Mini Pot Pies

What do you do with all that left over turkey? We made mini pot pies....and these were so tasty, and cheap!

Cost

Bicuits $3.00 for 2 with coupon

Vegetables: $1.30 for 2 cans

Soup: $2.00 for 2

Turkey: Free...leftovers

Seasoning: Already had

Total Cost: $6.30 for 24 pies....that's $0.26 each.

Ingredients

 (Makes 24 pies)

2 cans fat free cream of chicken soup

2 cans mixed vegetables

2 cans low fat biscuits

Cooked and cut chicken or turkey (I used leftovers...probably about 2-3 cups)

Seasoning: Garlic Salt, and I used Spain seasoning...onion powder is good too

Cupcake pan

Directions

Preheat oven to 400'F

Spray cupcake pan with non-stick spray

In a bowl mix chicken soup, vegetables, chicken or turkey and seasoning.

Flatten biscuits and stretch to lay in bottom of each pan. 

I divided some biscuits since 8 were in a can.

Fill each biscuit cup with filling, heap a little.

Bake at 400'F for about 12 minutes, until biscuits are golden.

Friendship

Dog Shaming

Green grass.

What will we gain comparing ourselves to others? We don't know what they are going through, or not going through. Remember to focus on you and your life and what you want to improve with yourself. 

How can you make your life better and help others? 

Water your grass and water others too....don't just wait for them to water yours?

Ramp Up To Fun!

Visit our new blog!!!

http://rampuptofun.blogspot.com

6 years....

Bailee just turned 6....I cannot believe its been 6 years!!! A little look back...

Indian????

I decided to tackle my first indian recipe at home. Gobi Manchurian...yum!!! Bailee said "I smell something..." and I told her, yeah, that's me cooking. They she said "It smells like dog poop." Nice Bailee...way to give me support for cooking! I will give her that, it was cauliflower cooking, so it does smell a little, but its not that bad. Turned out yummy too!

Happy Birthday!

My brother and I thought we would get together and retake an old photo of the 2 of us for our mom's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Mom!

Bond of Mothers...

A friend recently posted this and I thought all would enjoy. Disclaimer- have tissues ready!

"Many of you I have never even met face to face, but I've searched you out every day. I've looked for you on the Internet, on playgrounds and in grocery stores. I've become an expert at identifying you. You are well-worn. You are stronger than you ever wanted to be. Your words ring experience, experience you culled with your very heart and soul. You are compassionate beyond the expectations of this
world.
You're my "sisters." Yes, you and I, my friend, are sisters in a sorority. A very elite sorority. We are special. Just like any other sorority, we were chosen to be members. Some of us were invited to join immediately, some not for months or even years. Some of us even tried to refuse membership, but to no avail. We were initiated in neurologist's offices and NICU units, in obstetrician's offices, in emergency rooms.. We were initiated with somber telephone calls, consultations and evaluations.

All of us have one thing in common. Yes, one minute everything was fine. Then, whether it happened in an instant, as it often does, or over the course of a few weeks or months, our entire lives changes. Something wasn't quite right. Then we found ourselves mothers of children with special needs. 

We are united, we sisters, regardless of the diversity of our children's special needs. Some are unable to talk, some are unable to walk. Some live in a different world. We do not discriminate against those mothers whose children's needs are not as "special" as our child's. We have mutual respect and empathy for all the women who walk in our shoes.

We are knowledgeable. 
We have educated ourselves with whatever materials we could find. We know "the" specialists in the field. We know "the" neurologists, "the" hospitals, "the" wonder drugs, "the" treatments. We know "the" tests that need to be done, we know "the" degenerative and progressive diseases and we hold our breath while our children are tested for them. Without formal education, we could become board certified in neurology, endocrinology and psychiatry.

We have learned to deal with the rest of the world, even if it means walking away from it. We have tolerated scorn in supermarkets during "tantrums" and gritted our teeth while discipline was advocated by the person behind us in line. We have tolerated inane suggestions and home remedies from well-meaning strangers.

We have tolerated mothers of children without special needs complaining about chicken pox and ear infections. We have learned that many of our closest friends can't understand what it's like to be in our sorority, and don't even want to try.

