hooked on phonics + a menu

luke hasn't started real school yet. he has the fall birthday (and while i'm thinking about it, does it seem weird to anyone else that school starts in august and the birthday deadline is still september? shouldn't they move it back to july or something??) anyway, luke is, however, in preschool. and lately he wants to know how to spell things. in class on thursday, he drew his family and his gorilla from tarzan that he had unearthed the night before (Turk). and he included Turk in the drawing and even labeled him..."Grilu". come on, say it to yourself..."gril-u"...gorilla. and today he told me pooh was spelled P-U. well, that makes sense. and he showed me where he wrote his name, which is Luke Wallace Tucker. he knows how to spell luke and tucker, but we don't really spend a lot of time on middle names. he spelled it "Wolis". (and still thinks i spelled it wrong.) smarty pants. i'm proud of misspelled words. like any mama should, i think he's a genius!

and for anyone who is interested, here is our Menu Monday:
Sunday-veggie soup and corn bread
pm--pizza

Monday-chicken casserole (same as poppyseed chicken cass, only no seeds b/c i'm too cheap to buy them, sweet potatoes, butter beans

Tuesday-spaghetti and meatballs (which i have never done), salad, garlic bread

Wednesday-stuffed potatoes (or something else)

Thursday-chicken fajita "hobo"

Friday--hotdogs and fries

nothing exciting. but i will try to keep up with tasty tuesday and include a new recipe. tomorrow is our field trip day with luke's preschool class to tate pumpkin farms, so it will probably come late (unless i do it tonight...i know you are just absolutely riveted by my posts and will be sitting on the edge of your seats...are you laughing?? i'm laughing.)

Here's to you, crafty ladies!!

crafty ladies, and the ones who dream to be crafty, and to the ones of us who are, but are pining to be better, take a look at this!!

http://www.internetcafedevotions.com/2008/09/god-of-creativity.html

make something this weekend kids! this weekend i will be cleaning out mountains of clothes b/c by the end of next week, here in north alabama, the highs are gonna be in the LOW 70s. you heard me!! have i mentioned i love the fall. i'm also gonna get my fall decorations up and maybe tonight, i'll look for some scraps so i can "learn" myself how to applique.

and in the mean time, here is a new link for some super cute kiddos clothes:

http://www.thepattonpatch.com

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for my friends, the Tate's. They helped supply a ton of clothes for my boys. (Unfortunately, this winter season is the last of what we have from them. But between what we have and what they gave us, Sethy will be looking super-fly!)

I am thankful that new shows are starting to come on again. I have missed nightly dates with some of my faves and the faves that Micah and I share...that gives us a couple of late night dates on the weekend.

I am thankful for the inventor of the DVR. you are sheer genius and I'm greatful you give poor parents date nights (see above.)

I am thankful for my super ghetto-yet super yummy supper last night. It was Hamburger Helper (hey, i need an off night sometimes) Cheesy Enchilada. I add in a can of Mexicorn and a can of black beans and serve with tortilla chips. I could seriously eat the whole dang box myself!!

I am thankful for fall. It is the rock-star of all seasons and should come around at least twice a year. It looks like we may have more than 2-3 weeks of it this year and I could just sop it.

I am thankful that my hubs sees the importance of doing as many things with me when I have all of the kids as possible. He comes to every OB visit, then to every pediatrician appointment, and even to the menial target photos this weekend. (I normally am not good to have pics made outside of the first year, but I'm tired of people asking me if I have any professional pics of them. This is as professional as my pocketbook is gettin' folks.)

I am thankful that today is preschool day for both boys and I am going to sit home this morning and do NOTHING but flirt with my baby girl. (Have i mentioned how absolutely delicious she is??)

I am thankful that since it is officially fall, I can put up my fall decorations and really get into the spirit. I can also start looking up some fall recipes to entice yall for tasty tuesdays. (Dana, stay tuned!)

