Notre Dame game

Notre Dame won!!!!!!

I didn't know how the boys would do at the game but they never cease to surprise me. It seems Payton is a huge Notre Dame fan and kept saying "Notre Dame is my team!" He would cheer loud and expressed great sorrow when they missed a shot. It was Hilarius.

Then Parker had some napoleon dynamite moves he broke out during some of the rocking songs they played.

Good time had by all.

Park and his bud had the privilege of introducing the flags in the middle of the court during opening ceremonies. They did a terrific job.

John played around with the camera a little and took this awesome picture.

When he was working here he installed the lights at the top of the stadium.

They were all a-glow and looked perfect. Great Job honey.

Doggy world

She had to have stitches on her noes. She got bit by another doggy ;O(

Our little Christmas blessing. This kinda reminds me of a family story we have. Parker occasionally mentions his old dog he used to have

we found the day before Easter a couple of years ago. We found it on our back door step. The poor thing looked a wreck and needed a place to stay for the night so John and I decided we would take care of it and just see what would happen. We went to the store and bought it some food. I tried to give it a bath but was completely grossed out so John being the sweet guy he is gave the dog a bath for me. We kept it in the bathroom overnight and the next morning we put it in the garage and left the door open a little so in case someone came calling for the dog it could find its owner. Then off we went to our two Easter celebrations. But when we got back the dog was gone. To never return. I just think it is funny that Parker considered it his dog he had and it was only one day.

Playing the wii. She is right where she wants to be. She loves her brothers. It is so funny the similarities between baby's and dogs. I noticed she sleeps a lot and is easily distracted. All the advice I am getting from people seems to have one thing in common..... consistency.

Christmas 2009

Park woke up at 3:30 to tell us Santa had come. I guess he had.

We have been playing alot of Mario Kart lately. It is soooo fun!

Robyns baby shower

Some of the well wishers, Alikins. Isn't she beautiful!

Future babysitters for baby Zoe.

Alyssa and Katie

Meet Izzy

Her name is Isabella Alice and we have been throwing around the nickname of Izzy.

She is 5 weeks old today.

We can't wait till she comes to live with us.

Look how big she is already. The pretty chocolate colored Lab is my parents new dog Harlie.

This photo is my all time fav. How sweet they are.

Green Chilli recipe

Rachel Ray has a Green Chili recipe that I made for dinner tonight.

It is a homemade version of my favorite Campbell Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla soup that I posted about last year.

Rachels version is even better. I can not wait till John gets home to try it. He loves

Mexican food.

Here it is. I added a few things to it that I had on hand.

Green Chili


4 Servings

Prep 5 min

Cook 30 min
Ingredients:
1 quart chicken broth
1-1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 large handfuls tortilla chips, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 bunch scallions, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
One 15-ounce can small red beans, drained
1 cup jarred green salsa
Extra! Extra!Double this recipe and freeze some for later.
Directions:
In a deep skillet, bring the chicken broth and chicken breasts to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat slightly and poach the chicken, turning occasionally, until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a plate and let cool.
Crumble the 4 handfuls of tortilla chips into a food processor and add 3 cups of the hot broth; let sit to soften. Reserve the remaining 1 cup broth.
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the scallions, oregano and cumin; cook until the scallions are softened, about 2 minutes. Pour the remaining cup of broth into the scallion mixture, then stir in the beans and salsa and bring to a simmer.
Puree the chips and broth in the food processor until smooth, then whisk the chip mixture into the bean mixture. Shred the chicken, add to the chili and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until heated through. Serve with extra tortilla chips.

ps I added garlic, a little corn, and some roasted red peppers.

I don't have a food processor(Santa is bringing me one tho, hee hee) So I didn't puree the chips, it still tasted scrumdiliumpcious.

literaly crash/ boom/ bang/....... blood

At our Thanksmas party this weekend we had an overload of boys who watch mma in their spare time and my little guy got into the mix of it. He took a crash to his forhead. All is well. Some super glue and the hole is patched. It was crazy and messy and I am so thankful my little man is on his way to healing. He gets a little smile when we call him "scar" now. It is his new wrestling name.

