Marching Towards Spring Share Cafe

lol Jackie....didnt yet...still waiting...its taking FOREVER!!! You know I have very little patience lol

Lauren...totally wanted to be in Hawaii last night...totally jealous of all of them on the biggest looser....its so beautiful. Just watching it on tv makes me relax. Did you see that mountain they were climbing...incredible.

Lorena - BEAUTIFUL!! Looks like you all had a great time.

Jessica - UGH!!! How frustrating. We're doing the whole re-fi process and it's been since August, still no answer, just requests for new and more information. And yeah, re-entry after vacation is no fun.

Jackie - Mitten state...lol

Lauren - Yay beach! Did you get your nap?

Headed to a boot camp class this morning. Why oh why?

Oh, found a new crock pot recipe: buffalo hot wing chicken sliders. Seriously yum, especially if you like a little kick.

Ooooh that sounds good. Love me some spicy. A place by our house has a buffalo chicken pizza... it's sooo ummy.

Jessica- Are they on Oahu? I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for 'em! Though since I won't be climbing any mountains (literal ones anyway) soon... probably not gonna run into them. Unless they power shop like I do when I'm there.

Donna- No nap. Bummer. Maybe next year.

Jackie- Yeah... I mean seriously, I have no idea how we compete. We're like um... I dunno.. lil' birth mark shapes or something... Redamax is down in New Buffalo I think... deeeelish. Only open summers.

Stacy- Safe travels!

Phew... back from the aquarium... gonna try to get some work done while the goobie sleeps...

Okay then Lauren - this one's easy...
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup of buffalo wing sauce (I used Franks)
2/3 cup of water
blue cheese dressing
dinner rolls (or regular buns)

Put the breasts in the crockpot. Mix the 1/4 cup wing sauce and 2/3 cup of water and add that. Low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours. Shred up the chicken. Put it on the buns and top with more sauce and the dressing. Super duper yum.

So jealous...love that aquarium!!!

That does sound yummy! I might have to try that. I've never thought to make anything buffalo chicken myself.

We have yearly passes to the aquarium... it's our... there's nothing else to do and it's kinda crummy (read below 80 or windy) out go to place.

not sure Lauren....dont think they said...it was incredibly beautiful wherever they were. There was like nothing around them but green mountains...unreal how beautiful.

I dont know Donna...think I am the only one in the world who stinks at crock pot cooking. I could whip up a huge dinner in the oven but give me a crockpot recipe and I totally flop....you know I cant NOT lift the lid....its like telling a kid not to touch something....my curiosity always gets the best of me.
I was thinkng of you the other day...did you see the picture of the girl on pinterest who put a months worth of crockpot recipes together and froze them? TOtally up your ally. She got gallon size freezer zip locks and put all the incregients, veggies and meats all together in one bag...froze it and when ready just popped it in the pot....awesome time saver.

Oooh Jessica, I wish I could be that organized! That would be awesome... prolly need a bigger freezer!

Hi girls,
Just a quick check in. I think I've been MIA way too long -- life is crazy busy right now with work, MOD walk stuff, other professional volunteer stuff, etc. So -- please forgive me that I don't remember one iota of what i've read.

Had a nice trip to sunny florida -- celebrating Kaelin's 3rd birthday ... and Kelsey's foray into her six months. Tough coming home though -- Kaelin is having a rough time missing her daddy. She sobbed and sobbed the first night home. And since then -- I've dealt with meltdowns, mouthiness and bad listening skills. ugh. Eleven more days till Dan comes home -- can't come soon enough! Then again -- i'm sure a whole host of other issues will come back into play since she has him wrapped around her finger.

