Sick of Sick..

Hello winter, cold weather, bulky coats, stupid gloves, and VIRUSES... We have all been sick in this house. The bad thing is I don't know if we all have the very same thing. I need to Christmas shop and just don't feel like it.

At walmart a couple weeks ago Keeli needed to use the restroom but there was a sign that said wet floor, I told her to just be careful walking they must of just cleaned to bathrooms.. Great time to go! A man walks out and tells us that someone just threw up all over the floor.. I told Keeli to run!! It never fails with Keeli, she could be with in 100 feet of a sick person and she gets it! On our drive home Lindsi calls me to tell me that Kennedi just threw up!! HUH? We cant get away from puke! A day later my husband calls me from work and tells me he's sick... I try to keep Keeli away from viruses as much as I can. Being diabetic only makes being sick more frustrating. Highs lows.. ketones... blah! A day later Keeli's sick... Yesterday I knew I was getting something.. I could feel it in my chest. I sent Lindsi a text and told her that I was getting sick. Lindsi came home pooped and threw up 3 times... Gah!!! When will this go away!? I'm popping these vitamin things my husband picked up that you let dissolve on your tongue every 3 hours. I'm going to see just how well those work!! I feel like crap BUT not horrible. Either the vitamins are helping or the fact I'm a mom and it doesn't matter if I'm sick or not. Clothes still need to be washed, house cleaned, dinner cooked, animals fed, I went to the grocery tonight.. I find if I avoid the symptoms the best I can it does help. What do you do? I have to take care of Keeli!! Tomorrow is a new day! Here's to everyone feeling BETTER!!

Chicken Veggie soup
2 chicken breast (I like the bone in and skin) cook in slow cooker for 6 hours with 2 -3  cups water and 1-2 cans cream chicken soup.. at 4 hours I pick the chicken off and toss the bones and skin, then I cut up 5 red potatoes, cup of cut up carrots, half an onion, salt and pepper, then I cook for 2 more hours. It's good especially when you feel like crap!

Quick Holiday decorations...
I just realized I don't have a wreath on our front door... I had a berry one from last year that I really like but can't seem to remember where I've put it so... I remembered I had an old picture frame that I never use anymore and I painted it a bright teal color and used ribbon to hang pine cones. I have those little balls sitting around so I figured to give it a little more I'd add a few of those. I just hot glued those in the corner. Something fast and a little different to hang up. I'm never good with center pieces. I LOVE a pretty table but we use our table for everything rather it's school, projects, making bows etc.. I can't imagine having to undo and redo a table. I found a pretty basket and threw in some greenery, apples, and pine cones and it fits everything else in the house. I have a little tree sitting in the dinning room that matches the basket. Keeli has been making snow flakes all different colors and I'm going to TRY to hang those this weekend from the ceiling with fishing wire. There isn't mush time left until Christmas is here... We may as well enjoy decorations while they last..

Old to New Christmas outfit..

I've never really "made" anything before. I'm excited to learn this whole sewing process. I decided I would go through some old clothes and play with some scraps. I came across an old black shirt I had. I can't even believe I bought this thing. UGLY!! Black pin stripped button up shirt. I took a look at it and wondered what it would look like if I chopped the bottom part off and made Kennedi a skirt. I cut, pleated, and sewed! It turned out pretty cute. It needs to be ironed. I found an old yard sale Ralf Lauren sweater that Kennedi had and added a little flower and made her a hair bow to match. Now I'll search for some stockings to match... She has a free cute Christmas outfit. I'm pretty excited that my very first try turned out pretty good! Can't wait to take a picture of her in it!

My Favorite Chicken recipe..

I wanted to share a recipe real quick. I wish I had a picture to post because it's a very pretty dish.. Remember I don't measure..

