Amelia goes to Pre-School!!!!

Amelia got to go to her first day of Pre-School this week. She was sooooo excited and couldn't wait to get there. There are churches of every kind here and each time we would come to a new church she would ask if this was the one. Her teacher is adorable (Miss Jan)--you can tell she loves children as she has just recently met Amelia here in this picture. So on the way to school her and I have a little talk about how we treat people (sharing, talking nice, not pushing or kicking or spitting--you know--the usual (for Amelia). I'm feeling good about our little talk--You know. I wave goodbye and tell her to have fun and I'll see her in a couple of hours.
She's so excited about her classroom and can't wait to dive in and play with everything. I come to pick her up and Little Miss Amelia has red swollen eyes. Miss Jan then explains that all morning was great until the very end when a little scuffle breaks loose........ AND.......
AMELIA GETS BIT!!!!!! THAT'S RIGHT, YOU READ THIS CORRECTLY. AMELIA FELT STRONGLY THAT THE BOYS IN HER CLASS (SPECIFICALLY COLLIN) SHOULD NOT ENTER THE ARIEL TENT. COLLIN DID NOT FEEL THE SAME AND BEFORE AMELIA KNEW IT, 2 BIG FRONT TEETH DUG INTO HER CHEST. MISS JAN WAS VISIBLY NERVOUS TO GET MY REACTION. SHE DOESN'T REALIZE YET WHAT AMELIA CAN DO TO PEOPLE--TURN A SWEET LITTLE COLLIN INTO A RAGING VAMPIRE BITER! I ASSURED HER THAT I WAS NOT UPSET AND WOULD TALK TO AMELIA ABOUT SHARING ONCE AGAIN--I CUDDLED HER AT HOME FOR 20 MINUTES AS SHE CRIED ABOUT THE INCIDENT AND THEN WALKED AROUND THE HOUSE FOR ANOTHER HOUR WITH HER ARMS LIKE A ZOMBIE BECAUSE HER "BITE" HURT. NEEDLESS TO SAY--I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO HAVE THE "SHARING AND CARING" TALK AGAIN. I THINK COLLIN "NIPPED" IT IN THE BUD!

Friday Favorites!!!!

Cardon gets my vote today and since I'm the only vote that counts on this blog---he is the winner! Cardon will always have a special place in my heart--maybe because he is my first or because he was born so early and required special attention, or maybe just because he is such a stalwart little boy (he's actually getting so big)--it's probably a combination of all 3.
Cardon was born almost 8 weeks early. I had started bleeding about a week before he was born and then my water broke. While at the hospital my placenta ruptured and so he was taken by emergency C-section. He was a little miracle weighing in at 5 lbs. 7 ounces. Unreal! He should have been 3 1/2 lbs. He stayed in the hospital for 13 days and twice a day I was driven back and forth to hold and feed him. He was so tough and BJ and I were so proud the day he came home with us.
When Cardon was around 3 months old I had a special experience with him. He was in his swing perfectly content and I was getting ready to get into the shower. As I walked into the bathroom I had a bad feeling. I went into the living room where he was and checked on him. He was fine so I went back into the bathroom and again I had a bad feeling. I went back into the living room and checked that all the doors to the house were locked. They were and so I went back into the bathroom where again I had this feeling. I went back to where he was and noticed that he had been staring up into the corner of the room. Babies do this a lot but as I looked into his eyes I saw a mature little spirit and the words came into my head and heart that "Cardon was here to fight for Jesus". I spoke to him and asked him if he was indeed here to "fight for Jesus" and he broke his gaze and gave me a little smile. The bad feeling left at that point. What precious moments we as parents get to participate in the lives of our children!
As Cardon has gotten older I have experienced several other spiritual experiences with him. I know that this is not an everyday occurrence as I haven't had many or any right now that I can think of with my other children but he was sent first to our family to be the leader. Sometimes I feel bad that he had to come first because so much pressure exists on the shoulders of a first born. He is the example to his sisters and brothers and with that comes a lot of expectations. He has taken that pressure in his stride however and I am so grateful that he came to lead. I love this little boy. He was just baptized in April and I was so thrilled to see him take this step in his spiritual life. He is in 3rd grade and loves to play soccer everyday at recess with his friends, play Lego Indianna Jones on the Wii, play webkins on the computer and play tackle football with his team. He is getting really tall and super fast. I usually race him to the corner every morning as we walk to school and I usually beat him (as I am quite fast myself). He is now starting to legitimately beat me. He's a great reader and loves to learn. I am so proud him. I get sad thinking how fast they grow up. I sometimes wish I could put certain stages in a bottle for safe keeping so that they'll never go away. I love this little boy and am proud to say that "HE IS MY FRIDAY FAVORITE"!!!! Yea for Cardon!
P.S. BJ and I listened to Elton John "Blessed" on the way to the hospital before I delivered Cardon and it brought us comfort--So, this is Cardons' Song.

