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a strange little shopping trip

After our walk, we stopped at the store to pick up some refried beans. And left with these things...

In my ongoing struggle to get my dog to actually eat, I bought some bacon flavored gravy. Yes I did. I also gave in and bought him some dry food, even though the protein content is three times what the vet recommended. The dog is going to die if he doesn't eat, and I can't keep cooking him dinner every day. It's expensive and time consuming. So bacon gravy it is. He's actually eating the dry stuff without it. Silly dog doesn't know that many dogs would be excited for the wet stuff he's been eating every day.

Dan was on a quest to find this triple decker Oreos this weekend. One layer is chocolate and the other is regular Oreo filling. I ate the Halloween Oreos I'd bought the day before. I don't like chocolate in my Oreo. Strange colors are OK, though.

I realized in my prior shopping experiences this weekend, I'd forgotten to stock up on ice cream. Apparently we have some vanilla from my husband's employer, but I knew I was going to need some serious chocolate. This fit the bill. I love chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips. 

Seriously, who wouldn't? 

The cashier looked at us a little funny when we checked out. Dog food, oreos, refried beans, and ice cream. What's strange about that? I make that casserole all the time.

so we went on a walk

Sunday morning Mykiah wanted to go to the Nature Center. And so did everyone else. We piled in the van, drove to the Nature Center and did the longest route they have there (about 1.5 miles, I think). We really like the nature center. You're surrounded by trees and can see pretty just about anywhere you go. 

Too bad you can hear the highway on the other side. 

Still, we like to pretend that we're out there alone and there are deer frolicking everywhere.

It's possible...

Just not probable. With the highway so close, not the safest place for deer.

Here's the girls at my favorite spot in the whole place. (Note: we are not dressed for portraits. They're dressed for exercise.)

And a final photo taken just before we left. Brady and Ches were crashing around in the woods looking for a short cut, so I took this...

Happy. Wish it would be Sunday morning forever and ever...

our new dinnerware

So we have some melamine dinnerware with Mickey Mouse on it that we bought back when we still had a Disney store here in town... which was a long time ago. It's showing its age, so Dan suggested we buy some new for our anniversary. 

That was a month ago and we really haven't seen anything we liked in the stores. We like the melamine (less breakage) and I wanted fun and funky. Hey, if we're tossing out the Mickey plates, it needs to be worthy.

We found these during our travels on Saturday and I knew they were perfect.

Well, it's perfect for me at least. I love the whole typography aspect. We had some fun during dinner Saturday night looking for all the LOST numbers. We may be missing one, but most of them are in there. Coincidence... or a sign from the universe?

Definitely had to get these to match...

I bought bowls, too. That night when we were doing dinner I asked Mykiah to grab me a plate for the bread. We already had all 5 of this set out (we only bought 5... should have gone for 6). Mykiah flipped out because she cannot handle when all the dinnerware doesn't match. 

Brady and I love to mess with her. 

And now we have one more set to use. How fun!

a typical Saturday morning

OK, not so typical.

I woke up at 5 am. I usually do wake up somewhere between 5-5:30 during the week. So waking up at 5 on Saturday... annoying, but not unusual.

By 9:30 or so, we were on our way to the Nifty Nut House. It's an icon in Wichita, and the girls love it. The rest of us had never been, so we had to check it out.

We spent about $20 there. Kiah got a nut based snack mix. Dan bought dark chocolate covered almonds. I got mini gummy bears (serious weakness for me... can't stand the regular size bears, but minis....) and some skulls and bones candy. Ches got a bag and did a mix and match thing. Brady picked up some roasted wheat nuts and some taffy. 

Next stop was a grocery store. Dan and I have a slight addiction to Vitamin Water. I go through phases of being addicted to caffeine and right now, my allergies are in full force and caffeine and carbonation are not my friend. The word of every day is hydrate. I get tired of ice water all day, so I love to grab a Vitamin Water.

This particular store, while not conveniently located for us, will run a sale on Vitamin Water about once a month. Buy 10 at $1/each and get $5 off, making the Vitamin Water only 50 cents each.

We got a few.

I made Ches pose with our receipt because it was huge. We also managed to get Easy Mac for 50 cents each... a staple at our house with a vegetarian now living here (well, he's always lived here, he just became an official vegetarian a few weeks ago). 

Last stop was lunch. This place wasn't nearly as good as it usually is (and it's never been my favorite but Dan loves it). It's really not a great choice with a veggie eater in the family either. 

Not sure if we'll go back. Just disappointing. But on our way home, we stopped and bought Bridesmaids. That turned it all around. Like, like, like.

So there's a typical Dan's Saturday off around here. Love lazy Saturdays!

