The life and times of Tanya Rocks!!

I Made It Monday

2010-01-25T11:59:00.003-05:00

Yes my friends, it is back.

This one has a back story....

One of my favorite places to eat is The Cheesecake Factory. I get to go two times a year, and I ALWAYS get Chicken Romano. I love it so much that I start thinking about it the minute that I know that I am going to get to go!

A few weeks back I tried the Pasta ala Betsy from Pioneer Woman, substituting the shrimp with grilled chicken. It was sooooo good (and really what is NOT good from Pioneer Woman?)

But I got to thinking.... the sauce was a lot like the sauce from Cheesecake factory. Then I turned to my trusty sidekick Google, where I found a recipe for Chicken Romano.

So that is how I came up with my new dish.

The sauce:

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 cup of white wine

8 ox can tomato sauce

1 cup heavy cream

2 basil leaves

saute the garlic and onion in the butter and oil until the onions are translucent.

Take off of heat and add in wine, let it evaporate for about 45 seconds. Then add in tomato sauce and cream. Let simmer while you do the rest!

Cook a pasta of your choice- I used thin spaghetti

Now the chicken. I did not use measuring cups, so I can't give you a specific recipe.

I used fresh chicken tender cut pieces. Pound them flat, think really, really thin.

Set up 3 bowls- one with flour and some Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. The second bowl with beaten eggs, the third bowl with grated Romano cheese ( i used the Kraft stuff in a can)

Put each piece of chicken through the process, flour, egg then cheese. Fry them in oil in a pan until brown on each side.

After the chicken was fried I put a little of the sauce on and sprinkled some mozzarella cheese on top and melted it in the oven

Next I put the sauce on the cooked pasta and topped with the chicken

The whole family LOVED this. Except Mr Rocks. He doesn't like any type of pasta. (weirdo!)

So I just made his pan fried plain chicken with panko instead of the Romano.

My Decade

2010-01-19T19:32:00.002-05:00

I started the decade with Mr Rocks, thinking that the people that thought that the world may end in the year 2000 were odd. I was happy to be celebrating my first new year over the age of 21 at a friends apartment- she was in fact the only friend that had an apartment at the time. It was a super fun night!

Flash forward 10 years. I was barely awake at midnight and laying in bed. So what happened in between there? A TON!

Between the years 2000-2009 (in no particular order)

-I got married

- had 4 babies

- lost 2 babies

- graduated college

- worked in 4 places, and at home

- lost a (step) parent

- Found religion

- became Catholic (not the same as finding religion, becoming Catholic is a process)

- became an aunt

- came to the realization that my true passion in life is motherhood, and that it is OK to not like to work, or want a career.

- Sometimes you have to work to do what is best for your family

- I learned everything I know about children through trial and error

- I made the best friends ever..... online

- I learned that no matter how bad something feels at the moment, life goes on

- I got a cell phone

- I got a laptop

- I learned to text message

- I bought a mini van *gasp*

- I moved 3 times

- had Starbucks for the first time

- watched many. many movies

- replaced most of the things that we received as wedding gifts already (who knew that stuff doesn't last that long!)

- learned that between the Internet and having a handy dandy husband- you can try to fix almost anything.

- I am really glad that I have a handy dandy husband

Welcome, 2010

2010-01-13T20:11:00.002-05:00

With the new year comes the usual wave of resolutions. Well, this past month has been especially hectic, so I was a little behind in getting started on my new goals.

I always like to set goals for myself every so often, not just at New Years.

This year I have the usual- get healthy, drink more water, and give up Diet Coke.

The goal to succeeding with goals is to have a plan of action!

My plan- I want to get back to working out 5-6 days a week. This is going to be tricky with working. I know that millions of mom's work out of the home and still manage to work out, so I know it CAN be done, but I have to figure it out for me. I work evenings, so I was planning to do my runs on the treadmill in the morning after the big kids go to school. This plan has hit a major road bump because Little Boy has figured out how to climb out of the play pen. Now I just need to figure out something to do with him while I run. He is just at the holy-terror-almost 2 stage right now and it had me stumped! I have been going to Zumba when my work schedule allows.

As for the water- I just need to do it. My goal is 5 bottles a day.

Give up the Diet Coke. This is a toughy. I don't drink coffee, so this is my caffeine. I know the horrors of Diet Coke (well, any aspartame) and I still drink it. I plan to wean off gradually. I am currently down to 3 cans a day (I drank a lot, shamefully). I don't think that i will ever be totally off it, but i don't want my body to be dependant on it.

I also want to blog more. I need to let go of the idea that it needs to be super interesting and just remember that it is an outlet for me to get things out.

Next I want to talk about my decade, so be on the watch.

I Made it Monday

2009-09-28T21:04:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine gave me this recipe. It is from Hungry Girl, so it is a lower calorie option. I made a few changes (I will let you know what I changed)

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

2 cups moist style yellow cake mix (1/2 of 18.25 ounce box)
1 large banana, mashed
1/3 cup Gerber bananas (or other baby food banana)
½ teaspoon baking powder

Frosting:¾ cup cool whip free(thawed)
¼ cup reduced fat peanut butter, room temp (optional 12 slices banana)

*I double the recipe (mostly so I could use the whole box of the cake mix). I also used extra creamy Cool Whip, because that is what I had. I checked the calories, the fat free version has 10 calories less per 2 tablespoons (personally, I would take the extra calories). I also used natural peanut butter, not low fat.

Preheat oven to 375

Combine peanut butter and cool whip stirring until mixed well. refrigerate.

In large bowl, combine cake mix with baking powder and 1 cup water. Mix well.
Add pureed bananas and stir thoroughly. Mix in mashed banana.

12 cup muffin tin with lined cups or sprayed. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

Once cooled COMPLETELY, spread frosting. Top with a slice of banana. Refrigerate until ready to serve

*I don't know why the recipe says to refrigerate the frosting. I did and it was too hard to frost the cupcakes! So I left it out for a bit and I added more Cool Whip.

I also didn't top with the banana, because I didn't have lemon juice.

This is what they looked like:
If you made these according to the original recipe 1 cupcake is 143 calories.

These are really, really good! The peanut butter and banana combo reminds me of being a kid. I ate peanut butter on nanas all the time.

Little Girl also helped me make these, you can check out a pic on my pic blog (once i get it updated of course!)

Seven

2009-09-24T21:17:00.002-04:00

The other day, my Big Boy turned 7 years old.

It is so hard for me to believe! It seems like it was just yesterday that we found out that I was pregnant! But in the time that seems like it was yesterday, we have had 4 children!

During that journey, there is one night that I was talking about with Mr Rocks, that kinds of gives us a chuckle now.

A few weeks before Big Boy was born, we spontaneously went to eat dinner at Friday's. I was VERY pregnant, and moody. While we were sitting there talking about the stuff that we still needed to do, we had a thought. This dinner was probably the last one like it. The last time we could just go to dinner, with out a child, with out a diaper bag, with out setting up a sitter.
Little did we know, in that Fridays a little over 7 years ago that our realization was sooooo true!

A few weeks later, as Mr Rocks drove me to the hospital, I realized that I wouldn't miss those dinners too much.

After a few more kids, I kinda wish that we could go to dinner alone more often, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Long time

2009-09-21T14:44:00.002-04:00

I took a leave of absence. I am not really sure why.

Then I got to worry- what the heck was I going to talk about after all this time?

Then I thought- who cares, just jump back in.

So that is that.

Lots of things happened- school started, a few long weekend trips.

I am back. Can't promise that it will be all that interesting.

I Made it Monday

2009-08-10T20:14:00.002-04:00

This week I made rum cake. It is one of Mr Rocks favorites. It is really pretty easy too! This recipe was given to me at my bridal shower by Mr Rocks' great Aunt.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional- I do not use them)
1 package (18.5 oz) yellow cake mix
1 (3.75 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum

(sorry- not sure why the picture is sideways? Can't get it fixed?)

