Barbecued Meatloaf

One of our favorite meals lately has gotten to be meatloaf. I have never really been a big fan of meatloaf, but a little over a year ago I found a recipe that was by Paula Deen, called Barbecued Meatloaf. No it doesn't actually have barbecue in it, but it is really good! This has also gotten to be one of Kenzie's favorite meals we do. I've included the recipe below for you.

Enjoy and Till Next Time!!!

Barbecue Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water, to thin sauce if necessary

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce. Form this mixture into a loaf and place it in a shallow pan. Stir together the remaining tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, mustard, Worcestershire and the water (if too thick). Pour this sauce over the meatloaf. Bake for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes with the pan juices.

Mommy's old!!!!

Some things the kids say just crack me up. Yesterday as I was driving the kids to school for some reason Kylie asked if we would have any more babies. I have a feeling she asked due to one of her friends in another pre-k class just had a new baby born in their family. I quickly assured her that we won't have anymore babies because I can't have any more kids. She asked why, and instead of getting into the details of it replied "I just can't." Yet of course this answer did not suffice and she asked why again. I replied the same thing I said earlier and then Kenzie pops off "Cause Mom is too Old to have any more babies!" I just looked at her and quickly assured Kenzie that I am not to old to have any more children, but just can't. The rest of the way to school we went back and forth on whether or not I am old. Kenzie knew how old I was and quickly assured me that I would be turning 29 this year and 30 next year. I had no idea she remembered how old I was!  Jerrod thought it was pretty funny when I told him about it later. 

They also were excited yesterday since Jerrod finally found him a truck he likes. It will be nice having a second vehicle again. It's been way over a year since we had two vehicles. Having just one over the past year has worked out fairly well for us. Jerrod and I had it worked out when we would switch the car so I could pick the girls up and then picking him up from work. Now we won't have to do that anymore so It'll be nice. Plus it will be a lot easier once t-ball starts up again this summer for Kenzie and if Kylie if she decides to play. Now don't get me wrong, have just 1 car was not bad at all or an inconvenient. It will just be that much easier getting some things done now that we have the truck! 

Till Next Time!!

New Page!!

I have added a new page to my blog. The link to the page (Kylie's Jokes) is towards the top of the page. As of recently Kylie has started to come up with her own jokes. Yes as a four year old most of the jokes are not great, but hey, she is trying. As we are driving out to see one of my brother and sister-in-laws who are in town, Kylie started telling us jokes the whole way. Her first one was the best that she did. I will update the page as often as possible with the jokes she tells me. These are all made up by her, with no help from me or Jerrod. Some she does come up with her friends, but the majority of them she does here at home. Hope you enjoy!!!

Till Next Time!!

School Parties

Kylie's gift for Jerrod and me.

Well Valentines Day has come and gone and the kids seemed to have a good day yesterday. The girls had their class parties and we fixed special homemade pizza last night for dinner. Each of the girls showed me all of their Valentines they received from friends and were thrilled with the package we ordered from the school for each of them.
I helped with Kylie's class party and it was pretty fun. Kylie was thrilled I was able to come and made sure to let her friends know that Gabryle was her little brother. The kids ate their kids meals from Sonic and all the while they were eating Gabryle went around the classroom with a hand broom and dustpan cleaning up messes that he found. (I honestly think the classroom floor was cleaner by the time we left than when we first got there.) After the kids ate their food they got to decorate a cupcake. Kylie seemed very detailed in decorating hers. When I left she was still strategically placing the sprinkles on the top of the cupcake. I asked Kylie after school if she enjoyed her cupcake after school and her response was "I didn't eat it because I was making it for you and you left before I could finish it." Made me feel a little bad about leaving when I did, but told her we would make some cupcakes this weekend and she can make me one all by herself and she was happy with that idea.

Intently decorating her cupcake.

Mackenzie said her class party was really fun. A lot of parents went to the party and she was thrilled to get a package with some of the Valentines treats. We got her a set of spirit beads, a smencil, a jelly flashing ring, a bracelet and a gorilla sucker. (Kylie had the same things in her bag). As we were leaving the school when school was out Mackenzie informed me that she and Matt switched her smencil for his whistle bracelet because the scent of the pencil is his favorite, and he didn't want his whistle. She also informed me that none of the boys in class liked her Justin Bieber valentine cards. I assured her that it is okay that they didn't like it as long as they were what she wanted to give everyone, which she agreed they were what she wanted to pass out.
 The kids had a good day and now await the next holiday or birthday, which ultimately will be Kylie's birthday in April which she has decided to be a red solo cup party.

Till Next Time!!

Winter weather

Well, we finally got a little bit of snow this winter. The girls were thrilled when they woke up and there was snow on the ground. Yes there is still school today. We didn't get that much snow to cancel everything in town, but its enough that there is about an inch on the grassy areas and our front porch. I am not a big fan of snow. Gets everything all muddy, and while yes it makes everything all pretty when its freshly fallen, I do not like the snow packed roads, icy conditions, and extra cold air. If you find me a place that is about 60-70 degrees year round as the highs, I would be in paradise!!

