Cruisin'

My man and I just got back from a week long cruise to the Carribiean islands. Oh, what a wonderful time we had. Sunny days, beautiful beaches, food, food, and more food. And laziness to a degree I have not experienced in awhile.





I was really hesitant to go. We went with nine other couples from our neighborhood. We had the best time. Laughing and joking around. We all came back friends. Thank goodness.

My parents came to watch the kids. And they had a wonderful time together as well.

I had hoped to blog before I left but I was so stressed trying to get everything ready it just didn't happen. Because this is what my house looked like just hours before my parents came.
Have I mentioned how neat my folks are? Well, they are very tidy people.



But we had a wonderful time. We left this...


And came home to this...

We are happy to be home with the kids but oh how we miss the beach.
Have a happy day...
Sabrina

Father/Daugher Dance

Our church had the annual Father/Daughter Valentine Dance this past Sunday night. This lovely couple represented our family. I made Rindy's brownies with peanut butter frosting for them to take. And they were a huge hit from what I understand. Sammy said they were gone as soon as she put the plate down. I will be making those again.

Have a happy day
Sabrina

Sick Days

This past week has been a series of sick days for our family. Monday the Bobo was not feeling well. He stayed home from school. By Thursday the Peanut had the cold and stayed home from school. It hit me Saturday night. I was so wiped out by this cold. It really stunk. Y'know I probably could have written several posts. But I didn't... I read. I read 19 Minutes by Jody Picoult.

It was unsettling and thought provoking. It's basically about a school shooting and the effects it has on everyone. The parents in this book thought they knew their kids and were doing a good job raising them. What they didn't know was that there were bullies, abusers and victims. It all seemed pretty hopeless. I was so bothered by it. My man and I are doing our best to raise our kids but they may make some very bad choices despite our best efforts. How scarey. But you see it isn't. We have a relationship with the maker of the universe. He can cover a multitude of our mistakes with His love and grace. I know that even christian kids can make mistakes but the Lord can work it all to glorifiy Him. In that, we have a peace that passes all understanding. And the love we have as parents goes on despite what our kids do.
Thanks God for loving us despite our weakness. Because it is our weakness that shows how great You are.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Apricot Chicken

Writing this blog is sometimes like coming up with dinner. What can I write about today? Hmm, don't know. Haven't really thought about it and nothing sounds interesting.

What's for dinner tonight? Hmm, don't know. Haven't really thought about it and nothing sounds interesting.

See the similarity.

Well, this evening at 5:30 I had not made dinner yet. I had, however, bought a pack of chicken that was on sale at the grocery store. I couldn't come up with anything! Gracious, chicken, the most versatile meat and I can't come up with anything sounding good. What's wrong with me? Alot, but we won't go into detail here. Onward... I was flipping through the church cookbook. Always something good in there. I came across Apricot chicken and I remembered I had wanted to try that. Well, at some point I had actually planned on making it because I had apricot preserves in the pantry. That is a small blessing from God because apricot preserves are not a staple in our house.

Here are the ingredients....

Here is what it looked like on the plate.
Ok... sorry I didn't clean it up a little but we had already sat down to eat and I had not taken a picture of the finished product. And I yelled 'Wait' to my man so I could snap a photo of his plate before he took a bite.

Here are the reviews.
My man... it's different... All I can taste is the Italian dressing. You used the fat free didn't you. It has a different taste than regular.
The Bobo... it's really sweet.
The Peanut... I like it.
Me... it is sweet. I taste more of the onion soup. It is kind of like General Tso's but without any hotness.
*****So I added red pepper to mine and got the hotness I was looking for. Sweet and spicy.
My man... this is a 'do over' (in our home that means this can be made again) but you need to use the regular Italian dressing. The fat free doesn't taste the same. It has a fat free taste. They do something to it.
***** I'm not kidding. He said all that. Actually, I edited it down. He had much to say about the tastiness of Italian dressing vs fat free Italian dressing.

Needless to say everyone cleaned their plate. It was after all 6:30 before we ate.
Here is the recipe. We will be trying it again in our house but with a little bit of tweaking. It is easy and it is good.

Apricot Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1pkt dry onion soup mix
1 jar 100% apricot fruit spread... I used preserves.
1/2 a bottle Italian dressing

Pre-heat oven to 350*. Cut each chicken breast into about 3-4 slices and place in a baking dish. Mix together soup mix, apricot spread and dressing. Pour mixture over the chicken. Cook uncovered 30-40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. I served it with rice.

Oh and this recipe came from Melissa May. I don't know her so I hope she doesn't mind her name being tossed around.

By the way... this is what happens when you leave the camera out unattended. Delightful, huh.

No Greg, this isn't my belly! I know you what your thinking!

On that note, have a happy day.
Sabrina

Highs and Lows

Last week we had two snow days and one day with a delay. Yippee! I love snow days. We had just enough snow for the kids to play in it. I got paid for both snow days. I love getting paid and not having to work. I wish I could do that all the time.

On the down side, my man's employer decided to cut everyone's pay and no longer contribute to 401K. Bummer. To compensate for this reduction in income, the luxury of horse back riding will be put on hold for me.

High... y'know we are thankful that the man has a job. And if all I have to do is give up a luxury... hey, so be it. Life is good. This makes us more thankful and aware of all our blessings.

Low... I really wanted the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl. But the Steelers are an amazing team. Roethlisberger could thread a needle with a football. What a great game.

High... The Boss did an awesome job with the half time show. However, I was disappointed he didn't sing Born in the USA. Jennifer Hudson, gave me chills with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.

Getting to see The Office after the Super Bowl was a great bonus. " I guess the pigeons flew west for the winter". Oh Michael Scott you make me laugh and cringe at the same time.

Count your blessings and have a happy day.
Sabrina

A 10 year old and her muse

I recently uploaded some pictures from our old camera. It is now the 'kids' camera'. They both love taking pictures. And my girl just loves taking pictures of her dog. Below is a combination of a couple photo shoots the Peanut did with the dog. Not sure if the dog is ready to be in America's Next Top Dog Model yet. I don't think she would even make into a Bad Dog calendar.

Hi! my name is Skye. I'm a SBD (single, black dog). I like treats and chasing squirrels. I was promised treats and lots of them. Where is the food services area?



Umm, I'm not sure I am comfortable doing this scene in the closet. It seems to be an 'I Dream of Jeannie' theme. And Barbara Eden was given more to wear


What do you mean by full frontal? Isn't this a family friendly photo shoot? And where is the snack cart?


Yeh, yeh, I'm workin' it. Will this day ever end?


I feel pretty. Oh so, pretty. Pretty and bright.

How sweet it is to be loved by you... Or Just the two of us. Oh wait,.. Love will keep us together.... Can you name the artists? I gotta quit listen' to my ipod when I post.



Stop all the jive talkin' and give me some treats. Now!

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Snow Days

The past couple of days here have been snowy and then icy. The kids have played outside most of the time the past two days. Bobo played football and the girl built a fort with her friends. We didn't get but a few inches of snow so they were not able to build their fort very high. As you can see.

The dog and I went walking in a winter wonderland.

I should have gotten much more done than I did around the house. But I spent too much time with this friend.

and wishing I was doing this.