Cupcakes ...... for Dinner!

Really,  I served my kids cupcakes for dinner and you should to!   Okay, so before you think what I know you are thinking...."what a terrible mom.... cupcakes..... dinner......bad..." and so on and so forth, let me explain.   Yes, we had cupcakes for dinner but they weren't made of cake.  They were made of ...... are you ready?.......wait for it.....................Meatloaf!  Yep, meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting!  Weird?  Yes.  Crazy?  Maybe.  But they were a hit.  They devoured them.  They ate their whole dinner and then some.  I didn't have to beg, argue or bribe.  I got to sit and eat a nice quiet dinner with my children and they were happy.  It's all in the presentation! My kids have always liked meatloaf but they loved the cupcakes.  I will never make meat...loaf again.  

If you are interested in the recipe here ya go (although I wouldn't call it a recipe since there's not much to it)!

• Preheat oven to 350*
• Mix up your meatloaf as you normally would.
• Place meat mixture in greased muffin tins, filling each to the top, and bake until brown and shrunken away from the sides, about 20-25 minutes. 
  
• Remove from oven and place on plate
• Spoon a generous amount of mashed potatoes on top of cupcake and spread.
• Garnish with whatever you choose. (chives, paprika, oregano, etc.)

Bon Appétit

I've got a TIGER on my hands!!!

I have to say, I am beyond proud of Ethan!  Over the weekend he earned his Tiger Badge, which for those that aren't familiar with the world of Scouting is a huge deal for a first year Cub Scout.  He had to complete over 15 "achievements" and did some electives along the way.  We did lots of this with the Den but Ethan did quite a bit on his own and with me here at home.  Since Scouts began in September we have been able to have several great "go & see it" trips to places like the Boy Scout Museum, the Police Station, a local Newspaper, and the Sky Theater at the University of North Texas where we were able to look a lots of stars and planets through ginormous telescopes.  All of this hard work led up to Saturday night; the biggest night of the year for Scouting.  The Blue and Gold Banquet.  This is a birthday party to celebrate Scouting where we have a nice dinner, Leaders are presented with awards, Graduation of the older boys from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, Goals for the remainder of the year and individual achievements .  The boys normally get their achievements (all of the things they have to complete in order to earn a badge) for the month recognized at the monthly Pack meeting but to get a Badge at Banquet is a big deal.  One reason being, there are A LOT of people there to celebrate with you, including the head Scout Masters, the Directors of Scouting for the area, all of the other Dens in the Pack and everyone's family.  The second reason is because Blue and Gold is midway through the year and to have already earned your badge for that year by Banquet is quite an accomplishment.  Ethan was one of only 2 boys in his Den to accomplish this.  So needless to say I was SUPER proud of my TIGER SCOUT!  We had a blast.  He has made some great friends and I can't wait to see what he does next!

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Here we are shortly after we arrived acting silly waiting for the rest of our Den to get there!

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This is part of Ethan's Den waiting to receive their beads for the electives they did this month.

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Ethan getting his beads. 

 

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Unfortuately, I didn't get any pictures of Ethan receiving his Tiger Badge because I had to go up with him so he could present me with a pin.  I am hoping that one of the other parents got a picture though.  

Here is John and Ethan just after they got their Tiger.  Notice the paint on their cheek.  The Scout Master painted this on as they got their badge.  The blue stripe stands for truth, loyalty, and the sky above. And the yellow stripe is for sunlight along the Wolf Trail (the level above Tigers). 

 

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Here are all of the achievements Ethan earned on Saturday.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

The Pediatric Urgent Care Center did not recognize Andrew's name when I called them Thursday night after his head had a run in with the corner of the coffee table.   All was well, no need for stitches... this time.

We have not made 4.... yes FOUR trips and made 2 calls to that Urgent Care Center in the last month!

Andrew has not spent most of the last week NAKED because he will not keep clothes on.  I have not spent a great deal of time and been through a cabinet full of towels cleaning up pee off of nearly every surface he could manage to "reach".  I do not laugh every time I am attempting to discipline him because really it is not funny!

I did not realize while in the shower rinsing my hair the other day that I had already showered that morning.  Wow, that would be scary to forget that I had just showered a mere hour or 2 before! 

I am getting enough sleep!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Enquiring minds want to know...

Well the time has come to answer those burning questions! 

* No, I do not always have my camera around my neck, however, I do keep it on the entry way table (my house is small so that's pretty much within arms reach no matter where I am), batteries charged ready to go should the occasion arise (which seems to be pretty frequently lately).

*Yes, toilet issues AGAIN!  And, NO it is not still clogged.  HOORAY!!  Kris broke down yesterday and bought a toilet unclogger thingy (Amanda says it's called an auger so we'll go with that). He twirled it down the toilet.... really far...... got it stuck...... really stuck......  pulled it so hard I thought the toilet was going to break in half.... finally after several minutes of pulling there it was - a BRAND NEW(really, it was one we had JUST bought) shiny green PACIFIER, and a Q-tip.  No,  this is not the first pacifier that has toured the toilet in our house and I am fairly certain it wont be the last.  But next time we'll be prepared with our brand new auger!

So, there you have it. 

I'm off to throw the lasagna in the oven!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Here are some things that I did not do this week:

I do not have this nagging feeling that I am not finished having children. And, I definitely do not want another daughter because the one that I have is more than I can handle most of the time! Three IS my limit!!

I do not LOVE it when my adorable curly headed nieces come over to play. This does not allow me to get my baby girl fix!