Last night after ten while it was snowing pretty good Mackenzie ended up having to get a drink of water. As she sleepily made her way to the bathroom and started towards her room, Jerrod called her into the living room. We had her look outside and she turned around after looking through the curtains on the front door, smiled and said "I so have to tell Kylie about this in the morning!" She then sleepily made her way back to bed. I heard her then try to wake Kylie up to tell her, but she couldn't get Kylie to wake up.

This morning they were up before seven, which is their normal time to get up on school days and I over heard Mackenzie excitedly telling Kylie that it snowed last night and that maybe they won't have school today. It did snow, but there is still school!! I doubt they have recess today, but if there is snow left after school and homework, we'll probably go out and play in it. I even grabbed some snow off the porch this morning for  Gabryle since he seemed concerned his porch was covered in white stuff this morning. I put it on his level and he was not having it. I took his hand and set it on the snow and he ran from me after that. As we dropped Jerrod off at work he even took a handful and tried to get Gabryle to grab it and Gabryle immediately shook his head no and pulling away as much as he could while still strapped into his car seat. He's a boy after my own heart!
It will be nice while it lasts, but I am ready for spring! We've had our snow for the winter so the warm weather can come any time now! The girls are thrilled they finally got some snow and maybe now Kylie will stop asking when it will snow.

Till Next Time!!!

And the teachers weigh in....

It's always nice when you go and get really good reports from your children's teachers. today was the first day of parent teacher conferences for the girls school, and luckily I was able to get their conferences done today.The good reports of course were a given with the girls.

Kylie's teacher just absolutely adores her! She said Kylie is one of the sweetest kids she knows and has no doubt she will excel very well in kindergarten next year. She plays well with the other students, always wants to help the teachers do things and picks up on learning new things very well. In order to start kindergarten at the girls school, they must be able to recognize all the letters lower case and upper case, and their numbers 1-10. Kylie has all of her letters down, and knows almost all of the numbers to 20. She couldn't recognize three of them starting at 15, but there is no concern with her. She's started to learn to read, and if she is anything like Kenzie when it comes to reading, she will pick up on it fairly easy.

Mackenzie's teacher really enjoys having Mackenzie in her class. Mackenzie's midterm report card was all "A's" which is great. She brought the one "B" she had up and now hopefully she can keep it that way. Her reading is doing extremely well also. At their school, by the end of the year the first graders are to be reading at or around 40 words per minute (wpm). Mackenzie when she did her test on wpm is at 41 wpm. In second grade, you are to start at reading around 40 wpm at the beginning of the school year and by the end of the school year reading around 80 wpm. Seems at the rate Kenzie is going she will be close to that at the end of her first grade year. there's nothing wrong with that though! She also has an extremely good memory and because of that her teacher has had to change the way she goes over the sight word list with Mackenzie. She has the entire three page list of words, which totals about 30 words, memorized. Her math seems to cause her the most problems in class. That doesn't surprise me. I was never very good in math. Luckily her teacher gave me some suggestions to use with Mackenzie so that should help!

Hard to believe the third nine week period is almost over! It seems this school year has just flown by. I guess that's what happens with two kids in school though!

Till Next Time!!!

Valentines are finished

Well, the girls Valentines have been filled out, sticker-ed, suckered and sealed and finished. They were sent to school this morning with the girls, and are probably at the moment being passed out in the the other students Valentines containers, well Kylie's probably not because at the moment she will be in her "special class" (IE: PE, music, art or guidance)
Kylie was so thrilled because she was able to pick out Valentines for her friends this year at school. She picked out Glitter Barbie Valentines that includes stickers for each Valentine. She is so proud of them! Mackenzie picked out Justin Bieber. It's really no surprise with either of their choices. Mackenzie's also included stickers to send with the card.
As Kylie and I were working on her Valentines, we went down the list of classmates and the first boy name we came to she looked at me and says "He doesn't like Barbie. And some other boys don't like Barbie either." I assured her that it will be find to send them the Barbie Valentine and that there is no need to buy some just for the boys. (I also had to inform Mackenzie of this.) I helped Kylie write the names on hers this year since she gets sidetracked when doing things that are repetitive.
Mackenzie wrote all of hers out and I put the sticker inside and sealed them for her as she finished writing the names on them so hers did not take as long to do. After the girls went to bed I then taped the suckers (Dum Dum) to the outside of each individual card. Taping 40 suckers to 40 Valentines takes a little more time than I thought it would!
Both of the girls are excited for their class parties next week. I'll try to make sure and get pictures while I'm at Kylie's school party. (Hopefully I remember the camera!!)

Till Next Time!!!

Watch out for your loose change..

