As the week starts drawing to an end, I start running out of things to cook.  I start making things from left overs and throwing meals together.  This week is no exception.  I was missing an ingredient or two from every meal I could think of to cook.  So, I decided to put a new spin on a meal and make something a little different and it was so good I'm sharing!

 Now, for those of you with kids.  I like spicy food.  So, should you choose to make this with spicy rotel like I did, you can easily hold a little out for the kiddos.  I gave them plain rice, black beans, corn, and the seasoned chicken.  They LOVED it!!

I can't believe today is the first day of 2011!  Time flies.

This blog has been such a great way for me to capture and remember the past couple of years.  I look back over the old posts sometimes and I love being taken back to how I felt, what life was like, and what my boys looked like, and maybe even what our struggles were at that time.  I love it and can't wait to do the blog to book thing at some point.

I love it; yet finding time to update it has gotten harder.   The reason, the culprit - facebook.  It's so easy to throw an album out there and be done with it.  Your loved ones and friends see it instantly and it's done.  The blog on the other hand takes a little more time.  But for me, I know I really need to update out here more.  Maybe in the new year I can focus on it more...  ahemmmm. 

With all that being said, the boys are doing incredibly well.  All of them..  We are so blessed.  We are thrilled that I am staying home with them again after working fulltime for 4 months.  I don't think any of us were ready for it.  The boys stayed sick and weak, I stayed tired and on the go, the boys stayed 12 hours a day at a daycare, and we all missed them, my evening stress of trying to help with homework and do dinner and keep up with laundry and cleaning left NO time for me to enjoy my babies.  They're only little for a short time, so I'm perfectly content to stay home with them.   ..most days.  ;)

For Christmas this year we went home for 4 days.  We didn't have near enough time there and even had to cut our trip short a day due to SNOW moving through the area.  Taylor was thrilled and played in it til his fingers were blue and had several snowball fights with his friends. The littles never got out in it because it was so wet and mushy.   ...maybe we'll have another chance to let them play in some soon.

Ok, so once again I'm going to post a link to my pictures on fb - When I do print the blog, they won't print, so I will start adding more out here.  Just not tonight... ;)

 Soooooooo. for now:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81024&id=1577670409&l=7adf290160 or click here.

Click here to see the pictures I took of the boys last weekend!

 Saturday we got dressed up and went downtown to the "trunk or treat" with Grandaddy and Mimi.  It was packed with lots of vendors and trunk or treaters, so we took it all in, took some pictures and headed back home to grill out.
 Brayden was so scared of Taylor's costume and it took him a long time once he  started screaming and crying for him to calm down.  Then when we tried to get his costume on him (a giraffe) he was equally as scared.  After a few bribes and a few pieces of candy, we got his costume on and he was fine.






The little boys embraced their costumes and really played up their characters.  They were so cute and would tell anyone who asked (and many who didn't) what they were dressed as.  They'd walk up to each door and say, "Twick-ah-Tweet, Tank you!" They were so stinking cute!  Taylor has a big time playing with his brothers and jumping out from bushes and scaring them. 

• 1 lb high fiber ziti such as Ronzoni Smart Taste
• 28 oz crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic,minced
• 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 8 oz fat-free ricotta (I used cottage cheese)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan
• 2 cups (8 oz) part skim mozzarella
• I added 1.5 lbs of hamburger meat browned and drained cooked with diced onions and bell peppers.

Preheat oven to 375°.Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with oil spray.

In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta according to instructions until al dente. Drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add olive oil and sauté garlic. Add chopped spinach, salt pepper and chopped tomatoes. Season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

Add sauce to the pasta and combine the ziti. Add half of the mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and ricotta. Mix well then transfer to the baking pan.

Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Top with the remaining mozzarella.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and the edges are lightly browned.

This can be made up to a day in advance and stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.