Snippets

Seen and Heard

2012-02-16T11:34:00.001-08:00

Luke on chore time: This is going to take FOREVER! When I'm done it's going to be time to go to Heaven!

Prepare for cuteness!

2012-02-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Adorable picture of Leta our babysitter, Erin, took. She is a much better photographer than I.

Max has big ears.

Here is poor Max, sick. Doesn't he just look like he feels terrible?

There have been 7 babies born since Max was born (6 months ago) in our smaller (150ish people) church. There are 5 more babies still on the way.

2/6/12 Meal plan

2012-02-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

Bold Recipes are on the blog
Underlined recipes are new.

Rachel's Lake Brisket -Crockpot
Roast -Crockpot
Roast stew- Crockpot
Chili Cheese Fries Casserole - Company
Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts -Company
Italian Omelette - Breakfast for Supper $Penny pincher$
Salmon with a Raspberry glaze
Indian Corn
Fish
Black Bean Burgers from AnnieEats.com

Other: I also plan on making Grandma Key's rolls, Granola Bars, and Nutty Granola.

Check out my disorganized recipes tab at the top of the page if you want to try any of these bolded recipes.

Luke's great idea.

2012-02-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

Luke came running into our room this morning at 7:30 SO excited.

L: Daddy can you take me to Grandpa Dana's today? And Leta could come to. She didn't get her birthday money from Grandpa Dana yet. She could get it, then we could go to the STORE and she could buy me a TRAIN!

That's our Luke. Always thinking of others ;)

---
Did my long run today. Not sure how this "runners high" is supposed to work, but it did not make an appearance during or after my run today.

Well Child and Well Baby Check Up

2012-01-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

I got smart again this Dr. visit. I had Leta's well child check up and Max's well baby check up at the same time. Luke knew we were going to the doctor this morning and asked if he had to go. I replied he did. The he wanted to know if he had to have shots. I told him he didn't have an appointment, he was just coming along and assured him he wouldn't have any shots.
Luke: Does Leta have to have shots?
Me: Yes.
Luke: YEA!! That means I'll get a sucker, too!

He's very sympathetic. I love our doctors visits. It's so much more than that. I get all types of parenting tips and advice and he's a Christian so I'm confident on all sorts of levels that we're getting sound advice. It's always nice. Leta is very possessive and throws lots of fits and so we talked about that and I learned that I'm to "stay the course". Keep doing what I'm doing and results will eventually come. We hope. He also assured me that the face children put on in public is the face that they eventually grow into. I hope that's true, because both Luke and Leta are so much more well behaved in public than they are at home.

Isn't this the greatest picture of Max ever? He's just over 5 months in this picture. But that's still what he looks like today.

Luke at 6 months

Leta at 6 months

Max: 26" long 15lbs 15oz

Luke:26" long 15lbs 8 oz (at 6 months)

Leta: 25" long 15lbs 6oz (at 6 months)

You could argue that there is more of a "Soper Growth Curve" at this point. Max had to have 2 shots and an oral vaccine today. He barely cried at all. Just the time it took to actually get the shots, then he was all better.

Leta 2 years

Luke: 2 years

Leta: 24lbs 32" tall

Luke: 24lbs 32" tall.

What was I saying about the "Soper Growth Chart"?.....ummm yeah. Leta had 2 shots and cried at looked at me in disbelief. She couldn't believe I was allowing this pain to happen to her. But then she got a sucker. And so did Luke.

Updates!

2012-01-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

Kyle: Kyle has been busy...as always, but not ridiculously so as he sometimes is. He has been maintaining his websites and working out. He has basically finished "prepping" our garden until spring. That is his most recent major project. He has some new arrangements for future hunting land so he's been busy with that, planning and getting deer feeders, stands, camera's and who knows what else. But all the essentials for hunting =). This hunting land is in southeast Oklahoma in the Washita Mountains.

Luke: Luke is still very much into trains. He also spends a great deal of time planning "his house". Sometimes he will get frustrated with us and say, "I just wanna be IN CHARGE!" so one day I responded with that one day he would get to be in charge and that he would be the leader of his own household but that right now he was learning so that he would be a great leader of his home one day. He has taken that idea and RUN with it. Multiple times a day he talks about his house. What he will have in it. What it will be made out of. What he will let Leta do. What he will do. It is going to be right next to ours with a slide that goes down to daddy's garden. He will have talking dogs who can do the dishes. And cats. And mice. And flies. IN THE HOUSE! And he will not kill the flies. And in his house, whenever Leta asks for candy, he will give it to her. He could spend his entire day thinking about and planning his future house. It's very real to him. He often asks Kyle where the wood is so he can start building. One day we saw a semi hauling lumber and he KNEW they were bringing it so he could start building his house. He was disappointed when he got home and there was no lumber. He has taught himself to skip. He loves hide and go seek and most recently playing "bad guys". He loves to be a bad guy. I'm trying not to read to much into this and am going to assume that it's all very normal. One day he sat down and stared at the TV (which was off) and told me his was watching "bad movies". Not sure what he thinks those are, exactly, but he sure was having fun watching them.

Leta: She has become quite the talker and will often ask "Where Daddy at?" and "Coming?" She also loves kitty cats and horses and asks to see "more 'neighs'" on our drives home from Body and Soul. She loves to talk on her play cell phone to "Tyle" (Kyle). Last week we arrived at church and she asked if Emmett would be there. I told her I thought he would be, to which she replied. "Tiss Emmett. Hug Emmett" She is also very possessive and everything is MY or MINE! And this is cause for many a heated dispute between her and Luke. She got very upset with Luke the other day when I was holding him (very rare) and she ran up and hit him and yelled, "NO! MY MOMMY!". She got sent to time out this morning and she hollered, "No want to!" all the way there and then sat in time out screaming and yelling "No like time OOOUUUTTT!" It was pretty funny. She is much more snuggly than Luke and is still very much a "momma's girl" where Luke was very definitely a daddy's boy from about 18months on. She loves to play in her kitchen she got for Christmas and can spend a great deal of time bringing me water or milk or sometimes applesauce. She also loves her babies (although she frequently says they pinch her and need to be put in time out) and coloring. She colors just about every day. She is VERY independent and many times a day we hear, "No! ME do it!" followed by a complete melt down if she's not allowed to do it. We're slowly learning to schedule extra time in so she can do things herself. Luke was not this way. He couldn't have cared less if he did something or if you did it for him.

Max: Max is now 6 months old. He has two teeth (which he got before he was 5 months old). He gets out of his crib at 8am. He is the happiest, smiley-est baby ever, although he will definitely let you know when he's had enough. He is eating solids very well, a variety of veggies for lunch and supper. I haven't progressed to anything else yet (meat is to be next) because he's been having a bit of trouble with constipation and I'd like to get it worked out before moving on to protein. He and Leta have a well check ups tomorrow so we'll see what the pediatrician says. He can roll over both ways, but hasn't rolled from his back to his tummy in months. I wish he'd learn to love this skill a little more as I'm tired of getting up to roll him back to his belly at night. He loves to watch the kids and has only recently begun to show an interest in toys. He gets up on all fours very well and rocks back and forth and will scoot his knees forward, but doesn't have the arms figured out at all yet. He's also sitting up pretty well, he still needs to be attended, which means he doesn't get the opportunity to sit up as much as he should since I have to sit right there with him. I need to work on this skill with him more.

Me: I'm back to instructing at Body and Soul 3 days/week. I also do the dishes, fold laundry, change diapers...oh wait? You don't want to read about all that? Back in October I decided I wanted to start running again (mostly because at this point the kids aren't fast enough to keep up!) and decided to start training for my first 1/2 marathon. I just run the roads near our house but recently got a pedestrian pass to Arcadia Lake (just a few miles from us) and ran 10 miles (my farthest run to date) on the trails there this past Saturday. The half marathon I'm registered for is in Tulsa on February 26th. I kinda wish it was earlier so I could run my first half while still being 30. Anyway, it is a "Troad" race, half trail half road. My planned training run this coming Saturday is a trail race at another nearby lake (45min drive). I'm to run 12 miles. We'll see if I survive. I'm not racing it, just using it as a trail training run. My official goals for my first half marathon are: 1. Don't walk. 2. Finish.

And now...some cute pictures of our kids!

Leta's first Haircut! Official

2012-01-23T13:20:00.000-08:00

Leta got her first official hair cut last Thursday. And of course, we HAD to go to Chandra since she gave Luke his first haircut. Leta did really well and sat still. Kyle has been going to Chandra monthly for several years now and so they all know him at the Cut & Color Lab, but he's always alone. But not this day. This day he had all 3 littles with him and they were quite the hit.

Luke was 10 months old at his first haircut. Leta was 2. But who's counting?

Leta is TWO!

2012-01-23T13:11:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? I can't! My babies are just growing up so fast! On one hand I just want time to slow down so I can have more time with them when they're small, but on the other hand, the days are sometimes SO LONG!

Leta was very excited for her birthday and her birthday party the next day. We didn't really do anything special on her actual birthday except talk about her party the next day. Leta lucked out and Kyle's sister, Bridgette and her husband Danny and their son Kaleb (Madison was missing...we missed you!) were in town for a Thunder basketball game and got to come to Leta's party.

I made her a "Kitty Cat Cake" since she really likes cats and frequently requests that we draw them for her.

I think it turned out really well. I was quite proud of myself (cake decorating is NOT my forte) and it was very simple to make. I had red glitter gel on hand left over from our Christmas sugar cookie making and I used raisins for the eyes and mini chocolate chips for the whiskers. Leta liked it and that's all that really matters. She kept putting her arms around the cookie sheet and saying, "My cake." or "My kitty cat". She's got quite the little possessive personality going so I think we're all lucky she let us have some of her cake without throwing a fit.

She was really excited to get to eat her cake but when everyone started singing to her, she looked around and realized everyone was LOOKING at her and singing TO her...well, she wasn't quite as into that and quickly requested that I hold her. We ate cake and ice cream first.

Next it was time to open presents. Leta was excited for this and definitely knew what it was all about having just practiced up over Christmas. However, she was still to slow at opening for Luke's taste.

She had a good day.

New Recipe Page!

2012-01-23T12:41:00.000-08:00

When I first started sharing a few recipes I wasn't organized about it at all. I didn't even label them in the beginning so there was no easy way to find them or search for them. Then I added the label. And that helps. And then later I added "search this website" which helped further, but only if you knew the name of the recipe etc. So today I finally sat down and made a page with links to most of my recipes that I have posted on my blog. I'm sure I've missed some due to my lack of organization. And you'll notice that my recipe page is a mess. The recipes and their links are just listed randomly as I found them, not even alphabetically. That may or may not come later. You shall (or shall not *wink* ) see.

Anyway. The moral of the story is...go check out my recipe page and see what you've been missing out on! I have a feeling that my next meal plan will be all repeats because looking over these recipes made me want to make them! And it made me incredibly happy that I'm already planning on making Creamy Pasta Primavera for supper tonight.

December 2011

2012-01-17T14:15:00.000-08:00

We kicked off December with our church's Christmas party. We all had a great time. They had the Polar Express playing when we walked in so Luke didn't move until the movie finished. I spent the evening trying to get Leta to get her face painted and was never able to. Her bible class teacher, Shelby, was able to however. Leta got a snowflake and Kelli Mitchell and I were Santa Clause and the Mrs. I'm shorter, so I was deemed the Mrs.

This was our year to spend Christmas with Kyle's side of the family. One week before we were set to leave I started having a lot of tooth pain. I was pretty sure it was my bottom left wisdom tooth that was the causing the problem, and after a few days of pretty decent pain and not much sleep, I went to the dentist hoping I was wrong and it was just a cavity that they'd be able to fill and I'd be on my way. It was my wisdom tooth. After arriving home from the dentist I called the oral surgeon to schedule my appointment. I was able to get in two days later since they'd had a cancellation and I'd already had my initial visit with them (and they still had my paperwork). I was to have my wisdom teeth out almost 3 years ago now, but in between my initial consultation and my scheduled wisdom tooth removal surgery I found out I was pregnant with Leta and had to cancel the appointment. I had the further put it off wanting to be done nursing when I had the procedure done. Well there was no break between that and Max and now I had no choice. Kyle had a hard time when he had his out and was sick etc. and I was so nervous about caring for and feeding Max after the surgery. Turns out I didn't need to worry about a thing! It went great and I recovered very quickly and felt pretty good when I wasn't sleeping. Side note: Lorotab will make your 4 month old baby nap really well, too ;).

