Sick Day

Today Small Fry is sick so I've stayed home with him. He has some sort of stomach virus which makes me sad for him. I can't stand when my babies are sick. I'm actually surprised that I didn't have more of a chore getting Tater Tot (the older brother) to go to school.  They are such peas in a pod that if one stays home from school the other begs to stay home with him. I get the whole "It's not Fair" argument.  Tater Tot did say that they have the Little Olympics coming up for the 5th grade and today was tryout time for the relay race.  He had set up a relay team of the fastest boys in his class for tryouts and he didn't want to miss it. So cute that he really takes his athletics endeavors so seriously.  He's even started asking if he can run around the block in the afternoon to stay in shape for soccer. Granted he's 11 but I'm glad he loves to be active. 

It's been hard to be active this winter because it has been the worst winter we have ever seen in Oklahoma, especially northern Oklahoma.  We have had 4 major snowstorms, including a horrible blizzard on Christmas Eve that ruined everyone's Christmas plans.  We even woke up yesterday on Valentine's Day with an inch of snow on the ground.  The weather guys had said something about a dusting of snow but we didn't expect everything to be white when we woke up.......it was really pretty though!

I was working on my household notebook last night and staying home from work has allowed me to work on it some more. I love The Organizing Junkie so I'm listing my menu for
Menu Planning Monday.

Monday - Grilled chicken breasts with white wine mushrooms and onions, roasted vegetables, salad with balsamic dressing
Tuesday - Chicken enchiladas (made with leftover chicken)
Wednesday - Sandwiches and soup
Thursday - German smoked sausage dish (recipe below)
Friday - Homemade cheese pizza
Saturday - Pork chops with mushroom gravy
Sunday - Leftovers

German Smoked Sausage Dish
1 medium onion, chopped
3 turnips, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, cut into large dice
3 potatoes, peeled and medium dice
1 package turkey smoked sausage, skinless

Brown turkey smoked sausage in small amount of oil, about 2 tbsp.  When sausage is browned, add onions and rest of vegetables.  Let them saute' for 10 minutes and add a small amount of water (1/4 to 1/2 cup of water). Cover with lid and let cook for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. The amount of water is purely up to you. It should be just enough to steam the dish when you cover it.  This dish is so easy and you can turn it into a chunky dish or more of a stew if thats what your family prefers.

I've also been looking at blogs on my lazy, sick day.  I've been looking at some of the best blogs.  I've listed a few below for your blog reading pleasure:

Tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com
Tidymom.com
Thepioneerwoman.com ( she lives near me and I went to school with 2 of her cousins) One of the cousins talks to the hunky Marlboro Man daily- can you even imagine??!!
Theothermama.com
Thisisreverb.com  ( Ryan is an awesome cook and just a great all around guy
Asoftplacetoland.com
kellykornerblog.com
Ronisweigh.com (great weight loss blog-she went from overweight to a marathon runner! Wow!)

I could literally read blogs all day long.  The blogs above are the more popular blogs that I started reading a couple of years ago. That's when I discovered the whole blog world and couldn't believe how much there was to learn from reading a person's blog.  I've learned about saving money, how to plan my family's menus more efficiently, great photography tips, where to look for the best sales on clothes and household items and how to do my own blog header.  It's so much fun to get all of the greatest decorating tips and DIY instructions.  My next goal is to learn Photoshop and how to make my photos really stand out.  Heck, right now I just need to remember to download my photos to Photobucket or Snapfish and actually order them.  I like to order two copies of each photo because I put one in a photo album sleeve with the date and a tidbit about the photo on the back and the other can be used for framing or scrapbooking.  I still love to actually scrapbook with real stickers and paper, not just a digital copy.  I'm a school and office supply nerd and proud of it!!!!