Lawry's ~ Recipe Mixes

Looking for something SIMPLE and EASY to make for dinner??
Yeah SO AM I!
Lucky for YOU and I ~ I have had the opportunity to sample what Lawry's has been cooking up!!
My BUZZ AGENT (remember how I told you I try stuff for FREE and then report back on it, yeah this is another one of those things I got in on...) sent me my LAWRY'S Packet and I was SO stoked!!
Tonight for dinner we enjoyed the Southwest Chicken Skillet ~

I already had the ingredients needed... corn, diced tomatoes, black beans, instant rice, water, and cheese...
it was SO easy and SO good! My house smells wonderful too!!~~
This is all I had to do, cook the chicken (OK, I did have to cut the chicken first before I cooked it) until browned, all all the rest of the ingredients bring to boil, stir well then simmer for 10 minutes, then take off heat add cheese and let sit for 5 minutes. BOTH kids ate it and Hailey even said "Mommy, I tried it and I like it!" (yes we tell her she has to TRY things before she can say if she likes them or not... I am a MEAN mommy)
SO hit up the store and get you a Lawry's Skillet Packet! And if you need a coupon LET ME KNOW!!~~
HAPPY COOKING!!~

Where Have I Been??

WELL, Again it has been a little while since I have blogged.... this time it is because of some AMAZING Vacations that I have not been updating my Day to Day Life...
FIRST we went to the Happiest Place on Earth...

MANY more pictures to come about that...

SECOND my kids went on the Amtrak Train back to Sacramento with Grandma on Sunday which left me CHILDLESS for almost 4 full days... would YOU be on your blog if you were in my shoes?? HAHA!
Matt and I drove into Sacramento last night in celebration of Thanksgiving. This year we are going to be able to visit BOTH families. We know we are truly blessed to be able to have our families so close and we are thankful that they still want us around year after year...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Family Wish List

I wanted to keep a running list of what everyone wants for Christmas so i could remember AND let family members know... I will update it when I know of something new... hit the Hyperlinks to see items under the kids names ~

MATT
Surround Sound System
TV 50'
Garage Door Opener
Home Phone System
Gift Card to Marshall's or Harbor Freight

MELISSA
Desperate Housewives Season 6 or 7 ( 7 was at Target for $20)
Deep Freezer (stand up)
Gift Card to Marshall's or Ross
Cookware (not sure what I really want yet)

HAILEY
Pink Doodle Bear  DONE
Princess Squinkies (at Costco for $20)
Unicorn Pillow Pet DONE
Zoobles Playsets (any playset or toy)
Vet Playset  DONE
Little Pet Shop Toys (she likes the ones with the little people)

LANDON
Fresno State Pillow Pet DONE
Spider man Playset (any spider man toy, not too small)
Batman Playset (he REALLY wants this...) DONE
Little People Airplane
Optimus Prime Transformer
Construction Vehicles DONE

BOTH KIDS
Sandbox (not sure if I want to allow a sandbox yet)

Andersen Christmas Present Swap ~

Every year we draw names in the Andersen Family (my side of the family) to make Christmas shopping EASY and stress free! We have 2 parents, 6 kids, 3 in-laws, and 8 grandkids so it would get a little crazy everyone buying for everyone...
I put this on my blog so people have a reference when they are out shopping if they have forgotten...

It's SANTA time!!!

We have been telling Hailey whenever she wants a toy (which tends to be EVERY time we go into ANY store) that she needs to put it on her list and tell Santa. Then if she is a good girl maybe Santa will get one of the toys she wants FOR her... So far it has worked pretty well...

Adult List
Dad- Sharon
Mom- Preston
Steven- Nicole
Tiffany- Mom
Matt- Brian
Melissa- Crystal
Brian- Tiffany
Nicole- Matt
Crystal- Dad
Sharon- Steven
Preston- Melissa

Kiddie List
Kimberley- Katelyn
Logan- Landon
Owen- Hailey
Evan- Johnathon
Hailey- Owen
Landon- Logan
Katelyn- Kimberley
Johnathon- Evan

I am working on getting our LIST'S together... that will be another blog post soon!~

Holiday Pictures 2011

We took our Bird Family Holiday Pictures last weekend... wanna see them....
FIRST do you like them in BLACK and WHITE or COLOR...
and SECOND No I am not pregnant... the "flowy top" was not a good choice for tying to look skinny...
THIRD this year Landon did not cooperate... FOURTH Hailey's smile in some of the pictures are PRICELESS... ENJOY ! ~

 I think this last one above is my favorite...

 Hailey "I'm stuck in a cage" picture...

And Landon at the end of the photo shoot... SO SLEEPY! It must have been lots of work for him to NOT look at the camera!~ HAHA!~
Again these pictures were done by Kresta Kraucyk just like last year... LOVE her! ~ Check out her photography blog! And local people hit her up for your own photo session SOON!!

Happy VETERANS Day ~

Some people just like Veteran's Day because it is a day off work...

I LOVE Veterans Day because I live in the land of the free and the home of the Brave 

BECAUSE

of the great MEN and WOMEN Past Present and FUTURE that serve this great nation...

THANK YOU is not enough...

You and your family are in my prayers always...

We appreciate your service.

CATCH UP! ~

So I officially SUCK... yeah like I have not put ANYTHING up from Halloween... REALLY Melissa...
But I have TWO really good reasons... wanna hear them
1) Matt was trying to "sync" his iPhone to google or something and LOST all the pictures on the phone... INCLUDING the ones from Halloween...
2) I am a lazy butt...

REALLY... I have been...
Not sure WHY...
I have not blogged for like 2 weeks... UGH... So here goes...

Carving Pumpkins 2011

Landon picked the Yo Ho Pirate that Mommy carved and Hailey picked the Kitty Cat in the boot that Daddy helped carve!~ Landon won the SCARIEST Pumpkin at our ward Halloween Party! :)

 Landon in one of his MANY costumes...

Landon is ADDICTED to yogurt. I caught him red handed in the fridge searching for his beloved yogurt one day when he HAD to wear Buzz Lightyear. (The costume is too big, but works for now...)

 Trick or Treating... sorry for the bad pictures... yes I was ELMO...

Landon was Batman, Hailey was the Princess riding the Unicorn then we also had baby Morgan with us the happy little pumpkin... Along the way Hailey became The Princess and the Frog riding the Unicorn when she found a frog and HAD to take it door to door trick or treating... NO JOKE...

Yeah that is a real frog...

We put him in a bucket when we got home and he "jumped away" over night... that is my story and I am sticking to it!!

And here is the picture from our Halloween Ward Party...

Landon was a Cowboy riding a horse, Hailey a Princess riding a unicorn, Matt was Big Bird and I was Tickle me Elmo. Notice Hailey looking down at her TREAT she won on the cake walk... it took about 10 times in the cake walk to win those brownies... she LOVES them can't you tell!!

We had a GREAT Halloween! Hope you did too!!~~