So I had my wisdom teeth out Thursday and we left Monday for Ruidoso, NM. It was a 9 hour drive. Kyle's grandma Peggy rode with us. It was her 80th birthday so this was to be a Christmas/Birthday celebration. We got our own little cabin for sleeping purposes and everyone else was in a larger house about 1/2 mile away. We didn't have time for anything besides supper and bed Monday night. Tuesday morning Kyle took Luke, Leta and Kaleb sledding and we mostly hung around. We also went out to eat at a really nice restaurant at a local casino to help Grandma Peggy celebrate. Our kids did NOT belong here, but despite the late hour and being overly tired they behaved wonderfully. Wednesday morning Kyle and Luke met with a ski instructor, Mr. Al, who taught Luke how to ski. He said Luke was one of the better 4 year olds he's ever taught, mostly because Luke wanted to learn. I forgot to send the camera with Kyle, so no pictures from this event. I am SUPER bummed about that. Luke did awesome and only fell down once. He started on the bunny slopes and was skiing on the greens by the end of their time. He knows that you do a big piece of pizza to stop, a small piece of pizza to slow down and french fries to go fast. Wednesday evening we opened presents and then Thursday we came home. We were all glad to see our own beds again. The kids did pretty well sleeping. Luke did perfect, but I ended up sleeping with Leta every night. The good news there is, she will actually sleep with you unlike Luke who thinks sharing a bed is PARTY TIME!

We got home from Ruidoso Thursday evening and had a couple of days to decompress and get ready for Santa by making Christmas cookies. It was nice to have a relaxing Christmas day at home.

Santa did not skip our house and the kids (especially Luke) was very excited for his arrival.

Seen and heard...again!

2012-01-13T13:28:00.001-08:00

Luke: Mommy, I can use my imagination to see God.
Me: Oh yeah? What does He look like?
Luke: He's higher than a MOUNTAIN!!!

Seen and Heard

2012-01-04T12:12:00.001-08:00

Luke to Kyle:

Daddy, I have a good idea. Let's play Hide and Seek Popsicles! Or we could play Hide and Seek ice cream!

I must say, they do sound like fun games.

Just for you Michael

2011-12-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

I know how Michael loves it when I post about my running, but with today's 7 mile run in 25+mph wind (BRUTAL), and it being my last run of 2011, my total mileage for 2011 is 115 miles. I started in October. Maybe my New Years ~~Resolution~~ Goal should be to beat last years mileage. Shouldn't be too hard since I'll have a full year to accomplish it =). I find that I am much less likely to be disappointed when I have low expectations.

2nd tooth!

2011-12-29T07:25:00.001-08:00

Max got his 2nd tooth (the other bottom tooth) on Dec. 22nd the day he turned 5 months old. He has also started solids since then. He's had green beans and carrots. He's doing pretty well eating. He still has a long way to go, but is doing better than Luke and Leta did at first. Although, this might be because I started them on rice cereal and neither one of them liked it..

Already!?!??

2011-12-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

Max got his first tooth yesterday. His front bottom right. He's not even 5 months old yet! This is so sad.

Gobble Gobble!

2011-12-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving our family drove 10 hours to Iowa City, IA to visit my brother and his family. They've been there for over 2 years and this is the first time we've gone to visit them. I'm a bad sister. My parents also came for the weekend so with them, Michael and Audra's 2 kids and our 3, it made for quite a full, loud house. But it was lots of fun!

We drove up Wednesday and brought bread, veggies and the turkey. Kyle's CPA raises turkeys and gave us one so we volunteered to bring it for the weekend. Audra did a great job with it and it turned out REALLY good and juicy. We mostly hung out and watched the kids play with each other. One evening my dad's brother and his family came over for supper. It was nice to see them, especially considering how long it had been since we'd last seen them. Leta quickly warmed up to Gary and Mischa...they colored with her. =) Saturday Audra, Max and I stayed home while everyone else went to a play land at the mall (since it was rainy). It was nice and quiet then! And I managed to squeeze in a run (my only run that week). Michael and Audra took us on a tour of IAC. It is a smallish town with a very large university and accompanying medical schools. It's a very pretty town and really seemed like a nice place to live with lots of nice amenities, especially given it's size.

Luke was all excited to sleep in Solomon's room with him, and did the first night, but then after that decided that he wanted to be in the same room as the rest of us. Overall, this is the best long trip we've ever taken drive and sleeping wise. Let's hope this streak continues as we're traveling to Ruidoso, NM later this month.

Well Child and Well Baby Check Up

2011-12-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

Recently we went to see Dr. Stephens for Luke and Max's well child/baby check up.

Luke was 4 years in October, but I waited so that I could do his and Max's appointments at one time. Luke weighs 34lbs (29%) and is 39" (17%) tall. He is moving up on the growth charts people! Look out! We talked a little bit more about his tummy issues. He's to continue taking his Digestive Aid for Milk. He hasn't been complaining about his stomach as much but we are still somewhat limiting diary. I watch how much cheese I let him have in a day and we're still buying him lactose free milk. According to Dr. Stephens there are only 4 basic/important things: 1. Eat dinner together 2. Wrestle with dad 3. Poop daily 4. Sleep well every night. Going by those standards, Luke is doing very well and on days when he's pushing every single button I have, that's what I need to remember. That and a little time in his room never hurt him ;) Luke got 4 shots, poor guy and he managed to cry harder about them than Max did about his. He got him so worked up that he got himself over heated and broke out in a heat rash and to make sure it was just that, we had to stay a while after the appointment to monitor him. Sheesh. He did run a low grade fever (99-100) and complained of sore legs for a couple of days.

This was Luke's solution "to make sure Max doesn't go anywhere"...no he didn't enjoy picking up this mess before bed =)

Max is 4 months old, he is 24" (5-10%) tall and weighs 14lbs 6 oz (25-50%)in a wet diaper. Max is still very content and smiley. He giggles easily and loves watching Luke and Leta. He can roll over from tummy to back and back to tummy. He just started a new schedule today and it is as follows:

8am-eat

9:45-10 down for nap

11:30 wake and eat

1:30 down for nap

3:00 wake and eat

5:00 down for nap

6:00 wake and eat

8:15 eat and bed

10:30 Dream feed

This is new as he is being moved from 4 naps per day to 3 and is dropping one feeding per day. Up to this point he has been cluster feeding in the late afternoon/evening, so this will free up our time in the evenings to have a bigger window to be out and about if we want.

He has not started solid foods yet but I imagine he will soon. I would like to wait until after we get back from our Christmas travels to start that so I don't have to worry about that while we're gone to Ruidoso with Kyle's side of the family. Ruidoso is a small ski resort type town in the mountains in New Mexico. We spent our first Christmas there after we were married and it was gorgeous and so much fun! I'm sure Kyle will be spending some time skiing, which will be nice for him as he hasn't skied since I sent him for his 30th birthday and hopefully I'll be able to get out and browse around in all the cute shops they have in town. Vicki likes to kick me out to have better quality time with my kids and I don't mind AT ALL!

Anyway, back to eating. Dr. Stephens introduced a new "food introduction" schedule that he's switched to since Leta was a baby.

1-Veggies (green first, then yellow and orange)

2- Meat/Veggie combo

3-Fruits

4-Cereal

Instead of introducing rice cereal first, he's now placed it last. He said there have been recent studies showing nutritional benefits to introducing it last and that many babies don't really care for it anyway. I had thought all babies loved rice cereal before I had kids, but Luke and Leta both preferred oatmeal, but really didn't care for it much at all. In fact, Luke pretty much hated it. I have pureed green bean and have them in the deep freeze, but I haven't worked on anything else yet. I imagine I will stock up next trip to the grocery store.

Comparison Time!

2011-12-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

Luke at 4 months

Leta at 4 months

Max at 4 months.

Since the pictures of Max really at 4 months are all farther away and not up close, here is a recent close shot. He's only 3.5 months in this picture, but you get the idea.

Granola!

2011-11-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

Kyle's mom made him some granola for Christmas a couple of years ago. He really liked it and the bag was gone in no time. I finally got the recipe from her just this fall and I've been making granola like it's going out of style. It's good on yogurt, plain and with milk as a cereal (which is how I prefer it). It's originally a Southern Living recipe, but you know how I like to tweak things. So here's my version:

3 cups regular oats, uncooked
1/2 cup vanilla whey protein powder (or omit and add another 1/2 cup oats)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 bag dried fruit

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well.

Combine honey, sugar and oil in a small saucepan. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring until sugar melts and is thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla, stirring well. Drizzle over oat mixture, toss gently to coat well.

Spread mixture into a jellyroll pan. Bake at 250 for 50-60 minutes stirring gently every 20 minutes. Add dried fruit. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Cute pics and a few runs!

2011-11-10T19:00:00.001-08:00

I took all of last week off from running as my knee hurt really bad the previous long run...and I ran with it hurting for quite some time (which wasn't smart) but I was back at it again this week. Tuesday was a treadmill run and this morning I ran outside in the balmy 36* weather and returned from my run covered in frost. I didn't know I could frost. But I can.

Tuesdays run on the treadmill because it was raining. This includes a .36 mile cool down. I set the incline at 1% and really try to work on my "speed".

My run today was a tough one. I felt like I was running through mud. I felt sluggish and like I was working WAY too hard to maintain my pace, which is slower than it has been. Probably the cold had something to do with it. Yeah. That's probably it.

Sorry for the poor quality of the Max pics. They're taken on my touch at church (during class!) last night. And the Luke holding Max pictures are from tonight. See how up-to-date I am?!?

We've been busy around here. Last Thursday we had a couple college girls over for supper. Monday evening my cousin, Analisa, and two of her friends stopped by and spent the night. They had just finished walking 60 miles in 3 days for the Race for the Cure. I hadn't seen Analisa in a long time so it was nice to catch up with her. Luke and Leta were in not-so-rare, but pretty unpleasant form that night. An audience of THREE! to perform for! Kyle was gone Tuesday night, and we had a couple of college girls over for supper tonight (different ones). Tomorrow night is a Body & Soul girls night here, plus an afternoon birthday party. Saturday I'm co-hosting a baby shower, Sunday church and small group at our place, Monday friends over for supper..whew! I'm tired just thinking about it! But it will force me to keep my house relatively picked up, so that will be nice.

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

I feel this is an accurate representation of Luke. This picture was taken at Body and Soul during our "Salsa Fellowship"

Obi Wan

We went trick-or-treating with our friends, the Hayes again this year. In the same neighborhood as last year. The kids had a lot of fun. At one house Luke got an apple from one of the houses and we let him eat it. He took a couple of bites and said, "This apple isn't good. I want an apple from home. I want a HONEYCRISP apple."

Knock Knock Night

2011-10-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday night we made our 3rd annual return to Quail trip for their chili and Knock Knock night. It was great to see people we haven't seen in a long time and see ~~how old we're getting~~ how big their kids are getting. We went with the Hayes' and here's the best picture from the night.

I'll try to get a better picture of the kids in their costumes. Luke is Obi Wan (sp?), Leta is a ladybug, Max is a pumpkin and Karter is (in his words) a "Yes Sir". That's what I'm talking about. Get them a costume that actually teaches them something USEFUL!

5 miles!

2011-10-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

1st 5 mile run down the hatch. My knee started hurting at 1.75 mi. What's up with that? Pretty decent pace though. I'm icing it right now so it should be completely healed in about 10 minutes, right?

Remembered!

2011-10-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Luke-ism that I forgot:

Luke finds a random tor yesterday and says, "I've been looking for this for YEARS!!!!"

Also, on the day he picked out his Halloween costume with Kyle he came home with an Obi Wan costume VERY proud of his light saber and says, "I would've been Elmo, but he didn't come with a sword."

Seen and Heard

2011-10-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Luke-ism from today. (There were 2 so far, but I forgot one...)

Me: Did you tell Leta thank you?
Luke: No. Because we do not have to say thank you to people who live in this house.

