Homemade hats :)

We've been stuck at the house for the past week, which means we have needed things to do.  Crocheting with the loom has been one thing that has really kept us busy!  The girls of course figured everyone in the house needed hats for the upcoming cold season.  

Without a doubt, Peterette was FIRST on the list ;)

Stuffies came second :)

They are so creative and talented!

One-pot Fajita Pasta = AMAZING!

Dinner all in one pot?  YES PLEASE!  It was so yummy! 

The one thing I can say is the servings on this is WAY off.  It says 3-5 servings...Either we eat tiny portions, or it needs to be adjusted because it will definitely feed us for two dinners.  Regardless, a keeper for sure :)

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 3–5 (whatever HAHA)

3 Tbsp. oil

3 chicken breasts, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

5 cups milk

4 cups penne pasta

1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat oil in a large pot over high heat.

Add chicken and cook until no pink is visible, then take the chicken out.

Add the bell peppers and onion, cooking until the onion is translucent.

Add the chicken back to the pot with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder, stirring until evenly coated.

Add the milk and the penne, stirring constantly to prevent any pasta from sticking.

***(I cut the milk by 1 cup because my chicken was really juicy and I had a ton of liquid in my pot already from it.  I figured I could always add another cup in if my philosophy was wrong...It turned out perfect I think without it though!)*** 

Cook for about 8-10 minutes until pasta is cooked and the milk has reduced to a thick sauce that coats the pasta.

Add the cheese and mix until melted.

Serve!

Revelation 2:25

Last night at prayer meeting, we read this verse and it really hit me.  Especially with all the concern about the upcoming election in a couple weeks...

"But that which ye have already hold fast till I come."

He's got this whole thing :)

Really odd allergy..

A year or so again I was extremely disappointed to find out that I had a sensitivity to cloves.  Especially this time of year, I LOVE pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie...everything pumpkin!  In most cases every one of those recipes include cloves as a spice.  It started out with my throat just feeling off.  Over the year it progressed into my throat starting to close. 

Last week I decided I was no longer going to keep them in the house...I mean if I can't use them, why should I keep them around.  I had a bulk container of them here that I had bought from a whole foods store.  I also had a small container.  I decided to combine the two and just opening the container and smelling them led to my throat starting to close up.  A real bummer, but I'm really glad I know!  

An allergy to cloves has got to be one of the oddest allergies though!

He is here!

He made his grand entrance yesterday morning around 9ish!  It amazes me that he actually came from that little chrysalis...He is so big.  Next time we do this, if we ever get the chance to do this again, I'm going to put it in a different container right off.  It was not the easiest to get him out of here and transferred to his new home for the next couple days.  

Now hopefully we can keep him alive until it gets nice out!

I think today is the day!

Our monarch has been moved out of the playroom and is in the dining room now so we can keep an eye on him.  I'm thinking this is it!  He sure is pretty!  

He has really lousy timing though I have to add...it's supposed to rain/snow until at least Sunday.  Now the trick is to keep this thing alive until we can release him!  

Organization!

We have had these shelves for a while that needed to be put up and wood cut to fit on them.  Life gets pretty crazy around here and it just hasn't happened.  Saturday Doug decided it was time to put them up!  I love how much room it gives us!!!  We still have 2 shelves left to put up, but already it makes such a big difference in the garage.

The posters aren't in line with each other, which I'm not crazy about, but I had to work around the outlet.  We hung Doug's organization for his small screws and bolts and stuff, but we need to get a second one now :)

It feels good to get things done!

A random post

This is just some random pictures that I had on my phone that I wanted documented on here.  So last week, we had one day in school where I was on the phone with Mom and Madalyn was not wanting to even try to do a project she was suppose to do.  She wanted me to tell her what to write, draw, design, etc.  Her project was to make a Help Wanted Ad for something that she needed done.  Mom tried encouraging her and told her she wanted to see it later when she finished.  

About 30 minutes later she brought this...

