What's for Dinner Wednesday~

This week it is all about simple and easy!

Taco Salad

We love this simple and super easy to put together meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground sirloin
1 package Taco Seasoning
Frito scoop chips (we buy our scoops from Trader Joes)
Lettuce (chopped or shredded)
Shredded Mexican Cheese
Black Beans
Fresh Pico de Gallo
Taco sauce of your choice (we like Taco Bell's hot sauce)

The only real prep is the meat.  Brown the ground sirloin, drain excess fat, mix in taco seasoning packet with water that is called for.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Place some scoops on a plate, top with ground sirloin and toppings of your choice.  Super simple and so yummy!!

I love that this doesn't require us heating up the oven...especially on warmer nights.

And, after this past week...we were ready for simple.

Our youngest spent a day in the ER last week.  We finally got a diagnosis today (a rare form of strep that affects the kidneys, antibiotics should clear it up in no time).  And, on her way home from work today our oldest got rear-ended!  She is fine, minor damage to her truck, but a pain nonetheless.

However, all of this pales in comparison to those who are suffering in Boston.  Our heart and prayers go out to all affected by this senseless tragedy.

Craft Room Reveal~

While I am not completely finished with the room, I thought I would share the progress thus far.  I will put the finishing touches in the room over the next couple of weeks.

Looking into the room from the main doorway.

View of the room from the other side.

Expedites really are a girls best friend!

Love my wall racks from Ikea!!

Cute child's serving set I found at Target-perfect colors!!

Love this little acrylic box.  Also found at Target.

Raskog cart from Ikea...love! Super portable.  My daughter used one in her office/craft room as well.

Smaller baskets are from Target.  Perfect fit!

Closet.  We already had Elfa shelves inside.  Just took out the old DVD racks and replaced with bins to hold ribbon and giftwrap.

I love pretty ribbon!!

Gift wrap station!

Young or old, who doesn't love brand new crayons???

And, even the princess got a spot in the new room!  Elie and I stumbled upon this super cute doggy bed at Home Goods.  Perfect match!

I still have a few finishing touches to add.  I have plans to reuse an old PBteen item of my daughter's (think chalkboard, pinboard, pegboard, magnetic board).  And, I need to add some personal artwork.

I am looking forward to using this room to sort through the 1000s, billions of photos we have and the girls old schoolwork (about time, they are 19 and 23 after all).

Will post more pictures in the coming weeks.

Linking to Serenity Now, Amanda's Weekend Bloggy Link-up Party!  Be sure to check out all the other fantastic projects there as well.

The Dog Demands An Explanation!

WHY ARE MY FAVORITE TOYS UP THERE?

UMM...okay, how to explain this to a 3 (almost 4) year old Cairn Terrier.  Well, it goes something like this.  There is this Robin (name unknown).  He's been coming around a lot lately (going on week straight now).  Apparently he is either A)really into himself, B)trying to impress a girlfriend-or what he thinks is a girlfriend, or C)is totally delusional!

We'll go with B!  (Although A and C are good choices too)

It started last week, picture this...it is around 7 in the morning (maybe a bit earlier), hubs and I are sound asleep.  We both hear a strange noise.  It gets louder, more persistant.  Hubs blames the dog (she has been known to make a racket in her crate with her bowl or water bottle). Personally, she's never that loud!  So, hubs says, "go see what she is doing".  Ok.  I creep down the stairs, get to the bottom and realize the noise has gotten louder and it is NOT the dog!!!  I could tell it was coming from one of two rooms...our library is immediately to the left at the bottom of the staircase and the dining room is just off the library.  While I didn't think it was a person okay maybe for just a second, I did think another animal might have possibly gotten in the house.  (this brought back really bad memories of the time a bat got stuck between the window and the window screen at my parents house when I was younger, ewww!!! Who knew bats were soooo ugly???  I always pictured the cute ones from Halloween!)  

Okay, so now what to do...hubs is upstairs...should I call out to him, what if that startles whatever it is and it comes after me...ummm...ok, right about the time I called out to him, something in my brain said..."it's a bird!"  More bad memories from childhood-they flew into our sliding glass doors to our patio quite often, especially if mom had just cleaned the glass.

Long story short, Mr. Robin has been visiting us daily starting at the crack of dawn and then comes and goes all day long.  Our windows are tinted so he sees himself (or his future girlfriend...told you he might be delusional).  He is either trying to defend his territory from another male or impress his new girlfriend. 

We tried making noise, we tried the flashlight (only deterred him for a minute).  The windows are hard to reach from the outside, so taping something up to distract him is a pain (would do it from the inside but the windows are stuck due to humidity and the last bad paint job).

So, we recruited the help of Kylee's scary friends...

Mr. Mouse (depending on which side-he's an elephant on the other, don't ask!)
Mr. Pig
Squirrely
Mr. Rooster
Santa's Elf
and last but not least, Mr. Zebra

Hey, guess what?  So far so good, maybe I should say that a bit quieter so as not to jinx us, so far so good!!!

Will update tomorrow, around 7 am...should he wake us!