What's Cookin' this week at our house

This is what's cookin' at our house this week.

Monday: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Tuesday: Beef Taco Bake

Wednesday: Meat loaf

Thursday: Pizza! Connor's choice, it's his birthday!

Friday: Eat out

Saturday: PepperJack Chicken Enchiladas

What I learned this week...

I am linking to Sitting On An Oak's What I learned this week. So head on over to see more of What others learned this week.

What I learned this Week...


I learned that 24 years goes much faster than you think it will! Mark and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary on Monday the 24th.

It has been quite a journey to say the least. We have so many priceless memories. We were married for 11 years before we had the boys, so we have a lot of pre-kids memories. We were married at 20 so we basically grew up together. I cherish those times when it was just he and I but our lives became so much richer after we started our family. Of course now we couldn't imagine our life without the boys. Then we added Max and Skylar (our dogs) and even though having pets can be cumbersome, they are now tightly woven into the fabric of our lives also.

Our wedding song was "Just you and I" by Crystal Gail and Eddie Rabbit". Does that age us or what? Just so you know the song wasn't new when we chose it to be "our" song ;)  Even though we have many wonderful family and friends who love us and care for us when it comes right down to the nitty gritty of life, this song has fit on so many occasions. We've had to pull together and draw from one anothers strength to make it through.

Every single time something has come up such as sitting in a doctors office and hearing those words "Mark you have cancer." He has looked into my eyes and I into his and without words knowing we were going to get through this together. Every once in awhile I still get stopped in my tracks when I think of how very lucky I was to find Mark at such a young age and know he was the one. I still can't believe how fortunate I am.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Alex we are so proud of you!

Alex had his Orchestra concert last week. It was his first since taking up the violin this school year. He did a great job and we were very PROUD of him! I think one of his favorite parts was when he actually got to put his violin down and go over to the big base drum and beat it a few times during the play part of the program.

I

I am participating this week in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday.

This weeks letter is "P"

"P" is for PROUD!

What's Cookin' this week at our house

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday:  Steak Stir Fry (new)

Monday: Red and White Penne

Tuesday:  Grandpa's Chili

Wednesday:  Grilled Salmon

Thursday:  Chicken Broccoli Alfredo (new)

Friday:  Hamburgers

Saturday: Homemade Pizza  - This week I tried making homemade crust. It came out pretty good but I'm going to tweak it a little next week. Maybe add some more seasonings.

O is for O-pen it... O-pen it!

I am participating in Alphabe Thursday over at  Jenny Matlock's Off on my Tangent. Today is the letter "O".



Grandma Susie sent us a care package. It was waiting outside the gate.. Alex went and got it and opened it. Inside were a few odds and ends, a few things we left at Christmas such as a spare sock, a bottle of shampoo, some boxed mac and cheese she probably purchased before we got there and never got around to eating, a package of chocolate donuts (which got snatched and hidden so fast by Mark I never even saw them). And the VERY VERY best part was a simple plastic container.........with............her famous CARROT COOKIES!!! I have always loved them and she was planning to make them at Christmas and never got around to it, not that I was disappointed or anything :) Better late than never right?

THANK YOU MOM!











































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">Recipe for Carrot Cookies

The Lottery Ticket

This week I am participating, for the first time, in Ms. Jenny's from "Off on my Tangent" Saturday Centus.
This week the assignment was to use 25 words not including the prompt. The prompt was "The Lottery ticket."



I walk into the store
I remember he said "Don't forget THE LOTTERY TICKET!"
I stand in line
Feeling confused
Quck pick or not?
Colorado Lotto or Powerball?

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Grandpa Dick's birthday was last week and we had a nice dinner out at Chili's. We then came home and ate some scrumptious Dairy Queen ice cream roll cake (his favorite!)

The boys "helped" him blow out his candles.

Meal plan for week of 1-16

Weekly Meal Plan




Sunday: Slow Cooker Spaghetti Chicken - Click HERE for the recipe.
 (This is a new one, I will let you know how it goes over). The best part was I already had all the ingredients!)

Monday: Southwest Burritos  (I'm going to make triple the recipe for this and freeze two portions.)


Tuesday:  Chicken Noodle Casserole -  See Smilebox below for the recipe (I will prepare this Sunday and freeze it so Mark can just pop it in the oven.  Alex has an Orchestra concert and I will be home from work a little later because I'm doing some training for work and will be driving quite a distance)

Wednesday: Southern Oven fried chicken or skillet fried - Mark's choice since he will be preparing it ;)

Thursday:  Tacos... regularly ole beef tacos, always good.

Friday:  Hamburgers on the grill

Saturday: Homemade pizza (I think we may make this a Saturday night tradition) I would like to try making at least of portion (We use a big rectangular jelly roll pan and sometimes let each person choose what they would like on their portion) Marguerite pizza.. mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, basil..yum












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">Chicken Noodle Casserole

What I learned this week

Today I am participating in WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK over at Sittingonanoak.

I learned that...

Sometimes the truth hurts!

I know I'm not perfect but I think for a time my boys may have thought I was close. They love their mom I know that but lately it seems they really see my faults. I know, I know you probably weren't aware I had any but I do have just a few.

Yesterday I was dropping Connor off at school (he usually has his ipod on and I have to make wild hand gestures just to get his attention when I have something important to say or ask). He happened to be in the front seat with me because I was also taking Alex and he was in the back. I had to separate them because sometimes they just don't like each other very much.