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour 10" tub pan or 12 cup Bundt pan. (if you choose) Sprinkle nuts over bottom. Mix all cake ingredients together and pout over nuts. Bake 1 hour and let it cool.

Next, make the glaze:

1 stick of butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup rum

melt butter in sauce pan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

It will thicken up an look like this:

Remove from heat and stir in rum.

Prick the top of the cake with a fork or a tooth pick and drizzle the glaze over the top and sides. I found that setting the cake on a cooling rack was the easiest way of doing this.

Cut and serve. We like it with a little bit of Cool Whip. The cake is very rich and the Cool Whip is very good with it!

Lazy days

2009-08-03T21:18:00.002-04:00

Yep, summer is getting the best of my time right now.

I have decided to start a picture blog. One pictue everyday for a year. This is good for me for 2 reasons. First, I will make sure I TAKE a picture everyday, and second, I will get the darn things OFF my camera on to the computer!

Feel free to take a look

http://rockspictures365.blogspot.com/

Fitness Friday

2009-07-03T21:15:00.002-04:00

I decided that Friday I am going to measure my progress.

I am using April 20th as my start date, as that is when I really got serious (all the Easter candy and Girl Scout cookies were gone at that point!)

Weight lost- 12 pounds

Inches lost-
waist- 4.5
hips- 2
bust- 1
arms- 2
thighs- 3
TOTAL- 12.5

To get to this point I have been tracking calories on my iPod touch using the Lose It app. I put in EVERYTHING that I eat, and track all of my exercise as well.

I have been working out 5-6 times a week. I just finished week 5 on the Couch to 5K program. I do the runs 3 times a week. I have also started going to Zumba classes. I try to go 3 times a week, but if that doesn't work out I will do the 30 Minute Shred video.

I know that it doesn't seem like a lot, but this is a big deal to me. I have never been able to lose weight ever and it has been a long, hard road for me. I still have a lot to lose, but it took years to put on and I know it will take some time to get it off. My body has been through a lot! I had 4 babies in 5 1/2 years!

I have also never been a runner. 10 weeks ago, I wasn't even able to make it through the 30 second interval runs. Today I ran 20 minutes strait!

This past week I have added in 2 days of weights. I had Mr Rocks show me some moves on the Total Gym. As you may have noticed on my measurements, my upper body is not my strong suit! I am very weak right now, so that is where I am going to focus.

I have been very lucky to have so many wonderful friends to encourage me on my journey! To know that I have friends who have been through it, and those that are going through it with me now, has really been the biggest help to me!

I hope that I have more progress to report next Friday!

Murphy's Law Strikes

2009-07-01T21:35:00.002-04:00

If you go to workout in your most raggiest (is that even a word?) work out clothes, and your hair tied back AND with a headband in. If you are red as a lobster and dripping sweat, with pit stains on your shirt. DO NOT stop at the grocery store on your way home. Even if you are just going to run in real quick, just for a few things.

If you do the above, you are guaranteed to see no fewer than 6 people that you haven't seen since high school.

Great.

That is all I have to say about that.

I Made it Monday

2009-06-29T23:13:00.002-04:00

This week I bring you one of my most requested deserts Strawberry Pretzel Jello .

I know- it sounds weird. But I love it. It is a regional dish. In this area it isn't a party unless there are 14 varieties of Jello (Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration....)

There are 3 layers to this Jello.

First layer:

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted

Mix them all together and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. (pardon the lack of a photo)

Bake it in the oven for 10 minutes on 350. Let cool for at least a half hour before adding the next layer.

Middle layer:
1 cup white sugar
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Beat the cream cheese and sugar till smooth and fluffy. Fold in the cool whip.
A tip I have learned over time is to spread this over the crust and make sure that it is all the way to the edge of the pan, so you can not see any of the pretzel. Once you have the middle layer spread on the crust, put it in the fridge for about a half hour.

This is what it will look like:

After the middle layer is set, get ready for the final layer.

Ingredients:
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries

What I do is put the water on to boil. While it is cooking I cut up the strawberries. I prefer to use the whole frozen berries in a bag over the store brand that comes in a box.
Once the water boils, stir in the Jello until it dissolves. Then stir in the berries. Now this is important, work fast. If you let the Jello sit, it will start to set! You must get it in the pan, on the top of the other 2 layers. Once you pour it on, you may need to spread the berries out so they are even.

It will look like this:

You will stick it back in the fridge for at least an hour. I usually make this ahead of time, so it usually sits overnight.

Now, cut a piece off and enjoy!

*note* I also make this with rasberries, but I don't like rasberries, so I chose to share the strawberry!

First Haircut

2009-06-04T22:31:00.002-04:00

L got his first haircut. You can see how long his hair was in these first pics.

He was really upset about being held down, but Mr Rocks did a good job! L was NOT happy about it!

After he got a bath, he was much happier!

Now he looks like a boy, and not a baby :(. I think the haircut helped him realize that he is a big boy, because he FINALLY decided to really start walking- at 13 1/2 months! All these milestones in a few days of each other really make a Mama sad!

Graduation

2009-06-02T21:51:00.002-04:00

We had two graduations in the Rocks house!

G graduated from preschool.

Her graduation was really cute. All the kids sang a few songs and danced. The highlight of the show was that they said their prayers in Spanish! I don't know what it is, but little kids talking in another language sounds so cute!

A graduated from Kindergarten. This is a picture of a picture frame that they got as a gift from the homeroom moms. I thought that it was really cute! Of course I think the boy in the picture is the cutest Kindergarten graduate!

I am so proud of both my graduates!

Elephants Swim!

2009-05-30T21:54:00.004-04:00

I love elephants! They are my favorite animal to see at the zoo.
When we went to the zoo last week, I was surprised to learn that elephants swim!

Here you can see that elephant was completely under except his trunk sticking out!

Elephant went from completely under to getting out-

The swimming elephant was one of the coolest things I have ever seen at the zoo!

The Best Mothers Day Gift

2009-05-08T12:34:00.003-04:00

A brought a note home from school yesterday:

Dear Mr and Mrs Rocks,

I just wanted to let you both to know how wonderful A's behavior has been. He has been my model student for the past couple of months, and you should be very proud of him. Keep up whatever your doing at home!

Miss Kindergarden Teacher.

Wow. What an awesome thing!

I Made it Monday

2009-05-04T12:10:00.002-04:00

A few years ago, my oldest friend in the world reminded me of these awesome bars we used to get in elementary school. On the school menu, they called them Hollywood Squares. No idea of why they were called that, but they were so awesome!

Off I went to All Recipes to search by ingredient. I came up with this- Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars. After I made them and everyone loved them, I honestly got tired of saying the long name. Now, we call them Tanya Rocks Bars.

The ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups peanut butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

First, melt the butter. Then mix it with all the other ingredients except the chocolate chips. It will look like this:

Press the mixture into a 9x13 pan. Then melt the chocolate chips.

Pour the melted chocolate over the peanut butter mixture.

Cool the bars in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Enjoy!

These are super yummy and super easy!

Rocks does a Gabba Party

2009-05-02T10:45:00.002-04:00

About a year ago I stumbled upon Yo Gabba Gabba. I saw about a minute of it and said NEVER again!

Well we all know how that goes......

I gradually started to like Gabba. I figured since we are Rocks, and the "leader" is DJ Lance Rock, that maybe we have something in common.

Then K declared that she wanted a Gabba birthday party. Great. Only problem, there is NOTHING out there for a Gabba party! Luckily for me, I found a great site - Gabba Friends that had a bunch of party ideas .

Now, I do rock at a lot of things, but sewing is NOT one of them. So I asked for help from my wonderful Mother in Law. I handed her a picture and told her they were made from felt. She ended up with these:

Aren't they so cute? The kids LOVED them! Since they were all different shapes and sizes, I wasn't able to put the same stuff in each, but it all worked out.

