Helping to Relieve Stress

Dawson's company has been blessed with a lot of work...unfortunately stress comes along with that blessing of work. There are deadlines to meet and more hours to be spent on the jobs than they actually have, so with that...comes overtime! With overtime comes less time with your family and less sleep...which bring on more stress which can be expressed in different ways. Dawson has actually had a break from overtime for the past 1-2 weeks, but there are other co-workers who now have "their turn" with working overtime with the projects that they are working on. It is not fun, but it is a necessity.

So, I am going to try and help to bring some smiles and cheer into their office! I am going to be very busy in my kitchen over the next few days...baking some goodies and maybe making some chocolates too. Reaching out to those guys (and a few gals) with one way that I know how, and that is through baking!

Right now, my list includes: brownies, mini banana muffins and chocolate covered pretzels!

What would you include on this platter of goodies? I would love to hear any suggestions that you may have!

Prayin', Prayin', Prayin'!

My husband, Dawson, is studying to take an EIGHT HOUR test in April! You read that correctly - 4 hours in the morning, then they have a lunch break, and then 4 hours in the afternoon! Does not sound like a fun Saturday to me!

What is this test all about? It is the PE exam, or Professional Engineering exam. It is not an easy exam, and they test of such a vast amount of knowledge! He has been going to a review course every Tueday night from 6:30-10:30 pm since November (I think?), and next week is his last class. Tuesdays are very long days for BOTH of us! He leaves between 7-7:30AM and is not home until about 11:15PM (the class is about 45-60 minutes away from where we live). He brought his study materials to my parents' house and has been studying there for about 2-3 days each week. I am very proud of him!

So, I have been doing a lot of praying for him - that he will be able to absorb everything that he is reviewing and studying, and that when he goes into the exam, there will be a peace that washes over him, and that he will be able to complete all of the problems and pass! Hoping to share great news with you in June! (that is usually when the results arrive)

Chocolate Dipped Cookies...and Marshmallows too!

I had some chocolate wafers that needed to be used up and I also had some heart shaped sugar cookies that I made that needed to be decorated...so, I decided to do a fun little activity with my four year old, and here are our results:


Brady asked if we could dip marshmallows too, so we did...and I added the bananas for fun - but I thought that they were hard to dip and keep in their shape! We had a lot of fun dipping - and Brady enjoyed lots of samples as we were decorating the cookies and marshmallows! I think that they came out so pretty...and the boys have been enjoying the final product of our little activity.

Dinner's in the Freezer!

On Sunday night, I realized that I still had two HUGE packages of chicken in the refrigerator that REALLY needed to be washed and "dealt with." I was so tired, but I knew that I needed to do something with this chicken. I did not want to just wash it and freeze it...I wanted to make it into some meals for the family! So, that is what I did...and got into bed about 3 hours later!!! (Should have started sooner - oh, well!)

I was able to get about 8 meals out of it...which does not include the leftovers that most will provide! Since I am only serving 2 adults, one four year old and one 2 year old, four chicken breasts will feed us about 1 1/2 dinners. I was pretty psyched about it!

So, you are probably wondering what I made, aren't ya? Here is my list!

1. Chicken Pistachio (Salad) x 2 (South Beach blue book p.141)

2. Oven Fried Chicken with Almonds x 2 (South Beach gold book p. 217)

3. Balsamic Chicken x 2 (South Beach blue book, p. 151)

4. Chicken Capri x 1 - I prepped the chicken by pounding it out and will make it either tonight or on Wed. (South Beach gold book p.214)

5. A Citrus one from a Rachael Ray cookbook, and I cannot remember what it was called - I wrote it on the package though! It is one that I can grill.

I am so excited that I was able to do this! I have been wanting to do some freezer cooking and get a little ahead of myself in dinner prep, and I was able to last night...unfortunately way later than I intended to stay up though!

Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about a chicken dinner for a little while, because I know that dinner is in the freezer! :)

Funny Kid-Sayings

My kids are so adorable and I love to listen to them pronounce something a "little bit" incorrectly...it makes me smile.

Here are a few of the most recent ones:

Smiles (2 years old)
"frigilator" = refrigerator

Brady (4 years old)

background: he was sleeping in Smiles' room, and when I closed their door, he said:
"Smiles, look at the stars and meat-eaters (on the ceiling)! Look at the stars and meat-eaters!" = Meteors

I know that there are more that they have said recently, but those are the ones that came into my mind at the moment and brought a smile to my face!

Spring is Here!

The first day of spring was a gorgeous one yesterday! Our whole family was outside. The boys rode their new big wheels and bikes (with training wheels). They also enjoyed wearing their new helmets and Brady even wanted to wear his new elbow pads and knee pads - too cute!


All three "boys" (including Dawson) drew some fun pics with the sidewalk chalk, and I think that Dawson outdid the elephant that I drew last week...well, I know that he did - drawing is effortless for him...not so much for me! :) The boys also enjoyed hitting the ball off of the "T" and pushing the toy lawnmower around too! I enjoyed taking a few hits with the bat also...and the boys enjoyed running after the ball! It was a fun, sunny day and I look forward to many more of these!

I may even break out the finger paints next time!

Dawson also took some time to prune the pear and apple trees that we have in our backyard. I am really looking forward to eating out pears...and watch the birds peck away at our apple tree. We have never been able to eat any of the apples from our tree - they do not grow very well, and the birds get to them first....but our pears! I love our pears! They are so tasty and we usually get so many of them! I will have to wait until August rolls around, then I will be able to taste them! In the meantime...I have been thinking about growing a vegetable garden this year! I need to do some quick planning and get moving on my ideas...we will see if it actually happens this year!