Dragon Cake…

We had lots of fun at Chandler’s birthday party. It was soooo loud in McDonalds though. I could hardly hear myself think at times. All his friends came, and he was so excited. He got lots of cool things, so I think he was pretty happy. The main attraction though was the cake I made:

Not much going on here, tomorrow we are going to swim at a friends. We have meet the teacher night tomorrow night. So that will be fun to see there new teachers. And they start school in just a few days. I know I will cry when I drop off Chandler. Who knows maybe I will be okay. But I am bringing tissue just in case.

Side note. I watched High School Musical ONE and TWO with the kids…. LOVE that show. So well done. I am hooked, I hope they come out with one more.

Chandler

Dear Chandler,

I will never forget the day that we went to the hospital to have you. I will never forget when the doctor put you in my arms for the very first time. You snuggled right up into my arms. And then watching daddy hold you, and look at you with such joy on his face.

And now you are 5. The years have flown by. I remember people telling me to cherish the years because they go before your eyes, and they were so right. I cherish everyday that I have with you. You are becoming such a big boy. You have such a big heart. You are always so positive about everything. Your energy is contagious. Your laughter puts a big smile on my face. Your inquisitive mind is just one reflection of who God made you to be. Your sense of humor is just like mine. And I know as you get older we are going to have some great laughs. Your gentleness with everything around you is so amazing.

I dont know what you will be when you are bigger, but I do know that God has his hand on your life. And however he uses you, it will be awesome.

You have brought such joy to our home. The love that you have for your brothers, and little sister (even when you don’t get your way)…well it just makes me proud.

In just one week you will begin yet another chapter in your life…Kindergarten. It makes me cry to think about it still. I know you are going to do great, but is just means that you are growing up. I can’t wait to pick you up after your first day of school and see how it all went, and listen to your detailed stories. You really are detailed in everything you do, and very expressive in how you explain things.

I hope you know how much mom and dad really love you. We love you just the way you are. We are so proud of you. I know I have said this before, but the greatest thing in life is to know Jesus. My prayer for you will have a very personal relationship with HIM.

I love you Chandler with all of my heart.

Happy 5th Birthday m sweet baby!

Love,
Mom and Dad

Pasta Dish to Die For:

This recipe is actually called: Shells with Crispy Pancetta and Spinach. I watched Giada make this the other night and was salivating because it made me sooo hungry. Anyways, this was another one of those recipes that was just sooo good. It cost me about 20 dollars to buy all the ingrediants. Not too bad, a little more than what I would like to spend on a meal for at home but well worth it. Even Kaitlyn ate her whole shell, spinach and everything. Here is the recipe:

Shells:
1 (12-ounce) package jumbo shells pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound thick-cut pancetta, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 pounds frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta
1 cup grated asiago cheese
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup cream
2 cups grated asiago cheese, plus 1/4 cup
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the shells:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Remove the pancetta from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large bowl. Add the spinach, ricotta cheese, asiago cheese, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Stuff the shells with about 2 tablespoons of the spinach mixture each and place the stuffed shells in a large, buttered baking dish.

For the sauce:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to very low and add the 2 cups asiago cheese, parsley, and pepper. Stir until the cheese is dissolved. Pour the sauce over the shells. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup asiago cheese. Bake until golden on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

NOTE: I think it would be really good to add some tomato to the filling. But was very good also just the way it was!!! This dish was just as good as any Macaroni Grill dinner….seriousely!!!

Today me and the kids went to IKEA for lunch and then I checked the kids in to the play area while I shopped. Got to love that place. We bought crickets for the lizard. Went to Tom Thumb….can you tell I just had a way exciting day!!! Tomorrow I am going to waxahachie to visit my sister with the kids. Fun stuff…

Homemade crayons.