I quickly corrected him, don't worry.

Since I got all excited on Tuesday and didn't check my training plan, I ran .5 miles farther than I was supposed to. Oh the HORRORS! Anyway, I didn't want to repeat THAT mistake today ;) especially since it was raining outside so I opted to run on the treadmill. I'm glad we have it for mornings such as this, but boy was I glad to get off of it! Bor. Ing. Since running on the TM is easier, I set the incline at 1 and got truckin'. I did .25 mile mostly walking warm up and a .25 mostly walking cool down. The slowest I ran was 6.1 increasing my speed intermittently until I started the last full mile, which I started off at 7 mph and finished at 7.5mph. I thought I was going to die. That's pretty speedy for the likes of me.

I went to see my friend who's PT and she looked at my knee yesterday. She gave me some stretches and some strength training moves to do. So we'll see. My knee felt pretty good today. Started feeling it around 3.3 miles, but either it stopped hurting or I was to distracted by thoughts of possibly dying from running and wondering how long it would take Kyle to come and find me. Up next: 5 mile run on Saturday.

Luke's tummy

2011-10-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Luke has been saying his stomach hurts a lot lately. And for a long time. I KNOW at least a good month now, possibly two. He is eating, sleeping, behaving and using the toilet normally. He is also fever free. At first we were concerned, but then when he was never sick, we began ignoring it. But he persists. I don't really think he's using it in a manipulative way because we don't really cater to him or his tummy and require him to eat when we eat and what we eat etc. and it's not getting him extra cartoons or special privileges. So, begin the good mother that I am, a month or two later, I finally got him to the doctor.

Dr. Stephens couldn't find anything wrong with him either so I am to journal about his stomach complains for 3-4 days to attempt to get some sort of base line and then completely take him off dairy and see how that affects his tummy. In a way I hope it's NOT dairy...because that's probably his favorite food group! But, in a way it is and that we get this tummy problem solved. Kyle was allergic to dairy for a while as a child, which I didn't know at the time of the Dr. visit or I would've mentioned it. Does it run in families? Anyway. Here's to hoping his little tummy gets to feeling better.

And here's a few pictures of Leta and Max since Luke was in so many recent birthday pictures.

All the pictures to this point were taken this morning, so that's as recent as you can get!

Vicki got this shirt for Leta and it is perfect!!!! for her. Describes her to a T!

Grandpa Wilbur is 80!

2011-10-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

These posts are out of order. The weekend of the 15th Kyle's mom and Hap came to visit. They arrived Friday morning while I was at Body and Soul. Friday they soaked up at many "Grandbaby Sugars" as they could get from all three of them and Kyle and I just generally enjoyed having them around and having a bit of a break from kid duty =). Binky made cupcakes with Luke and Leta and they enjoyed stirring the batter then frosting them once they were done. But the best part was eating one for a snack. After they went off to bed we all set out to make jalapeno poppers. Kyle took out the ribs and seeds and Hap and I filled them with cream cheese and wrapped them in bacon while Vicki made deviled eggs.

Saturday Hap and Vicki got a MUCH needed chance to sleep in (and isn't that what you SHOULD get to do on vacation?) and then we got ready for a surprise 80th birthday party that Vicki planned for Grandpa Wilbur. And was it ever a surprise! Kyle had everyone park at then end of the circle drive in our neighborhood and he and Georgeanne conspired and told Grandpa Wilbur that they were coming to celebrate Luke's birthday. Everyone hid in the kitchen while Leta and I answered the door. As soon as they were in the house, WT was asking about Kyle and they started talking football, with WT filling Kyle in on the OSU game he'd missed (because he was getting ready for a surprise party!). Kyle led Grandpa Wilbur to the doorway to the kitchen where everyone was now in FULL view. But Gpa Wilbur continued talking to Kyle about the game without ever looking up FOR A LONG TIME. It went on for so long that everyone in the kitchen was giggling and finally Georgeanne said, "WT would you look around!" SURPRISE!

It was a great night with Kyle's mom and sister and her family coming from Hobbs, NM his brother and his family (minus Hannah---we missed you!) coming from Houston and Gpa Wilbur's brother and wife driving up from Ardmore, OK.

Me, Gpa Wilbur, Harold Wayne and Uncle Steve

Georgeanne, Kay, WT, Harold Wayne and Steve

Madison and her friend Chelsea

We should have got Vicki and Kyle in this picture for a 4 Generations picture

Looking at old pictures.

Vicki, Madison, Chelsea and Bridget

K-ball, Hayleigh and the elusive Hap.

Luke is 4!

2011-10-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Luke turned 4 on the 18th and I can't believe it! He's totally a KID now. We did a little celebrating on his actual day, we let him open his present from his Grandma Binky since it came in the mail that day as well as Mavis, a train from the Thomas collection that he has been saving for forever!!! and thanks to some birthday $$ from his aunt Bridget, he was able to buy it.

We celebrated Luke's birthday again on Saturday. We started things off with a pinata.

We had to have a little help from Johnny

CANDY!!!!!!!!!

Then we had cake and ice cream. We did this second because I was afraid we'd never get him away from his new toys to have cake.

And what a fabulous cake it was! I baked the star cake and my friend decorated it. And it turned out BEYOND wonderful. Turns out having cake second didn't solve our problems. Luke ate about 2 bites then was done and proceeded to the living room where he asked if it was time to open presents about every 30 seconds until the rest of us were ready.

Luke likes trains!

The "long run" becomes "base miles"

2011-10-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

4.19 miles/hilly and windy/ no music

Really I just wanted to say "Base Miles" it makes me sound all official, like I know what I'm doing and I'm probably a really good and fast runner. But in reality...none of those things are true. Well maybe...no. None of them.

Okay. Oops. I totally lied on the long run becomes base miles. I just looked at my training plan and I should have only run 3.5 miles this morning. Oh well. At any rate....

It was windy this morning and there are a LOT more cars out and about on before dawn on a Tuesday morning than there are on a Saturday morning. Don't worry mom, I'm more likely to twist my ankle while running on the shoulder than I am get hit by a car. It was the warmest it's been on my run and I enjoyed running in shorts and a sleeveless shirt this morning. It takes a lot less time to get ready this way.

I didn't really get done running at 11:22 this morning. That's just when I managed to snap the picture. As you can see my average pace was much better today. I felt good today. And I finally felt great at Body and Soul yesterday. My knee did start hurting a bit around 3.4 miles, but overall my rest day did it's job. We'll see how the week progresses.

Last 4 mile "long run"

2011-10-25T09:36:00.003-07:00

Another Saturday Long Run!

Today was my "long run" day. So far I'd say my training is going okay. I have a wonky knee and an injured left calf, and could that be twinge of shin splints in my right shin? Probably. I have yet to go a full week as planned. I know I'm just a couple of weeks into training, but so far it seems I've skipped as many runs as I've gone on. The Spousal Unit said he experienced the same thing when he was getting back into sprinting when I was pregnant with 2.0. So, hopefully I'll get past this.

I nee to look at this with a "see how far I've come in just a few weeks" instead of how far I have to go. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't run 3 miles since before I was pregnant with the Biggest of the Small Ones, and he just turned 4 this week. I haven't run 6 miles since....maybe the summer after my freshman year at college?...so 2001? I ran 4 miles this morning. Before 8am.

However, somewhere around mile 3, as I was hurting and workin' hard...it occurred to me that in Half Marathon Land? 4 miles is NOTHING! and I can't imagine running more than 3 times that distance. Breathe. That's what training is for.

Here are my run stats:

And here's my post run, sweaty, red-faced poor quality self-portrait taken in my closet.

Goin' on a Bear Hunt

2011-10-25T09:36:00.001-07:00

Goin' on a Bear Hunt

Run: 3.74 miles/ hilly with music!

Or just finishing a run. Whatever. I just got back and had K snap this picture while he was laying in bed. I've gotta red face going on! It was a windless, balmy 38 degrees when I finished running.

Now, I know I just told you I ran 3.74 miles, but my Garmin says I ran 1.87 miles and those things NEVER lie. It helps to actually hit the start button at the beginning of a run. The lap button doesn't really help. And I didn't realize my mistake as it was pitch black and I couldn't see my watch for the first while. Luckily I ran an out and back, so I started my watch at my turn around point. And you can also see that I haven't switched my display to show my pace and/or splits. All in good time, my friends. All in good time.

My old an decrepit body:
I could feel my calf hurting a little off an on. Mostly on the downhills when there was more impact. But I'm icing again today. My knee started hurting probably a quarter mile into mile three. Saturday is my next long run. Another 4 miler.

New Gear!

2011-10-25T09:35:00.003-07:00

New Gear

I'm sure you've (singular you, I'm sure) all been wondering where I am. I didn't run on Tuesday. Turns out my left calf was more than just sore. I've declared it injured. I haven't even been able to do more than very low impact during Body and Soul either. I skipped my run on Tuesday, but hopefully I'll be back out there tomorrow. I took it easy at B&S today and I'm icing it. We shall see.

Here's my new gear. Running ear buds, a running belt (very similar to a fanny back, but sleeker) and my iPod holder and arm band. Need some tune-age while I'm running. Now, to sit down and plan out some killer playlists.

4 Mile Long Run

2011-10-25T09:35:00.001-07:00

4 Mile Long Run

Today's Run: 4.15mi/43:48min/hilly no music

I didn't realize my arms are so hairy! At least the hair is lighter colored and not black!

Completed my first "long run" at 7:42 this morning. Yes, I got up at 6:30 am so I could be home in time to nurse the Smallest of the Small Ones. I ran outside. My first outdoor run since starting all of this. My pace was a little slower than I would've liked. I need to change up my settings on my Garmin (the watch) so it'll tell me my pacing instead of my calories. Although I DO like knowing I burned 446 calories this morning, I don't want to have to wear my HR monitor every time, and knowing my pace will help me more on my run anyway. It was 56* when I left home this morning and pitch black.

Since I ran by myself, I thought if I shared some of my thoughts while running, it would be ALMOST like you were my running buddy and came with me.

1. Man I'm glad I bought this long sleeved white running shirt at Target the other day.
2. I need mittens.
3. Was that a deer?
4. I wish it was light out so when I get over for cars I don't keep tripping.
5. I don't think I've run this far since college. I ran 3 miles all the time before I had the Biggest of the Small Ones. (I basically haven't run in 5 years)
6. Man there are a lot of hills out here!
7. I'm going to have to carry a stick if I keep seeing these dogs. I dont' think they like me. They both seemed territorial and one was a pit bull, so I wasn't diggin' that.
8. I can't wait for my arm band to come in so I can listen to music on my runs.

I am sore from my run Thursday and I could feel that my calves were tight while running, even after fully warmed up. I stretched out at home and then hobbled around the house like an old women for a while.

Today's Run

2011-10-25T09:34:00.003-07:00

Today's Run

I have been feeling a little "off" so I haven't worked out since Monday, and haven't run since Sunday. So when I declared myself "better" today, i was well rested and ready to go. Kyle had an errand to run during nap time today and I feel weird enough going out to our detached guestroom where our treadmill is to run since I can't hear anything that is going on in the main house with the kids etc. that I didn't want to run outside. I need to start running outside and get used to it before I get to used to "keeping up" with the treadmill and not truly propelling myself on my runs. Anyway.

The Breaky-Break down goes like this:
0-.25 warm up
.25-2.75 ran 6.0
2.75-3.5 increased pace 0.1 mph for every passing 1/10 of mile. So I ended my run running at 7.0
3.5-4.05 cool down

I didn't catch my final "time" I did my cool down on the phone with my sister-in-law and was distracted trading stories about silly 4 year old little boys. I intended to only run 3 miles, but my knee was only slightly hurting and I was feeling good, so instead of stopping at 3.25 at a 6.5mph pace, I kept going another half mile. Go me. Because being able to go that extra 1/2 mile is going to make me not die during a 1/2 marathon. *sarcasm* I need to focus on the progress I'm making and not focus on the fact that a half marathon is THIRTEEN POINT 1 MILES. Which will take me 2 1/2 hrs running 10 minute miles (6.0mph pace). Which also assumes that I'll be able to maintain a 6.0 for THIRTEEN POINT 1 MILES. Okay. Focusing on progress. Focus.

