Becca Quote of the Day

"Elmo loves his mom and dad, just like I love my mom and dad."

Sometimes kids can be so sweet! It's moments like this that make the tantrums, potty training, and general misbehavior better, don't you think?

And the Baby Is...

Hey all! Blogger was down for a while, so I'm sure most of you know by now, but I had to post it on here!

I am 19 weeks today and had my ultrasound on Thursday! This little stinker was not wanting to cooperate. The tech was so nice. Even though she was behind schedule already she took 20 extra minutes to get the gender for us!

First, here is the adorable profile of our little one.
The face is on the left with the nose and lips sticking up to the air. Looks like this one got my lips. ;)

And finally...
IT'S A GIRL!!!

I was a little shocked, but I am so happy. Becca will have a sister. We love our girl, and look forward to another sweet baby!

We have to have another ultrasound in 6 weeks, so I guess we will double check. But the tech said it was pretty darn clear that there were girl parts, and nothing sticking out between those legs. ;)

Happy Mother's Day!

I have to admit that this year I have been a total slacker. It wasn't for lack of thinking of my mom and mom-in-law, but not having any idea what to get them that would be sufficient, and then being too busy being a mom myself, that got in the way.

Mom's are BUSY people when it comes down to it. And that is one of the things I am most grateful for. They sacrifice their time and often their childhood dreams of fame and fortune to have children and raise them.



My mom was no exception. She wanted to "dance her life away". Instead she became a teacher, and mother, then made sure her daughters felt her love of dance. But always encouraged us to do what WE loved and never forced her dreams on us.

My mom is a gentle person. Sweet in every way and I hope that somewhere in my fiery personality I learned some of her patience and kindness.

My mom bore 8 children and loves each and every single one of us as much as the next, but in very individual ways as well. She now has 19 grandchildren (and one on the way from me!) and I know she loves each and every one of them immensely!

I love my mom more today than ever before. Now that I am a mom myself I understand a bit of what she has gone through and I appologize for being so strongheaded and contentious at times. You really do NOT understand how much your mother loves you until you have children of your own.

Once when I was little, I told my mother that if all the moms of the world were apples on a tree, and I could pick ANY one I wanted, I would still pick her. And that is still true today.

I love you mommy! I love every moment I can have to see you and be with you. I hope you have a fabulous Mother's Day!



I am not sure what my mother in law's dreams were, but I know she had them. Again she made the choice to stay at home with her children and help them become who they wanted to become. She bore seven children and has always tried to show them that she loves them. I can't complain about her child raising, because she was part of helping Tyson become the man he is today -- the man that is so patient and kind, and currently letting my 3 year old "help" him make breakfast for mommy. ;)

She now has fifteen grandchildren with 2 on the way. I have a feeling those kids are the joy of her life.

I witnessed some of the immense sacrifice it was for her to not only take care of her children but of dad Ratliff when he got sick. It was a hard burden to bear, and she bore it with smiles and love. Trying to never let it detract from her duties as mother as well. She copes with a lot of stress, yet always tries to have a smile on. She is a strong woman.

I have always felt loved and welcomed by my mother in law. It is hard for us to be so far away and only see Tyson's family a few times a year at most. But we love her and all of them. I think the best thing I could do would be to let Tyson say a few words about his mom. So here he is:

I have nothing but the utmost love and respect for my mother. As Stacey said, she has dealt with a lot of heavy things over the years, and she has always done so with love and grace. And she has always made sure ours was a home of love and support.

She would sometimes leave little treats for us kids. I remember once when I was probably in first or second grade, I came home from school and found a brand new yellow jumprope waiting on my bed for me. I was so excited to have that yellow jumprope. I suspect it wasn't really the jumprope itself so much as having even that small token of love and affection.

Thank you for everything you do Mom. I love you more than words can say. Happy Mothers Day.

Eggplant Parmigiana Recipe

As promised here is the recipe I made. I found one online, then modified based on the ingredients I had.

Eggplant Parmigiana

1 medium to large eggplant
sea salt

1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 small to medium onion
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
1 large can crushed tomatoes (not the #10 large, but bigger than standard)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
1/2 bunch fresh parsley finley chopped
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1 1/4 cups dried bread crumbs
2 Tbs. fresh parsley finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan (the dried/powder kind works best but you can use fresh grated if you want)

1 egg beaten with 2 Tbs water.

