Busy, Busy, Busy

This week flew by so fast, I really can't believe it's Saturday already. Here's a quick recap, in list form of course, because I'm a list kind of girl.

Monday: volunteering in the classroom and babysitting friends and cousins. Pie called home at 5:20 to see if he could invite one of his out-of-town colleagues over for dinner with us. Ummm, no. Sorry. You can't. Leftovers were on the menu and the house looked like we had 4 extra little people over all day.

Tuesday: more babysitting of same little people. I agreed that the colleague that couldn't come over yesterday could come today, so I'm cooking and cleaning today also. And a meeting with Kevin, the investment guy Pie wants us to work with, in the afternoon. Oh, and instead of 1 colleague, it's now 3! Yay! The more the merrier!

Wednesday: Start preparing for a small fundraiser I do at school. We sell raffle tickets at the school's pasta night. The winners get to eat lunch with their teacher on Friday. Last year I did it with 2 other ladies, this year it's just me. I didn't realize how much work it actually was. I got a friend to help sell tickets Wed night and then rushed over to Drew's Pack meeting.

Thursday: Pulled raffle tickets, took Edie to gymnastics, created invitations for the winners, and delivered them to the classrooms.


Friday: I was at the school all day, setting up, serving and then cleaning, but it was worth it. The lunch went really well. The teachers are all such good sports to eat a hot dog with their kids when probably all they want to do is have a break for half an hour. And the kids think they are so lucky to eat a special lunch in the teachers' room. Dean got to eat with his speech teacher whom we both love. (No, I did not rig the results. He won fair and square!)

Saturday: Not much.

Easy Jambalaya with Beans

Thursday night I did something I've never done before. I made up my own recipe for dinner, and everyone ate it! And only one ate it slowly with lots of gulps of milk to wash it down!

OK, well, um... you caught me in a little white lie. I didn't exactly create this recipe. I took 2 that were kind of similar and combined them. Don't rain on my parade. I'm quite proud of myself.

Here is my masterpiece for you to enjoy. I wish I had a picture to show you. I know that always makes trying a new recipe easier.

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Easy Jambalaya with Beans

½ c. chopped onion
½ c. chopped green pepper
½ c. chopped celery
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

Sauté vegetables in oil until crisp-tender.

1 lb. turkey kielbasa sausage, cut into ¼ in. slices (You can use real sausage if you have a pork-eating family)
1 can (16 ounces) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
1 c. instant brown rice
1 c. chicken stock
¼ c. ketchup
¼ to ½ tsp. Tabasco sauce

Mix everything and pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. If liquid remains, uncover and bake 5 more minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

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I know jambalaya isn't a usually a casserole. I Wikied it and discovered real jambalaya is cooked for hours on the stove top and is the result of the Spanish explorers bringing paella to the New World and the French Creoles modifing it with ingredients they had. A nice bit of trivia, but I am a busy mother of young children. The Casserole is my friend.

We're all learning new things these days

The kids are in school, learning lots of exciting facts and figures. I decided to try and learn a little something new myself. Last month's book club book was a novel where the main characters were quilters and it piqued my interest. By the time I finished the book, it was decided. I wanted to learn to quilt.

I found a small kit at JoAnn's that had fabric and instructions for a baby quilt. And it was on sale! It took quite a bit longer than the 4-6 hours promised on the box, and I made a few major mistakes, but overall I think it turned out alright. Binding is difficult, but Heather has already pointed me in the right direction for next time (Thanks, Heather!).

Messy Fun 2008-09

Edie's preschool started yesterday! And really, it couldn't have come soon enough as far as she was concerned. Since the elementary school started 2 weeks ago, she pouted everytime the boys left for school and left her home with Evan. I was relieved yesterday when I was finally able to answer, "Yes! You get to go to school today!"

Edie also got to bring snack and a share yesterday and had a little trouble getting everything to fit into the stroller. I suggested she bring a smaller toy to share, or maybe just one, but to that she responded with a look that said I was the stupidest lady ever.

And of course, the real reason we send our kids to preschool: the teachers do fun and messy projects that I will never do at home. Edie jumped right in at the shaving cream table and practically kicked me out the door. Much better than all the crying at the beginning of last year!

She came home and announced she has a new friend to go with her old friends. It's going to be a great year.

It's been a year and a half

and not much has changed. Stripes still match stripes in Edie-land.

Check it out

New fabric for the dining room chairs. I was thinking about outdoor fabric and the lady at the fabric store convinced me to go for it. It repels moisture (think drinks at dinner!) and is fade resistant, not that I think fading will be a big problem in the dining room. She said it wears well, too, and instructed me on how to recover the chairs. It's terribly easy. I'm happy with how they turned out.

Spill away, children! Spill away!