Week In Review

Well, I'm about to head back home to Louisiana. Where I'm from in Louisiana, there is very limited cell phone service and internet access. My brother and I have different opinions on this. He hates it, but I love it. I enjoy being able to unplugged, even if it's just for a week. It's something I need to make more of an effort to do when I have the access to technology.

I'll be back in a week, but until then, here's our weekly recap!

SANTA STOP HERE

Kiddo received a few different items in her Piglet stocking this week. She even got a little something to wear to the basketball game she attended on Friday. (Don't worry, the books still made an appearance!) 

BASKETBALL GAME

Kiddo loves going to the basketball game at the college I work at. She LOVES our mascot, and sometimes I think she loves him a little too much because she has a hard time sharing him with other fans. She got to go to two games this week, but since I was working one of those, we only got a few pictures from the game on Friday.

HOLIDAY PARTY

My co-worker and I were responsible for putting on our office holiday party, and it was a complete success! We were concerned about not having enough food since it was a potluck, but we had plenty of food left over. Our simple decorations also went over extremely well. All I managed to take pictures of was one of the dishes that I brought. You can tell I worked hard on this one, right?

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

I've always wanted to go see the Christmas lights at the local botanical garden during the holidays. Kiddo's Mexican family has a restaurant close to there, so we had dinner with them and then went to see the lights. I learned from this that kiddo is not a fan of crowds, so these activities may not happen too often, but we had fun in spite of the few meltdowns. 

FUN WITH KIDDO

Bubbles!                                 Frosty at Raising Cane's

Christmas Trees                           Playing with play-doh

Drawing snowmen                         Holiday milkshakes

Kiddo requested pic                          Looking at her map

PERSONAL PROGRESS

1) Make 2 new recipes

I found the most amazing crockpot chicken spaghetti recipe! Momma B was even impressed and took a copy of the recipe home with her because she claims it taste JUST like one that she spent hours making.

2) Read 2 books 

I didn't finish any books this week. Instead, I focused on finding a reading challenge for 2015.   

3) Complete the #Quickfit Holiday Challenge from Jessica Smith

Weeks 1, 2 and 3 completed! I plan to finish week 4 today before leaving for the holidays where I'll have limited access to internet/phones. 

4) Complete 2 crafts 

Waiting on ... a Rudolph Toy.

I know that there are plenty of people wishing for greater Christmas miracles than this one. In fact, in our own family we are wishing for one greater than this as well, but this is a Christmas miracle that I'm praying for, even if it seems petty.

All kiddo has asked for this year for Christmas is a Rudolph toy. Should be easy, right?

WRONG!

Finding a Rudolph toy has been a challenge. I was so excited to see that Zulily had some on sale, and on December 4th, I ordered one.

It's now 3 days until Christmas and I still have not received the Rudolph toy. I'm freaking out a little bit, because we head back to Louisiana for Christmas yesterday. 

Well, kiddo headed back yesterday with my folks. I'm still waiting for the Rudolph toy. 

I saw online that it was shipped on December 18th and it is supposed to be delivered today. Fingers crossed!

Some people will say this is petty, but since kiddo, at age 3, is already starting to lose belief in Santa and the magic of Christmas, to me it's important that she get this toy. I have a very practical and logical 3 year old, who keeps telling people that Mommy is the one who brings the gifts. I'm hoping this one arrives before I have to leave so she can maybe have a little belief in the magic of Christmas.

Week In Review

Will I post anything that isn't a week in review before 2015? Except for New Year's Eve (possibly) when I post my New Year's resolutions, odds are slim. The holiday season is just too busy, and I'd rather spend more of my time in the moment enjoying it, than blogging about them. (Kiddo appreciates this as well.)

SANTA STOP HERE

When asked, kiddo will respond that she knows it's Mommy who puts these gifts in her stocking, and that it will always be a book. I guess Mommy needs to step up her game for next year. Here are a few shots of some of the things that kiddo got in her Piglet stocking this week: 

I tried to surprise kiddo with our tickets to go to Santa's Wonderland, but she wasn't overly excited at the time she got them. She got more excited on the 3 hour drive there. 

