Disaster Struck

Last night the kids went to their school's lock in. In the gymnasium, they had one of those big bounce house style slides set up for the kids to play on. Whether it wasn't set up correctly or too many kids were on it and horsing around, but it tipped OVER onto the gym floor with kids on top (including my own Lauren).

The school secretary called us to tell us what had happened, but stated right away that our daughter was okay. In fact, she was insisting on staying at the lock in and didn't want to come home. The secretary said that she scraped her cheek and had a slight fat lip.

When we picked the kids up at 9pm, Lauren had a little bit of a swollen cheek, but nothing major. She did say her wrist hurt a little, but it appeared to be fine. This morning, it's a little bit swollen and she says it hurts, but we're going to wait and see how it's doing tomorrow. She can move it, so it's probably not broken.

There was one girl that was apparently taken by ambulance to the ER. Although with elementary school kids, you hear different versions of what happened so we don't know for sure what's wrong. She apparently hit her head and "cracked it open" and had trouble breathing. For now, she'll be in our prayers for a quick recovery.

Lauren was pretty scared when it happened, but seems to be okay now. It could have been so much more worse. I thank God that it wasn't!

Ex-Boyfriends

Last week in the car, the kids were wondering about guys that I had dated before I met their dad. I told them about my first boyfriend in 8th grade. Of course at that age, you're not real serious about anyone. I continued on with the other guys I had dated before meeting dad and conversation was over.

A couple of days later, the kids were playing outside and brought in an envelope they said they "found" in the mailbox. On the outside it read: "FROM SOMWON" (from someone)

Inside there were two notes:

1) This is somwon who still loves you. He's from 8th grade. can you figer out. Signed by somwon.

2) Dear eneyone. I love you. Who am I. Signed secrit from 8th grade.

OOOOH.....tricky! The notes riddled with bad spelling and the fact that the notes go from 1st to 3rd person have me stumped! I hope I can figure out who my secret admirer is! :)

Product Review

This morning I tried one of Lean Cuisine's new frozen breakfasts. Had I actually read the box, I probably wouldn't have purchased it, but since I didn't, I was stuck eating it.

I had the new Sausage, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Panini. Sounds good, but after my first bite, something tasted off. It was a little too sweet. I pulled the box out of the recycle bin and read the front. "Scrambled Egg Whites, Sausage, Cheddar and reduced fat Mozzarella Cheeses and Sweet Maple Sauce on Cinnamon-flavored Multigrain Bread." Maple syrup and cinnamon flavored multigrain bread don't belong anywhere near sausage, egg & cheese in my opinion.

Looks like I'll be sticking to the Smart Ones breakfasts or making my own.

WFMW ~ Pizza Cutter

The pizza cutter is my best friend! Not only does it slice pizza, but I use it to cut up waffles, pancakes, pizza in bite sized pieces, cut the crusts off kids sandwiches, and many many more things! This is probably used by a million other people already, but it works for me!

Funny

Nathaniel has a planner given to him by his 3rd grade teacher to write assignments in. At the bottom of each page there are study hints on one side and an inspirational tidbit on the other. As I was reviewing his assignments yesterday, the study tip was, "Find a quiet and private place to do your homework." On the other side it said, "Chewing tobacco can make your teeth fall out." While absolutely true, I found this to be incredibly hilarious. It was just so blunt and to the point.

Go-to Meals

Now that my kids are involved in extra curricular activities, sometimes we don't have a lot of time for dinner. While I admit to serving my kids frozen pizzas and Kid Cuisines from time to time, I don't like to depend on those. I came up with a couple of go-to meals that the whole family likes that are quick and easy to get on the table. These are meals that I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand for.

Cheeseburger Biscuit Bake

1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
dash pepper
2 cups cheddar cheese divided
1 tube buttermilk biscuits

Preheat oven to 400. Cook beef and onion; drain. Stir in tomato sauce and ketchup. Sprinkle with pepper. Spoon half into greased 8x8 baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layers. Place biscuits around edges of dish. Bake uncovered for 18-22 minutes or until meat mixture is bubbly and biscuits are golden brown.


Hamburger and Green Beans

1 lb hamburger
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can green beans, drained
2 cups cooked rice

Cook hamburger. Add green beans and cream of mushroom soup. Stir to blend and heat through. Serve over cooked hot rice.

What are your quick go to meals?

Remembering Lt. Michael T. Russo

This year I am participating in Project 2,996 to remember the victims of 9/11. As the wife of a firefighter, I asked to be assigned the name of a firefighter.

Lt. Michael T. Russo
Age 44

Michael was born to Delores and Anthony Russo. He also leaves behind wife Theresa, son Michael Jr., brother Anthony, sister in law Arlene, brother in law Thomas (Hortensia), nieces Allison and Alexandra and nephews Kevin and Brian.

Michael was a pole vaulter in high school who also loved to scuba dive, ski, play golf and hockey. After graduating from Manhattan college, he become a firefighter with FDNY and was assigned to Squad 1 in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He had recently been promoted to lieutenant. He died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, while heroically trying to help those trapped inside.

As hard as it is to write a tribute to someone I don't know, I thought it was important to remember him. Going by accounts of what others who've known him have written, he was a very caring and dedicated man always wanting to help others. He will be missed but never forgotten.

A trust fund has been set up for Michael's son, Michael Jr. Inquiries can be made to arusso24@aol.com

First Day of School

Nathaniel on his first day of 3rd grade!











Lauren on her first day of 2nd grade!














Waiting for the bus











Off they go!

WFMW ~ Organizing Food

After cleaning out my garage freezer and finding over eight pounds of chicken stashed in the back, I decided to "inventory" my freezer. I listed everything in there on a spreadsheet for a quick look at what I had. After finishing that, I also inventoried my fridge freezer, my basement freezer chest and my lazy susan. Now when I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner or menu plan, I can just look at my lists. Much easier than standing in front of an open freezer! Brrr......