Tasty Tuesday - Pasta Bake

This recipe I got from my sister-in-law Karin.
I have tweaked and added a few things to it.
So easy too.

Katie's Pasta Bake
1 lbs ground beef or Italian sausage
1 can/jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 whole carrot finely diced
4 cups shredded cheese
4 cups uncooked penne pasta (bow tie works too and is fun for kids)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Brown ground beef or sausage.
Drain grease and add spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, carrots and seasonings.
Stir until blended and add brown sugar and mix well.
Let it come to a boil and reduce to medium heat until pasta is cooked.
Cook pasta for 8 minutes and NO MORE . (The pasta will cook more in the oven)
Drain noodles.
In a large bowl, add noodles and 2 cups cheese. mix well.
Add 1 cup of sauce to the bottom of a 13x9 casserole dish.
Spread sauce on the bottom of casserole dish.
Measure 1 1/2 cups of sauce and set aside.
Add the the rest of the sauce to the pasta in the bowl.
Mix well and add to the casserole dish.
Spread remaining sauce over pasta.
Spread 2 cups of cheese over the top and cover with foil.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

We had it last night for dinner.
It was quick and easy.
And Super mom here snuck in some veggies. Hee hee
It is my easy version of Lasagna.
I hope you like it.

Feeling Guilty

Guilty.
I have nothing new to say.
Okay, so I have nothing new to say that wouldnt bored you to death.
The boys have been in school for 11 days.
Yay ME!
I already hate homework and so do they.
I went to meet the very awesome Monica. (MY wonderful and Awesome friend from Susanville.)
Jeff and I, with the 2 little ones, met her in Modesto to go to lunch for her birthday. We went to Olive Garden. Our favorite place!!!!!!!
(her birthday was technically the next day but I could only go when Jeff was off)
We had a great time, and I, the ONE who never gets anything different, never tries anything new....tried something different.
I usually get the Alfredo with grilled chicken, but that day I got a Portobello sauce and linguine with chicken. It was sooooo good.(i don't like their red sauces)
So much FUN!
She gave us a box of gently used and much needed clothes that her son out grew. (thanks Monica)
We are just trying to get into the new routine of School and homework. I am not sure what I would do if they had a sport.
They need that, but at the same time, they need to spend most of their time on homework and reading.
Just a fact.
I guess that makes me a bad mom. ( I get grief about it from many)
Jeff's truck is breaking down, again.
Big surprise, since it is like a 100 years old. (only 25) but it just needs new everything.
I feel like I am soooooo tired.
Good thing is, I am too tired and too busy to be depressed. (No need for more meds, I guess.)
I am also having fun with my Aunt Kathie, who is more like a big sister than and Aunt.
She is so much fun to hang out with.
We have been covering notebooks, (see a few previous posts)
We also have been playing a card game called Hand and Foot. We have to convince 2 more people to join in, since it is a four player kind of game.
And we are getting ready to scrapbook and make hair clips... well I am.
I am obsessed.
I have also been so obsessed with having a clean house.
Weird, I know.
I can't sit still for long.
I need to have everyone constantly cleaning up their chores, which isn't good for them, because they stopped helping....they got tired of it....
The whole, mom thing has really gotten bad.
and I mean Mom thing, as in ME being their mom.
I think they forgot, unless they need something other then what they can get into without asking, that I am their Mom and I have authority.
They all think because it is there they are entitled to have it.
They WILL NOT listen if they have it in their mind they don't want to.
They made me cry yesterday.
I am cleaning my house for a visit from a dear friend, and I wanted just clothes put away. Their clothes.
They had no more room, I thought we just had to many clothes.
I was wrong.
They didn't want to pick up the blankets and towels and either removed them from their room or put them on their beds, so they decided to stuff it in their drawers. (which explains why they are broken)
BLANKETS AND TOWELS in thier drawers!!!!!!
I found wet and dirty jeans too.
I hit the roof. No one was safe from Mom's wrath. (Poor Emma and Mikey.)
I had to take the time to go through every drawer. And they did have too many clothes. (I have to get rid of more clothes)
I ended up calling my Mom. She is usually the voice of reason, when it gets that bad.
Unless you have 4 boys that are ages 14 to 7, then you will never understand completely.
She just said frankly..."boys don't like to clean. They DO NOT see the point"
And that is when I understood.
It clicked.
t made perfect sense.
I never saw it from their side of the brain.
I was almost instantly not furious.
I did also pray.
Mostly for forgiveness, but also for the fact that if they didn't get some divine intervention, they would not survive the rest of the day.
I have to find a way to teach them to clean and be responsible people, with out it being horrible.... you know what I mean.
Horrible for me.
Heh, heh, hee hee!
Jeff and I worked our fannies off this morning. (I should clean like that every day, it was a work out)
I am thinking of doing it 3 times a week.
There was nothing for the boys to do after school, but play.
See, my super awesome friend Reagan was here from Susanville. She stopped on her way to Fresno with her adorable kids.
We went to Mountain Mikes Pizza. (kinda embarrassed about that, it wasn't very good.)
And then we got back just in time for my kids to get out of school.
They played, we visited.
It really made me want to cry.
Just seeing her.
I miss my Susanville life.
I love my life here, but I miss that part of my life. I think it like when I got married. I missed my single life and the freedom's I had and the safety I had in living with my parents.
I miss the safety of that little town. the people there.
It was really fun.
She is hoping to come back on her way back to Susanville and we are gonna get our Crafty on and make hair bows and flower clips.
Not much is going on.
We are Fighting the homework battle 4 nights a week.
Matthew started Seminary at 6:05 am. Yuck! (like Sunday school/church for our youth in the AM before school...helps keep them grounded)
Boys are driving me crazy.
Michael is almost walking.
Emma is almost completely potty trained.
My house is almost organized. (not really, but i want it too be)
My husband is happy.
I am tired. (big surprise)
We are good.
I am feeling guilty for sticking you with the same post for over a week.
Sorry about that,.
Obviously, I am busy.

