single sentence sunday

 

I am loving January in Texas!!

getting outside for some fresh air!

Our Sunday started with breakfast on the deck. 

Gary and I worked in the yard and then we put up the trampoline!

The kids were so excited!  The trampoline has been with us in every backyard in every state!  It has traveled from Texas to Ohio and now Georgia!  We have tons of memories with our fun trampoline.  We plan to replace the spring cover, but all in all even through all the moves it's heald up well.  

Jump!  Jump!

my [somewhat] normal day

today was the first day the kids have had a full day of school in what feels like f.o.r.e.v.e.r!  

it was so sweet for this momma!

i know this picture is super ridiculous and you can't see the beauty i can, but....

i just love this stretch of road.  

it takes me into town from our house.  

the river is on the right and a beautiful hill covered in snow is on the left.  

i gasped at its beauty today.  

i wanted to slam on the brakes and use my big camera to take amazing shots. 

but i went to work-out instead.  i can't get enough of Ohio's beauty.

working out is my therapy.  i have missed it something awful.  

i do workout videos at home and lift my 10 lb barbells, but there is something about my workout class.  i just love it and have missed it so much since the weather has been so terrible.

after my workout i met my bestie for an amazing lunch.  Swiss onion soup and half a veggie wrap. it was a refreshing, yet warm lunch.

i ran a few errands and then the kids were home from school.

we did home work and ate granola and gummies.  then took baths and read books.  

i skipped the gummies and had a cup of coffee while putting conversation hearts into baggies for Layla's class party on Friday.

i ended the night with leftovers and a glass of white wine with frozen grapes for dinner.

it was a great day and i think we all enjoyed a bit of normalcy with school being back in session full force.  the kids missed their school friends!

let's hope the weather allows our great schedule to continue!

it's a month long winter wonderland

We ventured out to go the grocery store yesterday and the roads were pretty terrible.  

It started snowing in the morning and snowed for hours and hours.  It's been snowing so much this past month.  I have to admit it's so very pretty! My favorite description of it all is .... a snowglobe!

  I'm sure all these inches will delay school for tomorrow.  This will make the children happy because Gary is off tomorrow and they can play with him all day long!  I'll be waiting by the phone to see if the robot call comes through declaring a two hour delay or a full day cancellation. 

I am so thankful all this weather is happening this year and not last year.  Can you imagine how freaked out I'd be if this was my first winter in Ohio, coming from Texas?  I'd want to run back to Texas!!!  Mother nature broke me in easy last year!  I'm loving the change in climate here in Ohio!

back to school . back to school

The children are finally back in school after several days of no school and many 2 hour delays.

I know why they schedule spring break in the spring.  It's so the children can play outside. OUTSIDE!  They can't play outside when it is -13 degrees.  Kids and parents locked in the house for days on end can start to go stir crazy.  

I feel like I'm crazy.

I'm going to enjoy doing nothing today.  All alone in my house.  

Can you tell I am losing it? haha!  

I'm not really, but I am ready for routine to come back in full force. 

freezing cold weather

We've had some seriously cold temperatures here in Ohio this week.

Of course I had to get fuel in my Jeep on the day the weather was the coldest.
See that?  It's zero degrees. It was even colder than that over night and that doesn't include the wind chill.  Brrrrrr!


There was ice floating on the river.  I've never been around a frozen river.  It was a pretty sight.  Pretty, but scary.  I wouldn't want to get too close to a frozen river that is flowing.
Stay warm!!!
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Our first snow of the season

We woke up to fresh snow this morning! I can't believe it snowed.

The kids were thrilled. They were a tad upset they couldn't play it in because school was not cancelled.





Hayden wanted to throw snowballs and Layla wanted to make snow angels. I reminded them that we aren't in Texas any longer and that it will snow again I'm sure! Yay for more snow!


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Chili times two

Temps are swooping down getting cooler and that means time for the first batch of chili for the season!

Hope you've had a great three day weekend! We have!

