Tuesday, January 29, 2008
4 Gs
Maddy is working on the letter G at school this week. This is something she did at home this morning, she brought an identical one home from school yesterday. It is so neat to see her learning and spelling things phonetically. The "grl" is actually a cat girl, according to her. And she used a new technique coloring the hair...holding about 4 markers in one hand and coloring with them all at the same time.
Monday, January 28, 2008
funny guy
Those of you who are mothers, or even fathers, you can probably relate. Doesn't it seem like you get hurt a lot, physically, being a parent? Like having your foot stepped on, hair pulled, nose/chin bumped by little heads, face smacked by 5 month old babies...
I was remarking about this to David last night while we were getting the littles ready for bed. This was the conversation:
me: "I get hurt a lot. I feel like being a parent I get hurt more than..."
David: "A rodeo clown?"
(much laughing)
Every day I am blessed with learning something new about my dear husband. Yesterday I learned he is a comedian!
I was remarking about this to David last night while we were getting the littles ready for bed. This was the conversation:
me: "I get hurt a lot. I feel like being a parent I get hurt more than..."
David: "A rodeo clown?"
(much laughing)
Every day I am blessed with learning something new about my dear husband. Yesterday I learned he is a comedian!
my anniversary gift...
came in the mail today. It is so pretty I cried, even though I picked it out.
Friday, January 25, 2008
terms of endearment, pt.2
Maddy and Luke are on the couch talking like robots with a couple of toys. Maddy, as usual, is giving Luke directions on how to play and what to say. She says, "Luke, I'll call you 'my love', and you call me 'my sweetness'." Then in robot voices they start calling each other their respective pet names. These two kids crack me up!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Pie and Pirates
We have a little tradition starting in our house on Wednesday nights. David has class an hour away on Wednesdays, and my dad has been so kind to come over each Wednesday night to help with the kids and have dinner with us. While he's here, he has been telling the kids stories about Jimmy and Timmy and the One-eyed Croc (I think I have mentioned that before). To say he loves pie would be an understatement. Lately when he's over for dinner on Wednesday he and Ben will make a run to McDonalds for a pie for everyone to eat for dessert, if I haven't already made something. Well the past few weeks the stories have been about pirates (complete with irish accents, he he, just kidding dad). So last night I decided to make a homemade blueberry pie instead of McD's, and we called it pie and pirate night. Aaargh...
Monday, January 21, 2008
Happy 12 years to us!
A day late. Yesterday was our 12th wedding anniversary and we celebrated with a delicious dinner out, alone, last night. (thanks mom and dad!) We went to Carrabas and had a meal that was over the top, so yummy and relaxing as well. It's amazing how different it is eating without kids around! We had uninterrupted conversation and laughed over the memories we have from the past 12 years.
I haven't always been the best wife, and he hasn't always been the best husband, but we are best for each other and I couldn't imagine life any other way. We have fun, we have a house full of love, and for that I am truly grateful.
So...12 quick years, 5 kids, 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 house, (many beat up cars), a few gray hairs, a few wrinkles, a few tears, and millions of happy memories later, here we are.
I am a lucky girl!
I haven't always been the best wife, and he hasn't always been the best husband, but we are best for each other and I couldn't imagine life any other way. We have fun, we have a house full of love, and for that I am truly grateful.
So...12 quick years, 5 kids, 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 house, (many beat up cars), a few gray hairs, a few wrinkles, a few tears, and millions of happy memories later, here we are.
I am a lucky girl!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
meal planning monday...
this blog isn't going to turn into a recipe blog, by any means. I just thought it would be nice to write out our dinner menu for the week to come. Today was grocery shopping day and I planned for a good amount of meals. I don't cook every single night of the week. Some nights we'll eat leftovers and usually once a week we'll get pizza or takeout of some sort. Yesterday I asked each child for suggestions for dinners and this is what we came up with.
*Kraut Kugas (a family recipe, german, from my Grandma) Ben requested this one saying "you know those cucaracha things?"
*spaghetti (actually all the kids wanted this one, and it's one of my favorites too) I make my marinara sauce in the crockpot.
*noodles and gravy (Maddy) she requests this every time, it's her favorite. So I have had to come up with 3 different recipes to interchange for "noodles and gravy". This time it's chicken and gravy.
*apricot chicken with rice
*stew in the crockpot...a new recipe that uses sundried tomatoes. I was intrigued!
