Crock Pot cooking

Kelly at Kelly's Korner is hosting a Crockpotpalooza day today, and boy, do I love my crock pot, even though the handle fell off of the lid and I have to use a spoon to pry it off. I digress. I even used mine today to cook dinner with a new recipe, and it did NOT disappoint!

So what did I fix? Potato soup from Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour's blog. I usually make potato soup from scratch, but this recipe was beyond easy, and so much faster to prepare. Sorry I didn't take any pictures- I was too hungry! So here it goes, or you can also find it on her blog:

1 package frozen hashbrowns
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cans chicken broth
1 package cream cheese.

Add hashbrowns, soup, and broth to crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours. An hour before serving, add cream cheese and let melt. Then be sure to load it up with bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions. Maybe that part it optional, but makes it so much better! ;)

Another favorite is Crock Pot Pizza. So easy to make, and can even be made in the oven.

1 package kluski egg noodles
1 can pasta sauce
1 can pizza sauce
8 oz. shredded cheddar
8 oz. shredded mozzerella
1 bag pepperoni

1. Cook noodles according to package and drain. Cool slightly.
2. Combine sauces in a large bowl.
3. Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Layer half the noodles, half the sauce, half the cheeses, and half the pepperonis. Repeat layers. Cook on low until cheese melts.

While I do use recipes for my CP, I most often use it to cook meat. I love sticking in a roast or whole chicken in the morning and having dinner ready. Around 3:00 I can add some carrots and potatoes and make a meal of it. This also yields some terrific stock that I save and freeze in jars for use later for meals such as chicken and dumplings, beef and noodles, and soups. It's better than any you buy in the store, and it's free!

One week in

School has been in for a week now and so far, so good. Homework has been tolerable, mornings have been fairly smooth, and I've been enjoying my quiet days way more than any mom should.

I dream of...

FABRIC!

And I'm not kidding when I say that I dreamed of this fabric, and others as well, all night long. Obsessed? Maybe. I can't tell you how excited I am that yardage comes out next month!

Balloon Fest 2011

It did it again, rearranging my pictures, sorry.

We went to the annual Balloon Fest Saturday and had a good time. We met up with some of Christopher's family that were up and got to have a nice visit with them. We hadn't been in a few years, so it was neat seeing all of the balloons again. We almost didn't go because of a questionable forecast, but after checking the radar 50 times, I decided we could probably make it.

The Balloon Fest is 3 days long with activities throughout the weekend, but we went for the balloon glow. It's always fun to see them all lit up in the dark. But right as it was just getting completely dark, it started sprinkling, and those balloons started falling like crazy! I guess the pilots didn't want to be taking balloons down and packing them up in pouring rain, so they wasted no time. You wouldn't believe how FAST those balloons come down- they were falling on people! And of course, with that, the event was over and we left. It never did do anything more than sprinkle for maybe 2 minutes, but we were ready to go anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

1st day of school

Friday was the 1st day of the new school year. It seems like summer just started, but it's over already. My mom always made us pose for 1st day pictures, and it's something we do, too. I was nervous all morning because we always take them right in front of our gate, and it was sprinkling around 6:30. Luckily, we made it and only got a little wet!
Here's Preston modeling his super cool Darth Vader backpack from Pottery Barn. They seriously have the best quality backpacks and lunch boxes. Preston's kidergarten lunchbox held up for two years, and if it hadn't been completely dirty from Preston tossing it on the playground, it would still be usable. And I apologize for these pictures being completely out of order. I hate when it does that.
Here's my 7th grader. SEVENTH grade! Holy cow! In 2 years, she'll be in high school, and I'm NOT ready for that!
Yes, Preston, you have to go back out in the rain and pose with your sister.
And here's Preston, ready for 2nd grade. I really think this year will be SO much better for him. His teacher genuinely loves kids and teaching (as opposed to last year's teacher), and he really likes her so far.

The first day went really well for both of them and I hope that set the stage for a great year!