Kaelin told me I was mean last night. Stabbed me in the heart, you know, to hear that. I had raised my voice with her pretty loudly while I was trying to get Kelsey to bed. Kaelin is so disruptive and won't stay in the living room while I take the baby back to nurse and put down. This is EVERY night since we got home -- meaning the bedtime process for both girls last about 2+ hours. Ugh. After i cuddled with her and explained why I yelled at her ... she then told me i wasn't mean. Such drama.

hope everyone's well. lovin' our 80 degree weather -- just the same as we had down south!

erin

Beautiful pictures Erin!! Ugh.....bedtime routines. Makes me tired just thinking about it. Maybe a special book or toy for Kaelin for just that time? I struggled with this with Ry and G when I would be putting E to bed. Hang in there!!

Laura - I so wish I could be that organized, and have the freezer space, and a second crock pot. And I do lift the lid....gotta stir stuff up. I think the trick I've learned is to put the chicken in there frozen. The juices and water help keep it moist then.

Lauren - totally lol on the "kinda crummy weather" clarification. Could apply here as well. Sigh....I need me some Maui time right now.

Survived another field trip, this one with fourth grade. Went to see Mainly Mozart. I loved it. The kids...some were good, some were not.

Jessica: I think you are not the only one..... you can add me in the category.... but it is because I am scare to leave an electric thing on while I am gone...... But that woman with the great freezer must have an awful day cooking ALL that stuff....So how is the moving going.....

Donna: I also thought of you today, while I was cooking my MIL Italian red sauce..... you can freeze it and use it with lasagne, pasta, pizza..... all you want...... it can be easily done in a crock pot......

Lauren: I love the aquariums, and don't know why my children also...... We don't have one here, just big decorative fish bowls at the malls .... V loves them.... specially Nemo.....

Erin: Poor dear Kaelin.... it happens the same here, I am always the bad one.... miss V always cries for her daddy when I have to wash teeth, take to doctor, dress up, wake up, bed time..... Lovely pictures.....

So I went to dr. yesterday, because of miss V sporadic rash, and the diagnosis: atopic dermatitis....... or extremely sensitive skin..... so he gave me a list of all the things she can not use..... I have to change everything here from her bath soap to the detergent, and all the "no" list I have to memorize....... hopefully she will outgrow it when she is 12 or 13........ So another thing to my list.........
So today S has no homework.......wooohoooo.... free afternoon, I think I am going to watch some TV...... and rest my feet..... I have soooo many things to do but I am not in the mood.........

Good afternoon.....

Lorena

Lorena - Sounds like a beautiful, peaceful afternoon. Enjoy! As for Miss V, we deal with that with Grace. Have to be very careful about what's next to her skin, and keep benadryl and cortisone cream stocked in the house.

Lorena: Looks like you had a nice WE too:) Your kiddos sure are getting taller:) I guess that's what happens. Still trying to wrap my head around that . . . sorry that your hubby forgot his license. Hmm, I almost got a speeding ticket on our drive home. I saw the police car though in the median and had slowed probably just a few seconds before he pressed the button on the radar gun. I pulled over to the slower lane as I saw his police car turning around in my direction. My husband had our car insurance info. ready to go too. There was another car going my speed or faster and he had slowed too, changed lines, and was right behind me! We were both waiting to find out who it was going to be, but the cop pulled up right along side the other car and signaled for him to pull over. Yeah, super lucky. It's the last hour of the trip home when it gets crazy in the car, so I tend to have a lead foot. Sorry about Miss V's rash. Ouch?

Lauren: Ooh, a beach day! How fun!!! We didn't get to do our beach outing this time, but hopefully next visit. Hope it was a nice time and that you got your nap. Wow, July is right around the corner:)

Donna: Thanks for sharing crock pot secrets:) I'll have to try.

Jessica: Congrats on your new home! Hope you close soon.

Liz: Hope your b-day was a good one:) I know, after awhile, it's just another year.

Erin: Looks like you ALL had such a nice time in Florida. You are beaming!!!!

