Hangin out!

This was the Faculty Appreciation dinner.  Mitch was honored with a plaque for 10 years of dedication to Midwestern.  Cool that the lighted up logo is in the background!  Im so proud of him! 

Cheers!  My girlfriend Heather and I send these to each other almost everyday! Happy Tuesday everyone!

Heather and I at a baby shower for one of our clients...there were bottomless Mimosa's! :)

Do you like my cobweb infested witch's hat!  I have done a lot of decorating this year for Halloween!

I have coffee with her every morning!!!! :) 

Marcus warming up for soccer...isn't the sky pretty?

Hangin' out with my boy!

well, you know Christmas is just around the corner and we cant forget the pets!

Baking

so delish!  peanut butter blossoms :)

the favorite cake around here...mom's chocolate bundt cake.  Im going to make Gram's apple cake this weekend, I have been craving that one too.

Marcus just keeps finding ways to be creative...he made his own WWE wrestling ring just to see if he could :)

Girls of Grace

This is where Mackenzie and I were last Saturday.  Girls of Grace.  A very upbeat, spiritual and motivational seminar.  Lots of great music and some important advice and words and I hope Mac got a little something out of.

There were about 17 girls that went but I could never seem to get them all together at the same time for a picture.  There were also about 4000 girls at this event.

You would have thought this band was the Beatles or One Direction or Justin Bieber.  Girls were screaming and I have to admit, they were so good, I bought their CD

It was a great time!

Thursday, Mitch and I had a banquet for his work.  Mac was kind enough to stay home and watch her brother.

Her first 7th/8th grade dance was Friday night.  She went with one of her girlfriends.  Don't tell me how grown up she looks.  I think I got 50 more grey hairs that night.

Her and Vanessa

Last night Mitch and I met some friends for dinner.  We got their a little early so we could enjoy some quiet time and have a drink.  Now the fun is over and it's laundry and house cleaning.

Soccer and Pitt-State

Getting ready for his first soccer practice.

There are 10 boys in his group.  The coach took a little time to watch each kid kick the ball around.  Marcus has never played but I thought he did real well....of course, I am his mom! :)

Last week I had on the Today show and I look up and see this....so you notice the girls' shirts?  Why, is that my alma mater? And a KU t shirt as well....

Chicken Stock

Earlier this week, I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot all day...

Afterwards, I putl the unused pieces (bones and skin) back into the broth and added about 5 cups of water and cooked it through the night we while we slept...then next morning I strained it and poured it into containers and refrigerated it.

 

After a few days in the fridge I had 4 cups of stock that I divided into 4 small bags.....but wait, there's more :)  ...

I froze cubes of stock (the darker color) and the fat from the top (the lighter color).  You can use it in soups and stews or any hearty comfort food dish!  That is my cooking tip for today :)

Sedona

On Friday we headed up to Sedona for a weekend getaway....this is what Mitch had to drive through!

Oh my gosh!  It was crazy weather!!!



But once we got to Sedona, this was the view from our room...breathtaking!

Here we are at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park....getting ready to be up close and personal with the animals!

Mom, this is not a Texas Longhorn (ive fortgotten its name) but we all thought of you when we saw it!

This is Marcus feeding the giraffe...

We were having so much fun but the air was getting sticky and dark and once again the rain fell....

I cant even begin to describe what we ran through...a true monsoon storm for sure!

We were all laughing!

After the storm passed clouds would just hang over the mountains...

We went to dinner and did some shopping in the downtown district...

We drove up into the mountains to get a closer look....

We ate breakfast and took a short trail near our hotel...a beautiful morning!



This is the Chapel of the Holy Cross...what a wonderful trip!

Hamster bday cake, wrestling, haircuts and color

Mom, before you freak out; it's semi permanent (fades in 6 weeks) and when I was a year younger than her I was perming and putting sun-in in my hair.

Marcus has had his hamster a year and wanted to make Randy a cake.  Yes, he changed his name again...I think this makes 4 times.

He googled this recipe...wheat bread, a dollup of yogurt, some oatmeal (dry) and then top it off with a spinach leaf and a strawberry....

Happy Birthday Randy!  He liked it!!!!

He finally decided to let me cut his hair short...he looks older!

Getting ready for WWE Monday Night Raw!  The show off sign is for a wrestler named Dolph Ziggler...he calls himself a show off!

He also made the Money in the Bank suitcase, that is another thing to do with wrestling...just ask Marcus!

This one came out blurry...the boys were ready to go!

Mitch got the tickets as part of his birthday...hope they have a great time!