Quinn

He’s been with us since he was 6 months old…he’ll be 10 in May. He’s my boy. He can break your heart when he hangs his head…he can drive you crazy when he counter surfs (yep – 110 lbs never slowed him down!) and he truly is better than any electric blanket we’ve ever used!
Yesterday the vet told us he has cancer. My heart broke. He has this large lump on his leg – he’s gotten them before…it’s a build-up of fluid on his joints. The last time it was drained (Apr ’11) he was 102 lbs. Down 8 still but still about 20 over.
Yesterday he weighed 79 lbs. And the rate and size that the growth grew this time was alarming. Even the vet was taken aback at how large it was this time.

She started to draw it out & it was blood. She looked at it under a scope & concluded my boy has cancer.

He has surgery next week to have the mass removed. We’re not going to do further testing on him. We talked about it last nite and came to the conclusion that even if we could do radiation, I’m not going to put him through that. He’s 10 yrs old. He’s still active, this mass has NEVER slowed him down (see above counter surfing!) and I don’t want treatments to age him.
Dr. F feels that just having it removed will be all he needs. And even that isn’t necessary, the concern to leaving it is if it continues to grow – it could split open, which is very painful.
So if you could say a prayer for my boy, I sure would appreciate it.
He holds this family’s heart in his 79 lb body…

How we spent our 2011 holidays..

The last few months have been crazy. Between w/my broken heel, Dennis’ motorcycle accident that led to a broken leg & two blood clots, switching Cai’s school b/c her teacher was negative about Cadence’s school work, getting Bry’s speech evaluated, blogging was basically non-existent. As long as I keep waking up early, I thought I’d take some time to blog about Cai’s school change, Thanksgiving & Christmas 2011.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun – we got up – watched the Macy’s Parade, cooked dinner & had my family over. The kids had a lot of fun & we were all exhausted by the end of the night!

I’ve always been really worried about Cadence & any learning disabilities she may/does have. Her speech was/is an issue, she’s not at a 1st grade level in language and I worry about that stuff. I expressed concern to her teacher about 6 wks into the school year. She blew me off saying by the 1st of the year it would ‘click’. 6 wks later she tells me she’s worried about Cai and how behind she is. WHAT?!! You couldn’t have contacted me before this? Now we’re into mid-Nov. Come on!!! I was flipping out. When I asked what I could do – she blew me off again saying ‘she’ll always be behind & in intervention.’ Unacceptable. If she’s going to be behind and NOTHING will change that – FINE. BUT I won’t sit by and just let her be behind – we will put any & all resources available to work for her.
I contacted the local Catholic school two days later & the Monday after Thanksgiving, she started a new school.
She LOVES it there. The first few weeks were rough – besides a much earlier start (she has to catch the bus @ 6:55 instead of 8:15) and being the new kid (she has a really hard time w/change & adjustment anyway), I expected that. She continued to tell me she wanted to go to 2nd grade at her old school – but she’s now excited about going to 2nd grade here!
THANK YOU GOD!
I prayed and cried and prayed some more. I knew God would put her where she belonged. I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

Christmas Eve was the traditional evening at Marge’s. First we went to Mass, then to her house, had dinner & opened gifts. When we got home, the girls opened their Christmas Eve gift from us…matching pj’s for Christmas morning.

We sent them outside to leave treats for the reindeer…

The next morning – both girls were excited to see what Santa brought them. They were both happy w/all the loot…it took 2 days to clean up…haha..no really – it did.

We went to my sister’s for dinner – it was nice. We usually host – but she just moved into a house & was excited to be the one to do dinner. I was too – w/our foot/leg issues, hobbling around to make a big dinner sucks.

For the New Year, we went to my friend Selena’s house. She & her husband are getting divorced and so I thought company would be nice. We left around 10:30 (Bryleigh was beat) & got home around 11:15. We put Bry to bed – Cadence, Dennis & I stayed up & watched the ball drop. Everyone was in bed & asleep before 12:30…that’s just how we roll in my house – ha!

Starting later this week, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I will be giving away a $25 gift card to Godiva, a dvd of The Notebook and pink snuggie to cuddle in!
Check back later to enter…

It’s My Party & I’ll Cry if I Want To…AND winner

Getting ready for a b/day party usually includes running around last minute, frantic over forgetting something (like ice cream!). I love my kids to death – but they definitely add to my last minute-I’m-forgetting-something-stress.
I had a brilliant idea – they could stay the night w/Aunt Sisa! Duh – why didn’t I think of that before?!

