Plans for the New Year

So I am a little late in blogging about this but I wanted to take a minute to share my plans for the new year (ya know, you write it down and it might happen but if you tell people than it has a better chance of happening). 

Ali Edwards, Life Artist (ala scrap-booker) extraordinarie, has a word for each year and she challenges her readers to get a word too...you can read about it here. So, I chose my word and it is

FOCUS

What do I plan to do with this word, well....

I plan to focus on ME, FAMILY, HOME, and CAREER

Some things I am looking at focusing on specifically are is to:

live Greener (recycle, change our light bulbs to fluorescent compact, reduce our waste by consuming less, etc)

live more Fiscally Responsible (buy things on sale and become a coupon/sale strategist (I am already seeing a return here, I have saved about $100 already on groceries by planning ahead and shopping sale items), institute a budget (we already have given ourselves a $20 limit a week per person on incidentals), SAVE, SAVE and SAVE some more, and shoot for one no spend month this year (meaning no spending on incidentals and crap)

Focus on Balance at work/home (leave work by 4:30 so I can get Parker on time and a bit early, TIME MANAGEMENT, focus on the priorities at work and look for ways to delegate/change site needs)

Focus on the family (family fun night, creating memories for Parker instead of buying "stuff", look for teachable moments for Parker)

Of course there is the usual focus on things like eating healthier, moving more and I also want to focus on my time where I can relax or scrapbook, etc. 

I am excited about this year ahead. Parker is growing like a weed and becoming a contributor to our family and is becoming really fun to talk to.  I know she will present us with many challenges this year and I hope our Focus can remain on being patient and creating a learning opportunity for all of us from the crazy times.  I expect Michael to have a great year this year too with the derby gearing up and being even better than last year.  So here is to a GREAT 2009!

 

 

 

 

Meal Plan Monday

Here is this week's meal plan:

Sunday: Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Roll Ups- (not sure where I got this so I apologize for not giving credit where credit is due)-recipe below

Monday- Double Cheese Chili (from last week's post since we did not eat it on Saturday)

Tuesday: Leftovers (Probably the Spaghetti we should have eaten Monday

Wednesday: Foil Pack Taco Chicken, broccoli, yellow rice

Thursday: Bruschetta Chicken with salad ( I do make one change to the recipe in that I let the chicken marinate in italian dressing first to give this more flavor)

Friday: Deep Dish Pizza Casserole-WW style (recipe below)

Saturday: Taco Soup

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Roll Ups: 6 servings

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook time: 7 to 8 hours on low, or 3 to 4 hours on high

1/2 C plus 2 TBSP all purpose flour, divided

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, cut into 2 or 3 strips

2 TBSP butter

1 C Chicken Broth

1 small onion, diced

1/4 to 1/2 C jalapeno peppers, sliced

2 TBSP whipping cream or milk

6 (7 to 8 inch) flour tortillas

6 slices American cheese or Amercian cheese with jalapeno peppers

Cut each chicken into 2 to 3 strips.  Combine 1/2 cup flour and salt in resealable bag.  Add chicken strips and coat.  Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Brown chicken strips in batches and then place in slow cooker.

Add chicken broth to skillet and scrape remaining browned bits.  Pour broth mixture into slow cooker.  Add onion, jalapeno pepper and oregano.  Cover, cook on Low 7 to 8 hours or high 3 to 4 hours.

Blend remaining 2 TBSP flour and cream in small bowl until smooth.  Stir into chicken mixture. Cook, uncovered on high for 15 mins or until thickened.  Spoon chicken mixture onto center of tortillas and top with 1 cheese slice.  Fold and serve. 

Deep Dish Pizza Casserole:

1 pound ground round

1 15 oz can chunky italian style tomato sauce

cooking spray

1 10 oz can refrigerated pizza crust dough

6 1-oz slices of part-skim mozarella cheese, divided

Pre-heat oven to 425.  Cook meat in medium skillet, over medium heat until browned.  Drain.  Return to skillet and add tomato sauce and cook until heated.  While meat cooks, coat a 13X9 pan with cooking spray.  Unroll pizza dough and press into bottom and halfway up sides.  Line bottom of crust with 3 slices of cheese.  Top with meat mixture.  Bake uncovered at 425 for 12 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese and bake 5 additional minutes.   

Parker is in the News!

