Pinterest recipes!

I have tried several Pinterest recipes lately and some have been super good and some not so great!  Thought I would share!  (Ummmm, I have a million posts to do like 3 groups of company that came in town, Addyson's first day of Kindergarten, house updates, etc, but this one sounded easy enough to get out right now!)

First, my fav has been the Chocolate Zucchini Brownies.  These were SOOOO yummy!  I don't think I would call them brownies though.  It was definitely more like chocolate cake.  There are 2 full cups of grated zucchini in there, just a 1/2 cup of oil and no eggs.  There is a yummy chocolate icing that you put on top and they were super good!  Sounds pretty healthy to me!  Especially for how yummy they were!  I kept it in the fridge and it was gone in a matter of days!  Kiley was in town when I went on my zucchini spree, so she got to taste not one, but 2 zucchini recipes!  Lucky her!  The kids loved it and Ryan said it was one of the best things I have ever made.  Score!

Second in line was the lemon zucchini bread.  Super yummy as well!  I made this for a brunch I went to with some Kindergarten moms in our new neighborhood.  Anne had 4 of us over for brunch one morning and while I did have both of my kiddos with me (their girls are either in all day Kinder or morning) it was super fun!  I brought this bread and everyone loved it!  Kiley also got to try this and she came in town the next day and she approved as well.  I will definitely be making this again!

Crock Pot swiss cheese chicken.  Yumm!!  I will make this again when it gets a little cooler, because it seems more like a cool weather recipe.  I really liked it, Ryan liked it, the kids were so-so.  It uses herb stuffing mix and Addyson was freaked out by the look of it.  And unfortunately, my super good eater Ben, is being affected when Addyson starts saying something looks weird.  He says, "Yaaaa, dat look weiiiiird" (as he laughs) and he won't eat it either.  I have been having to remind Miss Addyson not to voice her opinion in front of Ben when she doesn't like something!  All in all though, it was a really good recipe and I would make it again!

Cresent Chicken roll-ups- this one was good, but it has the potential to be better next time I make it.  You take cresent rolls and just fill them with chicken and cheese and bake in the oven.  I thought for sure Addyson would like this one!  You put the rolls with filling into a baking dish and put prepared cream of chicken soup all over it.  Problem was, there was about an inch of soup at the base of the pan and so that part of the chicken roll up was kind of doughy and gooey.  The rest was cooked perfect.  So, I think next time I would not do a full can of soup or possibly even omit this completely.  Maybe just pour a little over the tops or something, but not let there be an inch of soup in the dish.   Addyson did her usual squirming around on the floor "I don't like this dinner at all" routine and I finally got ONE bite in her and she said, Hmmm I like this!  This is good mom!  So, I think I'll try this one again.  Ryan was out of town for this dinner so I don't have his opinion.  Ben did not try one bite due to Addyson's scene at the beginning of dinner! 

Lastly, the Hawaiian Chicken.  Probably won't be making this again any time soon.  The recipe sounded good to me and maybe I had it in the crock pot a little too long (8 hours or so), but the chicken was kind of dry and it turned a not so appetizing color (brownish- just didn't look too good!).  The flavor was okay, but just not good enough to make again.  Ryan and I both agreed that it wasn't terrible, just not really that great.  I served it with rice. 

All of these recipes are located under my "Looks Yummy" board on Pinterest.  I would love to hear which Pinterest recipes you have made lately and how they turned out! 

Just a few pics!

Here are a few pics of the house I have on my phone. We still have lots of decorating to do, but we are getting there!

Where do the days go?

I have so many things to blog about, but honestly, I just don't have my computer out like I used to!  It's good and bad!  When I was working, I was on my computer A LOT.  Like obsessively a lot.  I was always checking work email and in between I would always check blogs, fb, etc.  I would find more time to update my blog because it was out!  Now, I don't have a designated "spot" for my laptop yet because I don't have my own office anymore.  So, I check fb and email on my phone but not so good yet at updating my blog! 

I need to do a house update post.  A "how we are doing with the move" post.  A Ben and Addy update post.  And posts about our fun summer outings.  But I'll just try and hit the high points for now!  Better that than nothing!