New plan of attack

2011-10-25T09:34:00.001-07:00

New plan of attack

I'm only 2 days into this and I'm already changing my plan of attack. The app I purchased doesn't give me a "weeks" look at the training plan, I can only see what they want me to do on any given day, which wouldn't be a problem, except on MWF my workout is an hour cardio/strength program. So I need my run days to be T/Th/Sat with Saturday being my long run day. This is a bit off, I know, because ideally I would have my rest day before my long run, not after. But whatever.

Anyway. The new plan. After talking with a friend at church who participates in Triathlons (no desire to do THAT) she mentioned that her training buddy and she follow Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Training Program for Novices that they found online. So I went and found that and am altering it a bit to fit in with and around my current cardio/strength regiment. My projected week looks like this:

Monday: Cross train with Cardio/strength
Tuesday: Run
Wednesday: C/S
Thursday: Run+
Friday: C/S
Saturday: Long Run
Sunday: Sabbath

And I already broke this program by not resting today and running. I'm not quite up to their recommended first week of training so I'll take a couple of weeks to get there. Today I completed 3.0 miles in 36:16 with a breakdown that goes like this:
0-.25 warm up
.25-2.25 ran 6.0mph
2.25-2.75 incline walk 4.0mph
2.75-3.0 cool down

I intended to run 2.5 miles but was having quite a bit of knee pain in my right knee so I quit .5 mile early. Don't worry about me, though. I go to church with a couple of fabulous physical therapists so I'm going to get the hook up next Sunday for a free evaluation. They won't even know what hit 'em ;)

And so it begins...

2011-10-25T09:33:00.001-07:00

And so it begins...

My journey really began last night as I searched for an App to help me with my journey. I'm using Run Coach Pro. Today I did my first workout. It was a short one. 15 minutes total, walking for 2 minutes, then running three repeating for the duration. I ran on the treadmill since it wasn't a distance run. The application is a "Couch to Half Marathon" variety. I do workout regularly, but no real running since I was pregnant with my first. Since I'm not completely deconditioned I didn't want to go too easy on myself so I upped the incline to 3.0 for the duration and walked at 4.0 mph and ran at 6.3 mph. I could feel my knee hurting a bit and really hope it adjusts and doesn't cause me too much pain or this little project may not get off the ground.

Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata

2011-10-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

Chicken
3 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp basil
2 chicken breasts

Pasta
2 cups dried penne
2 T butter
1 T flour
1/2 c milk
6 T lemon juice
2 tsp dried basil
2 T capers
1/2 c Parmesan cheese

Chicken
Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well. Place chicken in a ziplock bad and pour marinade over chicken. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. When you're ready to cook, grill until done. Allow chicken to rest a few minutes then slice and serve over the pasta.

Pasta
While chicken is grilling. Cook pasta according to package directions. At the end reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking liquid, in case you need it to loosen up your sauce. In a large sauce pan, melt butter then add flour and garlic allowing to cook for about 1 minute. Add in the milk and stir constantly until thick. Whisk in lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. The add remaining ingredients and heat until cheese is melted. Add pasta. If the sauce is a bit thick, add some of your reserved cooking liquid.

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin

2011-10-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin

Spice Rub:
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cinnamon

2 pork tenderloins (about 2 to 2 1/2 lbs total)
2 T olive oil

Glaze:
1/2 c brown sugar
1 T minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Combine the spice rub ingredients in a small bowl. Pat the mixture over the pork tenderloins.
3. Heat olive oil in an ovenproof 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Place the tenderloins in the skillet and brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes total. Remove from heat, leaving the pork in the skillet.
4. Stir the glaze ingredients together until combined. Spread the mixture evenly over the tops of the tenderloins.
5. Place the skillet in the preheated oven and roast for about 20 minutes, until the center reaches 140*. Loosely tent the skillet with foil and let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

We both really enjoyed this spicy, slightly hot and sweet tenderloin. It was really tender and so quick and easy to make.

Sweet and Spicy Honey Grilled Shrimp

2011-10-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

Sweet and Spicy Honey Grilled Shrimp
2-2 1/2 lbs raw, shelled, deveined shrimp. Frozen is fine.
1 T minced garlic
1 T ginger
1/4 c hot chili garlic paste
1/2 c sweet chili garlic paste
1 c honey
1 c lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 c canola or veggie oil

Place all ingredients in a bag. Marinate 24-48hrs. Preheat your grill, then turn it down to low. Cook shrimp while basting them with marinade. I cooked them in a veggie grill basket. It's more solid with slits not wire mesh stuff. Serve with rice and remaining marinade for dipping or a sauce for rice etc.

Kyle and I both really enjoyed this meal. The shrimp were SO good. However....2 lbs was WAY too much for us...we should have had company over for that much since shrimp isn't near as good reheated. We thought it was perfectly spicy for our family, with Luke and Leta. However, if you like more spice, just add more of the hot chili garlic sauce stuff.

Baked Penne with Chicken, Broccoli, and Smoked Mozzarella

2011-10-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

Baked Penne with Chicken, Broccoli, and Smoked Mozzarella

2-3 bunches broccoli, stalks cut off, and florets trimmed to 1 inch pieces
12 oz penne
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 c flour
2 c chicken brot
1 c heavy cream (or half and half)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, cut into bit size pieces
8 oz smoked mozzarella, shredded
8 oz jar sun dried tomatoes, drained, rinsed and chopped

Preheat oven to 400*. Bring water to boil in pot, add 1 T salt and cook broccoli for 1 minute. Remove and set aside. Bring water back to a boil and cook pasta 1-2 minutes shy of al dente. Drain pasta and set aside. In a skillet large enough to hold everything, add oil and saute onion. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook 1 minute. Add the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in broth and cream, bring to a simmer, whisking often. Ad the chicken and cook, until cooked through (about 7 minutes). Stir in sun dried tomatoes and half smoked mozzarella. Add the pasta and broccoli to the sauce, stirring to combine. Transfer to a baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake until top cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

This is NOT healthy, but invite someone over for supper and serve it...there will be plenty and it is so good! Also, splurge on the smoked mozzarella. Regular is just not the same.

Original Recipe Found Here: www.melskitchencafe.com

Honey Roasted Red Potatoes

2011-10-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Honey Roasted Red Potatoes

1lb red potatoes, cut into halves or fourths
3T butter, melted
2 T honey
2 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp onion powder
S&P to taste

Put potatoes in a single layer in an 11X7 baking dish. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and drizzle over potatoes. Mix thoroughly to coat all potatoes. Bake at 375* for 40 min. until tender, stirring a few times during baking. If you want to crisp them up, broil them for the last 1-2 minutes.

The original recipe calls for 2 T onion, diced also, but when I made it this way they burned. The second time I made this I put in onion powder instead of raw onion and was much more pleased with the final result. I also reduced the butter from the original recipe because I thought it had too much.

Original Recipe Found Here

Pictures!

2011-10-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

Meal Plan

2011-09-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

Meal Plan: so I'm definitely NOT posting every single one. Obviously. Or maybe you thought we were just eating out a lot. Anyway, I can thank Pinterest for all my new recipe ideas. There are only 2 previously made recipes on this plan, the brisket and the pizza.

Katy's Lake Brisket served with Honey Roasted Red Potatoes
Creamy Grilled Chicken on Piccata--where does one find Capers? And what are capers exactly? I've heard of them, but that's about it.
Baked Penne with chicken, broccoli and smoked mozzarella
Spicy Honey Chicken
Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken
Crock Pot Kalua Pork
Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and potatoes
Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin
Sweet and Spicy Honey Grilled Shrimp
Shaved asparagus pizza with chicken

Rachel's Lake Brisket

2011-09-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on a freezer cooking blog that I follow. http://onceamonthmom.com/ I finally tried it and it was SO good. Definitely will be a staple at our house and is even going on my next meal plan!

Rachel's Lake Brisket
12 oz beer (I used beef broth instead)
3/4 c pickles, chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3/4 c brown sugar
12 oz chili sauce
1 tsp pepper
1tsp salt
1 c onion, sliced
5lbs beef brisket (I used 2.5lbs)

Mix the first five ingredients in a bowl. Salt and pepper the meat. Pour sauce over the top of meat in an 8X8 pan. Bake at 250* for 5-6 hours. Shred it with a fork or slice, serve on buns with BBQ sauce.

I used 2.5 lbs meat intending to 1/2 the rest of the recipe as well, but forgot to half anything else. The sauce completely submerged the meat this way anyway. I also shredded it and mixed it with Head Country BBQ sauce and served it "slider size" on homemade dinner rolls that my mom made when she was down after Max was born. The rolls are my Grandma Key's recipe and are SO good. We had it for supper and the leftovers were gone by lunch the next day. Make it. You won't be sorry.

The Comparison Game

2011-09-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

The stats at 2 months:
Luke: 22 in long and weighs 11lbs 4oz.
Leta: She is 21 3/4" long (between 10 and 25%), weighs 11 pounds (between 25 and 50%)
Max: 22 1/4" long (25%) and weighs 12lbs 1 oz (60%)

Leta at 2 months

Luke at 2 months

Max at 2 months. I dont' know why this picture keeps showing up sideways. I can't get it to cooperate. Sorry!

2 months

2011-09-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Max had his 2 month well baby appointment yesterday. And he was the only well baby in our family. Luke was at the Dr. Monday for his ears/croup. Leta threw up Tuesday afternoon. She continued to not feel well Wednesday. Kyle and I had the stomach bug together (again) yesterday...he threw up, but I did not. I was not as bad off as him, but let me just say...caring for a family when you feel HORRIBLE is NO fun at all. Somehow a 3 year old, a 1 yr old and a 2 month old thought they needed me yesterday. And now today, Luke woke up sick and threw up. Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow because that is the Day Out With Thomas. As big of an event in his life as his birthday and Christmas.

Anyway, back to Max. He is in the 25% for height and weighs 12lbs 1oz which puts him in the 60% for weight. My fattest baby yet! We're all very proud ;) He got 3 shot immunizations, 1 oral and has his tongue clipped. So, he didn't have a good day yesterday either. He has slept through the night twice now (didn't last night, but didn't really eat very well after his Dr. appt. yesterday, so hopefully we'll get back on track tonight.) He can roll over (tummy to back) and smile. He also enjoys gazing upon his ruggedly handsome face in a mirror as well.

And this is what I found....

2011-09-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

One day last week I went to get Leta up from her nap. And this is what I found:

After I quit panicking and my brain started working, I realized she wasn't crying and was probably all right. I still don't know what happened, but she had a bloody nose.

And Now...

2011-09-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so not really "now". More like "now" 2 weeks ago.

This is Max in the cradle that his Great Grandpa Olson built for Leta

Max "Then"

2011-09-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Seen and Heard

2011-08-29T11:26:00.001-07:00

Mom, you could just milk a chocolate cow to get me some chocolate milk!

Let's Compare.

2011-07-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Because that's what you should do with children. Compare. From Day 1. *wink*

Luke

Leta

Max

So I had a baby the other day...

2011-07-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I went to the Dr. Shanbour who predicted he'd see me for my regular appointment the following Tuesday. He informed that he'd be out of town Thursday-Saturday (I should've known then that I was going to have my baby! Just my luck!) and again beginning August 10th (my due date). So we decided that the next appointment we'd set up an induction date so that he'd be able to deliver me.

Wednesday after my workout at Body and Soul I did this (planking):

Thursday after the kids' naps we packed a supper and drove to Arbuckle Wilderness, an exotic animal theme park, about 1 1/2 hours from our house. We had planned on doing this on Monday afternoon, but Luke threw up Monday right before Body and Soul so we had to rearrange our plans. Once there, Luke and Leta got to get out of their car seats and ride in our laps and we drove through the park. Most of the animals roam free and believe me, they know the drill. They come right up to your car window and will stick their heads right in begging to be fed some of the feed you can buy there at the park. Luke thought this was great, Leta mostly liked to see them from a distance. We kept our window up when the animals were near.

