Blah

So I'm feeling sort of blah today. I'm on the fence in regards to the snow idea at this point. It would be nice to have some snow to make it feel more holiday-ish, but I'm not a big fan of the cold/wet/showeling/hassel of snow. so I just can't make my mind up, but that is alright it's not my choice in the first place. If the snow is going to fly I can't stop it!

In other news, we finally got the call that we have been waiting for...our new countertops and sink will be installed next Tuesday so I will finally be able to do dishes in my new kitchen and other then decorative touches and such it will be done. I promise to take some pics of the finished kitchen next week to post.

We also got Rocky his very own comfy cozy bed so that he no longer uses our couch and stinks it up. It was getting crazy, even if we layed a blanket down he still got hair all over it and it just smelled so he is no longer allowed on any furniture, BUT he has a new bed that he loves.

I'm going to my very first cookie swap tomorrow night so that will be fun. You have to bring 3 dozen cookies, an appetizer and a gag gift. I'm not sure what is in store as far as festivities but I'm excited to find out.

Saturday we are going to a new Christmas tree place. I guess they take yu out by tractor to pick out a tree and they cut it down right in front of you. Now that is what I call FRESH! They also have a holiday gift shop with all sorts of goodies. It should be a fun day!

Then on Sunday I hope to get back out to some stores and get more of my shopping completed. I feel like it is looming over my head and it isn't even Dec1st yet. It will get done in time I'm sure.

Thankful Thoughts

I have to sit back sometimes and remember all of the things that I am thankful for when I get STRESSED! Right now is crunch time in my job. The wonderful (horrible) state of NY likes to test our poor students to death and my particular subject area (English) tests are approaching in January. I used to only have to worry about my 4th grade students taking them and now NYS has decided to test not only 4th, but 3rd and 5th as well. Since I teach reading to grades 3-5 this can get a little stressful! So needless to say I am feeling the weight on my shoulders a bit. We will all get through it and be able to enjoy reading much more after the beginning of 2007!

Anyhow, back to my thankful thoughts...

I am thankful for-
1. My family: Family near and far, family who is always there for us to lend an ear, arm, or a heart. Thank you to our wonderful family, without you life would be pretty dull. Speaking of family, I have been making fun of my mom pretty hard core lately because I say that she is turning into a lush just like my Gram. Both ladies have to have their glass of wine each night after long stressful days, or just any excuse to sit back and sip their favorite wines! My Gram always says, "It's a special ocassion, let's have a glass of wine!"

2. My son: I am thankful that at the young age of 10 months that my son likes to be creative. By this I mean that he is creative enough to take his formula canister, drop it in the toilet, and then splash around in the water having a grand old time! If you could have seen him you would have busted a gut!

3. My husband: I am thankful that my husband puts up with me some days. Some days just tweak me out and become too much and I in turn get too stressed, but my husband calms me down and keeps going. Thank you for being the wonderful and calm man that you are!

4. My dog: I am thankful that my dog lets me dress him up as if he were a doll some days. Over the years he has had bandanas, t-shirts, hats, you name it. He is such a great dog that he just lets me dress him up as I please. Why I do it, I'm not sure, it is always good for a laugh.

5. My friends: I am thankful that my friends don't disown me because ever since Seth's arrival I haven't been the best at returning phone calls or remembering birthdays and anniversary's. Thank you to all of my friends for being there for me even when I haven't been the best friend I could be. I'm working on it!

I know that I have many many many more things to be thankful for, but it is the end of another crazy work day and I have to go. Until next time...

Oh, I almost forgot, Seth got bit by a little girl at the sitters. It was too funny, he better watch out for those broads early!

So LONG...

It has been so long since I was able to sit down and blog that I don't even know where to start. Thanksgiving week was crazy/hectic/fun. It started out with Parent/Teacher conferences on M & T. They all went well except for the fact that one parent told me that she does not think reading and writing are important, only math and science and I was so in awe of her comment that I didn't know what to say. Had I had my head on straight I would have looked at her and said well, how the hell do you think your son is going to be able to learn his math and science without being able to read or write. Some people are so ignorant it is crazy. Luckily that was my final conference so after that I headed to my friend Erin's to visit and see baby Storm. He has gotten so big and so cute.

Wednesday I rented to rug doctor and doctored up our carpets that were in desperate need of some TLC. That machine is much tougher then I thought, but they came out so well. The rugs almost look new, well sort of new. They look better. Then, Wednesday night my parents and my brother and his girlfriend came over for some pre-Thanksgiving eats. We had three different appetizers and fondue for dessert. I'm totally hooked on the fondue and I love to have it when company comes over.