You will need:
3-4 skinless chicken breasts
4 bell peppers (I get all the colors I can find)
large onion
3-4 squash
cherry tomatoes
honey
Worcestershire sauce
large baggies
garlic powder
skewers

I take my chicken and cut it into cubes, I fill a large zip lock bag with about a cup or 2 of honey a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, sprinkle a little garlic and add the chicken to the bag, mash it all up to cover the chicken. Let it sit in the fridge for several hours. The longer the better. I'd shoot for at least 4 hours..

I chop up my veggies the same way big enough for the skewer. do the same with the veggies as you did your meat. and place in a separate baggie. Let the chicken and veggies sit in the fridge for about 4 hours or more.. Then skewer them rotating however you'd like.. I always place a cherry tomato at the end to keep the other stuff from sliding off. I grill these at a med heat. You will of course want to cook until the chicken is done, but I do like my peppers onion and squash a little on the soft side. This is a very good chicken recipe. It taste great over rice. All those colors in the peppers and the yellow squash make the dish beautiful. Why only use the grill in the summer? As long as it's not raining, we continue to use ours through out the year.

Ahh Keeli and her words..

Today Keeli decided she wanted McDonalds for lunch.. On the way there she remembered she had a stash of suckers hidden in the passenger door of her daddy's truck. She got them out and counted them.. There were 5. She tells me she's just like a squirrel hiding nuts. I say yep.. you sure are.. Being Keeli, she has to make up a name for everything. She decided those suckers are her suck nuts...

A home for the Gingerbread Man

Every year we buy one of those ready to decorate gingerbread houses and every year I say, I'll never buy that again... It's supposed to be fun, right? Some how we end up smashing, mashing, and praying it'll stay together just long enough to get a finished photo. The picture looks the same every year. Same house, same candy, same crap. All Keeli thinks about is being able to eat the thing and all I think about it what a waste of money. This thing ends up being so heavy no wonder it takes concrete like frosting to hold it together, but the frosting adds another 10 pounds to the finished product. There has to be an easier way. Lighter would be better! And to make our own would be more fun. Next year!! It's on my list of must do's... Even if it's not a whole house.. I can surly make 10 gingerbread men and buy up 10 bucks worth of cheap frosting and hard candy to have fun with. After an hour of decorating I looked over at the house and there it laid.. The walls were buckled in and the roof was caved and by now all the frosting glue was had as a rock so it was stuck looking like a sad gingerbread house that had NOT survived a tornado. I figured heck, I'll toss the piece of poo and not even worry about it. Then I thought no I won't either! That's 8 bucks! I got the ole hot glue gun out and pried all those pieces apart and rebuilt our little house. It'll do... It's been a few hours since the make over and it's still standing..

We survived Thanksgiving..

We survived our 3 different Thanksgivings in 1 day. We have not done that in years. I finally put my foot down and decided enough was enough. This year we compromised and just did the very best that we could. When you have a large divorced family it really does ruin your holidays trying to make everyone else happy fitting it all in while you and your family suffer from one car ride to the next. I think next year I'll go back to putting my foot down. It was not a bad day and we enjoyed what little time we had at each house. But it would have been nice if we would of stuck with just one or 2... Keeli's blood sugars stayed with in a good range the whole day. That's my main goal. We all came home and crashed after eating our butts bigger and driving all over the place. I didn't wake up at midnight and race to the nearest Walmart to catch that 150 buck TV. I can't imagine those people who stood in line for 6 hours to get a TV. It's crazy what these stores do. They cram a thousand worn out ladies in a store and expect everyone to play nice. So far I've heard of one lady getting punched in the face for defending a little girl who had a toy snatched out of her hands by a grown loser. And a few bullets being shot some other place. WOW... This is what people have for a tradition... What is the goal? To see if they can make it out alive. There really needs to be a Black Friday video game. You win by how many deals you get and how many people you can kick and shove out of your way. This is not for me. I hate that I miss some deals. My husband and I just go out that night and we end up getting a few sale things. So far we have about 3 presents bought and that's it!! I need to get on the ball. Lindsi's birthday is up next so I will focus on that first and then get all my Christmas shopping done. I think I'll make some goodies to give the adults. I'll share whatever I decide to make...