Tuesdays Tasties

* 1 French Bread Baguette
* 1/2 lb pork sausage
* 1/2 lb ground beef
* 1 onion, chopped up into small pieces
* 1 cup of bread crumbs
* 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
* 1 egg slightly beaten
* 1/4 cup Parsley
* 2 T mustard
* 1/2 t salt
* 1/2 t pepper
* 2 T butter/margarine
* Garlic salt or powder

- Cut off both ends of the loaf and then cut it in half
- Hollow out the loaf leaving a 1/2 inch shell
- Cook sausage, beef and onion in skillet
- Drain off grease
- Stir in 1 cup maybe a little less of the bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, mustard,
salt, pepper, slightly beaten egg.
- Spoon filling into the hollowed out loaf
- Melt the butter and add some garlic powder or salt to the butter
- Brush the melted butter and garlic mix over the loaves of bread
- Wrap up with foil leaving top slightly opened
- Place on a baking sheet and cook at 400 for 22-25 minutes

This is my sisters recipe, I made it for the first time last week and it was delicious. Cory absolutely LOVED it and it was great the next day for leftovers reheated in the microwave as well. You could probably make it as an appetizer for a party as well and cut up small slices for everyone to enjoy!!

Check out these wheels

This past week Paige finally figured out how to pedal her bike. She has been riding her big wheel around for a good couple of months but never wanted to try it all out on the bike. The only problem and it is a big problem is she hasn't figured out how to stop! She will get going and then starting screaming for us to stop her, I tell her to push back on her pedals and we have showed her several times, however, it isn't sinking in. The other day she was doing great riding all over the driveway and then she decided she wanted to go off roading through the front yard. Well for those of you that don't know our set up, the front yard has a bit of a hill too it so she starting going full speed ahead towards the road, again screaming for us to stop her. Now she is getting leery as she wants to ride the bike, but can't remember how to stop so she gets frustrated and gets off!





Also, last week Claire and her class had a Wheels at the Park day where instead of having school everyone went to the park to ride their bikes, have lunch and play on the playground. We already had this event canceled due to rain so this was our second attempt and it was another rainy, damp day, but they went through with it despite the annoying mist. Here are a few pictures of Claire and her friends ready to ride in the "parade" if you will. As you will also notice, Claire hates having her helmet up on her head the correct way she always fights us and pushes it back, I swear everything is a battle with her. Anyway, at least she wears one right?
Claire and Emma
Claire along with her friends and also the other 4/5 year old classes!



Claire and Audrey

Last day of Preschool

The day that I have been dreading has arrived, Claire's last day of preschool. I had no idea how emotional I was going to be about all of this, but I am. After I put her to bed last night and was getting ready for bed myself I started having this sick feeling in my stomach. That is a feeling that I don't get often and I am glad for that because it is not something I like feeling. In one word I was sad, truly sad that after today my baby will no longer be going to preschool, the next time she sets foot into a school it will be her ELEMENTARY school and she will be starting Kindergarten!! I can only imagine how I will feel on her first day of school in the fall, I know that I will be super excited for her, but I am also pretty sure that I will feel this "sick" feeling again. As an end of the year gift to all the parents from Claire's teachers they made an "All About Me" book. It was really cute and covered things they have done from the beginning of school until the end. On the back they had how much she weighed at the beginning of the year and how tall she was as well as how much she weighs now and how tall she is. From the beginning of the year until now she has gained 3 pounds and grown 1.5 inches. I have noticed some other changes in her as well from losing her curls to losing her baby face! :( I am SOOO proud of you Claire you truly are turning into such a big girl, I know you will do great next year in Kindergarten. Love you!!!

Meeting her teachers for the first time, you can tell she is a little nervous and shy!

We aren't shy anymore, she has definitely formed a bound with both Mrs. Flynn

and Mrs. Howren, oh how we LOVE Mrs. Howren!

First day of school

Last day of school

Claire's 5th Birthday

Here are a few pictures that I took of Claire birthday from over the weekend!!

Good Morning Birthday Girl!!


Barbie clothes, we are excited! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.

Lip gloss from Aunt Amy, Uncle Jeff, Lauren and Adam in the container that looks like an Ipod, even better!!
The Barbie purse, phone, credit card, driver's license etc that she had been waiting for. Thank you Nana and Papa!!
The girls helped me make Claire's yellow cake with chocolate icing cake!
My baby!!

Acting silly as always.

The girls with their baby cousin Owen, he is getting so big!
Party is over, everyone has gone home, but we have to try out Pretty Pretty Princess which we got from Great Grandma!

Yes, I did it Cory, this is a once in a lifetime picture. Even daddy played and got to wear all the jewels!!

The Help

I haven't really been in the blogging mood lately thus I haven't blogged much. We have had a lot going on in our next of the woods, but nothing I want to share yet as it is not final, so more on that once we are 100% sure everything is going to work out. We have Claire's birthday this weekend, so I will blog about that next week and share some pictures, I can't believe my baby is turning 5!!

One thing I did want to share with all of you is a book that I read a few weeks ago that is absolutely wonderful. It is called "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett and is one of the best books I have read in awhile. I have never been much of a reader, when I was younger I HATED to read and it hasn't been until the last 2 years or so that I have really started to enjoy it. I truly believe it is because it takes me to another place and is a way for me to escape everything that I deal with on an everyday basis. I usually read more books that are in the genre of Fantasy, Harry Potter, Twilight etc, however, "The Help" is far from Fantasy, it is more Literary Fiction or Historical Fiction. I loved reading about the three main women in the book and their individual stories. If you are looking for a good book to read, pick this one up I promise you, you will not be disappointed! Have any of you read this book, what did you think of it?

A few months back I talked about The House of Night Series. That is a great series and I was bummed when I was finished reading the first 6 books in it. Well the 7th book "Burned" is out now so I just starting reading that one last night. I will let you know what I think of it once I am finished. What are some books that you all have read lately and enjoyed?

I am off to bake a birthday cake for tomorrow and make 3 appetizers! Ta-Ta!

What my daughter thinks of me.....

This past Friday I was invited to a Mother's Day Tea at Claire's school. It was so cute they greeted us one at a time with a corsage and then escorted us into the room. They then sang four songs for us, gave us some juice and cookies and then presented us with a picture of ourselves along with a blurb. Here is what Claire said about me:

This is Julie but I call her mommy. She got yellow hair. She is tall. Mommy washes our clothes in the washing machine. She lets us go outside and ride our bikes. She brings her chair out to watch us. She types on her computer (her work computer). She like to eat soup and stuff, soup with stuff in it like potatoes. She likes to drink soda, Pepsi and milk for dinner.
I like to go on airplanes with my mom.
My mom loves me thissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss much
and I love her thisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss much.

Kids they are too much sometimes, she got everything right except for what I like to eat and I prefer Dr. Pepper! She is right about everything else though and especially about the part where I love her thisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss much!!!

Paige's Mother's Day gift

As I walked into Paige's class today to pick her up from preschool she walks over to me and gives me the sweetiest smile and then proceeds to say "Happy Mother's Day". I was a little confused at first as it is only Monday and Mother's Day isn't until this weekend, however, I then realized that they had made something special for us today in class and were told to tell us "Happy Mother's Day" before we saw our gift. Here it is, I tell you what the simpliest things are the ones that mean the most!!