 Well, it is that time of the year again. Mackenzie is searching through the house trying to find as much change as possible. She's looked under the big appliances, sofa cushions, cleaned her piggy bank out and scavenged the coins out of the car. All of them have gone straight into her little cardboard box she received at school today.

Every year the school the girls go to have a week where they raise money for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. I'm not for sure how long the school has been doing the fundraiser, but since Mackenzie has been going they have done this every year in the beginning of February. (This is our third year to participate.)

Mackenzie came home today and after we worked on part of her homework and before she started doing dishes, she went and searched through the house to find some loose change. She cleaned out her piggy bank and went in and looked and pulled all the change out from under the washer and dryer. She even went and got all the pennies out of the car cup holders. She is determined to find as much change as she can before she turns in her box on Friday. Last year she raised 3-4 dollars all in loose change.

Kylie is participating also this year. She doesn't seem to be as concerned in finding pennies to put in her box. She was telling me about it while we were waiting for Mackenzie to get out of school today, and all Kylie mentioned was that she has a box to put some money in and take back in a few days and give to her teacher. Since she hasn't seemed to be as into finding change to put in her box, Mackenzie has taken it upon herself to split the money she finds with Kylie so at least she can turn something in.  

While Kenzie was explaining to me what the money goes towards, she looked at me and says "this sickness is kind of like cancer and can make you loose your hair. We need to get them lots of money so they can get better."  It never fails with Mackenzie, when she knows she can do something to help someone else, she is all about making sure that something gets done to help.  She has an awfully big heart for a 7 year old.

We'll see how much money the girls can find this year to turn in and post it. maybe this year Mackenzie will find more change than last year!!

Till Next Time!!!

Girls Video

Well, I finally got the video I took of the girls doing their dance uploaded! Click the link below and it should take you to youtube. Most of it is of Kenzie, but I did get some of Kylie also. It was a little difficult since they cheered at the same time and in two different sections. Enjoy!!

Girls clip of Cheerleading

Till Next Time!!

Girls cheering

Well, tonight we went and watched the girls cheer at the basketball game they have been working towards this week in cheer camp. They were great at it! We got to the game and watched the first half then the girls went with the cheerleaders and did their cheer and dance routine.

Kylie watching the game

 Kylie seemed to have a blast! she cheered and did all the moves in the cheer they learned. During their dance that they learned she did all the moves and even sang all the lyrics in the song. Out of all the pre-k girls that participated, 6 were from Kylie's class out of 10. One of her best-est friends, Camryn, was also part of the cheer leading tonight. I can see Kylie wanting to do cheer leading a lot when she gets older. She seemed to love doing it.

Kenzie while watching the game.

Mackenzie did very well also. She seemed to enjoy herself tonight. she did great at the dance and sang along with the song. Out of her class there were 3 girls who participated out of the 12 first graders. She said she liked it, but part of me thinks its not something she will not really want to try again. We'll see if she does want to try it again. Knowing her she'll probably just stick with doing the softball, basketball and similar sports type of things.

The girls after their cheering
at halftime.

The bows on the barrettes the girls are wearing I made this afternoon for them. it was my first attempt at making some bows, and I think they turned out rather well. Yes they are only curled ribbon, but they still turned our very well. Kylie has already asked if I could make her some more, so i might take her up on that request. I'll let my thumb heal up first though. (I burned my thumb with the hot glue and now have a blister on it). Once I do make some more I'll make sure to post some pictures of them.

Till Next Time!!!

What an idea......

Valentines Day is fast approaching, which means I am up for helping with Kylie's class party. Helping with the girls class parties are actually pretty fun. Yes Gabryle goes along with me, but he really enjoys being able to go up and seeing the older kids I think. He seemed to really enjoy when we went to help with Mackenzie's class party at Halloween.
The class "parent" for Kylie's class sent a note home with Kylie today for me about the party coming up. For their upcoming party, the six parents who have signed up to help are all asked to send $10.00 and each child in the class will get a Wacky Pack bought at Sonic. That will be the Valentines Party for the Pre-K class this year.  WOOHOO!! i know I shouldn't complain, but in all honesty, I think that the kids would probably like something else to do than just have a kids meal bought from a local fast food joint. I got a hold of the class Mom and she said that is all we will do and that there is nothing else that needs to be bought. I might just make some little treat bags to take anyway with me to the party.
Perhaps next school year I shall sign up to be one of the class parents for one of the girls classes.  I would say do both, but I am afraid that would get quite hectic having two classes to get parties set up for and helping the teachers do things that are needed help with. If I did that, then there wouldn't be a wacky pack Valentines Party for twenty four and five year old kids. Yes I think more thought could be put into the party for the kids, but it's not my party to plan. I offered to do extra and she said it wasn't needed, so I shall do my part and send the money and just next year make sure and sign up to be a class parent. Who knows, maybe I will do both of the girls classes next year. I bet it could be done with being a class parent for both of the girls.

Till Next Time!!