Faaaantastic

Would be the word I would use to sum up our meal yesterday. Everything came together perfect, we ate on time, and the turkey was nice and juicy.  Everyone raved over the pecan pie, the layered salad, the turkey, the spicy sweet potatoes, and the cornflake potatoes were the best I had ever made! Now we have about 100lbs of leftover to consume. (Ok, maybe not that much, but it seems like it!)

Last night after all of our guests departed, I went and played Bingo with my friend Ginger. My husband called me old and said I needed to trade my vehicle in for a Lincoln Town Car. I gave him the look of death and went and had fun! Ginger won $150 with one Bingo! I was not that lucky, but I did have fun and would like to do it again. When I left the Bingo place, Toys 'R Us was already packed at 10:20 at night! Hubby had to work today so I didn't dare go shopping. I did venture out to Target around 10am and yeah it was busy, but I really just needed milk. I thought I might browse around but 20 minutes into our adventure, Peytonn had his first melt down and then proceeded to scream through the store. I left our cart in the middle of the aisle and walked out. Without my milk!

I stopped at Meijer (considerably less busy than Target!) to get milk. I get the boys inside and realize Bennett took his sock and shoe off of one foot in the car. Nice! I grab my milk and head back out to the car. The boys are whiny and so I did the unthinkable! I got them both junior chocolate milkshakes from Steak N Shake. Silence!!!!!!!! Ahhhh, it was fantastic! We ate lunch when we got home and then we all laid down for naps. Mommy definitely needed a nap!

Note to self, no more Christmas shopping with children in tow. Bad idea!!

Thanksgiving Menu

We are hosting Thanksgiving again this year and I have been trying to come up with our menu. I think I may have it done and now I just need to make out my grocery list. (nothing like waiting until the last minute, you know!) Here is the menu so far (I am linking the recipes I am using that are online):

Turkey (still deciding if I want to try brining it this year, if so, I have linked to the recipe)
Cornbread stuffing (I made this recipe last year and everyone loved it!)

Green bean Casserole (trying out a new recipe for this. Just a bit different)

Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes
Yeast Rolls (I prefer Rhoades)
Deviled Eggs (my MIL is making these)
Cornflake Potatoes (this is my favorite from my childhood. This recipe is similar to mine. However, I top it with crushed cornflakes and some melted butter.)

Layered Salad (its always good to have something cold and crispy. Love this salad!)

Pumpkin Cream Pie (A little something different)

Pecan Pie

I plan to make some dishes ahead of time and then they are ready to go Thanksgiving Day. I plan to have my guests bring some appetizer dishes. It should be a yummy day!!

Italian Beef sandwiches

Tonight we are having Italian Beef sandwiches. The recipe is super easy and tastes really good. I put mine into the crockpot and allow it to cook all day while I am at work. Its so nice to walk into the house after work and smell dinner and have it ready for you.  

Italian Beef

1 beef roast (you can make this whatever size will feed your family)

2 cups beef broth (or water)

1 large jar of pepperocini peppers (I buy two jars, one jar of the whole peppers and one jar of the slices to put on top of the sandwiches)

choice of seasonings

slices of cheese (we like provolone or mozzarella)

Place the beef roast in the crockpot and pour the beef broth over the roast.  Sprinkle on your choice of seasonings, I used some season salt, smoked paprika, and pepper. Pour a jar of pepperocini peppers (I used the whole peppers) into the crockpot, juice and all.  Cover and set on low to cook all day or on high to cook for 4-6 hours. 

Once cooked, shred the beef and return it to the juice.  Place meat on hoagie roll of your choice, top with a slice of cheese and sliced pepperocini if desired.  We also will toast ours after the cheese is on. 

These are so tasty and just plain easy! As you all know, I just adore Pioneer Woman. She also has a recipe that is almost exactly like mine. The only difference is that she adds a package of Italian Seasonings to hers. I prefer to add my own seasonings because I don't enjoy mine too salty. On her website, she calls these sandwiches Drip Beef, Two Ways and has two different recipes to prepare these.

Family Pictures

I had an old friend of mine from school who is a photographer take our family pictures yesterday. She did such an amazing job!! She was great with the kids and has a really great eye for pictures. She posted two sneak peeks on Facebook last night and I am in absolute LOVE with them! I cannot wait to see the rest of the photos!

You can find her on Facebook here: Studio Rebekah Photography

Or she also has a website and blog here: Studio Rebekah

The grand debate

So, hubby and I have been debating on whether or not to move the boys into the same room.  We only have a 3 bedroom house and no basement, which means we are stuffed to the gills in our storage space right now.  It would be nice to have that extra room for storage and possibly in the future, a third baby.

My question to those of you who may have children that share a bedroom is, how does it work out if they have different sleeping habits? My concern is that it's going to be a party for Bennett and Peytonn won't get any sleep.  Bennett is very much a solo sleeper and is very easily distracted by others in the room while he is trying to fall asleep. 

We would not be getting bunk beds because frankly I don't trust either of them with anything elevated off the ground very far.  Neither one of their beds are on the bed frames for that reason. We simply have the mattress on the box spring on the floor.  It has worked out fine thus far and the kids are able to get in and out of their beds by themselves. 

So, any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Can you believe it?

Bennett is going to be 2 in just a little over a week?! Man did that time fly!!!

Let's see what's been going on with Bennett lately:
--he keeps getting teeth! I swear each week he has new ones starting to come in.
--he eats like a horse and will eat just about anything and everything!
--he repeats everything we say. His favorite phrase is "ka chow" from Lightning McQueen and his favorite word is still "no." He pretty much answers any question with "no."
--He has moved to a big boy bed and loves it!
--He is still a great sleeper and occasionally wakes up at night.
--He loves to run and play and try anything his brother attempts. This includes but is not limited to climbing on the back of the couch, jumping from the coffee table to the couch, trying to scale the kitchen cabinets, and scaling the changing table successfully and pulling all the wipes out of the container.
--He is wearing 24 month to 2T clothes and is wearing a size 8 shoe.
--He loves to brush his own teeth and watch anyone else brushing theirs.
--He is obsessed with gum (no, I do not let him chew gum!) and will come up to you and say "ahh!" so you will open your mouth so he can see the gum.
--He has hit the terrible two's and some sort of meltdown occurs daily. This is slowly getting better.
--He listens a lot like his brother (in one ear and out the other!)
--He is the most funniest kid I have ever encountered! He makes the funniest faces and really knows how to get his groove on!
--He tells me when he needs changed and likes to sit on the potty. I assume he will probably potty train sometime this winter or spring.


Bennett is very entertaining and strong willed. He likes to be independent and do things on his own. He is such a joy to have in our family and everyone he meets just falls in love with him. Happy 2nd Birthday my little man!

Garlic Knots

I posted earlier about wanting to make the Garlic Knots from Annie's Eats. Well, one weekend while my sister was in town, we decided to make them. They were really good and pretty easy to make. The only trouble I had with mine was that my kitchen was a bit on the chilly side and it took them a little extra time to rise. In the future, I will just put them in the oven at 150 degrees and let them rise in there.

These are my rolls after they have risen and are ready to go in the oven. Such yummy goodness!