Bread with the Brisels

Today, we woke up with a six year old in the house. We can't believe that our squishy little baby can be this old! This year has been a year of tremendous growth (literally) for our boy. It seems that he's been in a growth spurt for the last several months. He skipped two clothing sizes and we can never keep him full. I'm certain our grocery bill will only increase as he ages. 😉 He started Kindergarten this fall, and is learning so much each day. When you ask him his favorite part of school, he says "recess." He is starting to blend words together and often asks to play teacher at home. He loves to show us what he is learning.  Sammy played tball, soccer and football this year. He loves to be active and play outside. For his birthday, his entire family got him an in-ground basketball hoop, and I know we'll get lots of use out of it! Sammy loves to go fishing with his daddy. This summer he'd say, "hey dad, can we go get my line wet?" I think he l...

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and tweaked it a bit to fit our family's taste and it turned out great! This will absolutely be in our meal rotation. Who doesn't like a crockpot meal this time of year?! Salsa Verde Crockpot Chicken Serves:  4-6 Ingredients:  1 yellow onion, sliced 2 chicken breasts 1/4 cup chicken stock 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon chili powder  Salt & Pepper  1 7oz jar of Salsa Verde  1 brick of reduced fat cream cheese 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese 1/3 cup of skim milk  1 head of broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces  Directions:  Turn your crockpot to low and make a "bed" of your sliced onions.  Place the chicken breasts over the top and add in garlic powder, chili powder, salt/pepper, salsa verde and chicken stock.  Cook on low for about 3-4 hours.  About 45 minutes before serving, add in the brick of cream cheese and allow it to melt for about 15 minutes.  About 30 minutes before s...

  Happy Tuesday! Yesterday, October 14th, was Global FPIES Day.  FPIES (Food Protein Enterocolitis Syndrome) is a food allergy of the gut. If a child with FPIES ingests a trigger food, he/she will begin intensely vomiting about 2-3 hours post-consumption. The vomiting occurs for several hours, and there are serious dangers that the child will become dehydrated.  Jack has been diagnosed with FPIES since March of 2024, and his diagnosis is something I think about daily. In fact, I think about it every time he puts ANYTHING food related in his mouth.  This time last year, we were about to begin our journey towards a diagnosis. At one point, Jack had 0 (ZERO!) foods that we were certain he could eat. Now, I've lost count of his safe foods. What a blessing that is! Most children outgrow FPIES by age 2-3, so each day we get a little closer to being FPIES free. I'm proud of our progress and I'm proud of our boy. 

Happy Monday! I'm back. 😊 Dustin was out of town for the majority of the week last week and we were barely hanging on by a thread over here. I'm excited to share a new recipe with you today!  If you're from the Midwest, chances are high that your family has a signature chili recipe. If you try someone else's chili recipe, it just doesn't taste quite "right." Today I'm sharing the chili recipe that I grew up eating. As a rule, you must serve with cinnamon rolls and carrots + celery sticks. Don't ask me why, it's what my mom always told me. 😉 Brisel Family Chili serves: 6-8 Ingredients:  1lb lean ground beef  1 white onion, diced  4 stalks of celery, diced 1 large can of diced tomatoes in tomato juice (28 oz) 1 can of dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed (15.5 oz)  1 can of tomato juice (roughly 3/4 of a 46 oz can)  2 tablespoons minced garlic  1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon brown sugar Salt + Pepper  Directions: In a skillet, brown up...

Our very favorite brand of pajamas are called  Little Sleepies  and they are pretty much all that our boys wear to sleep in. They are so soft, I don't blame them! The very best part of these pajamas is the length of time your children can wear them.  Here's Jack wearing his Halloween pajamas last year... ...and here he is wearing them this year. 😊 Isn't it crazy the difference a year makes? I don't think I'll get him to squeeze in these pajamas next year, so you'll find me soaking it up until October ends. 😉

Our oldest son Sammy began Kindergarten in August and it has been so fun to hear about what he is learning during his days.  This weekend, he played "school" and was doing phonemic awareness activities with his stuffed animals. He was using the same verbiage as his teacher and it just made me laugh so hard! My favorite funny from this weekend happened at church.  The lector got up and welcomed everyone, and said what page number the opening song was on. Sammy stood up with the rest of the congregation and put his hand on his heart. Bless him - he was all set to do the Pledge of Allegiance. Dustin and I about died from holding in our laughter! His two worlds were colliding, and he lost track of where he was. 😅 In case you needed a laugh on this Monday morning, there you go. 😉 Have a great start to your week! 

Happy, HAPPY Friday!  I hate to even say it outloud, but Jack slept through the night two nights in a row this week. He's been getting so many teeth - all at the same time for about three weeks. This led to lots of broken nights of sleep for our boy. It is AMAZING how much better I feel getting a full night of sleep. Haha.  Needless to say, I'm feeling extra perky this Friday.  I'm linking up with Andrea  and  Erika  to share a few favorites from my week. 😊 Sammy's flag football team is the Chiefs, and so obviously his favorite dog supporter needed to get a matching outfit. Look at Sammy's red cheeks! We're ready for fall weather to arrive in full force over here. Haha.  This week was National Night Out in our town, and Dustin helped work it. I stopped by with the boys, and Jack was genuinely surprised to see so many people who looked like his daddy. He got so excited when he saw the first police car, but was disappointed his daddy wasn't inside. 😉 D...

  There are a few cleaning jobs I do daily that just seem to make life run a bit more smoothly around here. I always run the dishwasher (no matter how full), I always "close down" the kitchen, and I always run at least one load of laundry and finish it completely,  On Monday I just wasn't feeling great, and so we threw dinner together, I neglected to run the dishwasher, and I didn't run a load of laundry.  Somehow, on Tuesday I had to do three loads of laundry to make up for it. Can someone explain this laundry math to me?  Needless to say, I haven't missed a daily load of laundry since. 😉

Our Sammy boy is pretty tenderhearted, and had what we call an "owie" day yesterday. Nothing seemed to go his way, and he was pretty emotional about it all.  I was switching laundry just outside the bathroom door while the boys were in the tub together. After Sammy had had a roller coaster of a day, it made me so happy to hear them splashing and giggling together in the tub.  I got Jack in his pajamas and had him tell "bubba" goodnight and they pressed their foreheads together. I snapped this blurry picture of them just so I could remember the moment. It just made me so emotional and proud of these boys. While I know they will have their fair share of altercations and scuffles as they get older, I hope that when the day is done they'll remember that they are brothers and their special bond.  XX

It's OCTOBER! One of the very best months of the year.  Sammy's birthday is in October and I remember so clearly being so excited to turn my calendar to October back in 2018. The first few weeks of the month were filled with the anticipation of welcoming our baby and the last few weeks of the month were spent snuggling him. I'd love to go back and relive it all again. 😊 A new month means it's time for new goals. This is just a little way I keep myself accountable and focused, and I'm all for self-improvement. Here's what I've got for this month... 1. Start Christmas shopping Christmas gifts for the boys are going to be minimal this year as they will be receiving an experience gift, but I've got a few people on our list to shop for. I'm hoping to purchase a few gifts this month to help spread things out.  2. WORKOUT CONSISTENTLY I have been really struggling with working out consistently since about...June. It's a big goal for me to get back to 4...