I am not addicted to Happy Hour at Sonic. I do not go EVERY DAY on the way to pick Hannah and Ethan up from school! Even if I did go every day it's not like I would be disappointed if I couldn't go one day. I do not NEED caffeine!





This weekend I was not so determined to not have to call a plumber to retrieve whatever it is that Andrew flushed that I stuck my gloveless hand as far down the toilet as I could get it in hopes of reaching what I believe to be ANOTHER pacifier. Andrew has not ever flushed anything down the toilet before this.

The toilet is not still clogged!!

I did not stay in my pajamas nearly every day last week. Even if I could have done that I would not want to. And certainly, if I had gone to the effort of showering I would not just put on more pajamas rather than putting on CLOTHES like most people do each morning!


I did not have to run half way down the block chasing Andrew after he got the screen door open and bolted. I was NOT in my pajamas and the neighbor was not outside!!







What are some things that you did not do this week???

Random Randomness!!

Wow! Long time, no blog. I would like to report that I have been so busy that I just haven't had time to blog but in reality I have been too lazy not a lot has been going on around here that I thought that anyone would find remotely interesting! All three kids made it through a whole week without so much as a sniffle. That is quite an accomplishment, especially at this time of year! I however contracted a nasty stomach virus from somewhere. 24 hours of pure Hell..... I am serious. At one point I remember telling Kris that I just wanted to die and begging him to make it stop. By about the 13th hour I decided to make things easier on myself and set up camp on the bathroom floor! Luckily no one else decided to join the club and I was good as new by the next morning!

On Tuesday, Emma came to play while Sarah took Izzie to the doctor.  She and Andrew had great fun playing with Little People and watching Dora. I have to admit it was weird having just one of the girls though. It was quiet... too quiet! It was almost like Emma and Andrew didn't quite know what to do without Izzie. They just stood around until I coerced them into Andrew's room where they finally settled on a Noah's Ark toy. Although Izzie is the youngest of the three, she is much more outgoing than Emma and rarely takes any crap from Andrew. She is never afraid to get the party started and dig into the toys! When they are all three here together there is constant chatter, laughter, messes and silliness! Pure Bliss!





On Wednesday afternoon upon returning home from picking Hannah and Ethan up from school I was greeted at the door by Kris's mom. She had come straight from work to spend the afternoon with us then watched the kids for the evening so Kris and I could go out on a "date".....ALONE! It was so needed and much appreciated! We went to Uncle Julio's for dinner. It was yummy! I had a peach margarita and chicken enchiladas. After that we made a quick trip over to the Shops at Willow Bend and then on to Baskin Robbins for dessert. We were home before 9pm and Hannah and Ethan were waiting in their beds to be tucked in and Andrew was chompin' at the bit for some Mommy time!



Friday was kind of a yucky day. It would have marked Brendan's and my 10 year wedding anniversary. Yes, there have been several anniversaries pass since he died but this one was especially hard and I'm not sure why. Even though life has gone on it still, in may ways, seems like it happened yesterday. 5 years later and I still have panic attacks, flashbacks and even regret. I regret that my children will never know what an amazing man their Dad was. His silliness, his sincerity, his compassion, his loyalty to his family. His love of loud music, washing his truck, staying up late, sleeping in, reeses peanut butter cups and red vines. I regret that there wasn't more time to prepare ourselves for what was to come. I regret that we didn't get to say all that we wanted to say to one another. I regret that Hannah and Ethan didn't get the chance to see him just one more time. Everyone always says that it will get "easier" with time, which I guess in some ways is true. But as time passes some things become harder. Memories begin to fade. Things that I desperately don't want to forget are becoming harder to remember. The ridiculous lyrics he would make up to a song to replace the real ones, his silly nicknames for the kids, his temper, the sound of his voice. I am still just sad. Sometimes I wonder if someone can really ever get over something like this and be truly happy again. While I am so thankful for the new blessings in my life sometimes I just feel like I am living someone else's life and that is hard. I want to feel like me again.






Well Saturday has now turned into Sunday. Time to go prepare for the week ahead and hopefully enjoy a quiet afternoon. Maybe I'll even prepare a Not Me! Monday post....wait for it.....

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Here are some things that I did not do this week:

I did not catch Andrew standing on the kitchen counter taking his own temperature. And, I most certainly did not stop to take a picture of him up there rather than getting him down to safety! That would probably be considered irresponsible parenting!

I did not sit back and curiously watch Hannah cut the heads off of people in magazines as I was helping Ethan with a Cub Scout project. I also did not have to ask her to repeat herself when I heard her say to the people in the magazine "if I know you, I'm cuttin' your head off!"

I then did not nervously wonder what in the heck she was thinking about when she then glued "the heads" to a poster board remnant and asked if she could hang it by her bed!!?? HUH? Then, I surely did not ask her if she would feel weird about "the heads" watching her sleep!!

I did not get a little disappointed when I got in my car, after Kris was nice enough to take it to the car wash, and realized that he didn't have them put air freshener in it. It did not bother me at all because that is not my favorite part of having a clean car or anything! I do not like getting into a freshly washed and vacuumed car and having it smell like a new car, or warm apple pie, or clean cotton sheets, or yummy vanilla. I really just prefer to get into my clean car and still be able to smell stale chicken nuggets, dirty feet and poopy diapers!

While Andrew was sick earlier in the week and couldn't have milk I did not allow him to drink nearly a pitcher full of sweet tea just to attempt to keep him hydrated. He did not tell me "no" when I offered him water or juice and he didn't keep dragging me to the fridge for more tea. We all know that caffeine and toddlers is a No-No!!!

So, what are some things that you did not do this week?