Our Vacation...(in great detail) AWESOME!

Irish Beach, California

I smile just thinking about our vacation.
It wasn't much of a laid back, hardly work kind of vacation.(the cleaning and the packing and the unpacking and the more cleaning)
But it was sooo good!
I don't believe that doing dishes and cooking for family ON VACATION is a chore.
I LOVE IT!
So if you ever want to go camping and don't want to do your dishes, invite me along, because I love doing dishes while camping. And cooking!
Call it the pioneer part of me.
I love heating the water and washing , rinsing and drying the dishes. Even the little plastic forks and spoons. I love it...makes me wanna go camping.
Sorry, got off track.
Friday, I was half way done with the packing. Just had to cook and freeze somethings for dinners and dessert. (I made taco meat and cookie dough, and I would do that for camping too)
I had to wash and fold and put away a ton of Laundry, clean my whole house.
I HATE a messy house after vacation.
The boys were not as helpful with the actual work part, but they played with Michael and Emma. Which helped a ton!
Jeff decided to not work on Saturday so he could help me, but somehow.......anyway.....long story short, Sunday morning at 4 am I went to bed.

After I put together their goodies bags for the road trip.
But everything was done, so we just had to load coolers and people and leave.
You would think.
We over slept and got up at 7:30.
I pack way different than Jeff. They say men are more logical...well....Not that Jeff isn't, it is just that I am too. When it comes to packing and fitting everything in.
Another part of my pioneer side, i think.
Got everything loaded on 30 minutes later .

We were an half and hour late to meet Jeff's parents
See we have a car than doesn't fit all of us. Yes, we still have it.

there is this thing in California called FURLOUGHS, and it has killed us.
(Sooooooo glad we did not purchase another car)
So we had to meet up with them on the way and put one of our smaller children (Caleb)in the back seat of their truck. (it was so awesome of them to offer, I am not sure how long the boys would have sat back there and without killing each other.)
We met at a farmers market and picked up some (we splurged) pistachio's and some banana chips for Jeff.
Off we went.
After 4 hours+...and one stop at Mc Donalds,we made it to the beach house.
LOVED IT!
Lots of space for the kids to run around out side. big kitchen. 3 rooms very nice. 2 bathrooms.
Unload, unpack, and relaxed (for 5 minutes) and off to the beach....well first to the store. (4.99 for a 6 pack of Pepsi) If I didn't need celery for dinner (chicken salad sandwiches, I will post the recipe tuesday) I would have not gone at all.
Since we planned $ for this stupid store, it was all good.
The beach was VERY COLD and VERY over cast.....and VERY awesome.
I often wonder about people who live their whole lives with out seeing the ocean.
It is very sad.
It is my 3rd favorite place to be....(Jeff and the kids is first...Not telling my 2nd) Jeff and I talk about retiring there. It would be nice.
The kids loved it.

Emma loved to dig, boys looked for lizards and sand crabs, and Mikey ate sand.