Thanksgiving day was so beautiful and warm outside. We went to Ro's parents and had a great meal, except the joke of the day was that Ro's mom put the turkey in upside down. She just thought that the turkey she picked out didn't come with a popper, but ultimately it was in upside down. Still tasted great, but we harassed her a bit. We took Seth for a long walk and Lext tired him out too!

Friday we braved the mall for a little bit just to get out and then we took Seth out to dinner for the 1st time. He did well. His newest thing is to yell or grunt or something like that when he wants more food. It is funny and embarrassing at the same time. He tried haddock, baked potato, and a roll.

Saturday is a blur and Sunday we took Seth to the Christmas parade and then to Channel 7 to shoot his holiday commercial. He had the biggest smile on and they gave him his 1st Christmas present. It was a great mini vacation and now we ar back to our normal routine.

I have to report 2 funny events from today...

1. I picked Seth up at Pat's and she was holding his arm and apologizing because Hanna a little 18 month old had bitten Seth and left definate teeth marks. I wasn't too worried, but Pat felt just horrible. I was surprised that he hadn't bitten her back. His temper is getting worse and worse.

2. I left Seth alone for 2 minutes and when I came back I found him in the 1/2 bath. He had opened the toilet seat, thrown his formula canister in the toilet and was playing in the water. He thought it was a grand old time!

So that is an update on the Charlton household, I hope you all enjoyed!

We Have Lift Off...

Seth is so close to completely walking with socks on, but when you put his sneakers on he doesn't know what the heck to do, it is so funny!

We had a great weekend. My mom and I went shopping at the outlets on Friday and got a ton accomplished and on Saturday we worked around the house and on the kitchen. Nothing too exciting going on right now. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is this Thursday and Seth turns 10 months on Thanksgiving Day as well. Today I am working from 11-8pm and tomorrow I work from 8-1pm doing Parent/Teacher Conferences. I dread these days because they are long and I don't like to drive in the dark so much, but they will be over before I know it and then we will have a fun filled holiday week. Wednesday night we are having my Mom, Tom, & Justin over for an appetizer/fondue night. Thursday we will go to the Charlton's for Thanksgiving, and Friday night we are taking Seth out to dinner for the first time. Help us all!

Check out Seth's new kicks! His Striderites are on backorder because of his big feet so we got him some sneakers for in the mean time. He doesn't really know what to think of them yet.

The Floor is In!

Hip Hip Hooray, the new floor is in! It was so exciting to go home yesterday and see a new and clean floor. We like it even more then just the sample. The floor really pulls together the wall and cupboard colors as well. Today the appliances will be delivered between 1-3pm. So when we get home tonight there will be more excitement to view.

Close up view

A little dark, but you can get an idea

Other then the new floor there isn't too much going on. I'm taking a personal day tomorrow and my mom and I are doing our annual shopping trip to the outlets and Christmas Tree Shops. We make a day of it and have tons of fun.

My step-dad emailed me this morning to ask if I'd like to have Seth be in one of the Channel 7 Christmas promos. I'm super excited, it will be his first TV debute.

My friend Erin's sister had her twins yesterday, they were 9 weeks early, but they are doing fine and I guess they have a whole head of hair each. So welcome Jack and Nola Countryman!

Sorry for the short blog, but it has been kitchen kitchen kitchen and not much else!

Getting There...

I'm so excited to go home today and see my brand new floor!!! YIPPEEE! Anyhow, to backtrack a bit, this have been a whirlwind of a week. The drywallers finished up on Sunday and ever since then it has been no stop painting and touch ups. We finally finished last night, hauled the old fridge out to the garage and we are ready for our floor today. At one point on Monday night I was about in tears and some unkind words came out as well. I was so tired of painting I literally wanted to SCREAM! It was ten times harder going from cream walls to brick red walls, there were too many touch ups to say. With that said here are some pics along our journey.

One coat of paint on the breakfast nook walls.

Pocket door wall

Sun burst that we had them create in the middle of the ceiling where the light fixture will hang.

Tomorrow the appliances will be delivered and my Dad will come over and install the light fixtures and the hood to the stove. Then we will have to wait a week or two for the counter tops to be finished. I will take more pictures tonight of the floor and the walls completed.

In Seth news, we are just about 95% walking and it is hysterical! He wants to walk so fast that he will get going and take about 20 steps and then just fall. Like everything else in his short life so far, he just wants to go and the heck with slow. It is exciting to watch him and see his expressions.

Paint Paint and More Paint...

Friday night we had the BEST dinner out. 1st because we were with good friend and good conversation and 2nd because the meal was to die for! So good! Tin Pan has to be one of the best restaurants. We also decided amongst the group to do New Years Eve at our house. We are going to cook up lobster for the adults and hot dogs for the kids and have fun without worrying about drinking and driving! Should be a great night to look forward to.

