Call me crazy, but I am a Caillou Fan!

Have you ever taken a shower with peering eyes on the other side of the glass? How about once you make a motion to turn of the water and your helpful little angel pulls your towel onto the floor picking up any dust bunnies that have congregated there since the last time you vacuumed the floor (three weeks ago). So you wrestle the towel from the kid and attempt to dry off and as fast as possible before they try give you kisses on anything he or she may perceive as "owies". You reach for your lotion and of course, they want some too. To avoid a fight, you give them the smallest squirt and all of a sudden, "It's ok Mommy! I put some cream on you!" If only cream could fix the cottage cheese that was once my butt. Sigh.

But you know what is great? Having your 2 year old want to stay downstairs to watch Caillou so that you can sneak away and take a shower without a tiny audience! Now, I know some mommies have come out with their deep seeded hatred of the whiny little tyke that graces Sprout's airwaves. I get it, the kid is constantly whining, has the world's least inventive theme song, but yet, my sweet little PeeWee schedules her whole day around him. And for now, I am thankful!

I am equally thankful that my little PeeWee is so very sweet and wants to make sure that anything that ails me is taken care of. 

Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup

This summer, I made this delicious summertime meal from Iowagirleats.com. I had a lot of leftover barley and started dreaming of the fall when I could make a delicious beef barley soup. Well, my taste buds needn't wait any longer and yours don't have to either. I found this recipe on Betty Crocker's website here.

I have made a few minor changes.

Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

1 cup frozen cut green beans 

1 cup frozen corn2 lbs pounds beef stew meat1 chopped bell pepper1 chopped large onion1 cup uncooked pearled barley1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon pepper1 carton (32 ounces) beef broth -Reduced Sodium 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

Directions

Add all ingredients in slow cooker. Mix carefully to not splatter. Place on Low heat for 8-10 hours. Go to work, run after a few little ones, go to the spa, or whatever it is that you do during the day. Come home, ladle a few spoonfuls into your favorite crock and Enjoy!

This also freezes great for those "I just don't have it in me to make a meal" kind of days!

Talk about easie peasie, lemon squeezie! (You can take me out of the classroom, but you can't take the 7 year old lingo out of me!) 

Sufferin Succotash!

With this being the first Thanksgiving away from our families, Mr. Right and I have been busy meal planning for our big Turkey Day. This is no time to forgo a delicious feast nor time to go healthy, right?! Here is what we are planning on dinning on, I hope you can use one of our recipes in your home

Roasted Turkey

Grandma D's Pork Sausage dressing - Check out our family recipes blog for this deliciousness!

Grandma's Cranberry Relish (recipes to follow in a future blog post)

The Best French Bread EVER 

Ruth's Chris' Sweet Potato casserole

Corn & Edamame Succotash 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame

• 1 tablespoon EVOO

• 1 chopped red bell pepper

• 1 chopped onion

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 teaspoons dried basil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Directions

1. Steam edamame in the microwave per package directions.

2. In large, non-stick frying pan, heat EVOO. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Stir frequently until they start to soften. Stir in corn and edamame. Add butter and allow to melt. Slowly incorporate heavy cream, basil, salt, and pepper. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes so all of the flavors can meld. 

Enjoy! 

In the Blink of an Eye

And in the blink of an eye, it is no longer May, but November! In my meager defense, a lot has occurred in the time lapse. I settled into my Stay at Home Mom status including updating my Facebook status. After working last school year, our home was close to being quarantined for YUCKY! I made every attempt to clean up the neglected house work. I found this fantastic idea I found on Pinterest: Getting Mold Out of the Shower I was way skeptical but it works! It totally works! Thank you,  Jessica @ http://www.thisblessedlife.net/ !!

We found out in June that Mr. Right's employer was being acquired and it was uncertain whether he would have a job come the closing of the deal. Super, because I just quit my job! Thankfully, Mr. Right is a rockstar in his career and most companies would be beside themselves to have him on board. Sadly, Albuquerque isn't known for having plentiful corporations to work for in his field. Happy news, the Dallas/Fort Worth area is and he was made a job offer. Hooray! 