I found this idea at Crafty Daisies and decided to try it today. The kids had so much fun, especially when I said you get to peel all the paper off and you get to break the crayons into little pieces. They were like YES!!! So here are all the broken crayons:

In the muffin tin:

All melted and ready for the freezer for a bit:

And ready to color:

These really are really good for little hands. They had the idea on Crafty Daisies to put some in a bag and give them as gifts. And I think that is a great idea.

My eldest is at Sports camp all week and he is having a blast. He wants to play real football next fall and I think I am going to let him. I think he will make a great player. He starts basketball in October and so does Chandler so we are going to be very busy with sports stuff. I am doing some new stuff with my eldest this week. And it seems to be working pretty well, I must say though that I am exhausted at the end of the day. It is taking all my energy. We got the final chore charts hung up and the kids are really enjoying putting there stickers on there chores for the day. I am trying to get really structured for him and see how that helps behavior and it seems to really help, but like I said it is tiring. We will see how the rest of the week goes.

Today I went into Chick -fil- a and I was sitting in the play area and all of a sudden Hillsong started playing and towards the end of the song everyone on the CD was just worshiping the Lord in there own way. It was so cool. I was like I am sitting in a public place listening to this, awesome. Then all these worship songs came on, it was great.

Anyways, I need to start dinner. Everyone is getting hungry…

A dessert that is quite Heavenly…

I love desserts and I love finding new recipes. Sometimes though when you pull a recipe out of a magazine they don’t always turn out like the picture or what you thought it would be like. So when I tried making the White Texas Sheet Cake from Paula Dean’s cooking magazine, I just figured it would be the usual cake! But oh NO…this is quite divine. It is moist. The taste is amazing and once you have your first bite…you will keep wanting more with a big glass of milk!!!

White Texas Sheet Cake:
2 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
Butter Frosting
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 15 by 10 inch jellyroll pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour,sugar,salt,and baking powder; set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine butter and water; bring to a boil, stirring occaionally.
Add to flour mixture, stirring to combine. Stir in sour cream, eggs, and almond extract. Pour into prepared pan, and bake 22-25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Spread warm cake with Butter Frosting. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Cut into squares to serve.

Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine butter and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk in almond extract. Gradually whisk in confectioners’ sugar until smooth.

For the past few days this butterfly has been coming out to sit on my purple zinnias. It is so pretty. I am happy I finally got a picture of it. God has got such an imagination.

Yesterday when we were getting ready for our garage sale this weekend. My 4 year old caught this lizard…he has found his new home on my kitchen counter… until I can convince my son that he needs to be let go off to go home with his mommy.

Blueberry Picking and Garden Photos

So today we drove 2 hours to this Blueberry farm. They have 96,000 blueberry bushes. AND did you know that they EACH drink 4-5 gallons of water a day!!!! WOW I would hate to see what there water bill is like:

Chandler and his cousin Fiona sitting and eating there blueberries that they picked:

Benjamin… He kept saying these are so good mommy, Can I eat more?:

When they say to go out early in the morning, it is for good reason….see how HOT we were:

Ice-Cream for dessert:

Kaitlyn loved the blueberries. All the kids were feeding her. Though her nice white shirt that she had on…is now all stained. I am going to have to figure out how to get it clean:

SEE HOW BIG my green pepper is getting. I don’t think I have ever been so excited about green peppers before!:

YUMMY:

This all came from one corn seed:

I have yellow, white, pink, orange, red, burgundy, purple gladiolas all over my front yard:

Birthday Girl

So we started out our birthday by Uncle David killing the snake below. He was about 4 feet long….SO GROSS!!!!

Daddy and Kaitlyn:

Birthday Cake made by mommy:

She is so precious:

Chocolate lover just like her mommy!:

Yummy Cake Mommy:

My ONE year Old:

This little girl is just so amazing to me. I love her smile. I love the sparkle that is in her eyes. I love her laugh. I love her kisses and snuggles. I love how she pats my back when I am holding her. I love when she says mama and dada. I love how she looks are her daddy. I love how when she starts to crawl she always stops and turns around to make sure I am still there watching her. I just love her to pieces! I know that Jesus has a special plan for her life. I can’t wait to see how he uses her!

