hard to believe

Hard to believe its this time

homemade macaroni and cheese

 This is the recipe I used, I got it from Crock Pot Girls

16 oz macaroni noodles, cooked al dente
2 eggs, beaten
12 oz evaporated milk
12 oz milk (skim, 2 %, or whole, your choice)
16 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz mild cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt/pepper to taste

Cook noodles until they are still slightly firm.
Drain and put in Crock Pot.
Whisk eggs, and add to evaporated milk and milk.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

I didn't measure exact on the cheese since I didn't buy already shredded cheese but next time I will add more, and I think it would be really good if i added some chicken into it.
Pour over noodles and stir. Add cheeses, saving a little to sprinkle on top.
Cook on low 3-4 hours.

hawaiian meatballs

Tonight we made hawaiian meatballs in the crockpot. It is a recipe i got from crockpot girls and is supposed to be an appetizer. We made it a dinner by serving with rice and veggies (it would be really good with steamed broccoli but i don't like broccoli).

2 lb. bag frozen meatballs (or however much you want, we did less)
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1 jar pineapple preserves (we used apricot pineapple preserves and it was FANTASTIC)

Spray crock pot with non-stick spray.
Place meatballs in crock pot.
Mix together BBQ sauce and pineapple preserves, and pour over meatballs.
Stir gently to coat.

Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours

Chloe and Jaylynn loved them (and so did Phillip and myself)

Day 7: Fruit

Day 7 of the 30 day photo challenge I posted about HERE is fruit.

In our house fruit is like candy and we go through it fast. So currently there really isn't any fruit in the house right now. When I started thinking about day 7 being fruit I was tempted to take a picture of fruit at a friends house until a light bulb in my head went off. We do have fruit in the house!

Ha! Avery's baby food. I take it out of the cardboard thing it comes in and use a permanent marker to write what it is when i stack it in the cabinets so that it is easier to tell when i go to get one.

Dear Phillip

Dear Phillip

Next month we will celebrate 4 years of wedded bliss. Wow 4 years, its seems like 40 or 50 ;). I love you more now than I did the day we got married. We have had good days and bad days and I wouldn't trade a single minute of that time. I am so proud and lucky to get to walk through this journey of life with you by my side. You truly are my soul mate, a one of a kind. You are most certainly the sane to my in. I am the luckiest person in the world to have you as my rock and our girls are sooooo blessed to have you as their daddy. I love you the mosterest babe and I am looking forward to getting old with you and spending our life together.

an 11 month old

Thats what Avery is! Holy shit that means in 1 month I will have a 1yr old. How the hell is it possible that its almost that time?

first crock pot meal

My sister just gave us a crock pot so I have been gathering some recipes to try. Tonight we made one for the first time. We made some salsa chicken and put it over white rice. It is a recipe that rotty gave me, although I don't think it is on her blog.

4 chicken breasts (we used thighs)
2 jars of salsa
shredded cheese

Put the chicken in the crockpot and pour the salsa over it
cook on low in the crock pot for 6hrs (we cooked for 7hrs)
Before you take it out add in the shredded cheese of your choice and stir until melted.
serve over brown rice (we did white rice)

This is definitely a recipe that we will make again!

day 6: from a low angle

 Day 6 of the 30 day photo challenge I posted about HERE is from a low angle.

Well being that we have been pretty much stuck at home since the girls have been sick this is as good as a low angle will get for now. Avery was sitting on me and showing that she is a Nikon girl (or at least that my lens cap tastes good)

day 5: from a high angle

Day 5 of the 30 day photo challenge I posted about HERE is from a high angle.

Avery was supposed to be laying down drinking her bottle that she made very clear she wanted, but as soon as I gave it to her she decided she no longer wanted it that she would rather watch her dad and sister play in the pool.

flashback

I was reading some of my past blogs and just poking around here since i really haven't in a long time and I randomly noticed that since I started my blog I have progressively written more blogs each year. Well this year I have only blogged 40something times so far, I am pretty sure I wont be writing more than last year (180 blogs) thanks to Avery's NICU stay. Anyway, as I was poking around I found the blog about Avery's homecoming so of course I had to read it. Reading it took me right back to that bliss that I was feeling, to that moment we got in the car and drove away from the hospital with tears streaming down my face. When Phillip asked me what was wrong I told him nothing, I was happy, it was the first time we had both Avery and Chloe in the car together. It was a moment of pure happiness. I remember getting home and letting Chloe hold Avery for the first time, she was so in love with her sister she just kept smiling. Its amazing how much has changed since then, but going back to that moment while reading her homecoming blog was exactly what i needed tonight.

Day 4: something green

Day 4 of the 30 day photo challenge I posted about HERE is "something green". I have very few green things around the house, as a matter of fact I think the only green things in the house belong to the girls with the exception of 2 green shirts that I own. It just so happens though that this morning when I got the girls dressed I dressed them both in green outfits. So here is my something(s) green....

day 3: clouds

Day 3 of the 30 day photo challenge I posted about HERE is clouds. This is a picture of the clouds I took standing outside of my apartment door (we are an upstairs apartment).

I should probably add that it is 96 degrees outside right now and those are the only clouds in sight.

Day 2: what I wore today

**NOTE: I took a couple of days break from this and blogging altogether for my grandpa's funeral**

Day 2 of the 30 day photo challenge i posted about  HERE is "what I wore today". I am going to do the what I wore today baby edition since i am all frumpy like in my house clothes. So, for today's blog it is a picture of Avery.

Today Avery wore her chick onesie that says "me and my peeps".

Day 1: self portrait

Day 1 of the 30 day photo challenge I posted about HERE is a self-portrait. This picture I took of myself on my iPod in the car.

30 days

I have tried to do a 30 day blogging challenge before and failed, so I wont swear to doing this one in 30 consecutive days but I will try.
The 30 day photo challenge, my photos will not be professional (OBVIOUSLY) and I won't even claim them to be good pictures but they will be mine so that is what counts. So I saw this on pinterest and thought I would give it a try.

how do you find the words

How do you find the words to say about something you wish so badly wasn't true? How do you find the words to type a blog knowing you are typing it because you miss your grandpa. How do you say "my grandpa died" when you wish it wasn't that way.
Thursday we lost my grandpa to cancer. I am so glad that he is no longer suffering and that McKenzie gets to meet him, but man I'm going to really miss him. My grandpa was a stubborn, big headed, say what he thinks kind of guy. He really didn't care what anyone thought but he made sure that everyone knew what he was thinking. He was loving and smart and giving (even if sometimes he really didn't want to be). He loved airplanes and his family. He never made me feel like an outsider in the family, he always made me feel welcome even after my dad died. I was his favorite (or so i liked to tell him), I am his name sake, I am so much like him it scares even me.
I am so sad that Chloe only got to know him for a few short years and that Avery will never remember him. I'm sad that they wont have the memories of him that I do. I am sad that Tuesday I will be saying my final goodbyes. I miss him . I don't want to have to say goodbye, I want him to be here.

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal"
"To the world you may have just been somebody,
but to all of us you were the world. "

Until we meet again someday gramps, take care of my baby for me and give my dad a good old fashioned beat down :) I LOVE YOU

R.I.P LARRY LEE LITTLEFIELD sr. 

9/9/1931 - 9/1/2011 

always loved and never forgotten