We have coped with holidays. We have found ways to get our physically handicapped children to the neighbors' front door on Halloween, and we have found ways to help our children form words, "trick or treat". We have accepted that our children with sensory dysfunction will never wear velvet or lace on Christmas. We have painted a canvas of lights and a blazing Yule log with our words for our children. We have pureed turkey on Thanksgiving. We have bought white chocolate bunnies for Easter. And all the while, we have tried to create a festive atmosphere for the rest of our family.

We've gotten up every morning since our journey began wondering how we'd make it through another day, and gone to bed every evening not sure how we did it.

But we, sisters, we keep the faith always. We never stop believing. Our love for our special children and our belief in all that they will achieve in like knows no bounds. We dream of them scoring touchdowns and extra points and home runs. We visualize them running sprints and marathons. We dream of them planting vegetable seeds, riding horses and chopping down trees. We hear their angelic voices singing Christmas carols. We see their palettes smeared with watercolors, and their fingers flying over ivory keys in a concert hall. We are amazed at the grace of their pirouettes. We never, never stop believing in all they will accomplish as they pass through this world. 

But in the meantime, my sisters, the most important thing we do, is hold tight to their little hands and together, we special mothers and our special children, reach for the stars. ♥"

~Unknown

Whoa horsey....or move.

Parental Olympics Event 2

Event 2: The Mountain Climb


We call this second event the Mountain Climb, or also know as Tour de Oh My God...

Object: Find the biggest, steepest road to push your stroller up.

Extra Points: If there is a highly desirable destination at the top, like a the zoo entrance...or the polar bear exhibit. Bonus points also given for trail blazing, and stair carrying. Who knew the Museum of Natural History in DC didn't have a ramp off the back to the mall area??? That's a lot of steps to carrying a stroller up and down.

Double Points for gravel or mulch surface.

Deductions: Running over your feet, only a 45' angle is permitted leaning into the stroller to push it uphill.

The Parental Olympics

In light of the 2012 Summer Olympics...we will be discussing our own Olympic games...the Parental Olympics.

Event 1: The Grocery Carry
You don't need to be a parent for this one. For some reason the more lazy we are, the more we feel we should try to attempt to gather in one trip.

Object: To carry as many grocery bags at one time....(I'd rather carry 100lbs at once than make two trips)

Deductions will be given for the following: Bags breaking/tearing, dropping items, having to put down anything to shut the car door/hatch or open the house door, walking crooked, walking in an unusually fast, chopping pace, purple fingertips, using a foot to prop the door (butt propping permitted), or dropping all the bags in the middle of the kitchen floor in a state of distress.

Extra Points for: Carrying a pack of bottled water while consecutively carrying other bags, carrying dog food bags with groceries (those little mini 5 lb bags don't count), and hoisting all the bags onto the counter top in one swoop.

Spidey Cereal???

I am a sucker for themed cereal...I will share with Bailee, so that makes it okay, right? It's always great when the checkout lady looks at Bailee and says "Oh, are you getting Spiderman cereal???" and I'm like..."Uhm, no that's for me...pshew!"

Love you Ben...

Ben and I have been together since high school...and I love that we still have humor in our relationship!

Green Bean Chicken Casserole

We love green bean casserole at Thanksgiving...and we love chicken! For some reason we only make the green bean cass at Thanksgiving...well, its July and I was feeling creative...so here is what we have. Green Bean Chicken Casserole...easy, quick and yummy!!!

My nights...

Been sharing a bed with Bailee at Grandma's since the power has been out for the week. I have actually slept better with her with me than without since I am not getting up during the night with her. But, this is what it is like to share a bed with a 5 year old. I don't know how she manages to overtake the entire queen bed.

What if there were no "What IFs"????

When the world says, "Give up,"

Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

What if...there were no "What Ifs"???

I often find myself stuck in the cycle of "What if I did this, or that, or that happened instead?" But what if, there were never any moments in life to look back at and say "What if" about? Would that mean we would be living without regret? Or would we be living in a perfect world where we wouldn't want to change anything? How would that be?

If we never have a moment of regret, how would we ever grow as a person? I used to have a vision of what being a mom was about...and it lacked a lot. Now I see being a mom is a whole lot more that I ever expected. Without the extra challenges in my life I wouldn't be who I am today. 

