Urg...

While we were in the hospital, lightning ran in on our router...totally killed it. We've have gotten 2 more since then and I can't get either of them to work. No internet. No netflix. No Call of Duty. We don't know what to do. Heaven forbid we have to watch a regular movie or even read a book or something. Sheesh.

Hospital

My baby is sick. We are in the hospital for probably the next 2 nights. In the words of the 3 year old. I DON'T like this.

Boys

This weekend, we had the opportunity to keep our niece. What a precious girl. Always polite, loves Barbies, quite a little lady. It made me realize....I have boys. Dirty, stinky, rambunctious boys. When she had the Barbies out Kirk chased them around with a T-Rex trying to eat them. Kirk let out little stink bombs and proudly proclaimed "Allie!!! I tooted!!" She would gasp and say "Kirk!" in a very motherly little girl way. She brushed doll's hair while he threw blocks and ran around screaming. It was quite a different world. I would very much like to have a little girl of my own some day, but for now, I guess me and my boys will make mud pies and gas jokes and terrorize our borrowed Barbie collections with our giant dinosaur collection. Either way...life is grand!

New Yummy-ness

We had a very yummy chicken pot pie last night. Oh, so good! I ate way too much! I thought I'd share this recipe with you!

• 1 recipe Pastry Topper ( I used a rolled up, store bought pie crust!)
• 1 cup chopped leek (3 medium) or onion (1 large)
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 3/4 cup sliced celery (1-1/2 stalks)
• 1/2 cup chopped red sweet pepper (1 small)
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup half-and-half, light cream, or milk
• 2-1/2 cups chopped, cooked chicken (I cheated here too and used the canned can...)
• 1 cup loose-pack frozen peas or frozen peas and carrots
• 1 egg, beaten

directions

1. Prepare Pastry Topper; set aside. (Recipe below.)
2. In a large saucepan cook leek, mushrooms, celery, and sweet pepper in hot butter over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the flour, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add broth and half-and-half all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken and peas. Pour into a 2-quart rectangular baking dish.
3. Place pastry over chicken mixture in dish. Turn edges of pastry under; flute to edges of dish. Brush pastry with some of the egg. If desired, place cut-out pastry shapes on top of pastry. Brush again with egg.
4. Bake, uncovered, in a 400 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let stand for 20 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Creamy and delicious! I wasn't too sure how I'd feel about the mushrooms but it was great. Next time I make this I think I'll throw in some potatoes and an extra dash of salt.

What a day.....

This has been a good/bad day. I am soooo happy and soooo grateful for everything that we got accomplished today. Joey got started on his braces. We come back in a week to get his legs casted and then the braces will be ready in 2 weeks. Yay for that! After that appointment, we went to the neurologist. And then, we waited. And waited. It wasn't too long. It wouldn't have been bad at all, actually, if I didn't have a very sleepy and very hungry baby yelling at me. When we got called back, Joey got his botox injections. This is to loosen up his leg muscles. When he stands up his knees stay bent because his muscles are so tight, so, this will help get him able to balance and stand up. I'm so glad he was able to do this, but it completely broke my heart. Joey is not a crier. He has a very high pain tolerance. Things usually don't make him cry. But, he got 2 shots in each leg....in his calf muscle. He literally screamed for at least 15 minutes. It hurt my heart for him. I'm supposed to be able to see the results by tomorrow and then the stretching begins. Gotta get that boy straightened out. I don't like seeing my baby sad, it's something I'm not used to with Joey. But, he is happy and sleeping right now and on the way to a more normal life!

Fact About Me

I'm not a total wuss. Some things scare me, but I'm not freaked out by everything. I would have to say that this is in my top five fears:

Growing potatoes.

I found one of these bad boys recently and it totally freaks me out. I will literally throw it and run. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm so gross that I've let a potato grow under my cupboards or the fact that they look like some sort of weird vegetable alien. Either way. Horrified.

Oooooh My Gooooodness!

I needed to bake some cookies today. Need. I love eating cookies, but really I just like to bake. So I found this recipe. Yum...... Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. I was worried that it might be a bit too much. Nope. Not too peanut buttery, not too oatmealy, and not too chocolatey. Just right. Original link is here.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

5. Get a giant cold glass of milk and enjoy! (I added that step myself!)