Well, this is it

It's the last day of summer break. Our last day to sleep in (tell that to Preston who was up at 6:15). Our last day to go with the flow and do as we please. Tomorrow starts back with early mornings and alarm clocks. Monday starts back with packing lunches, homework and complaining. I will miss my children and the chaos that has driven me nuts all summer. I will miss having someone to eat lunch with, and someone to run errands with me. It will take me a few weeks to get used to the silence again, and having the tv on all day just for background noise even though I won't be watching it. I'll be able to finish projects that I've been stalled on because of limited time, and be able to start new ones that I've been craving for weeks. I have THREE birthday parties to prepare for next month, and that alone will keep me busy!

We had a pretty good last day today. Glen and Cooper are in town while Diana went to Chicago to see Seth, so we went up to Granny and Pa's to spend the day with them. The kids swam, jumped on the trampoline and had a really fun time. The contractors were there finishing up their siding replacement from the lightning strike so it was pretty chaotic there with no less than 10 cars parked in the driveway and front and back yards. The house looks really nice! As we were leaving, Kate said that it was the best day of summer. I'm glad!

WANTED

Do you know how hard it is to find this R2-D2 cake pan? Do you realize once it's found, what this puppy costs? I have been all over God's green earth (or maybe just the general vicinity) searching for this elusive pan. Someone made this cake for Christopher's birthday years ago, and we thought his grandma(s) had the pan, along with C-3PO, but neither of them do. We tracked down Darth Vader at Me-maw's, but aside from paying upwards of $100 on Ebay, R2 remains undiscovered. I plan on hitting garage sales hardcore once school starts, praying that I find it. My son wants an R2 cake, and I intend to give him one!

It's almost time

Last week was school registration. The school had a good idea this year by making the registration forms available online to print and fill out ahead of time. Heck, yeah! So I printed all of these forms, one for each child, and had them all ready to go, figuring we could make a short, sweet trip out of registration. I even braved taking the children thinking it wouldn't be long.
Well, one would think that it would be a quick process, but no. It only took maybe 5 minutes to do Preston, and that included waiting in line. Off to a good start. Then it was on to the jr. high line. We waited no less than 30 minutes in it, and the kids had lost ALL of their patience, and I'd lost most of mine.

So by the time we got Kate taken care of, I was frazzled, and the kids were just flat out misbehaving. It made me reconsider letting my kids run around at top speed through the crowded gym like the other parents do just to get some peace (don't worry, I didn't let them...). But then we had to stand in line another 15 minutes in the nurses line because of my children's food allergies, only to be handed two packets of another 5 pages to fill out on their allergies since the school adopted a new food allergy action plan. I looked at Nurse Sandy and asked, "Do I have to turn these back in today?" thinking I'd have to spend another 10 minutes on them and wait in line again, but thankfully I got to take them home.
We toured Preston's new school, found his classroom, the cafeteria, bathroom, and all the important places. He got the same teacher that Kate had for 2nd grade, and today got a postcard in the mail from her. I think he really liked it, and I hope he really likes her. He desperately needs a good impression of school after last year. I plan on telling Mrs. W. right away to challenge him in any way she can to keep him from being bored.

And now that we've gotten the milk allergy checked off of his list, he can now eat school lunch from time to time! He got busy with the lunch menu and found two days (circled) that he wanted to eat school lunch. The starred days are days when I can make the same thing to send in because he likes the main entree, but nothing else and it would be a waste to pay for just that.

I'm excited. They're excited. Three more days!

A bit of reprieve

After three straight weeks of excessive heat warnings with temperatures in the upper 90's and 100's, we're enjoying a much needed break from the heat. While it's been in the 80's for over a week now, today made it only to 79, and it was simply lovely. With school starting Friday, I'm so thankful for cooler temps. Preston's new school has air conditioning, so it will be much easier on his asthma. They still have two weeks of early dismissals for heat built in since two schools in town don't have A/C, which kind of screws up their days, but it will be nice to be back in school anyway. And while consistent 79 degree days are still another month and a half away, we'll enjoy them now all we can.
Preston found some old toys this afternoon and he and Kate set to play with them. With water from the hose and dirt from who knows where (I didn't see), they had a grand time until Kate got the hose. You can imagine what happened after that- Preston got wet. And while he came running, exclaiming that he was "stopping wet," and pretending to be grouchy about it, he really was quite proud that she had sprayed him. He then proceeded to sit down in a puddle on the patio and finish the job of being 100% wet. After that, he came in and took a good bath!