Now, you can't have a party with out hats. We looked for some material that would work for the hats, but we didn't have much luck. On our way home we decided to make a quick stop at Dollar Tree. In the toy section there were orange cowboy style hats. JACKPOT! All that we needed to do was cut off the brim. I cut a star burst shape from white foam and cut out yellow stars. I then added some glitter glue to jazz them up a bit.

Here is the birthday girl in her DJ Lance hat:

It was 90 degrees here the day of her party, so the kids didn't keep them on too long!

I also found this idea on Gabba Friends:

What is it is a printout that is available on Nick Jr glued to a box of animal crackers! I used them for centerpieces and tied balloons to the handle.

They also did not have any cake kits available at the bakery that we use for Yo Gabba Gabba. My sister works at the store and gave a picture to the bakery lady and she came up with this:

I think that it turned out pretty awesome!

Lucky for us, everyone had a great time, especially the birthday girl!

A few things

2009-04-22T20:38:00.002-04:00

~ Tomorrow is my littlest girl's 3rd birthday. I can hardly believe it! She has requested beans and doughnuts for dinner. Makes me wonder what she will want when she is a grown up and PG? She is going to get her picture taken tomorrow and she assures me she is going to make a nice smile like a big girl. We'll see......

~ My biggest boy has now lost a grand total of 4 teeth! The tooth fairy almost had a run in with the Easter Bunny, but thankfully all was OK! Poor guy has to go have a cavity filled and more sealants put on his new molars.

~ My biggest girl is growing like a weed, but she is still a string bean. She is very happy that she now owns the Barbie Princess and the Pauper movie because now she has a bunch of new songs to sing!

~ My baby boy went for his 1 year check last week. He is a little peanut! He is the smallest of the Rocks children by far! He is 30 inches long and 20 pounds. The others we 22-23 pounds at 1 year. Those couple pounds make a BIG difference on a 1 year old.

~ I have a new toy! Mr Rocks got me an iPod touch for mothers day. I know it is still a few weeks away, but neither of us are very good at waiting. I have downloaded a bunch of stuff for it, and it is way cooler than I could have imagined. My favorite app so far is Lose It. It tracks all my calories and exercise. You can even put in housework! I also love that it has wi-fi on it so I can go on the Internet with it. That will be really cool when I go away and stuff.

This is my 50th post! Hooray!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-08T10:55:00.003-04:00

In case you can't read sideways, 5 year old sidewalk chalk writing, it says- MOM ROCKS

This totally made my day!

First Birthday

2009-04-07T21:59:00.003-04:00

This weekend we celebrated L's first birthday. It was a little early because of Easter this weekend. As you can see he enjoyed himself!

The weather was perfect! All the kids played outside. Mr Rocks grilled burgers and hotdogs.

Since it is so close to Easter, I got lazy and did bunnies for the theme. L didn't seem to mind.

What he DID mind was the cold he had. Poor guy had swollen eyes and a runny nose all day. I think that he is starting to get better. I am hoping that he is totally better for his professional shots that will be taken on his actual birthday.

I am still in disbelief that it has been an (almost) entire year!

As Mr Rocks said, it makes you start to have thoughts of another. Then I reminded him that those thoughts are quite hard to hear with 4 kids yelling in the other room!

I Don't Get It....

2009-04-02T19:15:00.002-04:00

This week I found some time to go through L's clothes. I packed up all that were in decent condition and gave them away. I packed up the rest to give to Goodwill. I also got rid of some of G's clothes. All in all, I got rid of 3 huge garbage bags of clothes to Goodwill, 2 boxes and a bag to give away and a rubbermaid tote of girls clothes.

Mr Rocks also got rid of a ton of crap in the past week as well.

I looked out this morning at the trash after Mr Rocks took it out, and to be honest, I was a little embarrassed at the amount.

Then I looked around the house. There are still mountains of CRAP every where! How on Earth does this happen?

The bonus of the day was the beautiful weather we had!

Finally finished

2009-04-01T20:30:00.002-04:00

I finished the Twilight series the other day. I was really, really happy with the way that it ended. I would have to say that my favorite was either the first or the last book, and the second was my least favorite.

I am also finally finished with diapers with K. She was the hardest and most difficult child I have potty trained yet!

I am almost finally finished with bottles. L is down to 1 a day now. I can not believe that he is almost a year old. His party is Sunday.

I am ready for April fools to be finally finished. 5 and 6 year olds are too goofy to handle a day such as this and Mama Rocks is tired!

Rock Stars and Vampires

2009-03-23T09:09:00.002-04:00

My 2 new addictions!

We bought a Wii. With the Wii we got Rockband! I am soooo not a game person, but Mr Rocks and I have been playing almost every day! We are pretty good, but I am still on easy. The kids like to play too.

A few months ago I asked my youngest sister in law about Twilight. I heard all the hype, and I could not fathom how grown people could get so worked up over something. She finally let me borrow Twilight. I got about half way through the first book and ordered the entire series for myself. It is that good! I haven't read an entire grown up book for enjoyment since becoming a mother. As a matter of fact, the last book I read I completed the night before I went into labor with A. I lost my attention span when I became a mother.

The bad news is that with my new addictions my house has really suffered. I have laundry piled up to the ceiling and piles of paper every where. I think it may wait until I complete the other 2 books!

Kindergarden news

2009-03-21T12:12:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, A brought home a book that I ordered from Scholastic for him. It is called There is a Bird on Your Head. To my amazement, he read it for me! He knew (almost) all the words. I am so proud of him!

Last week, Mr Rocks ran into his teacher and she told him that A is doing really well with reading and math. Mr Rocks loves hearing it from the teachers. We were both super proud.

I vividly remember that I didn't know how to read in first grade. As a matter of fact, in my first grade class there was only one boy in my class that did know how to read. Back then, the teacher made a big fuss over that fact. Now a days, I am sure that would not be allowed.

I am simply amazed at how much kids are learning now, and how early they are knowing it!

Proud

2009-02-25T21:28:00.003-05:00

I am proud of myself.

I could make a thousand excuses as to why/ how I put on so much weight over the years. The most frustrating thing to me is that I am stuck in the same 5 pound range! I can be lazy and eat anything and be 5 pounds heavier, or I can watch every bite and work out and i only get down to the bottom of that 5 pound range.

After trying several things with limited success, my latest endeavor has been running.

Now, I must say that NEVER in my life have I run. I just do not like it at all. I get winded and I can't breath and it makes me feel even worse. But, lately I see friends losing weight and firming up- by running. I kept reading about it, and decided to give it a try.

I read up on the Couch to 5K, which seems to be very popular with a lot of people. So, I did a lot of Google research. After reading, the concept seemed great. The program is designed for a beginner, and meant to slowly ease you into running. The first week workout is a 5 minute brisk walk, followed by 8 intervals, 60 second run, followed by 90 second recovery (brisk walk). The biggest problem I had with that was the thought of HOW was I going to know when to switch from walk to run? It will not work for me to continually watch the timer on the treadmill!

Then I found (hear the ringing bells!) a podcast! All 9 weeks of the program are available for download.

Since I was out of excuses, I downloaded the podcast for week 1, and dusted off the treadmill.

The first day I did it, I made it about 20 minutes in. Then I promptly threw up. I have never felt so horrid in my life from working out. I was ready to give up, but then something happened, I became even more motivated to do it. I tried for a second time. I made it through 5 of the 8 intervals.

By this point I had convinced Mr Rocks to do it too. He of course finished the first time no problem, but he was sore the next day.

Then I felt bad again.

BUT- I realized I was doing this all wrong. I am putting too much pressure to run and get through the work out! It took me 10 years to get this fat and out of shape, It wasn't going to get better in a few workouts! So I decided to make my walk a little slower and run at a slower pace. Guess what? It worked!!! I finished the whole workout!! I was so proud of myself! I can not wait till the day I can run an entire 5k! I WILL do it!