I am thankful that most people don't mind a little blog stalking and that we all do it! I mean, there are some seriously talented folks in this world and we could all benefit. Plus, you never know, you can visit cities upon cities and always have a friend to see!

birthdays- part 2

this past weekend was the birthday party. a few weeks ago i asked the boys what kind of party they wanted. (i always secretly want them to choose the same theme, even though until they get older, i'm sure this won't happen.) so i brought them to the computer and we start looking at party sites and luke immediately tells me he wants a pirate party. a what? how does he even know what a pirate is? and of course, seth sees the picture of mickey mouse clubhouse and since we had just watched it, that's what he wants. so i decide to look to see if there is some sort of pirate mickey stuff. well no. (however, i have a sneaking suspicion that if micah would take me on that disney cruise i want to go on, i could find something!) anyway, i keep asking over the next few days and offer a few suggestions as well (carnival, dinosaurs, etc.). and i even got them to agree to a few. and the last time i asked, luke screamed "Pirate Party!!" to which seth, in his usual self said "i want a pirate party too!!" so i just went with it, never offering anymore choices! so i went that weekend and starting buying up all kinds of party decoration and goody stuff. (and wouldn't you know, i don't have a single picture of them??? monica, email me some.) and then the hard part...trying to figure out what kind of cake or cupcakes we would have. i went my usual route and looked at what the local stores had to offer. everything they had was "Pirates of the Carribbean" and he's not in to that kind of pirate. (of course, he has never seen it, so i'm just guessing.) anyway, i scoured the internet looking for pirate party games, food, and cakes. i knew we were gonna have a treasure hunt, but i wasn't sure if i would just have pictures or if it was going to involve some kind of riddles...(and since no one can actually read, i went for a picture style-dora like map). and because so many of you are so crafty and creative, i elected NOT to share a picture of it b/c it was truly ghetto!! i guess i should take pride that the kids understood what the pictures were of. that means i can at least draw at a 5 year old level!! i took a brown paper bag, tore the edges and then burned them. then drew our back yard. basically the map was an obstacle course to get to the treasure, which i put inside a tupperware box so no one could see exactly where all the goodies were. so they did the treasure hunt to get to the pinata. inside the treasure

(which came from party city) was candy, necklaces, rings and gold coins. they filled their miniature treasure boxes (goodie boxes) with that, along with the other loot i put in it (eye patches, gold coins, pirate stickers, sea themed pin ball game and a plastic sea creature.)

the cake...well, i finally found what i thought i could do online. and then i remembered my friend lindsey made one a few months ago. she was brave and did what the recipe called for and actually stood that thing up. knowing that i have no cake decorating skill, i kept mine lying down. i had to improvise a little with the decoration on the actual cake. i got my star tip and piped around the bottom to make it look a little better and then came my learning experience. i had 3 kids with me and didn't have time to actually read anything grabbed the wrong icing and didn't notice it was cookie icing, which is much "runnier" (cause that's a word). i put the decoration on and the skull and cross bones and was generally happy with it. (can y'all tell it's a pirate hat?)

then when i came back to look at it a couple of hours later, i'll have you know that face had nearly slid completely off of the cake. so i scraped off the original decoration and ate it and re-iced the middle. then i grabbed up all 3 kids and went back to walmart for the correct icing. i came back and it was soooo much better. (if you look, you can see the skull and cross bones are better in this pic. trial and error i guess.)

the cake was chocolate with chocolate fudge icing and the cupcakes were yellow cake with chocolate fudge icing and i piped "Ls" and "Ss" on top.

all in all, it was a good day. we had no sun, so it wasn't hot (which it generally isn't at our party...love me some fall babies) and plenty of breeze and just a few friends (turns out all of our family minus micah's brother and SIL couldn't come.)

luke went all out in pirate gear for his pirate party. (he would have worn the pants, but they are kind of big, so i settled for the top and accessories. and i intentionally cut that picture off at the ankle b/c my child though black socks with his crocks was the only way to go. (in his defense, he had that on with the pirate pants and i just didn't make him change.)

i wonder if when he outgrows this pirate stage if i'll need to get his eyes checked from all the eye patch wearing...

