happy birthday peanut!

wow, where did the past 2 years go? and where did they take my baby? i can't believe that anthony is 2. i can still remember the smell and sounds of the hospital as we were waiting and waiting and waiting for him to make his arrival 6 days late and just 28.5 hours after my induction, and now here we are, my baby now a toddler. when i think back at how much he has changed in the past 6 months let alone 2 years, it seems impossible to imagine that it could really happen as quickly as it did. it's like someone had their finger on a fast forward button...now if i could just find the remote and hit rewind. oh well, not possible, which is ok too, because i am truly enjoying every minute of every new day with my "peanut" and the new and exciting things he does or says...and he says alot! happy birthday anthony...mama and daddy love you very much! xxx ooo

november 9, 2005

november 9, 2007

look out martha stewart!

ok, so i highly doubt i'd ever come close to giving martha a run for her money, but i don't think i did too bad! with anthony's birthday being on friday, i wanted to make him some type of snack to take to "school" with him for the big day. after discussing with miss michelle what might be best for all the ages of the kids, we decided i would bring rice krispie treats. ok, now i'm 30 years old, but i have never made these before in my life...at least not by myself, but i figured it was high time i tried, and i owed it to tony! i think they turned out fine with the time i had to do them. in a perfect world i would have had a little einstein's ra-ra-ra-ra-rocket (sung like they do on the show) cookie cutter made, but - oh, welcome to the reality of a working mother - no time, no time! i decided on making them into the shape of stars (think outerspace, rockets, etc.)...only thing is, i didn't have a star cookie cutter, so i made do with what is actually a daisy cutter...so it's now more like an asterisk with rounded edges instead of a pointy star...i wrapped them in blue saran wrap (for the sky) and then made labels with rocket's image on them and wrote the kids' names on the label. i guess it'll work - if not, i'm sure the 2, 3, 4, & 5 year olds at tony's sitter will be the first ones to tell me what they really think of them!

7 cans

we tried this recipe tonight for dinner because it was quick and easy. it turned out to be oh so delicious as well which was an added bonus!! it's what rachael ray calls a "stoup"...thicker than a soup, but not quite thick enough to be a stew.

to make 7 cans and see/taste for yourself you'll need (add up the # of cans you'll need and see how the recipe got it's name)...

1-2 lbs. ground meat, seasoned to taste

2 cans ranch style beans or cannellini white kidney beans

2 large cans of minestone soup
2 cans of italian seasoned stewed tomatoes (breaking up the chunks slightly)

1 large can of mexican seasoned diced tomatoes.

brown and season meat and then add all other ingredients. stir well and bring to a boil.

this makes a ton and i've been told it freezes beautifully. we have a batch for each of us for lunch tomorrow and a large batch in the freezer for later.

tony's birthday...we've got a mission!

as the little einstein's say..."we've got a mission"...now let the festivities begin!! anthony will turn 2 on friday, november 9th, and due to the size of the families when combined, we've split his party into two. party 1 occured yesterday 11/4 with my side of the family. his actual birthday is friday, so party 2 will be going out to dinner and opening his presents from mama and daddy that night. party 3 will take place on saturday when tony and i head to hershey to celebrate with cousins jack and sam at hershey park and chocolate world. and wrapping things up will be john's side of the family with party 4 on sunday, 11/11. pictures to come of the rest of the celebrations, but here's a look at this past sunday along with some pictures of tony after getting his big boy haircut on saturday morning. no more "baby bowl cut"...he now uses gel!