Teacher Valentines Gifts

Let's hear it for teachers! I honestly don't know how they do it.

They give their all, encouraging kids day in and day out, while doing their best to stay within the strict guidelines of teaching and testing that is required these days. They get asked the same questions over and over and over and somehow manage to give calm, reassuring answers even after the 10th time.

A lot of teachers spend more time with our kids than we do. They build up their self esteem. They help them navigate the rough waters of making new friends and dealing with hurt egos when some kid decides to be the class bully. They hug our kids when they fall down at recess. And maybe the hardest part of their job...they deal with us parents. :)

I am so appreciative of my boys' teachers. And so I wanted to make them something special for Valentines Day to show how much we love them.

First, I printed off this awesome free printable from Tatortots and Jello.












Then, Payton & I "made" some Valentine's cookies. (Really, it was the pre-made sugar cookie dough that I rolled out and cut into shapes.) But we did decorate them by hand.

 

Put a few of the cookies in a Valentine's bag (I also attached a Chick-fil-A gift card, because what says "Love" like Chick-fil-A???):

Then pack it up in a pretty gift bag and stick the printable on front...Voila!

Any teacher would love to receive a yummy treat like this!

One more thing before I go...

I had to share Payton's class Valentine's exchange mailbox this year.

Boy, we are SO far past puffy heart stickers and markers at this age...

He even attached a rainbow loom ornament to the top:

At least they're still exchanging Valentines. :)

Hope your Friday is full of fun & sweet surprises!

This Week's Menu

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm happy because I've officially said goodbye to my cold. Halleluiah! You never realize quite how good it feels to wake up feeling healthy until you suffer through a yucky cold or illness. I am ready to tackle this week head-on, starting with my crazy gym class this morning.

As for this week's menu, it's a lot of "easy prep" meals because we have a lot going on this week (do I say that every week? I feel like I do). We have golf two afternoons this week, play dates the two other dates and a fun little adventure planned for Friday. So, not a lot of time for fancy cooking, that's for sure.

Here's what I've got planned:

Monday: Soft Tacos with Mexican rice
This is just ground chuck or ground turkey cooked with taco seasoning (I make my own - it tastes better, promise!), with chunky salsa, fresh avocado, cilantro, fresh-grated pepper-jack cheese and Mexican rice served with small flour tortillas that have been slightly browned on both sides in a pan.

Tuesday: Ritzy chicken, Broccoli & 7-Up Biscuits
I've shared my Ritzy chicken recipe several times and although it seems repetitive, both kids ask for it every single week. So I try to only serve it every other week or every 3 weeks. But this week, it's makin' a comeback!
Here is the link to my favorite recipe for the 7-Up biscuits. If you've never made these, watch out...they're so easy and so addictive.

Wednesday: Beef Stew with Red Wine & Crescent Rolls
Here's the link to this Crock Pot recipe. It sounds very rich and warm, which will be good because Wednesday is supposed to be chilly and rainy bringing in yet another cold front. The recipe suggests serving it over egg noodles, so I am going to do that since I have 1/2 a bag leftover from last week. Keep in mind, one of the comments left by a reader said the stew only took 6 hours to cook and was very thick, so I'm going to alter the recipe a bit and cook it for less time.

Thursday: Leftovers
I have a feeling that between the Ritzy Chicken and the Stew, we're going to have plenty of leftovers. And I want to clean out the fridge before our little adventure on Friday (I'll share more later).

That's it for this week. This weekend's menu is already taken care of, which is both relieving and exciting.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Boys' Birthdays - Part 1 (and an update)

This week has been filled with many wonderful "Wow, I am so grateful for my family" moments.

It has also been filled with cold meds, Advil, naps (for me), early bedtimes (again, for me), and more Kleenex than I care to count.

We've celebrated both boys' birthdays this week...all week. It's been a non-stop birthday extravaganza around here. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the phrase, "But it's my birthday!" Let's just say a lot of rules went out the window this week. Half in part because I've been battling a cold which led to laryngitis and almost the complete loss of my voice.

But, let's focus on the fun things that occurred...

We kicked off the week on Monday with a small birthday dinner for Payton with our neighbors. We allowed him to go ahead an open his ONE gift. Yep, he got one gift from us this year. Are you ready to start judging me and throw stones? Because here's the gift...

All joking aside, I love this picture. Look at Parker's expression! Priceless!

We gave him an iPhone.

Yes, I hear your gasps.
Your "What? He's only 9! Why does he need a phone?!?" comments.
It's okay. I've come to grips with the fact that most people won't agree with our decision. And I'm working on accepting the disapproving motherly looks (I'm not great at accepting disapproval).

But, here's how we came to our decision:
1. No one in our household has an iPad or iTouch.
2. We do not have a land line for our house, so we've always used a 3rd cell phone to leave at the house with babysitters, or for Payton to use when he rides his bike to friend's houses that are out of our circle.
3. When we recently switched cell phone carriers, they replaced all 3 lines with 3 new iPhones. FREE! So, we've had this iPhone sitting in a box in our bedroom for a month now.
4. He's been begging for an iPad, but seems to be getting along just fine with his Kindle, so really he just wants an Apple product to be able to play all of the additional games/apps that his friends use on their Apple products.
5. I could go on and on with other reason, but I'm guessing you really don't care...

Did I mention I'm not good with disapproval? Guess I just wanted to justify our decision.

What it comes down to is that Payton is a really great kid. A trustworthy, hardworking, faithful kid. Oh, and we made him sign a 2-page cell phone contract, so just in case he goes awry, he loses all access to the cell phone.

Phew...okay, now that that's all out of the way, I can continue...

We had a really fun time celebrating Payton that evening and then of course the next morning on his actual birthday.

Cupcakes for all!

 Donuts for breakfast on your birthday? You betcha!

Parker & I joined him for lunch at school...which is Parker's most favorite thing to do (I think it has something to do with him being able to use a lunchbox.) :)

I love this picture. They were having such a sweet conversation.

Sadly, that evening we did not spend the night out at a fun restaurant celebrating his special day. Instead we spent it at team practice for his school's "Battle of the Books" team. It's quite an intense competition in 3rd grade. I won't go into all the details, but they have to read & memorize every detail about 8 chapter books. Then they test on the books, then try out for the team. The competition itself was very serious. No photos. No filming. No clapping. It had to be complete silence until the end of each round. They had judges from other schools so it wasn't biased... I'm telling ya... they take this thing seriously.

So, even though Payton's team didn't win, they did come in 2nd out of 5 teams, so we were very proud of him. Not only for making the team, but for giving it his best!

The next day was Parker's birthday celebration at his preschool. I brought in juice boxes, cookies and cheese (because that's how preschoolers celebrate) and read books to his class. It was so sweet to see the excitement in his face.

This is the sign outside his classroom

And then today (Friday) we celebrated Parker's actual birthday. Starting the day off with presents and the birthday breakfast of champions...donuts!

I'm fairly sure his favorite gift was a roll of Bubble Gum "tape."

 

I'm not sure what's in store for this evening, but we're going to try to make it fun for the birthday boy. And then the "big guns" come in tomorrow. You know...the grandparents! The boys are out of their minds with excitement. It's like a mini Christmas.

.....................................................................................
Before I go pass out on my bed for a few minutes, I wanted to update you on three quick things:

1. I'm already half-way through my new Jennifer Weiner book, and I'm loving it!
2. I didn't go to Target at all this week! (One week down, three to go.)
3. I had two days of really good meditation/quiet time this week. It felt SO good to be in the word just letting His truth fall over me like a warm waterfall.

Okay, that's all I got for today. I hope you have a fantastic weekend! I am happy to be celebrating my little boys this weekend and saying goodbye to this stinky cold. Yahoo for healthy bodies!

The "No Menu" Menu For The Week

Hey y'all! Popping in quickly to say sorry that there will likely not be much of anything posted this week...especially a set menu.

You see this week, my first born son turns 9 years old.

And then my "baby" turns 3 years old.

WHAT?!?! Somebody stop time for a moment, please.

They are 6 years and 3 days apart, so the first week in February is a bit of a circus around here...not that I would have it any other way.

As you know, I love to celebrate holidays and birthdays are a no exception.

But as life usually does, it happens to be a week full of other obligations as well. Battle Book practice for Payton one night, golf on two evenings, my Bible study starts this week...oh, and did I mention both sets of grandparents will be in town on Saturday? It's a week filled with fun, celebrations, new beginnings, and excitement.

So please forgive my absence here on the ol blog. I'll be back next week with lots of photos and stories to share.

Until then, have a fabulous week!

Baby boy's 1st birthday and Payton's 7th.

Parker's 2nd birthday and Payton's 8th.

An (Honest) Update On My Goals

Remember this post from just a few short weeks ago?

I laid out 4 goals that I wanted to focus on this year. Four goals which I thought were fairly simple. Achievable. Goals that would help ensure that I wouldn't look back at the end of the year and say, "Whoh Stac, you really blew it."

