Updated Pic & Weekly Menu

This week has been good.

Like full of love from friends, family and my hubs. Which is always good. ;)

I had the chance to celebrate my birthday, AGAIN. My girlfriends had planned a birthday dinner before the holidays, but it had to be rescheduled, so we were able to go out this week.

They gave me a wonderful spa gift card and then took me out for a very fun dinner.

I tell ya, after two very special birthday dinners, I feel so loved and so celebrated. Between my family and friends I have been totally spoiled...and I love it! :)

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A few of you have asked about our bunny, Mocha. She's doing great. After we had her "fixed" she chilled out a lot and became much more cuddly. We rarely ever close her cage. She has free roam of the house, but really never leaves the playroom. She goes from under the craft table to her cage and that's about it.

She'll cuddle with anyone willing to give her treats. She prefers quiet, but occasionally will come out when the boys are playing in the play room.

Personally, I like her when it's quiet and she wants to snuggle. :)

Sometimes I wrap her up in my sweater. She likes it.

 Other than that, we're back to our normal schedule of school, playdates and homework (yuck!). It's been particularly warm here, which I'm not complaining about. I'll do 70's any day of the year! But when the rest of the country is dealing with freezing temps and snow and we have on shorts and tank tops...

Well, we just smile and say, "Thank you God!"

Tonight, we enjoyed dinner... fireside. It was beautiful.

Okay, on to this week's menu...

Monday: Mexican Chicken
(Brian bought a rotisserie chicken today, so I need to use it by tomorrow)

• Mexican chicken - I simmer a can of black beans, a jar of salsa and a can of corn and an envelope of taco seasoning together on the stove. Once they are warmed & combined, I add chopped Rotisserie chicken. Then serve over yellow rice and top with shredded cheese.

Tuesday: Meatball Subs

• Brown meatballs in a skillet then add to a Crock Pot with a jar of good quality marinara. Let simmer on low for as long as you wish - preferably 4 hours at least.
• Cut open sub rolls, lightly butter and lightly toast.
• Place hot meatballs inside toasted sub rolls and top with Provolone cheese.
• Optionally: broil subs in oven to melt provolone cheese until bubbly.

Wednesday:  Chicken Ceasar Salad

• Bake chicken in oven (salt & pepper, olive oil, 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes)
• Cut into thin slices
• Take lettuce, sliced chicken, croutons and place in tupperware with lid. Drizzle with Ceasar dressing and place lid on tupperware. Shake vigerously to distribute dressing.
• Dump on plate and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Thursday: Turkey Sausage Jambalaya

• Thinly slice turkey sausage links (I use Pepperidge Farms)
• Brown sausage in frying pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil
• Cook Zatarian's Jambalaya boxed mix according to directions
• Add sausage according to directions

Friday is usually frozen or take out pizza along with a big salad. I don't like to cook on the weekends and I totally include Friday on my "weekend" schedule.

I'd love to hear from you if you are using my menus to help plan your weekly meals.

Hope you all have a great Monday! It's a fresh new week, full of possibilities and wonder! :)

Christmas Re-cap

I'm back!

I took a week (or two) hiatus from the blog to enjoy every last second of the Christmas season.

Days and nights are running together without school to keep us on schedule, but boy has it been fun.

And fortunately for me, the excitement doesn't end on Christmas. I get to celebrate my birthday 4 days later.

This year was one of my most favorite birthdays ever.

The boys woke me up in bed with Starbucks and handmade cards. 

After attending church, I headed out to the mall to hit some after-Christmas sales with gift cards in hand. Then we had a super fun dinner with my sweet friends, Claudia & Alexis and their hubbies.

Check out these amaze-fest shoes Claudia gave me for my birthday!

We went to a Speakeasy Supperclub for dinner. It's hidden inside an apartment complex. When you arrive you have to knock on the door and tell them the password for the night!

This is Brian knocking on the door to the speakeasy.

We had such a great time. Good thing I wore comfortable pants because after everything I ate, I'm pretty sure I gained a few pounds. But it was SO worth it! My 38th year is off to a wonderful start.

And to re-cap Christmas, I created this quick video. I hope you had a fantastic Christmas and I wish each and every one of you a very happy New Year!
  Heckman Christmas 2013 from Stacy Heckman on Vimeo.

Thanks for reading my blog this year. I hope to see you back here real soon.

Cheers!

One Final Birthday Post

This weekend was the finale to the boys' week-long birthday celebration.