I have decided that I have a plan. I am working gradually to get into shape. I am still on week one of the plan, and I probably will be for this whole week again. But it is OK. Next week we are getting a wii, so I think that I may try the fit work outs on my resting days from running. In another few weeks, I want to add in weights.

I also want to start to track my calories again. The eating aspect has been hard because I have felt soooo hungry since starting to run. I have really tried to limit portions, but trying is as far as I have gotten so far.

I am hoping that putting this out there, that I will become accountable and I will keep it up!

A 5 year old Wedding.

2009-02-24T21:04:00.002-05:00

The other day, G came down and informed me that she is getting married! This provoked one of the best conversations EVER!

G is going to marry Johnny 5 (yes, they have been watching Short Circuit). They met at the pizza shop where they both work and they fell in love. This all happened last week. Johnny 5 takes her on lots of dates because he has 10 hundred dollars. He has taken her to get ice cream and all of her favorite places to eat.

Johnny is in a rock band. He knows all of her favorite songs and sings them to her. He is an excellent singer and this makes G very happy.

Johnny is in Hawaii right now. He was only gone for the day. I didn't have the heart to ask how he got to Hawaii and back in one day. I am pretty sure the flight to Hawaii is probably close to 10 to 12 hours.

G has also told me that she is having a baby since they are married. Ashley will be born tomorrow, after she gets home from school.

The best part of all of this is that G told me that no one else can see Johnny 5 because he is too handsome.

I love this age!

I made it Monday

2009-02-23T20:05:00.003-05:00

I had a few browning bananas last week and two bored girls, so we made Banana bread.

Someone gave me THIS recipe a few years ago. It is great because it is almost fat free and very easy to make with kids!

I have made a few changes to the recipe, based on reviews.

The ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar (I used BROWN sugar instead)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 egg whites
1 cup banana, mashed (I used 3 bananas)
1/4 cup applesauce (I used 1/2 cup, UNSWEETENED applesauce- regular applesauce has High fructose corn syrup and we don't eat that here)

Mix all the dry ingredients. Mash the banana's. You will get this:

Add the applesauce, egg whites, and mashed bananas. Stir just until all the ingredients are blended.

It will look like this:

Bake in the oven at 350 for 50 to 55 min in a greased loaf pan.

When it is done it will look like this:

Banana bread is one of those classic things that everyone in the Rocks house loves. Everyone had fun making it too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T15:18:00.002-05:00

This is the best pic I could get of the whole gang. I am hoping this gets better soon! I would really like a good picture of all of them!

I hope you have a good valentines day! I am not a big fan of valentines day, mostly because Mr Rocks never was. I have given up on the idea. I have faced the fact that I am not married to a sappy romantic. Maybe in my next life....

Enjoy your chocolate and roses, if you got them. I am enjoying the candy from the kids school parties!

I Made It! Cheesecake

2009-02-12T20:48:00.003-05:00

Many years ago, Mr Rocks told me that he wanted a cheesecake. Mr Rocks is VERY picky. He would NOT have been happy with an instant box variety.

I started looking, and asking around. Everyone warned me that it was so hard, it takes practice. I decided that I was going to do it. I read this tutorial on Allrecipes. I found this recipe that looked simple and I tried it. I have now made this many, many times. Through my experiences I have found many tricks that have made my cheesecake legendary (at least among my small circle!)

If you are watching your calories, DO NOT read the nutrition info on Allrecipes. It is a gazillion calories. Eat a small piece and run a half hour extra or do an extra lap.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup margarine
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt (not pictured- oops!)
2 cups sour cream

Rocks tip- get the cream cheese, sour cream and eggs out a few hours before you plan to cook. They should be room temperature when you start mixing.

The first thing you do is line your spring form pan with foil on the outside.

Then make the crust-

mix the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon and 3 tablespoons sugar. Melt the margarine, and mix into the crumb mix. Press into the pan, making sure that you get it up onto the sides.

Rocks tips- put a baggie on your hand to help on this part. I like it because with the baggie, it doesn't stick to my hands and it makes it much easier!

Variation- Mr Rocks had me try vanilla wafers for the crust. He liked it, but I am a traditionalist.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Draw a bath for your cheesecake! Confused? I was! The big secret to making a cheesecake that doesn't crack is a water bath. You need to get a pan, making sure that it is big enough that your spring form pan can fit in it. Put a towel or dishrag (clean of course) in the bottom and put about an half inch of water in the pan. It will look like this-

To make the filling you want to beat the cream cheese and sugar, VERY WELL, until it is SMOOTH and creamy. Then add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each egg. Then take the bowl off the mixer and STIR in the vanilla, and salt. Finally, fold in the sour cream, again making sure it is smooth and creamy and no bumps are visible. This is where it is important that the sour cream is room temp. If it isn't it will be bumpy. Trust me, it happened to me!

Once the filling is nice and smooth, pour it into the crust. Then put the pan into the bath- like this-

Bake in the oven for 1 hour. After the hour is up, turn off the oven and walk away. You may peek in the window, but do not open the oven. After a half hour, crack the oven door. Leave it in for at least another half hour, maybe even a whole hour. You must let it cool gradually, so it doesn't crack.

After cooling in the oven, move the cheesecake to the fridge. Leave it in there at least overnight. If you can resist the temptation, it tastes better if you let it sit in there for a few days.

When you finally get it out and cut your self a piece, eat it slow and enjoy every fat filled bite! It is totally worth it!

It's been a rough month!

2009-02-12T20:40:00.003-05:00

One of the Rocks children has been sick since New Years! We had the stomach virus. Then A got strep with scarlet fever. It took 2 rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it. While that was going on, everyone got a really bad cold. 4 days after A finished the second round of antibiotics, he got an ear infection. All four of the kids have been sick, and Mr Rocks is also sick. I think everyone knows that husbands are worse than kids!

I am tired. I am tired of going to the Dr's office.

Anyway, in case you were wondering that is where I was.

I have plenty to share! I made cheesecake. I had an awesome girls weekend. I am going to start couch to 5k. I am going to share it all with you.

Stay tuned....

The Terrible Towel

2009-01-31T22:01:00.003-05:00

This is a very familiar sight for me. So familiar in fact, that I never noticed that little tag on the top left.

That little tag tells you that the towel is officially licenced, and that a portion of the profits go to The Allegheny Valley School, a school for autistic and mentally disabled children. You can read all about the history of the towel and the school here. It is a pretty cool thing, even if you are not from Pittsburgh! The towel has provided 2.5 million dollars to date for the Allegheny Valley School.

So tomarrow, while you are waving your towel, rooting the Steelers on to a six pack, feel good about giving some of the $7 ish you gave to a good cause. After the Steelers win, go out and buy a XLIII version too!

On the Bad List- Cats and the Weather Man!

2009-01-30T21:48:00.003-05:00

Last night, I was all warm and snug when I was woken up at 1:30 AM. By what? CATS!

The back of our house is up against the woods, and we have several strays that live back there. Well, one of the females must have been in heat and had two of the males fighting over her. These dumb male cats decided to have it out right outside my bedroom window! One of them must have jumped up on the window sill, and the other one jumped up after him! They were BANGING off of my window! If I didn't hear the screeching first I would have thought it was a burglar or something.

So, at the lovely hour of 1:30 AM, I was listening to the moaning of a female cat in heat, with two screeching males fighting over her. By time I got my tired brain to think strait and get up to scare them off, they already ran away. Needless to say, I was tired this morning!

I am not the biggest fan of cats because I am allergic. I do not mind them hanging around outside because I think they keep away rodents. Now those cats have made the bad list.

Also making the bad list is the weather man!