it's tasty tuesday

well, this was not what was originally on the menu today, but it's what we are having. it was a long day with mother's morning out for luke and our house showing for the 2nd time in 3 days after a month long drought, which meant i just stayed out all morning b/c we live 20 minutes the opposite direction from school. i dropped luke off after making we were all ready and the house was all a snazz, and headed with seth and ally claire to the mall to the play area. (everyone should have one of those. it has spongy carpet and soft rubber toys that can be climbed on and jumped off of. after playing for an hour that included 2 trips to the family restroom (seriously, another must have!!), we picked micah up from work and went around the corner to bridge street for some lunch. we decided we would try connors steak house b/c they were supposed to have really good stuff for good prices at lunch. i wasn't all that impressed. but that was probably b/c i had to box mine right up b/c sister just doesn't feel the need to nap in public very well so i had to leave and walk her around...which meant seth wanted to come with me and use the potty for what would be his 4th visit since leaving the house 2 hours prior. (and he pottied 2 more times before we got home, giving him an average of every 30 minutes...seriously, he will go to every potty under the sun when we are out, but won't walk the 5 feet to his own potty half the time anymore.) so we didn't really get to eat lunch with daddy, but we did hit up some maggie moos for some super yum ice cream. (did i mention the 10 lbs i had gained back? i'm sure birthday parties and ice cream lunches do NOT contribute to it.) but the chocolate better batter was good and i didn't mind missing out on my cheese steak, which wasn't good reheated, so i tossed it. and chocolate better batter is just that...it tastes like chocolate cake batter...i die!!) sister screamed her head off all the way to get luke, then all the way home (total time in car was 30-40 minutes) and then i fed her a bottle and put her in the bed, where she is still sleeping. seth's nap was short and luke's was non-existant. early bed for everyone tonight!! (did i mention that seth came to our room last night with a bad dream about a ferris wheel?? he and luke are on a new "i'm scared" kick.)



all of that to say, you probably have this recipe, but we are having breakfast casserole tonight and this is my recipe!



Breakfast Casserole

1 tube refrigerated crescents, rolled out and seams pressed together

1 2/3 c frozen shredded hashbrowns

1/3 c cooked bacon pieces (i use the hormel kind in a bag--or whatever meat you want. sometimes i use diced ham and add bell peppers!)

2/3 c shredded cheese blend (whatever you like)

5 eggs, whisked (can use egg beaters in equal amount)

salt & pepper



press the cresents together in the bottom of a 13x9x2 pyrex dish. scatter the hashbrowns, then bacon, scrambled eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. bake at 350 until eggs are set and crescents have browned. serve with fruit. (you can also omit the hashbrowns from the casserole and serve them on the side!)

blogging on...

thanks to harriette, i am now going to blog about blogging. i'm never one to turn down a challenge!!

1. How long have you been blogging?
actually a couple of years. but i deleted my first blog due to a problem with difference of opinion and i'll leave it at that.

2. What are the good things blogging has brought to your life?
it has helped me get in touch with soooo many friends and keep up with ones that live close. it has encouraged me that we are all in this thing (mommyhood/life) together and no one gets out alive!!

3. What would you consider the pitfalls?
it is addictive. i check my blog/ere go checking my friends blogs several times a day. hey, my friends live in my computer!!

4. Tell us about your blog name. Ever think of changing it? If so, to what? Why?
The Tucker Times...b/c this is the life and times of the tuckers. why change it...it is, afterall my life!

5. Knowing what you know now, was starting a blog a good thing for you? Why or why not?
yes. but i wish i wouldn't have deleted the earlier one just because some people didn't think i should share my life or opinion. funny, those same people continue to read it now, but have become less opinionated...

6. How do you think blogging, bloggers, or the blogosphere has changed since you started?
no changes, just lots more people doing it
what happened to 7?

8. Ultimately, what would you like your blog to accomplish for you or others?
for me, it is my way to remember the little things that are said and done while my kids are little. it's also my way to reach out to other moms to see if they are going through the same thing or to let them know they are not alone. also, i just hope it shows my true personality and the fact that i covet to be an eternal child of the King and long for a home with Him.

9. Name something or a few things that bug you and expound. We want your unfettered opinion(s). Shouldn’t be blog related.
right now it's the fact that seth is being stubborn as a mule. he just is too lazy to go pee in the potty some days. he has been potty trained since at least march, and he just doesn't want to stop what he is doing. yesterday, we found him in his room, no underwear, wet carpet and he had...peed in a barrell that goes on a dump truck. there goes my theory of if they are naked, they won't pee on the floor. so...he has to earn underwear by going without any pants for 2 days. fortunately sister isn't old enough to be warped by seeing her brother naked all day.