I just smooshed my toes in the sand and took a deep breath.
Back home to do dinner and get kids off to bed, dessert and then adults played Hand and FOOT!!!!
Girls against boys! Boys ruled....that night.
We all slept in, Jeff made eggs and bacon, we were just slow paced and lazy, packed up for the beach and off we went.
Mikey fell asleep in the car on the 'less than 5 minute drive' to the beach parking lot. (private security card to get in...no crowding= AWESOME!)
So I decided I would hang back in the car and let him sleep. I had my book, and MP3 player. I would suffer.
NOT!
I had my book, no kids, the waves crashing in the background and some beach snacks.(I forgot the pringles and amazing fruit Biz)
I was not sad at all. He woke up after 2 hours and we went down to the family. Mikey ate sand. He loved it.
Did I mention before that it was over cast when we got there...?
yeah. It was again on Monday. And Cold.
I did not pack my kids or myself, for cold.
Last time we were there it was HOT HOT HOT!
We just bundled up under blankets and unused towels. (no swimming it was so cold)
Back up to the house for dinner,(we stuffed ourselves with potato salad, BBQed tri tip steaks, chicken, burgers, and hot dogs) an awesome Family Home Evening lesson from Grandma, Smores out side, because the grill was still warm from dinner.

Another game of HAND AND FOOT!
GIRLS RULED that night!!!!!
Tuesday was a little tiny bit warmer, but still cool.
We decided, okay, it was me, I decide to do a pirate day and got the boys a whole bag of pirate stuff. A hat, and eyepatch, tattoo's, gun, dagger, and compass.
Jeff's dad and Jeff left early to the beach to bury the treasure for our treasure hunt.
Jeff's dad is so awesome. He put together a map and clues.
We put on our tattoo's and off to the beach again we went.

Guess who fell asleep? Guess who had to stay behind? Guess who wasn't sad?

I did miss the Treasure Hunt. But Jeff took some great pictures.(see other blog for more pictures) We stayed a very long time avoiding the late dinner and not wanting to go back to the beach house to pack up for our trip home.

But not before going to look for some cool stuff.
This family collects rocks and shells. This is Mom and dad searching for cool rocks and shells. The best place to find stuff is around this Giant rock.
I came prepared and got the boys a Small 5x5 box with a lid that they could put stuff in. If it didn't fit in, it didn't get to come home.
We had a Shell and Rock Collection Competition. I was the judge, because I didn't collect anything. I even made some instant trophy's out of tin cans, paper bags, some shells I bought and some scrapbook sticky dots. That was fun.

Caleb won.

Everyone got a trophy.
We played our last game of Hand and Foot.

Girls ruled once again.
It was sad leaving the beach house Wednesday morning.

On our way out we stopped at the Point Area Lighthouse.

(the same light house used in the movie "Forever Young" with Mel Gibson)

It costs $1 per kids and $7.50 per adult to climb to the top of the light house and go inside the musem. I went the last time, so I didn't miss not going. Jeff and the boys made it all the way to the top. It was such a beauitful view from the lighthouse.

It is a tradition we come every time.

The whole weekend was just so much fun!

I hope we get that same beach house next year.
We did have the best time.
Not everyone can say they like/love their in laws.
But can say with my whole heart, that I truly do. I love them.
They are such a great example of the gospel and I love just being around them.
I have really gotten to know my mother in law more over the last few years, and we have a lot in common.
I can not wait for next year!!!!!
We had a good ride home. We got lost once, but we made it back into Sacramento in enough time (7:30pm) to get the boys fed and off to bed. Since School started the next day, I ran over to Kohl's and dropped almost $300 for shoes and clothes. (they had to have something new for the first day of school, right?) I shopped the sales. Not one shirt was over $9.99 and the shoes "Tony Hawk Vans", and Matthew's vans we not more than $35. (regular priced was $50 and $60 a pair) (Times the shoes by 4. four boys = expensive)
I had to hit Walmart for underwear and socks and some school supples. Snack food for lunches. I didn't get home to unpack or go to bed until after midnight.
I was exhausted and needed another vacation.
But I got it done. I wont get everything from the trip put away for weeks, but it will be worth it.
It was worth all the worry, planning, time wasted, work, lost sleep and money.
I would do it every other month if I could. Even if the beach was cold.
Thanks Mom and dad for a fabulous vacation.

Journal Books

These books were so much fun and cost me all of 25 cents plus tax. I used the scrapbook supplies on hand and even used a couple of Swaps from years ago.

Mine (obviously)
Emma
I decided to use mostly rub-ons, because if she wanted to draw in it, she wouldn't pick at any of the "extra" embellishments that I would normally put on.
I am gonna write in it some of the things she says and funny stuff she does.

I made this for Sammy at first, but I found different paper that suited Sammy more, so I gave this one to Michael.

Matthew, love black and anything rock and roll.

Nathan like music and green.

Caleb liked this and bugged me for 2 days over this one.

(it's cowboys)

Robots for Sammy.

he loved it.

