Derrick is enjoying his last couple of days at “The Clubhouse” daycamp…

Xavier hasn’t cried when being dropped off at daycare the last couple of days - today he did but not because I was leaving, he was told “No” by one of the providers.  So that’s going well…

This weekend we are taking down all the decorations. I still can’t believe Christmas is over. It doesn’t even feel like a “real” Christmas. If my mom wouldn’t have been here it just would have been like any other day!  I can’t wait until next year when Geno’s home and we have a kick BUTT Christmas - our first one together in a house of our own!!!  I’m really excited!

Well, I know today is’t that exciting but hey, that’s good - right?

Well, Christmas Day 2006 is just about over. It was a great day and the only thing that could have made it better was having Geno here.  I was able to talk to him yesterday morning. He sound good and he said they just might get internet there next month. He wasn’t sure though because the last thing he heard it would cost about $300 the first month and then $100 every month after that.. Hopefully he will though….

My mother came down this weekend to celebrate Christmas - THANK YOU SANTA!!! We have had a great time this weekend. We actually braved the holiday crowds on Saturday AND Sunday!!! We rented some movies and ate popcorn!!! Derrick helped me wrap some presents last night -

 This morning we woke up at about 7am, had breakfast and began opening presents -

As you can see Xavier REALLY wanted to start before we were ready…

 But once we got started he was fine and seemed more interested in tearing off paper then looking at what he received…

But once we got started he was fine and seemed more interested in tearing off paper then looking at what he received…He received some really great gifts from Mommy & Daddy, Aunt Nina and Uncle Frank and Grandma & Grandbuddy. One of his favorite is this Blue’s Clues Mini Jukebox

 Mommy’s favorite - no mess markers and fingerpaints

 He also enjoyed these magnetic puzzle pieces from Aunt Nina & Uncle Frank

 Derrick also received some great gifts - Hardy Boys books, ITunes gift cards, Walmart gift cards, $$$(his favorite)

I made dinner afterwards - Meatloaf(recipe below), greenbeans, mashed taters and for dessert homemade Creme Brulee!

My mom has been such a great help. She has helped me get the house in some sortof order so that my days aren’t so hecktic - mainly helping me get organized. I’m REALLY going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow morning…

Well, I hope everybody’s Christmas(for those that celebrate the occasion) was one to remember and it was spent with those you love!

Couldn’t help but post these pictures!!

I had a free moment before getting ready for work. We are having a Christmas party today and I woke up at 5am to make “Grandma’s Beef Noodle Casserole” (see below for recipe). 

The boys are doing pretty good. Derrick spent the night at Braxton’s house (he’s like a brother to Derrick). Xavier is eating egg noodles(left over from the casserole). That kid loves food!

How cool is this - Geno’s Uncle Tom mentioned Derrick and Xavier in this article - Dublin-Scioto Basketball Announcement, it’s towards the middle of the page.  Thanks Uncle Tom - Derrick got a kick out of seeing his name!

Well, my time is up - need to finish getting ready!

This recipe is the best. My Grandma Geoffrion (my mom’s mom) used to make this and it’s terrific!  I suggest if you are trying to lose weight NOT to eat this. Substituting for low-fat ingredients just takes away from the great taste!

Grease 2qt casserole dish. Cook 2 1/2 cups egg noodles, drain. Blend with 3TBSP butter, cover with clean dish towel and put in warm place.

In a big bowl, mix 8oz Breakstone cottage cheese, 6oz softened Philadelphia cream cheese, and 1/3 cup Breakstone sour cream. Add 1/3 cup minced onion, 2tbsp chopped green pepper, 1tbsp pimiento, 1 tbsp fresh chives, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp Accent. Mix together and set aside.

Brown 1 pound ground beef (I use 93% fat-free to cut down on the grease). Drain fat. Stir in 2 cups Hunts tomato sauce, 1/2tsp salt, 1/2 tsp Lea & Perin’s Worchestire sauce and 3(or more - to taste) drops Tabasco Sauce.  Stir.

Now it’s time to layer: Put meat sauce on bottom of casserole(just a little) - half the noodles over that, next all of the cheese mixture, then the rest of the noodles over that and finally the rest of the meat sauce over that. Make sure the noodle are covered. bake covered at 350F for 50-60 minutes. Uncover the last 5-10 minutes.

