Manic Monday

man·ic adjective pertaining to or affected by mania

mania noun excessive excitement or enthusiasm

Much like robshep.com’s Mind Dumps, Manic Monday is just a snapshot of the random excitement that is inside my head.

• We had a wonderful week! It was busy, but that's our normal.
• On Tuesday we had to take the twins to their 15 month check up, and you need to know that they hate the doctor. Well, Reese hates nurses and doctor's and Hayden responds to her terror. It was exhausting. I couldn't even hear the doctor talking to us because of their crying.
• Reese has two follow-up appointments, and the thought of that already exhausts me! She has to see an audiologist this summer because of her low birth weight and a physical therapist to check out her gimpy left leg. I might need to medicate both of us.
• In other news, Hayden started walking and it was amazing!
• We had a wonderful 4th of July! Rob had the day off so we headed to our friends' pool, the Colgans! The kids loved it.

Poolside snacking on watermelon and Doritos!

• That evening, Bob and Marcia graciously put the kids to bed for us so we could play with friends! The 4th of July was also the Eve of Dan and Danielle's 10th wedding anniversary, so they had people over for a double cookout! We celebrated the 4th and their 10th! We ate delicious food and hung out with some of our favorite people. We watched the fireworks in downtown Newport News and sweat our tails off!
• On the 5th we headed to my parents' house for dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday! She makes an amazing spaghetti. They had offered to keep the kids overnight and all day Friday, so we were just a couple for over 24 hours!
• After dinner Rob and I saw Spiderman with his dad. I really enjoyed it! We went to bed without a monitor and it was bizarre! I kept looking for it and wondering why the light was off. I finally put it on the floor.
• Friday morning I worked out with Faith and Rob ran the Nolan Trail. After that our day was one big adventure!
• I also tried a couple new Pinterest recipes this week. One was a keeper, but it wasn't really a recipe- just an idea.

This looked super easy, so I tried it. 4 chicken breasts, 1 low fat cream cheese block, 1 can of corn, 1 can or Rotel, and 1 can of black beans drained & rinsed. Cooked on low for 6-8 hours.

It looked nasty!! It didn't have a ton of flavor- trying to decide what I can add to spice it up, even if it is just a packet of taco seasoning. Some of us ate it over chips, some ate it in a flour tortilla. We added some salsa and cheese, too. It was okay. It was better heated up the next day with some chips. I like my white chicken chili much better, and it's just as easy.

I followed a link on Pinterest on how to improve a box cake mix, and they were ok. They were moist and alright. I used regular frosting from a can- should have made it. For the sprinkles, Pinterest also had a link to mix sprinkles with Pop Rocks on top for the fourth of July, and it was supposed to be like a firecracker in your mouth. Not so much. The moisture from the icing took most of the pop out. It sounded fun while I sprinkled them though!

This is the one that is not really a recipe, but an idea. I've done fruit kabobs before, but added pound cake and a white chocolate drizzle. I thought they were delicious!

• Saturday was uneventful. We drove home from the beach in the morning, hung out at the house, and did our weekly grocery trip.
• Sunday was special because Connor came to spend some time with me and the kids and it was like old times! It was so fun to watch the three of them play together again. 
• Church at Next Level was awesome! We had a night of worship with communion as we kicked off a series called "Worship Happens". I teach the 1st- 5th graders, and they are learning about worship being a lifestyle- not just singing a song at church. It was cool to see them connect. One kid said tonight that it was cool because he never realized the songs we sing at big church teach about who God is and what he has done for us.

What are your plans for this week? I'm trying to figure out ways to be a blessing to people this week whether through a meal or a gift , etc. Is there something you can do to be a blessing to someone else?