First, house updates.  Everything is going really well with the house (knock on wood right now!) The couch is here.  Yay!  (its pretty beat up, but again, that's details not the high points!) The painting is done (well for the most part.....need to call the painters out to repaint the half bath because I see some spots).  Decorations are being bought, but for sure not close to being done decorating.  It's hard to re-use old stuff because it had just the perfect spot in our old house and all the walls and spaces are different in the new house.  We did buy a big painting for our dining room last weekend.  I am excited to see it up on the walls.  We have never really bought much "art", its been more prints framed, etc.  But this is an actual piece of abstract art and it was so big it wouldn't fit in the car!  Excited to see that up on the wall- hopefully we'll get it this week!  Everything else is coming into place.  I am REALLY liking our master bedroom.  I got window treatments put up and we bought all new furniture.  I'm loving the way it has turned out.  Pics to come! 

Second, "how we are doing with the move" update.  Overall, things are going REALLY well up here!  We have met some very nice people up here, Addy has found some really cute little girls to hang out with, we have extremely nice neighbors (just got another plate of cookies tonight- score!!), Ben doesn't know the difference, we have plans for both nights this weekend AND we have a great babysitter!  All in one month!!  I went to a neighborhood "social committee" meeting last week and had some wine afterwards.  It was nice to get out of the house and meet some women in the neighborhood.  Our neighborhood is really great and they have events throughout the year.  The biggest is the Fall bash and they have a big band, tents, catered food and open bars.  Last year they even had buses to take people home and the party is IN our neighborhood.  Ha!  It must get pretty crazy!  There is a neighborhood book club, neighborhood dinner club, Women and Wine group, etc.  I'm excited to get more involved in those things!    On the flip side, it almost feels like it is "time to come home now", vacation is over, ready to go back to Texas type thing.  It feels like we have been here and had fun, but it just feels like we aren't really staying here and we are!  Nana and Parker were here this last weekend and it was hard to see them leave.  I felt like we should all be going back and meeting up for Sunday dinner and having the cousins play.  But we aren't a part of that anymore and it's kind of sad.  They are meeting up for Sunday dinner and having cousin play dates without us (which of course, I am so glad they are!!), but it just feels weird knowing about it and knowing that we are not and can not go!  I am sure all of that will pass and I'll get used to it, but for now, it's a little strange and sad!  My mom and dad are coming in a week and a half, so that does make it easier when we have people coming in often!  Right after that Jennifer and Tammy are coming with the kids are we are really looking forward to that as well!

Ben and Addy update.  They both are doing great.  It was hard for Addy this last weekend when Nana and Parker left.  Poor thing.  It's really becoming real to her too.  I heard her crying in her room the other night and she was saying how she really wanted to move to Kansas but now she just wants to go back to Texas.  That just BROKE my heart and put this knot in my stomach that she was feeling that way.  Poor baby!!  I need to really realize how hard this is for her too- taking her away from everything she has ever known. Despite all of this, she is having fun here (although some days she will not admit this!).  There is a little girl next door and they play EVERY day and then she has met some other girls too.  We meet up at the pool and Addy has been invited over to play and such.  She starts soccer in August and so she's looking forward to that as well.  She is also VERY excited about school and I hope she loves it! 

Ben is doing great.  He is at such a cute, adorable age and every day I just want to bottle him up with everything he does.  Just this week his new trick is taking off his shirt.  He can get it off in about one second.  For example today at the library.  I was on one aisle with Addy and I hear Ben shriek and run around the corner shirt in hand, laughing so hard.  Little stinker!!  He thinks it is SOOO funny!  I am also just LOVING all the kisses he gives me and I know that he won't be loving on me like this for long.  We are reading this book right now about 10 puppies (that Nana brought) and the last page is 10 little puppies kiss mama good night.  He always turned around, takes the paci out of his mouth, grabs my cheeks and kisses me right on the lips.  MELTS MY HEART!!  Love this little boy to pieces.  We'll be reading that book every day!!  He really is so sweet and fun loving.  He keeps me laughing and just shaking my head at all of his antics. 

And lastly (for those of you still reading!), our summer outings.  We are finding our way around town.  We mostly go to our neighborhood pool, which is greatness!  It is really nice and only for our neighborhood so its never crowded.  Loving that!  We have also been to the Rec Center for a few events, to the library, to the Farm right down the street (it is great!- been there several times),  and downtown a few times.  It's been so darn hot here that we have not been to the zoo yet or to some of the other farms I wanted to visit.  But hopefully this fall we can go to some of those places! 