I took a picture of it and sent it to my mom.  I got a message back from my dad asking when he could start.  Madalyn immediately started making plans of how we could make that work for them.  She was sure that Conways would let us use one of their cows... then she wanted to know if Molly counted as a calf.  Both girls were willing to give up their chore of feeding our animals so that Grandpa would have something to do.  The subject of room and board got brought up and the girls quickly decided they would give up their beds...They love their family!  

Then there was this random picture...Doug is not sleeping, he is watching TV, but Madalyn is passed out!

I don't know why...

...God is so good to us.

Our world is full of so much sadness...and here I sit, spoiled rotten!

There are kids I here about every day that live in a home where they are not cared for, unloved, hungry and in need of a bath and some clean clothes.  My heart aches when I hear about it, but I really can't imagine it.  I never went without, my parents made sure of it.  Mom was always home and there whenever I needed anything, and Dad worked hard to provide fore our family and came home and still took time to wrestle, play dodgeball indoors, play board games, take us on camping, hiking and biking trips, etc.  

I hear of marriages every day that are falling apart, full of anger and hatred, and sometimes even abuse.  Some feel trapped so they stay and put up with it, others leave and try to make it on their own.  Here I sit, happily married to the man who fully completes me.  The man who works his tail off to make sure we have what we need and again comes home ready to keep on giving of himself. 

Then there are those who are getting ready to say goodbye to the love of their lives...we recently got news that one of Doug's coworkers is in those shoes.  Her husband is in his mid to late 30's, has cancer, and has just been sent home on hospice to die.  They have 4(ish) year old twin boys, that are going to grow up without a dad...Mom is going to have to do this on her own, while grieving and trying to be strong for her kids.   

It really makes you sit back and wonder why me?  Why am I so blessed???!!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT complaining.  

I try my best to not let a day go by that I take what God has blessed me with for granted.  

Another new "step" at church...

Let's face it, there are always things that need doing around church, but it has been nice having the BIG project done now.  As winter approaches, we did need stairs built to gain access to the new section without having to walk through the auditorium or the outside of the building which are our 2 choices right now.  Saturday we started by cutting a hole in the floor and putting the stairs in.  I have never been around a stair building project before so it was interesting to see it all come together!  They turned out great!  

I'm not sure how long it will take for the railing to come in, but hopefully we can get the rest of it finished next weekend.

The most PATIENT bunny...

I think this rabbit should get a prize for being so laid back!  The girls are constantly dressing her up and she doesn't even care.  She hops around like nothing is up.  Last night she laid in Madalyn's lap while we skyped with my parents for about 20 mins without moving a muscle.  She takes a little more planning when we want to leave for a couple days, but she really is pretty nice. 

Burrville Cider Mill

I can't believe we are on our second field trip already this year!  

For this one, we headed over to a nearby cider mill and the kids got to learn how cider is made.  It's pretty neat because one of the owners homeschooled/is homeschooling and is really used to doing these trips.  She did a great job!  We kept our tradition of a group picture, although this time some parents joined and we probably should have gotten one picture with everyone in there...Oh well...next time!

I couldn't see much from the back, but I could hear all the little voices asking questions because they were too excited to wait for the next step.  I love when they "get" a field trip and love it!

My kids were claimed by another family ;)

...and since I didn't have a picture of myself in there, here is a dumb one :)  I had just finished taking the group picture, when I looked up and saw David Cross had a camera coming back at me, so this is the look he got LOL ;)

Our new friend...

After our last adventure with trying to watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, I was in no hurry to try it again.  Last Saturday when we were over at Uncle Mike's, his two boys and the two girls found 3 monarch caterpillars.  They were pretty big so I figured it wouldn't be long before they made their way into a chrysalis.  I still had my fears that we would kill another one LOL...

One night he went into a "J" position and the next day we had one of these!

Now we wait :)  

At least this one we can set free and we don't have to winterize him/her!