I am hoping to catch some Art from these guys. they draw all the time and I would love to have it all in one book.

And it is way fun.

I will help anyone who wants to do one.

Just let me know.

Quite frankly....

I am so much to say and soooooooo little time.
I should be getting dressed this Saturday morning, but I have been trying to go as long as I can in my night gown. Because If I get dressed it means I have to get going.
I want to avoid the day and just sleep through it. Not depressed or anything just plain ol' tired.
In the last 2 weeks I have only gotten about 5 days of sleep.
I am living on 4 to 5 hours or less a night. (more less)
I know it is mostly my fault and is all for purely selfish reasons.
I like my peace and quiet.
Michael, that sweet baby that he is, took a nap at 8:30pm. He probably would have slept longer if it were not for a loud child that was over for a sleepover yelling down the hallway.
Mikey stayed up until 1am. I crawled into bed, after my late night shower, (it helps me relax) at 2 am.
My sister was bringing over a nephew for me to watch at 8am and that was after Jeff left for an over time shift at 5am.
For the last week...Mikey has been a good baby and is sleeping in his crib all night long. Now, if I got to bed at a decent hour I could get more sleep, giving more energy to do more things, making me happy that I get a lot of things done.
That would be normal.
Now I am not sure if you noticed, I am not your normal woman of these modern days. I hate to do things like everyone else.
I decided last week to make this journals. (i took pictures, posting them later) for my kids. It started out just one for the beach trip. I stole the idea from my awesome Aunt Kathie who made a "Bride" Journal for her soon to be daughter-in-law.
We have been several times to the beach with Jeff's parents, but for some reason I thought it would be nice to get our feelings of being with family and the time we spent together from everyone, not jsut me....and get it on paper.
I covered the book, which started a whole new trend . I had to make them for my kids. I knew they would write in their journals, mostly just drawing, but I love what they draw.
Then I decided to make little goodies bags they would get each day we were at the beach. (no I didn't take pictures...not every day) I decorated a bag for each day and I put something to eat like a rice crispy treat, some sunglasses, mini binoculars, and a note pad and pen.(that was the first day) they loved it and it kept them busy in the car as we traveled up to the beach.
So off tract..... but doing all this and getting organized for the beach, having my Awesome friend Monica here for a few days, and helping my aunt cover the journals she did for other family members..... I developed a pattern of staying up late.
So ........back to Mikey.....
(if sleeping from 1am to 8 am is sleeping all night.)
He went back to sleep until 10ish. so i did get a bit of sleeping in.
My sister texted and said no nephew.
So I am just tired. I have no energy to get going on anything.
I need to get going, but.....
we will see.
I am not quite ready to start my Saturday.
I am gonna try and post about our FABULOUS beach trip.
and post pictures.
Quite frankly....it may never happen.

frustrated!

soooo much to do.
so little time.
and up until today soooo little help.
I am just not sure I will survive.

while I pack for vacation...did I mention this is a house so we can cook our own meals? (we cant afford to eat out)
Yes, i have to plan food and pack it.
Been planned for weeks, just have to pack it.
And pack 8 people, and potty train emma.
She is ready.
Unexpected money issues and waiting until we leave to get some fresh ingredients...is just pushing me over the edge.
wish me luck!

Still Busy

I am so busy.
I also hate my computer.
I don't have time to wait for it to do what it does to get ready for me.
I am getting ready for our one and only vacation this year.
We are headed to the beach with Jeff's parents. They rented a house.
I was keeping it a secret from the boys, but I need help from them to get ready.
I have lists.
I have list for my lists.
I am trying to slowly work on everything so I am not slammed on Saturday.
So excited.
It is almost 8 PM and I have not made dinner..... again.
I am still fighting depression.
I refuse to be depressed, but I am really sensitive.
I broke a door last night and shamefully used a few colorful swear words at Jeff because I spilled my ice water on the couch.
I decided to cool off and go for a drive.
(I didn't mention Mikey had woken up and was just screaming and would not calm down and go back to sleep)
I was hoping for words of comfort from Jeff and a hug. (when will men learn, sometimes we just want a hug)
But he made a rude comment and I left.
I killed to birds with one stone.
I hit Wendy's for some comfort food...a Wendy's chocolate frosty and fries...(yes I got some for Jeff)
and I got Mikey back to sleep, which he proceeded to sleep all night!
Now the door doesn't close all the way unless you make it shut.
Oh well, I admit it...I have a temper sometimes.
I wont go into to the mundane reason for my complaining to Jeff for a hug and got a fight out of it instead.
He texted me and said he was sorry.
I m doing good.
But I am just so stinkin' busy.