Take a look at the picture below....Parker and her classmates were in the paper yesterday from taking a walk while at school.  It was an article discussing how cold it plans to get this next week.  Parker and I took a walk this morning and it was snowing.  Parker would not wear her gloves so she was complaining that her hands hurt by the time we got home.  We made it all better with some hot chocolate :)

I will be posting tomorrow our meal plan for the week. I am happy to report that I did not eat OUT once this week and we stuck to the plan, except Saturday but it was because we were at a birthday party for Lucas.  I sitll made the chili and now we have it to also eat this week.  I also lost 4 pounds this week, guess there is something to be said for eating at home is healthier.  I also ate green beans this week, TWICE.  Amazing, I know (Mom, don't keel over).  I had the Green Giant Steamers, and they are good, especially with italian dressing. 

Meal Plan Monday

So while off work I took some time to get us organized in terms of what we will eat for the month of January. I also have started delving into the world of coupons and paying attention to store sales.  I found an on-line resource called Coupon Mom.  There is loads of info here and a message board...kind of addicting.  I already saved some crazy money on chicken and roast at Bi-Lo (like my total before sales was $65.00 and after using my bonus card, it was only $30).  Not bad for a first timer.  OK, so I digress.  Here is our meal plan for the week in case anyone needs ideas out there...

Sunday- Slow Cooker Salsa Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Monday- Spaghetti and salad (courtesy of my "Nana".  She cooked spaghetti every Monday night.   I used to think this was such an odd tradition...now, I get it.  It is an easy way to start the week. I've got 5 weeks of saghetti sauce mixed with ground beef in the freezer...)

Tuesday- Left Overs

Wednesday- Tortilla Soup (from Kraftfoods.com-subscribe to their free magazine...it is awesome. 

Thursday- Shortcut Salsa Chicken, brocolli, yellow rice

Friday- Calzones and salad

Saturday- Double Cheese Chili

The Holidays are Over...

but we had a great time.  I basically took 2 weeks off of work and had a wonderful time with Parker and the rest of my family.  Michael's parents were here for about a week and his sister, brother in law, and our nephew joined us the day after Christmas.  We had a quiet New Years at home but I did cook a nice meal and we watched the ball drop (Parker was asleep).  Michael got a Wii for his birthday so we have been enjoying bowling and tennis and I even figured out how to download Super Mario Brothers (old school style) and we have been playing that (a lot!).  We enjoyed spending time with my grandmother this last weekend and she had a good time playing with Parker.  It is back to the swing of things tomorrow for Parker and I are going back to work and school.  Here are some pictures from the holidays..

 

   

 

Happy 2nd Birthday!

We celebrated Parker's 2nd birthday yesterday.  She had a great time celebrating with Elmo.

Playing in the leaves

To be young again....

A Week in the Life

Sorry no new pictures here lately.  My camera card died, with over 200 photos on there and I just go a new card to take new pics.  I decided to join ranks with Ali Edwards and participate in her "Week in the Life" assignment.  So here is:

Day 1-Sunday, October 5, 2008

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

Today we:

Slept late (Parker till 10:30, she was up until 9 the night before)

Read Simple Scrapbooks in bed

Made homemade pumpkin muffins (and licked the beater)

Did laundry (and even put it away)

Michael worked on finishing the deck, almost there

Went to the Ronald McDonald Home Children's festival (with petting zoo)

Went to IHOP for lunch

Went to Gymboree at the Mall

Got the car washed (side window came off)

Parker napped in car while Michael in Lowes

Played with sidewalk chalk

Had McD's (Parker and Kristy) and Taco Bell (Michael) for dinner

Saw same dog at McD's and Taco Bell (laughed that he thought there are those same weird people at both places) 

Back to Blogging

Sorry there have not been any updates in months.  Here's a quick rundown of all our goings on:

• Bathroom is finished....yippie.  Parker loves the new big bath tub but is not too sure about the jets



• Michael officially pulled off the rebirth of the Chattanooga Area Soap Box Derby in Chattanooga and the two winners spent a week in Akron, OH preparing to compete against the world's best.  Ethan (stock) lost his first heat down and Kurt (super stock) won his first heat but then was taking out his second trip down the hill.  Plans are ensuing for next year's race.



• Parker is growing like a weed.  She is walking, running, and talking.  She has mastered lots of words and now will repeat what she hears (no potty mouths here anymore).  She thinks she is about 10 and loves to run around with the big kids.  We have to fight to keep her in her stroller and she is now starting to fuss about the car seat.  We officially moved her out of the high chair and she now sits on a booster seat with us at the table.



• Russell (My brother), got a job with TVA at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant as an operator trainee and he has been staying with us during the week while in class until he and his wife find a place to live.  Parker has enjoyed being around her uncle and she likes it when her Aunt Katie comes to visit too.



• We spent a week at Myrtle Beach earlier this summer with the Stewart side of the family.  Parker loved running around on the beach and thankfully she did find the water entertaining until the next to the last day so we only spent one day having to constantly run after her as she wanted to plunge into the ocean.