Husband’s Casserole

If you are looking for a really simple meal, that is fast, yummy, and your kids and husband like…then you have to try this out:

1 pound ground beef
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
5 scallions
—————————
1 package of egg noodles
—————————
4 ounces of cream cheese
8 ounces of sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese
—————————
Start by cooking your beef. Once it is almost done add the next 6 ingredients. Cook till meat is cooked all the way through.
As your meat is cooking bring your water to a boil and cook your egg noodles. Drain. Dump them in a 13 by 9 inch pan.
Once the meat is done spread evenly on top of egg noodles.
Then mix the sour cream and cream cheese and spread evenly over meat mixture.
Then top with the 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
Cook this at 350 for 30 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven. Then serve with your favorite vegetable.

That’s it, I found the recipe at a friends and my family loved it, especially Tony and Benjamin.

The kids are still in VBS this week. I am getting so much done while they are there. I might be looking for another one for them to go to next week!

Tomorrow is Kaitlyn’s birthday. I bought her the cutest birthday outfit, that I will post some pictures of later this week. I can not believe she will be ONE. She is so joyful, and has so much love in her. I just love that girl to pieces. We are going to have her party Friday night with just family, and then Sunday we will go out with friends. We bought her a cabbage patch kid. She like babies. She holds a little one that she has and pats its back and coos. It is so sweet. Of course everything she does I think is so sweet.

“You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4

Birthday party madness…

So this weekend we had Bryce’s 9th Birthday! Oh WOW…I can not believe he is NINE. Time has flown by. He wanted a sports party. So I attempted to make a basketball cake. I am no cake artist but I tried. We had 200 water balloons, squirt guns, we grilled and had lots of yummy food. I think all the kids had fun.

This afternoon Chandler was looking at a sign in wal-mart and started laughing really hard. I could not figure out why he was laughing at any sign in there since none of them were funny. Then he blurts out ” Look mom that sign has a cat with a dog bone. Cats don’t eat dog bones, wal-mart put the wrong animal up there mom!” Then he continued to laugh. I think it is funny that it caught his attention. He is very detailed and catches anything that is out of order.

Tomorrow the kids start VBS. They are so excited to go. And I am excited about the break that i will get every single day for a couple of hours!

Well I am going to go watch A Night at the museum.

When we picked out candles….he of course wanted the BIGGEST ones that we could find!

Stuffed French Toast

This is made at the Bradford House for breakfast by my uncle. The guests love this breakfast and so do my kids.

What you need:

1 loaf of French bread

1 package of Cream Cheese

Fresh Fruit or Jelly

Light Corn Sryrup

Milk

Eggs

Powdered Sugar

Start out by pouring about 1 cup of the corn syrup in a sauce pan. You then add your fresh fruit (this can be whatever you choose) to the syrup. If you do not have fresh fruit on hand just use your favorite jelly. Let this simmer till it boils and then lower temp to just low.

Take your French bread and slice it up. Make the slices as thin or as thick as you like.

Take your cream cheese and smash with fork and add either fresh fruit chopped up finely or about 3 tablespoons of jelly. Mix well. Spread a nice size amount on one side of the bread and then top with another piece of bread.

NOTE: You want to use the same fruit that you used for the syrup.

Now make the normal batter that you would normally soak French toast in (milk and eggs). While you are making your batter I would go ahead and turn the stove top on to high and let your pan heat up. Take your 2 pieces of toast that are stuck together and dip into the batter and then place on the stove to cook. Cook as you would normally cook french toast. Once done place on plate. Take your syrup mixture and spoon over french toast. To top it off I sprinkle powdered sugar on it.

NOTE: Once you place a few slices on your pan to cook I like to turn my temperature down to med-high. I think the French toast cooks better like that. And it helps it to cook all the way through the bread. You don’t want the outside done and the inside tasting like egg batter!