Last night I watched the local news and he stated that there would be a dusting of snow here today. I sent A off to school (today was a half day). About an hour after he leaves I get a call from MIL who is picking him up that the roads are horrible. Mr Rock claims that he swept at least 4 inches off the car. The roads were bad enough until A was picked up (of course!). By the late afternoon, everything was clear.

I opened the door to get a pic of this "dusting" and look who was outside of my back door!

The cat just stood there and stared right back at me! I really wish I knew if this was the male or female. Either way- I hope cat mating season is over!

This is a shot of my street (yes it is there!) with the "dusting" Yes, my candy canes are STILL up, I am married to one lazy dude!

My 5 year old

2009-01-28T21:15:00.002-05:00

Today is my oldest girls birthday! She is 5 years old today! This is what she looked like just a few hours after she was born-

This is her now!

The day she was born, it snowed. It has snowed every year on her birthday since. Poor thing is also sick, and this is the second birthday in a row that she has been sick.

Luckily, we celebrated her birthday on Friday. Up until kindergarten, the Rocks children get a family only party. Once in Kindergarten, they get a party with friends. G had the best birthday ever (her words!). I let her plan the menu and she got many awesome gifts.

My mom got her an awesome princess blanket and pillow, and her other Grandma and Grandpap got her this-

She of course had to try it on!

She has been very nice and she has let me and Mr Rocks try it as well as her brother and sister.

I am so proud of her and the big girl that she is becoming! She is crazy at times, but I love every minute of her. She is kind and loving as well as out going and sensitive. A part of me wishes that she would stay my little girl forever, but I am looking forward to the big girl that she is becoming.

I Made It Monday

2009-01-26T21:09:00.002-05:00

G's birthday is this week, but her party was this past Friday. She requested Topsy Turvy Lasagna. I have also heard of it called lazy lasagna, either way it is YUMMY!

The Ingredients:
1 pound of ground meat
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I used a frozen kind made at at a local restaurant since we are HFCS free)
1 package of egg noodles
1 package of mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
1 small container of ricotta cheese (the original recipe called for 1 cup of cottage cheese, but I HATE cottage cheese)

Directions:
Brown ground meat, then add in the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. While this is going on, cook the noodles. Be careful to not over cook, because they will bake in the oven for a bit.

Once the noodles are cooked, and the sauce is done, mix them together adding the ricotta, and 1/2 the mozzarella. Put into a greased casserole dish.

It will look like this:

Top with the remaining mozzarella and you get this:

Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 min.

I have made this several times, and it works very well as a make ahead dish. I usually make it the day before a party.

I forgot to take a picture when it came out of the oven. By time I remembered, it was almost all gone!

It was very good! Everyone loves this!

There will be more to come about the birthday party- on another day. I am too tired today!

Semi- Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-21T21:14:00.002-05:00

This is one of my favorite pics! Santa was rockin enough to bring my boys matching grey sweatsuits from A's favorite store- Crazy 8's! I think my boys are so cute. I wish my girls would cooperate for a cute picture. I may just be asking for the moon on that one!

I made it Monday

2009-01-19T21:36:00.005-05:00

This week I made another diet unfriendly food- Overnight Carmel Cinnamon Rolls. I have seen these several times all over the interwebz, but I used a recipe I found on Momster (bonus- she is a Steelers fan!)

Here are the ingredients:
1 package of frozen bread rolls
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 package of butterscotch COOK AND SERVE pudding- NOT INSTANT!
1/4 cup of butter

Grease a bundt pan, I used Crisco. Put the rolls in the bottom of the pan- I only used half of the bag. Sprinkle the package of pudding over the rolls.

Next, melt all the other stuff in the microwave. I did this in a handy dandy Pyrex measuring cup. When it is done it smells wonderful!

Drizzle the melted goodness over the rolls. The laws of science will prevail- the hot mixture will want to fall off the frozen rolls! Don't worry, it is all good. Use a scraper to make sure you get it all out of the cup. It is yummy if you lick it too!

You will leave it like this all night while you go to bed.

When you wake up in the morning- the rolls will have raised, and will look like this! Put them in a 350 oven for 23- 30 minutes.

Your rolls will look like this when they are done. They smell DELICIOUS while they are baking!

After they are cooked, let them cool for about 5-10 minutes and turn them over onto a plate, or something else that is big enough to hold them. I used a pizza pan.

This is the end result- Yummy, gooey goodness!

All the kids were off today, and I had an extra kid here today too. Between 4 kids and 2 adults, we ate about 1/2 of this for breakfast. They are still good later in the day. Just do not ask how they are the next day- they didn't last that long at the Rocks house!

A Night With my Girl

2009-01-16T23:08:00.003-05:00

Today there was no school. Like most everyone else in America, we are in deep freeze!

By about 5:00 I had enough, cabin fever was already setting in! I decided to take G to Target to have her birthday pictures done. Lucky for us, they had an opening!

I got her outfit on, did her hair and we were off.

Only it wasn't so simple. I went and started the van, came in and got her bundled up, but there was still ice on the windshield. Then her door was frozen. Which is a big deal when there are 4 car seats in there! But FINALLY we were on the way!

The photographer was behind when we got there (big surprise) so we went to shop while we waited. Target is my number one favorite store. Today was even better! They had 30% off clearance clothes! WHOO HOOO! I went through all 4 kids departments and got each of the kids something. Nothing was over $3! The only bummer was by time I went to look for myself the $9 stuff seemed too expensive!

G did so good for her pics and I can not wait to get them back. I had a hard time choosing.

After Target we went to eat and we had such a nice time. We talked "fancy" talk and made plans for her birthday. She decided that she wants chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, vegetables with ranch dip, and hard boiled eggs. And of course cake. A Hello Kitty cake to be exact. I can not wait!

I love these special one on one times with the kids, and this one was a hit! It was exactly the kind of night that i needed to remind me why I had kids!

I Made It Monday

2009-01-12T20:58:00.004-05:00

One of my New Years resolutions was to do more things with the kids. Last week I discovered the Pioneer Woman I came across a recipe for Dump Cake. It looked good and simple and something that would be easy to do with the kids.

The Ingredients:

A box of yellow cake mix, a can of crushed pineapple, a can of strawberry pie filling, a stick of butter and a stick of margarine, and my personal favorite Cool Whip. PW's recipe calls for cherry pie filling, but I do not like cherries, so I improvised.

First A dumped in the crushed pineapple (with the juice)

Then G dumped in the Strawberries (sorry, I do not know why the pic went in twice, and I can not get it out :( )

Then you mix it all up

Next, you dump on the dry cake mix. You can see how there are lots of clumps. Just break those up with a fork.

Next slice up the butter and margarine and spread them out over the top. (oopsie- PW only called for 1/2 stick, I just pretended this was a Paula Deen recipe) You may ask yourself, why BOTH butter and margarine? I consulted Mr Rocks on this since he is knowledgeable in baking and he says butter makes it flaky and margarine makes it soft, so using some of both gives it the right texture. For example, you use butter to make biscuits.

Bake it in the oven for 45 min to an hour and you get this! It smelled so yummy!

When it cools, put it in a bowl and add some Cool Whip!

We all liked this one. It was really, really sweet. I think it may have been better with a little less butter. I think that I may experiment with other flavors too. I also think that ice cream would taste great too.

However, this is not a part of my other New Years resolution to lose weight! I did find a weight watchers recipe that used LIGHT cherries and applesauce on top instead of butter and margarine. I just was not in the mood to worry about it.

Finally- Christmas Pictures!

2009-01-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve here was unseasonably warm! We went to church and then to turkey dinner at Grandma's. After we got home the big kids went out to sprinkle the reindeer food that they got from their teachers at school.

Here is G sprinkling hers (you can see she wasn't getting the concept of spreading it out)

A (in true oldest child fashion) was a perfectionist about getting it ALL over!

They were nice enough to share some with K.

After the reindeer food is all sprinkled, you must spin around three times and yell- I have been good all year!

