Recent happenings

What hasn't been happening lately?!  We've been keeping very busy (perhaps a little too busy for my tastes) so there's been plenty going on.

Grammy got an awesome flight deal so she came in for a week at the spur of the moment.  I was so happy she was able to spend some uninterrupted time with Cam before he heads back to school next week.

Cam & his buddy Tyler

Cam stayed home from summer camp every day but Friday since he didn't want to miss his big Legoland field trip.

Me & lovely Lo Lo

Grammy was nice enough to watch the kids while we headed to see Sublime in concert last Friday.  I really wasn't even excited to go (I know, I know I'm lame) but sometimes the idea of a big, late night out is just not very appealing to me after an insane week, but we ended up having a great time.

Me & my darling hubby

 It ended up POURING on us as we arrived & I was dumb enough to ditch my typical flip flops for wedges.  Big mistake.  Huge.  After the rain though, the weather was gloriously cool, unlike the typically insane heat we've been dealing with. 

My Minions seeing the Minions

While Grammy was in town, we headed to see the Minions & the kids were so excited that we decided to make Minion cupcakes.

 


The kids made quite the mess with the sprinkles but the cupcakes ended up turning out so cute!  Cam's birthday is about a month away so we'll be whipping these up for his Minion party (unless he changes his theme by then!)

We got the dentist checked off the before school to-do list.

 

Luckily there were no cavities!!

I was done with my ever growing hair so I decided to hack 5" off.

And my three year-old has decided that she prefers showers to baths.  It's quite hilarious to see her naked little body standing in the huge shower!  Love her!

Speaking of love, this picture is positively adorable!!  Such a big personality in a petite, little body!  Reese cracks me up... she's the best.

We also hit a Tampa Bay Rays vs. the Mets baseball game with Matt, Kelly, Grammy & the kids & snapped this precious pic of Cam & Leah.  Since Matt's a Mets fan & Cam played little league on the Mets, Leah wore his jersey so we kept joking that they were married.  That would be awesome.  I seriously hope I end up with a daughter-in-law like Leah when Cam eventually gets married!

This pic of Reese & Sammy is ridiculously sweet.  They love each other so much!

PJ day at school today!

Tomorrow we all have the day off to head to Cam's open house at his BRAND NEW SCHOOL!  Exciting!

I must be getting overwhelmed with everything that's going on since I cannot sleep well these days.  I read a quote that said, "When you're anxious, you're living in the future."  That is so true for me since I'm always worrying ahead & I just lay in bed at night, thinking of the ever growing list of things to do.  Even just stupid stuff like, Haven't flossed in a while.  Speaking of flossing, I never floss my kids teeth!  Speaking of teeth, my dog hasn't been to the vet in forever to get her teeth cleaned!  Ahhh!!!  Why can't I just shut by friggin brain off for a minute?!?!

Gearing up for back to school

Sadly, summer is quickly coming to an end & first grade begins for Cam in two short weeks... waaaah!  I can honestly say that this time has gone by in a blur & rather than three months, it feels like one.  Gone will be the days of more relaxed evenings!  But all good things must come to an end, right?  I don't like the person who came up with that saying.  I want all good things to last forever!!

Anyway, like it or not, the school year is lurking & I have to be ready.  Last year we bought Cameron an overpriced yet cheap character backpack that lasted about two weeks before it ripped.  I ended up putting ducktape on the damn thing since I can't handle wasting money; keeping it classy in the Perno house!  This year Cameron is into everything happy or smiley face, so we bought him this, more high-quality backpack that will hopefully last him a few years.

When I was a kid, my mom bought me one JanSport that basically lasted me my entire school career, but seems that kids these days get a new backpack each year.  Not for this gal!

We keep the kids on a pretty strict bedtime routine, basically only straying when it's a special occasion, so that won't be much of a transition.  What we are nipping in the bud is Cameron's way too early wake-up time.  No joke, last Saturday I thankfully forgot to close our bedroom blinds that look into the slider in the family room & woke to the light from the TV blaring in my face.  I looked over at the clock & it was 4:50a.m!!!!  Out of instinct, I immediately shouted, "Mike, it's 4:50 in the morning & Cameron is up!"  Mike leaped out of bed (I'm a horrible wife for waking him!) & the kid went back to sleep for nearly another four hours.  What a nut!

So we ordered Cam this Perry the Platypus alarm clock so he knows when it's an acceptable time to get out of bed.  Mike was worried that a clock might end up causing Cam anxiety, but I feel otherwise.  I cannot stand it when there's not a clock in a room I'm sleeping in & I have no idea what time it is.  The rule is that he cannot get up until 7 a.m.