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Sunday Funday

We have friends in own from Texas and I just know they are loving the cooler temperatures Ohio has to offer right now!! We are excited to show them around town this week!

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How's the weather?

There are so many things to love about summertime!

We love grilling and being outside.  The weather here in Ohio hasn't gotten hot yet, and by now in Texas we are dying from the heat.   

We are thankful for the warm-ish days and cool nights!

Last soccer game of the year

Hayden's soccer team is so cute!  They had a fun season.

The weather was perfect today for the last game of the season.

Hayden was tired and really didn't want to play, but he ended up having one of this best games.

He is such a silly little man!

I caught a picture of him cheesing it up after he made a great play.

I hope he plays again in the future.  It is so cute to see 4 year olds kick the ball and get into the game.

I'm glad he got to play this season and we look forward to him playing in the fall.  I think Layla wants to play in the fall also.  We will be busy this fall with 2 soccer games each weekend!

outside, outside

The weather was awesome for soccer practice last night! 

The weather has been awesome for us to play outside after school.

Hayden got a golf lesson from dad.

Lily loves running and playing outside. 

The trees are blooming and the grass is greening up!  We are thrilled to finally have weather warm enough to enjoy the outdoors again.

Slow cooker french onion soup

I know I have posted this recipe in the past, but it was with 3 other slow cooker recipes.  I believe this soup deserves a post of it's own.  It is really easy to make and really satisfying on a cold day.

I realize most of you are thinking, "Um lady, it's mid-March, Why are you cooking soup?  It's too warm for that!"  Well dang it all...it is cold here today.  25 degrees freezing a$$ cold.  So I'm making soup because I am cold!

Ingredients:

3 large onions {I use red onions}

1 TBS olive oil

1 tbsp.flour

2 boxes (32oz) low sodium beef broth

½ to 1 tsp. Tabasco (i used franks red hot today)

How to do it:

Saute onions in olive oil in a skillet until transparent.

Add flour; blend well. Put in slow cooker.

Add beef broth and Tabasco.

Cook on low 7-9 hours or high 4-5 hours.

Once the soup is ready to serve ladle it into a bowl and top with a slice of toasted bread and cheese.  Broil for a few minutes until the cheese is slightly brown.  Croutons are also a good french onion soup topper.  So just whatever bread suits your fancy.  Gary requested a bread bowl, but that is NOT happening.  I'd love it, but I'm trying to quit bread.  I  know I'll never fully quit bread, but today I quit bread, so no bread bowl.

This soup reminds me of my Auntie.  I got the recipe from her!

Happy Thursday friends...two more days until Spring Break!  Whooo Hoo!

snow and avoiding the sickies

After living in Ohio I am quite embarrassed about EVER being cold in Texas.  I am NOT complaining about the cold here in Ohio, but it is quite funny to think that we EVER needed big coats or even boots in Texas.

On a related note, I can't even look at a picture of my friends kids back home without thinking, 'Dang put a coat on those babes.'  haha!  And then I realize they aren't in Ohio, so they can wear shorts and a t-shirt in 68 degree weather.

And since I'm really into the weather it seems, we are expecting 3-8 inches of snow tonight and into tomorrow.  The weathermen here are WAY worse at guessing the weather than the weathermen in Texas.  Who knows what will happen?  All I know is I'm avoiding the grocery store because people are cray cray here when the weather gets snowy.  Yep, pretty much like in Texas too.

Check out the map.  All that business is heading towards us. Good grief!

As you know, I've had the stomach bug and so has Gary and both kids.  After the Masquerade ball it seems like everyone I know got the stomach bug too.  It's crazy.  Really crazy.  At least 3 couples have flu like symptoms and two of my new besties are really sick right now.  I keep finding out about more people sick with the bug.  It really is the #stomachbugof2013  It's taken over the whole town.  I'm scared I'm gonna get it again.  Nooooooo!  I've been scrubbing and cleaning the house like crazy just in case!  Today after I dropped Hayden off at preschool I had lunch with Gary and then I came home and cleaned and played with Lily.  She is a wild woman and I don't get to play with her much because the kids usually hog her up!

