Pre Halloween Fun...and Costume Preview!

And the big costume reveal...






Here's MINNIE!!!!


Yeah...she doesn't really care for her costume...but she's got two weeks to learn to like it! :-) If she only knew how cute she looked!!!

And the Award Goes to...

Thank you to Kerri at Confessions of a Shoeaholic for giving me this award!


You are supposed to give 7 random things about yourself & then hand them off.

1. I am a Lucille Ball fan and have been since I was 8...I have an entire bedroom full of her memorabilia have been known to be slightly obsessed! I may or may not have named my daughter Luci for that reason...I'll let you decide!!!

2. As a kid, I watched more tv land shows than any other type of programming...I was probably the only 12 year old that could say she watched every episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show, Newhart, Rhoda, The Munsters, I Dream of Jeanie, Bewitched, I Love Lucy, The Lucy & Desi Comedy Hour...just to name a few :-) ...yes, I know I am a nerd!

3. All of my close friends and family from back home call me Brock...it was only until I went to college did I really start being called Brockette.

4. I am obsessed with celebrity news...or gossip! I must read people.com and tmz.com EVERY SINGLE DAY!

5. I am adopted... and I will usually roll my eyes at you if you ask my who my real mom is... and answer you with..."as opposed to my fake mom..." I have a REAL mom and she is the mom who raised me from 2 1/2 months old and loves me more than ANYTHING...especially more than the lady who gave birth to me :-)...and no I don't know who that lady is.

6. I am a proud lefty...and a little disappointed that Luci is favoring her right hand.

7. Mitch and I love playing games together or with groups and we are extremely competitive!!!


So....now to hand off:

Going Green- The Green's Life
Team McCormick
The Sparacino Chronicles: Writing An Adventure -

~Tasty Tuesday~

Baked Ziti...or Farfalle...or Rigatoni...whichever!!

Ingredients:
1 lb of browned ground chuck
1 box of Ziti...or Farfalle...or Rigatoni...whichever
1 24-26 oz jar of pasta sauce (I usually use a green pepper/mushroom sauce)
1 small can of tomato sauce
2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup of ricotta or cottage cheese
2 cups of grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
Italian seasoning to taste (I usually use 1/2 - 1 tsp or so)

First, preheat your oven to 425. Then cook the pasta to al dente and drain. In a bowl, combine pasta sauce, tomato sauce, grated mozzarella, ricotta, 1/2 of grated parmesan, egg, and Italian seasoning. Then add browned ground chuck and hot pasta. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Top with other half of Parmesan cheese. Bake until bubbly!

Chicken Poppy Seed Casserole

Ingredients:
4 cooked and shredded boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans of cream of chicken
1 cup of sour cream
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
1/2 tsp of sage
1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
Sauteed onions and celery (I just put in a handful of each) Probably 1/2 cup combined.
Salt and pepper to taste

-Combine all ingredients and put in a 13x9 pan.

Topping:
1 1/2 - 2 sleeves of crushed Ritz crackers
1 stick of butter cut up in small pieces

-Put crackers over the top of the filling and sprinkle pieces of butter over the crackers.
-Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until bubbly.

This is a great recipe to divide in half as well once it is mixed up. Put each part in a 9x9 square pan. Eat one right away and freeze the other for another day!...or you could just simply divide the recipe in half to start out with!!!

~Simply Super Saturday~

One of my mid-year resolutions (can you make those? well, I did.), was that the Minnick Saturdays slow down a bit. Summer was soooo busy and I really just wanted a few Saturdays a month to spend around the house with just us not going in 15 different directions. Now don't get me wrong, I still love to travel...and we will! I just wanted to slow down for a bit!!!

This Saturday, my parents came up for a bit and we went out for brunch! Luci ate great and loved hanging out with her Mimi and PePaw for a bit! After that, the Minnick crew went and ran a few errands and then came back and played outside for a while! It was such a beautiful day! Later in the afternoon, Mitch watched the Hogs WIN and the Rangers lose (boo) while Luci piddled around and I did laundry (my life of luxury lol!)!! Later on, I made dinner (for the first Saturday night in forever! ha!)...Chicken poppy seed casserole, southwest fried corn, and green beans!! It was pretty yummy if I say so myself!!! I will post recipes later this week! After some more playing outside and bath time, it was time for bed! Again, a simple Saturday...but a SUPER one in my books!

Some pics of our day...


Luci hanging out after brunch with her PePaw!

"Hurry up PePaw!!"

Pretending to drive PePaw's truck!


My yellow mums I have been working on growing!


Luci likes to help me water them everyday!

Misc Musings

Update on Me!- I went to see the Neurologist...she says migraines...so for now, I am on medication everyday. Hopefully, in a few months, we can reevaulate. Honestly, at this point, I really don't care what I'm on...my head is not in excrutiating pain, and that is great!!! She has still scheduled me an MRI just to be 100% sure that there is not any other issue, so I will have that next week. She nor I anticipate any other issue!

Luci- She is working on 3 new teeth!! She is doing pretty good during the day time, but has required some tylenol and orajel the last few nights...hopefully these will come in quick!

Mitch- He goes out of town next week for a night to OKC...Mom is coming to stay the night with me because of the recent migraines...I don't want one to come along and me be by myself with Luci. This is all so new to me, and I am not good at recognizing ahead of time when I sense one coming on...and this is a perfect opportunity for Mimi and Luci time!

Update on Zach- He is coming home from Children's Hospital today! Praise the Lord! He is a tough little kid and God has been so good!! To read about his recent accident and stay at Arkansas Children's Hospital, visit here and here.

Oh btw, I am making a couple of easy casseroles (Baked Ziti and Chicken Poppyseed) this weekend to take to the Grounds, so I will post the recipes soon!! They are super easy and yummy!

Wordless Wednesday!!!!