Recipe Friday - Chicken Spaghetti

This is one of my favorite casseroles. I almost always serve it with sides of peas and cornbread, just like momma used to do! It is a great recipe to freeze, so if I'm making it I usually double it & put some in the freezer.

Chicken Spaghetti
1-1/2 c boiled, chopped chicken
1 c uncooked spaghetti
1 small jar pimentos
1 small onion, chopped
½ green pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c chicken broth
1-1/2 c grated cheese (I like extra sharp cheddar)

Mix all ingredients except ½ c cheese together in casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 400* for 45 minutes.

WFMW: Finding a church

I've lurked on a lot of Works for Me Wednesday posts, but this is the first time I'm posting. Today is a backwards day, which means I get to ask for your help.

One of my goals for the early part of this year is to find a church home for our family. We tried visiting several churches in our area soon after Matthew was born but ended up making excuses and didn't follow through. Although I have to say we didn't feel "at home" at any of the ones we visited. Now with an infant and a toddler I am sure visiting will be even harder, but lately I've been feeling very strongly that we NEED to be in church. This is the first time in my life that I haven't been part of a church family and frankly I miss it. I need it. My family needs it.

So if anyone has advice about how to find a new church home, I would love to hear it. How many visits does it take to know it's a good fit?

For those of you who want to help others, head over to Rocks in My Dryer to see who else needs your help.

Why is it my responsibility?

Just a kind of funny story from the grocery store yesterday. We all went, so I had Scarlett in the sling and Matthew in the stroller while David took care of the buggy. We had stopped to get something on one of the aisles and someone stepped in front of the stroller. When I was ready to move on, I backed up just a tad so I could walk around them. She decided that was a perfect time to BACK up and backed right into the stroller. She said 'excuse me' and I replied 'no problem' and I thought all was fine. Then I overheard her say to the guy she was with "She really needs to watch where she's going." One thing I can't stand is someone who will not say what they think to my face, and I hate passive agressive behavior like this. She obviously wanted me to hear her. And I don't know WHY I give in to this sort of behavior, but I did...I turned and said "I was watching where I was going, you were the one backing up into me!" and continued on down the aisle. Then she had the nerve to tell me if I saw her backing up I should have said something. (Which I did not see her backing up until she actually backed into the stroller, otherwise I would have said something, but that's beside the point.)

So of course I had to ask her why it was MY responsibility to watch where I'M going and also to watch where SHE's going? What the heck? Can someone explain this to me? She couldn't, and I just have to say I HATE stupid people!

Scarlett's 6 month & Matthew's 2 year well check-ups

Friday afternoon we had pediatrician appointments for Scarlett's 6 month and Matthew's 2 year. SO hard to believe they are that old already! All morning I tried to prepare Matthew for the visit by talking about how we would go to the doctor's office & the doctor would weigh him and measure him, and then check him out. I was still surprised when we turned into the parking lot of the doctor's office & he started saying "doctor, where are you?" He did great though - the whole time he was being weighed & measured, and then while we were waiting on the doctor to come in. I had packed a couple of his race cars for him to play with and he was having fun playing when she knocked & came in. He looked up & said "hey doctor" then immediately went back to playing, including keeping up a stream of chatter about the cars. She went through the "development questions" and then commented on what great sentences he made. She wants us to see an ENT about Matthew's ears - he had a small hole in his eardrum and based on the last infection she thought it should be healed by now. She also seemed a little concerned about his flat feet, but then she said it didn't concern her enough to refer us to a specialist. Then David mentioned that our ortho hadn't been concerned about them either and she seemed surprised. We had to remind her that he had bilateral clubfoot. I guess they are pretty well corrected if she can't tell!

After she finished Matthew's exam, she checked Scarlett out. She got onto us a little for not already introducing solids, but the timing just hasn't been good and we were planning to start Saturday anyway. (HONEST, we were!) She said Scarlett is perfect but that she can tell Scarlett will be the one to get into everything. Uh-oh! Scarlett had 2 shots & an oral vaccine and did great for them. They were out of flu shots so Matthew didn't have to get any shots this visit.

Their stats:
Scarlett (6 months):
weight: 16 lbs 6 oz
length: 26-1/4"
head: 43 cm

Matthew (2 years):
weight: 30 lbs
length: 37" (note: there is a OWT that if you double their height at 2 years it tells you how tall they will be as an adult...6'2" isn't bad)
head: 50 cm

We are very pleased with Scarlett's weight gain since her 4 month visit. We already knew from the daycare reports that she was taking the bottle better, but it's very reassuring to see her putting on some weight.

