I'm a Rockstar!!!

Today I feel like a rockstar!
There aren't many days that I do.

I am a list maker.
I usually make a list each day of the things that I want to do
The places we need to go.
I like crossing off my list.

Today's list was full of spring cleaning.
Stuff that is not so fun.
Like washing blinds
And vacuuming vents.

I didn't get anything crossed off my list today.
I did get a lot done though.

I got the kids and myself showered, dressed, and fed before 8:20.
I dropped off Kenzi at school
I went to Target, Office Depot, and Henry's for produce.
I put my produce away.
We picked Mackenzi up from school.
I jumped my friends battery ( I told you I was a rockstar!).

I made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.
The boys napped.
Mackenzi and I put on our bathing suit.
The sun kissed our cheeks and our backs.
I brushed and bathed Hurley (our dog).

We had snack.
We played with the hose in the backyard.
I sat in a lawn chair and let the sun kiss me some more.

We went to the front yard where I washed my SUV.
The kids were having so much fun.
Playing in the hose, jumping in mud puddles.
So I cleaned the fridge in the garage.

I hosed the kids off and got them changed.
We made dinner, pineapple mango chicken with rice.
It's in the oven and it smells delicious.

I didn't get anything crossed off my list today,
but I sure got a lot done!!
The best part of the day was the sun.
It was beautiful today.
85 with a warm breeze.
LOVE IT!

My feet have proof of the fabulous sun...
See...

Yes, I have Flinstone feet
And I need a pedicure.

Now if I can only motivate myself enough to exercise tonight...
I'd truly be a rockstar!!!

Day Three...Sea Day

On Sunday it was the Day at Sea on board the Paradise cruise ship.

We woke up to lots of sunshine and whippin' cold wind.

After breakfast, we headed to the top deck for a little mini golf.  We learned a $$-saving lesson: Do not pay to take the kids miniature golfing yet...it's so not worth it.  They had fun but are so not ready for it yet!! 

 After we were frozen from the wind, we headed down to the pool area and took some naps.  My boys love to nap in the sunshine, they get that from their Mama!!!

 We took some more pictures, had dinner, and headed to the dance show.  The kids stayed up way to late, but Mackenzi was in heaven watching the dancers perform.  Singing and dancing is right up her alley!!!  That night, I stayed in with the kids and Matt took charge in the casino!!  He came home with a wallet full of money!!!  YAY!!!!

 Pat and Ted with Wendy's siblings (and their spouses)

 Grandpa, Kenzi, and Grandma at dinner

 Matt's Brothers

Cody, Tyler, & Trevor

Does he come from a good-looking family or what?!?

 Me and my Love

 Cassie and Me

Isn't she just the cutest thing?!

Kenzi-pie with her Jazzy pose!!!

We had such a wonderful time on the cruise.  It wasn't as hard or nerve-racking as we thought it would be with the kids!  We can't wait to do it again!!

Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma!!

We sure made some great memories!

Ice Cream, Guac, and Family

We woke up Saturday morning bright and early.  We had some yummy breakfast and ice cream for dessert! (WHAT?!?  You can have dessert at 8am when you're on a vacay).  We headed into Ensenada and went in search of some homemade chips, salsa, and guac.  Boy, did we find it!  Jace ate the guac with a spoon.  He loves avocados.  We lounged by the pool while the boys took a nap and then headed out for the formal dinner.  Here are some pictures from day 2!

 Can you guess by the cheesy smile who this is???

 The kids were SO happy because we were riding the fancy elevator!

 Cody & Trevor

 Tyler and Cassie

The Family!!

All because 50 years ago, two people said "I Do".

Cruisin'

Over the weekend we went with Wendy's side of the family on a Carnival Cruise. 

We had SO much fun.

This was my 3rd time on this 3 day cruise, Matt's 7th or 8th, and Mackenzi's 2nd. 

The first time she went, she was 11 months old.

The kids had a blast!! 

I have lots and lots of good pictures, so I thought I'd break up my posts by the days!

Here's Day 1!!!

 Me & Quinn...waiting for the ship to set sail.

 Me & my lovies

 This is most of the family.

{5 aren't in the picture}

Jeff & Kara couldn't make it. :(

 Jace (on the left) decided that he forgot how to smile, he did this cheesy smile the whole weekend. 

Most of the pictures have Quinn crying.  He did NOT want his picture taken this weekend.

Too bad buddy!

 Our Sweet Family

 Quinn, just taking it all in.

 Jace & Daddy...See I told you his smile is cheesy.

 Dinner Time!!

The kids favorite was the mac-n-cheese, french fries, and Quinn loved the nuggets.

The first night, they all three ordered two meals.  They ate like they hadn't eaten in a week.

 Here are Grandma Pat and Grandpa Ted {Wendy's Parents}.

They're the reason we all went on the cruise.

They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and  took the whole family with to celebrate!

Happy 50th Grandpa & Grandma!!

We love you very much!!!

.......more post/pictures to come......

Oh Jace!

Let me set the scene here...

Mackenzi was coloring at the table with markers.

Jace was watching Tom & Jerry in the family room.

Quinn was going potty and wanted me to sit on the step-stool with him.

I was a mere 10 steps away from Jace & Kenzi.

Kenzi walked away from her markers.

Jace found the red crayola marker...I swear the only marker that isn't washable.

He went to TOWN on our couch.

Seriously, on every.single.cushion of our sectional.

He colored on three of the five throw pillows too.

To give him some credit, there were two pieces of computer paper on the couch too, with lots of coloring on those too....