The kids really enjoyed it and I'm really glad we managed to get that little outing in...as it turned out, our last as a family of four. In the middle of the night that night (1:45am Friday morning) my water broke. We called our good friend Shanna to come over. Kyle packed up, helped me finish packing and getting things together etc. I've learned a thing or two since having Luke so I was sure to grab a shower before we left for the hospital. We arrived around 3am, wishing we'd got to bed earlier than we had =).

At 7:00am they decided that at the rate my (non) labor was progressing I might never have a baby, so they went ahead an induced me me. I got my epidural at 10:30, and was soon feeling fine. A little after 11:30 I sent Kyle off to have lunch knowing that it was probably now or never for him and eating. 5 minutes after he walked out the door, Max's heart rate dropped below 90 bpm. He sure had me worried, but nothing was going to phase my veteran nurse (whom we had when I delivered Luke) and she was not worried since he was recovering nicely. Dr. Goff (who was pinch hitting for Shanbour since he was gone) got to my room at 12:10 and Max was born at 12:30pm July 22, 2011. He was 37 weeks 2 days along, so almost 3 weeks early. He weighed 6lbs 8oz and was 19 1/2" long. We noticed the nurses all clustering around Max's umbilical cord and then even measuring it. Turns out, a normal umbilical cord is 28-30" long. Max's was the longest that any of them had ever seen measuring in at 40". When I take Max to the Dr. next week I hope to remember to ask him if he knows what determines cord length etc. Max is completely healthy and doing great. He's got a very high pitches cry and looks more like Kyle than the other two, I think. He has less hair than Luke had, but more than Leta.

Leta's a big sister!

Big Brother!

Leta is pretty possessive of me and doesn't like it when I hold Luke (which isn't much of a problem since Luke isn't snugly with me at all. But when he does let me hold him, she has to be held too and will hit him and try to push him off my lap. I was VERY nervous as to how Leta would adjust. So far, it seems I had nothing to worry about. Leta is simply glad I had her baby for her. She has to check on "BABY!" all the time and is very attentive when I change his diapers and will hand me a clean one to use. She is very observant while he's eating and spends a great deal of time kissing his head. Nothing will be able to distract this child from eating with all Leta's training! We're doing well, but the true test will be when mom goes home and I don't have full-time, live-in help.

Leta's first Haircut!

2011-07-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

A friend in our small group gave Leta her very first haircut. Leta was not very cooperative. She didn't cry or anything, but there was a ridiculous amount of head turning and I had to hold her head still with a pretty good amount of force. Our friend Andrea Lemmonds in our small group at church gave her a quick trim Sunday evening. So Leta no longer has a mullet. And while I recognize that her hair looks much nicer now, I'm still mourning the loss of her scraggly baby hair. Here is a poor picture of the trim.

Kyle "Watermelon Man" Soper

2011-07-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Kyle has a problem. He is obsessed with watermelons. For those of you who know Dana (Kyle's dad), you know that Dana has no lawn. Instead he has a small farm. It's too big to really be called a garden. He planted 208 (yes, 208) tomato plants alone this year. Not to mention the other wide variety of vegetables. He is selling a lot of them and to no small profit, I'm sure. Anyway. I'm seeing a bit of Dana come out in Kyle and he is really enjoying his small garden (all we have are watermelons). And since I really enjoy watermelons, I have no complaints about Kyle's new hobby. I do like to tease him about it, however. He literally checks on his watermelons 3-4 times a day. He reads about growing them at night. He has blue tape to mark things on the vines. He's weeded, mulched, and built a fence to keep out the rabbits (Something I know my Grandpa Olson would appreciate). He waters, he pollinates. These had better be some tasty melons =)

Kyle has lost several "watermelon babies"...miscarriages, maybe? But this morning he declared that he thought he might have some melons that are going to make it. Here are some the beloved offspring:

As a result of the "Melon Project" Kyle has plans of expanding for next year and we've started a compost pile.

Playtime!

2011-07-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Luke's dreams are starting to come true. Leta is finally getting big enough to "wrestle" with him. This has to be closely monitored, though, as their WWF session usually don't end well for poor Leta. But she really enjoys them up to that point.

This was one of their better session. Leta got to be on top of Luke the whole time. She was very proud of herself. These were actually taken on the 4th of July.

I also broke down and got them a cheap inflatable pool as it is too hot to be outside most of the time unless you're doing some sort of water playtime.

Luke received some bat ears in the mail made by his cousin Solomon. Is he not the cutest bat you've ever seen?

Independence Day

2011-07-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I just realized I haven't even informed anyone of our 4th of July events. I'm sure my 3 readers are very disgruntled.

Leta LOVES Karter. Karter LOVES Luke. Karter is slowly learning to tolerate Leta. Leta can say Karter's name, but not Luke's if that tells you anything.

Doesn't Karter have HUGE muscles?!?

Snaps! We quickly found that they worked better dumped out on the ground and stomped on.

We had a low key 4th of July. Sunday evening we went to our friends house for a very yummy supper and popped off some "kid friendly" (although aren't sparklers one of the more dangerous fireworks?) fire crackers. Monday morning we got up and headed to the Edmond Parade where we met up with the Hayes again. No pictures from there. Leta got a balloon that I tied to her wrist that made a very nice leash. She didn't venture too far. About the time she would manage to get brave, something "intimidating" or loud would go past and she would be right back in my lap. Luke did a very good job of staying seated next to me and watching. It was really hot (when has it NOT been really hot this summer?) and the kids ate watermelon while they sweated in the sun. Still no nighttime fireworks for the kids again this year. Being out all morning wore me out so I was glad we skipped fireworks that evening as I was in bed before 9:30pm.

Seen and Heard

2011-07-10T18:11:00.001-07:00

Luke enjoyed the fireworks we set off at the Hayes'

While putting Luke to bed tonight.

Me: Remember to stay in your bed until your clock says 7.
Luke: Mommy, Daddy is always telling me to look at my clock to see if it says 7 and to stay in my bed, but....that's just not how I roll. I just get out of bed and go play trains.

Painting!

2011-07-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

So apparently I married Michelangelo and this is his most recent Sistine Chapel, AKA Max's room. This is before touch ups and before clean up (obviously). I'll post pictures when his room is all done.

Luke's Prayer

2011-06-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

Luke's prayer was quite a lengthy one tonight and I don't remember all of it, so I can't include the whole thing, but the end went like this:

Thank you for Daddy who prays. Thank you for Luke who prays. Thank you for Leta who doesn't pray because she can't talk yet. Thank you for Mommy who prays. Thank you for God who listens and Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Seen and Heard

2011-06-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Recent Luke quotes:

1. (While hugging and kissing my belly) Oh Max, I missed you during my nap.
2. (During prayers) Thank you that God beats the devil.
3. Mommy, I am cool. (this one about made me cry thinking how sure and confident he is in himself and his "coolness" and how it won't be long until people in the world try to tell him he's not "cool" and he won't be as sure or as confident in himself.

Leta:

Is getting quite a lot of words. She says quite clearly:
Baby, bye, hi, mommy, dada, go, no
With the help of context or an interpreter, she says:
ball, please, and a million other things....

I should be more efficient at this sort of post. Luke says something quite humorous every day, if only I were better at remembering them.

Girls Night Out!

2011-06-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

Now here is an event I wish I had remembered to bring my camera to! After much trying to not have a baby shower (this is #3...and second boy! all we're going to need is diapers!) I finally conceded (that Beth Sears is quite persistent *wink*) to having a girls night out. They chose one of my favorite restaurants, Sophabella's. There was quite the crowd there and it was fun to sit around and talk and eat a meal without feeding or disciplining anyone (Kyle had to stay home...it was just the girls! hahahah). My only requirement was that I get home AFTER the kids were in bed and I did, so the evening was a success. They did get a bit carried away and had a gift card tree with gift cards to places just for Max and some just for me! Completely unnecessary, but made me feel loved and I'm sure I'll have NO trouble spending them all!

Visit from the "Regular Grandma"

2011-06-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Last Monday my mom drove down to Ponca City and spent some time with her parents. Thursday late morning the all arrived to spend some time with Luke and Leta. L&L were exited to be the center of attention and spent the time being cute and silly with all sorts of grandparents watching them. Them mom took my grandparents back to PC and arrived around supper time Friday. She was able to stay for a long visit and didn't have to leave until right before lunch on Thursday morning.

Saturday we got up and headed to the Edmond Farmers Market. It was HOT! Both kids were played out by the time we made it home, but we've been enjoying our watermelon and other things since. Saturday evening we got out and set up the slip-n-slide. (Luke has asked to play slip-n-slide every. single. day. since we got it) Luke quickly got the hang of sliding. Leta never really tried and was content to splash in the little pool area and drink from the spraying water.

Sunday we all went to church followed by the traditional Qdoba. This summer our church is doing small groups every other week and on the "off" weeks we're doing some sort of fellowship activity. This past Sunday it was an all church kickball game. Luke wanted to kick once so he, Leta and I acted as one person. Luke kicked the ball and we made it to first. That's where we handed Leta off to my mom. Luke was tagged out at third base and couldn't understand why he didn't get a chance to run home. After that he was more into playing in the dirt.

Monday was a Body and Soul day followed by the church playground. Tuesday morning we went to the Edmond Historical Museum followed by a quick trip to Target for milk. The EHM has a small hands on children's museum, which is perfect for spending and hour or two in on a hot day. Or a cold day, too, I would assume, but we're not having any of those lately! Luke enjoyed playing with the train table, but when he was done with that he found some blocks that he took into their tepee and "constructed his structures". Leta wandered around a bit, but then settled down and colored mostly with markers and a little bit with the crayons for the rest of her time. She made two very nice pictures. The marker was also quite easy to get off her face, neck, arms and hands.

Wednesday was more Body and Soul followed by the Splash Pad. I didn't bring my camera this time because I figured the pictures would look quite similar to our last trip. We then ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A, which is exciting enough for L&L but today the COW was there. Leta was in love and terrified all at the same time and spent quite a bit of time mooing at the cow. Luke was more brave and waved to the cow and gave him a high 5.

Thursday morning before mom left we headed outside to play on the play set, only to find the sprinklers ON and the play set soaked. So we changed plans and played on the driveway instead. Luke and mom spent lots of time playing sidewalk chalk and our driveway is covered with turtles. There is even a Soper Turtle Family complete with Daddy, Mommy, Luke, Leta and Max. They got to have a Popsicle for their morning snack, which earned them both a trip to the bath tub before lunch.

"Regular Grandma" When I was telling Luke how grandma was coming for a visit and how many sleeps until she would be here etc. he kept asking for clarification on which grandma I was talking about. I told him every way I knew how that it was Grandma Olson, from Nebraska, the one who....fill in the blank with many, MANY examples. He looked at me and asked, "The Regular Grandma?" So, yeah, I guess the "regular" grandma. After talking about it, Kyle and I decided she must be the "regular" one because he has Grandma Binky and Gigi, grandmas with something else attached to their name or different about it. But Grandma Olson, is just grandma, which I guess just makes her regular.

Smoothie!!

2011-06-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Frozen Boxed Spinach,

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways....

I always have a box of spinach in my refrigerator thawed and ready to go. You never know when I'll suddenly feel the need to squeeze a handful dry and throw into something. Like....

The Perfect Smoothie!
This isn't so much a recipe, as it is a method. I pureed all of Luke and Leta's baby food so I have a bazillion (that's the exact count btw) 6 oz containers for freezing food in. I will buy a bag of frozen mixed fruit (any sort will do) and let it thaw and then puree it in my food processor. I then spoon it into my 6oz containers and freeze.

1 container frozen mixed fruit puree (1 minute in microwave, and it's still mostly frozen and slides right out of the container)
1 frozen banana (30 seconds in microwave, cut off the tip and squeeze it into the blender, or substitute whatever fruit you have on hand...berries, melon etc)
1 cup fat free strawberry greek yogurt (or whatever kind you like. The small individual cups are PERFECT for this, but it's cheaper to scoop out of the big tub)
1/2 (10oz) box frozen spinach squeezed dry
12oz crushed ice (I just fill up my frozen puree cup twice with crushed ice...that's refrigerator for your help on that one!)
50 grams vanilla whey protein powder

This completely fills up my huge smoothie cup, plus makes about 1/2 a glass for Kyle when he gets home from the gym. I will stuff myself silly on this ginormous smoothie as an entire meal and Kyle drinks his much smaller portion with his lunch (hey, if he wanted a big smoothie he needs to make his own!) The entire smoothie batch has 65+ grams of protein which means this baby will stick with you. Add in that extremely generous portion of spinach and this is one super healthy lunch! And don't skip the spinach. I promise you you can see it and it's not the most attractive, but you CANNOT taste it at all.