10. Tell us about one of your best childhood memories.
anything that involves camp wiregrass. but another is my parents were still married. i had to memorize all of the books of the Bible before i could get my much coveted white leather zipper Bible with my name on it. and when i did it, we all went to the mall and we all got new Bibles.

11. Describe your perfect day.
if i am on a beach, nothing is ruining that day.

12. Do you have a hobby that you love?
sewing, blogging, cooking

13. Tell us the best and the worst thing about being you.
the best thing about being me is that i am completely big hearted. i genuinely WANT to do something for anyone i can. the worst thing is that sometimes i open my mouth before i know if i can actually do something, meaning just b/c i may want to, doesn't mean i will actually have time or money to follow through. but i ALWAYS ALWAYS try. i cannot stand it when i can't do what i had so hoped to do.

14. What’s the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?
to be honest, i cannot remember. it takes a LOT to embarrass me b/c i can typically just roll with it...
15. What blog related thing bugs you?
that i seem to have a lot of readers, and not a lot of commentors. i like feedback people. i am in need of validation lol!!!
16. Personal stuff:How old are you? 30
Married? Yes, to Micah, my college sweetheart. together for 11.5 years, married almost 8
Children? 3--Luke Wallace (almost 5), Seth Jackson (3), and Ally Claire (3.5 mos).
If so, homeschool, private, or public? well, right now, our church preschool. but i'm public all the way. you can go to school for free.
Favorite season? Fall. i love everything about it...football, the sound of the bands practicing, the cool air (but not cold)...fall is just delicious!
Favorite pass time? computer stuff, sewing, just hanging out with the family
17. Favorite color? green and yellow
18. Favorite movie? the notebook
19. Favorite song? i will never be able to narrow that down. music absolutely moves me. it is my personal form of worship
20. Mac or PC? PC
22. Dog or Cat? 2 dogs (Bosley and Abby)
23. Vanilla or Chocolate? Chocolate
24. Diet Coke, Sweet Tea or Evian? between those, sweet tea. otherwise, diet DP
25. Steak, Chicken or Shrimp? yes please...

and i won't tag anyone in particular b/c i don't like to make folks feel left out.

birthdays- part 1

my boys, luke and seth are almost 2 years apart. their birthdays are seperated by about 3 weeks with luke's being october 7, 2003 and seth's being september 13, 2005. they are best freinds and worst enemies. they could kill each other, and i'm sure would also kill for each other...when they know what that means...anywhoooo....

since seth's first birthday, the boys have shared a party. the first year we had a toy story party. for luke it was his absolute favorite movie. for me, who also loves the "toy stories", it was kind of symbolic. woody was the one and only and the favorite until something shiny and new came along. then he had to share the spotlight and affections of their owner. but luke was never jealous. he loved his brother and didn't mind sharing his party. last year they shared a party, but we had a split theme in spiderman and blue's clues. this year, our party was a pirate party. (pictures from that are in a blog to come.) however, since they share a party, i do let them have their own cake on their actual birthday (which is also the day they open their gifts from us.) this year, seth chose elmo...kind of out of the blue b/c he hasn't been watching elmo, but his most beloved "baby" is elmo. so i guess that is why on "his day", elmo and seth were kings. (side note...seth started preschool this year, but one day a week. luke goes 2 days. luke on tues and thurs and seth only on thurs. so when i had to take luke on the first tuesday back, i repeatedly had to tell seth "this isn't your day...thursday is your day." so when his birthday came, he kept asking me "is today my day?" and i said "yes, baby. today is all about you. this is your day!") so, all of that to get to these couple of cutie pie pics. pictures from the pirate party are to come, so stay tuned! this is my baby boy on "his day".


does anyone else's kids just eat the icing??

opening gifts, yet again in underwear...anyone noticing a theme??

calling all dothan girls

in light of a comment made on my last post, i am calling all dothan girls, present and past!!! what would you think of getting together if you are gonna be in town for thanksgiving?? i'm guessing that even if we don't live there anymore, most of us still have parents that do! now i'm choosing thanksgiving as a selfish personal preference b/c that is when we go down for the holidays (plus, most people get an extra day off!)

anyway, i just thought it might be a neat way to reconnect since so many of us have found each other again through the blog world. also, it would give some of us a chance to meet people we have been blog stalking didn't directly know back in the day!

so if you are gonna be in dothan during that time and are interested, email me (see the side) and maybe some folks can help me get a hen party together!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for Boomerang. you know, by the cartoon network. it can be a good babysitter distraction when you MUST get housework that you have put off for weeks done.

