Stir Fry Recipe

We tried a new stir fry recipe last night and I had to share because I thought it was yummy. We had chicken breasts and a whole pineapple at the house that needed to be used so we googled some recipes and here is what we came up with.

Hope you enjoy!

What You Need:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing, divided
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen stir-fry vegetables, thawed, drained
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, drained
1/4 cup PLANTERS Lightly Salted COCKTAIL Peanuts
2 cups hot cooked whole grain brown rice

TOSS chicken with 1/4 cup dressing and hot sauce; set aside. Heat remaining dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add vegetables; stir-fry 1 min. Add chicken mixture; stir-fry 4 to 5 min. or until chicken is done.

STIR in pineapple and nuts; cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

SERVE over rice.

The only thing I thought it needed was salt and pepper ;)
We also didn't use the amount of hot pepper sauce noted above-use as much or little as you want!

*Recipe compliments of kraftrecipes.com

Summer Bucket List

School is about to come to an end and I am looking forward to a relaxing summer.

Hudson and I spent a few minutes outside this afternoon and it made me excited for more days like these.

So I decided I should make a Summer Bucket List so I can set a few goals for myself and my family.  

 So here goes:

• Become an expert couponer. Ok that may be a lofty goal, maybe I can get to beginner status?
• Make a Dave Ramsey budget and stick to it.
• Buy our own home.
• Redo a few furniture pieces for our new home.
• Have a weekly playdate with at least one of Hudson's buddies.
• Go to Little Gym once a week to use our Groupon!
• Read 2 books.
• Start a new reading plan on YouVersion and finish it.
• Go swimming once or twice a week.
• Break Hudson of his bottle.
• Have a garage sale and get rid of "stuff" Why is it, that as humans, we are prone to be attached to stuff that we never see or use?
• Continue reading teacher blogs for great ideas, download and prepare activities found.
• Visit friends.
• Take my husband to a Rangers game.
• Find a few new recipes that we all three enjoy!
• Cook ten times more than we eat out.
• Add prayer requests to a prayer journal every day.
• Go to at least 2-3 concerts for the Riverwalk Summer Concert Series.
• Finish the "Love & War" devotional with my husband.
• Give Hudson lots of love and read to him more.

I think I can, I think I can.

Does anyone else have any high expectations or hopes for their summer?

16 Months

Hudson,you are 16 months old!

I am a late getting your post up, but I can't seem to keep up with my to do list.

I really am not sure of your weight. My guess is around 22-23 pounds.

You are wearing 12-18 month clothes, but it is time to move up a size in jammies.

You are wearing size 4 shoes, but they are starting to get tight. I imagine we will be in size 5 soon (that's actually a good thing because we have found some great deals on size 5 shoes that are adorable and I can't wait for you to wear them!)

You wear a size 4 diaper.

You are SO very active! You are all over the house in a matter of seconds. You can get up the stairs so fast it scares me to death. You also that begun taking several steps by yourself. You are getting more confident about standing and walking on your own in general.  You always scare yourself and sit down so quick.

You have taken several steps all on your own (without prompting) so we are waiting for you to take off any time now. I think you are just so used to crawling and you do it so fast that you don't see the need to walk. It will come when it does and we will probably be running to keep up with you!

You still adore Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on tv and love anything lets you make or listen to music. You are learning some new songs like, "If You're Happy and You Know It". You love to clap to that song or for anything you think is exciting. 

You could talk my ear off, but I sure love hearing your sweet voice. You wake up talking and talk until the second I put you down in your crib for the night. I am going to attempt to list the words you say, but I know I will not get them all. So here goes: mom, dada, papa, mama (Mae Mae), Abby, non (Jon), Hannah, Nick, Heather, hot dog, hot, dog, no, that, this, more (sounds like mo), teeth, baba (bottle), bye bye, hello, hi, cheese, animal, up and probably more I'm forgetting. It's amazing how quickly you pick up on saying words. I love watching you learn new things.

