Hut, Hut, Hike me one of them chocolate football strawberries and pass me that dip!

Have I ever told you how much I hated football in high school and therefore most of my early - mid twenties?

Think of the show Friday Night Lights and that just about sums up my high school and town's love of teenage boys throwing a ball around. More people attended games than voted in local elections. I didn't know anything about the game or its rules, I just knew those boys got a lot of slack because they wore jerseys. Hashtag: Lame.

But then I married Travis and every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday was special because of the NFL, and extra special if the Chicago Bears were playing.

Over the years I have come to enjoy football. Travis has patiently taught me the rules, refreshing my memory when needed. The kids and I went through a phase where we listened to the ESPN Tim Tebow song way too much. I started to listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning.

But I have especially grown to love Sundays during football season. The family always gathers, sometimes with friends, and we eat pizza and chips and dip and drink root beer or beer beer. I watch, I cheer, I eat, and sometimes I nap. It's fabulous.

Last Sunday the Bears were playing the Packers. Honestly, I was a little nervous about how it would turn out for my Chicago team (read: I thought it was going to be an embarrassing defeat) but we still invited some friends over to watch the game.

The menu:
Pizza Rolls (heck yeah! Classy!)
Rotel cream cheese dip with chips (football staple - recipe below)
Shari's Berries Football Chocolate Covered Strawberries (a gift from the company and uh-ma-zing!)

We watched the pre-game show. Please note Travis, in his recliner, with the iPad following his Fantasy Football and his hand holding an entire box of Football Chocolate Strawberries. He did share, but they were that good.

In the end, the Bears lost but they held their own and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The first Sunday football event was fun and relaxing. The strawberries lasted to the end of the game but not the end of the day. We scraped every little bit of that Rotel dip out of the crock pot.

Don't know that recipe? It's easy and so good:
1 can Rotel (or any tomatoes with green chilis)
1 block of cream cheese
1 pound of sausage (we like the hot / spicy kind for this recipe)

Cook the sausage; drain the extra grease.
Add the ingredients to a crockpot and let the melting happen.
Mix well and serve with chips.

Easy peasy!


Come noon Sunday we will be watching the Bears play the Cardinals. Here's hoping! Who will you be watching? And what does your football menu consist of?

You can order your own for a game or a Fall themed party (!) or just for the heck of it because they're delicious by visiting their website. They've even got some suh-weet deals going on.  They come in cooled packages and pretty boxes.

via my Instagram

All the food was good, but the berries were definitely...

GO BEARS!!!!

7 quick takes

1 - Going out on a limb here with some 80's music.  But man, this song is so good.  And you know what, I wish I could rely on my old man's money.  It's a bitch, girl.

2 - Hey, if you want simple, awesome cookies that mix peanut butter, chocolate chips, and little else, you have got to check out this recipe.  They're gluten free if that matters to you, and it only makes a dozen or so cookies so you don't feel quite so bad when you eat the whole batch.  (Not that I have done that... yet.)

3 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is pretty popular in my home right now.  Ben prefers it because he loves the dwarfs.  He walks around the house, holding his toy hammer on his shoulder, singing "Heigh Ho!"

4 - L, on the other hand, belts out, "Still I think he's rather tasty" over and over again.  It's a line from the Prince Ali song in Aladdin.  She even does the voice.  You may have heard her at Wal-Mart earlier this week.

5 - What are you making for your Super Bowl party this Sunday?  I'm supposed to bring cookies and will probably bring chocolate chip cookies but I'm definitely open for a suggestion.  Also, I may do a rendering of Skip Bayless' and ESPN's Tim Tebow - All He Does Is Win song.  Rejoice that we're not going to the same party.  (But my husband loves it!)

6 - What, you don't know what song I'm talking about?  Well pause Rich Girl and enjoy:


7 - Now on a more serious note, my new post is up over at IGNITUM TODAY.  Another Life to Remember is one part encouraging pro-lifers to stop ignoring babies lost in miscarriage and one part suggestions for what you can do if you or someone you know is miscarrying.  I hope it's helpful.

Blessings for a good, safe, fun weekend, everyone!

cleaning music

We've found that the kids, especially L, are much better about picking up if we put on some cleaning music. I usually put on some fun pop song like Bieber's Baby or Sara Groves' Setting Up the Pins.  Tonight, Travis put on this little ditty, which I must confess I really like. 

 

I love my husband.  :)

the wisdom of my husband and the Superbowl

My wise husband told me that it is better for the Chicago Bears if the Packers won because it's better to have lost to the winner of the Super Bowl than the loser.  He also said it's better for our division.

So, this may be the only time you hear me say this but,

Go Packers!  Beat the Steelers!

Eat it up, Cheeseheads.

football and the perfect wife

When Travis married me I was thin and pretty and hated football.

Four years later I'm fat but love the sport. 

Yesterday, as we sadly watched the Bears lose, I wore Hester's jersey, encouraged L to change "Go Bears Go!", and dressed all three of my kids in their jerseys.  I watched the pregame - I love that Terry Bradshaw! - as I ate lil smokies.

I was so excited for a Super Bowl with the Bears beating the Steelers.  (I even know who the Steelers are.  And what town their from.  In fact, I can match most teams with their towns.  This is huge for me.)

Now, if I could only lose all the weight I've gained through my pregnancies and NICU, I'll be the perfect wife: a baker, a good cook, keeps a tidy house, thin, hot, likes football.

preparation for big events

- homemade pizza with sausage and pepperoni  CHECK
- IBC rootbeer  CHECK
- Dr. Pepper  CHECK
- guacamole and chips  CHECK
- Reeces PB Cups  CHECK

We are ready for the first Bears game of the regular season


- clean hand and bath towels and washcloths, 4 of each  CHECK
- 2 flannel backed vinyl tablecloths  CHECK
- cleaned ice cream bucket  CHECK
- olive oil  CHECK
- hydrogen peroxide  CHECK
- clean sheets  CHECK
- 4 large gargabe bags  CHECK
- electric heating pad  CHECK
- sterile gloves  CHECK
- stopwatch  CHECK
- clean clothes and blankets  CHECK
- recipes marked in cookbooks  CHECK
- size 1 diapers  CHECK

We are ready for the home birth.

Football

Maybe you'll remember from this post or this post or even this post about how much I hated football.

Did you see that - it was in the past tense - "hated" not "hate" - which then begs the question, "What happened to you, Bonnie?"

What happened was I developed a small crush on Peyton Manning which is constantly fed by the commercials he does. I, of course, think his commercials are hilarious.

The other thing that happened was I had to listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN radio some morning when I was in the car with Travis and I thought that they were also hilarious.

So I guess, if you are a woman who hates football but are in a relationship with a man who loves it the best thing you could do is give Peyton, Mike and Mike a shot. They may change your mind, too.