I am back...

or at least I will be! lol

I need to sit down and organize a real 'catch up' post, but in the mean time... I haven't forgotten my poor blog!

See you soon!
Robyn

Soooo... I fell off the Bloggy Bandwagon...

but I will be back to fill you in on all of the craziness SOON!

Friday Five- my likes for this week

I am taking a page out of a friend's book (blog?) and I am going to give this "Friday Five" a whirl to see if I like it...

1. Knock on wood... we are all healthy!

• Little Man has been given a clean bill of health.We only have to give him 4 more breathing treatments! Dancing Daughter is currently not suffering from allergies! Hubby is on meds to relieve him of his ear infection! Finally, I am healthy too!
  

2. Panera Steak and Vermont Cheddar Panini

• If you haven't had one, run... don't walk to your nearest Panera and get one! I enjoyed mine with a lovely caesar salad! It was fan-tab-u-lous!!!!!

3. My mini van for traveling to see my family in GA.

• I am neck deep at packing to leave in the morning. (I know... it's the middle of the night, but that is what I do!) I would be dreading trying to fit all of the stuff we need for 2 adults and 2 kids into my previous car (Camry), but now I will just leisurely load it all into my van without too much trouble! Yay!

4. My camera working again!

• After several years of lots of use my SD card DIED! Fortunately, I was able to get the 400 pictures off the card, but I didn't have a back-up. I ordered 2 so now it is working AND I have a spare. I can't STAND being without my camera!
  

5. Finding great deals online, receiving those packages and great money-saving websites!

• www.babysteals.com- Got a Ju Ju Be bag called a Be Quick for $7.50 (regular $15)! Love it!
• Amazon Mom- Free 2 day shipping! Need I say more?
• moolala- E-mealz subscription for a year for $12!
• Mamapedia- Family Fun magazine for $5!
• BeCentsAble- this blog let me know where I could get a subscription to Parents Magazine for $1! Woo hoo!
• For Publix shoppers... love this site and there are several others. Feel free to comment below if you want me to share them!

Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it!

I will try to post some more coherent, interesting posts this coming week. I. Am. Exhausted. Hopefully, I can get some rest this weekend!

Crock Pot Chicken and Brown Rice REVIEWED

Ok... confession time! I was sooooo wrong about having all of the necessary ingredients for my meal. Ooops! I was so busy being proud of myself that I didn't go check. What was I missing you might ask? The stinkin' brown rice! It wouldn't be so bad, but we always have brown rice coming out of our ears. Today when I went to the fridge, this is all I found...


Sad, isn't it? So I got over that hurdle with a near-hissy fit and a quick trip to Publix. Then I got down to business.

I altered the recipe to suit us in the following ways:

• I used a 6 quart Crock Pot because that is what I have.
  
• I added chopped carrots b/c I can't stand monochromatic food.
• I changed the seasoning because I didn't have paprika and don't have any recipes that need it so I used lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
• I added a splash more chicken broth because of the extra veggie.
• I used chicken breast cutlets because that's what was in the freezer,but I am sure this would work with any cuts.
  

Survey says:

• It needed a little more liquid because there were some grains of rice on the very top that were a little... uh... al dente. ;-)
• It should not be stirred a lot as it causes the rice to become a little more mushy/risotto-like.
• Flavor was great. We LOVE lemon pepper with chicken.
• Hubby enjoyed and the Dancing Daughter cleaned her plate quickly. (A quick plate-cleaning is how we know she likes a food.)

To sum it up, it will go into our family rotation of meals!!! I recommend this, but play around with it and tailor it to suit your family's preferences. Oh, how about... Mexican: salsa mixed in... or Italian: chopped tomatoes and basil... or you get the idea.

¡Buen provecho!

I FINALLY got out of the house for a little while and a few pics

So as I whined about before, my hubby has been traveling for work lately, which is uncommon for us the past 2 years. When we first married he would travel for a couple of days about once a month and we were used to that schedule and made the best of it. Now it is like someone pulled the rug right out from under us... or maybe me! As a result, I have been going long amounts of time (weeks!) without getting out of the house without one egg or another.