The kids have been growing increasingly irritated with each other. They are tired of being together every day. Summer has well passed its welcome. And while they spend a good deal of each day bickering and fighting, they sometimes put their differences aside and surprise me. After playing outside, they decided to play school (they're ready when they start wanting to play school). After a quick gym class, complete with jumping jacks, it was reading time and they both sat down with their books- Harry Potter and Star Wars. I was cooking dinner and it had been too quiet for too long so I decided I'd better check in. To my surprise, they were both sitting with their noses in their books, quietly reading to themselves! Sweet! A few minutes later, they took a field trip to a movie theater, which consisted of a slide show from Preston's View Master projector in his closet. That lasted maybe 10 minutes and they were back at it, on each others' nerves. It was nice while it lasted.

Happy birthday, grandma

Christopher's Grandma Neva turned 90 this week and the family threw her a big birthday party at the nursing home to celebrate this afternoon. It was a really nice time and I think she really enjoyed being with family and friends.
The whole family before the party started.
Kate and Sarah ran the guest book and had a good time doing it.

After we left the birthday party, we headed up to Granny and Pa's to celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary. I didn't take my camera, so I don't have any pictures. But we had a great time, especially the kids since Glen was there. They love him to pieces!

My grandpa had another round of bad luck Friday... He was cleaning his garage and bumped into a potato fork (basically, a pitchfork) and knocked it off the wall, landing it almost clear through his hand. His hand is pretty swollen right now and hopefully will heal quickly. His friend, Pete announced at church this morning that the devil had gotten him! Clearly, I think the devil is trying to play his evil tricks, but P has a very strong faith and he won't let something like this deter him.

And while we're on the subject of bad luck, Preston's ears are at it again. This time it's his left ear, the one that still had a tube back in April when we last saw the ENT. Well, clearly, it's still in as his ear has started draining- a week after finishing the antibiotics for the other ear. Sigh. I'm a little concerned as the drainage seems to be a little pink, although Christopher says he doesn't see pink. At any rate, it's not a clear drainage, so it's back to drops. Last year he started his first day of school on a 3 week round of antibiotics and 2 different drops trying to clear a mega infection that wouldn't respond, and now school starts Friday and he's at it again. At this point, I don't even know what to think. But I am sorry, Preston, for passing on the bad ear genes, I really am!

Being corny

One of my favorite things about summer is sweet corn. Fresh, hand-picked sweet corn, not the kind you buy at the store. I've tried to grow it, but it just doesn't work. We started out with a good looking crop this spring, but as soon as I returned from the salon with a bag full of my hair to throw on and keep the deer away, I was too late, and they had eaten every stalk to the ground. Sigh... Next year we'll rig something up with bells and whistles to keep those deer away!

There's a guy in town that always has a good crop and a few weeks ago, Granny and Pa got a few dozen and gave me a bag. The next morning, we were in town and bought 3 more dozen from him. A little excessive? Nah. Preston and I went out back and started shucking and in no time at all, had it done and ready to wash. Where was my other helper? Inside, freaking out because she thought there would be bugs in the corn...
Fresh sweet corn off the cob is a delicious treat. Nothing is needed- no butter, no salt- it's perfect just as it is. So what did I do with 4 dozen ears of corn? We froze it. Preston was my little helper throughout the entire process and did such a great job. I'll have to use his help next summer!

If you've never done this, it's way too easy, and the rewards are SO much better than any bagged corn you'd buy somewhere. And if you don't have 4 dozen ears, it really doesn't take much time. After you've washed your corn, place 3-4 ears in a large pot of water and boil for 4 minutes. As soon as they've been boiled, place them in ice water for another 4 minutes until the next batch is done boiling.
Take the cooled ears and stand them on end. Take a sharp knife and cut the kernels off into a pan. When you have enough, pack them into a freezer container (I use 1 pint containers) with 1/2 an inch of head space (room at the top for air). Seriously, it's THAT easy! Oh, and do not use the Pampered Chef corn cutter seen in the below picture. It will maul your corn. Use a sharp knife!
So after 2 hours, I was able to put 23 pints of corn into the deep freeze. Lots of good corn for very little work, and we'll be enjoying it until next summer when we do it all over again!