Saturday was a milestone of a day. First, Seth, my mom, and I got completely soaked on our walk in the morning, and then we went shopping for Seth's 1st pair of shoes. My grandmother insisted on buying Seth his first shoes and they had to be Striderites. When we got to Avon we found the cutest pair. They look sort of like bowling/dress/brown shoes and at first Seth hated them and cried, but once he got used to them he was all set. Plus, he wears a 6 1/2 extra wide, they had to be special ordered!

They are too cute!

Not too sure yet!

Unfortunately I have no pictures to show of our paint progress at this time because we were so exhausted by the end of yesterday I couldn't upload them to the computer. I'll try and do that tonight. The drywallers finished on Sunday at about 11:30 and away we went with our paint. All I can see in my head is red paint, brown paint, primer paint, cream paint, ahhhh! Needless to say we did a lot of painting and in shifts. Ro painted while Seth and I ran errands and I painted while Ro took a break and Seth napped. Tonight our goal is to paint the ceiling and to do touch ups tomorrow before the floor gets installed on Wednesday! It is all coming together and I can't wait until it is done and the mess is GONE!

Here is a great recipe if you are a potato lover like I am!

Scalloped Taters

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup butter melted

1 package frozen cubed hash browns

salt/pepper

crushed corn flakes

1. In a large bowl combine hash browns, soup, milk, cheese, butter, salt, and pepper.

2. Pour into greased slow cooker. Cook and cover for 4-5 hours on low or until potatoes are tender.

3. Just before serving combine cornflake crumbs and a little more butter and bake in a pie plate for 4-6 minutes on 350 or until golden brown. Stir the potatoes and sprinkle on the crumb topping!

T.G.I. Thursday

Today is the last day of the work week for me, thank you for Veteran's Day and thank you to all of our veterans. So I almost had a major melt down last night, but I took a breathe, remembered all the things that I have in my life to be grateful for and only had a minor meltdown instead. Our drywallers were supposed to be done by tomorrow so I could spend the day painting, but they didn't come to work yesterday which sets them back until the beginning of next week. that wouldn't be a problem if our new floor wasn't getting installed on Wed. morning. Once I had my freak out, I calmed myself and remembered that if all else fails we can just put tarps down on the new floor and paint that way. The whole kitchen process was going too smoothly so I knew something had to go wrong.

I'm not going to get into great detail about my second meltdown yesterday, but for anyone who reads this, please say a little prayer for my dad who has to go to SYR today to see a special doctor.

With that all said, now tomorrow I will at least be able to paint the cupboards and rake the lawn while Seth is at the sitters. Some areas will get accomplished. We are also going to get Seth his first shoes this weekend. My grandmother insists on buying them and making sure we get him Stride Rites, she is 78 and whatever makes her happy makes us all happy.

I dug out another fun recipe for any weekend munching!

Grilled Potato Skins

2 large baking potatoes
2 tbsp melted butter
salt/pepper/garlic salt
1 cup shredded cheese
bacon pieces
green onions chopped fine

1. Cut each potato lengthwise into 4 wedges. Cut away the white portion leaving 1/4 inch in the potato skin. Place skins in the micro on high for 8-10 minutes or until tender.
2. Combine melted butter, salt, pepper, and garlic salt and brush over both sides of the skins.
3. Grill skin side up uncovered over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
4. Turn them over and grill for 2 more minutes. Top with cheese, cover and grill 2 minutes longer.
5. Sprinkle bacon and onion and serve with sour cream.

So easy and so delicious!

If I don't get back to the computer until Monday have a great weekend to all!

Catching Up!

I'm sure that most of you have read the fotolog and know that Seth and I are doing much better now. We are both back to work and the sitters and hopefully in for a full recovery soon! Yesterday the drywallers put the first coat of mud on the kitchen and it is starting to come together. I never realized how much I disliked the smell of that mud though, it is nasty! Also on a positive note, my report cards are done and handed in and actually early so I can now relax a bit. Tonight we head to the Charlton's for dinner. It has actually been a royal pain without a kitchen, but also nice not having to cook for a bit. As promised, I dug out the cookbooks and I'll be back online for recipes for a few days. I am very happy that some of you are using them and spicing up your dinner hours!

Chicken Manicotti

1 tbsp garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts cut up
16 uncooked manicotti shells
2 jars of spag sauce of your choice
4 cups of mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup water

1. Sprinkle garlic powder all over chicken chunks
2. Stuff uncooked chicken into manicotti tubes.
3. Spread 1 cup spag sauce in each of 2 greased baking dishes.
4. Place 8 shells in each dish and pour the remaining sauce on top of the shells and drizzle water around the endge of the dish and sprinkle cheese on top. Cover and bake for 60 minutes at 375. For a variation you can also sprinkle mushrooms and sausage on top as well. Very easy and great for leftovers!