Italian Enchiladas (aka Baked Manicotti)

Saturday, after a long day of running around and watching Bridesmaids, I made a new recipe for us. My men called it "Italian Enchiladas."

I call it manicotti.

I discovered the recipe following a link on Pinterest. The original recipe is here.

Here's my version:

Baked Manicotti

1 pkg egg roll wrappers (Found in the produce section in most stores. I found them next to the packaged salads.)

1 container ricotta cheese

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

1 egg

Italian seasoning

Garlic

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour about 1 1/2 cups sauce in the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan.

Mix the cheeses, egg and seasonings. Using approximately 1/2 cup of filling, spread 3/4 of the way across the egg roll wrapper.

Roll up from the cheese side first, then place seam side down in pan. Continue until you have all the wrappers used. We had to use two pans to do this.

This is about the time they earned the nickname Italian Enchiladas. They do look like enchiladas. At this point, pour some more sauce over the top (being sure to cover all the wrapper) and sprinkle a little mozzarella over the top. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. 

 

Let cool (we let ours cool just long enough to put some garlic bread in hte oven to warm). Serve with garlic bread... and if you remember, a side salad would be yummy. I forget.

I didn't even tell Dan I'd used egg roll wrappers until he'd eaten his first manicotti. It tastes delicious, even better than my previous attempts at "real" manicotti, and it's so much easier than trying to stuff the cheese into the tubes. Definite thumbs up from me, Dan, Brady and Ches. Mykiah gave me an "it's fine." To be fair, she doesn't really like cheese, so this was a bit much for her. She did eat it, though, which shows how good it really is.

Is your head just spinning from the whole egg roll wrapper as pasta idea? Mine is! Thinking of new uses already...

happy friday

Go out and enjoy your day. 

My plans: teach, home, food, sleep.

Sleep.

Sleep. 

Sleep.

Source: google.com via Eleanor (Ellie) on Pinterest

 

I'm suffering from severe lack of sleep this week. Not that I didn't get enough... I got eight hours. It just wasn't enough, you know? Two long days of working, season premieres, and a mind unable to shut down. I need to sleep for a good day. Maybe then I'll function. Have a blessed weekend. I'll be in my cozy bed...

 

Source: cubiclerefugee.tumblr.com via Jenna on Pinterest

 

my favorites

Many, many years ago, we had family portraits taken. Let's see.. after Olivia (who is 9) but before Emery (who is 5). Anyway, one of the shots was of all the grandkids laying on the floor with their heads together. I decided it would be really cool to recreate that.

And this is what I got...

Not quite what I pictured. It was cloudy, but everyone had issues with looking up due to the brightness.

So not a favorite. 

I do have two favorites, however. 

Notice how Brady is always the one getting the attention. That's what happens when you're the only boy with a gaggle of girls. 

Love that boy. Love the gaggle. They make my heart happy.

more black and whites

I took some individual shots of each member of the next generation.

I'm proudest of this one of my son. If you'll look at most of the group shots, he's in them, but giving me this "I'd rather be anywhere than here" look. This one... is him. Right now.

The hair is seriously driving me crazy. But that's another blog post.

Chesney is such a tomboy. She climbed a tree. And Sunday, she had the best rim shot that the basketball clinic coach had seen all day. I'm not sure what to do with my sports-loving, tomboy girl. 

Aren't my sister's girl gorgeous? And so happy. Love them.

about that watermelon...

One of the things we did this weekend was take our kids out for a photo shoot. I wanted a watermelon-ish theme. I had a vision. Didn't quite get there. I'm out of practice. 

and some more sans watermelon

A few more tomorrow...

some random photos from this weekend

On Saturday, we drove up to visit my sister and my parents. There were garage sales going on (where I scored a Buzz costume for $2. My students are going to freak!) and much laughter was enjoyed. 

Especially when my sister found this book for Brady...

To be fair, I had bought my niece a Jesus nightlight earlier in the day. We were both pretty awesome at finding the perfect gift for each other's children.

On the way home, we stopped and picked up our favorite take and bake pizza. Mykiah loved hers so much that she wanted me to take a picture:

That's Mykiah's half with the black olives. Dan almost vomited just looking at this pizza. He really hates everything on this pizza. We had the Bacon Bacon Bacon (Canadian, crispy and pepper), no onions, add ground beef. You want to talk delicious...

Mykiah has been on a watermelon kick lately. I've never developed a taste for watermelon. Just too much work to try to eat the watermelon and avoid seeds. Give me a good cookie where every bite is safe. 

I also managed to read "New York to Dallas" this weekend. If you're a JD Robb fan, you must read this book. I got seriously sucked in and read the whole thing on Sunday. I had to run 4 sets of limo service for the girls that afternoon and I was so addicted that the Kindle went in the van with me. Best book in the series.

Oh, and that watermelon... it will return...