Weekend Update...

We started our weekend off with a trip to the county fair on Friday night. Since Evelyn is so small going to the fair was really for mommy and daddy this year. Our mission was to stuff ourselves with some calorie laden fair food. I think we definitely succeeded!

Hubby started with a first course of fried mushrooms. Yummy! Mommy got a huge plate of ribbon fries loaded with cheese, sour cream and bacon!!!! MMMMMmmmm! (not pictured because I couldn't get my hands into those fries fast enough!)

We took Evelyn to see the farm animals. I think she was overwhelmed by the lovely smells because she seemed very unimpressed!
I thought the baby pigs were cute though!
After a quick loop around the fair to see all of the rides and to people watch a little we got what we truly went for and headed home...
THE CANDY APPLES!!!!! They didn't last very long after we arrived home, I'm already craving more!

After the sugar high wore off the rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful. Hubby has started another new project, an outdoor fireplace. So after 3 trips to Lowes and about 20 bags of cement I now have what looks to be the beginning of a mausoleum in my backyard! Apparently this is the base of the whole project but I have decided it would be best not to comment further until this project is completed!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

The Good Old Days...

Oct 1976 Me at approximately Evelyn's age The original Evelyn and me Oct. 1976

The 3 sisters Oct. 1976

(love the expression on big sister's face)

New Recipe...

So because I am totally bored with the 7 dinner dishes that I can prepare easily I have decided to start trying some new things. As you all know when you have a small child trying to find the time and energy to prepare a gourmet feast can be challenging. And doing dishes after is always such a chore so I definitely like recipes that don't involve a lot of pots and pans. I found this recipe on the Kraft foods website and it actually got the stamp of approval from hubby last night. It went over much better than the baked BBQ chicken recipe I had tried the night before :(

This meal can be prepared for around $18 which is great and also had enough leftover to eat for lunch today! Always a bonus!

Cheesy Chicken and Salsa Skillet

2 cups penne pasta, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1-1/4 cups TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 large green pepper, cut into short thin strips
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Four Cheese Mexican Style Cheese

Make It

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 2 min. Stir in salsa, corn and peppers. Bring to boil. Simmer on medium-low heat 10 min. or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
DRAIN pasta. Add to chicken mixture; mix lightly. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from heat; cover. Let stand 1 min. or until cheese is melted

I did make a few minor changes to the recipe by using canned corn instead of frozen. I just drained it very well. And because you all know reduced fat things aren't my favorite I used the full fat version of the Mexican cheese. I did also use the whole jar of salsa which is really only a smidge more than the recipe called for because around her we like things saucy! So try it out we thought it was YUMMY!

Election Day!

This morning marks a major milestone in our family, it was the first time both hubby and I had voted! We both felt that this years election warranted getting off our butts and casting our vote! Our polling place is conveniently located at the park around the corner from our house. Of course silly me had to mapquest it because as many times as I have ridden by there I never knew that the building out front was a community center!

We arrived around 10am to a fair sized line of people. The picture below shows hubby patiently waiting.

Fortunately, Evelyn was on her best behavior and was excited about helping mommy and daddy vote.

Can you see the excitement on her face? We were very lucky we only had to wait about an hour and 10 minutes for our turn. Everyone in line was very nice, we also ran into our neighbors and several clients from my work. After it was all said and done we of course got our badge of honor, our "I Voted" stickers which mommy and Evelyn show off proudly! Doesn't Evelyn look thrilled!We can't wait for the election results and will be glued to the TV until the results are in! So here's hoping our candidate wins!!!!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe halloween!

6 Month Check Up...

It's hard to believe that Evelyn is already 6 months old! Yesterday was her 6 month check up with the pediatrician. She weighed in at 14lbs 14 oz and has grown 2 inches and is now 26inches long. She showed off her skills by sitting up unsupported, grabbing at the doctors stethoscope, and babbling lots! He agrees that the nystagmus in her eyes has improved and was very happy that all of the test we had run with the specialists had come back with all normal results. She had 5 shots yesterday which she was not thrilled about but as always handled it like a big girl waiting until after all of them had been given to cry! A dose of Tylenol and a good nap and she was back to her happy self.

Its Official...

I am officially the neighborhood crazy cat lady, as soon as I saw this I had to have it! Even hubby who thinks i'm nuts already for feeding 5 stray cats outside had to admit that this cat was pretty cool! At least this one doesn't poop in the yard!

Nothing to Post...

It has been an incredibly slow week around here, hence why i haven't posted in a while. It rained for the entire weekend so our biggest excitement was a trip to Sullivan's Island to eat at Poe's. There really is nothing better than their fish tacos! I suppose my biggest excitement is that Evelyn can manage to sit up for a few seconds before she topples over and yesterday I managed to get her to eat some sweet potatoes! Today's poopy diaper can attest to that! Yikes!!!

On another random tangent, hubby has now decided that he may be interested in buying an airstream camper! Since I have continuously vetoed buying another boat because they are not super practical for infants he thought maybe that it would be nice to have something we could do as a family! As you all know pre baby we liked to travel and go camping post baby its defiantly not as relaxing, that's for sure. I am still on the fence about buying a cramper, but I do see his point. It would be familiar for Evelyn to stay in, less germs for me and its can go anywhere we do in the continental US (and Canada). I have always wanted to go to Niagara Falls... Anyhow we shall see how it all plays out. The only kind of RV that I will agree to is an Airstream because they are so cool looking and not so toxic and plastic like your standard camper but you defiantly pay for it. But who knows hubby may just decide that he can't live without another boat!
Thats all for now! Hope everyone has a great day!