P/T conferences went well. My 1st grader is doing well and his teacher loves his honesty. I guess he's generally the leader of his group keeping his peers on task:) Love those leadership skills. My soon to be Kinder kiddo might need an aide. I'm told that there doesn't seem to be 1:1 available (?), so I'm just waiting for the transition meeting. This program T and I are in is going well, intense, but learning a lot. Trying to clean the house on Thursday evenings as I can, so that I can actually enjoy the weekend. I'm making things very easy for my long-term sub. All she has to do is show up and I take care of the rest.

Eeak that rash Lorena sounds like no fun...hate rashes...never kn
ow what they are from can be scary. Maddies school calls me to puck her up for the slightest red spot on her...and she's so sensitive to. At least a trip a month to the Dr for a note saying its nothin and she can return to school.

I so would never have the patience for that mass cooking either. Way to much work.

HAPPY FIRST PARENTS OF PREEMIES DAY!!!! Love you girls to the moon and back. Forever you will all hold a special place in my heart. Xoxo

Awww, Jess....right back at ya!!

Lindsay - Sounds like an amazing program you guys are in. Yay!! Thinking we're going to have to make another plan for Summer for my E-man. His therapist said yes, social group would be SO helpful, however, she's unaware of any related to their group. WTH?

Ran around like a mad woman (after my 3 mile treadmill run) today trying to pull stuff together for the birthday party tomorrow. Started practicing on icing dragons for the cupcakes. Need a little work on that one. lol. I did take time for a mom's lunch out with some of my friends. Yippee!!

Hope everyone is doing well. I started tball practice this week with my team (I guess it's officially spring now). What a great group of kids, but they exhaust me There's something about thirteen 4-6 year olds that seems to extract every bit of patience and energy that I have, but they are completely worth it! They never cease to amaze.
Have a great weekend-
Chris

Fly by love and hugs again! Just finally got home, both flights were delayed, good thing on the second one because man is Lauren's hometown airport HUGE! I had to go from F terminal to C terminal while carrying a heavy backpack, and pushing a stroller. My legs are gonna feel it tomorrow! Gonna try to get all caught up tomorrow night, have the zumbathon in the early afternoon so prep stuff all day before it.

Stacy - Glad you're back safely. Have fun with the Zumbathon!!!

Chris - That is a LOT of work. Herding cats, I'd say. Have a good weekend!

G's last basketball game with this morning. They got blown out, but it was still exciting and fun. Now in full party prep mode. Ethan woke up this morning and said "Now my brain is really exploding with excitement!" I'm so happy he's so happy.

Hi! Lorena and Erin, love the pics!!!

I haven't been to the cafe in nearly a week, haven't really been on FB either.

I started weight watchers, restarted school, and have been outside all week due to this abnormally sunny and warm(80's) week. Have been trying to figure out a presentation for SYS to give to Pittsburgh's monthly MOD/M4B team meeting which is tomorrow...wait, Monday. The Pittsburgh/West Penn division is way bigger than our puny county walk, but I am extremely excited to go and talk about it.

I'll be back, the child has taken her infested diaper off, and is staring at me saying "Stinky"

Liz~ Never a dull moment huh??

Chris~ T-ball is so much fun to watch!! My nephew is playing this year (age 4) and I love watching them!!!

Donna~ Hope the party goes well! I can't wait to see pics of the big event....even though I'm not a FB'er! Will that crockpot idea work with frozen strips?? Our little league did a fundraiser with 10lb. boxes of chicken strips. Those would be great for sliders! Just wondering.....you know I'm "challenged" in the cooking department.

Stacy~ Glad ya'll are home safe and sound! I'm sure Elim had a good time. I hope he was feeling much better for the trip!

Lauren~ Nap??! That's my girl!!!

Lorena~ The pics are great!! The kids are getting so tall!!! I'm with whoever suggested to tell Miss V to slow down with her growing!!!

Lindsay~ I'm glad that the meetings went well. Sounds you're on a fresh start with several things right now. I hope that all goes well with the starts (and restarts!)

Our weather continues to be beautiful! Not quite as hot today which is helpful!! My day started at the tennis courts and moved to the baseball fields for another oh so entertaining t-ball game!!! Ansley went to play with a friend afterwards so I'm getting some SYS time!!!

