My ABC's

A-attached or single: Attached...for 10 years this August

B-best friend(s): Tina, Madeline, Somer, Kelly, and I'm probably forgetting a few...I know it's breaking the rules, but it's too hard to just pick one.

C-cake or pie: Cake, for sure...although there are some really good peanut butter/chocolate pies out there. I'm just not a big fan of fruit pies.

D-day of choice: Saturday, for sure...I sometimes get to sleep in!!

E-essential item: Kleenex...I know, boring, but very true for me.

F-favorite color: Purple...right now at least, but it's always changing.

G-gummie worms or bears: Bears...the worms are just too weird and gross.

H-hometown: Clearwater, FL...born and raised.

I-indulgences: Periodic pedicures and girl's night out

J-January or July: January...July is waaaayyyy too hot!!

K-kids: 2...Phillip & Andrew

L-life is incomplete without: Faith and Friends

M-marriage date: August 14, 1998

N-number of Siblings: 1...older brother, Casey

O-oranges or apples: Apples...Red delicious, please

P-phobias or fears: Tornadoes

Q-quote: "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much"...I know it's generic, but I think it's a great one to live by.

R-reason to smile: Hearing my kids laugh...I know it's cheesy, but true and waking up on a Saturday morning and realizing it's Saturday and Chris is getting up with the kids...that's the best!

S-season: Autumn...I'll take cooler temperatures, a nice breeze, and long sleeves any day.

T-tags: Madeline, Susan, & Jennifer...some of my fellow bloggers.

U-unknown fact about me: I took ballet for about 8 years...I know, shocking, isn't it?

V-vegetable: Peas...I just love them.

W-worst Habit: Yelling when I get mad.

X-x-ray or ultrasound: Ultrasound...because there is no radiation involved, and the only ones I've ever had have been very happy moments.

Y-your favorite food: French fries, white chocolate, Coke icees...I could go on and on, it's way too hard to pick just one.

Z-Zodiac sign: Sagittarius & Scorpio...I'm right on the cusp, it depends which chart you look at.

If you've got a blog, post your ABC's, it's always fun to learn more about your friends.

My Pottery Experience

A group of my friends from MOPS went to our local pottery place recently for a Mom's Night Out. I'd heard about these places and how much fun they were, but I wasn't all that sure it would be all that fun. I was totally wrong!! We had a blast. It was a little hard letting go for those of us who have OCD tendencies, but just know going in that your piece is not going to be perfect, but it will be yours. Here are a few of my friends painting their pieces.

Crystal, Nancy, Liz, and Wendy

Summer & Autumn (Wow, how poetic!)

Alicia and Madeline

If you are not a good decision maker, this is not the place for you. First, you have to decide which piece you want to decorate - and there are tons to choose from. Then you have to decide what you want to paint on it. After that, you have to decide which colors and fonts to use. It's exhausting making all those decisions. But, my friends were great in giving me their advice as was the owner of the shop. Make sure to invite at least one really crafty friend with you when you go. (Thanks Autumn!!) I almost wish I went in and they said here, do this with these colors and these fonts. Luckily, I had read about another MOPS group doing 'Special Day Plates' for one of their meetings. It sounded like such a cute idea, that I knew I wanted to do something along those lines. But, there are so many plates, platters, serving trays, etc. to choose from. I got most of my ideas from looking at idea books and pictures of other people's work, but I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. I didn't want it to be for one specific child or one specific holiday, so now we have a special plate any of my guys can use for any special occasion.

This is the before picture, it's been painted but not fired yet.

And the finished product!

Post a comment and tell me if you've ever been and what you've made.

Another Fun Game

Okay, I found another one of these little quizzes to take for fun. I got it from a friend (thanks Jennifer), and I just knew I was going to fail. Science is totally not my thing, so I'm pretty happy with my C. Click on the link and try it out for yourself and make sure you leave a comment and let me know what you got! Enjoy!

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Recipes #1

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, especially easy dinner ones. So, I thought I would start posting some of the new ones I find in hopes of hearing about some of your tried and trues or new discoveries. Here's on of the newest, easiest, best recipes I've found - Chris and the boys love it!!

Sweet & Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Prep Time: 10 min Yields: 8 Servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin roast
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce, or to taste (I omitted this)

DIRECTIONS

1. Arrange onion slices evenly over the bottom of the slow cooker, and then place the roast on top of the onion. In a bowl, mix together water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and hot sauce; pour over roast.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours, or on High for 3 to 4 hours.

I got this recipe from Allrecipes, which is a great resource for all kinds of recipes. You can sign up for daily e-mails which contain a main dish, a vegetarian alternative, and several ideas for sides. Visit their site to sign up.

And no dinner is complete without a great dessert, thanks to my friend Sharon for this delicious one. They remind me of the old fashioned peanut butter bars we used to get in elementary school.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

INGREDIENTS

Cookie Base
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg

Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Frosting
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, stir all Cookie Base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan using floured fingers. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3. In small bowl, beat all Filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over cookie base.
4. In microwavable bowl, microwave all Frosting ingredients on High 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows.

I'll try to post more as I find them, please share or post your family's favorites.

I Know, I Know, It's Been a Long Time

I've really been trying my best to keep the boy's blog up to date, since I really think that most of the people who visit care more about what they're doing. So, I've been totally slacking in posting to my own blog. I also really have a hard time coming up with relevant things to write about. My mother gave me a complex about talking about the TV shows I like and what I thought about them (thanks Mom!!), so I've been hesitant to do that. Our lives have been a bit crazy lately, and I haven't had much time to visit or post to the blogoshpere. So, here goes a few random thoughts...

With that being said, I would be totally remiss and not a true fan if I didn't mention American Idol and its newest winner. David Cook has won!! And I'm so glad. I think the people have spoken and let their voices be heard. They didn't want what happened to Chris Daughtry to happen again. Thee were 97 million votes!!! And I'm proud to say that I was 5 of them. I had not voted on any other show this season, but I wanted to make sure that David Cook was not robbed. I was never a big fan of 'Archie' and wasn't really sure why the judges loved him so much. Anyway, enough about that...let's just say I'm super excited that David Cook won and I can't wait to buy his album.

My hubby and I just got back from a weekend trip to Gonzales, LA. For those that don't know (and frankly who would?), that's about half way between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We went there for a family member's wedding. My parents came here to watch the kiddies while we went. It was a great little get away. There was a big Tanger Outlet Mall right near our hotel, so we got to go over and do a little shopping on Saturday afternoon - after luxuriously sleeping in!! I got myself a new pair of tennie pumps at the Nike Outlet and a few things for the boys at Carter's. We didn't have near enough time, so there were a lot of shops we didn't get to, but I'm sure Chris is happy since that means I didn't spend lots of money. But, it was fun none the less.

We got to see lots of Chris' family that we don't get to see too often, it was great catching up with them. We got to see his cousin, Madeline who was our flower girl in our wedding almost 10 years ago! Needless to say, she's changed quite a bit. I think they were a bit disappointed that we didn't bring the boys (some of them have never met them), but they understood. Maybe we all will get over to New Orleans and/or Texas sometime soon.

I guess that's it for now...I'll try to post again soon before a month is up.