Comfort Food

Spaghetti Pie, this is comfort to my very soul. My mom made this for us when I was a child and now I make it for my family. Some people refer to it as Poor Man's Lasagna, but I don't think this is fair. It makes it sound cheap and not-as-good as the real thing. But to me, this is the real thing, true comfort food. After my first 2 babies were born my mom came to Tennessee to help us out and she would make this for dinner and then leave a couple in my freezer for a "I'm pulling my hair out" kind of day. My kids also love it, it's the one meal I'm assured they will eat every time. I also love it because it makes great baby food. Put some in my Cuisinart and voila, baby food for a week.
I just finished making dinner and guess what we'll be having?.....Spaghetti Pie (I really had you stumped didn't I?) Here's the recipe my mom used and now I claim. It's the only thing I make that I don't have to look at the recipe for anymore (I'm not a very experienced cook, but that's a story for another day).

1 lb spaghetti noodles
1 lb ground beef
onion, chopped
jar spaghetti sauce
egg
1 c parmesan cheese
24 oz (large tub) cottage cheese
Motzerella cheese

Brown the ground beef with chopped onion. Add spaghetti sauce, let simmer. Boil noodles until tender. Drain noodles and let cool just a bit. Add egg and parmesan cheese to the noodles and mix well. In a 9x13 pan place noodles, spread cottage cheese on top, then sauce mixture. Sprinkle motz cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until bubbly around edges.

Add a salad (or not) and bread and you've got dinner. I'll be making these fabulous rolls tonight. Enjoy!

who are you?

OK, I really thought the only people who read this thing were my mom and dad. But according to the counter on the side bar there's a few more readers than I thought. So who are you? If you'd be so kind, leave me a comment and let me know who you are. Unless of course you hate my writing, then I don't want to know.
Thank you for reading!

pink stuff

This weekend I packed up all the kiddos for a trip to Target to purchase a birthday gift for our little friend Claire. FYI, Tyler was out of town, otherwise I try never to take all 3 kids to Target...I'm not crazy. Anyway, in the car I was prepping the boys "we're not shopping for us, we're looking for a gift for Claire", and "Claire is a girl and she probably won't want Star Wars toys", and "stay right next to the cart or I'll ring your little...", no, I didn't really go there.

As I'm pushing the cart towards the toy aisles I start to notice there is a pink haze over 2 of the aisles, almost like the black hole sucking us in, only pink. I think I could even smell the color of pink looming around us. I was almost blinded by the amount of sparkles, glitter and various shades of pink. And then I did it, the thing I've never done before, I entered the GIRL AISLE. My boys looked as if we'd just landed on another planet. Their jaws dropped, and then they both turned to me with HUGE grins. They loved it! We spent the next 30 minutes deciding which sparkly, pink thing Claire would like the most. They were so excited about everything and kept asking "mom, what is this?".

I realized my boys and I have A LOT to learn about girl things, but as I looked at Charlotte sitting sweetly in her car carrier, I knew it wouldn't be too far off.

no one told me....

Things nobody told me before having kids.......

no one told me I'd reach into every pocket, in every article of clothing I own, only to find things like match box cars, crusty kleenex, hair barretts, mini basketballs, the paper backing from stickers, pen lids, cheerios, the list is endless.

no one told me little boys like to pee in trashcans just because.

no one told me every surface in my house would be sticky

no one told me diapers are so expensive

no one told me I wouldn't ever sleep through the night again 

no one told me I'd have an audience every time I went to the bathroom

no one told me I'd fight small children for the attention of my husband

no one told me I'd be capable of dragging a kicking, screaming, 3 year old to his bedroom WHILE nursing a baby

no one told me I'd dig for worms to entertain my boys

no one told me I'd have many of Princess Leia's lines memorized

no one told me I'd drink as much coffee as I do

no one told me I'd find dried spaghetti and sauce behind my dinning room shelves

no one told me I'd find my razor in the kitchen, my lip gloss in my closet, playing cards in my shoes, puzzle peices in my bed, diapers (disposable) in my washing machine, again, the list is endless

no one told me it's possible to love my kids as much as I do

no one told me I could be so turned on by my husband playing with our kids

to be continued.......

You are 3!

Yesterday you turned 3 years old.  Most people mistake you for a 5 year old, but you are still my little cowboy.  It's hard to believe you've only occupied space in our lives for 3 years, it seems like I've loved you forever.  Three years ago yesterday I pushed you into this world, and everyone stood, amazed, around the scale , 10 lbs 1 oz!  Just like your Daddy.  At three years old, you are still a BIG boy.  You're off the growth charts in height and weight.  You like to play with trains, color, play basketball (or just wear basketball clothes), play with Charlotte on the floor, and run around with Brennan.  You are still a bit of a momma's boy and like to hang out wherever I am.  Every night when we tuck you in you ask us to say the "Five Little Angels" prayer and sing "Jesus Loves Me".  I love it when you sing with me.  

For your birthday we went bowling with your cousins.  Per your request, we had a race car cake with blue frosting.  I think you were over stimulated by the bowling alley, but you loved being with your cousins (as always).  Last night we celebrated with a few of your grandparents and chocolate cake with ice cream.    

I love you Calvin Samuel and I count myself very blessed to call you my son.  

mystery solved

I have finally figured it out.  I have spent 2.5 out of the last 4.5 years breastfeeding my babies.  That is where my brain went...they sucked it right out of me!!

This morning I ran errands in Tyler's car.  I spent 5 minutes trying to unlock the door with my key, finally I called him to see what the deal was.  That's when I realized I was using the wrong key.  Uggggg!

music to my ears

This speaks right to my heart today and brings great peace....

come ye weary, heavy laden
lost and ruined by the fall
if you tarry until you're better
you will never come at all
I will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in his arms
In the arms of my dear saviour
Oh, there are ten thousand charms

-Joseph Hart-

The Girl is 9 Months Old!

 Miss Charlotte, aka Charlie, is pure JOY!  I cannot believe she's already 9 months old.  Her favorite past times include laughing at her brothers, chewing anything she can get her hands on, sucking her thumb (and sometimes toes), flashing her dimples, being held, "dancing" to music, and trying to pull Calvin's pacifier out of his mouth.  She nurses 3, sometimes 4, times a day, eats big girls food 2 x's a day, and loves Cherrios.  We don't have much of a routine in the morning, every day is different, so she goes with the flow and sleeps when she can.  She takes a great afternoon nap and is ready for bedtime at 7 pm.  She works great on a schedule, but can be very flexible when we need her to be.  She's pretty content to sit and just watch the action, so she hasn't attempted the crawling thing yet.  And honestly, I think it's pretty far off.  She has perfected the "scoot backwards movement" though and we frequently find her under the couch. People often ask us "is she always this happy?" and the truth is, YES, she is one happy girl.  We feel so blessed that the Lord has given us this sweet angel.