Monday's Menu!!!

Dinner Rolls (the best ever!!!)

1 c. milk-heated

1/2 c. butter melted

1/4 c. sugar

2 large eggs--lightly beaten

3/4 tsp. salt

4 c. flour

1 slightly rounded tbl. of SAF yeast (I believe you can get it at HyVee here in Kansas)--this is important because it is an active form of yeast which makes things rise very fast--less time in the kitchen! I pour the bag into a freezer ziploc bag and store in my fridge.

In a mixer put your milk (you want to heat it in the microwave until it's hot--not boiling, but hot), butter, sugar, eggs, salt and 2 cups of flour. As it's mixing add the yeast and then the additional 2 cups of flour. Let it mix for 3-4 min. and then cover and let rise for 20-30 min. Lightly dust your counter with flour and roll the dough into a large circle (around the size of a large pizza). Cut with a pizza cutter into 16 equal triangles (like pizza slices). Roll like crescent rolls and put them all on a jelly roll pan. Let rise for 15-20 min. and bake at 350 for 15-16 min. In my oven it's 16 min. for perfection! Enjoy--this is a good one!

For dessert orange rolls make the same but add the zest of one whole orange and the juice of half to the dough before you add the flour. As they are cooling on the racks once out of the oven make a frosting with 3 tbl. butter, a touch of vanilla, the rest of the orange juice and powdered sugar to the desired consistency. Drizzle over the tops of the orange rolls just before totally cooled. Voila!! Perfect for a shower, get together, or just Tuesday.

Friday Favorites!!!!

One of my all time "Friday Favorites" actually comes on "Friday". Every Friday evening our family has "Movie Night, Pizza Night". This tradition became a solid part of our lives at least 2 years ago and is treasured in our family. Here's the deal--those members of the family who have generally been good that week get to participate in the evening. Of course they get to eat with us but if they have been warned during the week due to behavior and the behavior hasn't stopped then they won't get to watch the movie with us and instead must go to their room and read books. This may sound harsh but I'll have you know--know one has ever missed this event! The kids will do anything to be apart of this night. Usually BJ picks up $5 pizza's from Little Caesars and I go and get a movie from the Redbox as well as a few treats. Sometimes I will get 6 different candy's and put them in a brown paper bag and the kids have to reach in without looking and pull out their treat for the movie. Other times I just get a few treats to share. Cardon likes to make popcorn for the group. Every once in a while we make homemade pizza. Each person gets to make their own individual pizza and I must say that it's always tastier than any store bought version. Our kids love this night so much that once when BJ was out of town I decided to take the kids out to dinner on Friday night instead and they started to cry when I wasn't taking them to a place with pizza. Crazy kids!!! WE LOVE OUR "PIZZA NIGHT, MOVIE NIGHT! P.S. Our favorite babysitter, Courtney stayed with us for a weekend while her parents were out of town. So, she joined us for our traditional Friday Favorite.