Last night I chaperoned a 3rd-5th grade dance at our school. We had SO MUCH FUN!!!! Ansley was a bit leary of going because she didn't know "how to dance", but I told her that nobody would make her dance at all. After seeing some of the wacky moves of her friends (and her mom), she decided to jump in a give it a try! She loved it!!! After 2 1/2 hours of dancing....we both went to bed and slept VERY WELL all night long! Love spending some fun time with my girl!

Tracy - That was so nice of you to chaperone the dance! I'm so glad that you gals had a good time and that your girl danced too:)

Donna - I'm glad your kiddo is excited! Speaking of summer stuff/social group, have you checked out the YMCA? When I was in San Diego, I stopped at a place called Small Talk Speech Therapy curious to know if families from out-of-town could stop in and keep up with therapies while on vaca. The receptionist told me about a program with the YMCA for kids with ASD. Maybe that could be something?

Stacy - Good to know that you got home safe. Only been to that Chicago airport once. Busy, busy, busy.

Liz - Good luck with your presentation Monday! You are one busy lady!

Urgh, laundry almost done. I'm staring at the fridge trying to figure out what to do for eats dinner. We drained our pool last night. It's been 9 years. Almost filled up. It's getting warm again here and I want to jump in, but have to wait for the chemicals to be right. The pool is the only way we make it through the summer months.

Stacy- Yeah, it's about half the size of the actual city. I think it has it's own zip code.

Lindsay- Ooooh summer and pool sounds fabulous!

Tracy- Did you make sure all those kiddos stood a balloon's width apart

Chris- Nice to see ya 'round the cafe!

Donna- Sweet squeezin' a ladies lunch in... otherwise I don't know how you could have made it through that day!

Got up super early this morning... went hiking... ate at a new restaurant and now am going to totally veg with the Cappuccino Cream Puff that we got to go and a book I picked up at our garage sale. Aaaaahhh.

Lorena: Aww, poor Miss V! I have pretty sensitive skin too, I've got to use free and clear detergents and unless it's bath and body works soap, scent free. I hope you enjoyed your free afternoon!

Lindsay: Yay for good parent teacher conferences, and a very informative class!

Donna: How did the party go?

Chris: Aww, t-ball! That definitely sounds exhausting!

Tracy: He's acting fine, but still has a fever averaging 100, 24 days and counting now for that, ugh. He's gnawing on his fingers but I see no signs of a tooth popping through and it seems like an awfully long time for a fever. Aww, little kids dancing, so cute!! Sounds like so much fun!

Lauren: But it is also one of the coolest airports I've been to! They had an airplane on display there, and the lights in the walkway to the gates in C along with all the art was neat! Sounds like a nice Saturday!

So we had our Zumbathon today and it was huge! We raised almost $1,400 for our team with very little work to put into it, so crazy and awesome! My muscles are sore now, I only lasted about half the time then their moves got too complicated for me. Gotta say though, the girl with a prosthetic leg was shaking it, way better than me!

Almost caught up I think...

Stacy, prosthetic leg? Go her! I'm glad your zumbathon went fantastically!

Lindsay, birthday was good thanks for asking, and glad your trip went well.

Lorena, we just went to the pediatrition on Friday due to a skin rash. He said it was some kind of virus that will run it's course in about a week and it's not contagious.

Tracy, Hooray for tennis and tball! And 3rd&5th graders, sounds fun!

Lauren, Any kind of creampuff sounds good to me. I would love the opportunity to go hiking in Hawaii....Ooooh la la, the smells, sights, and sounds ae awesome I'm sure.

Donna, how'd your party go? I saw some pics on FB, looked awesome!

Well I've been tying to get business to support teamtoriandmikey and so far I got nothin. I haven't made me personal goal yet and it seems as tho my family...husband included has given up on my team...my memories...my kids. I'm a little bummed about that. I'm doing a fundraiser at my local mall on Saturday, I've got a table for 5 hours, and enough things on my table to last me at least that long. We will see how that works, I suppose.

