CARS 2 is officially here

On June 24th CARS 2 raced into the theaters. I haven't been able to make it to a theater with the kids to see it yet, we've been so busy lately, but I have heard that is a really fun movie for both kids and adults.

Here is a brief synopsis of the film.

Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car.  But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.  Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British super spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and the stunning rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer).  Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world.  The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new all-car cast, complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors.

Going through and watching some of the clips available online has only made my kids even more excited to see the movie. I might have to convince the hubs that we need to take the littles to see this while we are on our trip this weekend. What better way to spend a mini family vacation then with some excitement, laughter and general good times that movies bring. 

 

Also, check to see if your local theater has a movie club online. You can sign up and receive weekly coupons. We all know the cost of everything involved in going to see a movie can be expensive so every little bit helps.

Meat & potatoes...meat & potatoes!

Every time I say that I say it like Dana Carvey in The Road to Wellville. If you haven't seen that movie you really should, it's a great movie! So my Mom used to make this recipe for us as we were growing up all the time. It was one of my favorites. That and Chicken w/ Cheese were my two all time favorites. I'll have to make that and share with you another time. I know when I say meat & potatoes people think what's so special about a piece of meat and some potatoes. Well only that it's not a piece of meat with a side of potatoes it's a casserole. Not only is it really good but it's really simple to make. Now I don't do ground beef so I use ground chicken instead. Takes exactly the same to me but feel free to use whichever you prefer. This recipe that I am sharing is double the normal amount that I make.

Meat Chicken & Potatoes 

8-10 medium/large russet potatoes

2 lbs ground chicken

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 packets Lipton onion soup mix

2 cups milk

2-3 tbsp ketchup

1/4-1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degree.

Peel, cut and boil your potatoes. While those are cooking start to cook your chicken. Cook the chicken through but before you take it off the stove season it with the dry seasonings. I gave variations in the measurements because everyone's tastes are different so use how much you'd like. You can also substitute one of the powders for either garlic or onion salt just don't make it too salty because the soup mix has salt in it also.

Mix the two cups of milk with the two the two Lipton packets and heat in the microwave for one minute. While that mixture is heating up add in your ketchup to the chicken. I know it sounds totally gross but I promise you it will not be nearly as good if you leave it out!

When the milk mixture is done mix and then pour in with the chicken. Let simmer on low for about five minutes. You want to let the liquids soak in a little bit so it's not too runny for the casserole.
Now that the potatoes are done mash them and prepare to your liking. I usually add about a tablespoon of butter, some milk and onion powder along with a dash of cayenne powder. Mash them up until they are nice and smooth.
Grate your cheese, or you can go easy, which I normally do, and buy pre-shredded cheese. Cuts out a lot of time. 

Now you are ready to build your pie.

Step 1: Put all of the chicken mixture into your dish.



Step 2: Layer the cheese on top of the chicken.



Step 3: Add the potatoes on top of it all. Smooth the potatoes so it's all one level.





Pop your completed pie into the oven uncovered and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Or if you are in a hurry you can stick it in the microwave for 8-12 minutes, possibly less.





This dish is full of yummy goodness that my entire family enjoys.

I am no fashionista

Anyone can tell just by looking in my closet or at the clothes I am currently wearing, although I do love my Old Navy pajamas.  My "sense of style" isn't horrible but I do go for the more comfortable clothes as opposed to the cute, stylish, and a little more pricey options. But that still doesn't mean I don't drool wish like some seriously cute clothes.

Cupcake Special Occasion Damask Full Skirt

The Original Vamp Dress

The "It Girl" Dress

Erin Wiggle Dress

I am trying to think of excuses completely justified reasons for me to get that cupcake dress. And that Erin Wiggle Dress is seriously to die for.

Now what fun is dress shopping if you aren't going to at least look at some shoes. If you can't tell by now I like a little bit of the retro look. One of the things I love about retro looks coming back is you can easily add in some personal touches to outfits especially with shoes. You can go completely outrageous shoes and still pull off a fabulous outfit.

Here are some shoes that I love.

Black with Burgundy Vampire Mary Janes

STOKKER by Steve Madden

BOSSIEE by Steve Madden

 Now all I need to do is learn how to properly walk in heels and not fall and break an ankle and I would be golden. And just because I don't know how to properly walk in heels doesn't mean I can't appreciate the beauty that is called the heel.

Wordless Wednesday-Trip to OU

Last time my husband and I took a trip out to Oklahoma our oldest was quite upset that he didn't get to come with us. So we agreed that next time we went he could come with us since he would be out of school by then.

It was a great trip having our little man there with us. While out there we stopped by the stadium. I had seen it before but this time we had our realtor with us and she said we could take our son right on the field. One guess what my son said when we asked him. 

YES!

In this first picture I know it's very hard to see but if you look toward the middle left there's my little man LOL As soon as his feet hit the field he ran across the entire thing about four times.

iHeart Faces photo challenge-From a distance

This weeks theme on iHeart Faces is "From a Distance". 

As soon as I read what this weeks theme was I knew which picture I would use. Now I did not take this photo but my father did with my camera while we were on a mini family vacation a few years ago. And since it is a picture of my family and I own the rights to the photo I am submitting it for this weeks theme. 