So, almost one month into the year and I thought I'd give you an honest update.

Let's just say...I'm kinda blowing it.

Not totally, but I have certainly "fallen off the goal wagon" since those first couple of pristine weeks.

Here are the goals, along with how I'm doing on each one.

1. Read more: I've read one book. One. And it was short.

2. Spend less. I was doing really good until I went to Target a couple weeks ago. I literally got a text from my friend that said, "This is your friendly budget reminder: GET OUT OF THERE!" She was right. I should not ever go into Target if I'm trying to stick to a budget.

3. Be more spiritual.
This one is pretty embarrassing.
I've completely blown this one.
Yes, I do still read my daily email devotional, but I have not gotten up early even once to have quiet time with God.
A friend of mine told me the other day that she gets up at 5 a.m. every day to have her quiet time. My reaction... "WHAT?! How do you do that?!" She very matter-of-factly said, "Deep down I know that 5 a.m. is the only time I will actually do my quiet time. So I just had to make it a habit."

That inspired me. Big time.

4. Be more appreciative.
This is probably the only goal I can say that I've been good about. I have caught myself several times when I would normally have lost my temper with my kids and taken a moment to stop and remind myself that it's probably more me than the kids that are causing my bad mood.
It has caused me to be a lot more appreciative of my time with them. To not take the long days for granted. Knowing that some moms would give anything to spend all day with their little ones.

So since I feel like I'm focusing pretty well on appreciating the kiddos, my next area to concentrate on (in addition to the boys) is my husband.

I read a great blog post yesterday about how as husbands and wives we need to stop and remember who we were before kids. Here's a quick snippet from the post:

Ladies, there will come a day when your husband walks in the door and you do not turn around. You will be preoccupied with filling up sippy cups and wiping booties. You will shout over the running bath water, “Hey! Glad you’re home.” But it won’t mean what it used to mean. It won’t be full of eager anticipation to spend time together. It will be full of expectations to aid in the demands of the family. “Glad your home,” will more properly translate, “Thank God for two extra hands to help me.” And “Praise the Lord I might get five minutes alone.”
Ladies, there will come a day when you spend every last ounce of yourselves on your children. The demands of life and the babies will come before any other priority. What little of yourself you have left at the end of the day will be used to crawl into bed before someone is awake to need you again. The thought of doing anything else after the children are asleep will sound impossible and your handsome husband’s happy smile had better mean he is willing to get up with the baby and nothing more. 
The husband that once completed your heart will be just one more person who needs you. The charming things that you fell for will go unnoticed. The daily grind will become expected.

The post was such a heartbreakingly important reminder that we need to keep our marriages a top priority. Especially when we have kids. I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to read the entire post here.

It certainly reminded me that I could use to be a lot more appreciative of my sweet hubby.

SO, in review... I'm not doing so hot with the first three goals. BUT, I am so glad that I have them written down. I am able to go back and read why I made them my goals. And what the purpose is behind them.

I am not feeling defeated.

I am feeling motivated.

And to help keep myself on track, here's my plan:

1. Read more: I just picked up a book at the library today by one of my favorite authors. It's called "Fly Away Home" by Jennifer Weiner. I am starting it today.

2. Spend less: I will NOT go to Target for the month of February.
OUCH! Did I really just type that?!?! Oh man, that's gonna stink. But if I can make it through the month of February, then I'll know I can do it. (I sound like a real addict here. Is there a Target support group out there???)

3. Be more spiritual: I start my new Bible study next Wednesday, so I know that will help keep me accountable. But I really want to start doing some morning quiet time. This is going to be very challenging, so please pray for me.
I want to start out doing two days a week of morning quiet time.
The kids get up at 6:30, so I am going to plan on getting up at 6.
Again, please pray for me that I can stave off the laziness and give God the time He deserves.

Thanks for listening.

I hope my honesty and desire to keep focused on my goals will help inspire one of you too!

Gasparilla Recap and This Week's Menu

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great weekend.
We took the kids to their first ever Gasparilla celebration. It was SO much fun, but man am I tired!

If you're not familiar with Gasparilla, it's kind of like Mardi Gras on the water. Boats of all kinds - from multimillion dollar yachts, to tiny fishing boats, to gigantic pirate ships - "invade" the harbor and throw beads from their boats to the hundreds of people lining the shore.
It's a very old tradition here in Tampa, one that many people take very seriously by joining pirate "Krewes." But for people like us who aren't really tied in to the history behind it, it's mostly just a fun way to spend the afternoon. Especially people watching. WOW... there was some great people watching!