Tonight, I broke free!!!!! I went out, ran long-overdue, unhindered errands and even had a great dinner with a WONDERFUL friend who knows the feeling of not getting away. (Don't get me wrong... I love my babies, but Mama has got to have some time to be an adult and get errands done that stack up and loom over me.) It was refreshing, took things off of my to-do list and reminded me that I am a woman, friend and in need of some balance. I appreciate my husband for not only holding down the fort, but encouraging me to take time for myself. Now my husband's night, that is another story...

Hubby had a bit of a rough one with Little Man. A little history to help with this story is that we have built our lives around routine. Little Man is apparently not willing to give ANY when it comes to his routine. He woke up from his nap and was ready to eat. His problem… no Mommy! Hubby had quite the time with him because he refused to drink a bottle or eat any cereal. My husband was a trooper. He listed to Little Man gripe, complain and yell for a WHILE before he called and asked when I was coming home. Little Man's alter ego "Little Stinky Boy" was out in full force tonight.

Menu Monday ... not so much this week :-/

Sooooo... my goal is to have a Menu up for the week with shopping info, coupons (if I can find them), recipes (or links), etc. However, that didn't happen this week. I got a little discouraged because my Sunday/Monday meal (be forewarned, we are left-over eaters) was a big ol' FLOP! Ugh! I guess it has to happen ever now and then...

So this week I will leave you with what I making tomorrow for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesdays are a busy day for us as the Dancing Daughter has school, Musical Theater class, Ballet class and homework to get done. So I am hoping to get in the routine of Crock Pot Tuesdays!!!!

The problem with my Crock Pot cooking is a lack of variety and a reliance on Cream of ... soups that I don't care for in my cooking. Enter A Year of Slow Cooking!!! I have used this several times and really had good results. Her cooking is flexible and rather healthy. I also like the Index and Table of Contents for easy searching.

So I give you our meal for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday...

Crock Pot Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole

I am excited about this meal because of the brown rice and no canned stuff. However, I can't leave well enough alone and I don't care for monochromatic food so I will be cutting up some carrots and tossing it in to cook with the chicken and rice. HUGE BONUS for this week... I have ALL of the ingredients either in my pantry or freezer! No grocery shopping trip for this meal... which is great since I just came up with this and I have to get it on to cook first thing in the morning. I will be throwing together a salad to go with this... I am hoping that if I start eating a salad before every dinner, I might get rid of the rest of this baby weight. (More on that topic later!)

I'll post a review after we try it... assuming I get it put in the crock pot! ;-)

What I have been doing tonight...

I have been editing photos. Photos of little twirly girls. 578,648,258,269,101 photos of twirly girls. (Not really, but it sure feels that way!)

So I thought I would edit one of my own Dancing Daughter. Meet Twirling Daughter, the alter-ego!

They are truly windows to...

I like to do things backwards...

So maybe I should introduce myself now that I have discussed poop, pee and RSV!

My name is Robyn and I am a full-time, On-The-Go Mom to two wonderful kids (I'll tell you about them in a few...) and the wife of a pretty great guy! I am a foodie, crafter, scrapbooker, photography enthusiast, clutter-bug, dancer, Dave Matthew's Band lover, Grey's Anatomy and SYTYCD junkie, want-to-be health nut, student of God's love/works and lover of learning & reading. I would love to try my hand at sewing, quilting, and little woodworking projects. (Maybe I will this year and I will drag you along for the ride.) I think if you take these loves and desires and add some out-of-control, curly hair... you'll have a pretty good sketch of me.

I have been blessed with many things in my life, but the greatest of them truly is love! I met my husband about a billion years ago when I was 18. We met, I couldn't stand him, then I couldn't stand to be without him, then I had to grow up, then I made some mistakes, then I fixed those mistakes and then finally... I was rewarded with real, true, ridiculous, unfathomable love. My hubby and I have been married almost 5 years and he is a blessing to me. (Didn't know I could be so mushy, huh?!) Now don't get me wrong... he is not perfect and neither am I, but we work HARD to make our life perfect FOR US! Now that is enough about him because he is a quiet, private sort of guy and I might get into trouble if I share too much...

LOVE him!