The kids really enjoyed doing this and I look forward to doing it again next year.

We also let the kids exchange the gifts that they got for each other at the secret Santa shop on Christmas eve. Then it was time for bed.

I managed to get a pic of all the presents under the tree before bed! You will notice the gift me and Mr Rocks got- the new TV. It was actually NEEDED and it cut out a hefty chunk of out of our Christmas budget. As you can see, Mr Rocks has been enjoying watching football.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning I was woken up at the lovely time of 6:15 to excited children anxious to tell me that Santa had arrived. By 7:15, everyone was up, present were opened and this is what we were left with:

After all was cleaned up, we were ready to go.

I made breakfast at my in laws. We stayed the whole day. It was a very nice day. The kids got a ton of gifts and they were very happy with everything. I was so worried about it, because times have been so tough and of course I was worried that we didn't have enough gifts. Turns out that I worried for no reason, they had plenty to make them happy! I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband and children!

The Snuggie

2009-01-02T23:12:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share some Christmas pics, but I left my camera in the car and Mr Rocks will not go get it.

We will wait on that, and while we wait I want to vent about the Snuggie. The Rocks children want this, and they want them BAD!

(Watch the commercial here since I do not know how to post a you tube video)

I do not know how we lived with out this thing. All this time my arms have been freezing off when I was on the laptop or holding the baby. (never mind why the baby isn't cold). I almost died of hypothermia when I had to toss the blanket off to answer the phone. Those were tough times.

Really, who invented this thing?

My BFF's kids want them too. Why do they advertise the snuggie on Nick? A has brought me the phone to CALL NOW! while G was yelling at the same time- "no she can order online!"

I want to sit by my fire pit with the whole Rocks gang in snuggies. Maybe we can go to the football game and we can wear our snuggies there, and all the other families that be super jealous. (well, at least the kids will be jealous, the parents will probably have other thoughts....)

Snuggie is at the top of my list, right up there with the Craft light cutter and the pancake puff maker.

What does your Christmas say about you?

2008-12-20T10:49:00.002-05:00

I snagged this from Rebecca!

Your Christmas is Modern

Your wish for the New Year is a better career or financial situation.

For you, Christmas is a spiritual holiday. You can't separate it from your beliefs.

You are patient when it comes to Christmas. You don't celebrate too early, and you don't like seeing holiday decorations in October.

You like Christmas traditions, but you're not uptight about them. You do things your way.

You have some preferred ways of celebrating Christmas, but you're open to compromise.

You love Christmas. You enjoy almost every aspect and tradition of the holidays.

You give a big during the holidays but nowhere near as much as you'd like to.

What Does Your Christmas Say About You?

2008-12-19T21:43:00.003-05:00

I know that it has been awhile.

Lots going on in the Rocks house with Christmas coming up. We have had parties, performances and of course, many, many songs to sing. The current favorite among the Rocks children is Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer.

Admittedly I have spent too much time in recent weeks in other hot spots, but that is gone and I have lots to catch up on!

I have a cookie mystery to solve. I am looking for a particular cookie for A. He is very serious about me finding it. I have a few leads, but I do not have all the ingredients, and I am not brave enough to brave shopping the weekend before Christmas.

I have also been trying to catch up with the shows on my DVR. Embarrassingly enough, I am still watching shows that have election commercials!

So there you have it- a long drawn out post that could be summed up in a few words- I am a mom of 4 and Christmas is next week, I am too busy to post a lot!

Weekend Mystery

2008-12-06T07:53:00.002-05:00

There is a mystery at the Rocks house. I have heard that this happens at other houses too, so maybe it isn't a mystery as much as a strange phenomenon.

During the week, I literally have to drag A out of bed. He cries that he is too tired to get up. It takes a good half hour to get him up and dressed.

Every single day, except Saturday.

Saturday, he is up and ready to go at the crack of dawn. He was up a good 15 minutes before I would even attempt to wake him during the week.

Why on Earth does he wake up on the only day that I do not have to wake him?

My Spot

2008-12-02T22:19:00.002-05:00

I have a special spot. You know the one, the place in your home where you go to feel cozy, take a nap, talk on the phone, watch TV... you get my drift.

Today- mine is gone.

My spot is in the corner of my sectional, the part with the chaise, obviously.

The leg broke and they came and took it away for repairs. It may not be back till Thursday. Note- do not try to ask dumb witted drivers about how long things take, they only pick up and drop off. The most they know is that they have to put up that snazzy thing on the door frame so they don't mess anything up. That was almost as cool as the show covers that the bug guy wears.

I miss my spot. I have not felt right all day. I feel like I am a guest in my own home.

Retro Jammies

2008-11-30T21:14:00.002-05:00

Lookie at what I pulled out for L! These are vintage jammies, long before they were "snug fitting and flame resistant". These jammie jams are as old as me! Lucky for me, we have several pairs, one of which has ORIGINAL Care Bears on them. They are blue, so I may put them on L.

The 70's must have been a fantastic time. Too bad I do not remember.

BTW- I know that this pic is not of the best quality (I am still figuring out a bunch of the features of my new camera).

Friday Facts

2008-11-28T21:52:00.002-05:00

I am starting a new trend- Friday Facts. Every Friday I am going to give you some Rocks Facts.

I love music. Not all music. I just feel that there are a few really, really good songs that I like to think were written for me. Even more songs that take me back to a nice memory. Of course there are plenty that make me want to get up and dance.

I really do not like anything heavy- to any extreme. I do not like heavy metal or gansta rap. I do not like country music AT ALL. I like mostly music that you would hear on the radio (except country) It really bothers me when they put a country song on the pop station and call it "cross over". whatever. It is country.

I find that I go in and out on the music that I like. I will get into what I think of as a music funk. These funks last about a month or so. I would say that they are certain genre's that I get in the mood to hear, then I can not get enough.

Sometimes I get into an 80's funk. I also have a moody music funk (think of the music you hear on teen angst shows, or Grey's). I have times where I really get into classic rock.

Last night I recorded Storytellers on VH-1. It was a Kid Rock concert. I never really gave him much thought, but I LOVE his song "All Summer Long"- and it is for the same reason he said he thought that most people liked it. It always reminds of that time in your life that things were simple and you had your first love. But anywho, I have discovered that I like him more than I ever thought that I did. (minus the country sounding stuff!).

I do not know what I did before the days of the I-Pod!

Happy Thankgiving!

2008-11-27T10:29:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone has a great day. Eat a lot of yummy food. I know that I will!

Remember to be thankful for all that you have! I think that is the hardest part of the day for a lot of people.

29+1= Fabulous

2008-11-21T11:10:00.002-05:00

Say it ain't so.... I am 30 today.

I thought that maybe I would feel old. I don't. Instead I feel optimistic.

My 20's were great. I finished college, drank a beer, got married, and had 4 babies. That is a LOT to accomplish in 10 years. I think with all that wisdom and experience under my belt, I will do even more in my 30's!

Hopefully all in a much thinner version of myself! (weight loss is at the top of my list right now!)

BTW- I have many many lists.......

Salt Ornaments

2008-11-18T12:39:00.002-05:00

We made salt ornaments over the weekend! I got the recipe from Family Fun. (my new favorite magazine!)

The recipe is 3 cups of Flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 cup of water. Put in mixer until a ball forms. I had to add more water to get to a ball.

After all the mixing, the kids each picked a few things to make. They all picked a snowman. A wanted a stop sign, a cloud, and an ice cream cone. G picked a flower, a rainbow, a heart, and a cupcake. K wanted a hot dog, french fries and a burger (this was AFTER we ate dinner- I guess she had food on her mind!). It was really fun making all the shapes! I used a wooden skewer to poke a hole in the top of each one for the ribbon.

The next step after forming the shapes was to bake in the oven at 275 for 2 hours. Since we did this on Friday night, we let them cool over night.

