I am still here…

Want to know where I have been???

We actually got a good snow at our house!!!  It just doesn’t snow like this in Southern West TN.  What made this even better was that they weren’t even predicting it.  We woke up Monday morning to a winter wonderland!  That’s the BEST kind!  :-)  I do love to watch those big beautiful flakes fall though… 

Kids have been out of school the past couple days so I am behind in blogging… as well as a BADLY SCREWED UP ELBOW that is causing me insane pain.  I meet with the orthopedic surgeon Friday… NOT looking forward to that AT ALL!  The meds are not working and I can’t live with this pain any longer.  It’s impossible to do anything with my right arm. :( 

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I hope to be back tomorrow with some fun pics of our snow days.  Stay tuned!

Pantry Re-Organization – Step 1

As I have already mentioned NUMEROUS times… my word for 2010 is ORGANIZATION!  This goes to all facets of my life but especially my house!  I have been working HARD on  little things to help me achieve this goal. 

My pantry is a place that we spend a lot of time.  The kids are ALWAYS in there searching for something to eat (I do have two growing boys!!!) and I am always cooking or baking these days.  My pantry makes me crazy though.  It stays full most of the time so it is hard to keep it neat and orderly.  With that, I end up buying the same things over and over because I don’t know what we actually need.

I have GRAND plans for this pantry of mine… but am taking it slow to make sure I get it EXACTLY the way I want.  Recently I saw this idea on HGTV and it was a lightbulb moment.  Kendall just happened to have one of these on the back of her door (not being used) which makes it even better!

I LOVE having the baking goodies on there where I can quickly see what I have and grab something for an after school snack!  It is also great for putting small pkgs of peanuts, popcorn, and other snack foods.  Especially when you are down to just one or two things in a box.  It will really free up some real estate in the pantry to get rid of the box.  :-) 

My pantry is still FULL as you can see below but I was able to move things around where I can see what I have easier.  Gotta love that! 

P.S.  Now you can see why I am taking the pantry challenge!  ;-)

Meal Planner – Week of February 1st

I am still going strong with the meals.  :-)  We don’t do 5/5 out we do at least do 3/5 and for me that is success.  It has made grocery shopping easier and less expensive!

MONDAY:  Teriyaki Chicken and Fried Rice

TUESDAY:  Chicken tacos and chips with salsa

WEDNESDAY:  Pizza out (Memphis Pizza Cafe or Russo’s New York Pizza)

THURSDAY:  Mini Burgers with cheese fries 

FRIDAY:  Marinated chicken breasts with homemade mac n’ cheese

SATURDAY:  Eric’s famous spaghetti (we didn’t get to do this last week)

SUNDAY:  Our somewhere after church with my parents!  :-)

Last week I had mini burgers on the menu but we ended up doing chicken tenders with homemade fries instead.  I still think mini burgers sound GOOD so it’s on for this week!  Trying to decide if I should invest in the Big City Slider set… anyone have it?  Recommend it?

ETA:  We had the teriyaki chicken and fried rice tonight.  The kids LOVED LOVED the fried rice… ate it all and wanted more!  :-)

Oh Susanna…

I have been working really hard to cook more at home and eat up what we have in our pantry and freezer.  However… Susanna has made that VERY hard for me in the mornings.  I just CRAVE her cinnamon sugary goodness…

Logan has really started liking these cinnamon sugar twists too so I usually have to pick one up for him for an after school snack! 

I am serious it has to be a sin to eat them because they are just too darn good!!!

The kids LOVE the sprinkled covered donuts!  Although… Kendall’s favorite are the donut holes!  They just melt in your mouth…

I think I am getting hungry… and Oh Susanna’s isn’t open today!!!

Ice Storm 2010

We were so excited as the weather predictions started coming in of wintry precipitation… it kept changing but they definitely kept SNOW in our forecast… and quite a lot of it too.  They were saying 4-7 inches.  Now to some, that isn’t much.  But in West Tennessee… that is like a blizzard!  ;-) 

Unfortunately, they were wrong (AGAIN!)… we didn’t get snow.  But… we did get ICE.

These were actually before the second round of freezing rain came through… the ice was thicker by the time it was over!

This was when the tree limbs starting snapping due to the weight of the ice.  I was in the kitchen right inside the door when this came crashing down on the deck… scared me to death!

So nice to have a big strong hunky husband around to clean up the mess!  ;-)

Don’t worry… we did get some snow play in!  It just happened to snow a couple hours North of us so we hopped in the car to go play… those pics to come!