Our Family Happenings...

Our Vegas trip was amazing! We had the best time together and got to spend a couple of days with some great friends of ours.
Ty was on a winning streak, the second day we were there he won $250 on a slot machine off of $5. We have never ever ever ever won money like that in vegas, so needless to say we were MORE then pleased. On our last day in Vegas Ty did it again, he won another $197 off $10. It was great! Our total tallied up winnings were $620...can I get a Whoot Whoot!

This was him right after he hit the winning, notice he is kinda smillin'


Uh-oh, looks like Ty's happy...Ching Ching !!!! ( looks like mama's even happier, lol)


As for the rest of us....

Morgan & Sons Construction is officially running business. They are doing their first job and they are all so excited to be on their own, I'm very happy for them and I know they will do amazing! They will make it big one day & one day we will look back at all these hardtimes we have been facing and know it was all worth it!

Kyla is still undefeated in her Soccer games. It is now 7-0. Whitney said she was a bit more agressive this saturday at her game, nuh-uh! She's a little firecracker & I'm proud of her for all her determination and the drive she has for a sport she loves.

Paige is due for her orchestra recital this month, I'm super excited to see how well she will do. She seems to like it. She does have a boyfriend now, His name is Ben. I'm dying to see what he looks like, LOL! She tells me I embarass her..LOL...WHO, ME?? No Way! lol. Paige has to get braces, we have an appointment in November to go to the orthodontist and see what he says and how much they will cost...*sigh* ...never ends!

The twins are doing good...they are getting so excited for Halloween this weekend. I can't wait to dress them up...hehe. We are having all the kids over here for halloween so hopefully it will all go Smoooooth.

I'll Keep you posted on halloween pictures...

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful that Ty & I are able to get away and head over to sin city. My most favorite place to go next to San Diego. I'm gonna put on my dancing boots and paint the town with my favorite person of all, Ty!!

3 days might be a long time in vegas, but we have friends meeting us up there also to help us kill the time...WATCH OUT PEOPLE, it might get a little crazy!!!

Wish me luck & maybe we might win a few dollars.

Trading Tuesday

This is a recipe we have been making for years, but the potato salad is a new one. Please don't judge the recipes off the pictures, my camera takes the WORST pictures! Kinda like not judging a book by its cover....same thing. This sandwhich is very light, fresh and healthy. The potato salad has the potential of being very fatty if you fry the potatoes...BUT we baked them, we don't use that 'F' word in this house!!

Tuna on Baguette

(serves 4)

2-3 Ahi-Tuna fillets
Lemon Juice
2 TBSP capers
1 fresh baked baguette
dash red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup finely diced red onion
1/3 cup diced black olives
3-4 TBSP olive oil
handful of chopped parsley

**Slice the baguete lengthwise to make 2 halves, hollow out the majority of ech half. Drizzle some olive oil on each half & bake in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, until brown & toasted

In skillet, fill skillet with 1inch of water, 1 TBSP lemon juice, dash of pepper flakes, & bay leaf. Add the tuna and poach tuna for about 15 minutes or until cooked through (do not boil, lightly simmer)
Once tuna is cooked, remove from pan and shred in a bowl. Add capers, olive oil, parsley, red onion, black olives & more lemon juice to desired liking. We use enough olive oil so it's a bit wet, but not soaked. Place the tuna inside the baguette and cut. It's yummy!

Baked Potato Salad

4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 egg, diced
dill, chopped or dry
parsley, chopped
Mayonaise
Mustard

Put your diced potatoes in a bowl with olive oil and all your desired seasonings (we used dill, steak seasoning, paprika, salt/pepper, garlic powder) and toss together until potatoes are covered in oil dressing. Place on cookie sheet and back at 375 for 30 minutes, or until tender and crispy. In another bowl mix the rest of the ingredients together forming the sauce (I usually add a little milk to my mayo/mustart mix to thin it out a bit since we don't like it clumpy)
Once the potatoes are cooked & cooled, add to sauce. It's different and still hits the spot!


My poor pictures make it look yucky! Sorry..but I promise it's good~

All just a Hoax....

Seriously, I just can't beleive this! These children should be removed from these parents since it is obvious the parents have some serious issues. I was panic stricken as I was watching this on TV,my heart ached for the parents...and it was all fake! Pardon me for saying, I think they are sick-o's! What is the craziest, is he already has a TV deal from this..???? What's wrong with America?


Colo. sheriff calls balloon saga a hoax - Life- msnbc.com

Drumroll Please......

Dah-da-da-Dah.....My very first canning looks like a success!!
I canned some of our gazillion jalepenos we had in a vinegar-y liquid. They are Ty's Fav's, so lets hope I did it right & we don't get that botulism! lol. Thanks so much Sara for the recipe. I think this will be an addictive obsession for me now..I'm thinking I want to make the cauliflower So-Hot mix next..mmm. Now I need to get Sara's recipe for Apple Butter, my FAVORITE!

FYI..the pickling spice I bought has cloves & cinnamon in it~so I did not use. (Eww)

Thankful Thursday

Wow, first Thankful Thursday in a while, Yay for me! I just love having time to blog and fart around on the computer...so you can only imagine what my Thankful Thursday insert will be about today...Yep...having time!