Slow Cooker Pesto Spinach Lasagna

2011-06-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Slow Cooker Pesto Spinach Lasagna

1 (26oz) jar prepared pasta sauce
1 (10oz) box lasagna noodles
1 (11oz) jar pesto
1 (15oz) container reduced fat ricotta cheese
1 (12oz) bag baby spinach
1 cup grated Parmesan
4 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup water

Use a 4 qt. slow cooker (mine is actually a bit larger...maybe 6 qt?) Put a spoonful of pasta sauce (~1/4 cup) into the bottom of the crock and swirl it around to cover. Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break them to make a complete layer). Smear ricotta and then pesto onto the noodles. Add a handful or two of spinach. Top with some Parmesan and mozzarella. Repeat until you've run out of ingredients. The spinach is fluffy so you're going to have to squish in down to make it all fit. Before closing the pot, put 1/4 cup water into the empty pasta sauce jar and close and shake. Pour this saucy water over the top of everything. Now cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3-4. You'll know it's done when the top layer begins to brown and the cheese is melted. It will also pull a bit away from the sides. Taste-test a noodle to check for texture. Uncover and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

This was a good one and if you know me than you know how I love to mix spinach into anything and everything. I have 2 crock pots and one cooks a bit hotter than the other. Next time I make this I will use my "less hot" crock pot. I think I'll also be lazy and used frozen boxed spinach because....HELLO! 5 hours later I had my fresh spinach all rinsed clean. Luke at this really well. Leta did too after she won the battle of "I will feed myself with this spoon and my fingers." I recommend removing the shirt of the almost 18 month old baby before losing this battle.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

2011-06-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Pizza Dough
Olive oil for brushing
1/2 lb asparagus
4 oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
3 oz. spreadable garlic herb cheese (I used a goat cheese because that's what my grocery store had, and may I just say....YUM!)
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 500 for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Brush very lightly with olive oil. Trim the woody ends of the asparagus and discard. Cut of the tips. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the spears into ribbons. Place the sliced mozzarella over the pizza dough in an even layer. Pile on the asparagus shavings. Dot the surface of the pizza with the garlic herb cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the pizza to the preheated stone and bake until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 12 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing and serving.

This was so good. The goat cheese was definitely the highlight and my bites that included that were my favorite. I started out with the vegetable peeler, but realized I too lazy to put in that kind of time so I got out the food processor which made much quicker work of it. I would recommend drying the shaved asparagus on a paper towel to remove excess moisture. And DON'T skip the salt and pepper. It really added something to this pizza. Everyone really liked this one (Luke didn't eat well this night either, and I cannot convince him that he likes asparagus, but he did eat a few bites and probably would've done better if he could have picked around the asparagus better. Kyle even really liked it even though it was a "meatless" meal, which he is generally not a fan of. Next time I make this I will add chicken to it because that's how us carnivorous Soper's roll.

Baked Spaghetti Casserole

2011-06-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Baked Spaghetti Casserole

1lb ground beef (I used 99% lean ground turkey breast
1 small onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5oz) can crushed tomatoes ( I had petite diced on hand and used that)
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (omitted b/c I didn't have any)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar (omitted...not because I didn't have sugar, but I figured we'd never miss it!)
1/2 lb spaghetti
1 cup cottage or ricotta cheese (I used low fat ricotta since I had several recipes this meal plan that called for ricotta)
3 oz cream cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 egg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

In a large skillet, brown meat with onion, pepper, and garlic. Stir in tomatoes, sauce and seasonings. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes before removing from heat. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti ALMOST al dente. Drain. In a large bowl stir together the ricotta, cream cheese, egg and Parmesan until combined. Add spaghetti and stir well. Pour into a prepared casserole dish. Spoon the meat sauce on top of the spaghetti and cover with the shredded cheese. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and golden.

I, in particular, enjoyed this one. I happened to make it on a night where neither child ate the best, but I have to say I think it's one that they SHOULD like (but hey, what do I know?). It made a lot and I got to have several days of left overs from this, not that I minded THAT one bit.

Pizza Penne Bake

2011-06-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Pizza Penne Bake

1/2 lb short cut pasta
3/4 cup pizza sauce (1/2 of a small jar)
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
About 30 pepperonis, cut in half (I used the 70% less fat turkey pepperoni)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup pizza blend cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cook the pasta as directed. Save 1/4 cup of the liquid then drain. To the same saucepan, add the reserved cooking liquid and the pizza sauce and whisk together. Then stir in the chopped peppers and halved pepperonis. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes then add the drained pasta. Toss together. Sprinkle with Parmesan and then the cheese blend. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese begins to melt. Season with salt and pepper.

We all really liked this one. Luke and Leta picked around the peppers and I think next time I make it I'll add 1/2 an onion, diced. It was quick and easy, which is always a bonus in my book.

Meal Plan

2011-06-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

I only have one meal left to make on this meal plan and that's to grill chicken. I was in the mood to try new recipes this time so several are ones that I found online.

Meal Plan

Crustless Quiche
Pizza Penne Bake
Baked Spaghetti Casserole
Shaved Asparagus Pizza
Slow Cooker Pesto Spinach Lasagna
Calzones
Ham & Ricotta Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Italian Omelet
Hamburgers
Grilled Chicken

It's been so hot lately (it was at least 100 today) and I've been so hot (poor Kyle is hearing much more than his fair share of whining) that I've been making TONS of smoothies, especially for lunch. And they're good and good for me so I guess that's what's known as a "win-win" situation.

Catch Up!

2011-05-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

I went to the Dr. today. I'm 30 weeks along and the baby is measuring 29 weeks so take THAT Walmart checker lady who felt the need to go on and on and on and ON.... about how big I am and how I look like I'm going to pop, and WHEN am I going to have that baby, and has the doctor given you any idea how big that baby is? I mean, how much does he weigh?!?!?! Seriously. On her behalf, she was young and had most likely never been pregnant herself. This is what I told myself over and over. Not only did I not resort to sarcasm, I don't THINK I even gave her any dirty looks. Shanna was there though, so she might have a different opinion. I feel that the square footage of my mansion in heaven got expanded.

More Dr. talk. One time I told mom that I thought I was Dr. Shanbour's favorite patient. She quickly assured me that I wasn't, that it was merely a sign that he's a good Dr. Well today Shanbour told me I was one of his favorites, so BOO YEA MOM! *wink*. So I told him that story and he admitted it was probably some of both. Good bedside manner + he just thinks I'm wonderful *more winking*. Really I think all it would take is a patient to consistently be on time and follow instructions. I did NOT tell him I just got back from a weekend trip that was longer than an 1 1/2 drive...which according to him is a no no after 28 weeks.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend at the lake. I excepted that lake to be super packed because of the holiday, but it wasn't at all, which was nice. The water was COLD. Luke was the only one who thought it was just fine. Brandon and Kyle went early Friday morning and got the boat in the water, Shanna and I brought the kids up after their naps. Luke woke up Saturday morning throwing up, but without a fever. We weren't really sure what to do. No fever, but sick, and has been begging to go to the lake since before last October...so we stayed and he was fine after his nap Saturday afternoon. Now we're just hoping no one else catches it. So far we're all fine.

I am now keeping my laundry in the laundry basket and putting that on Luke's activity table so I don't have to bend over to get the clothes to fold them. I find the floor is getting farther and farther away these days.

New Stuff!

2011-05-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

With the upcoming arrival of Baby Max we have had some "rearranging" going on. When we built the house the floor plan called for a separate single car and a half garage. We debated on what to do with that space. We didn't feel that we needed 4 car slots, so we knew we wanted to do something else with it. Gym or guest room was the debate. Gym won, but as it turns out, guest room should have. So Kyle headed up the project of converting our gym (treadmill plus my dinky "girl" free weights room) to a guest room. It's finished. It's been finished for a while, but I was getting curtains to go in there so decided to wait to post pictures. I'll have to post more once we get our guest room furniture moved into there. I must say Kyle did a great job (and I didn't do half bad on the curtains myself *wink*). He picked out/did EVERYTHING. The only thing I did was the curtains.

The closed door on the left is a closet. Then there is just a cupboard with counter and the open door on the right leads to the bathroom.

View in the bathroom from the doorway.

Linen closet to the right and the shower. Was very hard to get good picture of this side of the room.

Luke's new curtains. He's not too sure about them still. He didn't want new curtains. He liked the brown sheet we had draped over his window with the hole in it.

Leta's room. I LOVE these curtains. I should've taken a close up so you could see the pattern better. Maybe I'll do that someday, but not today, she's already down for the night.

Max's future room, but still set up as the guest room.

Chicken and Bacon Florentine

2011-05-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from the 5 Dollar Dinner website and tried it out tonight. It was really good and everyone ate it really well. And for once, Luke didn't try to pick out the spinach. That's why I love frozen spinach. It's much harder to avoid *grin*. I altered her recipe slightly. And I'm sure I paid more for my ingredients than she did.

1/2 lb short cut pasta (I used rotini, and I always buy the Barilla Plus pasta brand)
1 lb diced chicken
4 slices Jennie-O Turkey Bacon, chopped
1 (15oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Basil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper to taste
2 T olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Cook bacon, and chicken and cook. Add spices, tomatoes and spinach and cooked pasta. Heat through and toss with olive oil. Serve with Parmesan.

Here's a link to her original post: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/07/chicken-bacon-florentine-pasta.html

Seen and heard

2011-05-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

So. Tonight in the car we get started talking about Coyotes. I'm not sure how we got on the subject, but we did.. So Kyle is telling Luke what the coyotes do, with Luke asking 'why' every time Kyle pauses to catch his breath. They chase deer - WHY?- because they're hungry. And they chase rabbits, and they're afraid of people etc. Pause in the conversation.

Luke: What else do the daddies do?
Me and Kyle: Long confused pause. Kyle figures it out first.
K: Did you think I was saying Kyle's?
L: Yes.
K: I was saying COYOTES. It's two different words. Coyotes, or Coyotees. Not Kyle's. I don't chase deer.
M: Laugh uncontrollably until we get home.

So. It was definitely much more funny in the car.

On another unrelated note. I was trying to catch a picture of the back of Leta's hair. She's got some curls. I only got one halfway decent picture. The others were blurry. So. Here are the cute curls. Sorry this picture is upside down. It's not that way on my computer, but for some unknown reason it's uploading to blogspot that way.

Ham & Potato Frittata

2011-05-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

Tried out a new recipe tonight. It was good and everyone ate it well. After Luke got going. And after I realized Leta wanted to run the spoon and feed herself. By Herself, thank you very much.

Ham and Potato Frittata
1 onion
1 green pepper
3 T oil
3 potatoes
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2-3 cups cubed ham
2 c shredded cheese
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin

Dice onion, green pepper and peel and dice potatoes. Add onion, pepper, and potatoes to large skillet with hot oil. Add S&P to taste Cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently until the potatoes are tender and starting to brown. Layer ham and cheese on top of the potatoes. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and remaining seasonings. Pour into skillet. place in the oven at 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes until set. Let rest out of oven about 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

If you don't have an oven proof skillet, you can prepare this in a casserole dish.

This should be a relatively cheap meal to make, given you get your cheese at a decent price. And with grocery prices what they have been? A nice inexpensive meal is just what the accountant ordered.

Busy Day

2011-04-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

Rant. My dishwasher is broken. Again. We have been dealing with this silly thing since the end of December. I have had enough. There will be the purchase of a new dishwasher this week. The end.

Today was gorgeous!!! Kyle did a TON of yard work today and Luke and Leta loved "helping" him.

We kept finding grub worms in the dirt and Luke liked to dig them out and throw them in the trash. This particular load of dirt + grub worm did NOT make it to the trash and Luke and Leta had fun watching the grub worm. I kept trying to get Luke to touch the grub worm or pick it up, but he wouldn't. Then Leta poked it with her finger. Since Big Brother can't be outdone by The Baby, he poked it too.

