catch up!

Trip to the zoo with Logan and Summer.  We again saw a part of the zoo that we had never seen before.  We are loving this zoo!

The toys that are found in our bed when Paul and I lay down... It always makes us smile.

Packages from Grandma Stacy, always full of fun! Thanks Grandma!

This is what the kids do every single time we come home. They get out of the car, and run to the side of the house, in between our house and the neighbors house. They hide there while I go into the house and then they knock and hide again. Then I walk outside and say (loudly) "Where are the kids?" Then they jump out and scare me. Silly kids.

Some of the Halloween decor that the kids made. Love it.

Daddy playing when he should be sleeping. Good daddy, these kids are spoiled.  They like for him to lay down like this under their swings.  They giggle the whole time.

We saw Santa at the mall, by surprise and the kids wanted to talk to him. The line was SUPER short and so we waited.  This Santa was particularly insightful, and after the kids gave them their list of requests, he said. "Well, I will remember that you asked for those things, but I can't bring them unless you have wonderful behavior. You can't fight with each other like last week. I saw that."  The kids were SHOCKED and talked about it on the way home, so funny.

new recipes

I have been spending lots of time looking for new recipes lately. I have found a few flops, like really, really bad dishes... and I found a few keepers, everyone (including picky kids) ate them. My mom recently asked me for some recipes, so I figured I would post them here in case anyone else was looking for something good too. I don't have the original websites any of these are from, and I have made alterations to each of them anyway.

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Our favorite is this one, we call it asparagus lemon chicken. Guess whats in it? Asparagus, lemon, and chicken. :) Baked in the oven.
Ingredients:
2-ish pounds of fancy potatoes (I use the small white, yellow and purple potatoes in a bag) cut in half or quartered
2 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
coarse salt and pepper
2 bunches of asparagus (chopped into 2 inch pieces)
4 Tablespoons butter
1 large lemon sliced into 8 slices
6 sprigs of thyme

1. Oven at 475
2. Cut up butter into tiny pieces, put 1/2 in a glass baking dish with all potatoes (cut), sprinkle with salt and pepper (as much as you like) for 20 minutes in oven. Stir at 10 minutes.
3. Add chicken (cut) to potatoes in oven for another 20 minutes.
4. Add asparagus, remaining 1/2 of butter, lemon (sliced), and thyme. Stir and bake another 10-15 minutes.

This turns out REALLY good every time. I have experimented with the amount of butter, asparagus, lemon and thyme, and I think this is the best combination for us.

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The next recipe is called asparagus pasta. Again, clever title. Cooked on the stove top.
Ingredients:
1 box penne pasta (we use whole grain)
1 or 2 bunches of asparagus (chopped into 2 inch pieces)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 or 2 red bell peppers (chopped into small pieces)
2 garlic cloves - minced
1-ish teaspoon of salt
1/2-ish teaspoon of pepper
3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoon butter
1 cup pecans
1 cup chicken broth (could use vegetable broth if you're going for vegetarian)

1. cook, drain pasta according to directions on box.
2. Saute asparagus in oil for 4 minutes.
3. Stir in bell pepper and garlic for 2 minutes.
4. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 2 minutes.
5. Toss veggies with pasta, add pecans, cheese, salt and pepper, stir it up and eat.

This recipe is close to the original, but again tweaked for our families tastes. This one looks the prettiest while making it. the green and red of the vegetables look so good together. Yum!

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Spinach Pasta
Ingredients:
1 box penne pasta (we use whole grain)
1 cup chicken broth
2 chicken breasts (cut)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 box of cream cheese
3/4 of box of spinach (you know the washed and ready to eat in a clear box kind?) chopped
10-15 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese - grated

1. cook drain pasta according to directions.
2. 1/2 chicken broth to boil then add chicken for 10 minutes.
3. add garlic and cream cheese (in cubes) until it melts. Stirring the whole time.
4. Add second half of broth, spinach, and tomatoes for 10 minutes.
5. Pour over pasta, toss with cheese, eat. YUM.

This one is very rich and heavy. This isn't a meal you want to eat if you're going to want dessert. This is a stand alone, eat and snuggle up with the family for an evening movie, kind of a meal.

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One pot chicken lo mein.
This one I DO have the original website still, follow this link to read it. The only thing I would change in this recipe is the amount of vegetables. I would double them. It was a lot of noodles, and not very much other.  But it was SO nice to do it all in one pot all at the same time. Easy.

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we have!

flooded

Yesterday morning was Hawken's preschool day. Rather than a regular day, it was this month's field trip.  This time it was to a local chocolate factory.  We were getting ready in the morning. The kids had eaten breakfast and brushed their teeth, but hadn't gotten dressed yet.  Solace was taking his morning nap in his crib in my room, and the big kids were all contentedly watching a movie. I set up some things for them in case they got bored of the movie and explained to them that I was going to take a shower and I wanted them all to behave and keep quiet.  I got in the shower and went as fast as I could. I didn't hear a peep from the baby, which meant that the kids were doing what I asked and being quiet and good. By the end of my shower, I was feeling SO happy with them that I decided to give them each a cookie when I came out so see my sweet cherubs. This was the second shower, ever, that I have taken and haven't been interrupted 50 times... It was so lovely. I was so happy with the kids. I walked out into the living room, ready to snuggle and kiss and reward my three darling children... But, they were GONE. I checked the front door and the garage, but they were still shut and locked. They weren't upstairs either, then I noticed several sets of wet footprints from the downstairs bathroom leading out the back door.  It hadn't rained, so I didn't know why they were wet... I opened the door to find our entire backyard, FLOODED. A few inches deep.

One by one they noticed me watching them and said,
"Forry mummy" - Lullaby
"It was an accident" - Hawk
"It was all Hawken's idea." - Matix

They had turned on the faucet on the back of the house and seriously flooded half the yard. They were of course not only wet, but also muddy and needed a bath/shower.  They got naked and came inside where I gave them luke warm showers and no cookies.  Those little stinkers made it so that we were leaving with only 30 seconds to spare to get to the field trip on time, and of course the second I got on the highway, there was traffic. We came to a complete stop and I had to text the other moms letting them know I was going to be late.

Oh these kids. They sure make me work for it. I ask for more patience and instead of that, I get more opportunities to be patient... Ah, so is life.

These pictures were from a different day when we let the kids play in the rain. We didn't have anywhere to go a few minutes later and we gave them permission to play. That's why they were smiling and happy in the mud puddles.  On the chocolate factory day, they weren't so happy when I found them. Then I super confused them by bringing them to taste test lots of candies and chocolates. Hmm... Perhaps this episode won't bring me that mother of the year title I want so badly... :)

hike

Dale and Vanessa live far enough north of Houston that there are lots of trees and hiking trails and things like that. We went with them on a short hike (and all the kiddies of course and the pups) in the evening. It was an easy trail and everyone had fun, although Dale's kids are used to marching along quickly, and ours are more wanderers... It was a good time even still.  The pictures tell the story all on there own, enjoy. :)

Sweet baby Solace peeking at me. 

Such pretty little seeds/berries, right? I'm not sure what they were but Dale knew.

Reading the signs.

Throwing sticks and rocks and dirt into the pond.  The kids were hoping it would scare up some crocodiles, I was hoping it wouldn't.  It didn't.

The daddies and their babies. Love it.

Vanessa walking Kina walking Jasper. So funny.

Look, I made it in a picture! See I do still exist.

We hiked until it was dark, then went out to eat and home.  We would have made it home for dinner, but Solace started complaining and then the others joined in.  Poor starving children. So we fed them and everyone was happy, except Kina, who still had to wait for her dinner. :)