The Perfect Meal..........for him.

I think I might do a series on meals that are perfect to either my husband, me, my kids, friends, etc. We all know the perfect meal can't be perfect to everyone eating, but it's always nice to know you are cooking something that resembles perfection to somebody.

So the other night I made this meal that my husband boldly stated could be part of our regular weekly rotation. Just FYI, we have NO regular weekly rotation whatsoever. But point being, I can cook this meal weekly, and he would love it. I was so tickled to see everyone eating just about everything on their plates. Noah has always been a divine eater but lately (I think in response to seeing his picky younger brother) hasn't been so thrilled about hardly anything I make. Dinner has become that nagging, annoying, pick-up-your-fork-now and take-a-bite, kind of hour. Nobody likes that. But on this night, he ate. A little prodding here and there, but overall, the kids ate enough to make me feel content. Why is it we moms gain such satisfaction from seeing our kids eat? Or backwards-we get grumpy, annoyed and even depressed when we see our kids abstaining from what we put on their plates. I don't know, but I've come to realize that it deeply affects me. Probably because I love to cook so much and I want to see satisfaction on everyone's faces. It's hard to not take it personally, right?

The greatest part about this meal was it was one of the easiest meals I could possibly make. No recipe needed, hardly any prep-work, and one oven temp. Lovely. At the off-chance this meal could be for you, what it was for me, I'm going to provide the recipe. Click here if you would like to see what our meal consisted of, and general instructions.

Well, I'm off to continue packing for our Thanksgiving journey. I apologize for not getting my "Thoughts on Bloomington" post up yet. It's comin'......promise. I hope you all have truly the most wonderful Thanksgiving ever with family and friends. We all have so much to be thankful for--regardless of any storms that might be brewing in our lives right now. For one, you are reading my blog!! Now that's something to be thankful for. :) But seriously, whether you believe it or not, Jesus Christ died on a cross to secure a place in heaven for us. We can have peace and love in our lives instead of guilt and pain due to our sin. We can wake up each day knowing that we are a child of God and that He is working powerfully in this world and through us. He provides certainty in a world of no certainty at all. This gives me cause to feel thankful everyday of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tough decision

Would it ever be ok to buy myself........






one dozen long stem red roses.........................






for no reason at all????








Yes. Yes it would. Because they were only $2.00. Yes, dos dolares. From Kroger. The best store in the world.

Note concerning the author:
She tried to think of someone to give these beautiful roses to being that it seemed a little silly to keep them just for herself. Her husband was away on business, and still being a newcomer to the town, she simply didn't have any friends close enough to warrant red roses. So you see, she simply had no other choice but to bring them home and enjoy them. Someone must enjoy $2 long stem roses, right?

Wordless Wednesday

Life with 2 boys

I love walking up the stairs and picking up little Matchbox cars here and there. Really.
I love laying on the floor and letting Wes and Noah climb all over me and walk on my back. Really.
I love playing endless rounds of football with plastic Disney characters. Really.
I love raking up leaves and watching Noah dive in and role around. Really.
I love going to the bathroom (no lie) and having Wesley and Noah on each side of me trying to pop the bubbles I'm blowing with my gum. Really!
I love answering questions about my female anatomy. Actually, I lied. :)
I love having conversations about "bad guys" 50 times a day. Really.
I love feeding these hungry mouths a million snacks and 3 meals a day. Okay, sometimes I don't love doing that. And I'm sure it will only get worse as they grow!
I love hearing Noah crack up at his own flatulence as well as Wesley's. Really.
I love seeing Wesley look at his brother with admiration and love. Really.
I love watching the two dance their hearts out to VeggieTales. Really.
I love how content Wesley is to read a book any time of the day. Really.
But I'm tired. Really, really tired today.

Update

So it's been awhile since I gave an update on the Spicer clan. I don't want my blog to become only menu plans because let's face it, how BORING. So with respect to that, I will not be posting a menu plan this week (add to that I am completely unexcited about any of the meals I am making but nevertheless, they'll feed us). Plus, you are much more interested in us as people rather than the food we eat right?? Right?? Yep, that's what I thought. So with out further adieu, the update.

-After quite a bit of traveling these last couple months, hubby will be with us the entire month of November and most of December. How cool is that? And for those wondering, he really does like his job, is excellent at it, earns great respect from his colleagues, and stays very, very busy. It's hard to believe that less than 4 years ago, he was teaching classrooms of 6th graders. Only God would have known that this is what his future held.