Here's a brief summary in photos:

This is what a typical boat looks like. Packed with people throwing beads at the onlookers.

The kids (and adults) stand on the water's edge yelling for people to throw them beads.

This guy made some amazing bead catches!

Some people party like it really is Mardi Gras. This guy was passed out at 11:30 a.m.!

Then the big pirate ship invades the harbor, shooting off "cannons" and signaling the start of the street parade.

How many people would you guess are on this ship?!?

We had a wonderful time with our good friends who live right by the water and spent the night after the parade.

But like all good fun, it had to come to an end. And now I'm finishing up my last load of laundry and working on the menu for the week. Here's what I've got so far:

Monday:

• Chicken Nachos (Shredded chicken, black beans, shredded cheese sprinkled over Tostito chips and warmed through under the broiler)

Tuesday:

• Garlic Rosemary Oven-Roasted Pork Loin
• Oven-roasted potatoes
• Broccoli

Wednesday:

• Black beans & yellow rice (Goya brand for both - I follow the black bean recipe on the back of the can except I don't add as much water as they recommend)

Thursday:

• Crock Pot Chicken Parisienne over brown rice
• Green beans
• Biscuits

Friday:
Pizza & salad, or take out

Pretty simple week of cooking, which is great for me.

 I hope everyone's week is off to a good start!

A 70th Birthday, and Another Milestone...

Not many people will be too interested in this post, but for my online scrapbook purposes, I would like to include it. So, skip on to your next favorite blog if you don't care to relive my weekend at home. Promise, I won't be offended.

Okay, for those of you who are still here, I went to Orlando last weekend for a very special birthday party. A very special 70th birthday party. I have to admit, it's my first 70th birthday party I've ever attended. But I knew ahead of time, it would be a blast.

See, my dear friend Ashley and I have been best buddies since about 6th grade. We ditched school together for the first time in 7th grade. For a good reason, mind you. We wanted a Coca Cola. We were hot. We had just finished up P.E. in the blazing Florida sun and we wanted a cold soda. We decided it would be a good decision to high-tail it off school property and scurry behind bushes and trash cans until we made it all the way to my house... only to find the housekeepers car in the driveway. DANG-IT!

It's a long story, but we somehow managed to wait for the housekeepers to leave. Went inside. Made grilled cheese sandwiches. And enjoyed an ice cold Coke. AND we made it back to school without getting caught. Or anyone noticing that we were gone for that matter. Hmmm...I wonder how that happened.

Anyhow, this began a long, crazy, wild, hilarious friendship with my gal Ash. We cried to each other over lots of stupid boy drama. We supported each other through many up's and down's in our personal family lives. We helped each other navigate the unsupervised, rebellious first few years of college together as roommates. And then traveled with our other co-conspirator, Jenny, through Europe for three months.

Of course then we were in each others weddings, snuggled each others firstborns, and have had many, many phone calls over the years ranging from parenting, to husband/wife issues, to family and every other topic inbetween.

So needless to say, Ash has been there through it all when it comes to my life. And another person who has been along for the ride, is her sweet mom, Dewease.

She turned 70 last weekend. And we celebrated her.

(L to R) Ash, Dewease, Me & Jenny

It was a party like none other. Live music, great food, great drinks, a wonderful slideshow to commemorate what a great life this lady has had, and tons of friends and family there to love on her. I'm so glad I was able to attend.

Of course, since the party was in Orlando, I brought my little guys with me and we spent some time with my parents.

Nothing like waking up after a long night out, and having a fire going in the fireplace, hot coffee waiting for you and your kids out for breakfast with their "Paca" (my Dad). Spoiled? Yes.

Before we headed back to Tampa, my parents took the boys to their favorite spot... Lil 500 Go Kart track. They LOVE it!

Parker rides with my Dad. How cute are they?!?!

And Mr. Big Boy Payton, rides on the fast track by himself.

I couldn't even get an action shot because he was going so fast!

For me however, the biggest moment of the weekend came silently in the middle of the night on Friday. Somehow, someway, Parker lost his last pacifier. He went to bed with it, but couldn't find it when we woke up. Must have been the paci fairy!

So, the pacifier is gone. One more reminder that he's only a couple weeks away from turning 3 and certainly not a baby anymore.

It makes me happy and sad all at the same time.

I'm ready for the "terrible 2's" to be over. Yet a little weepy that there's no more "baby" in the house.

But I shall embrace this new chapter with excitement and look forward to the new phases that lie ahead.

And I will look back at pictures like these and smile...

This one is my fav.