Both sets of grandparents and their Great Grandfather were able to make it into town for the special occasion; which makes me well up with tears just writing that. We are so incredibly blessed to have our family living so close by and we don't take it for granted for even one second. The boys felt so loved and so important all day. It was beautiful.

Of course, there were plenty of gifts to be opened...

 How funny is this t-shirt Payton got from his grandparents??

It says, "It takes a lot of skill to be this awesome."

 And this little shark hoodie that Parker got from his grandparents is also so adorable!

 And what birthday would be complete without Play Doh, Elmo and Legos?

Parker kept trying to feed his lollipop to Elmo. It was so funny!

 Another favorite of the day was a magnetic dart board that my Dad got Payton. Everyone played with it all afternoon.

"High five Nana!"

The guys grilled out burgers and hot dogs...

Of course Parker's eyes are closed in this picture. Grrr...

And then it was time for cake & ice cream!

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday Payton & Parker... happy birthday to you!"

Blow out the candles & make a wish!

My sweet birthday boys.

Our neighbors were even able to make it over for some birthday cake.

There was a lot of love going around that day...

 

Again with the closed eyes Parker? Come on... :)

What a blessing these boys are.

They make our lives so rich. So filled with love. So fun.

Happy birthday Payton & Parker!!!

Birthday Recap & New Year's

Having your birthday 4 days after Christmas has it's pro's and con's.

When I was a kid, I didn't like it because kids were always traveling for Christmas and it was difficult to have a birthday party. Plus, I could never bring in cupcakes to school on my actual birthday because we were always on Christmas break.

Fortunately, my mother also has a December birthday and could empathize with me, so she always made sure my birthday was a super special day and totally set apart from Christmas.

Now, I can see the "pro" to having my birthday so soon after Christmas... it always keep me from experiencing the "post-Christmas blues." Because the minute Christmas is over, I start looking forward to my birthday! Brian jokes that if the Christmas decorations aren't down by the 26th, something's wrong with me.

I think it took Brian a few years to realize how important birthdays are to me (in fact, I think he's still trying to figure out how to appease me on this topic), but he does a good job of making the day really special for me.

This year, I woke up to both boys wishing me "Happy Birthday Mommy!" and homemade cards, gifts and other wrapped goodies sitting on the coffee table. Of course, being only a few days after Christmas, Parker was eager to rip into the presents, confident that one of them was surely for him.

Sadly for him, all the gifts were indeed for me. :) Including this beautiful card that Payton made:

The pocket that says "Look in here" contained a handmade necklace out of yarn with the letters "I love you" on it. Melt. My. Heart.

 I was fortunate enough to spend most of the day doing whatever I pleased, including shopping, a lunch out and then dinner with our friends Chuck & Monta.

They were so sweet to get me my all-time favorite chocolate cake from a local Tampa bakery. YUM-O!!

It was a wonderful day filled with family and friends.

Now for a little New Year's Eve re-cap...

We went over to our neighbor's house for some hot-tubing, dinner & fireworks.

I got all "sparkled-up" for the occasion! I figure it's the one time of year that I can actually pull off sparkly nail polish. :)

The boys had a great time hanging with their friends, and yet still made time for a few hugs.

The kids ate grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, while the adults enjoyed grilled filets, asparagus and cheesy potatoes. Delish!

 Avery even made cute signs for the big night:

After dinner, we headed out back for some fireworks!

The big kids loved running around with sparklers:

 

And even letting off some Roman candles across the water!

Unfortunately, Parker was NOT happy with the loud fireworks. So once they were finished, Brian took him home.

He made it until 9 p.m. though! That's a new record for him. :)

I stayed behind for a little while longer with Payton so he could play some "Just Dance" on the Wii and then we both headed home.

I barely made it to midnight, but Brian and I did actually watch the ball drop and get our New Year's Eve kiss in before shutting everything off at 12:03.

The next day was so perfect.

We woke up to a beautiful crisp morning, just right for staying in your jammies and drinking lots of coffee.

Brian made pancakes for breakfast, which were really good.

Then we lazed around the house playing with toys, enjoying each other and relaxing. 

Parker took a nice, long nap (making up for the night before no doubt), and then we all headed to the park on our bikes.

Of course we had to stop in at Starbucks and refuel!

Then we hung out in the driveway, playing with some leftover "Pop-It's" (strangely, Parker loves these, even though their super loud).

 The weather was so nice, we stayed outside the entire afternoon...

Taking a walk around the neighborhood:

Enjoying the warm sun and cool breeze:

And feeding the fish at our pond:

It was a lovely way to welcome in the New Year.

Happy 2013 everyone!!!