This was our first family picture ever taken.

If you would like to enter into iHeart Faces weekly photo challenges head on over to their site. Contests now open on Mondays and close on Tuesdays at 9pm (CST).

Schools out for summer!

And yes I am singing it like Alice Cooper because I am that excited! 

This last month has been crazy busy. With my youngests birthday party, my oldests field trip, then his school performance, his last day of school annnnnd my husbands last day of school, of course filed with finals that he stressed hard core about. Not even going to count how many times my kids have been sick this month. I am so glad to be saying/singing good bye to the 2010/2011 school year. Peace out. Thank you for the memories but seriously summer 2011 BRING.IT.ON!

Little mans last day of school. I am proud Mommy

 

And on a random side note I have decided that when we move I will be doing a garden at our new place. I've never had a garden and my "green" thumb is more of a brownish, reddish, I will kill you soon enough thumb. So wish us luck because we/I really need it.

Happy Birthday to my little man

I've never shared my youngests birth story here before and since it is his birthday today I would like to share it. So here we go.

I woke up on Friday, May 30, 2008 at 7:08 a.m. and immediately started feeling contractions. I sat down at the computer and started timing them. Surprisingly they were all at 3 minutes apart. There were a couple that were 5 minutes apart and then they were back to 3 minutes and 2 minutes apart. I was in denial for the first half hour, okay more like an hour that this could be real labor.  I had woken up that morning with the intention of getting all my last minute stuff done before the babies arrival. But he had other plans. My friend Gena finally convinced me that I should call my midwife and this was more then likely real labor.

I contacted my Christy, my midwife around 8:00 and she was like your not in labor are you? I laughed and said actually I believe I am. So she said okay I will drop my kids off and grab my stuff and be on my way. She was coming from Whittier which is an hour and a half away so she rushed to get here. As soon as I hung up with her I called my husband and told him I think that he needed to come home. So he also left right then. I then called my mom and told her I needed her here to help me so she went and got my sister from school and came over. I took a shower to help me through the contractions and brought the kids in with me since it was just us at home. By the time my mom got here it was 9:10 a.m. I was bent over the side of my bed breathing through the contractions and the kids were still playing in the shower. My sister helped me with the kids and my friend Laura offered to called my mom and give her a list of things to buy for the birth. So she left and it was just me, the kids and my sister. My sister made them breakfast and kept them busy which I am very grateful for that.

By the time my mom got back which was around 9:45-10:00 it was a mad rush. They lined the bed with a shower curtain and lots of towels and then put one on the floor also in case I wanted to move. I "quickly" got onto the bed, on all fours with a pillow under my arms.  My husband walked in a couple minutes later. I was so happy he was finally home. He came over and held my hand the whole time. I told my mom I feel like I need to push because I was having pressure in my lower butt area. She then picked up the phone and immediately called Laura and was like what do I do!!!! She said it might help to put pressure on the sides of my hips, HOLY CRAP that did not help. Steve was like uh yeah no she does not like that.I have bad hips so I assume it's from that.

About 5 minutes later my midwife Christy came running in. She quickly got gloves, grabbed her jar of olive oil, rubbed it on me and said okay whenever your ready Shana. I always told myself I would NEVER be a screamer, but man oh man did I scream. Christy told me that the screaming doesn't help because it makes me tighten which pushes the baby back in (For all of you pregos out there, remember that bit of information for when you're in labor).

Soooooo I tried my hardest to grunt/breath instead of screaming. I think I did pretty well, at least they told me I was. Finally after about 3-4 pushes the head was out. Christy said hello to the baby and giggled and said she always loves this part because it's their first look at the new world. Everyone there was saying someone take a picture. My sister Tia (who was 17 at the time) was the only one right there with a camera but she was very hesitant so I said in my nicest during labor voice "Just take the fucking picture Tia". Everyone got a good laugh out of that one. Two more pushes and we had a baby at 10:31 a.m.! He was 8 lbs. 8 oz. and 21 1/4 inches long and just absolutely beautiful. My oldest was the who announced that it was a boy :) I was so excited and I KNEW it was a boy! Steve was in shock. He was totally convinced we were going to have a girl. 

It was an absolutely amazing birth experience. I enjoyed doing it all natural, being in my home, my own element. It was very comfortable and no one was telling me what to do or how to do it. It was all up to me. Example, when Christy said okay I'm ready Steve asked does she push now and her reply was "whenever Shana feels the need to. She is in control here, it's her body and she will know what to do when the time is right". I loved her look on birth. In a hospital it's the Dr who delivers your baby but that's not how she see's it. It's the mother who delivered the baby, the Dr, midwife, whoever is there to assist but the mom did all the work. Midwifes rock!

So that was how our beautiful bouncing, wild, crazy, full of energy, very curious, happy baby boy was born!

Happy third Birthday to my little man. I loved you as soon as I found out I was pregnant and that love has grown each and every day. You are by far my most challenging child but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I can't wait to watch you continue to grow. You are my baby, today, tomorrow and forever <3