Journaling

Ok, so I have 4 journals started, that I'm suppose to be working on, but never seem to find the time to do it. One for each of the boys, plus mine. I'm suppose to write on Sunday, but here it is 10:31 and I'm still blogging. So, I'm using a wonderful idea that I got from my friend Lindsey-I hope you have your baby soon-Rose! I have copy and pasted all of our posts into a Word Document and I'm going to print them and put them in a nice 3 ring notebook. Since I have an obsession with everyone having their own-memories, books, whatever-I'm going to print duplicate copies of the posts that are interesting to more than one of us. So, I'll have my book, Draven his, Brody his, etc. An added bonus to this idea is that I can print the pictures that we've included on the post and have it right there with the "journal" entry! I'm even including the random posts-80's music and Helping Hamburger, etc. because I decided that when I read back over my life I want to remember the place I was in, and that includes pinching pennies at the grocery store and setting up our new blog. Just an idea for you! And yes, I'm printing this one too!

Happy Birthday to You!

Today is my mom's birthday! She turned 39 again. We love her very much and are so lucky to have her close by...she's the best baby sitter I know '0) Seriously, she's a great mom, and Grammie, and mother-in-law. She is one of my best friends. Now we just need to find her a man!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Our Temple Trip

This weekend we went to Atlanta, GA to visit the temple. We went with my mom and the three boys-what were we thinking? The boys, Mom, not you! Anyway, we left Friday at 2:00 pm and came home Saturday at 4:30. PJ didn't take a nap the whole time we were gone, and Draven & Brody were less than delightful. I can't really blame them...I felt like kissing the ground when we finally got out of the car for good.

But. It was a wonderful trip. It always is when we visit the temple, and it's been too long since we took that kind of trip. My mom was able to get the paperwork ready for my grandmother, who died in July 2006, and I was able to participate in doing her work. What a blessing. Now maybe she's teaching my grandfather-he's stubborn and probably needs her help! We took pictures, as you can see, and I just didn't want to leave. I love being that close to the spirit! Plus, we finally got a family picture...

Draven Stakes His Claim

A couple of days ago Draven asked for a piece of paper and a pen, so I gave it to him. He's always writing something down-usually a list of movies he wants to see, has seen, etc. So, then he asked if he could have some tape; I asked why. He didn't want to tell me, but I gave it to him and kept an eye on him. He went over to his toy box and put this sign on it. If you can't read it, it says, "Keep Out, My Toy Box." He said that in the Little Critter books (some of our favorites), Little Critter has a sign like that on his door, but it says "My Room" instead of "My Toy Box." We agreed that the toy box belongs to Brody too, and when PJ gets older he can look in there too; it's only Mommy, Daddy, and any other big people that are not allowed.

Our New Piano

On Tuesday our new piano was delivered! It was actually my mom's piano, that she bought when I was a kid and taking piano lessons, but to us, it's new. The piano tuner is in the other room right now tuning it! Lucky for us, my mom was looking to clear out some space in her living room, so the piano is now in our dining room. We are thinking about started piano lessons for Draven-following the "every child will play an instrument and a sport" motto. He is still a little young, but our neighbor teaches and she is convenient and has good rates. So, we'll see how it goes for a couple of months.

He is already playing, as you can see in the picture. He picks a song from the Primary Song Book, looks at the words while he "plays" notes on the piano. He even sings along to his playing. I think it's really cute! I am even more impressed that he lets Brody play with him. They are such a good team.

Hamburger Helper Revisited

I don't know about the rest of you, but I practically grew up on Hamburger Helper. Their Stroganoff is one of my favorites; but I always feel bad serving it to my family because it has so much sodium, the preservatives, it's prepackaged, etc. So, I was looking in my favorite cookbook-Miserly Meals-and found a recipe for "Helping Hamburger." It is practically as easy as the famous Hamburger Helper, but I feel better because I know what's in it! I thought it was great and Draven asked for 3rds, but Pierce hasn't had it yet. I made homemade Chicken Tenders (also from Miserly Meals) for lunch today, so he's eating those instead. So, in case your mouth waters every time you see the little white hand man, here is the recipe...

1 lb. ground beef
1 cup uncooked macaroni
15 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 cup Onion Soup Mix (I used one package)
1 1/2 cups water

Brown hamburger. Drain the fat. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir to mix well, cover, simmer for 15 minutes or until noodles are tender.

Variations:
Cheesy-This is the one I made...Add 1/2 cup grated cheddar during the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
Mexican-Add 1 tsp. Mexican Seasoning Mix, omit noodles, and serve over tortilla or corn chips.
Stroganoff-Replace tomato sauce with 1 cup sour cream, and replace macaroni with egg noodles.

My grocery budget has been obliterated lately and I'm looking for more cheap AND healthy meals so if you have any, please share!

Team LDS

This past Saturday night, we spent the evening at the Smartt's home for what turned out to be our Team LDS Basketball banquet. It was a blast...it was almost like little league again. A few of the wives got together and got a few nick nacks for each member of the team. See the Smartt's link for details

We had to have a grand prize for the MVP of the league so I made a little speech about our premier player this season, White Chocolate, also known as Dave. I think we embarrassed him a bit, but it was all in fun. The idea is that we will pass the trophy on to the MVP each season. It was lots of fun, we had Hawiian Haystacks, with all kinds of yummy desserts! Great times! ~ Pierce