ENJOY!

I found this recipe in the Kraft Food & Family magazine. It’s really good and super simple… I’ve written this exactly as it is written in the magazine.

Prep: 10 min.   Total: 1 hour 10 min.

~ 2 eggs, beaten

~ 2lb lean ground beef

~ 1 pkg (6oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken

~ 1 cup water

~ 1/2 cup Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce, divided

1.  Preheat oven to 375F. In a small bowl, beat eggs lightly with a fork. This makes it easy to incorporate them into the meat mixture, so you won’t have to overmix.

2.  Place lean ground beef, stuffing mix, water, beaten eggs and 1/4 cup barbecue sauce in large bowl.

3.  Mix all ingredients with wooden spoon just until blended.

4.  Shape meat mixture into an oval loaf in a 13×9-inch baking dish. Using a large baking dish makes it easier to pour out and discard excess fat.

5. Top meatloaf with remaining 1/4 cup barbeque sauce. Substitute: For a bolder taste, try Bull’s-Eye  Barbeque Sauce.

6. Bake 1 hour or until cooked through. No need to guess when the meatloaf is done cooking; just use a meat thermometer to check that the center has reached 160F.

NOTE: The meat thermometer comes in REALLY handy, especially since some ovens do not cook the same. Nothing like cooking it for an hour only to cut into it and it still be red in the center!

Please note - I wrote this and then tada my old post showed up - go figure. So a few of the things below were mentioned in the previous post. Technology, sorry! 

Don’t you hate it when you write a nice long update and press the “Publish” button only to have it disappear. Now I’m retyping what I wrote 2 days ago and so much more has happened since then… Let me begin:

1) Geno’s been gone for more than a week. I’ve had te privilege to talk with him, if just more a minute, just about every day.  He’s doing fine and will be going to his next (and final) destination soon. I DO have an address that is valid so please email me if you would like it.

2) We had family down the weekend of the 8th-11th. It was really nice. My Uncle Brian and Aunt Lynda, along with their daughter Bryanna, came to visit. We took the kids to see Santa and all I can say about that is…look at the pictures below.

3) I’ve finished mailing our Christmas cards. Hopefully, they get to everyone’s house in time. I’m actually waiting on getting one address since I’ve misplaced the envelope…hopefully I get it tomorrow and it should get there in time.

4) Things have calmed down some. I’m not as stressed as I was this time last week.  I’ve been able to accomplish a lot of things this past week. The only major obstacle I have left is going to get my NC driver’s license. I’m a little nervous about it but it’s got to be done.  That or I just might use my OH and renew it.  Who knows…

5) I went out for the first time in a long time Saturday night. My friend Nicole from work and her husband had a “white elephant” gift exchange. I ended up with a pair of candle holders. They actually aren’t that bad.  With some of the gifts they had there I’m glad I received what I did.

6) My mom is coming down this weekend for Christmas. I’m REALLY excited and glad that it was made possible!  Not sure exactly what we are going to do but I can almost guarentee that I am not going ANYWHERE near the mall - except maybe for Elizabeth’s Pizza…YUMMY!!!!

I actually wrote this yesterday(12/15/2006) - I just now got time to post it

It’s been one week since Geno left and I don’t think life could get much more hectic. We are still trying to nail down a routine.  This week I will start working on it a little more.  I started getting sick on Wednesday and I ended up taking half a day on Friday.  Xavier has woken up two nights in a row. The first night(Thursday) was AWEFUL because I had taken some Nyquil before I went to bed. Needless to say his 1am awakening was a haze.

Then last night(Friday) he was woken up at 2am by our neighbors outside!  I have complained to them MANY time about being so loud. I usually will give them until about midnight. If I wake up and it’s after midnight I will usually just listen to see how loud they get.  For those who don’t know the sotry I’ve already begged them to keep it down once at 3:30a and another time at 5:30a.  If it doesn’t wake the baby up on a weekend I will usually let it go. If it’s a weekday and I have to work - I will say something.  I actually don’t think it’s my neighbors but the lady across the street she is sooooo loud. They are supposed to be moving to Virginia(the moving truck came on Thursday) but apparently she is still here Well Xavier woke up this morning at 2am. So I picked him up, brought him down stairs, walked out in my pj pans and tshirt. I asked them to PLEASE keep it down. “It’s one thing to wake up me but another to wake up the baby”. I told them that Geno’s gone and I have enough to worry about then to stress about if I’m going to get sleep at night. The girls (my neighbor and the girl across the street didn’t say anything, The guy with them only said “ok”. I will probably go down there this morning/afternoon and try to explain things better then I could half asleep at 2am.