They were both excited – and it appears the dogs were happy to have two extra kids to sleep on.

The national worry about how vicious pits are is quite obvious as evidenced above..

Staying with my sister usually means the girls do not get enough sleep. They come home tired and crabby. I did not figure that into the equation of no kids in the way while I did my last minute things.

O.M.G. were they crabby on Saturday. Cadence cried about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. It was stressing me out more than if they had just stayed home the night before.
We got through MOST of the party without a tear, but before and after were a true test of my love to her. Grrrr.

Dennis didn’t want me to make her cake – he said I’d make a mess (true) and be stressed (true) and really pissed if it didn’t turn out (beyond true). He ordered one from Meijer & we threw on some LaLaLoopsy mini-dolls.

The only downside…Dennis ordered a SHEET cake. As in it could feed a small village. We did not invite a small village over, so we have probably ½ of it left. That is even with us giving everyone that came to my house pieces the size of a brick to take home!

I was looking forward to sleeping in yesterday – or trying to – since I’ve been getting up uber-early as of late. I was actually heading in the right direction until 7:10 when I heard a loud boom & Bryleigh started crying over the baby monitor. I jumped up to get her - she was already coming out of her room. She had fallen out of her bed. My poor pumpkin. I brought her to bed w/me & she fell right to sleep. I did too, for about a ½ hr. That was the latest I’ve slept in about 2 wks!

Yesterday the kids had their Valentine pictures (our photographer was doing a V-day special – no we do not always get V-day pics!) and this is one of the outfits Cai changed in to during it…

After we went to dinner @ TGIF – a gift card from my momma from Christmas & stopped at Walmart after to pick up a bed rail so my baby doesn’t fall out anymore…and finally home to relax. Dennis made a fire & the girls played w/the Lego Friends Cai got for her b/day. The family room got hot FAST – the girls faces were beet red…. Mine probably was too – but I didn’t take photographic proof..the girls looked cute..me – not so much!

Finally, the winner of the ‘One for the Money’ movie give-away…

Jacqueline @ Expanding Experiences

On your mark, get set…PARTY!!

Tomorrow is Cadence’s 7th b/day party. Not only am I NOT prepared, there is no excitement or energy available for the prepping.
I’ve been getting up early every day this week…for no reason – just waking up early. I mean – early. Tuesday I was up @ 3:55. Two days I woke up at 4:45. I mean, come on…can I get 6 hrs of sleep please!

Cadence opening a gift on her actual b/day!


I was extremely bummed when the lady who has done Bry’s 2 cakes called me & said she couldn’t do Cai’s. It was my fault. Dennis getting diagnosed w/DVT’s, my foot, cheer practice & Bry’s speech testing have taken over my life. I just kept forgetting to call her with the final details.

I’m going to TRY to make her a cake. It’s a LaLa Loopsy theme – so it shouldn’t be too hard. I have no doubt it will be edible..I’m just hoping it’s pretty too. I’m not really into treat bags to go home – I don’t like when the girls get them & I don’t like giving them. They seem like a waste of $. All those little trinkets end up in the trash w/in days of the party. I’m going to make button cookies & tie them together w/ribbon. I also am thinking of making a punch wall (nothing like waiting until.the.very.last.minute.) and put like little candy bars in it..maybe a pencil or small box of crayons.

She really wanted an ipod touch – but I can’t bring myself to spend that much $ when she doesn’t take very good care of her DS. I did find a used one on ebay for $60…I think I will give her that & Bryleigh a leapfrog tab in their Easter baskets.
Her present is new bedding for her bunkbeds, a new lamp for her nite stand & a few other little pieces for her room.

Speaking of beds – Bryleigh is now in her ‘big girl’ bed! She’s been sleeping in it almost a week & is doing GREAT. The first 2 nites/naps were a bit of a test – but after realizing we weren’t joking, she doesn’t push and falls to sleep as perfectly as she did in her crib! Yay Bug!

Wish me luck tomorrow – I’m hoping I’ll get a shot of energy to finish everything up. Two more days until I announce the winner to the Movie Pack!

