Name this baby.....

Who is this baby? He isn't a baby anymore!

Going Private Tomorrow (Friday)

We will be making our blog private tomorrow morning. That is Friday, AKA NEW MOON DAY! So, please email me and let me know you want to read our blog so I can add you to our list. An invitation will be sent, so please accept it and feel free to come and see our blog!

Recipes

So, I have started to try new things....as far as food goes. And I am really liking it. I can't take credit for any of the following recipes, but I can tell you, I am a picky eater (I guess I can't say I WONDER WHERE MY BOYS GET IT FROM) and I LOVE ALL these recipes. So here goes:

Spicy Albondigas Soup (This tastes like La Casita's if you ask me!)

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients-

Meatballs:

2 lbs. ground beef

1 egg

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Soup:

10 cups chicken broth

4 carrots, sliced

1/2 lg. onion, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes w/ green chile peppers

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (7 oz) can diced green chiles, drained

1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

4-5 Potatoes, diced (this is something I added to the recipe that I fond. It tastes better with potatoes!)

DIRECTIONS-

1. Combine all ingredients for meatballs in large bowl. Mix well.

2. Bring chicken broth to boil over medium heat in a large pot/kettle (I usually start this first, then mix the meatball stuff while it is heating up)

3. Form beef mixture into 1 inch meatballs, using about 1 1/2 tablespoons of meat per ball. Turn the heat down under the broth to a simmer and drop the meatballs into the broth. Simmer the meatballs in the broth for about 20 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through.

***I usually make the meatballs, then I start preparing the rest of the ingredients. By the time I'm done peeling and chopping and opening cans and measuring stuff out, the meatballs are usually cooked.

4. Stir in the carrots, onion, celery, canned diced tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, canned chiles, cilantro, garlic powder, oregano, and cumin. Simmer the soup for an hour to cook the veggies and blend the favors. ***I usually like to cook it for more like 2 hours to let the veggies get nice and soft, especially the potatoes.

This soup is SO good. I usually can't stand celery, or onions, but in this soup, they all just taste like the soup! I make a big batch like this and then I have it for the next few days, unless people find out and come take it all!

This next recipe is from Elder VW's Mom.....THANKS! WE LOVE IT!!

Poppy Seed Chicken

2 cups of cooked diced chicken (I just boil boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then dice)

mix equal parts of Cream of Chicken Soup to Sour Cream (I use a family size can & lg. Sour Cream)

3 sleeves of Ritz Crackers, crushed (easiest way is to crush in the sleeves, then open)

1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

1 cube of butter, melted

***Mix the crackers, poppy seeds, and butter together.

Layer in 9x13 pan: Chicken, the soup and sour cream mixture, top with cracker mix. Put in oven at 350 fr 30 minutes or until hot. Serve over white rice!

And Last, but certainly not least......

GERMAN PANCAKES (Elder Poulsen's Mom gave me this recipe!)

1 cube butter

Put in 9x13 pan and let melt in oven. (I usually put the butter in the pan and place in oven, turn on to pre-heat and while its heating up, it will melt the butter just perfectly!)

Preheat oven to 425.

In blender, blend the following while oven is heating (and butter is melting)

6 eggs

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup milk

1 teaspoon Salt

When oven is heated and butter is melted, take pan out. Pour in the ingredients from blender. Place bake in oven. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Pancakes will bubble up. you know its done when the batter pulls away from sides and butter is almost all gone off top (but not completely). Take out of oven and let sit for a few minutes. (It will start to fall a bit). Serve with whatever you like. Different members of our family like different stuff on it. Some of our favs are syrup (of course), Nutella *My personal favorite*, and strawberry jam (or preserves).

I hope you all enjoy. Leave me a comment letting me know if you try any of these and what you think. Otherwise, I won't bother posting any more recipes!

First Day of School

It's that time again. School time. And now I am proud to say I have four kids in school. Aiden is in fifth, Ari is in third, Noah is in second, and Jinelle is in Kinder. 


Ari all dressed....well, not quite. Shoes still need to be put on. but close enough....But still adorable! And smart!
Look at my big girl. And I was a good mommy and put hotpants under her dress so no little boys could see her panties! Isn't she just too cute. THE CUTEST KIDERKID!!!
Noah is getting big. He is the youngest, smartest, 2nd grader in all the district. And no, I'm not biased at all. Oh and he's the cutest 2nd grader too!
Aiden is so grown up. Now in fifth grade. Only one more year of elementary school for him after this year.

Jinelle wasn't even scared at all. She was the first student in and she was very happy. AND I DID NOT CRY!!! When we picked her up, she said she missed us.....but she missed her Daddy more cuz she hangs out with me all the time. (And then I almost cried!) 

Today, Jinelle informed me that she did not need me to walk her in and I could just drop her off, cuz she is big enough. I said no, its ok, I want to walk you in, and I did! 

Now I have a few hours each morning free to catch up on housework, run errands, and help in the classes. It is a nice break but I miss having my kids around. (But I will have LaLa a few days a week starting soon! YEAH!!!!)

Beach trip and OH MY Gosh. NOT ALREADY!!!