Dropping Mr. Right off for his first day

We had minimal notice of our move to another state.... like less than 2 weeks. But in good spirits and a belief in God's plan for us, we packed up a 6x12 trailer and made a preliminary move to the area. We were fortunate to find a lovely home to rent in a quaint town outside of Dallas. 2 weeks later, we returned to Albuquerque to pack at 26ft Penske truck with the remainder of all of our worldly goods. (Thank heaven for amazing families that have our back at every turn!) 

 PeeWee posing for pictures on top of her pumpkin while the movers unloaded our moving truck. I will definitely pay someone to move our stuff when it's time to move again! 

Welcoming committee

PeeWee got to be her beloved Olivia for her first Halloween to be Trick or Treating. We are definitely living in a family friendly neighborhood and we couldn't be happier!!

We are quickly acclimating to the area and have even joined a mommy & me group. We have been to the library a handful of times and decided to stay at home today for a low key kind of a day. We enjoyed making these Thankful Turkeys compliments of  http://afaithfulattempt.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned, because I am determined to start blogging more often! 

It's official.....

As of 1:00 today when I turned in my classroom keys, I am a stay at home mommy! I anxiously called Mr. Right to announce my unemployment.

There are so many things I want to tackle and accomplish that I just don't know where to begin! Perhaps I just take today to sit back, relax and have a pretend tea party with PeeWee. Yes, that's what I'll do! Check back frequently to see how I fare as a SAHM.

This is what dreams are made of

What a fantastic weekend!
The weekend festivities kicked off Thursday evening when we got to meet the beautiful baby G! PeeWee absolutely loved her baby.

Friday, we again got to see Baby G and her ever brave, courageous mommy. (Check out her blog to be completely inspired: http://fightlikecrazy.blogspot.com/

Saturday, Mr. Right, PeeWee and I had a relaxed morning hanging out before going to register PeeWee for swimming lessons. We are so excited to get to play in the pool for 2 weeks. After dealing with the less than polite teenagers running the lesson sign ups, we were off to my in-laws house for a family get together. The girls had on their matching outfits and their sunshine bottoms were absolutely adorable. What a great time to see PeeWee and Baby G together.

This morning, I woke up and looked out our patio door at our dismal looking backyard. Since we got rid of the dogs last August, weeds have overtaken our backyard. I decided that PeeWee and I would work in the backyard while Mr. Right went to cut the grass at my in-laws house. The kid actually really enjoys pulling weeds! Wow, I hope that stays the case after I can teach her not to pull the flowers! The yard still has so many more weeds to go, but we're making progress. Mr. Right stopped at the hardware store on his way home to make me the herb planters that I found here: http://www.artandappetite.com/2011/04/desert-gardening/ He is so close to being done and then I can start transplanting the seedlings that are growing in PeeWee's room. We finished the evening by getting a pizza and eating on the patio.

And with 30 calendar days left of being a working mom, I am elated to get our summer fun started!

An unexpected date with Mr Right

I woke up this morning with great plans of going in to my classroom to get some "stuff" accomplished that has been looming over head and been a black cloud for too long. And by the time I got my feet on the floor, I had a feeling that something was going to go awry. My right eye was stinging and after inspection in the bathroom mirror I noticed I had a stye in my eye. I altered my plans and decided I would shower and go buy an OTC ointment and pick up new makeup later. As I was preparing to run to the store for the ointment and a gallon of milk I was going to get PeeWee dressed in case her and Mr. Right went to visit my in-laws she would look presentable. Well, PeeWee has always been strong willed but I believe she started her terrible two's the day before her 18month birthday. She reached up and grabbed at my face and scratched my left eye in the process.

At first, I thought my eyelashes were in my eye but as the pain set on, I realized it must be worse. Mr Right called my MIL to see if she could watch PeeWee while we went to Urgent Care. Of course, my sweet MIL is always very eager to spend time with PeeWee. :) We dropped her off and we were on our way to Urgent Care for our date.