2 cups 5 cheese italian blend

Finely chopped fresh basil

Your favorite pasta

Phew, okay so that's the ingredients. I know the list is long, but bear with me, it really was pretty easy.

1) Wash and slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Spread out on paper towels and sprinkle both sides with sea salt to let them "sweat" some of their moisture. This allows them to hold up and the breading to stick better. Set aside.

2) Heat a medium saucepan then add olive oil and onion. Cook onion for 3-5 minutes, until partially translucent. Add fresh garlic (minced or pressed with a garlic press). Stir and let cook for about 30 seconds. Add cans of tomatoes, water, herbs, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and let simmer while you prepare everything else. Stir occasionally as the solids will sink to the bottom.

(finished product)

3) Heat the oven to 375.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the herbs, garlic salt and pamesan in a bowl, big enough and with shallow enough sides to lay and eggplant flat to coat. Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels, then dip in egg mixture then coat in breadcrumb mixture. Place eggplant on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Do them all and lay them in a single layer. Bake in oven 10 minutes on each side to get them crispy and slightly golden browned.

4) When the eggplant is done, lower heat to 350. In a baking dish first spread some sauce (I used about 1 standard ladle) on bottom then layer half the eggplant. Cover the eggplant with half the 5 cheese blend. Then do one more ladle of sauce and spread on top, then eggplant. Then since this is the top layer a little bit more sauce (not enough to fully cover) and the rest of the cheese. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil or lid (my baking dish has a lid so that is what I used) and bake 10 minutes more.

Once out of the oven sprinkle with fresh basil just before serving. (If basil gets too hot it will lose some of it's flavor and turn slightly bitter).

Serve with your favorite pasta and the extra sauce, and a little more fresh basil.

Using the fresh herbs and making my own sauce made all the difference in the world! Of course you can make this bigger if you want, I would just double it all and put it in a 9x13.





Even Tyson who doesn't like eggplant liked this one!

Becca's Actual Class

So I should clarify this class is a summer "camp" kinda to prep them for the full classes in the fall, and just have some fun with dance. So the girls do a little craft and then learn some dance moves and do a little dance related to the craft each week.

This week they were all princesses! Perfect!

Decorating and making her crown!

Cute Becca in her crown!

Doing the Princess walk/walking on her toes. She did SO good with this. Other things not so much, she needs practice, but hey, she's 3 and it was her FIRST class! I thought they all did great!

Princess dance in a circle.

Doing her arms!

She had so much fun and I can't wait to see her improve! The parents can only go to the first class of the month, so I will get to see her next month and see how she improved!

Becca's First Dance Class

I know I am very behind. But I HAD to post these pics! Becca starts her first dance class this morning and I am in AWE of how grown up she looks!

Up on her toes, she knows how Ballerinas dance!

Mom showed her to point her toe in front and raise her arm, this is what she did. LOVE!

My favorite of all! She was doing the position then right before Tyson took the pic arched her back, tipped her head back. Do I have a natural or what?

Now let's see how she does following the teacher's instructions! Either way she will love it and she sure looks cute!

Still Using up that Cabbage!

So I still have a head and a half of cabbage, and I'm thinking other than just steaming it as a side, what can I do? I thought of cole slaw, but Tyson doesn't like cole slaw much...so then I thought, but he DOES eat it if it is on a pulled pork sandwich! Perfect!

This is the pulled pork recipe I used:

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 (4 pound) shoulder butt roast
1 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 large onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Put oil in bottom of crock pot first. Then the pork and pour the rest of the ingredients (combined) on top. Cook low heat 6-8 hours. Pull pork out, take out bone and shred with fork. Add the juices from the crock pot back into it. I also added about another cup or two of BBQ sauce to thicken it and give it more BBQ flavor.


This makes a ton! But we just saved half in the fridge for leftovers later in the week, and froze the rest for later use.

Then stick it on a bun top with cole slaw! Here's the cole slaw I made!



KFC Style Cole Slaw

1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
8 cups finely chopped cabbage
1/2 cup grated carrots

Mix sauce ingredients first. Add cole slaw and carrots. Let it sit in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

I halved this recipe and added a touch more sugar.



Then I served it with sweet potato fries (also left over from Bountiful Baskets).


Okay, so here is what we did with our cabbage part 2!

It was all super super yummy!