     Anyway, I may or may not have glanced quickly down at my phone while sitting in the car pool lane, I happened to inch a little forward by accident and looked up just in time to see I was about to bump the car ahead of me. I slammed on the brakes and quickly looked over at Connor whose eyes were as big as saucers. He didn't say anything for a moment but then he said "mom". I said "yea". He said "You really shouldn't be looking at your phone when you're driving". (OUCH) "and I've noticed lately you get distracted while driving and sometime swerve over in the other lane a little... and a lot of times you forget to turn where you are supposed to and I have to remind you..... not to be rude but I think your driving is going a little downhill."

I thought about this for a moment, took a deep breath, remembered that he will be a teenager in a few short weeks... and pleasantly said "Well if you feel that way maybe you shouldn't ride with me" :) Yes I really said that, I'm not proud of it, it wasn't my best moment. Luckily he had already put his ear phones in and began listening to his music so he didn't hear me. He got out of the car, we said our "I love you's" and he was off. Sometimes the truth hurts!

N is for News

I am participating in Ms. Jenny's Alphabe Thursday.





I try to avoid the news. I check my little google weather calendar every morning or ask Mark for the forecast. I find the news disturbing and negative! Call me pollyanna but I'd rather put my head in the sand. No, not really. I just figure if anything really important happens I'm sure to hear it from someone else. Is that irresponsible??

Mark bought a newspaper on Sunday. We hadn't had one in a long time. I did enjoy reading the gossip inserts inside and also enjoyed browsing the coupons but I didn't actually read the news.

I did enjoy watching the rescue of the Chilean minors a couple of months ago. It was very inspiring and heart warming to watch. I wish there were more stories like this one. I think there should be a good news channel and a bad news channel. That way you know what you're tuning in for.

Mark used to get a little "wrapped" up in the news. I would walk in and he would be talking back to the TV. I would give him an easy solution; just turn it off. Sometimes it worked.

Anywho.... Does anyone know who won the presidential election??

Tending the stove...

It was cold cold cold here this week. Grandpa and Alex love to light the stove out on the patio. Grandpa took this picture of Alex by the stove. I thought it was great! I love watching the two of them "tend" the stove. They are like two peas in a pod. I sometimes imagine Alex one day telling his kids and grandkids about when he and his Grandpa used to light the stove.

I did it!!

If you read my last post I was talking about meal planning... Well I did it! I planned for the entire week. I've been quite the domestic diva today. It was cold and snowing today. We got about 5-6 inches at least.   I made "Southwest Chicken stew" for dinner. Also made a big batch of marinara sauce and froze in portions so that Wednesday when we have spaghetti Mark can just pull it out of the freezer. Ain't I somethin'?

Here's what's cookin' in the Campbell kitchen this week.

Monday - Grandpa is making his famous beef stroganoff (using leftover roast that we made french dip out of)  He said he would make it but only because we asked really nice ;)

Tuesday - Ribs and potatoes Au Gratin

Wednesday - Spaghetti

Thursday - Grandpa's birthday (We are planning to use our Chili's gift card and take him out) I should probably mention this before he reads this post.

Friday - Grilled Salmon

Saturday - Homemade make your own pizza!

M is for Meal planning...

I think I can... I think I can...

Today I am participating in Ms. Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday.

Todays letter is the letter "M".

I have tried and tried through the years to have a good meal planning system.

When my boys were little I belonged to a "MOPS" group. It Stands for Mother of preschoolers and we met at a church once a week and the kids got to go in their own class for their age group and us moms got to chat, make crafts, eat and usually they had a guest speaker.

One week the speakers were two ladies that had written a cook book called "Don't Panic! It's in the Freezer"

The book explained how to cook once a week and make triple portions so that you could freeze them and have them later. I did it for a while and really enjoyed it. It was such a great feeling to have a freezer full of meals I could just thaw out and pop in the oven or cook on the stove. I actually still use several recipes I got from this book.

My friend Lindsay over at Bytes Of Memory is a really good meal planner and she posts her meal plan along with recipes every Monday (I think it is). I admire her organization!

My friend Terra over at Sittingonanoak is also a good meal planner. If I remember right she does hers by the month!

I really intend to get better at meal planning this year. I have to admit Mark does a lot of the cooking because I work until 5 or 5:30 several nights a week. I'm pretty lucky to come home and have dinner on the table! If I could make some meals ahead and freeze them it would help him too.

Soooooooo I'm just kind of thinking out loud really but I would love from you if you are a good meal planner or not. What do you do and how do you do it??

The House That Built Me...

A slideshow design by Smilebox






We went home for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I hadn't been home in a couple of years. My Dad still lives in the house I grew up in. I was thinking about how it always feels good to go home and sort of "touch base". That's kind of how it feels to me. No matter where you grew up there is just no place quite like home.

I was driving over to my Dads and heard this song. I've always loved it but it really touched me at that moment. I decided to take some pictures this time and brought a few old ones home with me. I didn't have time to really pick out all the pictures I would have liked to post but got a few. I wish I had more of my sister Julie and neice Faith. Maybe that will be another post for another time.

I have so many memories in this house. We moved in there when I was 5 years old and I lived there until I married Mark. My Mom is no longer with us but she is such a big part of this house I feel lucky I can still go back and touch base with my childhood. So many firsts in this house. Mark picked me up for our first date here :)

I know I've been a little "Smilebox" crazy lately but here is just one more....