My wonderful hubby, the Dancing Daughter and I on

OUR wedding day! (She claims it as hers too!)

Now on to my 2 other loves...

My Dancing Daughter!! I refer to her as this because that is what she does ALL. THE. TIME! I am not just referring to her 4 dance classes and 1 twirling class a week ( I am crazy... I know!), but she literally dances to the shower, to the table, to class, to her room, etc! My sweet girl is 8 1/2 years old and my saving grace! I got pregnant with her at a time in my life when I was LOST. I had no direction and she gave me focus, purpose and JOY! She is a kind, sweet girl with a naughty, child-like streak to remind me that she still needs lots of love and molding! I love her more every day! Introducing my Dancing Daughter...

My Dancing Daughter dressed for a twirling performance...

The BEST big sister to Little Man!

On to the newest member of the crew... Little Man. You've gotten a preview of his "activities" lately, but that is just the tip of the iceberg with him! He is such a good baby! I know, I know... everyone says it about their baby, but he really is! He is a happy, soulful, silly BOY! That was an adjustment! I was a "girl-Mama" for 8 years and 2 weeks before Little Man was born. Wow! What a difference! For anyone wondering... they truly are born different! He looks at things like he is trying to figure out how to dismantle them. I am in for a whole new world with this guy! Anyway, he is almost 7 months old and a wonderful addition to our little nest. Here's Little Man...

Little Man after a rice cereal encounter...

My Bath Baby... he and his rolls love bath time!

This is an introduction to me, the Mama-Robyn, and my nest of love and craziness! I hope you enjoy!

3 letters I didn't want to hear today!

RSV

Little Man has had a rough go of it this month. He has been sick since the beginning of the month. I chalked it up to pollen/weather/allergies... that is what it has always been with my Dancing daughter. Today I got the 3 letters that I have been dreading. RSV- Dr. Sears provides an explanation of RSV. It isn't the end of the world, but I really am sad that my Little Man is going to fight this kind of sickness for a while. At his age it is not nearly as scary as it is for the teeny-tiny babies, but it does mean that most sicknesses will effect his lungs now.

We purchased a nebulizer for his breathing treatments last week and were supposed to be doing 2-3 of one medicine. Today that was upped to 3 of one medicine and 2 of another. :-(

It could be worse and we are very blessed that he has been such a healthy boy!

Alright, off to bed I go. I will post some pics tomorrow when I convince my phone to share them with my computer!

Night-night,
Robyn

Poop and pee...

that is what little boys are made of! I have not seen any snails or puppy dog tails, but I have a plethora of poop and pee!

I am beginning to think that Little Man has his Daddy's sense of humor. I just got done changing (being assaulted) his diaper. I had finished all of the "dirty work" when he commenced into his Old Faithful impression... REALLY?!?! Everything was clean, dry and ready to go!

At any rate, I am off to try to convince a local baby store to start carrying some amazing bags for diapering and otherwise. http://www.shopjujube.com/... if you dare! I warn you... these bags are addictive! I went from zero to 3 in about a week!

I have to take Little Man to the pediatrician to get rechecked from his crud, so I will update later and maybe post a few pics so you can see what my "Eggs" really look like!

TTFN!

Personal note- hey "with an E" be careful what you ask for... my adventures in parenting are sometimes just gross!

So I guess I gotta start somewhere...

So it's almost 10 pm on spring break and I am home alone. (Unless you count my 6 month old, but between the hours of 7pm and 7am... he really isn't much company!

Why, you might ask, am I home alone... good question. It seems that the universe, powers-that-be, God or whatever YOU blame for the happenings in your life has decided that I need some alone time. Yuck! My sweet 8 year-old egg, the Dancing Daughter, is in Atlanta visiting her father. The hubby had to take off half-way across the country to work... at the last minute! Ugh! He is today's ROTTEN EGG!

So it is just Little Man and I holding down the fort.

It has forced me to recognize that I am not good at being alone. I used to love it, but now I am so used to the rhythm of the married-with-kiddos life that I don't know what to do.

I guess that means it is time to get this blog started and figure out what I am going to do with it...

I am going to use this as an outlet for my thoughts, ideas, creativity and craziness. How's that for a start?!