While there are plenty of times I wish I could go back and change something, I don't know that I really would change it. I wish Bailee could walk and was able to play with all the other kids on the playground, but I wouldn't change her. I wouldn't mind changing the situation to make her life better for her...but who says its not a good life? She has never said "Hey mom, I wish you could go back and change me." She is happy the way she is, and I want to keep it that way.

What would life be like if we already knew the ending to our life and all the details? 

I saw the new Snow White and the Huntsman movie. While it was very enjoyable...I know the story, and how it ends (somewhat). It was a fun moment, but there was no suspense of "How will this end???" 

I can't imagine living my life without any suspense or excitement for the unknown. 

Ironically though, I often sit and say "If I only knew how it would be...will Bailee always be in a wheelchair, will she walk, will she graduate high school, go to prom, get married...live with us forever? If I only knew, life would be so much easier to plan." But would it???? Maybe everything would be planned, but gosh, it would be so boring. You already know...today she will do this, or that. You won't ever be surprised by anything, or disappointed. You will probably live in fear of the expected rather than the unexpected, and live in the predictability of life, losing hope for the possibilities your life has. And life without hope would not be such a beautiful life. I will take the "What Ifs" because HOPE is born from the "What Ifs"...and we live our life in HOPE....hope for growth, hope for love, hope for life. 

Chuck's...

Old Crayons????

We have tons of old broken crayons...got creative this morning! Plus I bought a hot glue gun...so I had to make something with it! This is simple! Plus its a way to remember the young years of coloring!

All you need is:

*hot glue gun (yes, I burned myself a lot!)

*crayons

*art canvas

*hair dryer (note: wax goes everywhere, use a backdrop, and watch out for burning wax! Use hairdryer on low air, high heat)

*letters - I used felt iron on's from Walmart...glued them on and reset with hairdryer in the wax

Poker Run to benefit Bailee!!!

Yep...our 5 year old's favorite new song...LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It!!! Move over Lady Gaga...this one is at the top of her list.

I have stopped counting the days I wake up and feel defeated before getting out of bed. There are so many nights I lay down and simply cannot turn my brain off and let go of the "what if's, how will it be's, how will we do it's, and how will I ever get through this's???".

BUT....today, I woke up, BEFORE THE ALARM, and felt good. Really good. I can honestly say we are at a place in our life where the light is shining through. We still have the everyday stress and long term stresses of having a child with a severe disability...yet, it feels good.

Our bank account didn't change last night, we didn't win the lotto, we still have a mortgage, we still don't have a handicapped van, Bailee still doesn't walk, and my back still hurts....yet, it all feels good.

I don't know how to explain it, except that it's our outlook and the place we are INSIDE ourselves. Nothing has changed outwardly in our life to suddenly make the stresses go "Poof! Gone!"...yet, it feels good.

When you are in the thick of it, its hard...but always find something, anything, no matter how small, to love and be happy about, and grow that point. Build on it. You don't have to know how everything is going to work out...you probably won't. I know we don't! But if you go into it with a positive mind and an open heart...things will work out for you. People will feel your love and joy and want to support that and share in that...and before you know it, things will start making more sense and working out...and you will feel GOOD.

Are YOU voting for Bailee???

12 more days of voting!!! Are you voting? We would love to see your pics! Share on Bailee's Facebook page...Believe In Bailee, or Vote for Bailee!

http://www.nmeda.com/mobility-awareness-month/heroes/virginia/blue-ridge/897/bailee-masters

I'm voting for Bailee!

We did it! We made it to 10,000!!! We still have 15 more days to votes...thank you everyone! http://www.nmeda.com/mobility-awareness-month/heroes/virginia/blue-ridge/897/bailee-masters

The voting is going so well!!! We are almost at 9000 votes!!! Its amazing to have so much support for our family and little girl!!! Thank you all so much for taking time to log on everyday and vote for Bailee...it means so much to us! Voting ends May 13...I think we have a really good chance of moving on to Round 2!!!

See Bailee's News Coverage!!!!

Botetourt County family needs votes to win special van for daughter

We are trying to win a new wheelchair van for Bailee!!!

Please VOTE!!!

If you go to this link you can vote for Bailee!!!


http://www.nmeda.com/mobility-awareness-month/heroes/virginia/blue-ridge/897/bailee-masters