So today I have a Pampered Chef party at 1pm and then a Holiday party tonight at 8p. I’m really excited about this evenings party. I only wish Geno could come…

I have talked to Geno just about everyday. Yesterday it was cut short but I’m really not sure why. He’s going to be training this week so chances are I will not talk to him again until Monday or Tuesday. He sounds like he’s doing fine. I just can’t wait until he gets settled so he will have a routine too.

Derrick and Xavier are doing well. My aunt and uncle (my mom’s brother and his wife) came to visit last weekend. Here are a couple pictures…

Xavier and Bryanna

Lots of hugs from Xavier

Santa’s not high on Xavier’s list this year

Bryanna’s on Santa’s “Good” list -

Don’t you hate it when you write a nice long update and press the “Publish” button only to have it disappear. Now I’m retyping what I wrote 2 days ago and so much more has happened since then… Let me begin:

1) Geno’s been gone for more than a week. I’ve had te privilege to talk with him, if just more a minute, just about every day.  He’s doing fine and will be going to his next (and final) destination soon. I DO have an address that is valid so please email me if you would like it.

2) We had family down the weekend of the 8th-11th. It was really nice. My Uncle Brian and Aunt Lynda, along with their daughter Bryanna, came to visit. We took the kids to see Santa and all I can say about that is…look at the pictures below.

3) I’ve finished mailing our Christmas cards. Hopefully, they get to everyone’s house in time. I’m actually waiting on getting one address since I’ve misplaced the envelope…hopefully I get it tomorrow and it should get there in time.

4) Things have calmed down some. I’m not as stressed as I was this time last week.  I’ve been able to accomplish a lot of things this past week. The only major obstacle I have left is going to get my NC driver’s license. I’m a little nervous about it but it’s got to be done.  That or I just might use my OH and renew it.  Who knows…

5) I went out for the first time in a long time Saturday night. My friend Nicole from work and her husband had a “white elephant” gift exchange. I ended up with a pair of candle holders. They actually aren’t that bad.  With some of the gifts they had there I’m glad I received what I did.

6) My mom is coming down this weekend for Christmas. I’m REALLY excited and glad that it was made possible!  Not sure exactly what we are going to do but I can almost guarentee that I am not going ANYWHERE near the mall - except maybe for Elizabeth’s Pizza…YUMMY!!!!

Well, that’s about it for now. Here are a few pictures from the weekend my aunt and uncle were down - enjoy!

What a combination! So yesterday was both Christmas and “The Day”.  It was a great day together. We had a deployment ceremony in the morning. We tried to get a picture of Xavier and Santa at the mall but at 10:30a the mall was PACKED with daycares also wanting pictures.  I’m going to try again tomorrow so we will see.  We then went home finished last minute things and just spent time together as a family.  We later went to Miyabi’s for dinner. It was nice and relaxing.  At 8:30p I dropped Geno off at the company. They had to be on a lock down. During this time they load their baggage(and there is a TON), go through customs, then wait for the plane.  Geno called at 1am to tell me we could go to Green Ramp.  We(the boys and I) arrived at about 1:30a.  For a change it was warm in there - last time it was FREEZING!  At about 5:15a they gave us a 15minute warning.  I woke Derrick up - Xavier was down for the count.  We took pictures(below) and we saw him off.  This next year will be filled with ups and downs but in the end Geno will be home and hopefully this will be his last 1 year deployment.  He’s planning on going to a different school, SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) for flight medic training.  His deployments should then be shortened drastically.

Well, that is the update.  My aunt and uncle are down from Cleveland. They do jewelry shows and I hosted one today. I’ll show pictures of the jewelry I received later!!!

There are more pictures on the Flickr site. Email me if you need access to it.

Here are a few of my favorite’s…

CHRISTMAS

DEPLOYMENT