quick and easy dinner

I love this meal because it is super quick and easy.

It is especially quick if you already have some ground beef browned. I just pull it out of the freezer in the morning and keep it in the refrigerator.

Skillet Tacos

1 lb. ground beef

1 can tomato soup

1 c. Pace chunky salsa or picante sauce

1/2 c. water

8 (6-inch) flour tortillas cut into 1-inch pieces

1 c. shredded cheese

Brown beef in skillet. Pour off fat. Add soup, salsa, water, tortillas and half the cheese. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until hot. Top with remaining cheese.

Enjoy!!

meal planning monday

Monday: Skillet Tacos

Tuesday: Crispy Chicken Salad & Bread

Wednesday: Swedish Meatballs, Rice, & Veggies

Thursday: Chicken Poppyseed Casserole, Veggies, & Rolls

Friday: Hamburgers and Homemade French Fries

Saturday Lunch: Pizza

Saturday Dinner: BLT's & Chips

Sunday Lunch: Chicken Spaghetti, Veggies, & Rolls

Sunday Dinner: Dinner at The LeBlanc's

two weeks late

Two weeks ago we had Matt's family come over to celebrate Nicole's birthday, but I haven't had time to blog about it. So here it is.....

We had Spring Creek BBQ, homemade baked beans, chips, watermelon, and the famous homemade "Chucks Pickles" (I'll have to blog about that recipe later. Apparently they are the greatest pickles ever, but since I HATE pickles, I wouldn't know.) Oh, and we had Grammy's corn dip and Italian Creme Cake, too. Delicious!!!

I didn't pull my camera out until we went out to the pond behind our house to feed the ducks. It practically ended up turning into a photo session.

Ellie was feeding the ducks only the middle of the bread. I guess since she doesn't like the crust on the bread, she figured the ducks wouldn't either!!

Matt is so good with his sweet nieces and nephews. He had a blast feeding the ducks and the tons of turtles that live in the pond, too.

Seriously, is this face not the cutest thing you have ever seen??

The Links-Matt and Katy

The LeBlancs-Bryan, Nicole, Emma, & Ellie (and Ethan on the way...)

The Reeds- David, Jennifer, Peyton, & Preston

The Other Links- Stan & Alisa...aka Granddaddy & Grammy

All the little ones

I sure do love our family!!!

Emma loves our sweet Izzie girl. She would not put her down all night. Izzie loved being loved on all night, but she was worn out after the evening.

I love my sweet Preston & Ellie. I can't wait to have another nephew added to the family in October!!

While Matt, Ellie, and Peyton played the Wii, the rest of us played a little joke on Preston. He had been carrying around Granddaddy's Blackberry, so we decided to call it to see what he would do. He had no idea he was actually talking to his Dad who was in the same room. It was hilarious to watch him.

We feel so lucky to have such great families. We are truly blessed!!

random friday night thoughts

• I survived my first week of school. Actually there was nothing to survive, because my kids were amazing. It was seriously the best first week of school I have had in my 3 years of teaching. My kids are precious. I'm so excited for this year. It is a complete change from last year.

• I'm really ready for fall to be here. Today a cool front blew in, and the 86 degree weather was much more bearable at recess than the 90/100 degree weather we have been having.

• Also, I'm kind of ready for football season. I'm getting sick of Rangers games being on in our house. I'm ready for a new sport.

• It's almost birthday season here!!! September brings quite a few birthdays in our family. My older brother is on the 14th, Matt's Dad's birthday is on the 16th, me and my little brother are on the 20th (yes, we have the same birthday), and Matt's birthday is the 29th. Whew!!

• We booked our hotel for our one year anniversary trip to San Antonio in October. I'm so excited to spend a long weekend away from home with my hubby!!

• I just found out today that a good family friend of our (and the grandmother of one of my students) has cancer. I really hate cancer. Why does it have to exist?

• I have jury duty in October. I actually had it on the 2nd day of school, but I got it postponed. I have no idea what to expect. I have never done it.

• I can't wait for the new season of The Biggest Loser to start on September 15th. I just watched a preview and Daniel from the Orange Team is back. I follow Jillian and Bob on Twitter (I know, I'm a dork), and they have both said it's going to be a great season!!!

I told you my thoughts were random!!!

And since I don't really like posts without pictures (especially two posts in a row), here's a random picture to go with my random post....

pudding sandwich & chick-fil-a nuggets

I want to do a better job this year of writing down all the funny things that my kids say at school. Kids really do say the darndest things. Every now and then I plan on posting a few of my little "Kindergarten Funnies" on my blog so I can go back and remember them.

The two choices in the lunch line today were:

• Ham and Cheese Sandwich OR
• Chicken Nuggets

One of my little boys that got a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch also got vanilla pudding for dessert. As soon as he sat down he got his "spork" and starting spreading his pudding on the bread of his sandwich. I'm pretty sure he thought it was mayonnaise. He didn't seem to care though because he ate it all up!!

One of my little girls that got chicken nuggets had eaten all of her food on her plate except her chicken nuggets. (which is odd because chicken nuggets are a Kindergartners best friend) I told her she need eat her nuggets before she went outside. She then told me, "Oh..I don't like these kind. I only like Chick-fil-A nuggets. Ya know the ones with the dark crust."

I didn't say anything back, because I actually agreed with her!!

Oh and I have 2 kids that can't say their "L's" so they call me Mrs. Wink!! I love it!!

first day of school

Today was definitely the best first day of school I've ever had. Nothing really great happened, but nothing really bad happened. The nothing bad happening part is what made my day so great. It was just a better start than I have had in the past. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing.

My first year of teaching I had a wonderful class, but my first day of school was a disaster. I had a kid color all over a table, I was late everywhere I went, I had no idea what I was doing and I ended my day chasing a kid into a muddy field who was escaping time-out. My second year wasn't all that bad. I just didn't realize how much my first group of kids had matured over the year and I wasn't ready for my "babies" on the first day of school.

I can already see that this year has potential to be a great one. I have some really great sweet kids in my class and have some really wonderful parents as well. Yay!!

So in honor of it being the first day of school, I thought that I would take you back to my school days and show you all of my first days of school........with a little commentary!!!

Kindergarten

This picture made it to the local news. I guess they thought I was really cute!! Or maybe they thought it was cool that my Mom made my first day of school outfit.

1st Grade

Fresh red keds and another homemade outfit. I loved those shoes!!!

2nd Grade

Another school themed first day of school outfit made by none other than my Mom!!

3rd grade

I guess this year I asked my Mom to make me a non-school themed outfit. I got Sunflowers, including one in my hair.

4th grade

Fourth grade must have been when I put my foot down on homemade outfit. This outfit was from Limited Too! I was SOOOOO proud of it. And I loved the belt!!

5th Grade

This was when it was cool to wear a denim jacket and a denim skirt. And this was also the year that everyone had Mary Janes. You were only cool if you had black Mary Janes.

6th Grade

This was my first year out of elementary school and the year I permed my hair. I thought I was really cool in this outfit and I thought my perm was beautiful. But the socks.....What was I thinking??

7th Grade

I have no idea what I was thinking with these pajama like pants. You can't see them, but I was wearing Dr. Martin sandals. Everyone had them....literally everyone.

8th Grade

I was going for the preppy look in 8th grade. I look like I should have been the teacher.

9th Grade

9th grade is when I started having volleyball practice before school. My Mom insisted that we took a literal "leaving for school picture.

This was my "after school" picture my freshman year.

10th Grade

Off to volleyball practice!!

11th Grade

This must have been one of our 6:15 practices, because I looked absolutely horrible that morning.

12th Grade

My last first day of school picture.......or so I thought!!

No College Pictures.

1st Year of Teaching

My sweet Mom woke up early to keep the tradition and take my first day of school picture.

2nd Year of Teaching

I forgot to take an "official" first day of school picture, but this is one that I took with a student on the first day of school. This was the year I started off as Miss St. John and finished as Mrs. Link!!

3rd Year of Teaching

My sweet husband snapped a picture of me before I left for school this morning bright and early.

Today was a wonderful day and hopefully a start to a wonderful year!!

