmas with them this past weekend. The kids were so excited to find out they got a Wii for Christmas! I was equally excited to find out I got a Wii Fit (I have a great Mother-in-Law). We played on it all weekend (literally). My Sister-in-Law Bella came up on Saturday to join the fun. Maddie hasn't stopped talking about her since she left. Maddie loves her Aunt Bella.

Victoria, and Maddie with their Yah-Yah

Chandler having a blast on the Wii.

Rodney and his Sis

Yah-Yah helping Maddie bake cookies

We had a great time that went by way to quickly.

Welcome.....

Welcome to my new blog. I decided to start from scratch, instead of picking back up on my old blog. I want to make this one more personal, for my family and friends to keep up with. My old blog is still there and can be found at:
http://byebabybunting-ck.blogspot.com/ . I plan to update my blog at least once a week so stop back in often.