I am thankful that when people see you after you have a baby, they feel obligated to tell you you look good, even though you lost all your baby weight and put back on about 10 a few lbs in the last 3 months. people are sweet like that.

I am thankful that tomorrow is national "talk like a pirate day". or at least that's what my cousin told me. even so, in honor of our pirate party on saturday, i think i will have us talk like a pirate tomorrow to get ready. (i also need to crank out a treasure map during that time. hopefully i'll be inspired.)

I am thankful for complete strangers. I mention a lot of thursdays that i love my blog friends. i mean, can any woman have too many friends? (and i still say we need to have one great big blog girl get together one of these days!! hey--let's have a baby shower for tara!! that's a good excuse!)

I am thankful for takeout. I am eating it twice today and I don't care...well, I don't care too much...not enough for it to bother me.

I'm thankful I have fall babies. Their party always has the most PERFECT weather!! that way, we party outside and i don't have to clean my house like i would if strangers were coming (cause i AM OCD like that.)

and now it's been a few hours since i first sat down to be thankful and my brain is fried. i'm not even gonna proofread. just know i'm thankful today!

what is correct blog etiquette?

when someone leaves you a comment, and you want to respond to what they said, do you respond in your own comment section or comment on their last blog post? i see and do both. what should we be doing? does anyone know? it would be nice if it posted people's email addresses (or if i just had everyones) and that way, i could just email a response. anyway, until someone tells me what is acceptable, i may just do both.

tasty tuesday on wednesday

ok, so my last post was kind of deep and i only had 2 comments, so i'll move on. (booooooo to the lurkers who read and didn't want to comment. i'm sad.)



moving on...

Chicken Quiche

1 lb cooked shredded chicken (you can even use canned)

1 *9 inch pie crust (i use the frozen)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup mayo

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese blend

1 tbsp corn starch

1/3 diced white or yellow onion (i use onion powder sometimes, just a few shakes)

salt and pepper

mix milk and cornstarch together. whisk in mayo, eggs, salt and pepper until smooth. add in onion, chicken and cheese. pour into pie crust. (you can use 1 deep dish or this will make 2 regular if you need to make it go a little farther.) bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until golden brown and the center is set for a deep dish or about 30-35 minutes if you use the 2 regular pie shells. also, if you are using deep dish, you may want to cover your crust before or during cooking as this long of a time may cause them to burn a little bit.

so here is what i want to know

i am hoping that anyone who choses to visit me and read about our daily lives will comment to this post. i have been having an internal...struggle doesn't seem like the right word. maybe...i don't know...anyway. lately i have been asking myself how much i'm supposed to be sharing with my children in relation to God. (I know yall are screaming at me "fool!! everything!!) but please understand, that like authors i read and even some of my bloggy mommy friends seem to be including God into every aspect of raising their children. and i LONG to do that. but i think i'm not even sure what to do a lot of times. by that, i mean, we pray with them at "required" praying times (ya know, before supper and at bedtime) and we sing songs and we go to church and work on memory verses...but i get the feeling that isn't enough. i feel like i could do so much more to help them to become who they are meant to be. but the problem is that i don't think i ever got more than what was listed above. i don't remember ever actually talking about God, our relationship with Him or having had Biblical instruction used along side discipline. Obviously i got the "this is right/this is wrong", but not actually "the Bible says...". i knew how we lived as a family and what we believed in, but i feel like i got more from our church and camp than i did at the knees of my parents. and i'm not talking bad about them, b/c without them, i certainly wouldn't be who i am and i would have never met my hubs--both of us were always very picky and it was of extreme importance to us to marry within our own faith--and my children wouldn't know what they do at the tender ages of almost 5 & 3. (i feel like i'm not making any sense at ALL!!) *just a note, just because i don't remember it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. i don't remember a lot of things before i was about 7.* we were at church everytime the doors were open (thanks parents), i was extremely involved in our youth group and if camp was going on and i could be there, then honey, the money must be paid b/c i was going!! (again, thanks parents. i think my personal best was 4 weeks one summer...) anyway, all that to say, or to ask, what are you doing to ensure that your "safe" children of God become saved children of God? we only have them for such a short time and i want to know that i'm doing everything i can before turning them over to someone else, ya know?? how do you discipline your kids using God's instruction or do you?