Saturday morning we painted with acrylic paint. After the paint dried, I put on a coat of Mod Podge. You can see in the photo, some of them turned out pretty cute! My personal favorite is the french fries ( i painted that one myself!) I can not wait to get the Christmas stuff out and put the ribbon through and hang them. The kids want to make more so I think that we will do this one again!

I have a few things on my crafty list right now. I have to get Luke's baby scrapbook done. I also made A a photobook at Shutterfly. (I missed out on the free one though!) I want to make the girls a few Christmas bows, and I really like the ragamuffin garland- but not being a sewer, I don't have scraps sitting around, I must get to the craft store to get some! I may try a Christmas one, and if it is OK, then I may try one for the kids rooms.

Why is the weekend so short?

2008-11-14T21:30:00.003-05:00

I have a ton of stuff to fit into one little weekend- and it is only Friday night!

This evening, I made salt ornaments with the kids, I will post about that more tomarrow. It was so fun and I can not wait to finish them!

Tomarrow I have a TON of laundry to get done and a TON of cleaning- I am sick of cleaning! I feel like I am always cleaning, and nothing is ever done.

G has a birthday party to go to, there is a PSU game on, and I am going to a vendor night fundraiser at the school tomarrow. I can not wait to go! I love that stuff, but honestly, I hate going to the parties. I have a list running in my head of things I want to buy.

On top of all that, if I can get the house in a respectable condition, I want to get up at least one of my trees.

It finally happened!

2008-11-13T08:16:00.002-05:00

L slept through the entire night!

Yes, he is 7 months old and he JUST slept through the night. None of the others took this long, and I swear that I did nothing different with him at all! I was really starting to doubt my parenting abilities, I really thought that I was doing something wrong. I guess I just have to remember that every child is different- even if I havn't gotten more than 4 hours of continous sleep in over 7 months!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-12T20:29:00.004-05:00

hmm.... On the top, 2 weeks before L was born. On the bottom, yesterday, L in carrier, at 7 months old.

Babies Babies, everywhere!

2008-11-11T21:09:00.003-05:00

I know I JUST had a baby 7 months ago, and it was my FOURTH, but I just can not get over the thoughts of this being it for me.

I am completely crazy, I know. But it is a 2 sided coin.

I always thought that 4 was my number. I thought that after I had L that I would feel like my heart was full and my life would feel complete, but it hasn't quite worked out like that.

I knew that it would be hard for me because I am a wacko that truly loves the newborn stage. I love the bitty babies that want for nothing more that to be held and don't need much else. I seem to forget that the don't really have any thoughts about sleeping more that 2 hours, and they only see me as a food machine. Funny how nature does that to you!

I see baby bumps and I miss that being me! Then I look down at the enormous flab that is my belly now and I think to myself, Gee, I could still pass for PG!

I think that I truly miss the anticipation. Waiting to test, waiting for the ultrasound, and waiting to deliver and meet the little one. What I seem to forget is the hassle of charting and hitting the right days, the sticks that turn up negative, and the 3 early ultrasounds. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting an early glimpse of the beans, but after the 2 or 3rd time of people being up in your business, it gets old! I also seem to forget the months of contractions that were nothing. I forget all the aches and pains of recovery. All I seem to remember is the moment that the baby is out and they set him on my belly and all the emotions that go along with it.

I thought that I would get a head start on getting over the baby fever. I thought that if I got rid of all the baby stuff, I wouldn't catch it. I have been giving it and selling it, and now I am finding a few things that I am having a hard time parting with, so they sit collecting dust in my closet. I get the sadz every time I pack another size of clothes away, whether it be girls stuff from K or boys stuff from L. I know (or at least I choose to believe) that it all is going to someone who really wants it, and honestly, I couldn't care less if it is used or not. It is the fact that it will probably not be worn by one of MY babies, and that makes me really sad.

All the reasons that I think that i am finished are really truly valid reasons that are still making me think that we are finished, but the fact is that I still have 10 good baby making years, if I decide that maybe i am not finished.

Yes, it is official, I am headed to the loony bin!

I am making a change

2008-11-09T21:02:00.003-05:00

With all the talk of "change" this week. I have decided that I want to change my life. I feel like I have just been going through the motions, it is time for me to do something different.

My biggest goal right now is to get myself in shape, this round shape that I am in is not feeling to hot. I have made many positive changes and have managed to get 12 pounds below my pre pregnancy weight (from my LAST pg) but I have been stuck here for months. I gave myself excuses for awhile, I weaned L, Mr Rocks was/is going through a lot of job stress and I have just been plain over emotional. I am an emotional eater. I know this and I need to get over this.

Today I have decided that I am going to make the change.

Mr Rocks has agreed to do the Body for Life 12 week challenge with me. I have really gone over the information and will make some modifications to it. The biggest one will be the diet. I have worked hard to phase out a lot of processed food in our diets, so I will not be doing any of the shakes and things, but Mr Rocks will. I will stick the the 6 "meals" of protein and carb combo's, as well as the exercise. Although the plan recommends only doing the cardio 3 days a week, i already walk 3 days of the week, so i will continue that, and just add in the recommended exercises.

Tomarrow I will take measurements, weigh in and take my before pictures,
So for that part of my life I have a clearly defined goal, and a plan to accomplish it.

For the rest of my issues, I am just trying to remain positive, and focus on remembering that nothing is forever and tomorrow is another day!

Sunday Vents!

2008-11-02T21:20:00.003-05:00

I hate daylight savings time.

Why on Earth does it take kids a month to get used to the adjustment? I know, it just happened last night, but since I have been up since 6 AM, I am dreading what is to come!

I also can not wait to get this election OVER! I am sick and tired of the arguments, the commercials, and the phone calls not to mention the 100 peices of mail flooding my mail box daily! Geez- I had at least 10 phone calls between 12-6 yesterday! Trust me I will be out there to vote! I learned long, long ago not to argue with or even attemp to talk politics with people. I have my issues that I feel passionatly about, and there is no way that I will ever change my mind, and I am guessing that most other people will not either. The place I used to work said that the work place is not a place to talk about religion, politics, or sex. Now of course, there are people that you can talk to about these things, but those topics are best avoided during day to day convo's as well.

At least I have these minor aggravations to distract me- I need it.

Spooktacular

2008-11-01T21:05:00.000-04:00

Here is the gang on the way to trick or treat! We had a Batman, Sleeping Beauty, a chickie, and a Nittany Lion! Poor little chickie had a hard time quacking along in that costume, so we only walked for about an hour. We still have way too much candy!

The big kids had parades at school which the little kids and niece loved! They saw so many of their favorite characters, like scooby doo, and they got a ton of laughs out of a few sumo wrestlers!

In case you didn't know, Halloween is my favorite "holiday" of the year. I know it isn't a real holiday, and I think that is why I love it. I always love the dress up and the escape from the everyday life! Not to mention the candy is always good. You may wonder why Christmas isn't my fav. To be honest, I love Christmas in it's true meaning. I just hate the hustle and bustle. People in a mad rush to get shopping done, presure to get people just the right gift. Not to mention when you get to the actual day, running from house to house! I need a vacation after Christmas! Don't get me wrong- I really, really love Christmas! But I never once heard someone say they get depressed at Halloween like I hear about Christmas.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-29T12:32:00.000-04:00

Does it get any cuter than a baby mohawk?

Cookie Fun!

2008-10-28T20:15:00.008-04:00

Today at the Rocks house me and the girls made cookies. I found the VERY kid friendly recipe in Family Fun this month. There are only 3 ingredients and minimal mess involved- perfect for the kids!

The Ingredients- 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg (one thing for each girl) Plus a plate with some extra sugar on it.

First G put in the Peanut butter

Then AV put in the sugar

K put in the egg

Then we stir it all together

Then we put rolled the dough into balls and rolled in the sugar

and of course- no event in the Rocks house is complete with out a 2 year old melt down! She was upset that I would not let her eat the sugar off the plate.