• I got a promotion at work and am now the Site HR Manager.  This has been a great opportunity but has been very stressful.  I am looking forward to settling in my new position.



• And how can I forget to mention the TWO bats we have had visit us this summer.  The first one woke me up at 2 am as it rummaged through our bedroom.....not a good thing to wake up to.  We had to have it captured and tested for rabies to ensure we were safe.  The second bat came to visit last Sunday in the evening.  It decided it would like to fly around the downstairs.....well, it messed with the wrong family. No capturing this one, it went to bat heaven.  We had him sent off for testing too and no rabies.  We are now having our house bat proofed to ensure we have no future visitors.

Well, this about sums about the past few months for us.  I will leave you with some much needed pics and I intend to be better about posting updates. 

   

And the master bath remodel continues....

Here are the latest pictures.  These guys are really making progress.  They tiled the whole bathroom in one day....amazing!

And the master bath remodel begins....

so glad I did not attempt the wallpaper removal myself....there are 3 layers of wallpaper, nice! Here are some pics of the demolition.....

Good bye 1985!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Who needs a spoon?

Finally, an update

Sorry, with the holidays and getting back into the swing of things, I have neglected the good ole blog.  Parker's second Christmas was eventful.  We headed up to VA to be with Michael's family and while there Parker managed to get really sick....so, she has now had her first trip to the emergency room.  They thought her issues were just a viral infection but as her condition did not improve (fever of about 104), we got up early the day after Christmas and came home to see her pediatrician.  Turned out she had a pretty extensive ear infection....a couple of shots, an hour later and our sweet Parker was back at 'em.  Amazing!  However, Parker did decide to share her infection with her cousin Wrenn and her Pap while there.  She has a bad habit of sharing her infections.  So, we thought we were all better, finished up the holidays and then on her 4th day back to school, I held her out as she had the sniffles....come to find out she had a respiratory virus that kept her out of school for 3 days (and me out of work).  She recovered from that but then managed to pick up a stomach virus and has been out of school all this week...I am sure my boss has about had it with me by now.  Parker also shared her fun illness with the rest of us. Unfortunately for Michael, he had more of it than I did.  So, I am hoping that next week we can move on from all these illnesses and get back to work and school (someone has to pay for all those Dr bills :)

Other than all the illnesses, Parker thorouhgly enjoyed the holidays and all her neat presents.  She has been playing with all her new toys while she has been at home....perhaps that was her plan all along :)

Here are some recent pics:

 

Parker's First B-day Party

Parker's One!

Pumpkins and Halloween

Ok, so it has been awhile since we posted any new pics of Parker.  She is getting into everything now and can "cruise" along the furniture and walk behind toys but no steps on her own just yet.  She has also managed to crawl to the top of our stairs so out with the gates soon.

Here are some fun pictures...enjoy!

Instant Backyard

Look what we woke up to this morning....ahhh, it is wonderful to have a real backyard now.  The big weed tree has been banished as has the big dirt circle from the previous owner's trampoline.   More pictures of Parker to come later from pumpkin picking, Halloween, etc.

 

Hello Fall....

Fall arrived today here in Signal Mountain.  It was actually chilly-ish for most of the morning.  Parker and I are playing hooky today as she had a fever last night and cannot go to school today (no worries, took her to the doc and she said she is just teething and looks fine).  So, we have taken a nap (very nice) and we played outside in the nice weather this morning.  Below are some pictures.  Parker is sporting one of her new Gymboree outfits (which we rarely buy because they are so expensive but we could not resist).  Isn't she too cute? 

In other news, we hired my brother to help us in the back yard...it looks so MUCH better, thanks Russ.  Here is a picture of it now....we are killing the weeds grass and are in the process of figuring out what to do next (till it ourselves and plant seed or hire someone with a backhoe to deal with it and bring dirt so we can lay seed).  However, just getting some trees cut down, stumps ground, weeds killed, and flower beds in makes it look 100% better.  I am imagining the green grass now. Here is a pic of the yard now....

And last but not least, as you can see in the above pics, Parker is standing up...she is pulling up on everything and today she "walked" by pushing her toy car around her bedroom.  She was sooooo cute.  Won't be long at all.

Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday.

Finally, an update

Sorry it has been so long since updating.  We have been busy since arriving home from the beach.  Parker had her 9 month appt last week and all is great.  She has started crawling (time to baby proof, she finds everything!).  She also has started pulling up on everything.  It won't be long before she is walking all over the place. Here is a recent picture where she has discovered the stairs.