feel free to comment or blog on your own. i'll be reading.

happy birthday seth jackson!!

Seth is 3!!!

newborn seth

seth is one

seth is two

seth is 3

my how you have grown baby boy!! (did anyone else notice that he loves being in his "underoos"?)

sooooo big!!

the last couple of days, ally claire has done so much better with her naps. i am seriously praising the Lord on that one. i also noticed that she would end up in the very top corner of her crib when she would wake up from naps. she is a belly sleeper, so i wasn't sure how she was getting up there. but it looked like she was pushing with her toes. and today, when i got her up from her nap, the child was on her back! she rolled over!!! so big. plus, i painted her toenails yesterday b/c i just couldn't help myself!

Thankful thursday

today, i am going to make thankful thursday all about products that make my life soooo much easier. some things i can't live without. (i was going to include pictures, but my internet keeps going in and out tonight, so it will have to wait!!)

1. sound machine--i discovered the need for white noise while i was in college. when i went home the first Christmas break it took me a few nights to realize why i couldn't sleep...i couldn't hear the constant whir of the microfridge and air conditioner. a fan helped. when my kids were babies, i got them use to the sound...i can hear theirs over the baby monitors.

2. tea maker--i'm not good at making tea on the stove, but turn me loose with a tea maker by mr. coffee...and i make the bestest sweet tea outside of an alabama mexican restaurant. many folks would agree.

3. shout--i became a lover of the shout laundry remover when luke was a baby. he had the most terrible reflux. a little shout gets even sweet potatoes out of clothes.

4. a microwavable bowl--this particular one is by the pampered chef. this is how i make "mama's spaghetti" in a jiffy for my little picky eater. and i also cook my corn on the cob in it (along with other things).

5. baby wipes--i have no idea how many of these things i go through a day. between ally claire and two messy boys, we go through plenty. i've also been known to snatch one and dust with it.

6. clorox wipes--again, with 2 messy boys, and now that i'm a germaphobe b/c of ally claire, i am a wiping machine. that should be my new occupation...professional wiper. i swear i am always wiping something...butts, noses, tables, fingers...

7. toaster oven--between that and the microwave, i am really surprised i use my real oven at all. (but i do, basically every day!) but it is the perfect size to cook 1/2 of a totinos pizza for a picky little man. and talk about cranking out a rockin grilled cheese...

8. a sam's card--we go through 3 gallons of milk a week. we go through a loaf of bread a week. i buy frozen chicken fingers, cereal and snacks there. i don't even want to know what my grocery bill is gonna be when these people are teenagers. i will have to go back to working full time by then i can just bet.

9. flip flops--obviously the reason they enhance my life are self explanitory. and i am in mourning as we are closing in on the end of flip flop season.

10. micah tucker--he makes my life muuuuuuuuch easier. and much more enjoyable. he is a big helper and i am super proud to be his. both of our lawn mowers quit about 2 weeks ago. well, we borrowed our neighbor's push mower, which we then offered to buy since she is moving and won't need it. (our push one died first.) then, when the riding mower bit the dust, my hubs mowed our entire yard...with the push mower. did i mention we have 3/4 of an acre?? yeah.

3 months already!!

i took better pics than i thought, so i'll just load you up with ally claire goodness. yall, i just love her. i love her to a million pieces. she was looking me dead in the eyes yesterday while we were smiling and cooing and i just got all weepy. she had a rough start, but she is mine all mine and definitely every little thing i prayed for.

don't you just want to eat her???

Tasty Tuesday

My new favorite treat...



