A little bit of an update on us…

Well, we have a lot going on in the next few weeks.  This weekend, my dad is taking the kids and Jason and I are heading to Myrtle Beach for the weekend.  I’m so excited!  His Marine Corps Ball is down there.  I’m not going to that, but he is.  Well, just the ceremony part.  Then we’ll both go out to dinner and hang out in our AWESOME hotel I booked.  It’ll definitely be a fantastic and romantic getaway. 

Then there’s next week.  On Thursday, we’ll get the keys to our ‘new’ house.  Our base neighborhood has been getting remodeled for a while and our names have finally come up for a remodeled home.  I’m excited but exhausted thinking about it.  This will be our third move in one and a half years.  Sigh…  Thankfully, the Marine Corps is footing the bill this time and providing movers to pack, load and unload everything.  Supposedly, it’ll only take 1 day.  We’ll see.  So, they’ll come on the 13th, pack, load and unload at our new house.  It kind of works out nice because then we’ll have the weekend to unpack and get completely settled… hopefully.

About 2 weeks later on Wednesday, we’re hoping to host a Thanksgiving dinner for Jason’s shop of 50 at our house.  I’m definitely excited.  We’ve been here for almost a year and I have yet to meet anyone Jason works with or their families.  So I’m hoping I can plan properly and fit 50+ people in my home!

After all of that, we’ll have Thanksgiving at my dad’s, Kylie’s 7th birthday, mine and Jason’s 10th anniversary, Jason’s 31st birthday, Christmas (probably at my dad’s), New Year’s then Connor’s 11th birthday.  Wowza.  This is an incredibly busy time of year for our family!

I hope y’all have had and will have a great first week of November!

9 years ago…

… last Wednesday, this little man was born:

I don’t even know how this happened!?!  Where has the time gone?  How on earth did this baby turn NINE. YEARS. OLD.?!?!

Zachary looks just like his father.  It’s unbelievable.  He has no resemblance of me, at all, whatsoever.

However, he is just like me.  Overdramatic.  Needs details to tell a story.  Talks A. LOT.  He prefers to look ahead rather than at RIGHT. NOW.  :giggle:

He really is such a great kid.  He’s improved in so many areas, regarding school.  He used to hate reading with a passion.  Now it seems like you can’t get him to quit reading.  It’s so fabulous!  If asked, his absolute favorite subject is History.  He’s really learning his math and enjoying it.  It’s so fun to watch him learn.

He is my loving boy.  He adores giving hugs and loves telling you he loves you about a kabillion times a day.

I just don’t know how he got to be such a big kid.  Here are some pictures from our family birthday celebration:

Zachary with his birthday dinner choice: Chicken Enchiladas and Rice

Zachary's Birthday Cake - Lemon Cake with Vanilla Frosting

With his gift from Grannie and Grandad

With his gift from Kylie (that she bought with her own money... I love my kids)

With his gift from Connor

The next few are Zachary with his gifts from us.

And now it’s cake time!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...

Make a wish!

Yum

Macaroni and Cheese

My mom used to joke with me and others saying that I came out sucking my thumb and eating macaroni and cheese.  This has been my all-time favorite food for as long as I can remember.  With that said, I’d say it’s high time I blog about it!  So, let’s get started!  Preheat your oven to 375 350 degrees.

 

The ingredients: butter, flour, milk, salt, pepper, cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, garlic and elbow macaroni

First, we'll melt three tablespoons of butter with 1/2 a tablespoon of garlic and salt & pepper to taste (I use A LOT of pepper)

Slowly warm 2-2.5 cups of milk, separately. It's better to mix warm milk (or liquids) into a roux.

 

Shred both blocks of cheese. The blocks I buy are 10 ounces. I'll use about 8-9 ounces of each cheese in the mix and then 1-2 on top.

 

 

Add in 4 tablespoons of flour

Mix well and cook on medium heat until smooth and bubbly

Slowly add in the milk and mix well. Heat on med-high heat until boiling and thick-ish. You don't want this mixture too thick.

Don't forget the macaroni! Cook it about 1 minute less than the instructions say. They'll cook more once we put it in the oven.

Once the white sauce is thick enough (but not too thick) add in about 8-9 ounces of each cheese.

Mix well. Stir until all of the cheese has melted into the sauce. Make sure to taste the sauce before saying it's done. It could need more cheese! And never believe the lie that there is such a thing as too much cheese... that's simply RIDICULOUS!

Next up is buttering the casserole dish. I use a plastic sandwich bag - I put it on my hand, scoop some softened butter and butter the dish. Easy peasy!

Make sure to drain the macaroni really well!

Pour the macaroni and cheese back into the pot to mix.

Once everything is mixed, pour it all into the casserole.

This is about how much cheese I had left over... and it will go on top of the macaroni...

...just like this.

 

 

Now we’re ready for the oven.  You’ll put this into a 375 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  So, while we wait for the macaroni to be done, here are some pictures of what the kiddos were doing while I was cooking!

 

The boys were both working on school work...

And Kylie was reading a Spiderman comic, for kids.

And here is Zachary showing me what he REALLY does when he thinks I'm not watching....

So here we go….  I overcooked the macaroni and cheese.  Well – too high of heat in the oven.  Next time – 350 for 20ish minutes.  *insert eye roll here*