One For the Money - CLOSED

Today is the opening of One For the Money!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Seriously – my favorite series ever! They are so funny & easy to read – I even got Dennis hooked on them.

To celebrate the opening of the movie – I’m giving away a $20 gift card, 2 bags of microwave popcorn, a box of chocolate covered raisins & goobers!

Since not ever town has a Rave Motion picture, the gift card – a Visa – can go towards 2 movie tickets OR movie rentals. What movie would be complete w/out popcorn & candy!

Giveaway Rules…
To enter for your chance to win the gift cards, please do following & leave a separate comment for each entry:

TO ENTER YOU MUST
1. Become a public follower of my blog & leave a comment saying you’re following (or comment that you already are a follower).

FOR EXTRA ENTRIES:
2. Comment & tell us if you read Janet Evanovich
3. Blog about my contest w/the following link: http://stacey-dellfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-for-money.html then comment w/a link back to your post
4. Facebook my contest w/the following link: http://stacey-dellfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-for-money.html then comment w/a link back to your post
5. Tweet about my contest w/the following link: http://stacey-dellfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-for-money.html then comment w/a link back to your tweet
6. Follow me on Twitter- Cadence1228 & comment back that you’re a follower (or already were)
7. Follow me on Pinterest – Melissa Stacey-Dell & comment back that you’re a follower (or already were)

This giveaway is open to readers in the US & Canada - the winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator on 2/3/12 & announced here that evening.

Thank you & Good Luck!!

Hair, hair, everywhere….

It took FOREVER for Cadence to grow enough hair to do anything to it. F.O.R.E.V.E.R
Bryleigh on the other hand has a lot more hair at 2 than Cai had at 3! Since Cai finally has something to work with, I’m always searching for easy hairstyles to do w/her short hair. I don’t do much to Bry’s right now b/c her hair is still so fine.

I saw the cutest lattice ponytail picture on pinterest and KNEW I had to do it to Cadence!!

Yay!

Next time I will use less, like they did & maybe do it wet. She has lots of strays when I do her hair – no matter how much hairspray I use, I cannot keep them in place…
Any suggestions?

If you have a little one w/short hair – this is so easy for a quick, cute hair-do!

Best Meatball Recipe - EVER!

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I was looking around Pinterest (shocker - right?!) and found this recipe for meatballs.

It sounded pretty good - but I did change up a few of the ingredients & cut it in 1/2 - here is the halved recipe and my changes in ().

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil (I used Pam spray)
1 pounds ground beef (we don't eat red meat, so I used ground chicken)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese)
1 large egg
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 tsp Mrs. Dash garlic
1/4 tsp garlic powder
4 cups Classic Tomato Sauce


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle olive oil Pam onto a cookie sheet
2. In a large bowl, use your hands to mix together ground meat, cottage cheese, egg, breadcrumbs, & seasonings until fully incorporated. Roll mixture into firmly packed 1/2-inch balls.

3.Place meatballs on pan & put into oven. Bake until meatballs are firm and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball reads 165 degrees.

4. Meanwhile, heat tomato sauce in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.

5. Remove meatballs from oven and carefully drain excess grease from pan - if you use ground chicken/or ground turkey there isn't any excess grease... Put meatballs into deep fry pan & cover w/sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes more. Serve.

These are beyond delicious!!

Almond Joy Shake??!!!

I LOVE Almond Joy candy bars..I love Mounds, Coconut Twix, Coconut M&M's.. YUM!
So while browsing Pinterest today I found recipe for an Almond Joy shake - Adult Version. I decided to look up a non-spiked verson & found this tantalizing recipe...

Ingredients:

. 1 cup milk
. 1/2 cup cream of coconut (coco lopez)
. 1/2 cup coconut flakes
. 2 cups creamy chocolate ice cream
. 1/2 cup crushed almonds

How to make it:
In a food processor put 1/2 cup almonds. process till finely chopped and set aside.
In a blender, pour milk, coconut cream, 1/4 cup of the ground almonds, coconut flakes, ice cream.
Mix for 5 minutes.

Pour in large glasses and top with a spoonful or two of crushed almonds.

THank you Spike for sharing this recipe with us!