-Noah is becoming such a big boy. He wants to understand everything about the world and is not content with short limited answers. His class at church teaches the same lessons that we are learning in the main service so it is awesome to hear him come out of church and remember SO MANY details about these Bible stories. He adores every second he can spend with his Dad (golfing, raking leaves, watching movies, building Tinkertoys). He is very loving towards me and Wesley too. He loves school and learning in general. It is so fun to see him starting to reading certain words and trying to figure out others. As I got out some winter clothes for Wesley tonight, I couldn't believe that it had been 2.5 years since Noah had worn some of these sweaters. It seemed like yesterday!

-Wesley is...where do I begin? Brian and I are constantly shaking our heads at that little doodle. He has a mind of his own in every way and keeps us laughing as much as he frustrates us. He loves to dance #1. He is constantly saying "mama! Mama!" and then moves his hands up and down which means----turn on the music now!! He also loves books. Fortunately it is the one mild thing we can do with him that keeps him occupied for as much time as you are willing to give him. I love this about him. Noah took longer to get into books, but Wesley has been this way since before he could crawl. He is a very passionate person. He screams and hits things when he is angry and laughs and squeals when he is happy. Both of which, happen often. :) He is talking like crazy and loves saying thankyou. He says it so well and with this high pitch and it just warms my heart every time.

-Oh ya, me! I'm doing well. I have been appreciating many things about Bloomington lately. It has been such a gorgeous fall that I couldn't ask for anything more (okay, maybe more visitors!). I love our church and the people I'm building friendships with. I appreciate every day getting to be home with my boys. I truly couldn't imagine working right now. It would be so stressful. Sure, there are some days I wish Brian and I could switch places. Two boys are a lot of work (and fun) and 'expanding my homemaking skills' keeps me very busy. But overall, I relish it and once again, only my Father in heaven knew this was His plan for me. Because if you knew me only 1 year ago, I would have told you that I would always atleast work part time. Yet here I am! If there is anyone out there who doubts their ability/desire to stay at home full time (whether mental, emotional or financial), I can tell you it is absolutely possible. Check back with me on all this in the winter, though, because I am going to have a giant case of cabin fever. :) Other than the cold, sunless days, I'm looking forward to holidays spent with family, making memories, and creating and eating yummy food.

I'll be posting a "thoughts on Bloomington" soon since I'm definitely due for one of those. Stay tuned and be sure to post a comment or send me an email. I love hearing from people---whether I know ya or not!

Five things that made me happy today

1. Getting a good 30 minutes of quiet time EARLY this morning while Wesley watched an Elmo video (yes, he is really struggling with this time change).

2. Getting a 30 minute nap this afternoon while the boys slumbered peacefully.

3. Hearing Noah say "Mmmmmmmmmmm, Mommy this is SO good!!" as soon as he started eating his dinner. He said thank you several times after that too. Seriously, doesn't that just do wonders? Oh, it was a recipe out of Cooking Light that I ripped out a couple years ago. We had scrambled eggs w/ham and cheese along side of it.

4. Feeling Wesley's little body close to me as he wants to snuggle and have me hold him. He feels so petite sometimes and just the perfect squeezing size. Then he rests his head on my shoulder and that is the cherry on top.

5. I have my wedding ring set back on my finger. It looks BRAND NEW after 1.5 years of not wearing my engagement ring. I finally got it fixed and they made it look utterly breathtaking. I am so excited to be wearing it again and feel like showing it off to everyone!

Menu Plan Monday 11-3-08

Wow, can you believe it is NOVEMBER already??? What in the world happened to all the time? We were just moving our sweaty selves into this house in June but it seems like a month or two ago. Crazy. I vividly remember thinking in August that Christmas would be here so soon and here I am doing Christmas shopping today after my grocery shopping! I tend to be an early shopper every year but this year we are going to TX for Thanksgiving (YES!) and so I want to bring everyone's Christmas present with me so I don't have to pay for shipping. More than a hat rack, folks. :) I have a few people left to take care of but I have a great headstart.

So here's my menu plan for the week. Nothing too crazy. Just trying to eat lots of healthy stuff. My lunches are when I'm definitely going health nutty since we don't have to eat the same thing. Dinners are harder to do that with since I'm feeding 3 boys. I'm doing a "cleanse" this week for 7 days so I'll let you know how it goes. It requires me to eat a lot of fruits and veggies and drink lots of water, so looks like I'll be visiting the restroom frequently. :)

1. Autumn Sausage Casserole
2. Chili dogs, tater tots, corn
3. Chicken fajitas, brown rice, beans
4. Pasta with meat sauce, salad
5. Vegetable beef stew in the crockpot
6. Leftovers
7. Eat out

Remember to check out orgjunkie.com for a slew of other recipes and fun menus happening around the country.