Monday, February 23, 2015

Sledding and Painting

This past weekend my parents came out to visit. They arrived Friday early afternoon, and the weekend didnt start out as planned. Reese started complaining of an ear ache about an hour after my parents arrived. She is still coughing from all the junk she had last week when we went to urgent care for possible croup. But, after an hour of complaining and crying her ear hurting, I took her to Urgent Care while my parents stayed with Preston. Sure enough, double ear infection and she had a fever. I had no idea! She was fine all day and then all of a sudden she was saying her ear hurt. So, she is on 10 days on antibiotics. Within the first 24 hours, she started to feel much better. Her cough is pretty much gone now as is her runny nose. 


I had roped my Dad into painting the playroom for us, so that consumed our day (and by our, I mean his) day Saturday. The kids had fun helping out a bit, and Reese did a pretty good job! We also had 4 inches of snow Friday night, so we got to sled outside on the hill in our backyard (finally!) They had a blast sledding. We went sledding more on Sunday and the kids just loved it. Here are some recent pics:

Painting during one of the super cold days we were stuck inside!

It's more fun to paint on yourself than the paper!


Preston LOVED Poppa's boots- he carried them, wore them, and even slept with them all weekend.

Our snow adventures!









 Poppa's painting helpers



Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Recipe Edition

I always love when I find a good recipe or when a good one is recommended to me, so I thought this post could be dedicated to a few good recipes I have made lately.
First- update on Reese. She is still coughing, but her fever broke, so we did not go in for chest x-ray. I was given a steroid prescription for croup, but did not fill it because he cough is getting better, but is not yet gone. Glad the kids are finally on the mend though, that's for sure.

Recipe #1:
Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita Soup- Serves 5
Super easy recipe- and I love anything you can toss in the crock pot and eat anytime you want.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 4 hours

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 avocado
1 can black beans
1/2 tsp of dried cilantro (I did not have this, and it tasted just fine)
2 cups frozen corn
1 green onion
lettuce
tomatoes
2- 10.75oz can cream of chicken soup (I used Campbells Healthy Request)
1 cup salsa
1 tsp. Cumin
Tortilla strips (found by the salad dressing)
1 cup cheddar cheese
Sour cream
1 1/2 cups water

Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Add chicken to the bottom.
In medium size mixing bowl, mix cream of chicken soup, salsa, corn, black beans, water, cumin, and cilantro. Pour over the top of chicken.
Cook on low 4-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Place back into slow cooker and add shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with favorite toppings (sour cream, avocado, tortilla strips, tomatoes, etc.)


Disclaimer- this is Reese's bowl, that's why the portion looks so small :)


Recipe #2 
One Pot Pasta with Spinach & Tomatoes- Serves 4 (we had just enough for us- no leftovers!)
Total time: 29 minutes

1 Tbls. olive oil
1 chopped onion
6 garlic cloves finely chopped
1- 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 tsp dried oregano
8 oz. spaghetti noodles
1/2 teas. salt
10 oz. fresh spinach
1 oz. grated Parmesan cheese

Heat dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat- add oil. Add onion and garlic to pan, saute 3 minutes or until onion starts to brown.
Add tomatoes, broth, oregano, and pasta- in that order. Bring to a boil. Stir to submerge noodles in liquid.
Cover- reduce heat to medium-low and cook 7 minutes or until pasta is almost done. Uncover, stir in salt.
Add spinach in batches- stirring until it wilts. Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese.

This was really good- but next time I would add more broth as it was a little dry in my opinion. I may also add more tomatoes and spinach!



Recipe #3
Chicken, Broccoli, and Brown Rice Casserole- Serves 4
Total time: 30 minutes

2 (3 1/2 oz) bags boil in bag brown rice- Uncle Bens brand
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
8 oz. presliced fresh mushrooms
8 oz bonelss skinless chicken breasts
3/4 teas. salt
1/4 teas. ground pepper
1 (12 oz) bag microwave in bag fresh broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups lowfat milk
3 Tbls. flour
3 oz. sharp cheddar cheese- shredded

Preheat saucepan to high with water- Follow directions according to rice package; drain.
While rice cooks, heat large 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to the pan, swirl to coat. Add onion, mushrooms, and chicken; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute until chicken is cooked.
Cook broccoli in microwave according to package directions. Open and release steam.
Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk or fork until smooth.
Stir milk mixture into chicken mixture in skillet. Cook 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.
Stir remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, rice, and broccoli. Sprinkle with cheese.
Cook one minute or until cheese melts.



