Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Best Laid Plans

So my menu plan has fallen by the wayside this week I think, at least partially. I've been having some stomach problems--well, I have had them off and on for a while, but lately they've been almost continuous and so finally yesterday I caved in and went to the doctor. She decided to do some testing for (among other things) H. Pylori to see if that's what is causing my problem, and in the meantime, she wants me to treat it more or less like reflux--so I have to follow the reflux diet which means no spicy food, no tomatoes, no caffeine, and the worst for me, no citrus fruit! I love orange juice so I don't know what I'll do. :(

Unfortunately a lot of my meals for this week include, what else, TOMATOES! So we are having a bit of a change of plans. Ugh. Hopefully once my test results are back everything can get back to normal.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Menu Plan Monday



It's that time again! :) The Rachael Ray chicken is making another appearance on the list and I am going to actually try to COOK it this week. We had to reschedule our beach trip and we are hoping to go down on Saturday so I have no meal scheduled for Saturday night. :)

Monday: fajita quesadillas
Tuesday: Rachael Ray Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Wednesday: Bobby's Goulash with garlic bread and salad. Thinking about halving the recipe because I'm not sure the boys will like it and if they don't I don't want a lot of leftovers.
Thursday: baked pork chops with Fresh Corn Casserole
Friday: C.O.R.N. (if we don't decide to go down to the beach early)
Saturday: at the beach hopefully!
Sunday: chicken fingers and fries

Mostly making pretty simple stuff this week, I'm trying not to overwhelm myself with making too many new recipes. :)

Saturday, July 5, 2008

A Story

Once upon a time in 2000, these two people got married.


Time went on and in July of 2001, July 5th to be precise, this happened:



He got cuter. :)

His birth was somewhat sudden for us. Having had no complications throughout my pregnancy, I was astonished to be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia at my 36 week appointment and sent to the hospital right away. Two days later Jamie was coming into the world via an emergency C-section.



He was teeny, teeny tiny at first. Weighing only 4 lbs. 9 oz. when born, he was down to 4 lbs. 4 oz. when we left the hospital. He swam in his preemie clothes, hastily purchased when we realized he was going to be a whole month early. Over time, he grew. By December of 2001, he was still tiny by growth chart standards, but I thought he was getting pretty big by Jamie standards. :) He took his first trip to Grandmommy's house, had his first solid food, and celebrated his first Christmas.



We celebrated his first birthday with cake, of course. Jamie had 2 cakes; one at each grandmother's house. Here's a picture of his second one.



Over the years since, he has grown and grown. I put together a photo collage last year that illustrates this so perfectly I felt justified in reproducing it here.



Jamie at age 6 (shown here with cousin Maddie) was a sweet child who constantly delighted us all with his intelligence and curiosity.



In this last year, Jamie has lost 4 teeth, made new neighborhood friends, done excellently with his 1st grade schoolwork, and continued to be the bright, loving, and curious little person he has always been. His interests this year have been dinosaurs (a long continuing interest), space (ditto), geography, and of course his Playmobil worlds. He's enjoyed playing games on our Wii and spending time with his cousins both in Delaware and Tennessee whenever he can. He's becoming more and more involved with the other children at church, including singing in the children's choir this summer. As we move on to 2nd grade work, he will be starting the new adventure of joining a homeschool co-op where he'll be learning with other children one day a week.

Every year with Jamie has been such a blessing and an adventure for me that I can't wait to see what this year holds for us. Happy birthday, dearest boy. I love you so much.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Solar System by Jamie


Solar System by Jamie
Originally uploaded by bafleyanne
Jamie really, really amazes me sometimes. He's so interested in space. I went into the bedroom to fold clothes a few minutes ago and found this (amazingly detailed) drawing on the floor. Notice how Uranus' rings are even going the correct way! He's a pretty awesome kid. :)


In case you're not sure, the labels are Sun (with solar flares!), M(ercury), V(enus), E(arth), M(ars), A(steroid Belt), J(upiter), S(aturn), U(ranus), N(eptune), P(luto), K(uiper Belt).

Chicken Karaage

Well the Chicken Karaage turned out really nicely last night. Even Jamie ate it with no complaints! I thought it was really good. Next time we have it, I'm going to try adding some garlic to the marinade...I think that will be even better! Just....remind me next time to NOT make something that is involved and has a pan full of oil in the recipe when my garbage disposal is broken. Ugh, cleaning that up was NOT fun.

Tonight's Shepherd's Pie is cooking up as we speak, and there's not much better as far as I'm concerned than the smell of onions and celery sauteeing in butter. Mmm mmm good!

Tomorrow we are heading to a friend's house and hopefully the beach on Friday....thunderstorms are forecast though! Cross your fingers, we'll be really disappointed if we don't get to go. :(