Fall 2011

Well, it's fall already and things have been crazy busy around here as usual. I am enjoying not working right now so that I have more time to get things done while the girls are at school and Jonathan is at work. This has been really nice, but I NEED a job! Or just a paycheck! :)

Taylor Tara, and Breanna are riding the bus home to my house every day this school year. It's crazy around here in the afternoons, but it's a lot of fun. :) I pick Megan up since her big sister is going to a different school this year and wouldn't ride the same bus with her. This is nice though because it gives me and Megan a little one on one time before the big girls get home.

I am amazed constantly by how fast time is flying by and trying not to think about the fact that in just a few short months my girls will be 13 and 10! Hello teen and tween drama! Not that we don't already have drama around here. :)

Taylor had an outpatient procedure and is healing up nicely from that. We are anxiously awaiting the results from the test to make sure that the spots they removed weren't Melanoma. I'm expecting the results to be negative and so is the doctor, but it will be a relief to actually hear that. She has done well, but isn't used to pain, if there is such a thing. (being used to pain). She needs my help to get her hair washed and to get dressed, and has had a hard time getting comfortable to sleep because of where the incisions are. Megan is acting up a little bit this week. I suspect because Taylor is getting extra attention. She especially doesn't like it when Taylor misses school and she has to go. I asked her if she wanted me to cut two big holes in her arms so she could stay home. She didn't like that idea.

Megan has been doing better this school year. She still doesn't like to get up and go to school in the mornings. But, we don't have screaming crying fits every morning. We do some mornings, but it's not every morning like it was last year. I'm still not sure what to do about this. It seems I have tried everything. She has decided that she would like to try playing volleyball and basketball this next year. I really think she would enjoy it if she could get over the fact that playing sports involves people sitting around watching you. Lol. She loves to be active.
Megan's newest obsession is making lists. She has made ALL kinds of lists. Especially Christmas lists. She likes to "shop" on Amazon.com and make lists of all the things she likes. She knows she's not going to get everything on her lists, and doesn't expect to, she just likes making them. Maybe she'll be really organized when she grows up. She definitely didn't get that from her Momma. I make lists sometimes, but that is just because I can't remember things if I don't! Lol

Kaycee's Chicken Stew

Well, I've had several people ask me for the "recipe" for my chicken stew. So, I'm finally getting around to typing it up. I don't really have a recipe, so I'll just tell you how I made it last time.

You will need:

• One small, whole chicken (sometimes I roast one myself and sometimes I cheat and get a rotisserie chicken already cooked)




• One 28 oz can of diced tomatoes




• One 14.5 oz can of Italian style diced tomatoes




• 2 bags of frozen Kroger 12 oz vegetable soup mix - this includes carrots, potatoes, corn, green beans, lima beans, okra, green peas, celery and onions




• salt and pepper

If your chicken is uncooked, roast in the oven @350 degrees, breast side up for 20 minutes per pound. Then, I simply shred my chicken, and put it in the rest of the ingredients (don't drain the tomatoes). If you have a larger chicken, you will need another bag of vegetables and one or two more cans of tomatoes. Just depends on how much chicken you have. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least an hour (two or three is better). Oh, and you'll need to add some water.

Make sure you use the italian flavored tomatoes - that's what makes it so good! :)

See?! Easy peasy and super healthy!

Megan's Wall Art

After posting the makeover pictures of Taylor's room, I decided to post what we did in Megan's room. This is on the wall above Megan's bed. I took a poster board and drew this shape, then cut it out so I could trace the shape onto Megan's wall. Then I simply painted it with hot pink craft paint and hung this wooden letter from Hobby Lobby (that was 50% off of course). I had plans to paint a canvas with the letter "M" on it, but I think this turned out pretty cute and Megan likes it which is the most important thing. :) The butterfly is a wall sticker.

I have plans to clean out Megan's room soon and maybe arrange furniture a little. But, her room is still cute if I do say so myself and Megan still likes it so we won't be doing a big redecorating project any time soon.