Recipe Friday - Debbie's Corn Bread

1 box Jiffy cornbread
1 small chopped onion
1 stick butter
1 small (8 oz) container sour cream
1 cup of shredded cheese (I use sharp cheddar)

Mix cornbread according to package directions. Spread in a greased pie pan. Microwave the onion & butter until the butter melts. Then mix sour cream & cheese with the onion & butter. Spread this mixture over the cornbread. Bake at 400* until done (about 30 minutes).

This is great with chili.

a good day

Have I mentioned how much I hate dropping off or picking up the kiddos from daycare? I don't know why, but it's one of my least favorite things to do. But yesterday, I am so glad I was the one to pick them up. I got there pretty close to closing time and the teachers had all the children out in the great room. While I was signing them out, Matthew ran into the infant room. I didn't notice until I heard the teachers saying "awww" - when I looked up, he was coming out of the room with Scarlett's carseat. I went on in the room & was getting everything else, but was watching out the door and saw him take her hat out of the seat & put it on her head (with the help of one of the teachers, but he did most of it on his own). He then tried to take her from the teacher & put her in the seat. By this time one of the other teachers had gotten his coat, hat, & mittens and was helping him get them on. When I got over to them he said "hold shish-ter, me put seat" - he was wanting so badly to put her in her seat. So I grabbed her & asked him to help me, then he put his arms around her & kind of plopped her into the seat.

I just love that he wants to help with her. It makes my heart melt.

Then we got home & his memory just astounds me. Maybe it's because I haven't spent that much time around children his age, but he got a monkey for Christmas that you basically play hide & seek and hot/cold with. You hide the monkey & then it has a stick that beeps louder as you get closer to the monkey. Well he got this gift the Saturday before Christmas and only played with it that night. We packed it up Sunday and hadn't unpacked the box it was in when we got home. So last night he saw the monkey sticking out of the box & reached for it, saying "hide monkey". He hid the monkey & then went back to the box & said "where stick?" - I gave him the stick & he hunted the monkey. I was impressed he remembered how to play the game when it had been 1-1/2 weeks since he played with it, and even then he only played with it for a short time. Is he smart or do I just underestimate what he should be able to do?

we're baaaack

I feel like I've been away forever!

We decided to stay in town for the daycare Christmas program - it was the first "school performance" for both Matthew & Scarlett. Pretty cute - they gave the infants little bells to ring while the teachers sang Jingle Bells. Then Matthew's class sang one song & then did the Reindeer Pokey. I couldn't believe how crowded it was - I think the daycare director was surprised too since she sent an email this morning saying next year they would find a bigger place to have it!

We drove to Tennessee Friday the 21st. David's mom was there, so the entire family on that side was together for the weekend. We had our Christmas dinner & gift exchange Saturday night & Matthew was really into it. My SIL started passing out presents & he immediately grabbed one from under the tree & started unwrapping. Fortunately it was his. While he liked unwrapping, he impressed me by wanting to play with whatever he unwrapped for a while before going on to the next gift.

We also visited with David's dad's side of the family while in TN and exchanged gifts with them.

Then we drove to Georgia and had a nice visit. I am so spoiled having all of my family in one place - I took it for granted growing up but now really wish my kids could grow up that way. It will never happen though and I guess we were just lucky that both of David's parents went to TN before Christmas. I do think that this will be the last year we try to see all of both families for Christmas. We have our own family now, and it's not good to travel around so much every year.

Matthew seemed to love playing with Belle (my sister's daughter who is 6 weeks older than him). And Scarlett amazed everyone by how good she was! They said they had never seen such a content, happy baby.

All in all, we had a good Christmas. We drove home Sunday & spent New Year's Eve & Day at home. Today all is back to normal except I'm not working. David is at work & the kiddos are at daycare. This week I am working on stuff around the house, and this weekend we will look at our budget to decide if I need to look for work. David seems to think I can be a SAHM. Even though I don't want to take Matthew out of daycare, I think if I find some playgroups he will be ok.

On some level I feel bad because I think daycare has been so good for Matthew. I know not everyone is cut out to be a SAHM, but it's what I've wanted, and now I have convinced myself that someone else does a better job with Matthew than I do :(

I'll post some pictures and stories as soon as I get the pics downloaded!