 (Please excuse the sippy cup leakage marks from earlier that morning.)

After scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing until my arms were burning, I'm happy to say that 98% of the red (unwashable) marks are out of the couch.  I even scrubbed some stains from leftover sippy cups. 

UGH!!  That's exactly how I wanted to spend nap time today!

Here are some after shots.  You can't even tell right??

I used my new Shaklee cleaner to get it off...LOVE that stuff!!!

Oh Jace.

He's been gettin' into a whole lotta trouble this week.

I could probably do a whole post on that.

My sweet little timid Jace...he has found something this week.

I'm not sure I like it too much.

But, I still love him!!

Winner, Winner...Chicken Dinner!!

Okay, who am I kidding? 

There is no winner here, just some recipes using chicken!!!

:)

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Orange Chicken

Items Needed:

3 lbs. Chicken

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. butter

3 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ginger

1/3 cup orange marmalade

2/3 cup orange juice

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 orange, thinly sliced

2 cups rice, cooked

Directions:

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, brown in butter (don't over cook).  While chicken is browning, mix together remaining ingredients, except orange slices and cooked rice.  When chicken is done, pour remaining juices from pan.  Add the mixture into browned chicken, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.  Add orange slices and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve with rice.

recipe from http://www.mealsforastal.blogspot.com/

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Mixed Sweet Pepper Fajitas

Ingredients Needed:

2 tbs. vegetable oil divided

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp. finely chopped ginger

2 tsp. sesame seeds (white or black, I use white)

1 tbs. soy sauce

1/4 white onion cut into long strips

1 sweet red pepper (cut into strips)

1 yellow pepper (cut into strips)

1 orange pepper (cut into strips)

Directions:

Heat 1 tbs. oil on high heat.  Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.  Add garlic, ginger and sesame seeds, cook for 1 minute.  Add soy sauce and cook for 1 minute.  Pour mixture into a bowl. Wipe out pan, add 1 tbs. oil  and heat.  Add peppers and cook (stirring often) until they begin to soften (about 3 min.).  Return chicken to pan and cook for about 30 seconds.  Serve immediately.

(Makes 2 servings)

We eat ours with flour tortillas.  You can use salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, lettuce and/or any other toppings you like on fajitas!  They're so tasty that you don't need many toppings, it's really yummy with cheese and salsa only!!!

(recipe taken from In the Kitchen Costco Way cookbook, one of my fav. cookbooks)

We had the fajitas last night...I forgot to take a picture.  They were scrumptious!!

If you make one of the recipes, leave me a comment and let me know if you liked it!!! :)

Our Week In Review!

My goodness, I don't know why I am having such a hard time updating my blog!  I'm really, really hoping I can stay on top of it like I used to!!  Here are some things we did this past week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! 

Mackenzi had a big celebration at her school last Wednesday.  They searched for the leprechaun, found the pot of gold, and had a party in her classroom!  She came home with this cute leprechaun hat!  The next morning on the 17th, the kids woke up to find a pot of {chocolate} gold and a box of Lucky.Charms.  They never ever get that cereal {because they only eat the marshmallows} so it was a real treat!!!  We all dressed in green and met Daddy for lunch.  Mackenzi helped me pack lunches for us all.

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 On Saturday it was Matt's 30th birthday!!  He woke up and opened his presents from us.  We got him some new clothes and a long-board skateboard.  He had mentioned a few times over the years that he wanted one, so I thought, why not!!  What better way of celebrating this huge milestone than acting like you're a young kid again!! :)  He had fun riding around the neighborhood.  Actually, I don't know who likes the skateboard better, Matt or the kids.  They LOVED riding around with him!! 

 {Jace}

 {Quinn}

 {Mackenzi...right before they wiped out}

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Saturday night, Rick {Matt's Dad} surprised Matt and Wendy {Wendy's birthday is the day after Matt's} with a SURPRISE birthday party.  We had lots of fun dancing.  Matt was SUPER surprised {he knew about the party for Wendy, but didn't know it was for him too}.  When we walked in, our friends were standing at the entry way holding a poster for Matt.  He was thrilled!!!!

Rick planned everything himself!  It looked awesome!  There was a martini bar {with an ice sculpture}, couches and glow tables, and food stations {Italian Pasta, Salad, Carving}.  It was lots and lots of fun.  My mom stayed with our kids...THANKS MOM!!!

 {Some of the girls...love these ladies}

 {Some of the guys}

{Matt with his cousins, Justin & Sarah}

Matty: I hope you had a wonderful 30th birthday!!  I love you SO much. 

{I didn't take too many pictures because their friend is a photographer and was takin' care of business!}

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On Sunday, we headed over to Dana and Kevin's church for Camden's Blessing Day.  He looked so handsome in his blessing outfit.  He was such a good boy during it!!  After it we went to their house for some y.u.m.m.y. food!!   

 {Isn't he just the cutest thing?}

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Yesterday, we spent the rainy spring day in our jammies ALL DAY!  I got a lot done on my Spring Cleaning list, we played lots of games, read lots of books, and played.  While we were eating dinner, Jace yelled, " A RAINBOW".  We looked out the window to see this....

 I don't know if you can see it, but if you look closely, there are actually three rainbows.  Coming from the big bright one is a rainbow that goes straight up in the air (very light).  There is another rainbow behind it!

The kids were so excited to see the rainbows!!

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Thanks for the comments on my "What's for Dinner" post,

I will be doing a recipe post very soon!!