I'm baaack!

It has been way too long since I've last blogged. The last past couple of months have been pretty busy for me. Between Jim's school and work schedules, 3 kids, Secretary in YW, Chair for the PTA, my job at the gym, Piece work, watching 2 kids, and all the house duties I need to do each day has kicked me on my butt. As of yesterday, my voice is almost gone....in result, I think I need to slow down. Come May I will!

A Boy Who Knows What He Wants

This afternoon I was at Hobby Lobby with the kids. They were having half off on all their paper, so naturally I HAD to add to my stock of papers. Jamuson picked up this particular one and said,"Mom, I want you to make my birthday card with this one."







The ending result. I think he will be pleased.

Mr. Potatoe Head

I was in the hallway trying to get things ready for work. I said:

"Jamuson, we need to start cleaning up. What are you doing?"

Jamuson: "I am helping the kids put Mr. Potatoe Head together."

Mom: "Oh? Well if you're not a kid, what are you?"

Jamuson: " I am .......Big."

Rigatoni

28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
12 oz. rigatoni, cooked
1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, browned
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 lb. pepperoni slices (I used turkey pepperoni-delicious & way less fat, like 70% less!)
sliced mushrooms, optional
sliced onions, optional

1. In slow cooker, layer half of each ingredient in order listed. Repeat.
2. Cover. cook on low 4-5 hours.

Forgotten Minestrone

1 lb. beef stewing meat
6 cups of water
28 oz. can tomatoes, diced, undrained
1 beef bouillon cube
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. minced dried parsley
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. pepper
1 med. zucchini, thinly sliced
2 c. finely chopped cabbage
16 oz garbonzo beans, drained
1 c. uncooked small elbow, or shell, macaroni
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. combine beef,water, tomatoes, bouillon, onion, parsley, salt, thyme, and pepper.
2. cover. cook on low 7-9 hours, or untion meat is tender.
3. stir in zucchini, cabbage, beans, and macaroni. Cover and cook on high 30-45 min., or until vegatables are tender.
4. sprinkle individual servings with Parmesan cheese.

HEAVEN SENT

Okay, so I have been ranting and raving about a cookbook that my friend Kylie recommended. It's calle FIX IT AND FORGET IT. At first I was very skeptical of crockpot meals, because in the past I tried them, several, but not a single one was good. I think we have made about 30+ and don't like 5 of the recipes we've tried. The best thing of all is that my kids like them. So I am going to start sharing them with everyone and you can tell me what you think. NOTE: It takes less time to cook if you are using a shallow, oval crockpot than it does the deep, circle crockpots. About half the time.

SWEET AROMA CHICKEN
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
8 chix thighs, skinned (I used breasts)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. ground cloves
2 garlic cloves

1. combine coconut milk and water. Pour into greased slow cooker.
2. Add ramining ingredients in order listed.
3. cover. cook on low 5-6 hours.

Niagra falls

Kasey, this is for you. This is the most recent picture of MarleeRae. I took it 8 days ago. She loves brushing her teeth and washing her hands. One day I was in the office and I kept hearing the water in the bathroom turn on and off, didn't think much of it. So I went back to my scrapbooking. Then I heard the water continually running. I thought I might see what she was up to. She put the plug down and the water was flowing over the counter top. All I could do was just smile. I mean hey, she likes to be clean.

So on Tuesday I was at work in a class when Nell (co-worker) walks in the Activity Room....towards me, I knew something was up. She said "your husband called and said your son was hit by a car". Of course everything bad I could think of went through my mind: is he in a coma? does he have broken bones from head to toe?is he dead or alive ? I don't think straight, yet at the same time I remain calm. So I call home as I am gathering my purse and keys and MarleeRae. Jim gave it to me straight. Joses was on his Pocket bike and he drove it into a heavy duty, parked truck. So I felt a tiny, just a tiny, bit of relief. Jim said he looked away for a second and then heard Joses calling for him. Jim saw him laying helplessly under the truck. So that afternoon Joses threw up and slept (FYI it is okay to sleep if you have hit your head really hard. OLD WIVES TALE: don't let the patient fall asleep, they may never wake. When you have an adventurous boy and have been at the ER more than once, you learn these things) for a few hours, woke up, threw up some more and then felt little bit better. The next day he was back to himself-running around, wrestling, bouncing, and teasing. But let me just say how grateful I am for the power of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We weren't sure if we needed to take him to the ER. A co-worker of mine called to check on Joses. I told her of all the symptoms and she said "aren't you going to take hime to the hospital?!"
"No, we prayed about and we feel he is going to be fine."
Pause.
"Does your husband feel the same way?"
"Yep."
"Well, you are his mother, you know what's best."
She is non LDS and probably thought I was a wacko (which is probably true). Wacko or not, the Holy Ghost speaks to all of us.