What I Made For Dinner Tonight

I never used to consider spaghetti a real meal because Prego and noodles just didn't seem like you could call it filling. In the past years I've changed my mind. Spaghetti is one of Jeff & Ryan's favorite meals, but the sauce has to be homemade (much, much better than the bottled stuff....who even knew that you could make your own spaghetti sauce?). Until graduating from college, really I didn't cook much. I didn't know that people made their own bread, tomato soup, spaghetti sauce, and such. I got this recipe from my friend Amy and it is the best. It freezes well, too.

Amy Neal's Chunky Spaghetti Sauce
Olive Oil
Minced Garlic
1/2 Large Onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3/4 cup zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 small can mushrooms (or fresh if you are that good)
1 lb Italian Sausage (or hamburger), browned
1 pkg pepperoni, cut into halves
14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
28 oz can tomato sauce
6 oz can tomato paste
Italian Seasoning

In large pot saute olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Add all the veggies and saute until they are good and brown and soft. Add all tomato products and a few tablespoons of Italian Seasoning. Bring to a boil and add meat and pepperoni, Reduce to low on cook until ready to serve.
This works great to dump in the crock-pot to let simmer all day after you've put it together.

Super Yummy! Thanks Amy.

Growing Too Fast

I keep telling Ryan that he is growing too fast, but seriously...I mean it. Last summer I thought I was so on the ball and I bought his school pants when they were on sale. He was 5, so I figured that a size 6 would fit him for a while. Well, about two weeks into the school year, all of those jeans were floods. I quickly ran to the store to buy 6 new pairs of jeans in a size 7 to replace the ones that didn't fit him. I, being naive, figured that they would last us for the rest of the school year. Now, I'm finding myself in the same predicament. Every pair of jeans that Ryan puts on hits him about at ankle. So...today I got on Gap.com and ordered him more jeans in a size 8 this time to get us through the next few wintry months (hurray for 50% 2nd pair of kids denim today). My guess is that we won't be lucky enough to have them fit him next fall...but there's always hope.

Blah, It's February

So I've decided I'm not too good at this blogging thing. Too much commitment? Maybe! I think updating the rest of the world on my life once a month is more than suffice, but I feel like a slacker when I see the weekly, and even daily, blogs of my friends and family. We must have a boring life because I just don't feel like I have that much to share that often. You know the drill: we get up, have breakfast, send Ryan to school, put Nick down for a nap, do some office work, Ryan comes home, we make lunch, do some homework, play in the afternoons, make dinner, do baths, go to bed, and then we do it all over again the next day with some minor changes once in a while.
I did have Nick in to the doctor AGAIN the other day with another lovely double ear infection. This is like the umpteenth ear infection he's had, so we're going in to and ENT on Friday to deal with tubes and hopefully tonsils and adnoids -sp?- (for the poor sleep, the sleep apnea, and the snoring). I will keep you updated on the upcoming doctors appointment as I hope it will encourage some better sleep habits from Nick.

Viva Mexico

Okay, I'm finally getting back on the blogging band wagon. Last month was so busy. Seems like time flew after the whole broken fingers incident.

Here's the recap of the last few weeks....
We had Christmas....big success!

Britta & Craig announced that they are expecting the end of July/beginning of August...yippee...that means Jeff & I will have 3 nieces/nephews in about as many months. Our sister-in-law, Erica is due in April. Jeff's sister, Michelle, is due the end of May/beginning of June. And now Britta. We are so excited. Craig & Britta will be terrific parents. Hopefully I haven't scared them too bad with my Nick horror stories.
Went to Manzanillo, Mexico on the 27th for 8 days...85 degrees!




Came home to LOTS of snow. Burr, big change from a high of almost 90 to a high of 15 degrees.

Oh, So Sad!

Nick fell from the counter this morning and onto the barstool and from there the barstool tipped over backwards with Nick's fingers between the barstool and the hard floor. He has quite the fat lip and two broken fingers...it was a great morning!

Christmas Card

I've always said that I only do one cute thing well all year and it is my Christmas card. Usually I put a great deal of thought into it and do them over the hunts in October. This year, the cards just didn't happen. It's been one heck of a year and I just didn't feel like hand making my cards this year when digital stuff is so darn cute. I just barely decided that I was actually going to get on the ball and get these cards done. I also decided to do a postcard this year...we'll see how it turns out. All in all, I think it turned out pretty cute. The pictures leave something to be desired (kids and lighting would not cooperate), but oh well!

Catching Up

We've been back from Disneyland for almost a week and I feel like I'm just catching up on life. Disneyland was...fun with a few exceptions. Ryan had Strep and Nick had a double ear infection (that we didn't know about on the ears until after we got back), so needless to say both of the boys were a little extra crabby. There was more crying at Disneyland than I would've thought possible. Ryan wanted to just stay in the room everyday and was finally "ready to go to Disneyland" on the day we left. Overall, we had a great time. I'm so glad that we went, but next time I think we'll leave the kids with Gram and go with Craig and Britta to hang out at the beach house on Laguna Beach. Britta, you'd better believe we want to take you up on the beach house sometime, but without kids...so we can all relax and have a good time.

Lots has happened lately:

Ryan turned 6.

Nick turned 1 (at Disneyland).

I started a diet (argh, let's just call it a food restriction plan). I'm determined not to be the fatty in Mexico in a few weeks when we go for Christmas. I've lost some weight already and I have high hopes for the next few weeks. I know, I know, who does a food restriction at this time of year? I'll admit that all the treats are tempting, but if I cheat once I'll cheat everyday...so no goodies for me. I figure if I admit to my weight loss desires to all who read this and post a ticker to track the losses, then I'll be more likely to shed these extra baby pounds that are hanging on for dear life.

Disneyland Advice

Okay, so we're off on a last minute decision trip to Disneyland the week after Thanksgiving. We went two years ago with Ryan and had a blast. What advice do you all have for me? Baby advice while at the park? Any little tidbits that I won't think of would be great. Who's been lately? What's changed? What did you like? Hate? Forget? Wish you would've taken? Were glad you did take? Wish you would've left at home? I want it to be a fun trip, but Nick is such a hard baby.