After a minimal wait time, we we're brought back to be triaged. As I opened my eye for the first time, my eyes burned with pain and tears poured out of my eyes like the first time I had my heart broken. We were to told to have a seat back in the waiting room for a bit and were finally called back. Mr Right entertained me in the waiting room and exam room by going through Pinterest explaining the pins that I could not see. (Isn't he fabulous?) The doctor came in writing drops that he claimed would fix me. I envisioned some sort of miracle drop that would glue the scratched are back together. But I was wrong. They temporarily numbed my eye and he then put in more drops that looked like highlighter juice. He shined a blue light in my eye and he called Mr Right over to see what was apparently a great chasm in my cornea. He said she most definitely caught it with her fingernail and caused a severe corneal abrasion. He prescribed Percocet and an antibacterial drop and said it will be quite painful for 2-3 days but on the good side, they no longer "patch" the eye and my FIL wouldn't need to refer to me as "Ol' Dead Eye". And the Jolly Roger would need to find a different captain this time.

We dropped off my prescription and went to grab lunch at Firehouse Subs. Of course I always see people I know when I don't have makeup on outside of the house. This time was of course a brother/sister set of students I have had this year. As I sat near them I tries to ensure they didn't see me. How embarrassing to have to explain to my students why I am wearing my sunglasses in a restaurant and why tears continually roll down my cheek.. Well anyhow, the plus side to all of it is that I got to have a surprise date with Mr Right and he has been doing a great job taking care of PeeWee and me.

I love the two of them yesterday, today, and tomorrow 2!

Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joe!

Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joe! 

What says childhood better than a good Sloppy Joe? So how does one craft sloppy joes without a particular canned sauce? EASY!

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1 small onion
3/4 C. Catchup
4 tsp. red wine vinegar
4 tsp. worcestershire sauce
4 tsp. sugar
4 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. garlic powder

Spray cooking spray in a sautee pan. Brown ground turkey and onion. Add catchup, red wine vinegar, worcestershire, sugar, mustard and garlic powder when turkey is cooked through. Simmer until ready to serve on a toasted hamburger bun.

PeeWee and Mr. Right were caught numerous times with their hands in the pot.

Help in the kitchen

It is such a wonderful experience to have PeeWee helping me in the kitchen. I started a delicious Crockpot Beef Stew that we found at: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-beef-stew-i/

As we drove home anticipating our delicious dinner that was waiting for us, I started to wish we had some  biscuits to have with dinner. I decided we would venture in making out own from scratch. I found this tasty recipe in our Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. 

Ingredients

3 Cups All Purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1T. Sugar

3/4 C. butter

1 1/2 C. Buttermilk

Add all the dry ingredients and cut butter in with pastry blender. Mix until mix resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center pour all buttermilk into the well and mix with fork. When mix is moistened, pour mix onto floured surface. Fold over 5-6 times. Roll out dough to 3/4" and cut out biscuits with biscuit round. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes in 450 degree oven. 

Welcome

WELCOME

Welcome to my mommy blog! I am by no means an expert on being a mommy in fact, I am more of a novice. I am a mommy to 1 beautiful almost 18 month old little girl, PeeWee. I am married to the man of my dreams, Mr. Right and we live a beautiful life together. I am a licensed Elementary school teacher and I am finishing up my first year teaching. Through believing in God's plan and the love and support from Mr. Right, we have decided that I will not be teaching next year. Instead, I will get to stay home with PeeWee. I daydream and Pin about the fun things that we will be able to do at home when I am not consumed with the obligations to grade papers, create flipcharts, and do reading interventions for students. It will be an exciting journey as I organize our home, figure out where to cut costs, and most importantly provide PeeWee with all of the mommy time that she deserves.

The title of my blog, "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow too (2)" Comes from the book I Love you Through and Through that PeeWee received from my sweet MIL.

Thank you for stopping by! I am so excited to get my mommy blog rolling!