Just a side note:
The nurse was saying it won't be long and they will have gaming systems in the hospitals for people to play while they wait. I am totally against it. I think that sometimes people do stupid stuff and they should be fully present in their suffering. My choir teacher used to say before long school breaks "Don't do dumb stuff". Well when people do do dumb stuff they should not be allowed to zone out and play video games to escape the reality of their mistakes.
There should be lots of waiting and thinking going on there.

moving in

Little P was carrying a bunch of his belonings from his bedroom to ours. John asked him what he was doing and he said that he was moving in.

I guess that means we are moving out.

Can't wait for New Moon

Yes, I am a twi-hard mom. And I can't sleep at night cause I am so excited for the movie. A bunch of us are going and will be yippin it up with all the little teeny boppers out there.
I think Robert does a fab job of portraying Edward.

Names I love

Rosemary

Lily Loraine

Isaac

No I am not pregnant. Thinking about it alot tho.

Payton was watching tv yesterday and after a diaper commercial said with a sigh
" I want a baby".


3 is good. If two are fighting there is a third to break up the fight.
Look at scripture. God, the holy spirit, and Jesus. The holy trinity.
When we get old there is more to carry the load of taking care of their crazy dad and batty mom.
There are so many but...but...buts.

my very own dramatic sigh.............

I feel cheated

My kids are hiding their halloween candy from me.
All the stuff I do for them. I aughta........

Rainforest Cafe

We ended our day in Chicago with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We didn't have to wait at all.

The food was not spectacular but I dont' think people go there for the food. We did have a pretty cool waitress. The kids liked the animatronics.

Trick or Treat

Wonka eating a wonka bar

Happy camper.

Little P with his best friend

It was such a pretty fall evening. Bitter cold though.

My aunt and Cousins came with. We all got split up in the end which was a bummer. It was fun while it lasted.

Parkers best friend came to treat with us. He was a GI Joe

I love this pic. Big P is easy to spot in those shades.

Frank and his bride. Dressed up for a Halloween party at Mark and Kellys that night.

Here they are chompin at the bit. Could not wait to get going. We actually started out a 1/2 hr early cause I couldn't remember what time it started. There weren't alot of porch lights on then so we headed back to wait a few minutes longer. Oh yeah John made the cane and bent it with his tools. My husband is so creative.

Little P was Optimus last year but wanted to be it again. No complaints here. I thought it was great that it still fit.

Little P wanted to be Johnny Depp from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. I had been gathering things since August for him. I think it came together ok. We were down to the last day to find the hat. I walked into Joann Fabric and it was sitting on top of an end cap. they only had one left and it was out of place. I totally felt like God was helping me save on time trying to make it myself.

The Shedd

We listen to the beatles yellow submarine song all the time. The boys almost know all the words. We had to drag them from playing in the submarine.

We were pretty tired when it was all said and done.

The scientist was exploring.

Little P kept talking about the starfish.

The boys loved the computer screens that gave you info about the fish. I liked it better than the fish phones they used to have.

Here are my boys in the Amazon flood area.

This was the hands on star fish exibit. I was the only one brave enough to touch.

They had a kid area where they got to dress up like penguins and climb around on a rock. This was a hot spot.

Parker really got into character. He put an egg on top of his feet and tried to walk from one end of the rock to the other like in Happy Feet the movie. It was so cute. Alot harder as a human. He was missing the big belly to hold it in place.

Little P made a couple of buddies in this area.

One of Johns fav was the sponge bob 4-D movie. I told him I would watch sponge bob all the time if it was in 3d.

The windy city held up to its name that day.

This is us shutting it down.

Thank you Shedd for a super fun family day. We can tell you love God's creatures. Thanks for showing us a bit of everything from around the world.