This week was a rare one for me work wise, I had only 1 job that took 2 hours...THATS IT! So I have had the unusual luxury of being able to stay at home and spend it with the kids (since they are on their october break as well). During these last 7 days, I have been able to do many things I haven't had the time nor the energy to do..like clean all the dark areas in my house and all the dreaded organizing of my closets and drawers. All I have to say is one word, YUCK! For someone like myself who owns a cleaning business, which I train my employees to clean things to my standards of perfection, it would only seem appropriate that my own home would be held to these same standards of perfection, right? WRONG! I have realized, I am a surface cleaner.

Yes, I am the person who opens up the tupperware cabinet & throws in the clean tupperware and quickly shuts the cupboard before things start to crash out onto the floor. I am the person who doesn't know what to do with a peice of paper or mail & I throw anything & everything into a drawer to get it off my counters. I do the same things in all my closets too! Well, NOT ANYMORE! During this week, I have had the time to clean everything out & organize it all...awwww...I love this feeling :) My packrat days are done!

I've also really enjoyed the time with my kids, sadly, we don't get much down time with the kids during the week since we are working and very busy in the evenings with sports & errands. It's been a nice change & I even sorta miss being a stay at home mom. I'm thankful I have another 3 days off with the kids to enjoy. It's a good thing I have started back up with the treadmill because with all this baking I've been doing, I'de be doomed with out it.

Momma's goin' crazy

Oh my goodness if that doesn't say it all, I don't know what else will. This momma has surely gone crazy, I'm seriously 10 seconds away from calling in the help from Nanny 911...no joke!

Trading Tuesday...On Saturday

I have been so lazy and behind on my blogging, especially my recipe trading. I could wait till Tuesday to post this recipe, but then I can't promise I would have time to do it then either! I seen this recipe on a TV show and I tweaked it a bit to our liking. The kids and ty LOVED it...hopefully some of you will like it too.

Breakfast Hash & Eggs

You will need:

1 pk pork chorizo
1 roll pork breakfast sausage
1/2 pound beef hamburger ( I used 2 frozen hamburger patties, LOL)
2 peeled potatoes, cut in small cubes (not to big, think canned hash sized potatoes)
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
6-7 eggs (or how ever many you like to eat)

***I added NO oil, there is enough fats from the meats***

Put all meat in your cast iron skillet or regular non stick skillet, start to brown. Add peppers and onions to meat after you break down the meat. Once the meat is all mixed up and almost cooked through, add the potatoes and stir. Cover the skillet with lid and let simmer on medium until the potatoes are cooked through. (you want the hash to get a bit crispy, but not charred) When potatoes are cooked through add eggs on the top, reduce heat and cover the pan until the eggs are cooked to your liking (DON"T touch the eggs while they are cooking because you don't want the yolks to break)

Plate and eat....It's very good. Even with the chorizo, my kids didn't think it was too spicy, perfect blend of flavors. Enjoy!

Paige's Freshman Picture

Here's Paige's Freshman year school picture. Gosh, she's sure growing up fast!! She's 14 in this picture. Also just another update, Paige is really liking her highschool. Tri-City Prep is such a good school & she loves it! She's keeping an A-B average and she's learning to feel more comfortable asking questions when she doesn't understand things. YAY PAIGE!:) She's getting a letter of reccomendation currently from her teacher & we are going to submit the entry packet into Embry Riddle...for the next 3 summers she would be elidgable to participate in the college (beginner of course) summer program for HS students. In this program she would be staying at the dorm Sun-Thur and taking their courses at the school. How neat, we're excited for her. Keep you posted. :)

I'm stumped for Halloween...

I am trying to figure out what kind of Halloween meal to make for my kids & family. We are hosting halloween this year with all the family kids (and I'm sure some of the neighbor kids too) so I'm trying to think of different meals I can make that would be spooky and fun. I've already done MANY mummy dogs...but I'm up for any ideas from my blogging mommies. I already have dessert planned. In need of some help here.....

Wayyyy behind on blogging

Goodness, it's been forever it feels since I have blogged my trading tuesday or thankful thursday, or just dang blogged at all! With the kids and our schedules lately, I haven't had time to do much. I swear, I need to get cloned. Just imagine if we were able to clone ourselves...I'll take 2 please! 1 me for work, 1 me for household mommy duties and then the real me would be able to sit and relax and hide somethere until I felt refreshed enough (oh, and once the clones finished all my work) to re-appear. Awww...fantasies! OK, back to reality.

We had plans this weekend to go visit some friends in Mesa, but Kyla has been sick & we are waiting on the test results to find out what is wrong with her. She has been sick for 2 weeks now, recently it started getting worse so we took her to the doctor on Tuesday. They ran several tests & we are awaiting the results. The Dr said if her condition didn't get better, she would need to be admitted in the hospital, but we are hopeful it will improve...she's on much medication. I'm so nervous about that ridiculous swine flu. Damn Government! I swear this flu outbreak is all a planned conspiracy, I'm not sure who's worse...the CDC or the Gov't? Ok, i'll keep the rest of my whacky thoughts to myself. :)

Exciting news for Ty & I, we're GOIN' TO VEGAS! Yeehoo! I love vegas, I love the free spirit vegas brings & all the different cultures. I'm saving my money so I can gamble my money..LOL. Hopefully I will win! Gotta love being invited back to your favorite hotel for only$33 a night.....LOL....guess we better gamble more so it's free next time! Our great friends are coming this year too, I can't wait to see you Robin! But NO itinerary, ty HATES itineraries! LOL.


Oh, as you can see, I have removed that darn music player from my blog. I had several people tell me it made my blog to slow...so for you complainers: Problem solved, you're welcome!
(But I still love all you complainers!!!!! :))