Here they are ready to go into the oven

Here is the finished product!

We had a really fun time! The girls had a blast making them and they were quite tasty!

Google

2008-10-23T21:30:00.003-04:00

Mr Rocks is away tonight and while I was wasting time before my shows come on, I was half watching the news. They were talking about the POS Casey Anthony and how they have proof based on things she has Googled.
Stop the presses! (Must add disclaimer. I do think that there is a special place in hell for people like Casey Anthony, but she has nothing to do with my thoughts right now)

I some how missed out on this wonderful aspect of technology. Of course I know about Google, and the topics I have researched are many and varied. But who knew that what I searched for could be saved and looked at in the future? Color me stoopid.

I would really hate to know what someone would think if they could see the things I have Googled. They would find out about my shopping habits for sure, I always google for a discount code. Then they would be baffled at all the mysterious ailments I need information on. Embarrassingly, they would see how many random words I have googled just to find out what they mean, or find the correct spelling.

If something happens, i hope they at least see this, so I don't come off as a dummy as I may have appeared during my Google research. I am just a curious person!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-22T22:06:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when Mama Rocks cleans the bathroom and lets K play by herself.

Crust

2008-10-18T22:56:00.002-04:00

In all my mothering experience, I have leaned a lot, and that makes me feel smart. But since I have been a mother, I have never felt more clueless.

One particular mystery I would love to solve- why on Earth will kids NOT eat crust? I have cut the crust off with a handy dandy cruster a few times, but since we switched bread, the handy dandy cruster does not work (it is a different shape). It has literally been years, and I am pretty sure that A was the only one to have had a sammich with crust cut off. I make many kinds of sammich for the kids, pb&j, grilled cheese, turkey, salami. No matter what is on it, the poor crusts go in the trash. It isn't even MY kids that do this, Rocking niece AV does it too. For awhile there, I was convinced that my children were weird.

I have asked WHY they don't want to eat them. A told me he doesn't like them. G just shrugged, K told me they are not cute and AV said the she just wasn't hungry.

It isn't just poor sammich crust. Pizza crust is also a victim. Although, I can see the pizza crust a little because it CAN get a little chewy, especially on a reheated piece.

It is hard for me to understand, because i am the weirdo that prefers to eat the crust. I even like the heels of the loaf.

I don't get it, but I hope that crust doesn't feel bad because the little people don't like them!

RIP crust.

In a Rut

2008-10-14T20:16:00.003-04:00

I am in a rut, with life in general. I just feel so..... bored. I almost feel like I am living life like the movie Groundhog Day.

I am tired of eating the same 5 dinners over and over. But I have no clue as to what else I want. I could spend all day going through All Recipes and adding recipes to my box, yet I lack the motivation to make anything new.

I am bored with my clothes. There just isn't anything that is appealing to me. I swear that there HAS to be a pair of jeans for me somewhere out there, but I haven't found them yet! All the jeans that I find are too low and give me muffin top. No one wants to see that- trust me. But I am surely not getting mom jeans! I have gotten a few suggestions, and someday I may get the time and money to get to the mall and look for them.

I am tired of cleaning my house. I feel like I am just going in circles, but I guess that is what happens when you have children. They just insist on doing foolish things like play with toys and color. I just wish they knew enough to clean up after their selves.

I would really be upset about this if I didn't realize that everyone feels like this from time to time. I guess I am getting wise in my old age!

Six Months

2008-10-11T20:47:00.002-04:00

It is hard to believe that it has been 6 months since my baby was born! Even with L being my fourth baby, I am still amazed at how much they grow and change! L has his Dr's appointment soon, and I am looking forward to seeing how much he has grown. He was 8 pounds and 4 oz and 20 inches long when he was born (10 days early!). Mr Rocks is betting that he is 17 pounds, I think he is definitely more. Mr Rocks and I play this game before every check up, and I always win!

The Tooth Fairy Visits the Rocks House

2008-10-09T22:04:00.003-04:00

Today A lost his very first tooth! It is the very first one he got in (makes sense- right?). He lost it at school. Luckily there was no blood, and the school secretary put the tooth in a handy dandy tooth holder. I thought that it was pretty cool that she had them, but I guess it is one of those things that must happen a lot! It is hard to see the missing tooth in the pic, it is on the bottom left. The new tooth was already grown in a little behind it. That is actually quite common, I know because I had to call the dentist about it. Hey- I pay good money for insurance, might as well use it!

Tonight the Tooth fairy will visit the Rocks house and leave a dollar for my big guy! He is saving up for something grand (I am just not sure of what that is yet). I swear he was just born a few weeks ago- I can't believe how time flies!

Hump Day

2008-10-08T21:17:00.003-04:00

Here I am at day 3 as a blogger and I am not sure what I want to talk about.

I made a cake today. It is a from Sandra Lee. We saw it on Semi homemade and G insisted that I make it for her! Here it is http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/raspberry-ripple-cake-recipe/index.html

Every one said it was good, I couldn't tell you because I am not a fan of raspberry. I may try it with strawberry next time. I also omitted the red dye and you would never know. It isn't worth the hyped up kids for me to have a brighter color.

I really like trying to make new things, but I have a habit of keeping a list in my mind of things that I will change/ improve for next time. My cake looks nothing like the one that is posted!

Next up I have to make a cheesecake. I missed a dear cousins of Mr Rocks birthday and he pointed it out to me that I cheated him, so I will make it for him this weekend. Lucky me, there is a BIG game on Saturday (they all seem to be BIG!) so I will probably make a few things.

Now I think that I have perfected my cheesecake, as long as all things go smoothly. I hope everything goes my way because I sure could go for a good piece of cheesecake!

Further proof that I am lame

2008-10-07T21:42:00.002-04:00

I love getting the mail on Tuesday. Why? The ads come. Well I should note that they are *usually* here on Tuesdays, but they sometimes come on Wednesday. What I do is go through the ad and see what is on sale and what I have coupons for and make my list. I also like to complain to Mr Rocks about how the prices have gone up- but he rarely does more that make some sort of half interested comment.

This week I am excited about Giant Eagle. Next week, if you buy 2 boxes of diapers you get 30 cents off a gallon of gas, and they have printed a boatload of $1.50 Catalina's for me. Looks like I need to make some space to stock up!

Now, I need to find how to get a deal on some Diet Coke!

I must admit, Giant Eagle has not been doing it for me lately, and this may win them back over for me.

I messed up big time. I have a cart full at Gymbo to use my Gymbucks. A & G sell gift cards for Gymbo at school. I ordered enough for my order and they should be here tomorrow, but in the mean time, the pants I had sold out! Now I may have to actually GO to the mall. Don't they know that I like to do all my shopping online? I am a big Gymbo fan, but not so much of a fan of actually going into the actual store. They make it too darn easy to do it online.

Hi there!

2008-10-07T13:14:00.003-04:00

Here I am, jumping on the blog bandwagon.

I am a mom to 4 wonderful children. I have a son A, he is 6, a daughter G, she is 4, a daughter K, she is 2, and a son L, he is 6 months old. A and G are in school, A is in Kindergarden and G goes to pre k 3 days a week.

I am married to Mr Rocks. He doesn't like to be talked about on the internet because of his public profile (he is a celebrity you know!) In an attempt to be a good wife, I will only refer to him as Mr Rocks.

By now you may be wondering why I rock, or better yet you may think WHO does this lady think she is (she must be full of herself). The truth comes out here. Many, many do think that I do rock, but how I came to be Tanya Rocks is a rather boring story. It started back in the late 80's early 90's, I thought that rocks as an adjective should make a comeback, so I started to use it- a lot! I think that it has caught on. I also believe that if I say it enough, people will start to believe it and the word will spread.

I have a lot to say and talk about, so check back often. I hope that I am able to keep up! And if you find me lame and boring, just leave, I don't want to hear about it.