Great Day!

With an extra hour in our day we decided to take advantage, not by sleeping in....that's not possible with little ones...so we took off to Lexington for a day of shopping and fun! First, we headed to Bob Evans for a fantabulous country breakfast and then to the mall for a little shopping. We ended the afternoon with ice cream at Culvers! Tonight, I cooked the most amazing dinner -



The Best Bourbon Chicken!
Recipe #160446 | 25 min | 10 min prep | add private note
(18) RATE IT NOW Print Recipe
By: Bryan The Iron Chef
Mar 20, 2006
This chicken tastes just like the stuff that the food court guys are trying to get you to sample all the time!! Its really easy to prepare if you can get boneless chicken thighs and make sure that you use a good bourbon! Remember--if you wouldn't drink it, do not cook with it!
SERVES 4 (change servings and units)
Ingredients
• 2 lbs boneless chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 scallion
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
Directions
1.Coarsely chop the scallion and mix all but the chicken and peanut oil together in a bowl and whisk until well blended. set aside.
2.Dice chicken thighs into bite sized pieces and sauté in very hot pan or WOK with the peanut oil until lightly browned on the outside.
3.Add liquid mixture to the chicken and reduce heat to medium.
4.Cook this UNCOVERED until liquid is reduced to a glaze on the chicken bites and chicken is fully cooked.
5.Serve with your choice of side dish. Fried rice or Lo Mein noodles work well.

Skyler's Vote for President

NOTE: Zack and I do watch the news a lot with the kids around....but we never get to "talk politics" until they are in bed. This was completely unprovoked....

Last night, sitting on the couch with the children, Skyler starts talking about her day. She explain how they got to vote in the presidential election today at school. She volunteers, "I voted for Obama. I wanted to vote for Hillary again but she wasn't on the ballot anymore. I voted for Obama because he said he will bring home the troops from Iraq."

Now, I am not sharing this for political debate purposes. But, I am rather relishing in the beauty of her innocence. Uncle Jake is in Iraq and she wants him home, period:-) He will be so proud of his niece Skyler, as am I.

Report Card Time

Here's the report on the kiddos!! SO PROUD!

T-Bird: Doing fabulous! His teacher wrote, "Trendon is doing great! He's a hard worker and a great friend to everyone! Keep reading at home. SUPER JOB, TRENDON!"
They also included a creative writing assignment for us to see. I will keep punctuation, spelling etc the same so you can appreciate his efforts:-)

"*I Like My PokenoN.
*I Lik to jump on the treplen.
*Wen I fel bad I em sad.
*wen I em skard i do not criy.
*Trendon Clay Tucker"

Ahhhh, don't you just love that?!?!?!?!

Abby: Her teacher wrote, "Abby is a wonderful gal who works hard and successfully accomplishes every task. She has such a caring personality and gentle spirit. Academically, she is doing fantastic, as well."

Skyler: Her teacher wrote, "Skyler is a super kid and a great student!!" Skyler is still reading light years ahead of her grade level!! She is also working diligently on studying the Battle of the Books reading list. Next month is the quiz to determine if she makes the team!

We are so proud of our hard working kiddos. They are really doing phenomenal. It's hard work!!!:-)

1 Week Until Election

So, I will not reveal my political affiliations in this blog as it is a friendly keep-up with the family blog. However, I will encourage you all to go vote! The kids are out of school on Tuesday so they will ALL be going to the polls with me!!!!:-) Enjoy this video I found....it's bipartisan:-)



And, since it is difficult to understand....they lyrics:

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah

Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah

(McCain supporters)
McCain’s the best candidate
With Palin as his running mate
They’ll fight for gun rights, pro life,
The conservative right
Our future is bright
Better economy in site
And all the world will feel our military might

(Obama supporters)
But McCain and Bush are real close right
They vote alike and keep it tight
Obama’s new, he’s younger too
The Middle Class he will help you
He’ll bring a change, he’s got the brains
McCain and Bush are just the same
You are to blame, Iraq’s a shame
Four more years would be insane

Lower your Taxes - you know Obama Won’t
PROTECT THE LOWER CLASS - You know McCain won’t!
Have enough experience - you know that they don’t
STOP GLOBAL WARMING - you know that you won’t

I want Obama
FORGET OBAMA
Stick with McCain and you’re going to have some drama
We need it
HE’LL BRING IT
He’ll be it
YOU’LL SEE IT
We’ll do it
GET TO IT
Let’s move it
DO IT!

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah

Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah

I’m talking big pipe lines, and low gas prices
Below $2.00 that would be nice

But to do it right we gotta start today
Finding renewable ways that are here to stay

I want Obama
FORGET OBAMA,
Stick wit McCain you gone have some drama
MORE WAR IN IRAQ
Iran he will attack
CAN’T BRING OUR TROOPS BACK
We gotta vote Barack!

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah

Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah

–

Mmmmm

I fixed a FABULOUS new recipe for dinner last night. I thought everyone should enjoy it:

Aloha Pork Chop Skillet  
Prep Time:
5 min
Total Time:
30 min
Makes:
4 servings
What You Need
 
2 tsp. oil
4   bone-in pork chops (1-1/2 lb.)
1 medium each: red and yellow pepper, cut into chunks
2 cans  (8 oz. each) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup  KRAFT CATALINA Dressing
1-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1-1/2 cups  instant white rice, uncooked
Make It
 
HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chops; cook 5 min. on each side or until browned on both sides.
ADD peppers, pineapple, broth, dressing and garlic powder; mix well. Bring to boil.
STIR in rice; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. or until chops are cooked through (160°F). Remove from heat; let stand 5 min.

Pasted from

Fall

My favorite season! We spent some time Sunday afternoon to watch Mia's reaction to the leaves....she absolutely loved them! The kids would "rain leaves" on her face! We giggled and wrestled around in them....just a perfect Fall afternoon!

Then later, I took Abs, Sky, & Liv to see High School Musical 3. Skyler was completely captivated from the first preview to the end of the credits! Abby cited boredom after about 45 minutes and Liv was somewhere in between the two. Regardless, we enjoyed a girls day out!! We also stopped at a consignment shop and found Liv the cutest pink boots to replace her favs from last year that she has grown out of!

Mia is One, already?!?!?!

Our Mia Faith Tucker turned one this week!!! We had a small party for her on Sunday afternoon. My parents and sister came as well as some of our very best friends! She seemed aloof about all the attention but had a blast playing with the tissue paper from her gifts!

We made miniature snacks to serve at the party including mini-burgers, mini-meatballs, cheez puffs, and a chocolate chip cheeseball. My dear sister made two cakes for the special day. One just for Mia and another precious baby face for the rest of us!

Today, Mia had her 1 year check-up and weighed a whopping 25.25 lbs! She definitely gets plenty to eat. Doc says she is right on track with talking/walking the whole bit. Mommy loves to hear that!!! Doc does say its time to wean the bottle, I don't think she's too dependent on it and will give it a shot next week....no need to act chaos to an already hectic week-end. She is walking all over the place and thrilled to be so mobile. She spends a lot of time in her big sister's room trying to find anything she can possibly chew on.

She has such a sweet, sweet spirit. Smiling at anyone who pays her any mind. She LOVES LOVES LOVES her Daddy above anyone else. We are just incredibly blessed for this sweet addition to our family. I love you Princess Mia!!!!!!!!!!