*teriyaki chicken/hawaiian chicken
marinated and served with pineapple
*curry chicken salad
I had some plain yogurt to use up and thought this would be yummy on the weekend
*Cheeseburger buns
something I found in an old Taste of Home magazine. We'll see how it turns out.
*spinach salad with cranberry dressing...the delicious recipe from Terri! :)
So that's about 8 meals, plus I always have a few "stand-bys" that I keep ingredients for. My goal for having meals on the table at a decent time each night went pretty well last week, and so begins another week with the same intentions!
*Kraut Kugas (a family recipe, german, from my Grandma) Ben requested this one saying "you know those cucaracha things?"
*spaghetti (actually all the kids wanted this one, and it's one of my favorites too) I make my marinara sauce in the crockpot.
*noodles and gravy (Maddy) she requests this every time, it's her favorite. So I have had to come up with 3 different recipes to interchange for "noodles and gravy". This time it's chicken and gravy.
*apricot chicken with rice
*stew in the crockpot...a new recipe that uses sundried tomatoes. I was intrigued!
*teriyaki chicken/hawaiian chicken
marinated and served with pineapple
*curry chicken salad
I had some plain yogurt to use up and thought this would be yummy on the weekend
*Cheeseburger buns
something I found in an old Taste of Home magazine. We'll see how it turns out.
*spinach salad with cranberry dressing...the delicious recipe from Terri! :)
So that's about 8 meals, plus I always have a few "stand-bys" that I keep ingredients for. My goal for having meals on the table at a decent time each night went pretty well last week, and so begins another week with the same intentions!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Raspberry Brownie Dessert
Normally I am not a fan of canned pie filling, but this is a new recipe I tried out today and it is so yummy! I got it from my Simple & Delicious magazine. Again, it is so easy and good and the kids loved it! You can't beat a recipe with 4 ingredients either!
1 package fudge brownie mix (13"x9" size)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1 package (3.3 oz) white chocolate pudding mix
1 can (21 oz) raspberry pie filling
Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions, using a greased 13"x9" pan. Cool completely.
In a small bowl, combine 1 c. cream with pudding mix; stir for 2 minutes or until very thick.
In a small mixing bowl, beat remaining cream until stiff peaks form; fold into pudding. Carefull spread over brownies; top with pie filling. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting.
1 package fudge brownie mix (13"x9" size)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1 package (3.3 oz) white chocolate pudding mix
1 can (21 oz) raspberry pie filling
Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions, using a greased 13"x9" pan. Cool completely.
In a small bowl, combine 1 c. cream with pudding mix; stir for 2 minutes or until very thick.
In a small mixing bowl, beat remaining cream until stiff peaks form; fold into pudding. Carefull spread over brownies; top with pie filling. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting.
Igloos, or egg-glues?
Luke is so funny and so three years old. Today while they were eating lunch, the discussion was about the last story Grampy told them. (my dad has a series of stories he has made up that my kids absolutely LOVE) It was about Jimmy and Timmy going up north to visit an uncle, getting stranded in the snow and they had to build an igloo. I asked them if they would know how to build an igloo, and they both replied yes. Luke said you use eggs and glue to make your "egglue". Needless to say Maddy and I had a good laugh over this one!
Christmas pajamas
One tradition we have each year is to give the kids one gift on Christmas Eve, and usually it is pajamas. This year I found the cutest pjs for the 4 youngest at Children's Place. Unfortunately my 5'6" daughter can't wear kids sizes anymore so we had to make due with what we could find. This picture turned out the best of the 10 or so that I took, I can never seem to get all 5 of them looking at the same time!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
gingerbread houses
More pictures of some holiday fun we had. One family from the school David teaches at owns a pizza place here in town. Each year they make personal gingerbread houses for each student in all 3 of their childrens' classrooms. Can you believe that? (60+ houses!!) They are beautiful too, and come complete with homemade royal icing and candy to decorate, cute little gingerbread people and the foil covered cardboard as a base. Well, David doesn't have one of their children this year, but the very generous mother asked him if we would like one for each of our kids. He gladly accepted and she provided us with 4 houses, the bases, a huge bag of candy and royal icing. (Gabe didn't make one this year). The kids had a ball making these, I actually wished I could've made one! It was a fun afternoon!