Ordinary moments create the extraordinary

So I was talking to my friend Valerie last evening while I was outside taking pictures of the kids and she accused me of "blogging". I told her that I was just taking pictures of the kids. After a little thought on the subject, I must confess that this "blogging" has made me more aware of all the little things that go on in my life on a daily basis. I've always taken pictures when we go on outings--you know the big things but haven't ever given thought to taking pictures of the ordinary things that we do each day, week, etc. I remember a picture of me and my older sister and brother laying on the heating vents as little kids with blankets over us. The air would blow up the blanket so that it was a balloon of hot air and we would lay there for what seemed like hours all toasty warm. I loved that picture because it reminded me of a good memory of home with my brother and sister. This gave me a novel idea. How about capturing the ordinary--maybe someday they will be extraordinary to my family. So, almost every evening after dinner the kids like to go out and play in the yard, especially as it is cooling off. Brinly is the 2nd momma in the family and is usually happy to push Amelia on the swings (I must admit that I don't do this nearly enough). The girls play really well together--most of the time (we all have our moments) and it's fun to see them enjoy each other. I have 3 sisters with lots of fun memories, so it does my heart good to see them creating their own. Cardon has football practice twice a week and as soon as he got home he wanted to show me his "moves". Jace just wants to do everything the 'big kids' are doing but he especially loves balls. He wants to throw and kick every ball in his sight. BJ is at the church working with the youth on Wednesday nights so he didn't get to be with us but he's usually here throwing the ball with Cardon or pushing the kids on the swings. We stayed outside until we thought we might be near death from mosquito bites. I got one right in the middle of my forehead--nice! This is a good life. People always say that life goes so quickly when your kids are small--I do believe that to be true. 11 years has already gone by in a blink of an eye. I just had a flash forward of these little ones as teenagers! AHHH! I think I'll just stick to this stage for now.

Monday's Menu!!!

Colleen's Famous Banana Bread

5-6 bananas

4 eggs

1 cup butter

1 1/2 c. sugar

1cup brown sugar

1 T vanilla

Mix dry together, then add to wet:

3 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

Pecan Topping

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 T. butter

3/4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, walnuts. Mix in a small bowl adding nuts last, mix till pasty--spinkle on banana bread batter just before baking. You can double the topping recipe and put a layer in the middle--more yummy but more messy. Grease 2 loaf pans.

Bake in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 min. or until it comes out clean in the center.

I love to make this for parties (wedding showers, baby showers, girls night out--anything really). It is more like a banana cake with all the yummy toppings. Next week I'll give you my whole wheat banana bread recipe which is to die for also but a healthier alternative.

Friday Favorites!!!

So little Miss Amelia Rose gets my "Friday Favorite" this week. As you can see here, she was big--REALLY BIG, weighing in at 10lb. 1 oz, 2 weeks early. She wasn't destined to stay this big as you can see in the rest of the pictures. I often call her my "little peanut". However, she just wanted us all to know that even though she was the 3rd child, her personality was going to be REALLY BIG so that she wouldn't go unnoticed. She NEVER goes unnoticed!!!!

As she got older I was very aware that she was going to give me a run for my money. You can see the "sparkle" in her eyes in this picture that constantly reminded me that it wasn't a good idea to leave her alone for more than 30 sec. or I would pay for it. I payed for it here!!! Good times!This picture captures the very essence of "Little Milly". I could hear screaming and crying outside from Brinly and went out to see what was going on. Brinly had decided it would be fun to see if she could fit all the way under this bucket. Sure enough as soon as she did Amelia went over and layed on it and wouldn't get up. When I went outside she was laying on the bucket with a huge smile on her face as Brinly was crying inside of it. I just had to laugh, and then take some pictures.Amelia loves to play dress up and she still likes to change her clothes at least 3 times a day. I thought this outfit was priceless!This is my "Little Milly" today. I asked her to go and get her shoes and socks on so that we could go to the gym and she came outside wearing this. She was totally proud of her choice in outfit and loved the sock and "barbie shoe" combination. I've embraced this side of my little Amelia Rose.
So, you may ask why she is my "Friday Favorite" when she is absolutley my most challenging child. Glad you asked and I will be happy to tell you the answer. Little Milly brings so much laughter and joy to our home. Along with all the frustration comes so much fun. There is never a dull moment in our home and she reminds me all the time to live life to its fullest. She's spunky and quite crazy at times and a piece of me in my "spunkier" days (you'll have to talk to my mom about that one). I look at her with her adorable little button nose with the cutest sun kisses all over them and her "white" blond hair and I'm grateful to have a little girl who isn't afraid to be herself---something I never wish to squelch . She really is difficult at times but either they are less frequent or I am learning how to deal with them so much better. She is a joy to me (as are all my children) but today she is my "Friday Favorite". So, here's to knee high socks with barbie shoes!!! 3 cheers for Millie!

1) Little girls that make you stronger mothers

2)kids that make you laugh so hard that you pee a little (or a lot--let's be honest)

3)Choosing to not let the little things bother you