Judge Joe Brown

Justin hates what I named this dish, but I couldn't help myself.  Briana and I took a vote and two against one, Judge Joe Brown won. It is a Sloppy Joe and hash brown hybrid. See how we got there? Are you picking up what we are putting down? It was good. Funston and Peyton scarfed it down. Justin had seconds. That's a success in my book.

What We Did... volunteering is hard.

Our weekend started out with a rare occurrence... no alarm clock. This is such a blessing. We awoke to the sun and Peyton stirring in her room.  It, for us, was a pretty laid back weekend.  It's nice to stop and breathe for a day or two.

I started planning my garden for the season.  I will share more on that at another time. I'm kind of a dud when it comes to planting. It's all about knowing my limitations.

Before

After

These photos were taken by his leader.
I didn't have my camera on me. 

Saturday we attended a service project for Funston's Cub Scout Troop. They volunteered to tear out all of the over grown mess in the "butterfly garden". It required three chainsaws. Funston busted butt. The little guy really has a giving heart. It doesn't hurt that he can make anything into a game, either.

Try either of these cookie recipes. We have given them both a thumbs up! I have two MUST DOS when making chocolate chip cookies. These are two alterations I do to any and all of my chocolate chip cookie recipes. You end up with the perfect chewy cookie.

1. Use 1/2 butter and 1/2 butter flavored Crisco.
2. Double the vanilla.

Obviously, I also substituted Reese's Pieces for chocolate chips. They turned out pretty good.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

We saw Boss Baby. You can wait until Redbox, 

Justin started Funston out on our smaller four wheeler. He did really well. Justin thinks he is ready to take it out next time we go. I don't know if this momma is ready. It is pretty nerve wracking. I got over it with Briana, and I am sure it will be the same with Little Man. It is hard to see them get so big. 

Until the next time I catch you up on what we did... 

Let's Catch Up

What in the world has been going on since July 2015? Well... that is a lot of ground to cover. So here are some quick highlights.

Obviously PeyLay. She has grown, and can walk and talk. Not the greatest at either, but we are giving her some slack. She is sassy and definitely our most opinionated kid. Since I am the world's worst blogger you have missed out on a lot of photo ops.

Her Bubba adores her. He played a lot of baseball and video games in the last two years, and most recently tried basketball. LOVED it. We have the next Michael Jordan in our midst. He is the 3rd grade and now wears some fly specs.

Last dance as a middle school
kid with her bestie,

Raptor 2016

Sissy, as she is now known as, until Peyton can say Banana or Berana, they seem to be the pronunciation of choice for the littles, is in HIGH SCHOOL. I almost died. It was a top ten hardest moments of my life, and I gave birth to our littlest miss au natural on accident. That is a story for another day. Briana plays softball and the piano. She has a core group of friends that are just as awesome as she is. Honestly, when it comes to a teenage girl, I feel we have very little to worry about. She is pretty awesome. 

So from here on out. I am not going to promise anything specific. I was inspired to restart this blog. As I age and grow wiser, I know my limits. I will not try to be the blogger I so obviously am not, but yet tried to be. I love this as a creative outlet, but Martha Stewart I am not. I love the opportunity to catch up my family and friends with one medium. So many loved ones are long distance, and this seems such an easy way to keep them up to date. 

With a new look and ideas, this should be a fun and hopefully inspiring place. 

What We Did will be your one stop shop to all things Warren!

Easter 2016

Typical Summer afternoon.
 Youngest playing together.
Oldest skulking around and reading.

Christmas 2016

Baby Girl is Here!

We have a new addition to our little clan. She is almost 2 months now, but we are finally settling into a nice routine. Thank goodness she is a good sleeper (once you finally get her to sleep that is...) 

Blog Lovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11302327/?claim=y9p6vvrzqaw">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Greetings from Alabama

We got to go on our first family vacation this year. It was so much fun. We stayed at a lovely resort off the beaten path, so we had to drive a bit to get to town, but we got the seclusion Justin and I long for when we get away. We have already begun the planning of next year's excursion.

We made a pit stop in Memphis to see my grandma. She was gracious to host us, we visited Mud Island, the Gibson Factory Tour and ate local Memphis BBQ. Such a joy to see her. It had been too long. 

Iced Coffee

Iced coffee is not difficult to make, so you  don't have to spend a weeks pay to make your own. I like coffee, a lot. My hubs and I have date nights based on trying new coffee houses. Here is my version of iced coffee...

1/2 cups of:

Pre- sweetened coffe drink (I use Bolthouse Salted Caramel)

Cold/old coffee (what is leftover from my 5:30 am brew)

Ice

You can simply mix everything and leave it "on the rocks" or you can blend it. I use my stick blender. I feel like it makes it frothier. Also sooo easy to clean up. I like mixing the brewed coffee and the premix because I am a tightwad and this makes the expensive drinks last through 4 iced drinks. I also have been known to freeze my coffee in an ice cube tray and then you don't need to water it down with regular ice. But you will need to add extra liquid, more coffee if you want or some milk. 

Drink up!!