Motorcycles = DVT's & Contest Winner

For as long as I can remember I have been scared of motorcycles. My dad had one for a long time when I was younger. My aunt & uncle also did. My cousins used to ride w/them all the time.
I didn't want to. My aunt forced me on one when I was abt 3. I don't know if she scarred me, but I have never been on one since.
In 1976, my dad had a motorcycle accident. He developed DVT's.
They are nothing to joke about. Throughout the rest of his life he'd occasionally be hospitalized b/c of them. I never realized how serious they were - I was a kid.
When I was pregnant w/Cadence, I developed DVT's. Eight of them..the longest was 2 ft long. In my left calf & thigh. It was extremely serious & dangerous. I was in the hospital for week & a 1/2. Because of the family history, I'm on coumadin forever. I hate it. I hate that it's basically a rat poison, I hate that it's so dangerous...I hate that I need it.
When I was pregnant, I had to do lovenox shots b/c coumadin is dangerous to the baby.
My dad ending up dying because of blood clots. One broke loose & traveled to his lungs. Worst day of my life.

Anyway, Dennis had a motorcycle accident in November & broke his leg. He finally started physical therapy 3 wks ago. His leg has been SUPER swollen. He went for a doppler on Thurdsay...yep, he has blood clots. Two small ones in his right calf. Have I mentioned I hate motorcycles?

It's been a long weekend. Thankfully b/c they are small, he was able to come home instead of being admitted. He has to take coumadin for 6 mos. He has to do lovenox shots for 6 days until the coumadin builds up in his system.

Seriously - I wanted to shake him & tell him this is why I didn't want him to have a motorcycle. But I didn't. He was freaked out about everything & I didn't think the "I told you so's" would help the situation.

So, that is why I'm a day late on announcing the winner...
The winner is:

True Random Number Generator Min:1 Max:6 Result: 5 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Sierra - please send me your info. You didn't leave an email address, so I'm not sure how to get back to you. Please respond by 1/27/12 - thank you!

I don't know why I can't get the generator to post on my blog...but it's frustrating me to no end, so I give up.
The next contest will be this weekend - so stop back by & try then! :)

Big Girl Bed, Bunk Beds & a Giveaway!! - CONTEST CLOSED

I was so excited when I re-did Cadence's room. I mean pepto bismol pink was extreme - especially paired w/dark brown curtains. But the people we bought the house from must have liked it...

Anyway - her room, now bright & light looks so cute with a nice full size bed.

For the last 6 months or so, she's asked for a bunkbed. Over the last few weeks, she's been BEGGING for bunkbeds. Everytime she stays the nite at her cousin Heaven's house, she tells me how she got to sleep on the top bunk & it just doesn't get better than that.
As of right now, that wonderful full size bed sits empty. She sleeps w/us. Not every, single night - but probably 90% of the time. She's a terrible bed hog & is constantly kicking us in the middle of the night. She promises if she gets bunkbeds she'll sleep in her room.

Bryleigh is 2 1/2 & is still sleeping in her crib. We've discussed taking her side rail off make it a toddler bed - but why ruin a good thing. She falls asleep in minutes and is fantastic in her crib.

The decision we made is to get Cai bunkbeds & move the full size bed to Bry's room for her. OF course, this means new bedding :)

I'm looking forward to shopping for that - I think I've found what I want for Cai's room. Bed Bath & Beyond has a cute bedding set on clearance right now & both Cai & I love it.

While we were walking around BBB they had lots of great stuff on sale/clearance. So to help you get some of that great stuff - I'm giving away a $50 giftcard to Bed, Bath & Beyond!

Giveaway Rules…
To enter for your chance to win the gift cards, please do following & leave a separate comment for each entry:

TO ENTER YOU MUST
1. Become a public follower of my blog (or comment that you already are a follower).

FOR EXTRA ENTRIES:
2. Comment & tell us what you love to get when you go to Bed, Bath & Beyond
3. Blog about my contest w/the following link: http://stacey-dellfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/big-girl-bed-bunk-beds-giveaway.html
then comment w/a link back to your post
4. Facebook my contest w/the following link: http://stacey-dellfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/big-girl-bed-bunk-beds-giveaway.html
then comment w/a link back to your post
5. Tweet about my contest w/the following link: http://stacey-dellfamily.blogspot.com/2012/01/big-girl-bed-bunk-beds-giveaway.html
then comment w/a link back to your tweet
6. Follow me on Twitter- Cadence1228
The winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator on 1/22/12 & announced here that evening.