 

SANTA'S WONDERLAND

Well, we know for next year to spend the night the night before we go so that kiddo isn't about to fall asleep when we get there, and then doesn't scream "I WANT TO SEE FROSTY!" while crying for an hour while waiting in line to get in. Aside from the meltdowns of being tired, kiddo had a blast. The next morning I was questioning my decision to bring her, but as soon as she woke up, she looked at me and asked to go back. It was one of the best feelings I've had as a mom so far. 

                                                           Meltdown number one

Catching snowflakes                        Cocoa and funnel cake

Dancing with Frosty                          Train Ride Selfie

We spent most of our time in the petting zoo

Frosty Hi-Five                              Some of the lights

More lights. That last picture is my favorite. 

BESTIE ROADTRIP

My bestie is awesome. I was supposed to go on this roadtrip with the boy, as a Christmas present to him. Since things were already booked, and paid for, my bestie went with me and we had a blast! I felt this trip called for bringing Cedric the travel gnome out of retirement, so the trip got interesting at times. 

Santa Cow and his elf were at Chick-fil-a when we stopped for breakfast on our way out of town

We got caught in a Christmas parade. Literally, caught in a parade. 

Cedric with the Yell Leader                         My toy for the toy drive

These seniors rocked their dance at halftime!

We went to the coolest bar and played dreidel, drank cheap drinks, ate some yummy fried food and watched some hockey and the Heisman ceremony. 

Fell into a cannon                         Chilling with Sam Houston

FUN WITH KIDDO

Just some fun shots of kiddo from the week: 

PERSONAL PROGRESS

1) Make 2 new recipes

I made some KILLER peanut butter M&M cookies this week! They were so good that I know I ate WAY too many of them. That knocked out my goal of making 2 new recipes this month. 

2) Read 2 books 

This one was completed last week, but I did add one more book to the list of those read this month:
 I highly recommend this one! Better than expected! 

   

3) Complete the #Quickfit Holiday Challenge from Jessica Smith

Weeks 1 and 2 completed! Started Week 3 today!

4) Complete 2 crafts 

Baked Spaghetti

Holy cow! It's almost been a week since I posted! I promised myself I would do better about posting more regularly, but this month has been crazy busy. I've tried to focus more on making the memories with kiddo, and blogging about them later. Except Christmas updates probably into the month of January (sorry!). 

Back to the task at hand...

Today's adventure in cooking involves a recipe that I found on Pinterest. (Story of my life lately) I was planning to make this for the boy when he came over to help me decorate for Christmas. Since unfortunate circumstance led him back home, I thought "why not make it for myself?" So I did. 

It all started by seeing this picture online: 

(Click on the pic for the actual recipe from The Gunny Sack!) 

It looks good, right? It's also spaghetti, and even I can make spaghetti! (Granted I didn't learn until I was well into my 20s through Project Gorilla initiated by my brother, but that's another story for another day.)

I laid out all of the ingredients. By my brother's standards, I cheated by using jar sauces and frozen meatballs, but being a single working mom, I full support the semi-homemade method of cooking. (Score one for jarred sauces!)

Simple enough so far. Make spaghetti, stir in Alfredo sauce.  Easy peasy! 

Part of me really wanted to make something in these, so that's why this recipe was so appealing. I ate one that day, and then froze the others for dinner for the family later on. 

Baked spaghetti is so lovely when you take it out of the oven. 

Meatballs in marinara sauce. Who can resist? 

Ignore the not so beautiful plating of the dish. BUT CHECK OUT THE FANCY DISH I BUSTED OUT FOR THE OCCASION! 

I shouldn't have eaten that whole thing in one sitting, but I did. It was the perfect "OMG I'm unexpectedly single and I know it's for the best but I need to eat my feelings anyway" dish. The family had the leftovers later (except for kiddo who only wanted queso for dinner that night) and it was well received again. Mama and Papa B both approved. I've been told this can be added to the menu rotation on a regular basis. 

B-Family Rating: