Superman

Daniel has a fascination with Super heroes: Bibleman, Superman, and Spiderman. We are particular about what our kids watch so he has yet to see any Superman or Spiderman cartoons. JP found a DVD at Wal-mart on the $1 rack with the old (I'm talking very old) Superman cartoons from the 40s. He bought it and we watched it first. He was off on Saturday so he suprised Daniel with it. JP remembers when he and his brother Curtis would watch these on Saturday morning. So I am not sure who enjoyed it more.

Tera and Daniel on the Scenic Bike Trail

This is our frequent walk and I just happened to take my camera. The flowers were in bloom and the kids were too cute.

VBS

The church we are attending had a weekend VBS July 20-22. The kids had a blast and we got a break.

Sesame Street Quiz

I'm not so sure that 5 questions can really assess who you are as a person but it's fun anyway!

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Rookie Cookie Bakers and Mulch Spreaders

Tera mixing the batter
Daniel sad because his apron feels like a dress!
The finished product made in mini tube pans.
Tera and Daniel helping Daddy spread mulch.

My children are so versatile. They can bake, spread mulch, pitch fits, you name it and they are game (well maybe not for cleaning their rooms but oh well, they have to be normal in some areas).

We made Rookie Cookies' Blueberry-Lemon Breakfast Cake (you know that little mouse on the comic page that gives you recipes). I try not to think about the fact that a rat is giving me tips on what to cook.

Here's the recipe:



1 (18 oz) lemon cake mix

1 (6-8 oz) plain yogurt

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Round tube cake pan

Cooking spray



1. Combine cake mix, yogurt and eggs (do not add oil and water)

2. Blend until moist, then beat 2 minutes at medium speed.

3. Gently stir in blueberries.

4. Spray tube pan. Pour batter into tube pan

5. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

Let me say do not try any other pan but a tube pan. I will not say how I know this but you will have a big mess and a cake with the middle raw.

Makes a light cake that tastes like a lemon blueberry muffin.

Bike Trail

I have wanted to post pictures of the bike trail less than 15 minutes from our house. The view is awesome, but today I remembered to take my camera and there was so much fog you couldn't even see the mountains. Oh well, you'll have to settle for pictures of the kids and Buddy. Buddy loves the bike trail. This is the closest he ever gets to wagging his tail. He is happiest on the bike trail. We try to go most days and walk around 1.5 miles. It is awesome!

Pics of my Special Prayer Shawl

This was made by my mother-in-law for my birthday (my favorite color is green). It is just so beautiful and so soft. It can cover my whole body. I love it.

Thanks so much, Mom!

Manic Blogging

I feel very manic when it comes to blogging-what I mean by that is sometimes I don't have anything to say and other times like today-I might blog 3 or 4 posts. Very manic.



JP has been off of work this week so we have been doing things that can only be done during the day- (Daniel's immunization for school - 3 shots; Registering the kids for homeschooling with the school system, Getting library cards, Taking the dog for a bath at the kennel, and the various other major jobs around the house- replacing a ceiling fan, replacing a leaky faucet, weeding and putting mulch down on the front flower beds, etc.) It doesn't sound much like a week off.



We celebrated my birthday a week late on Tuesday. I am really into Americana puzzles so Tera gave me one and JP got me a puzzle mat that lets you roll your puzzle up and move it around. Daniel gave me a silicone muffin pan that will fit in our small oven. JP also got me some cool new kitchen gadgets- a sifter (I have always wanted one), a frosting spatula and a new cheese grater and saute pan. Before you give him a hard time, I really wanted and asked for all these items. He also got me the new Natalie Grant CD. I received some really nice cards from my family, which included very generous monetary gifts which I'm saving for something (don't know what). It was an awesome birthday!

Quotes from Tera

We made cookies last week and I used it as a time to teach an object lesson on life. How there are "good ingredients" and "bad ingredients" that are mixed together to create God's desired outcome for our lives. Later we were in the car and I asked Tera to explain to JP in her words what we learned making cookies. Here was her profound thought:

"God takes the good stuff and the bad stuff and mixes it together to make something great"

How awesome is that!

On a lighter note, at breakfast this morning she said (while wearing a striped shirt):

"If I eat another bite, I'll pop a stripe right off my shirt." "Pop- there goes one; Pop- there goes another."

If you want to add meaning and laughter to your life- have some kids and then wait until they can talk-you'll laugh and cry-(sometimes both at the same time) for the rest of your life.

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays- Chicken Enchiladas

(I am still working on learning how to take good food pictures- these two were made from this one recipe)



Chicken Enchiladas



1-2 cups chicken chopped

1-2 cups grated cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup salsa (hot or mild)

1 cup chicken broth

4-8 soft tortillas (depending upon how many layers you want)

Note: The ingredients can be adjusted if you like more chicken and cheese.


Blend soups and broth. Add salsa and chicken. Layer tortillas, soup mixture and cheese in a casserole dish. Repeat layers until all mixture is used. Top with grated cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Tip: Use a round casserole dish to make layering tortillas easy.

www.tammysrecipes.com

Cranky and tired

I wish this title only summarized my kids today, but I think I am more cranky and tired than they are. For the past two weeks my husband has worked 10 hours days during the week and on Saturdays an 8 hour shift. This week is suppose to be the same. I know I am not working those long hours but I am tired. I am trying to do some organizational things around the house just to make the time go faster but I am finding just getting through the day's normal routine enough. We have heard this schedule will last until the end of the month but next week he has the whole week off. He already has a list of things he wants to accomplish around the house as well as some time just to himself. Our church is having a weekend VBS and this will be the first time in the last 5 years we have not worked at it. We are actually seriously thinking about dropping our kids off and going out to dinner. This will be the first date we have had in about 2 years. Isn't that sad? The sadder part-I am already feeling guilty about "skipping out" on being a worker even though we just started attending this church. But don't worry we will have our date-my husband is very adament. I need him to speak reason into my madness.

Today I sent the kids on a treasure hunt for school supplies lying around their room. My daughter is like me- the little pack rat. She keeps everything and if I do not go in every month and do an overhaul- we are in trouble. I wanted to see what we had and what we still needed to buy. I love buying school supplies but right now we do not have the extra space or money to hoard them. They did a good job hunting down rulers and calculators and things like that.

Well, tomorrow is my birthday 33 years old which might just be another reason why I feel so cranky today. We will be celebrating at a later date because of my husband's work schedule, but I have already received a very special gift from my mother-in-law (I will post a picture later, I am recharging my camera batteries today). My mom is sending me a special birthday box and my children are coming up with little presents on their own. So far I have gotten a picture of Daniel's feet and hands in green traced on notebook paper and Tera is always working on something. I will post pictures of my treasures later this week.

Check back tomorrow for Kitchen Tip Tuesdays. I will post Mrs. Eby's Chicken Enchilada recipe. It's delicious.

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays: One Trip Garbage Bowl

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays hosted by Tammy's Recipes blog: www.tammysrecipes.com

Garbage Bowl

I saw this on Rachel Ray one day on vacation or something. When you are cooking, keep a bowl on the counter where you can throw all your peelings, trash, etc. You make one trip to the trash when you are done. Works for me!

Tera's Sunday Afternoon Past-time

Every Sunday we've started getting the newspaper. Our local paper has two sets of comics- funnies and games- comics and commentaries. I have always been concerned about letting Tera read them because the comics can deal with adult issues. This way we only let her read the one designed for kids and as you can see- she enjoys it immensely.

Happy Fourth of July

Our red, white and blue babies!

Pictures from the last week

My finished products- the cake. It may not look like much to those professionals out there but I'm down right proud. I also completed puzzle # 2. Click on the picture for a cool close-up.