More pictures of some holiday fun we had. One family from the school David teaches at owns a pizza place here in town. Each year they make personal gingerbread houses for each student in all 3 of their childrens' classrooms. Can you believe that? (60+ houses!!) They are beautiful too, and come complete with homemade royal icing and candy to decorate, cute little gingerbread people and the foil covered cardboard as a base. Well, David doesn't have one of their children this year, but the very generous mother asked him if we would like one for each of our kids. He gladly accepted and she provided us with 4 houses, the bases, a huge bag of candy and royal icing. (Gabe didn't make one this year). The kids had a ball making these, I actually wished I could've made one! It was a fun afternoon!
More pictures of some holiday fun we had. One family from the school David teaches at owns a pizza place here in town. Each year they make personal gingerbread houses for each student in all 3 of their childrens' classrooms. Can you believe that? (60+ houses!!) They are beautiful too, and come complete with homemade royal icing and candy to decorate, cute little gingerbread people and the foil covered cardboard as a base. Well, David doesn't have one of their children this year, but the very generous mother asked him if we would like one for each of our kids. He gladly accepted and she provided us with 4 houses, the bases, a huge bag of candy and royal icing. (Gabe didn't make one this year). The kids had a ball making these, I actually wished I could've made one! It was a fun afternoon!
Monday, January 7, 2008
White Chicken Chili, in the crockpot
This is so easy and SO good.
White Chicken Chili
*note: I don't add the corn or cilantro to this dish (although I am sure it would be good that way). I did add 2 more cups of chicken broth and a bit more cumin and oregano when I added the beans to make this more of a soup. I also turned the heat up to high on the slow cooker after adding the beans to speed up the heating process after shredding the chicken. A few of us enjoyed a dollop of sour cream on top of the chili. Yum!
6 skinless chicken thighs
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper sauce
2 cans (15 to 16 oz each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white shoepeg corn, drained
3 T. lime juice
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
Remove excess fat from chicken. Mix onion, garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper sauce in crock pot. Add chicken.
Cover and cook on low heat setting 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.
Remove chicken from slow cooker. Use 2 forks to remove bones and shred chicken into pieces. Discard bones; return chicken to slow cooker. Stir in beans, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Cover and cook on low heat setting 15 to 20 minutes or until beans and corn are hot.
8 servings.
White Chicken Chili
*note: I don't add the corn or cilantro to this dish (although I am sure it would be good that way). I did add 2 more cups of chicken broth and a bit more cumin and oregano when I added the beans to make this more of a soup. I also turned the heat up to high on the slow cooker after adding the beans to speed up the heating process after shredding the chicken. A few of us enjoyed a dollop of sour cream on top of the chili. Yum!
6 skinless chicken thighs
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper sauce
2 cans (15 to 16 oz each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white shoepeg corn, drained
3 T. lime juice
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
Remove excess fat from chicken. Mix onion, garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper sauce in crock pot. Add chicken.
Cover and cook on low heat setting 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.
Remove chicken from slow cooker. Use 2 forks to remove bones and shred chicken into pieces. Discard bones; return chicken to slow cooker. Stir in beans, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Cover and cook on low heat setting 15 to 20 minutes or until beans and corn are hot.
8 servings.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
snow fun
these were pictures I made a collage from for our Christmas card this year. There is a really cool old barn across the street from us that we took these pictures in front of.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Whew, I guess it's been a while since I have posted anything here. And
I have thought of it, just haven't really had the time to sit down and
put my thoughts into words with all of the busy holiday activities,
etc. We had a nice holiday, just a bit different than usual. This year
we spent Christmas Eve with my parents and my sister, then actually had
(our first) Christmas Day at home, without company or traveling
anywhere! It was nice, and I think the kids really enjoyed staying in
their pjs all day and playing with their new toys. The day after Christmas we left here at lunchtime and travelled up north to Boyne, a ski resort in northern Michigan. David's whole family was there for 4 days to ski and use the indoor waterpark and just spend a little vacation together. It was a fun, busy time, full of new memories. I must say though, that taking 5 children ANYWHERE for ANY amount of time is literally like moving. For a 4 day trip we had our Suburban packed full inside, and the canvas luggage carrier full on top of the truck as well. The poor kids were like little sardines in there and when we stopped for bathroom or baby feeding breaks, they had to navigate their way out of their seats ever so carefully not to step on anything packed around their feet. Ah, well. We like to say that we don't do things small in our family, from the amount of kids we have to the amount of food I make at meals to packing for trips. :) Good times.
