That's It...I'm Calling Grandma!!

Sshhhh....Don't Tell On Me!

A few weeks ago, I cleaned out my freezers and put everything in the smaller one upstairs (so I can restock the deep freezer downstairs). I found some deer meat that I forgot I had in there. In an effort to use things up, I decided to use the ground venison to make sloppy joe sandwiches (in this house that means Manwich). I wasn't sure if the kids would eat it if I told them it was deer meat, so I lied and said it was hamburger. And they gobbled it right up without noticing a difference LOL! Bad mommy for lying! Good mommy for getting them to try something new! Don't tell the kids!

MySpace

I'm getting ready to delete my MySpace page. I hardly ever get on there anymore, I'm addicted to FaceBook. I do like to get on MySpace once in a while to catch up with some old high school friends that aren't on FaceBook yet, but since I've been decreasing my time on line, I noticed that I just don't get on MySpace as much as I used to. So, I decided to transfer some of my favorite things to my blogs and FaceBook. And if you are my friend on MySpace and notice you are missing a friend on your list, come find me on FaceBook and I'll gladly accept you as a friend on there.

Oh, and check out my slideshow at the bottom of this blog. It's one of the things that I wanted to keep from MySpace, because I love all those old photos. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed watching it!

Last Night's Dinner

Cabbage Rolls (aka Pigs in the Blanket)

Boil the cabbage leaves for about 10 minutes

For the meat mixture: take 2 lbs of ground beef, about a cup of rice, about a third of a cup of onion chopped up, some parsely and oregano sprinkled in, a dash or two of salt, pepper and garlic powder and 2 eggs and mix it all up. Ooh, forgot add a splash of worcestershire sauce in there too

Form meat into palm sized or smaller balls and roll up in the cabbage leaves. Place in a casserole dish and pour a can of tomato sauce, use the can to fill up with water and pour the water on top too. Bake for about an hour or so (usually by the time the mashed potatoes are done, the rolls are done too).

Not sure if I posted my recipe before or not, so there you have it.

Ooohhh Aaahhh

Lucky Charms

Nicholas told me today, that the marshmallows are smaller than they used to be. I looked and they are actually smaller than they used to be. What gives? I wonder why they did that and if they will still be magically delicious with smaller charms. It didn't really slow the kids down from devouring them this morning anyway, so I guess not.

Cool!

Nicholas (7 yrs old): Mom, how old were you when you married Dad?

Me: 20

Nicholas: How old was dad when he married you?

Me: 24

Nicholas: Dad's 4 years older than you huh?

Me: Yep

Nicholas: Cool

Takin' the Plunge

I switched my weight loss blog back to public again. Now, anyone can read it. No more hiding behind private doors anymore....Take it or leave it - good, the bad and the ugly. The link is on the sidebar.

Locks of Love

Sarah got her hair cut today. She wanted to donate her hair to the Locks of Love program. You have to have at least 10 inches to donate and Sarah had enough to get her hair cut to just above her shoulders. She looks adorable with her new hair cut and I think she feels pretty good about what she did as well.
Before:

There it goes....





New shorter length

She said "I think another little girl without hair will feel better if she has mine."

I'm very proud of her. She is an awesome, super duper kid! I think I'll keep her!

After: Pretty darn cute (if you ask me)!

Sarah's Super Sleuthing

This summer, the big boys (Anthony and Zachary) have started mowing grass for our elderly neighbor, who recently lost her husband. Anthony has been cutting grass for our family for years and this year our neighbor offered to pay Anthony to do her grass too.

Rich talked it over with Anthony and told him that he didn't want him to accept any money from her. Growing up with a single mom (his dad died when he was 9), he decided years ago that as a service to God he wouldn't take money from widows or orphans. That he would do things to help them instead. Rich explained this to Anthony, who got a little disappointed at first, until Rich told him he would pay him for the work he did for Mrs. Smith.

Once a week, Anthony and Zachary cut our grass and then head over to Mrs. Smith's to do hers. And every week, Mrs. Smith tries to give the boys money. They politely tell her to keep it and head back home. On allowance day Rich hands out extra to the two boys for their hard work. It's a system that's been working out so far this summer.

It makes me proud that the boys are turning down her money because they are learning that we are to help our elderly folks - I think Grandma Juliani is smiling down from heaven as she watches over her boys as well. How many kids wouldn't be tempted to take her money and then turn around and take the extra allowance money too?

At any rate, I asked Sarah to sneak a few pics of the boys hard at work. And she literally took the "sneak" word to heart.....here are the pictures she snapped from her hiding place. Do you think they saw her?!