After my dishwasher was discovered to be broken we decided to hurry and change and run into town to look for a new one and eat at a pizza place we've heard about but never tried. Well, the appliance store closed at 5 and we got there at 5:10. So, off to Jo's Famous Pizza. Here's Leta.

A.DOR.A.BLE!!! Right?!? And, she's almost as cute as her cousin Amelia was when she wore this outfit! Thanks for lending it to us Audra! Anyway, at JFP they give the kids a little ball of pizza dough to play with while waiting for their pizza to get ready. GREAT IDEA! It definitely kept our kids entertained and me busy trying to not let Leta eat hers. We got the "Mediterranean" which included, mozzarella, spinach, chicken, sun dried tomatoes and feta. It was so good! Luke was particularly fascinated with the guy baking the pizzas. He would pull one out and then set it on the counter and shout, "order up!" which Luke thought sounded like he was saying, "Bert!". Luke likes anything that involves yelling and/or being loud so he yelled "order up!" several times during the night. He was also curious if that man ever got tired of cooking pizzas. Kyle and I think he was the owner of this particular location (the original is in Purcell, OK and opened in 1962...I think). So when we were leaving I took Luke over to ask him if he ever got tired of making pizza's. They had a nice little conversation and I think Luke just may have a job there yelling "order up!" in a year or two. He also spontaneously said, "You make yummy pizzas!" which made me feel good. Good manners without prompting?!? Dear Diary! I also bought some of their pizza dough and came home and put it in the freezer for future use.

Here are L&L playing after their baths tonight. "Mommy! Two are riding!"

Our Favorite Strawberry Pie

2011-04-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Last night we had Grandpa Wilbur and Georgeanne over for supper. It had been MUCH to long since we've seen them. Between life, this-that-and-the-other, laziness and WT's shingles...it's been since before Christmas! We should be ashamed of ourselves! But, it was good to see them, even if it was long over due.

Since they're aren't company, I never go to any extra work when they're coming over. But I did get inspired and make Our Favorite Strawberry Pie. My mom had mentioned that she had made some for my Grandma Olson's birthday and it put the idea in my brain. It is seriously so good. If you haven't had my mom's strawberry pie, you need to request it.

This pie isn't hard to make, or complicated but it does take time. But not necessarily a ton of time by you in the kitchen. There are several things that need to cool before you proceed and that makes this pie take a while to make. Don't start this one after lunch and think you'll be having it for supper that night.

Our Favorite Strawberry Pie

1 baked 9" pie shell
1 package (3 oz) softened (room temperature) cream cheese
1 qt. strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 T cornstarch
Whipped Cream

Spread the cream cheese in the bottom of the pie shell (make your own crust from scratch...you'll be happy you did). Choose the best half of the washed and hulled strawberries and place over cream cheese. Puree remaining berries thoroughly. Add enough water to the pulp to measure 1 1/2 cups. (I used more than 1 qt. strawberries and so I didn't have to add any water this time...YUM!) Blend sugar and cornstarch; stir into strawberry puree. Cook stirring constantly until the mixture boils for 1 minute. Cool. Pour over berries in the pie shell. Chill about 2+ hours. Decorate with whipped cream (again, make homemade...you won't regret it!!) before serving.

Look at me go!

2011-04-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

In a couple of ways. First of all, all this blogging lately?!? Crazy. Second, check out this project.

Trip to the Fire Sation

2011-04-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

Kyle gets home from California today so today was our last day for doing "something special". First we went to the library this morning for their toddler story time. This is not something special since we usually do this every week. But immediately AFTER we went to the fire station. Last time we went we just saw the fire trucks. Luke was about 1 1/2 years younger so that was perfect. This time, however, we got a whole tour of the station house, got to look at all the fire trucks AND we got to spray water out of the hose. We had two very good tour guides and I think they enjoyed the break from whatever they would've been doing as much as we did. Luke was not shy at all this time and couldn't wait to sit in the fire trucks and spent a great deal of time asking what every knob, button and lever did. But the best part was by far, spraying the water.

Looking at the heat sensor

"Whoa Mommy! Look at all the BIG TOOLS!"

Luke enjoyed sitting in the back but after a few minutes asked to go up where the big steering wheel was.

Leta wanted to do a lot of the things, but would chicken out at the last minute.

Luke loved spraying the water. He thought it was asking a lot to let others have a turn.

Karter

We went with Shanna and Karter and a random lady from the library and her granddaughter Sarah. It was fun to be in a little group.

Not as innocent as she looks...

2011-04-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

Who me?!?!?

Leta got put in first time out (laundry room with a closed door) tonight for pulling my hair. She hated every second (I was going to say minute, but about a minute was all she was in there) of it and came out a changed woman.

The Final Frenzy

2011-04-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Friday Leta had a bit of trouble with a tooth and the floor. Her lip got caught in the middle and it definitely lost. They have a little red wagon and Leta was straddling it and riding it like a car and got a little front heavy and it tipped forward and she fell off. Her poor lip bled and bled. There was blood running down her face and dripping off her chin...it bled for much longer than she cried. She's a tough old bird. So she's been sporting a fat lip since then and I have told that story too many times to count.

Leta in her dress this morning.

Luke and Leta before church this morning. Can you believe I got this picture in ONE, yes ONE take!?!?

The cutest 3 year old I've ever seen. (Sorry Solomon ;) )

I've talked before about how there is an opportunity at church for the boys to lead a prayer. Well it was Luke's turn again. And he did SUCH a good job. On the way to church I tried to prep him and tried to get him to tell me some ideas of some things he could say in his prayer. He wasn't helpful, so I said, "Well, what are you going to say?" to which he replied, "You'll just have to wait and see, Mommy!" I will gladly be the ridiculously obnoxious, overly-proud parent. He said thank you for church, bible class, the weather, Mommy (twice), Leta (two or three times), Baby Max (twice) and Daddy (twice) and Easter Sunday (twice). So I guess he did a good job other than being a little repetitive *smile*. He even wore a tie this morning and was excited about it, although it probably caused some confusion at church. He who wears the tie preaches, you know *wink*.

The Frenzy Continues

2011-04-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

Kyle is gone right now. He left Friday late afternoon to go to San Fransisco. He's touring Google HQ on Monday. When he booked the trip he didn't realize it was Easter weekend and he was bummed to miss "the bunny" with Luke so Kyle and "the bunny" made a deal and he delivered baskets to our house on Thursday morning.

Luke and Leta had fun finding their Easter baskets (that tricky bunny had hidden them!) They had bunny and chick and heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and then hunted for eggs around the house. Since the weather was kinda yucky that day I declared it a pajama day and we all stayed in our jammies all day long. Luke thought that was fun and told Kyle several times how he was in his jammies ALL DAY! I have to admit, I liked that part, too ;)

On another note, Friday morning the kids went to Body and Soul with me. Before we leave or Kyle leaves Luke HAS to give Kyle a hug and a kiss goodbye. Has to. Like if he forgets and we or Kyle leaves, he will remember and then flip out. I have found that a reminder so that this doesn't happen is best in the long run. So. We were getting ready to leave and I told Luke to go give Daddy a hug and a kiss good-bye. So Luke runs off to his office, says good-bye and come back. Leta watches all of this, and I could just tell by the look on her face she wanted to tell Daddy good-bye too. So I told her to go and off she went as fast as her little legs could carry her to the office and then came right back. It was so cute. It was way cuter than it seems than when I re-read this paragraph.

A Blogging Frenzy

2011-04-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday Kyle came home from the gym with news of exotic animals in a local parking lot. We decided we'd go look before church. Not too long later I decided I was too exhausted to make supper, so we made an evening of it. After naps and a little play time we left and headed to see what exotic animals they had.

It was a semi trailer that hauled the animals around, mostly as a fundraiser for helping to save exotic animals. They had all baby animals. They had a 3 1/2 month old liger (turns out Napoleon Dynamite was onto something...), some animal in the raccoon family that's like a cross between a raccoon and an anteater, a ring-tailed lemur, 2 baby tigers, a baby bear and a baby kangaroo. You could pay per person to go in with a trainer and pet one of the babies. We were only allowed to choose between the tigers, bear and kangaroo. The liger (at 3 1/2 months old) was already too old/strong. We chose the tigers since there were two of them.

Leta was scared of the tigers. But after they had their bottles they fell right to sleep, and one fell asleep right by us and after a while she did reach out and pat it a couple of times. I got the most petting in. Kyle took pictures, Leta was scared, and Luke had to look at all the tigers toys as well. Luke had a good time and I really liked it as well. They were so cute. And their little roars were quite funny.

Great Day

2011-04-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was CRAZY windy here. When I woke up in the morning I thought it was storming outside because of all the wind. No rain, just wind. But today, TODAY was perfect. High in the mid-seventies and no wind after noon.

We started off out morning a little rough. Luke woke up early (6:30) and was cranky this morning because of it but as soon as we loaded up and headed to Oklahoma Christian for their annual Easter Egg Hunt, he was all smiles. Luke had fun playing in the moon bounce before the hunt started. They had the hunt broken into smaller areas for varying age groups. Leta was in the 0-2 category and Luke 3-5, so Kyle hunted with Luke and I hunted with Leta.

As good as it got trying to get a picture of the two of them!

After the hunt we ate at Jason's Deli with Brandon, Shanna, and Karter and then headed home for nap time. As soon as the kids got up they were back outside playing. Luke has been begging Kyle to take him fishing so Kyle and I decided that today was the perfect day for that as well. Luke was so excited to get to go fishing. After getting off to a slow start with the fish, I went and got some corn to use for bait and Kyle found a new fishing location, then managed to find "the sweet spot". Luke would no sooner get this bobber in the water, than he'd get a bite. He ended up catching 5 fish in all. He did much better this year than last. Last year the flopping fish scared him a bit, but this year he didn't mind that at all. He didn't want to touch them when they were flopping but would touch and hold them otherwise. Leta (who loves the dogs but is afraid to touch them) even touched a fish.

After fishing we headed back to the house and Kyle fired up the fire pit and we roasted hotdogs and ate outside for supper. A little more playtime then bath time and bed. A fun, but busy day.

Leta update: Leta has been coughing and having a runny nose lately. At first I thought maybe she was teething, but wasn't really needing so much tylenol, so then I thought maybe all the pollen in the air was irritating her sinuses etc. Turns out she was teething. I knew she'd been working on her 1 year molars (swollen gums) but nothing had popped through. Well, her bottom right and top left molars have poked through and there is a "horn" on her upper right that is so large I can't believe there is gum still covering it!

So she now has at least 10 teeth.

How old is Leta?

2011-04-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

I get asked this question a lot. And lately my answer always is: She just turned one. Until I realized yesterday that she is 15 months old. She didn't JUST turn one. How did this happen?!?!

She had her 15 month old well baby check up today. She's teething/has a cold etc so is not really feeling her best today anyway, but on top of that got 3 shots that she wasn't particularly fond of either. Bad day for babies at the Soper house!

She weighs 19lbs 8oz which puts her in the bottom 5% percentile (but we're used to that...LUKE!) Speaking of Luke...I weighed him there today and he weighed in at a whopping 30 lbs *wink*. Leta is 30 inches long (25-50% ) and her head is 50%.

She is throwing pretty good little fits and we've been given the all clear for disciplining her "angry reactions" that go along with fit throwing. She bangs her head on the floor during her fits, which I just ignore and figure she's disciplining herself.

Leta 15 months old. She loves her baby.

Luke at 15 months.

Aunt Mary's Chocolate Cake

2011-04-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

This is some seriously good chocolate cake. Aunt Mary sure knows what she's talking about. I don't have an Aunt Mary....and I don't think my mom does either. But I got this one from my mom, and who knows where SHE got it from, but someone, somewhere has an Aunt Mary who can make some pretty good chocolate cake.

Aunt Mary's Chocolate Cake
1 cup sour milk
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 T baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 T cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Mix the first 3 ingredients together. Add the remaining ingredients (minus water) stirring well. Add boiling water, stir and pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Top with chocolate frosting.