1-6oz Yoplait Light Key Lime Pie Yogurt
Cool Whip Lite
Teddy Grahams or Mini Nilla Wafers

I have a small trifle dish/parfait dish. So cute and I love it! In the bottom of a dish put a dab of cool whip. Next put 4-5 of the grahams or wafers. Next put 1/2 of the yogurt. repeat all layers one more time and end with one last dollup of cool whip. (and i am a complete snob when it comes to name brand on whip cream. everything else breaks down too easily and we use cool whip on a daily basis at our house.)


i'll try to get back to posting menus and recipes b/c we all get in ruts. click here for a list of menus i made up earlier this year. if you are interested in a recipe, just email me and i'll get it to you that way quicker than listing it here. (btuckerrn@att.net) if you don't already get it, subscribe to the kraft food & family magazine. their fall issue has some good looking and easy recipes in it that i'm gonna try. also, ACs "aunt harriette" has a recipe blog. the crockpot chicken and dressing is to die for!! (she's only ACs aunt b/c she was her NICU nurse, even though i know she'd claim the boys as well!!)

Menu Monday

so i actually make out my menu on fridays b/c i grocery shop on saturday. and this is what is left of our menu from friday before last (b/c i needed to stretch what i bought last time over 2 weeks!)

Sunday- grilled chicken with roast style potatoes and carrots, yeast rolls
PM--grilled hot dogs

Monday-sweet and sour meat balls with peppers and onions over rice, green salad and mandarin oranges

tuesday--chicken quiche, mashed potatoes, english peas

wednesday--homemade veggie/beef soup, corn muffins

thursday--BBQ pork loin, baked beans, corn on cob, salad

friday--some kind of chicken...or i'll save the chicken for saturday and choose friday as our "out to eat" night.

out to eat doesn't necessarily mean load us all up and go to a restaurant like it did 3 mere months ago. sometimes it's just ordering pizza. but it means i don't have to do dishes or bother with prep. i usually have 1-2 meals a week that we "eat out". always one. a girl needs a break!!

tomorrow, i will let you know how tonight's meal goes. it is new for us. also on tasty tuesday, a picture along with ingredients for my current favorite treat/dessert!!

also, i have a question...how often do you grocery shop? do you use coupons? do you just use what you have or do you scour the papers and go to multiple stores?

i can be crafty!!

a few new pics

thankful thursday

i hate that i have let my reading public down the last couple of weeks with what a few feel is a favorite from my blog. so here we go...thankful thrusday at 9:30pm...in an allergy induced fog.



1. I'm thankful that i have friends that are smarter than me who can tell me how to take better pictures with my point and shoot camera. dana, i still think you should consider some professional things in the future. (and who knew you could also learn things from your owner's manual. i actually have one of the rockinest "point and shoot" cameras. It's a kodak easyshare Z710, if you were wondering.)


2. I'm thankful that both boys are in preschool on thursdays. i will get to have alone time with ally claire as a baby just like i got to do with both boys.




3. i'm thankful that ally claire has decided she will stick with sleeping through the night. she just doesn't realize now how much more i love her than i did a month ago!!


4. i'm thankful that i will be able to donate blood for the first time in 5 years this saturday. i'm all about donating whatever you can, and now that i'm done with babies, i can do it again. now, my next goal is to get on that bone marrow donor list.


5. I'm thankful that i have a rockin hubby who will wash bottles and dishes at the end of a long day. he is super neato and i love him to pieces. he's my best good friend.


6. I'm thankful that seth had a great first day of preschool. i was seriously worried due to the hitting and back talking issues that we have at home. but he had no problems and they are all super impressed with his mad pottying skills. (because of his fall birthday, he is about to turn 3 and is in the 2 year old class where being potty trained isn't required yet.)




7. I'm thankful that i took the time today to really play with my boys. we were outside and i taught them the beauty of just running around the yard kicking a ball...and the benefit of just running. micah (my afore mentioned best good friend) laughed at me "racing" with the boys. they loved it so that's all that matters.




8. I'm thankful that monica is going to come see us in a couple of weekends. i miss her.


9. I'm thankful that Palin came out and kicked some democratic tail last night. i'm impressed. i'm also thankful that alabama came out and kicked some tail. ROLL TIDE!!!




10. I'm thankful that tomorrow is friday. I love the weekend!!