We thought this was too funny, this is an actual peak name in Lake Placid, "Nipple Top"! It doesn't take much to get a laugh out of us!

Happy Hump Day to All!

The Mess is Getting to ME!

The kitchen is finally starting to make some progress and as happy as I am to have it going I'm missing my sink and countertops awful. You don't realize how much you use something until it is not there anymore. Right now I use the basement sink to wash bottles and dishes and just try to stay out of the kitchen and try to remember that it will be beautiful soon! Today they start mudding so that will be a wonderful dusty mess. Here are some pics of my Dad and Ro taking out the old counter tops and then the new drywall on the ceiling and covering up the pocketdoor.

Dad and Ro taking out the old, ugly countertop!

Countertops GONE!

New drywall ceiling in the breakfast nook

New wall in front of the pocket door

That's about all I have to share today. I am taking a half day to finally take myself to the doctors. This is my third cold in 2 months and it seems like everytime I get sick so does Seth. So I'm heading to the docs early afternoon followed by Seth at 3pm. I'd like to start feeling better by the weekend if all goes well. So no new recipe, but I promise tomorrow!

REVIVED!

We had the most amazing 24 hours away! The drive to LP was just so peaceful, we were able to chat and catch up. When we got there we went to The Cottage for lunch, sat right by the window overlooking Mirror Lake and we had Lobster Bisque in a bread bowl, it was to die for. Then we started our shopping fun. We got some great deals for ourselves as well as the little guy. After our shopping therapy we checked into our room and relaxed for a bit before hitting the hot tub. SO GREAT! Then we cleaned ourselves up and went out for dinner. Ro had the Osso Bucca and I had a Lobster tail. Both of which were great and we nibbled off each others plates. You can tell that we are parents because after our day of fun we still managed to fall asleep by 9:30pm!
As they say early to bed early to rise and that is exactly what we did. We got up by 7 and went for the most amazing walk around Mirror Lake (2 miles). We took in all the goodness that the Adirondacks had to offer. Then we showered, went our for breakfast, and headed home REVIVED!

It was about 30 degress so be bundled up!

In front of Mirror Lake

With the weekend done and over with we have moved onto bigger and better projects. The kitchen is basically gutted and they will start the drywall today. I'll post pics tomorrow of the progress that they make today! Have a great day everyone!

TGIF

It has been a crazy busy week at home and at work. It is the dreaded report card time of year and this year my department has to do their reports online and its a whole pain in the a#$ process to go through for each report. I'm smiling as I curse the system out though!

Tomorrow Ro and I are headed to Lake Placid for some walking in the cool fall air around Mirror Lake, eating out which we hardly get to do anymore, hot tubbing, and of course shopping therapy. They have a great 4 floor GAP outlet along with many many other stores. I can't wait!We went to LP last year and I was pregnant so I was only able to window shop. Now I can really do some damage!

The kitchen officially starts the remodel process on Monday so I will have step by step pics for you on the progress we will be making next week! Before I sign off for the weekend I'll leave you with a delicious seafood recipe that is to die for!

Shrimp and Crab Supreme

1 lb. med shrimp precooked & shelled
1 med red onion peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 lb. diced tomatoes
salt/pepper
crab
broccoli
1 1/2 lb. thin spaghetti

1. Cook pasta and set aside with a bit of oil so it won't stick together.
2. Heat oil in large sauce pan and saute garlic and onion for about 5 minutes, then add tomatoes and season with s/p. Then add broccoli and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add seafood and simmer another 10 minutes.
4. on the plate place pasta and then generously cover with seafood and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Halloween Whirlwind Through Pics

So we had a very busy Halloween, but very successful as well. Seth and I got home at 4pm and he went right down for a nap after a long and busy day at Pat's. He slept right until we had to wake him at 6pm. We dressed our duck, fed him, and away we went. We had 5 stops to make: G/G Puccia, G/G Buckingham, G Charlton, Aunt Virginia, and G Charlton at the mall. So here all some of the 20 pics taken last night!

On the Go Seth eating in the car!

Our 1st stop at Grammy/Grandpa Puccia's.

This is what Grandpa P called "quantity control"!

Our 2nd stop was at Grandpa and Nana Buckingham's.

3rd stop in our whirlwind tour was to see Grandpa Charlton!

Our final and last stop was to see Grandma Charlton at the mall!

This is Daddy and Seth at the mall and Seth is in awe over some of the wacky costumes that he is seeing!

We had a great night and a great 1st Halloween. Thank you to Kelly for letting us borrow the duck costume, to G/G Puccia for the books and college money, G/G Charlton for the toy and college money, and Great-Grandma/Great-Grandpa Mihalyi for the college money! We truly apprecite it!

Happy Hump Day to all and on to Thanksgiving now!