School supply shopping is knocked out so I'm just making sure our homework station is up to snuff.  I don't care if a room or system looks good, but it it's not functional, it's not for me.  I want things to make my life easier, not more difficult.

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I picked up this striped caddy to go into our homework basket for under $15 at Target, otherwise we'll keep the same homework spot in the playroom that we used last year.

We're also planning on doing another back-to-school photo shoot with Cam's fellow first graders.  We're hoping to make it an annual thing & use this same desk as a prop so we can see how much they grow as the years progress (sniff, sniff).

I'll also start a new folder to save Cam's first grade work & start it with a picture from the beginning of the school year with all of his stats.

{Source with free printables}

I do have to say though, I'm pretty choosy on the things I save that come home from school.  I'm not overly sentimental so I don't save a piece of paper that has scribbles of color on it.  That about does it, ready or not, first grade, here we come!!!

The time it rained for weeks in Florida

This summer has been a strange one & the last few weeks, Florida has been slammed with rain.  Today I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to non-stop thunder & lightning, accompanied by pelting rain.

This is what the roads near the water look like today. After rounding with patients, I settled into my desk at noon, wondering what I was going to eat for lunch when an email dinged to my phone.  It was the kids' daycare notifying me that daycare would be closing & the kids had to be fetched by 2pm.  That made for a very rushed afternoon!

Thankfully the roads near our house were in good condition so I had no issues.  I used the early start as an opportunity to hit Target & get groceries for the week.  We've been using the Our Groceries app on our Android phones (also available on iPhones) for the past couple of years & I cannot imagine living without it!  Mike & I share a list so if he's at the store & I think of something else, I add to to the list, it pops up on his list & saves me a phone call.  Also, as you're running out of something, you grab your phone & just add it which helps us from smacking ourselves as we come home from the store without something we needed.  It can be used via your phone or computer.  When I come up with a weekly menu, I'll have Pinterest pulled up next to Our Groceries so I can add things straight from the recipe.  I also love that you can organize it by category (ie, produce, dairy, meat, frozen) & as you grab your item, it puts a line through it & moves it to the bottom.  It's awesome!

Today I whipped up a delicious one-pan cheesy broccoli & brown rice casserole.  I got it from Pinterest but used brown rice in place of white which boosts the nutrition value but also greatly increases the cooking time.  It may take longer to cook, but it's super quick to whip up so as it simmers away on the stove top, you've got time to tackle other tasks.

One-Pan Broccoli Cheddar & Brown Rice Casserole
Yield: 6 servings 
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

-3T EVOO
-1 small yellow onion, finely diced
-1-1.25# boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 cup brown rice
-1 2/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
-2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
-2c sharp shredded cheddar cheese

1) In a large skillet or pan, saute onions over medium heat with 2T EVOO until softened.  2) In the meantime, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces & season with salt & pepper.  3) Increase heat to medium-high & begin to brown the chicken.  4) Dice garlic & add to pan.  5) Push chicken to one side of the pan, add 1T EVOO, add the uncooked brown rice & saute for a couple of minutes. 6) Add chicken broth, stir to combine, allow mixture to come to a simmer, cover & cook for approximately 1 hour & 15 minutes (if you were to use long-grain white rice, this step would take only 12 minutes to cook & require 2.5c chicken broth).  7) Add broccoli florets & allow to cook an additional 15-20 minutes. 8) Add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese & mix to combine. 9) Top mixture with remaining cheddar cheese, cover for 2 minutes & allow cheese to melt. 10) Eat & enjoy.  P.S. - I highly suggest adding hot sauce such as Cholula!

Since the weather was crummy this past weekend, we had a rare family of four only weekend, laid low & went out for a yummy dinner Saturday evening.

I may have also indulged in a fantastic margarita or two that Mike makes with 3 simple ingredients: Fresh squeezed lime, tequila & triple sec.  Delish!

Sunday after church we headed back to Chuck E. Cheese so Mike could experience the mayhem & madness!  It was a great rain-filled, family oriented weekend!!

Busy fun

Mike headed out of town last Friday morning for a guy's fantasy football weekend getaway at the beach.  That meant that I was flying solo Friday-Sunday afternoon, but I'm always up for a challenge to keep things interesting!

We've had an insane amount of rain lately (which I happen to love since you rarely get a solid rainy day in the Sunshine state) so we kicked off the weekend by wading our way to dinner with friends we haven't seen in forever.  They have an eighteen month old little boy & I hadn't met him until that night, so it was great to get back together.



The kids have been talking about a sleepover for a while so I settled them in the back bedroom for a brother/sister slumber party after dinner.  They lasted about an hour until Reese declared that she wanted to sleep in her own bed.  Cam insisted he was going to stay in that room, but two minutes later, he was also fast asleep in his own bed.  So much for that!  After the kiddos went to bed, I had a blissful night of sipping wine while watching, Return to Me... it was heavenly!

