My Peacefully Chaotic Life

This week's menu ... MONDAY Bought groceries and ate at a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican place TUESDAY Cheeseburger Macaroni Salad French Garlic Bread WEDNESDAY Chicken Fingers Green Beans Mashed Potatoes Cornbread THURSDAY Liver W/ gravy and onions (I know but hubby likes it occasionally) French Fries Leftover beans and cornbread (pizza for the kids - I try to encourage them to eat what I cook but everything has limits!) FRIDAY Hmmmm.... good question! I know I had something planned but I don't honestly remember what it was LOL Guess I better be checking on that... SATURDAY Birthday party and football party to attend so there's BBQ in the freezer if anyone is hungry after all that SUNDAY Chicken fried cubed steak w/ country gravy rice fresh crowder peas salad

My little guy has been very busy today. He has discovered how to open several doors. And shut them. Repeatedly. He has learned to pull the chairs out from the kitchen table. And how to climb up in them to sit down. And how to use them to climb onto the kitchen table. He has learned to climb to the top of the playpen where he hovers precariously, unable to get up or down. He has learned to climb on top of the toilet. I think he has his eye on the top of the cabinet that sits above the commode. He has learned that the pretty balls on the tree shatter into tiny pieces when you throw them. Well, it's happened 3 times with 5 casualties so let's hope he has learned! He has learned how to climb up in the desk chair and attempts to type or use the mouse on the computer. He has also figured out that he can psyche us out by grabbing the ornaments on the tree, then as we are putting them back on the tree he makes a beeline for the computer. He sat down this morning and shared LadyBug'...

Who are the people that you look down on? "Well, no one!" you say. But if you were really honest with yourself is that the true answer? How often do we look down our noses at someone, never thinking about the advantages we have been given which perhaps they were not? Do you put people into "classes" in your mind? Well, this one is just a factory worker, this one went to community college, he went to Harvard, that one has a masters, she's just a waitress, .....and the list goes one. Can I just break something to you? Those things don't make the person! And if the money is the thing you just can't get past, then you need to realize that factory worker or mechanic or garbage man may be making more money that some people with a college education. I'm not just talking financial advantages either. There are other things in life that shape who we are in a much more pinpointed way than money. There's home life, friendships, extended family, church family...

Yep, we got it. At least part of the family anyway. I think it all started when The GuitarMan came home from Chorale Tour sick with it. I suppose there are worse things to remember New Orleans by! It didn't necessarily come from there though as they had quite a few stops, stayed in hotels and other than taking turns riding in the Suburban with the professor, they were all cooped up together on the bus. So there's no telling. As for our house, there is no way to NOT be together LOL so it is bound to make it's way through. Even LadyBug is having another bout with it. I say another because she already had a mild case of it. FlowerChild seems to be responding to her antibiotic, however she is soooo grouchy! Cornbread is on a milder dose of the same antibiotic as his infection was only in one ear. He is still so sick. I think if I don't see some major improvement by Monday he may need to see the pediatrician again. We did manage to get our Christmas tree up. It is so pr...

Well, Thanksgiving is done and now we just have the leftovers to deal with! I had sick children so it changed things up a bit for us. Cornbread and FlowerChild both have ear infections. Wednesday afternoon the girls helped me make pumpkin pies. They turned out sooo good! I wish I could remember every little detail about it. From LadyBug on a stool, peeping over the edge of the bowl to Cornbread thinking he needed to have one too. FlowerChild talking too loud because her ears are all stopped up. Ha, I especially don't want to forget Cornbread pulling FlowerChild's shirt tail so hard she fell off her stool....she had a cup of evaporated milk in her hand which went flying across the kitchen...he fell down, she fell on top of him....it all resulted in a sticky, giggling little heap. I planned on cooking the vegetables that night, boiling the eggs, and baking the cornbread for the dressing. For good Southern dressing, it helps to cook it the day before and let it sit to dry out some...

3 c mashed sweet potatoes 1 c sugar 1/4 c milk 2 eggs 1/2 c butter or margarine 1/2 - 3/4 pumpkin pie spice 1 tsp vanilla extract Mix ingredients and put in casserole dish. TOPPING 1 c brown sugar 1 c flour 1 c butter or margarine 1 c chopped pecans Mix and put over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Hints: You can use canned sweet potatoes instead if you don't have fresh ones. I usually cut the sugar back to 3/4 cup. You might also like to add coconut but I don't usually. You can cut the eggs back to one if you really need to. (like when you forget to buy them and its 45 minutes to the nearest open grocery store and you want everything to be ready in 1 and 1/2 hours - ask me how I know this) Also if your casserole dish is smaller, use only 1/2 topping recipe or it will boil over, make a mess and just not taste as good. (ask me again how I know!) You also might like to add some spice to the topping as well. Maybe a tablespoon or so of cinnamon or pumpkin p...

This has been a full week! Monday called for many errands, hospital visitation, and grocery shopping. Yesterday my mom had a routine colonoscopy done. Today I need to let our pediatrician take a look at two of the children's ears. They have been sick with congestion and cough and are having some ear pain now. I sure don't want an ear infection to set in on Thanksgiving! Cooking begins today for our meal tomorrow. I need to make the cornbread for the dressing. I will make it today and let it sit to dry out some. Tomorrow after trimming the crust and crumbling the rest up, I will add bread crumbs, onions, celery, spices, boiled eggs and broth before baking. I also want to go ahead and cook some of the vegetables. I am also going to make a pumpkin pie. Supper tonight is frozen pizza...the only way the FisherMan will agree to that is knowing what kind of meal awaits him tomorrow LOL! Oh, and I need to run right now but this afternoon I will post the recipe for sweet potato cassero...