Weather's rainy and groggy...boo.

bbl...

Stacy- That is a ridiculously successful Zumbathon! Sorry to hear Elim is still fighting that pesky fever. Egads.

Liz- It can be disheartening to not make your goals... we're strugglin' this year too. Every lil' bit counts tho! I'm excited to hear how the mall thingie goes!

Got to read book for about 5 minutes before goobie woke up. It was a great 5 minutes. Off to get some work done and make the most of the time that I've stuck Micah in front of a movie.

Lauren~ No need for the balloon width because at that age....plus---no slow music!!!

Stacy~ Maybe he's just a hot kinda guy.....at a very early age.

Liz~ Bummer on the rough go of fund raising. It's tough to ask for money then the economy stinks! Good luck!!

One more week till SPRING BREAK!!! I must say that I'm super excited that it's coming soon and better than that....my class doesn't meet this week!!!!!!!

Good morning!!

Party went very well. Yay!! Cupcakes were a hit, as were the swords and shields.

Stacy - Congrats on an awesome fundraiser!!! Fabulous!!

Tracy - What a fun night! Five more wake-ups for us too.

Liz - We're struggling a bit with the fundraising this year too. But most of my friends know our poker tournament is coming up, and will wait until then. You know, only one person in my immediate family ever donates to our team? So frustrating especially because they lived it with us. You'd think they could throw ten bucks in the pot, but no.

Lauren - Five minutes is better than nothing!

Now that the birthday party is over, I need to get Easter together. We're going to be at my Dad's in AZ, and with the kids out after this week, it has to all get done by Friday. YIKERS!! BTW...little man's official birthday is today, so Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Lindsay - I'll have to check at our YMCA. Thanks for suggesting that. We're members, and our Y is fantastic. I just hadn't looked for anything there yet. Never even thought of it.

Tracy - Yay, Spring Break coming you way soon:) That's nice that your class doesn't meet. A break from higher ed. learning too:)

Stacy - Awesome job on the Zumbathon! Those are some impressive totals:)

Lauren - Yummy, cream puff! Hope it was delicious and got some stuff done:)

Liz - I'm sorry that folks aren't rallying around your team right now. If it helps, my husband leaves all the fundraising stuff to me and my parents don't walk at all. Our team is just the four of us. We might not make our goal this year and that's a bit disappointing, but again, it's okay. ANY funds raised are meaningful and helpful. Good luck at your event at the mall:) We're having a little garage sale next Saturday to hopefully bring in a few more bucks and get rid of some unwanted items.

Only nine more weeks of school in our parts . . . lovin that!

Donna glad the party was a hit...Happy Birthday E-man!!!! xoxo

Tracy that is so cool....I love getting to watch them in action with their friends and their enviroment. How cute. Glad you ladies had a blast.

Stacy...yeah!! Glad the zumbathon was a hit. We have ours this Friday....hoping for it to be our best one. Last years we raised a lot but it lost a little fun from the year before...but think it was just the place we had it in...little to strict. This year we have pretty much free range so keeping fingers crossed. Good for you girly!!

Happy Birthday Ethan!! Glad it was a super fun party!

Jessica- !!!!!!!!!!! If you don't know what that's about ladies... you haven't read her blog!

Lindsay- Wow, I can't believe school is winding down already!

Tracy- I'm joinin' ya next week for Spring Break... faculty are just as stoked as students! Though I foresee myself working through some of it.... booo.

Ok seriously, why bring your kids to the park if all you're going to do is yell at them "Stop running! You'll be on time out." Isn't the park where you WANT your kids to run?! It was the craziest request because of course the kids got put on time out like 4 times (at least she was consistent!)... because kids can't NOT run at park.. it's in their DNA. Rant over.

Love you Lauren!!!! THank you SOOO much for your kind words....cant really even believe it myself yet. Drs today...wish me luck!!!