Saturday afternoon I met my besties for a mom/kiddo day at Chuck E Cheese.  We have a new location near our house yet we've never been & we ended up having so much fun!

$20 bought us 80 tokens which was plenty to keep Cam & Reese occupied since each game takes one token.  After pizza the mommies indulged in a beer over some chit chat while the kids continued to have a ball... win, win!

We're three!

We did an impromptu photo shoot with the little goofballs & the pics turned out pretty darn cute!

We're six!

We're silly!

We're awesome!

I'm a ladies man!

Mommy/kiddo/Pug Saturday movie night

It ended up being a really low-key yet fun-filled weekend, although it was great when we came back from church Sunday to find that Mike had returned!

Turquoise organizer from Target ($13)

I'm getting a jump start on my Wednesday organization by tackling the horrific junk drawer in our kitchen.  Since these drawers get the name "junk drawer" I'm assuming I'm not the only person who has issues keeping theirs organized??!

Batteries, tape, screws, checkbooks, etc gather in this drawer & it had gotten quite messy!

The after picture still looks pretty messy, but I assure you I did get rid of a lot of unused junk.  When you have a bunch of random, small items gathered in one drawer, it's had to keep it looking pretty!

I did my organizing while a SUPER quick dinner cooked in the oven.  It took no longer than 10 minutes to assemble & 20-25 minutes to cook.  Love me a one pan meal!

One-pan ranch chicken & roasted tomato green beans

-1.25# boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1oz pack dry ranch dressing mix
-Seasoned breadcrumbs (about a cup)
-Fresh green beans, ends trimmed
-Pint cherry or grape tomatoes (cut in half if desired)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil sprayed with non-stick spray. Slice chicken breasts into tenders & drizzle with olive oil.  Mix ranch packet & breadcrumbs into gallon zip bag, toss in chicken tenders & shake to coat.  Place chicken on one side of the baking sheet.  Toss green beans in olive oil, salt & pepper & place on the opposite side of the same baking sheet. Bake for ten minutes in preheated oven.  Meanwhile, toss the tomatoes in olive oil, salt & pepper & top green bean mixture.  Bake for an additional ten minutes & enjoy.  Super easy, healthy weeknight meal!

 Speaking of getting a jump on Wednesday organizing, my dryer just buzzed... the dreaded sound.  Sometimes when it goes off I think to myself, "I hate you!"  It's always pulling me away from something I'd rather be doing, like watching TV, blogging, browsing online, reading a magazine... basically anything else! 

On a sad note, my heart is feeling heavy tonight after finding out that a blogger I've followed for years passed away yesterday after complications from a heart issue.  It's amazing how in the blogging world, you can feel like you know someone you've never met & be affected by what's happening in their lives.  She was young, bubbly, seemed happily married & had two very small children, so it's a tragic ending to a sweet story I've followed.  Saying my prayers for her family tonight!!
 

Wednesday randoms

Just another week, just another Wednesday!

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I've got the Crockpot going again this week so dinner is one less thing I need to think about today.  I'm making "knock your socks off chicken & sausage" so we'll see if it lives up to its name this evening! Click here for the recipe. *update:  It nearly dinnertime & I felt that the sauce was a bit too thin, so I took a small cup & mixed a few tablespoons of hot broth from the Crockpot with a tablespoon of cornstarch, added it to the slow cooker & cooked it on high for another half hour to thicken.

Getting dinner out of the way takes some pressure off because my kiddos really keep me on my toes.  They basically don't go more than five minutes without asking me for something.  In fact, as I'm typing this, Cameron just asked, "Mommy, can I have popcorn?"  I mean it's 10am, why wouldn't you want popcorn?!?  Cam's also big into video games, so he's constantly asking me to play with him.  Little stinkers!  I usually end up staying up too late after they've gone to bed since it's the only time I can concentrate without constant distractions.

My four-legged stinkers keep me hopping too!

On a side note, Reese says she loves Lucky Charms cereal, but what she really loves is the marshmallows & refuses to eat the cereal part. Stubborn girl!

Did you notice my fish table runner?  I love it!  I recently picked it up at Target for under $20.

Also, I don't think I've posted many (if any) pictures of our back guest bedroom which we refer to as "Grammy's room" since this is where my MIL stays when she's in town.

It also serves as Cam's frat house when Grammy isn't here since this is where we keep his Wii U.  

It's a great guest room since it's big & has its own private bathroom.

This will ultimately serve as the pool bathroom once we get a pool & I can't wait till that happens!  I'm so thankful to be in a house that suits our needs!