There ya have it- three really easy, pretty healthy, under 30 minute (prep) meals. Enjoy!





Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! We are celebrating today by wearing red, eating heart shaped cookies (made by Nana) and heart shaped brownies (made by Grammie) and relaxing while its cold and windy outside. Unfortunately, we are living in a germ infested house right now, so we are taking it easy and hoping our health returns soon.
Kyle jetted off to Philadelphia last Sunday to an executive education class in Mergers and Acquisitions at Wharton School of Business (the top business school in the country.) I was very proud of him for getting accepted into this class- only 40 attendees got to go from throughout the US and Kyle was one of them! He spent the week in what was a semesters worth of information packed into one week. He was in class/sessions everyday from 7 am to 8-9 pm, along with doing homework and case studies. It was intense! He was very grateful to go, and learned a lot throughout the process.
Of course, while he was gone, the kids got sick. I mean, why not?! Preston came down with a cough/runny nose on Sunday, and by Tuesday, he was feeling really bad. I took him to the doctor in fear of an ear infection, but it was just a virus and he is still coughing today. It's not nearly as bad, but it is taking forever to go away. I spent a few nights sleeping on his floor as he was up every few hours or more coughing and not being able to catch his breath. He was doing better on Thursday, so he got to attend his Valentine's party at school, as did Reese. Reese woke up with a little cough on Thursday morning, but nothing I would keep her home from school with. But, come Thursday afternoon (after school) she started feeling really crummy and had gotten a fever. Her cough was much worse than Preston's and she had no appetite and was pretty tired. She slept so awful on Thursday night. She was up about every 40 minutes coughing and when she would fall back asleep, Preston would wake up coughing. It was the worst night ever. I think I got maybe 3 hours of sleep total- but not more than 40 minutes at a time. It was worse than having a newborn! Yesterday we hibernated and laid around watching movies trying to get better. Last night was again super rough for Reese. So, this morning I took her to the walk in sick clinic. I have to say, I love our peds practice. They are open 7 days a week, and have same day appointments. The sick clinic was from 8:30 - 10:00 today, so we went and had her checked out. Strep test was negative but the doctor was worried about croup or pneumonia.  She gave me a steroid to start if Reese doesn't get better in the next 24-48 hours, and then we have to go back in for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. So, again today, we will hibernate and lay around trying to get healthy. I luckily haven't gotten it yet, but Kyle has had a cold for over a week now, coughing as well. I am drinking lots of vitamin C and washing my hands like crazy!
So, a rough week in general for us while Kyle was gone. It always seem to go that way. I am so exhausted so hopefully getting some naps in today.
Hope your family is healthy and staying warm today as you celebrate Valentine's Day!!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Catch up

Time for a little catch up of what's been up in our house. Let's see. Kyle has been traveling a bit more than usual this past month. He was in Orlando for a few days, and also in Atlanta for a convention this past week. Next week, he heads to Philadelphia for a class in mergers and acquisitions. He got accepted to the Wharton School of Bushiness for a week long class. It's the number one business school in the country and he was selected to participate in this class through an application and interview process. Proud of him for getting accepted! So he will leave Sunday and come back next Friday. Then in 3 weeks he heads to Brazil for a week for work. So February will be a 50% travel month- more than we have had in a long time. Praying for sanity and no sickness while he is gone. Last week, while he was in Atlanta, of course Preston came down with an ear infection, limiting my sleep for a few nights, which I ended up just sleeping on his floor for two nights since he was up every hour crying.

We had a Super Bowl party on Sunday and the kids had a blast watching the halftime show. A bit disappointed in the commercials this year- they were all so serious. What happened to all the funny ones?! We were hoping for a Seattle win, but ohwell. What an ending.

We have a fun weekend lined up. Gary and Julie (Kyle's parents) are coming out to visit. I head to Springfield, IL on Saturday for a girls weekend with my friends from college. Kyle flies out Sunday morning at 6 am for Philadelphia, so luckily Gary and Julie will be here until I get home on Sunday.
Should be a fun weekend for everyone!

Reese and Kensley. We went to a birthday party and they both had the same dress on!

Attempt at a family selfie. Preston (usually oppositional) didn't disappoint and wouldn't be a part of the picture.

My mini football brownies for our party. We had so much yummy food- I ate way to much!

All the kids during the halftime show. 6 adults and 8 kids (all ages 5 and under!!)- we were out numbered!

Reese, Lilyanne, and Kensley