It's NOT 'GREEK' to me!

I totally loved the season premiere of GREEK!! (My husband watched it with me making it even better!) I just lose myself in the episode reminiscing about my own college/sorority days.



One of my favorite parts is when Cappie (Scott Michael Foster) is recapping what he did over summer break and in between napping and boozing, he said that he got caught up on all of the Jon and Kate Plus 8 videos and that he is fascinated by how they make it all work...totally love the real life references to shows that I am personally obsessed with! (Plus you just gotta know the character Cappie to really appreciate the comment.) And let's face it...... he isn't bad looking either!

Any one who watched it...I have a question. How long will Frannie and Evan last? He has some morals...when is he going to get sick of paying her rent bill for the knew "IKI" sorority?

Clayton and Sampson

Have I mentioned Sampson? He is our dog. We are not sure what he is...long story, but we love him just the same. Curt and I bought Sampson one month before we were married and he has lived with us and been a part of our family every since. Once we had Clayton, I was a little nervous how Sampson would react to him...but it has been smooth sailing! Clayton loves on Sampson..some times a little too much! As you can see from the pictures...Clayton just can't get enough of him!

Clayton in our loft...up to no good!

Clayton was opening and shutting Sampson's cage...yes, Sampsy dog was in it.

"Sampson, why don't you want to play with me?" .....too cute the way Clayton is practically begging Sampson to come out!

Sampson is a great dog...he loves his cage. We leave the door open 24/7 and he goes in there to sleep at night or whenever we are gone. He has free rein of the house, but he loves this spot where he can look out over the house and out the windows.

"Great Cake-Balls O'Fire"

Using these three ingredients, I made chocolate covered cake balls...I really need to think of a new name for these! I'm making them for the baby shower that I am hosting. Since I have never made them before, I thought that trying them out and taking them to work would be the perfect trial run! The process is a little long...but I hear well worth the wait. (This gal is still off all sweets for Lent...and yes, after making them I found the will power to restrain from tasting them!)

After baking the cake (see box for directions) crumble it up and mix the icing in it. Then chill in the refrigerator for an 1-1 1/2 hours. (The cake must be chilled to not fall apart in the 'balling' process.)

While the cake is chilling, you can begin to melt the chocolate. (For the baby shower I am going to tint the white chocolate with blue to give it a marble affect.) Some chocolate you can melt in the microwave. I melt it in a glass bowl over boiling water so that I don't burn it...guilty, I have burned chocolate when melting it before!

Once the chocolate is melted and somewhat cooled...I used a melon baller to make little balls of cake, then put them in the chocolate, covered them, and put them on wax paper. (**Tip, the cooler your cake balls are...the more they will stay formed into little balls. Use a toothpick to put it in the chocolate.)

Here was the first of my attempts...not bad!

Here is the finished results...before I put it on a decorative plate...I was in a rush and didn't get a chance to take a picture of it.

My co-workers said that they were delicious...cake, icing, chocolate...what's not to love!

Totally Guilty.....

...of loving ABC Family Channel! One of my favorite weekly indulgences is their show GREEK (new season starting March 30th at 8:00). For anyone who misses the days of being in their sorority/fraternity, this show is for you! For the hour that I watch it am time warped back into my college days at the good 'ole Zeta house. I love the drama that surrounds the ZBZ house and the boy drama that ensures in every episode. I'm so excited for the new season...tivo is already set!!!

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Biscuits'n Gravy!

Super easy and quick breakfast to make. I actually had all of these things on hand already! The biscuits were 'leftovers' from making the meat cupcakes (I bought four containers). The Starbucks was leftover from what I didn't drink the previous day....they are way too expensive to just throw out what you don't drink...reheat it for the next day! Follow the directions on the back of the biscuits package and the gravy package and within 10 minutes, breakfast is served! I also like honey on biscuits. It was a nice 'sweets' fix since I gave up all sweets for Lent this year...still going strong!! (No sausage on hand...but this would be good with some sausage in the gravy too!)


** Earth Hour was amazing last night! I looked down our neighborhood street at 8:35pm and it was complete darkness. I've also looked at the pictures posted on the Earth Hour website of Sydney's Opera House, China's Olympic Bird Nest, and even Vatican City....truly amazing! GLOBAL UNITY ROCKS!!!!! **

Earth Hour

Have you heard of this?

Earth Hour is between 8:30-9:30 (your local time) on Saturday, March 28th (TODAY) when you turn off your lights for the complete hour. This is in response to a global vote against global warming and for saving our planet Earth. Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth and keeping them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

To find out more about it, you can visit the Earth Hour website. I, for one, vote Earth and will be turning my lights off from 8:30-9:30pm tonight.

Friday Night Fun

This picture sums up my Friday night.....

Clayton and I met Curt at my favorite pizza place, Arni's. Arni's has great pizza and salads, but it also holds a special place in my heart for all of the memories that were created there with Curt in our dating days.

After a wonderful dinner with two of my most favorite boys in world, we came home to watch Clayton play and walk around the house. Now sweet Clayton is asleep and Curt and I are spending time together by watching the March Madness tournament games (sadly, Purdue was beat by Connecticut last night and is out of the tournament) with my favorite beer, Dundee's Honey Brown and I am in my pajamas.

Life is good.....

New Kicks!!

Clayton's new shoes came in the mail today!! I was so excited to put them on his feet and to see how well he could walk in them. Here he is checking them out...shoe laces, he has decided, are very fun!

After I stood him up, he held onto my arm and I was afraid that he wouldn't walk in them. However, he took off on run! He actually walks better in these shoes because he has to pick up his feet instead of shuffle them along. He really loves the sound that they make on hard floors.

Here he is eating his snack of grapes in his new shoes!

Ok..anyone who has a toddler who is constantly on the go or who is in the 'dropping' stage like my son needs this container! It is a bowl with handles on both sides and a lid that your child can put their hand in and pull out their snack. The best part is that when your child throws it on the floor...because you know that when they are done eating, the container will be thrown on floor....nothing falls out! I pack the bowl with goldfish, cereal, grapes, and etc. Clayton will either stand in one place to eat or carry it around and nothing ever falls out...much to our dog's dismay. It is great! I also take it in the car with us too. I use the link rings and link it through the handle to the straps on his car seat. This eliminates me having to turn around and hunt for it on the ground. He can pull it back up from the links.

Here is a top view of the bowl.....

...and a side view. Don't mind Clayton...he is just eating away...a little predinner snack!

DWTS Results Show

Finally...I was able to watch, granted a very small part, Dancing with the Stars Result show. I tuned in just after the two lowest dance teams were announced.

The two lowest were.......

Holly Madison and her partner Dmitry

Denise Richards and her partner Maksim

New this season, the two lowest couples have a dance off...I missed watching Holly and Dmitry's dance off, but caught Denise and Maksim. Did anyone else find watching Denise's dancing painful to watch? I'm not a dancer for that very same reason! Apparently, the judges didn't think it was too bad and awarded her a 20 which was two points more than Holly. Any feedback for me on how Holly's dance was? However, after combining her score with the view votes, she still had the lowest...guess there were some people who agreed with me! So now we are down to 11 dancers remaining....

My Little Man

I couldn't resist posting a picture of my little Clayton. He will be 15 months old on Friday and I can't believe how much he has grown. I'm sure all you Mommies out there agree...our babies grow up WAY too fast!

Jon and Kate Plus 8: Season 5?

Here are my personal opinions about the season finale show....

• I do not think that they are having any marital problems.
  
• I do think that there will be a season 5 show solely because Kate stated that she "loves" being able to work from home and enjoys doing all of the PR things for the show and books.

• There will be a season 5 if not for having to pay for their $1.4 million house...not to mention heating/ cooling the house!! Not to mention just living in general.
  

• Jon is having a hard time with people knowing who he is. He said that he has trouble because people see him only as "Jon and Kate Plus 8" rather than just Jon Gosselin who happens to have 8 kids.
• Jon was definitely out "partying" it up while he was staying with his Mom to help her foot. However, name one parent that doesn't like to go out and let off some steam every now and then.
  

If there will be a season 5...you can bet that my Tivo will be set!

Monday Night Menu

Our dinner menu tonight consisted of a new recipe that I found from one of my favorite blogs...Kelly's Korner. The recipe is for Meat Cupcakes...and no there is no cake involved. (This was my husband's first question!) They were mmm....mmmm...delicious! I think this is a new staple on our menu! Here is the recipe if you would like to try it at home. It is super simple and not time consuming at all. After teaching 5 year olds all day and coming home to watch a 1 year old I was able to cook a semi-homemade meal and put it on the table in 20 minutes...Rachel Ray eat your heart out!

Meat Cupcakes Ingredients

hamburger meat, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, worestecher sauce, biscuits, and shredded cheese


I'm a visual learning...so there are lots of pictures for this!


First thing first...get that hamburger meat browning! While this is cooking away, you can get the rest of the ingredients prepared.

While the meat is browning, open the biscuits and put them in a muffin tin. (I buttered my tin to make sure that the biscuits wouldn't stick.) I spread the dough out so that it covered a little of the sides to make a basin for the meat to snuggle in. You can go ahead and turn the oven on 400' to get it warm.

Don't forget to check and turn your meat! After that, time for the sauce. Mix the worestercher sauce, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar together to make a BBQ sauce.

Once the meat is done, drain it, then mix the BBQ sauce in with the meat.

Next, fill the muffin tins with dough with the meat/BBQ mixture.

Place the muffin tin into the oven and cook on 400' for about 10 minutes or until the dough has risen and is golden brown. Right before they are done, sprinkle some shredded cheese on top of the each 'cupcake' and leave in the oven just until the cheese is melted.

Voila! Meat Cupcake! I served it with green beans...Clayton's favorite...and pears on the side..here is my plate sans pears.

Now the real question was if my little garbage disposal would eat it! He generally eats most things that you put in front of him, especially if Mommy is eating it first. He took a few bites of the meat, but he is not a big meat eater. He loved the biscuit though!
Sadly, there were no left overs.

..

Sweet 16!!

PURDUE ADVANCES TO THE SWEET 16!!!!!!!

JaJuan Johnson celebrating...I would too after scoring 22 points!

Coach Painter celebrating...I was right there with you!!

No Pacifier Day!

Clayton went all day without his pacifier! He didn't need it for nap time or bed time. Yet another sign that my little baby is turning into a little man! I'm so proud of him!

Kiddie Footwear

There are such cute infant and toddler clothes!! However, sometimes people neglect a necessity.....footwear! Clayton lived in socks for the first 6-9 months of his life. My sister bought him the cutest Johnny Trumpette sneaker socks! I put him in those socks anytime we went anywhere or even just lounging around the house. I just loved them! Doing searches for baby clothes on my own, I discovered that they even have girl "Mary Jane" style socks. So adorable! I've never had a baby girl to buy for, just baby boys....(6 of them to be exact!)...but I would totally be stocking up on the baby girl socks too! I found them at Inchbug but I am sure you can find them at many other places.

Once Clayton began wearing shoes...a sad day for this Mommy 'cause it meant he was getting older....he wore Robeez. They were soft soled and perfect for his little toes that needed more of a protection. We have many different styles of the Robeez, but one of my favorites were the boots. Clayton LIVED in the boots this winter with the warm faux fur lining.

I recently just bought baby Oliver these adorable airplane Robeez with cloud socks (my sister works in the aerospace field). I am just so excited for his arrival!

Now that Clayton is walking...again, another milestone that shows my little baby is no longer a baby....he needed a shoe that was flexible, but more sturdy. Pediped shoes give him just that! These black and red ones Clayton wears everywhere. He also has the white/navy tennis shoe style ones and the brown loafer style ones too. These shoes let his toes grip for balance, but allows cushion when walking too.

Not to forget to mention that they are all SO CUTE!! Now that he has walking down to a science, it is time for real tennis shoes....now I really had to hold back the tears! I wanted shoes that had soles that weren't too think or heavy for him. I found these Nike shoes on Eastbay for a pretty reasonable price. I can't wait to see Clayton walking in them!!

Race for the Cure

I recently signed up for Race for the Cure on Saturday, April 18th. The Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure raises money for breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs for women and thousands of other community members along with supporting the national goal of finding a cure for breast cancer. The Komen races are the largest 5k run/walk races in the world! If you would live in the Indianapolis area and would like to sign up for the race as a runner, walker, or volunteer please visit the race site. You can make private donations through the Komen Indianapolis Race site or through my fundraising site. Anyone who would like to join my team and walk with me let me know! The 'race' is always fun and relaxing. The Indianapolis Zoo, which we walk by, always decorates for the race. One year, they posed an elephant wearing a pink ribbon banner for all participants to see. It is always amazing and inspiring to see so many women, men, and children coming together to honor loved ones who have passed away or in support of family members who are currently fighting this life threatening disease.

Boilers Advance!

BOILER UP!!!

Purdue beat the University of Northern Iowa in the first round of the tournament. They advance to the second round! Congratulations Boilers!!

Reality TV Rumor Mill

Jon and Kate Plus 8

Have you heard this?! Trouble in 'hectic' paradise? Rumor has it that their marriage is in trouble. Apparently he was staying with his mother to help her with a foot injury, but was seen out bar hoping multiple times. He is even rumored to have been 'making out' with girls from the local college's Volleyball team. In Touch magazine reports that he is back home and that Kate is embarrassed by his behavior but can't address it due to fans. Pictures that are circulating are reportedly just pictures with fans, nothing more. However, if you have seen the previews for the season finale next Monday something is up. Kate infers that she and Jon are "on different paths." Wonder that could mean....I'll definitely be watching! Any thoughts on this?



Dancing with the Stars

So, with all of the St. Patrick's Day festivities.....not to mention that it was BEAUTIFUL last night and Curt and I enjoyed an evening out doors away from the TV....I totally forgot about my new obsession...Dancing with the Stars! I must set my tivo! Here is what I found out from online this morning.

Belinda Carlisle was the first 'star' to be eliminated. In my opinion...she was not the worst, but probably just didn't have a huge fan base.

Rumor has it that dancing partners Gilles Marini, nude neighbor from Sex in the City: The Movie, and Cheryl Burke are in a secret romance. It seems to me that Cheryl Burke is always surrounded by these rumors, but they are never true. Gilles has laughed off these falsities. He is happily married with two children. His wife is apparently "laughing her butt off" at this rumor. News flash people...just because they dance sexy does not mean that there is anything going on. Ever hear of acting?!