Thank you & Good Luck!!

Chicken Rollups

Another fantastic thing I've found on Pinterest is wonderful, wonderful blogs! One of them, Plain Chicken, has become one of my favorites.

Since I don't eat red meat, sometimes finding chicken recipes that haven't been overdone in my house is hard.
Luckily, Steph loves chicken, so most of her recipes are chicken related.

The chicken rollups recipe was pretty easy & it was yummy.

2 (8 ounce) cans Reduced Fat Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or swiss cheese (or any cheese of choice)
1/2 cup milk

Filling
4 ounces cream cheese (very soft)
2 tablespoons butter (very soft but not melted)
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp minced onion flakes
2 large cooked chicken breasts, finely chopped
1/2-3/4 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
2 Tbsp. milk
1-2 cup grated cheddar cheese (for topping)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Mix together milk, 3/4 cup cheese and undiluted chicken soup (can season with black pepper if desired).

For the filling --- (make certain that the cream cheese and butter are very soft) in a bowl, mix the soft cream cheese with butter until very smooth, then add in garlic powder. Add in the chopped chicken, onion and cheddar cheese; mix well until combined. Add in 2 tablespoons milk; mix to combine (add in a little more if the mixture seems too dry). Season with seasoned salt or white and black pepper to taste. Unroll the crescent rolls. Place 1 heaping tablespoon chicken mixture (or a little more) on top of each crescent triangle, then roll up starting at the thicker end. Drizzle a small amount of soup mixture on the bottom of the dish. Then place the crescent rolls seam-side down on top of the creamed mixture in the casserole.
Drizzle the remaining sauce on top (you don't have to use the full amount of cream sauce, just use as much as desired) and sprinkle with 1 cup (or more) grated cheese, or amount desired. Bake for about 30 minutes.

**The only thing I would change w/this recipe is maybe no garlic & real onions instead of flakes. I think the garlic left a funny flavor to it.
This is a picture from Plain Chicken as I forgot to take one...

Mound Brownies

I don’t know how many people out there are like me, but I’m obscenely addicted to Pinterest. Like, I need to go to a support group.
Anyway – one of the things I found was a recipe for Mound Brownies. Seriously – Almond Joy & Mounds are my go-to candy! I love, love, love all things coconut! I miss coconut twix!

So…here is my endorsement to this fantastically, delicious recipe!

My pic isn’t as pretty as Katrina's @ In Katrina's Kitchen, the blog I found it on..
To me it doesn’t matter how it looks, as long as it tastes mm..mm..good!

Mounds Brownie Recipe (my altered version)

Ingredients:
•1 Family Size (9x13) pan of brownies, prepared
•4 Cups shredded, unsweetened coconut (the original recipe calls for 5 1/3 cups - it's a little too much)
•14oz Can sweetened condensed milk
•1 Cup powdered sugar (the original calls for 1 1/2 c) again, i thought it was too much)
•1 Can of chocolate frosting

Directions:
1. Prepare brownies and let cool completely.
2. In the bowl of your mixer combine coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and powdered sugar until all ingredients are incorporated. (this is a VERY thick mixture - use a mixer)
3. Spread coconut mixture over brownies.
4. Place can of frosting in the microwave for 10-30 seconds (please be sure to remove foil liner and lid) until pourable.
5. Pour frosting over the coconut mixture. Let cool and set up.




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Homemade Bread

Since receiving my beautiful piece of kitchen art, a KitchenAid stand mixer, for Christmas, the dreams of what to make which requires a mixer have been filling my internet searches!

One thing I have not been able to find is a good bread recipe  :(

UNTIL the wee hours of this morning - when I found this blog...  Quiver Full of Blessings where Rachel posted this post . If you're anything like me, when you see something that says Fabulous Homemade Bread, your mouth begins to water. 
Plus look at this picture!  YUMMY!

The agenda for tonite - try this bread.  If this recipe is what finally gave her the results of a good homemade bread after 12 yrs of marriage, I'll be 2 yrs ahead of her!  Keep your fingers & tootsies crossed this turns out good - it's rainy & cold here, a warm, fresh loaf of bread is just what my house needs!



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