Last weekend Keith was out and about when he found a newly opened thrift shop. Of course he had to stop and investigate. What he found was a gem of a place with lots of treasure inside at reasonable prices. We were in need of new bedroom furniture for the twins. I even reminded him before he left that if he found a decent dresser for a reasonable amount to buy it. Well folks he found a great deal! He came home with a nice dresser and chest of drawers made out of real wood for a whopping $15 each! Someone had been working on these pieces as projects because one was already stripped down to the bare wood but the other one still has the ugly yellow stain on it. My plan is to finish stripping the remaining one and painting them to match the kids decor. These are the before pictures and I will post how it looks after we are finished with it.
I am really into simple recipes here at home. With three kids ages 3 and 15 months old I am always busy and I try to make cooking as simple as possible. This recipe is from "Betty Crocker Easy Weeknight Meals" September 2002 edition. It is an all in one meal and very simple to make. It turned out pretty good. I did tweak the recipe a bit and the next time I make it I think I will do it differently. Here is the recipe and the meal of the evening. 1 lb. ground beef 1 bag (1lb) frozen pasta, broccoli, corn & carrots in seasoned sauce 1 can (10oz) condensed Cheddar cheese soup 1 cup water Macaroni & cheese flavored cheese topping or cheese-flavored tiny fish shaped crackers (if desired) Cook beef in 10 in. skillet until brown, drain. Stir pasta mixture, soup and water into beef. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover & simmer 5 to 7 minutes stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with cheese topping. Makes 4 servings. Now I tweaked this recipe a bit. I used 2 bags of the pasta/veggie mix and I added extra carrots (canned/drained) as well as 4 oz of cream cheese. This gave us more veggies and the sauce was creamier with the added cream cheese. The recipe turned out good but the next time, I think I will create my own garlic sauce and use individual packages of frozen veggies as well as cook my own noodles for it.
It is that most dreaded day of the week! Monday again folks. We are coming off of a good weekend! My 22 year old son got married on Saturday to my beautiful new daughter! You can see their picture here. It was a beautiful ceremony and they make such a great couple. Sunday my friend Kim come by to get her bed and dresser that she had stored in my spare bedroom. I was so happy about this. I have plans for the spare bedroom and for my attic room. I started cleaning out the attic room and trying to organize the storage closet up there. Of course we had to watch the Superbowl! Congrats to the Ravens! I think the best commercial during the Superbowl was the Taco Bell commercial featuring all of the older people. It was quite hilarious! Now, on to the music video of the day. Keith works the night shift at his job and that leaves me and the kids here all by ourselves during the evening. The kids and I are actually on the same schedule. We stay up very late and sleep most of the morning away. I always tell family and friends that we are on the Nightshift and that we don't wake up until at least noon and that I will have my phone set to silent until we wake up. To get to the song of the day on Manic Monday Mania! I thought that the song "The Night Shift" by the Commodores was perfect for today. (After all we are starting the night shift again tonight!) The Commodores wrote the song "Night Shift" in 1985 as a tribute to Jackie Wilson & Marvin Gaye. Wilson & Gaye were two famous R&B singers who died the previous year in 1984. It was their first and biggest hit obtained after Lionel Richie left the group. Here is a link to the video and the words will follow! Enjoy your own kind of "Manic Monday Mania" !
Nightshift - The Commodores Marvin, he was a friend of mine And he could sing a song, his heart in every line Marvin, sang of the joy and pain He opened up our minds, and I still can hear him say Aw talk to me so you can see what's going on Say you will sing your songs forevermore (evermore) CHORUS: Gonna be some sweet sounds coming down on the nightshift I bet you're singing proud, oh I bet you'll pull a crowd Gonna be a long night, it's gonna be all right on the nightshift Oh you found another home, I know you're not alone on the nightshift Jackie (Jackie), hey whatcha doing now It seems like yesterday when we were working out Jackie (Jackie, oh) you set the world on fire You came and gifted us, your love it lifted us higher and higher Keep it up and we'll be there at your side Oh say you will sing your songs forevermore (evermore) CHORUS Gonna miss your sweet voice that soulful voice on the nightshift We all remember you, oh the songs are coming through At the end of a long day it's gonna be okay on the nightshift You found another home, I know you're not alone on the nightshift
This weekend has been a weekend of Celebration for my family. I am pleased to Welcome my new daughter Josey Rowles to our family. On Saturday, my son David married his Texas Sweetheart! They make a beautiful couple. I am so happy for them. Please say a Prayer of Long Love, Happiness & Health for this beautiful couple. I am so happy that I have another woman in the family to help balance out all of the testestrone!
Yes folks, it is Monday again already! Some folks are fortunate enough to have a holiday today! Good for you! Since it is Monday and I am finally here with my computer all nice and fixed, I am jumping back into the swing of things! The last few months have made life difficult and I have been a bit run down. The twins were sick again, the holidays are always hectic and never "fun" as they should be it seems. My computer screen went out on me and well life was just a bit overly dramatic and aggravating for the final months of 2012. Now that it is a New Year, I am believing that things are gonna be better. One of the things that I tend to forget when everything is going wrong is that I need a little fun in my life or else I will go crazy. This throught process brought me back to the 80's and Cyndi Lauper! "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was released by Cyndi Lauper on September 6th, 1983. It is the single on side A of her "She's So Unusual" album. Here is the crazy video of Cyndi performing "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun". Enjoy!
Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
I come home in the morning light My mother says when you gonna live your life right Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones And girls just want to have fun Oh girls just want to have fun
The phone rings in the middle of the night My father yells what you gonna do with your life Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one But girls they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have--
That's all they really want Some fun When the working day is done Girls-- they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have fun
Some boys take a beautiful girl And hide her away from the rest of the world I want to be the one to walk in the sun Oh girls they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have
That's all they really want Some fun When the working day is done Girls--they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have fun, They want to have fun, They want to have fun...
I have been gone for a while. Lots of things led to this absence. The holidays were a big factor and you add in the twins getting sick and my computer screen crashing and it taking quite some time dickering with the computer company about warranties and getting my All-In-One screen replaced things have been hectic. I was without my computer for almost the entire month of December. I was about to go into internet withdrawl! I finally got all of the kids well and the holidays over and my computer fixed! Now, I am playing catch up. I will be posting the things that happened over the holidays, pictures and of course I am getting back to my Manic Monday Mania right away!
I have been away since October 8th! That is an entire month of no blogging! Things here on the home front has been bad. I got sick on the 9th with terrible allergies. I am not sure what caused it but even my allergy meds did not take care of it right away. We had a huge party for the twins 1st birthday on the 13th. The party was very succesful but very tiring to say the least. Of course the clean up afterwards was the hardest part. The twins turned 1 on October 19th and they had their annual shots as well as flu shots on October 22nd. Well to make a long story short they both got sick with the flu and RSV. Breathing treatments every 4 hours for both of them for several days and then they finally started getting better only to get worse again. It has been hectic. Keith is working 12 hour shifts 4 days a week and then a 9 hour shift on Fridays. When he is home he is sleeping most of the time so I am the one handling the twins (except during the brief weekends). On top of all of that, my Daddy was rushed to the hospital because of his blood pressure. It turns out that he had a series of small strokes. No major damage was done and they solved the problem with a medication change. It was scary to be called and told that he had to have an ambulance called to get him though. That is never good news. Things are winding down now and I hope to be back on schedule posting regularly. I have several pictures of the party that I want to load. It was a great time had by all of us. Have a great weekend!