David has been off work for the two weeks which has been really nice. It is always good to have him home. They all (3 kids and David) will be back to school Monday. Our mornings of sleeping until 8 will be over and back to getting up at 6:30 or so.
Personally, I am mentally preparing myself to make some changes for the new year. With the baby being more awake and therefore needing me a bit more, I am finding I feel busier now than when Gabe was a newborn. Last month I found myself feeling stretched very thin and often frustrated at the end of the day. My goal for this new year is to work on the structure of my day. Having meal plans for two weeks at a time, getting the housework done in a reasonable amount of time (or actually letting things go more often) instead of spending all day on it. I guess I just feel the need to make these small changes with the hopes of feeling a bit more relaxed at the end of the day, and to be able to spend more quality time with the kids as well. After 12+ years of being a mother/wife, I still have these times of getting back to the basics. Usually it happens after we have a new baby. Anyway, there's my goal and I am looking forward to starting the new year on a new foot and with a new outlook. *smile*
So this year, 2008, we have a few milestones we will celebrate! Our 12th anniversary is coming up on the 20th of this month. We will take 5 children to Walt Disney World in April (Lord, help us). Our oldest child will turn 13!! Our second born will be 9, #3 will be 6, #4 will be 4, and #5 will be 1!! Lots to look forward to, but at the same time it is bittersweet to see them grow up so fast. I frequently tell them to just "stop growing up", but they don't listen.
Now that I have written a novel to try to catch everyone up on our very exciting life...I will start a new post with some cute pictures of fun things we did over the Christmas season.
Many blessings to all of you in this new year.
I have thought of it, just haven't really had the time to sit down and
put my thoughts into words with all of the busy holiday activities,
etc. We had a nice holiday, just a bit different than usual. This year
we spent Christmas Eve with my parents and my sister, then actually had
(our first) Christmas Day at home, without company or traveling
anywhere! It was nice, and I think the kids really enjoyed staying in
their pjs all day and playing with their new toys. The day after Christmas we left here at lunchtime and travelled up north to Boyne, a ski resort in northern Michigan. David's whole family was there for 4 days to ski and use the indoor waterpark and just spend a little vacation together. It was a fun, busy time, full of new memories. I must say though, that taking 5 children ANYWHERE for ANY amount of time is literally like moving. For a 4 day trip we had our Suburban packed full inside, and the canvas luggage carrier full on top of the truck as well. The poor kids were like little sardines in there and when we stopped for bathroom or baby feeding breaks, they had to navigate their way out of their seats ever so carefully not to step on anything packed around their feet. Ah, well. We like to say that we don't do things small in our family, from the amount of kids we have to the amount of food I make at meals to packing for trips. :) Good times.
David has been off work for the two weeks which has been really nice. It is always good to have him home. They all (3 kids and David) will be back to school Monday. Our mornings of sleeping until 8 will be over and back to getting up at 6:30 or so.
Personally, I am mentally preparing myself to make some changes for the new year. With the baby being more awake and therefore needing me a bit more, I am finding I feel busier now than when Gabe was a newborn. Last month I found myself feeling stretched very thin and often frustrated at the end of the day. My goal for this new year is to work on the structure of my day. Having meal plans for two weeks at a time, getting the housework done in a reasonable amount of time (or actually letting things go more often) instead of spending all day on it. I guess I just feel the need to make these small changes with the hopes of feeling a bit more relaxed at the end of the day, and to be able to spend more quality time with the kids as well. After 12+ years of being a mother/wife, I still have these times of getting back to the basics. Usually it happens after we have a new baby. Anyway, there's my goal and I am looking forward to starting the new year on a new foot and with a new outlook. *smile*
So this year, 2008, we have a few milestones we will celebrate! Our 12th anniversary is coming up on the 20th of this month. We will take 5 children to Walt Disney World in April (Lord, help us). Our oldest child will turn 13!! Our second born will be 9, #3 will be 6, #4 will be 4, and #5 will be 1!! Lots to look forward to, but at the same time it is bittersweet to see them grow up so fast. I frequently tell them to just "stop growing up", but they don't listen.
Now that I have written a novel to try to catch everyone up on our very exciting life...I will start a new post with some cute pictures of fun things we did over the Christmas season.
Many blessings to all of you in this new year.
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