So, I know its a little late, but better late than never. A few weeks ago, we went to the beach with Jason's family. We had a blast. Here are a few pics from right before we left. I forgot to take pics all day until the end. SORRY! So, here are a few fun pics. Jason has this thing of burying our kids heads. Then he let them do it to him.
Above: Noah's head buried.

Above: Aiden with his head buried.

Above: Ari with her head buried.


Above: Jinelle with her head buried.Above: Jason with his head buried!


Now here's the OH MY GOSH NOT ALREADY part. We went to Ruby's on the Pier. (It's kinda my thing. I go and sit and everyone plays all day long and all I ask for is that I pick dinner. I love Ruby's and we don't have one near us, so this is my usual beach trip choice. Well, during dinner, this little boy kept staring at Jinelle. She was smiling back and being cute like she always is. Well, he came up to her and she stood up and said hi. (He was younger than her, probably about 3 1/2 if I'd have to guess. Well, next thing we know, HE TRIES TO KISS HER! He gets so close but she keeps backing up! He was going to kiss her. But she backed up and put her hands up! We all starting laughing so hard! It was funny. Desi was like, uh oh! Its starting! I just got a glimpse of the future and I didn't like it. No little boys kissin gmy baby for a LONG time!

Summer time

Well, I guess I have been slacking, but with good reason. I have been super busy with home stuff lately. And with the kids out for summer, I don't have much time to sit and blog. But in two weeks, all four of my little ones will be in school! That's right! I will be kid free for a few hours a day, minus the days I babysit Lala. I don't know what I will do wth my free time, but I will be enjoying it, that's for sure! I am looking forward to this school year. Noah is scheduled to be in a great teacher's class (Ari's teacher last year) and she is really excited to have him. She said she can't wait to have child that she is going to have to challenge all the time. (Noah is extremely bright and needs to be challenged. He has almost all his multiplication facts memorized and can read anything! Its amazing!) Jinelle is scheduled to go into the best Kindergarten Class in the UNIVERSE! All three of my older kids had Ms. Carr, and now Jinelle will have her. It does mean a little extra work for me, cuz Ms. carr is at the kids' old school. So two schools that both start at the same time is going to take some juggling, but luckily I have great friends who are willing to help to make it possible! Aiden is going to be in a great 5th grade class. I am excited but a little apprehensive about it. I have heard that his teacher's idea of GATE students means double the homework. But no fear....I will not let that happen. (My feeling: Don't punish my son with additional homework just cuz he is exceptionally bright! If anything, he should be getting less homework cuz he is ahead of the regular class! But like last year, I will take care of the problems as they come along. ) Ari is still up in the air. I am hoping (and praying) she gets a teacher that I am trying to get to come to our school from a different school. If she gets this specific teacher, I will be SO EXCITED! He is awesome! (and next year, Noah will have him if he is at our school! He's like Ms. Carr, I want all my kids to have him!) Her principal was hoping to have a pre-GATE class (they don't start GATE until 4th grade, but kids who show GATE qualities are put into a class together and it is pre-GATE) but with all the budget cuts, that can no longer happen. It would have been great, but Ari will be great anyways. Her teacher last year (Noah's new teacher) said are was her best student ever and that her life would be so easy if she had a class full of Ari's! Well, enough bragging.......ok.....there is never enough bragging when it comes to my own kids....but I'll stop......for now!!
So, Jason and I are doing great as well. Jason just went back to work a few weeks back after a four week vacation. It was so nice to have him home! We had a family reunion that we went to that was fun (besides the worrying about house stuff while I was away. When I was busy adn not thinking about house stuff, I had fun!) But after the week, I was ready to be done with the family and back to just us again. The plan is to have another family vacation/reunion in 2012 at Lake Havasu, but I don't think we will be going to that one, if it happens. If we do go, we will be staying at my parent's River House, not on a houseboat with 50 other people. I already called dibs on the house just in case! But we'll see if it even happens.
Well, I guess that is all for now. I will try to update this more often. Hope everyone else had a great summer as well!
PS If anyone has pics of my family from the past 2 years, please e-mail (or snail mail) them to me. I am really missing the pics we cannot replace and would like to hav e few from the past 2 years that I cannot replace. Especially from kids birthdays, holidays and Ari's baptism!

Move over kids, its teen time!

For those of you who know me, I have been in the Primary at church for the past ten years. Basically I got married, had Aiden and since then, I've been in Primary with the kids. Well, last week I was released from Primary. It was a happy and sad day for me. I loved being in Primary with my friends and I got to see my kids, but I also needed a break. I really did not enjoy my last calling so I wasn't heart broken about the calling....just the kids. But now I am the 16 & 17 year old Sunday School teacher. I have to admit, i was nervous at first. I have been with little kids for so long. But, thanks to advice from Haley, I came prepared with candy for bribery! Yeah, I know that candy is a good way to get kids to actually come to class. I really enjoyed it and I think the kids did too. It is kind of wierd though. I have a few kids that I taught in Primary 10 tens ago now. They are all great kids and I hope I can continue to teach them in a way that will helpall of us learn and grow. I will keep you updated on it as I go......1 week down and many more to go! Next week's lesson is Word of Wisdom, so food is a given!