I have had several people ask me about how she is doing and what is going on in the potty training department.  I'll try to devote a post to her later this week or next week.  She really is doing great.  As many of you know we had a little boy puppy named Bogey.  Well,  he was possessed.  He is the reason I waited so long to get another dog.  She is NOTHING like him and I have never been more thankful!  She is a sweet girl and she is learning the rules of our house quite nicely.

And this is where I write a nice closing sentence or paragraph to end this blog post.  Sometimes I'm so terrible at wrapping up my posts.  Oh well, I never said I was a professional writer and I'm sure I have spelling errors and even grammatical errors from time to time.  What you see is what you get  from me.  Sometimes I write fast and furiously so I can stop the puppy from chewing up her toy basket.  Other times I have go look at the mega block creations the kids have made in the playroom.  Right now I have to cook sloppy joes for dinner because the kids requested them.  They have asked me 458 times when dinner is going to be ready, so I guess I should go cook huh?!

I'm out!

Tuesday randoms

Tuesday's are my random thinking days.  It seems like I come up with the oddest blog posts on Tuesday.  So here goes....

This is typically the time of the year when I am ready for spring to show itself.  Back in Texas I know it will go from cold to straight to steaming hot.  I'm hopeful that here in Ohio we will get some springlike temps soon.  I'm not bogged down with being cold like I thought I would.  It really isn't so bad, but I am feeling that spring fever creeping up on me as it does every year.  My favorite thing to do is sleep with the windows open at night.  We rarely get to do that in Texas, but I just know I will be sleeping in fresh spring air soon.  A girl can dream right!?!  Today all we have is rain.  It has rained on and off all day long.

I miss having a TV in the kitchen.  You  know one that I can see from the sink while I'm cooking or chopping vegetables. Lord knows I don't wash dishes.  If it can't be put into the dishwasher I don't own it. Anyway...we have always had to a very open floor plan in our kitchen/family room.  Now we don't and I've been craving some noise in the kitchen.  I decided to get a docking station for my iPhone or the iPod.  It has made my cooking and cleaning experience so much better!  I have been jamming out to my favorite Pandora stations while doing my least favorite chore, emptying the dishwasher.  Music makes the worst tasks more pleasant!

I am loving cereal lately.  Every once in awhile I get on a cereal kick.  I discovered Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch.  I am a huge Honey Nut Cheerios fan and adding flakes, almonds and clusters of nuts to that is perfection in my book.

Here's the box...go get some!

The kids love breakfast.  They usually have smoothies and pancakes, waffles or french toast sticks.  And fruit, they love fresh fruit.  I wish I could say I get up and make them bacon and eggs every morning, but I just don't.  I bought these mini pancakes at Kroger and they are a huge hit.  They smell amazing when they are cooking in the microwave for all of 30 seconds.  The smell lingers for several hours after I cook them.  One morning I'll have to eat a few myself.

Tonight I am making bar-b-que chicken.  It's just chicken breasts, a few seasonings and bar-b-que sauce.  It smells so good baking away in the oven.  I could have picked a million recipes, but chicken in Sweet Baby Ray's sauce sounded amazing.  Hayden saw the chicken and called it steak, so he's thrilled to be having steak tonight!

This little sassy puppy is giving me a run for my money.  The kids were showering in our master bathroom and the shower doesn't have a door, so she just climbed into the shower with them.  I walked away for all of 2 seconds and she was in there fast!  She is all lab.  Daisy would never get herself wet on her own free will.  Lily was in the shower having a grand ole time.  The kids thought it was hilarious.  I'm glad she could make their shower experience more pleasant!

Andddddd I just got a call from Gary that his stomach is upset.  Looks like I'll be eating my chicken with the kids and watching Pretty Little Liars alone tonight.  I don't want to get the stomach bug again.  Hopefully it is just something he ate and not the bug.  I'm praying and crossing my fingers for him!