Taylor's Room Makeover

I know I am WAY overdue for a blog update... I had a few people ask me to post pictures of Taylor's room makeover on facebook and decided to blog about it instead. Taylor wanted to make her room a little more "shabby chic" and this is what we came up with on a VERY limited budget. We decided to base the decor on this quilt we got at Walmart a few months ago. Taylor really liked that it has a vintage feel with the colors that she likes. We had a good time coming up with creative decorating ideas. I thought I would post a few pictures showing what we did.



Here is the vanity table that we got at a thrift store. Pretty nasty isn't it? Nothing a little sanding and painting can't fix! We got the Vanity table for $25 and the paint was a bucket of oops paint that I got for $3! It was outdoor paint so it should be very durable. Taylor now uses this table to store and put on her makeup. We got a cork board for half off at Hobby Lobby to hang above it and hold all of Taylor's pictures and little keepsakes.









And here it is after...









We collected these frames from various places, painted and distressed them using sand paper and stain, and put fabric in them for a whole wall of art. We used craft paint on the wooden ones, and spray paint for plastic on the plastic ones. We decided afterward that it would have been cool if we had painted different colors under the cream paint so it would show through after we sanded it. The night stand was a great roadside find. Taylor liked the distressed finish on it so we just added new knobs (we got 50% off at Hobby Lobby). We freshened the lamp shade up with a new ribbon and painted a wooden bowl with our favorite shade of turquoise craft paint.

This is the other side of the room including artwork that Taylor hasn't finished yet, and a metallic and black trunk that I found at Hobby Lobby for 80% off. It's great storage for Taylor's stuffed animals that she isn't ready to part with, but doesn't want to display in her room. It also serves as additional seating. The green chest of drawers was something I bought a few months ago for $25! We might end up painting it later, but decided it's okay for now.

This is a little table that we painted with our turquoise paint for the other side of the bed. The rest of the furniture and decor is stuff that she already had in her room, or we had around the house.

This antique dresser was handed down from my great, great-aunt. This and the bed have been in Taylor's room for a while. Unfortunately the bed got BROKEN at the youth devo we had at our house this past weekend! Haha! Too many kids sitting on a VERY old bed at once. Hopefully we'll get it fixed soon. Right now her boxspring and mattress is sitting on the floor. Luckily I got a picture of it beforehand! :)

Summertime

This summer has been a blur of activities so far! The girls and I are really enjoying sleeping late in the mornings. Taylor is especially busy with all the youth activities, and Megan has had a few of her own. We are looking forward to the BIG Jenkins family reunion this weekend. Complete with the Jenkins Family Idol Competition. I'll post about that afterward. We will also be making a trip to Destin Beach this summer! Well, this is going to be a short post because I have to take Taylor and Breanna to the church building for one of their activities now! Hope you are enjoying your summer!

That Megan is so Funny Sometimes...

A few weeks ago Taylor had a friend spend the night that had never been here before. Those of you who don't know the "real" Megan might be surprised to learn that she is a very noisy person. She likes to yell, stomp, bang, and especially likes to squeal and screech! Most people do know that Megan is very shy, so she only lets the people that she is closest to hear her making all this noise. Well, like I said there was a girl here that Megan didn't know, she had been here a couple of hours and Megan had been very quiet the whole time. Then, she came up to me and wispered: "Mommy, I want to SQUEAL, should I? I don't know if I should." Haha! After trying not to laugh at her I told her to go ahead and squeal if she felt like it. Needless to say, she did not. She also got mad at me when I told her Dad about it and we both laughed at her!

Changing

Taylor is at the age where young girls seem to change overnight. I didn't realize how much she had changed in just 6 months until I was looking at these pictures of her just 6 months ago:

This is her now:

WOW!


She does still like to wear black and white stripes though. :)

Recipe - No Peek Chicken

I'm always looking for recipes for main dishes that are easy. This is one of our favorites, so I thought I would share.

No Peek Chicken

1 cup raw rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
lipton onion soup mix (I use almost one full pouch - we like lots of flavor)
1/2 cup water
poultry seasoning (I have done it with and without this, and couldn't tell a difference)
1 to 4 lbs chicken, cut up (I use chicken breasts, but you can use a whole chicken and cut it up, chicken legs, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
mix rice, soup, and water
Pour into greased 9 X 13 pan. (I use a baking dish that is oval and slightly smaller)
season chicken and lay on top
Sprinkle on soup mix

Cover with foil and bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours