Happy 4th B-day Izzy!

My life isn't very exciting. My blogs are lacking and i'm filling them in with family and dog birthdays! WOW!
I just wanted to wish my DOG, yes I said it, my dog Isabella a happy birthday. I love her because of her companionship, her unconditional love, her soft fur, her wet nose and because she loves to snuggle!

Happy Birthday dear Andrea and Kristin....Happy Birthday to you!

This month we celebrated two birthdays. We celebrated my mom's big 5-9 and my sisters whopping 3-0!!! :)
It was great to get together with the fam. The kids were extra loud and rambunctious...I was losing my cool strings, but I still love them. They just wanted cake. Wouldn't you go crazy too?




Precious buttercup




Exhibit A, B and C!


This is why I love her!!! She has food storage to feed a whole village with those rolls!

Valentines Smalitines

I love this holiday, but I'm not going to lie...today sucks!

...and another one

Okay so today's menu is Zesty Italian and Parmesan chicken...You will thank me later for this one! You will want to lick your plate clean! :) This is by far and away my favorite flavor on chicken. This recipe was given to me by my sisters which I'm sure they got it from some other lovely lady. You can marinate the chicken with zesty italian salad dressing and parmesan cheese in a bag and then bake it or you can dump it in a crock pot. Last night I boiled my chicken on low so it turned moist and tender and then dumped the water out and then covered the chicken with the zesty italian dressing and parmesan. I let that cook together for a bit longer.

When my chicken was done and I plated it next to my salad. Seeing all that goodness in the bottom of my pan I didnt have the heart to waste it so I decide to put it on my salad....WOWZERS! DELISH!
Give it a try...two thumbs up. Way better than the other dressing I posted below! :)
Now im going to have me a cookie!!!

Salad kick

I am officially on a salad kick. I love salads. I love all the different things you can put in a salad to create something new each time. I also love to venture out and try new things. I went to the store and went all out on veggies. Then I went to get some salad dressing. I stood there for 5 minutes deciding. Its always the hardest decision ever! I grabbed some balsamic vinaigrette and looked at the ingredients. I came to the conclusion that I can make my own. I love homemade dressing a lot more than store bought.

Needless to say, I had a delicious chicken salad with all the trimmings. If you want to try out the salad dressing, I give it two thumbs up and say give it a try. I loved it!

3/4 cup of balsamic vinaigrette
3/4 cup olive oil
1 clove of fresh garlic chopped or pressed
1 tsp of dried Italian herbs or oregano
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

shake all together and store in refrigerator.

I cant believe I have been weighing myself wrong all these years!

December Winter Wonderland

This winter season we have been surprised with a foot of snow! I have never seen so much snow at one time. We even got to have a white Christmas. I hardly went out of the house for 2 weeks because the roads were so bad and even moved in with my parents for the time being because I was afraid of being snowed in and missing Christmas. I had a fun time hanging with my parents playing games and playing in the snow. We made a cute snowman and went sledding. I shoveled their driveway a few times and thought that would be the end, but NO! By the 5th time I had had it!



Isabella and Zoe loved the snow






Enjoying Christmas with snugly Sophers


Kiley and Mad's new Christmas outfits





...make a wish!


I love my family!





Sophie makes us laugh!

I am glad that the snow has finally melted and that I am back home. It has been a great 2008 and had a great night bringing in the New Year with lots of food and playing games with friends.