That's all for now!  Sorry no pics- I need to figure out more of getting my iPhone pics onto this computer.  I think its supposed to be automatic with iCloud, but I haven't taken the time to see where they are!  Thanks for reading all of this!!

Happy 4th from Kansas!

We had the best day today!! I wasn't sure how our first holiday away would be, especially since we just moved here 2 weeks ago but we had a packed day and everyone had a great time! The day started with a neighborhood bike/scooter/stroller parade from the elementary school
Down to the pool. We decorated Addy's bike and she thought it was fun stuff! Then we had burgers down at the pool, compliments of the HOA! Nice! We all swam for a few hours and all had a very fun time. There are so many kids and nice families here! Addyson ran around with a bunch of girls all day. It's so nice that she can swim now and she just has the best time swimming! Ben keeps up best he can too!

After swimming we came home for a few hours to rest and then headed next door at 5 for dinner at our neighbor's house. We cooked out and there were 8 kids there. Everyone played great, ate dinner and had a fun time. Being over there at one point felt like we had known Heather and Troy for years. The kids play like they are old friends and we get along great with them. They really have been such a blessing to us as we are getting settled in. They had another couple over as well and so it was nice meeting some other people as well.

Around 9 we headed out to watch fireworks. Kids loved it and we had a great 4th! I am so appreciative to all of our service men and women who dedicate their lives to serving our country.

Hope you all had a great 4th as well!

Hello from Kansas!

Hello friends!!  It's me!  Lisa that moved to Kansas!  I feel like my whole life has been a big blur the past few weeks.  We have been SOOOOO busy and every day I wake up feeling like I have run a full marathon the day before.  Every part of my body just aches and I'm so tired!  Moving is hard work, and definitely hard with 2 little ones!  Okay, enough complaining!  I know it will get better once we get all organized and all of the boxes unpacked.  Living amongst boxes is not my favorite thing and it just drives me crazy!

Going back a week or so, movers were supposed to be here on a Wednesday and did not pull up until Friday at 4:00.  Not a happy camper!!  We were meeting my mom half way on Sunday to pick up the kids so this gave me ONE whole day to get unpacked without my little darlings as compared to 3-4 days as I was planning on having.  So that threw a major kink in the plans right there.  That is why I am so behind!  As soon as the kids got here they wanted to go and do all of the stuff I had been telling them about and so I took them instead of unpacking.  I know they were excited about doing things here and so that was more important than boxes being unpacked.  But here it is a good week in and we are definitely making some progress!

The kids have been really good, for the most part!  Our neighborhood is really great and the day we got here there were presents on the front door from one neighbor and then our next door neighbors came over with cupcakes and more goodies for the kids.  Ben and Addy just loved that!  And it was so, so thoughtful of them to do that.  You know, it doesn't take TOO much effort to do nice things for others and it really meant the world to us!  There are 7 little girls on the street, mostly older than Addyson (about 9-12 years old), but Clarissa next door is Addyson's exact age and so they have been playing every day.  YAY!  Ben naps, Addy goes next door to play = Mom can get things done.  You know, like blogging like I'm doing now!  :)  Joking- I told myself I needed to take an hour to myself now that the house is completely quiet!  Yay for me!

We had our first ever babysitter last Thursday night.  Ryan's boss came in town and wanted to take us to dinner.  There is a 17 year old girl 2 houses down and she is cute as can be and so I tracked her down and she was available!  Everything went smoothly and the kids really liked her!  Score!!  I will probably be enlisting her services more often as we get settled in.  She was so nice and her mom is a nurse at the children's hospital.  Double score!  

So, all in all, things are going great.  We are just living in a mess right now.  The other half of our couch still isn't here and so that makes arranging the living room not possible.  We've been hanging out in the basement lots, so that is good.  It's nice and cool down there too!

Here's a few pics of the house.  There is still some signs of construction here, so don't mind those!  I'll do a post once everything is in semi-order!  The kitchen cabinets used to be honey oak and now everything is white!  Floors are dark walnut.  Definitely looks much better! I am really happy with all of the paint colors we chose too!! 

 New dining room!

 Hearth room!

The chaos as I was unpacking!  AHHHHHH!  Help me!! 

Addy happy as can be in her new room!

Princess canopy over her bed!

Daddy and Addy!

Gifts from new neighbors!

yummy!

Ben and Addy at the farm by our house.  WHEN you all come to visit we will definitely go here, it's awesome!