Meramec Caverns

This past Thursday, we headed out early for Stanton, Missouri for a day at Meramec Caverns. The kids had been talking about going all summer, and it was great getting to go with Granny and Pa. Seth and I went with them when we were really little (I was maybe 5 or 6) so it was neat that they got to take their great grandchildren as well. I didn't remember anything from my first trip other than wearing sandals and shorts and freezing my little rear off. This time we were more prepared for the 58 degree temps!
The formations were really neat and the kids just were blown away!


This was in the theater room where we got to see a light show. We had a tour guide that was a bit goofy, and his light show consisted of him slipping switches randomly completely out of time with the music, but it was still neat.

After eating lunch, we set off toward St. Louis in hopes of finding a mini golf course. They seem to be few and far between in this area, and after a wild goose chase, we finally found one. We golfed and rode bumper boats which left the kids sopping wet!

It was a fun day and I'm so glad we all enjoyed it as much as we did. It was nice spending some special time with Granny and Pa, and I know they loved spending time with us as well!

Pepper Steak

Melissa at Stafford Stories is having a go-to recipe post and I thought I'd share my favorite go-to recipe that's tried and true and passed down through 3 generations. Preston BEGS for this, and whenever I make it, there are rarely any leftovers.
So, here's what you need:

1 lb. cube steak cut into strips
1/4 c. butter
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1 t. oregano
1/2 c. cooking sherry
1/4 c. olive oil
2, 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1 green pepper sliced

Here we go...

In a large pot, melt butter and add garlic powder. Add meat and cook until outside is no longer pink. Add salt and oregano, stir. Add olive oil, sherry, tomatoes and peppers. Heat to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook one hour. Serve over rice.

This is making me hungry just thinking about it! I hope you enjoy!

Yesterday and Today

This was our third time going to Panama City Beach. The first time was in 2005 when Preston was just shy of turning two and Kate was 6. The second trip was in 2006. There were several places that we visited on each trip and when we got home, I looked back through old pictures and was FLOORED at how my kids have grown since our other vacations! Take a look for yourself (click to make them bigger, for some reason they're really small...)!
Here are Kate and Preston at Hammerhead Fred's in 2006 and 2011. Kate is the same age in the first picture as Preston is now.
And this one really threw me for a loop! This pirate used to be at the Pirate Ship restaurant that unfortunately burned down last winter. It was a favorite stop of ours, too. :( But while at the Ripley's museum, we saw our old buddy and I knew instantly where I'd seen him before, so I had the kids pose by him and sure enough, when we got home and I checked, it was him! Preston was 21 months in the first picture and 7 now! Makes me sad to see my babies growing so quickly!

Counting down

Today is the first day of August already and it hardly seems possible. It seems like last week that it was our first day of summer break and I was happy at how slow time seemed to be passing. Well, that time quickly sped away from us with a month full of baseball and then vacation. It feels almost like vacation stole a week away from us- or 3 actually with the full week of packing/prep and then being sick the week after coming home. In less than 3 weeks, school starts.

Am I ready for school to start? Well, after the day we had today, I'd say yes, but in reality, no. I miss my children when they're at school. Yeah, I get tons done, and enjoy quiet time, but I eat lunch alone and get bored by myself (or by my own as Preston says). I would much rather have them here, chaos and all. But summer is winding down, and the kids have clearly had as much of each other as they can stand. They're fighting all the time, and in need of a predictable schedule instead of flying by the seats of our pants.

I'm not even sure of when the first day is- either the 17th or the 19th. Truthfully, right now, I don't want to know. Registration is next week, so I'll find out then. Until then, I'm going to enjoy having the kids here with me. We'll try to squeeze in every last bit of summer fun that we can before it's back to homework and alarm clocks.