I hope all of you teachers out there had a wonderful First Day of School!!

meal planning monday

Monday: Shrimp Alfredo

Tuesday: Chicken Salad & Chips

Wednesday: Southwestern Bacon Wraps

Thursday: Swiss Steak @ my parent's house

Friday: Sour Cream & Chicken Enchiladas, Mexican Rice & Beans

Saturday Lunch: Grilled Cheese & Soup

Saturday Dinner: Grilled Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, & Veggies

Sunday Lunch: Crispy Chicken Salad w/ Ranch

Sunday Dinner: ABF Pizza Party @ our House

my husband is the greatest

All teachers know that the week before school is absolutely crazy. This week has been nothing short of crazy for me!!

My sweet husband has been so patience with me this week though.

He never complained about the crummy meals that I threw together each night.

He never complained about the laundry that piled up so high it started to overflow into the bathtub.

He never complained about my multiple to do lists that were laying around all over the house.

He never complained about the growing pile of dishes in the sink.

He never complained about the mess from our party on Saturday staying in our kitchen all week long.

He never complained about only seeing me a couple hours each day.

He never complained about me working on school stuff the second I got home from school until the moment I crashed in bed.

I'm pretty sure I have the greatest husband!!

Thanks for being so patient with me this week. I love you, babe!!

scratch that

So we ended up having absolutely nothing on my "Meal Planning Monday" list from this week. I had no time to get to the grocery store and I think the earliest I got home this week was five o'clock. We ended up eating some leftovers, Taco Delight eating at my parents house one night, a frozen pizza, Pei Wei and chili cheese wraps. REALLY HEALTHY HUH??

Now that school is about to start I really need to plan my menus out. So I'm working on a grocery list and my menu for next week right now. Don't be surprised if you see some of the same things from last week since we didn't actually have them!!

Happy Meal Planning! I can't wait to hear what you are having!!

meal planning monday

Meal Planning Monday slipped up on me this week. Here's what I have so far, but since I'm off to work I'll have to post the rest later.

Feel free to leave a comment on what you are having this week and maybe I'll fill in my holes with your ideas!!

Monday: Lemon Pepper Chicken, Zucchini, & Sliced Potatoes

Tuesday:

Wednesday: Southwestern Bacon Wraps

Thursday:

Friday: Drew's Graduation Dinner with Family

Saturday Lunch:

Saturday Dinner: Steaks & Baked Potatoes

Sunday Lunch:

Sunday Dinner:

and the bad dreams begin...

Well, I had my first bad dream about school last night.

I have such a hard time going to sleep the week before school starts. I go to bed thinking about how I should arrange my room, or how I should do my homework schedule, or things that I need to do in my classroom. It takes forever for me to fall asleep. And then once I fall asleep, I have the wildest dreams about school. I toss and turn all night long and really don't feel rested in the morning .

You would think that since I have two years of experience under my belt that I wouldn't be so nervous/anxious about the new school year. But I am. I am definitely going in more confident this year than I have in the past two years, but I definitely get nervous when I think about the first day of school. You just never know how it's going to play out.

So, would you say a pray that I would get some good sleep this next week so I can be ready for the first day of school on August 24th?

if you don't hear from me for a while....

You can find me in Room K15

I've already been up in my classroom a couple of times this summer to get it all put together, but today was officially our first day back to school.

Welcome to Mrs. Link's Classroom!!

Check back sometime after August 24th and I'm sure I'll have some funny Kindergarten stories to tell you!!

iGoogle & google reader

My life will never be the same because of iGoogle and Google Reader.

Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration. But it's seriously amazing. If you don't have and iGoogle page then you are seriously missing out. For the longest time, I thought that Google Reader was the sidebar on my blog where it has the blogs that I read. But it's not. It's so much better than that.

You can check you e-mail, read your blogs, check the weather, and do so much more all from the same page.

See.....

Here is what my iGoogle page looks like.

Go to http://igoogle.com/ and set up your own. (you'll need a google account) But if you set up a page, don't forget to actually go to the blogs that you read leave comments and become a follower. Everybody blogger loves comments & followers!!

all tangled up

Last week when I was working on my desk for my Office Space, I put Izzie on three leashes and hooked her to the refrigerator outside so she could hang out with me.

She loved having some "freedom" outside to move around.

But she couldn't figure out how to keep untangled.

Finally she figure it out how to stay untangled .....

....by just hanging out underneath Matt's car.