Family Fun and A Not-So-Productive Monday

So you all have seen my "productive" side and witnessed some of my "nesting" projects...well let me show you the other side of this Mama! I had a great day planned out, you know go to the gym, then Lowes, fix a nice dinner...blah, blah, blah. I accomplished absolutely ZERO today. In fact, I showered and brushed my teeth at 8:30PM tonight (GROSS...I know...we spent the night at my Mom's and I forgot my toothbrush)! While Saturday proved to be a very productive day and Sunday was filled with fun family time, today...ZIP! I was so drained from the weekend, I could only motivate myself to make the beds (that were left unmade yesterday) and get the children and myself dressed to venture back home (and that part was done with Kevin's help). In fact, you will not even believe what my kids ate for dinner...



GASP!!!!!!! I know, this is TERRIBLE! In fact, I can't believe that God is about to make me a mother of THREE, when I feed my kids Cheetos, Goldfish and Diet Coke for dinner! Let me start by saying that my intentions were NOT to feed them junk food for dinner, but they wanted a "snack" at 5:30 and I was too lazy to get up and fix dinner. So they had goldfish, and lets just say it was downhill from there. I did make them both peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which were quickly tossed to the floor (by Ellie) and whined about (by Drew). So needless to say, my kids did not recieve the nutritious meal that a mother (who did nothing else all day) should prepare for them. Maybe tomorrow will be better :( Since Kevin will be home with them, I can count on them getting at least a can of veggies with dinner (I am being dead serious too, he is really good about feeding them).

Anyway, yesterday we were at my Mom and Dad's house to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. With the exception of Jessica (my cousin Doug's wife), ALL of the family was present! It was so much fun, even if we didn't eat lunch until 3:00PM. We had two rounds of appetizers, lunch (chili, salad, corn bread), dessert, an egg hunt, and the opening of lots of birthday presents!

Here is my grandma opening her presents with her 4 children (Ellie, Mary, Sam, and my Mom) and Chloe (her great grandchild).


My cousins Jesse and Lee and my brother...


Me and Ellie...

The "group" after Grandma blew out her candles on the DELICIOUS homemade fresh strawberry cake (Ann can always put everyone else to shame with her baking abilities)!

Great-Gran and three of her great grandkids (can you tell we picked the perfect place for the picture, with the sun straight in their face)...

The two little ones, in deep conversation over oyster crackers...

The three older ones playing with the army sandbox...

The Egg Hunt, fabulously organized by Kevin. With separated areas (one for the little ones and one for the older ones), prize eggs (one for each kid), Pop Rocks and all! He is such a good Daddy!

Ellie finds an egg...

The five great-grand children (this was the closest I could get to all 5 smiling)!

I love my sister's comment..."We all get together and think we are some kind of celebrities!" This was in response to the 15 cameras going off all day!

So my final thought to leave you with is on what I love most...FOOD! I made this dip for the family get together yesterday and everyone really liked it, so I thought I would pass it on.

CHICKEN JALEPENO DIP

1 lb chicken (boiled and shredded)

1 lb bacon (fried and broken into pieces)

1 block cream cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

diced jalepenos (you can use as few or a many as you want)

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar

Salt and Pepper

Mix it all together, top with shredded cheddar and bake at 350 until it starts bubbling around the edges (about 30 minutes). Serve with tostitos!

Here is a picture of my dip (about 5 minutes after putting it out) half eaten! It didn't take long to disappear.

So today was my only day to be productive (and I failed miserably)! I have to work tomorrow and Wednesday, but hopefully Thursday and Friday will be better and I will have more to share and hopefully I will have been more productive! Until then...

Love to everyone!