You are a pig when it comes to eating! You are in love with your sweets and know exactly where to find them in the kitchen. You are more selective about what you choose to eat when we put things on your plate. I think most of it has to do with what you decide you want to eat at the moment. There isn't much that you put in that mouth of yours that you decide you don't like. 

You are still on the bottle for bed and nap times, but mommy has high hopes of breaking that this summer when I'm home with you everyday.

We haven't seen any signs of teething this month (that we know of). We think you are all done for a while. Hopefully we won't experience any more until your 2 year molars.

You are a good sleeper and have a great routine. You go to bed at 9 and wake up around 7. This past week you have been up earlier and I'm not sure why. Mommy is about to be home for summer and has high hopes of sleeping in until 7am every day. You take about a 2 hour nap every day too!

You have a few favorite things you love: blowing kisses, playing with a blanket and pillow on the floor, and fake snoring (hilarious). You love buckling yourself in your car seat or highchair. You also love electronics and talking on the phone. You think that every time Mae Mae's phone rings that Papa is calling and you say /hewo/ so adorably.

You are so fun to be around and keep us quite entertained. Mommy and daddy love watching you grow everyday and are amazed at how smart we think you are. You are always surprising us with new things. We are thankful for you and the joy that you bring us. We love you baby boy!

My Little Cuteness

Not much to say, just wanted to update with some pictures of my little cuteness because he melts my heart. He is also hilarious and ornery too.

Enjoy!

Someone is obsessed with brushing teeth. He could carry around the brush and paste all day long if I let him. 

A Special Weekend

This weekend we had a lot of fun celebrating a special sister-in-law and aunt in our life!

We went to Stillwater to celebrate Cassie's graduation! GO POKES! 

We are so proud of her and so glad that the family got to get together and celebrate her! 

I love this picture of Katy and her grandpa! The kids got passed around during the ceremony to keep them happy and they all did great! 

Ha! This picture is adorable! It looks like they are in conversation about something. 

Isn't she so cute?! 

Cassie and her parents (my in-laws). I know they are proud of her too! They threw her a cookout on Sunday to celebrate her graduation. We had a yummy OSU cake and had a good time just being together as family.

This picture also cracks me up! Hudson was apparently intrigued by Cassie's cap. 

Sunday after the cookout, Hudson and I both took naps (there is just something about Sunday afternoon naps that can't be beat). Sunday evening all of my family got together to celebrate Mother's Day as a family and say thanks to our mom. We love her very much and are thankful to have her to call mom. We are also thankful to have her as Mae Mae too. She is very special to Hudson and he sure does love her.

We hope that all of the mamas out there feel loved and appreciated, not just on your special day, but every day. You have one of the most important jobs in the world! And I'm thankful to say that I get to do that job too! I love my little Hudson and pray that God equips me to be the mother He calls me to be!

Teacher Appreciation

I don't talk about my students much on here. Mostly because it's hard to do both, school and family, on one blog. I've debated about making a teacher blog (they are SO popular right now!) to share all of the great things my kids do each day, but that would just be one more thing on my to do list! I'm having enough trouble these days keeping up with this one, so I think I'll hold out for a while.

Anyway, I said all of that to say this: It's Teacher Appreciation Week and I feel so blessed. I really don't need a week of being celebrated. Seeing my kids smile, getting their sweet hugs and notes, and watching them grow over 180 days of school is rewarding enough for me, but this week I've been so blessed by each one of them. They put together this huge basket for me to say thank you and it is so sweet! It has my name on embroidered on it and it's full of my favorites: chips and salsa, peanut m&m's, OSU things, Real Simple, gift cards to my favorite places, etc.

I told my students today that I was going to keep them forever and that they couldn't go to first grade. They thought that was hilarious. Apparently I am quite the jokester?! That's such a weird word.

Anyway, I'm not trying to toot my own horn (I'm nowhere near perfect) I'm just saying that I work with 25 incredible and unique students and 40 or so wonderful teachers and I feel so blessed. What could be better?!