Max Quinten Soper

2011-04-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry the pictures of Max are so tiny. All the others we got prove he's a boy. There is no doubt. Kyle scanned these for me and he has been beyond crazy busy lately. His website dropped in Google and he's been a mad man trying to figure it out and fix things. So anyway, that's why they aren't bigger.

Good Morning

2011-04-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

Our mornings go a little something like this:

Between 7 and 7:30am we hear the pitter patter of little feet. If we're lucky, those little feet go to the living room and play quietly. If we're not so lucky, those little feet get in bed with us and "snuggle". This continues until Luke starts whining, "Daddy, I'm hungry. Daddy, let's go eat breakfast" etc. The boys go into the kitchen and start eating their cereal. I lay in bed until I hear the rattle of the crib bars and Leta's yelling from upstairs usually around 7:30, 7:45 if I'm lucky, which I'm not very often.

I go upstairs and get her. I put her on her changing table to take off her sleep blanket. The first thing she does is grab her bottle of Tylenol and hold it while she points to the mouse on the painting that hangs on the wall nearby. Then she points to the balloons the mouse is holding and last at the feet on the baby sampler my mom made her. The mouse painting is one that my Grandma Key painted for me "way back" in 1982. It's currently getting another round of love.

After Leta's out of her sleep blanket we go and pick out her clothes for the day. She fusses to get a pair of shoes (which she never does because her play shoes are already down stairs.) Then we go to Luke's room where we get his clothes for the day. In his top drawer I keep his socks and underwear. Leta is always hopeful that I'll get a pair of socks for him because she loves to carry them downstairs for me. Which is funny to me because Luke loved the same thing at her age. Lately, it's been flip flop weather, so no socks. Leta ha to "settle" for underwear, which doesn't disappoint her at all because she immediately grabs them from me and clutches them to herself and hugs them. Yes, that's right. Leta hugs Luke's underwear every. single. morning.

Then we go put back the tylenol bottle and head downstairs for our own breakfast.

Meal Plan? huh? What's that?!?

2011-03-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

You all probably thought meal plans were a thing of the past, but I assure you...I HAVE been keeping up with them, I just haven't been keeping up with blogging about them.

Today Kyle turns 2 3's. 33. Luke is very excited since he's three and daddy's two threes. Exciting manly stuff. We'll be having homemade Polynesian pizza for supper with strawberry shortcake for dessert. There might be a present or two for Kyle if he behaves himself. He already got a vegetable pan for the grill for his birthday. He's excited to take it to the lake house.

Now, on the the important stuff, right?

Meal Plan
Spaghetti
Breakfast for supper (I'm thinking waffles)
Grilled Chicken
Grilled Steak
Shish-K-Bobs
Pizza and Strawberry Shortcake
Greek Chicken Pasta
Poppyseed chicken
Cheater Chicken Divan
Crockpot Tomato Basil Chicken

I was in the mood for grilling when I planned this menu. We'll see if I'm in the mood for grilling when it comes to be supper time in the next few weeks =)

Fontina Ham Stromboli

2011-03-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

Fontina Ham Stromboli

1 large onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 loaves (1lb each) frozen bread dough, thawed
1/2 cup prepared pesto, divided
2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 lb sliced deli ham
1/2 lb thinly sliced prosciutto or additional deli ham
1/2 lb sliced fontina cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Cool. On two greased baking sheets, roll each loaf of dough into a 16in. X 10 in. rectangle. Spread each with 2 T pesto; sprinkle with onion mixture and basil. Arrange the ham, prosciutto and fonina cheese over each rectangle to within 1/2 in. of edges.
Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long sie; pinch seams to seal and tuck ends under.
Brush with remaining pesto and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool fro 5 minutes before slicing.

I made this recipe for the first time several months ago. Long enough that I don't really know when I made it for sure. But it's been a while. But I do remember I used my SIL Audra's recipe for french bread . It's easy and good and makes two loaves, which is perfect for this. I love this recipe for a variety of reasons.
1. It was a hit with everyone in the family.
2. It was easy and quick to make. Especially if you're using store-bought frozen dough! But try it with Audra's French bread recipe first. YUMMY!!!
3. Our family only at half a loaf. The other I baked and then wrapped in saran wrap and foil and froze. Two meals in 1...that's my kinda cookin'!

We just ate the other loaf Saturday night when we had the Hayes' over. It did feed us all (4 adults 3 kids) with no left overs perfectly.

Pasta Ashley

2011-03-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

Pasta Ashley
serves 6

1lb crawfish tails, peeled shrimp or shredded chicken breast (I used chicken breast)
1 pint of half and half
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 stick of butter (I used 2 T instead)
4 green onions, chopped
2 tsp of New Orleans Gourmet Foods BBQ Shrimp Mix (or some other Cajun BBQ seasoning)
1 lb cooked short cut pasta
Parmesan cheese (opt.)

Melt the butter in a large pot and saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the meat and saute for approximately 5 minutes or until the meat is translucent. Add the half and half and stir. Then add the BBQ Shrimp Mix 1 tsp. at a time, taste and add more if desired. (I desired. I added the full 2 tsp.) Cook for 5-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Add the pasta and toss well. Add the cheese and stir. Let it sit for 10 minutes over very low heat, stirring often. Garnish with green onions.

We're having another....

2011-03-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

BOY! Luke is excited, since he got what he wanted. However, he thinks the new baby's name should be Barker, which I hate to break it to him...isn't happening.

Luke has been into talking about seeing the baby and snuggling the baby etc. so when we had our big ultra sound on Tuesday, of course, I wanted him to go...so we all went. Kyle had his hands full holding Leta and keeping Luke's hands off of everything in the room.

When we finally got home I asked Luke if he liked seeing pictures of the new baby. His reply? "I liked it, but I like seeing the stuff in the office better. I want to be a Doctor so I can touch it." Fine with me! He can take care of us in our old age.

Speaking of names...we've decided to move on from the letter "L". So if let me hear your "M" name suggestions. I have one that I like, but Kyle is still working on coming around.

Luke's first public prayer

2011-02-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

Luke has his buddy Karter (20 months-ish)

Luke built a snow man!

Pants heads!

At church on Sunday mornings we all start off together. The kids go to the front row and are led in some fun VBS type songs. Darrel Sears, our preacher, usually leads this and does a really great job. Luke always sits in the front row and sucks his thumb. He doesn't sing. He doesn't stand. He doesn't do the actions. But he requests the songs from me at home. And one week we were late...you'd've thought the end of the world was coming Luke almost cried because he missed singing the songs. He loves it. We have been very careful to not be late since. When they're done singing, one of the kids leads a prayer and then they all disperse to their classes. Darrel asks the child ahead of time. Luke, of course, doesn't know this so two weeks ago, when Darrel called whoever's turn it was to say the prayer up to the front to lead the church in prayer, Luke shoots out of his seat and asks. The next week? He does the same thing. So Darrel asks Luke after worship last week if he'd like to say the prayer next week. Luke *I think* is the youngest to lead the prayer. Another boy who is 4 has led it. Sometimes they lead the prayer on their own, sometimes they have help from Darrel. And it's always very sweet and one of my favorite times of worship. I love that we are a part of a church where our boys have the opportunity to learn to serve in this way.

Anyway, I was a bit nervous about Luke leading the prayer. He's not typically a large group person and tends to be shy in those situations. So I thought maybe he would feel shy and end up not saying anything, or speak so quietly that the microphone wouldn't even be able to pick up his words. I had intended to practice with him this morning, but forgot. Kyle didn't though! He tried to help Luke, but Luke didn't want help. Show time comes. And Luke did FABULOUS!!! His little voice sounded so sweet. I wish I had it recorded or at least remembered it word for word. He did it all by himself and made his proud mama tear up (probably pregnancy hormones ;) )

Dear God,

Thank you for the nice weather we got. Thank you for God. Thank you for church. Thank you for my family. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

I'm pretty sure he said thank you for one or two other things that I've forgotten. I know I've already said it, but he did such a good job!

And Leta was cute today too. She flirted with every man that walked past our table at Qdoba.

Not my recipe, but thine...

2011-02-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

We had the yummiest soup tonight at bible study. Leta ate two bowls. While I was feeding her those two bowls the rest of the crockpot somehow disappeared. Nicki scraped out the bottom for 1/2 a bowl for me, but then Leta didn't finish her 2nd bowl so I had that, and Luke didn't finish his, so I had that, too. So, all together I had a bowl full. It was good. And the best part? I didn't even make it, but I now have the recipe!!!

Thanks Beth Sears!!!!

Cheeseburger Soup

2 lb. hamburger, browned
2 C rice, cooked
1/4 C onion, chopped
3 C Chicken Broth
1/2 C carrots, grated
1/3 C celery, chopped
1- 8 oz. Sour Cream with chives
2 soup cans of milk
1 lb. Velveeta, cut into chunks
1- 11 oz. cheddar cheese soup
salt and pepper

Combine broth, carrots, onion, and celery. Let simmer 15 minutes. Then add hamburger, rice, soup, cheese and milk. Simmer only. Do not boil. Right before serving, add sour cream and stir until just warmed. Garnish with green onions, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Seen and Heard

2011-02-27T11:14:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to the Hayes' for a yummy birthday supper. Luke thought he wasn't hungry, but had to sit there until we were all done eating. He finally leans over to me and says, "Mommy, I love you. But most of al I want to get down."

This afternoon:
Kyle to Luke: Go to time out.
Luke: I have a tutu on.
Kyle: You still have to go to time out.

Seen and Heard

2011-01-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

Immediately after waking up from his nap...

Luke: Is it summer now?
Me: No. Not for a long time.

5 minutes later while getting him his snack.

Luke: I'm just a cracker man today mom.

Haystack Cookies

2011-01-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

Again, the masses have asked. And again, I deliver. And by masses I mean 1 person...just like last time =)

Haystack Cookies
1/4 c light corn syrup
1/4 c honey
1/2 c peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 c corn flakes
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c mini chocolate chips (opt)

In a saucepan, stir together corn syrup, honey and peanut butter. Bring to a boil, the remove from heat and stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Pour onto cornflakes (which are in a large bowl) and stir until cereal is well coated. Drop by the heaping teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Refrigerate to set. Doubles well.

I like them really chewy, so I always serve them cold. Also, you can make this with all honey. They end up slightly sweeter and and not quite as firm, but still very yummy.

Snippets

Seen and Heard

Prepare for cuteness!

2/6/12 Meal plan

Luke's great idea.

Well Child and Well Baby Check Up

Updates!

Leta's first Haircut! *Official*

Leta is TWO!

New Recipe Page!

December 2011

Seen and heard...again!

Seen and Heard

Just for you Michael

2nd tooth!

Already!?!??

Gobble Gobble!

Well Child and Well Baby Check Up

Comparison Time!

Granola!

Cute pics and a few runs!

Trick or Treat!

Knock Knock Night

5 miles!

Remembered!

Seen and Heard

Luke's tummy

Grandpa Wilbur is 80!

Luke is 4!

The "long run" becomes "base miles"

Last 4 mile "long run"

Another Saturday Long Run!

Goin' on a Bear Hunt

Goin' on a Bear Hunt

New Gear!

New Gear

4 Mile Long Run

4 Mile Long Run

Today's Run

Today's Run

New plan of attack

New plan of attack

And so it begins...

And so it begins...

Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin

Sweet and Spicy Honey Grilled Shrimp

Baked Penne with Chicken, Broccoli, and Smoked Mozzarella

Honey Roasted Red Potatoes

Pictures!

Meal Plan

Rachel's Lake Brisket

The Comparison Game

2 months

And this is what I found....

And Now...

Max "Then"

Seen and Heard

Let's Compare.

So I had a baby the other day...

Leta's first Haircut!

Kyle "Watermelon Man" Soper

Playtime!

Independence Day

Seen and Heard

Painting!

Luke's Prayer

Seen and Heard

Girls Night Out!

Visit from the "Regular Grandma"

Smoothie!!

Slow Cooker Pesto Spinach Lasagna

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Baked Spaghetti Casserole

Pizza Penne Bake

Meal Plan

Catch Up!

New Stuff!

Chicken and Bacon Florentine

Seen and heard

Leta's first Haircut! Official