Day at the Pool

Today was the last day of school!!! We celebrated by going swimming at my aunt's house. SOO much fun.






All of a sudden, the boys don't want their pictures taken so I have to sneak around and get what I can;)





I just followed Ethan until he finally came up for air in the hot tub.




Aaron finally gave up and posed for me after I followed him around for a while.





Lauren had already gotten out by the time I remembered that I had my camera. Check out the bruises on her face. Yesterday, when we were decorating for graduation, she fell backstage on a nail that was sticking up. The head of it made a cut in her lip. There was so much blood that we thought it went all the way through her mouth. The place on the inside of her mouth was much worse than the outside. After a trip to our dentist, he determined that it did not go through and we didn't need stitches. It did bruise up pretty bad though.

Marshmallows and Fire

This is one of our favorite things to do!!! Who can argue with marshmallows and fire?? My children would easily finish a whole bag of marshmallows if I allowed it. And when the marshmallows are gone, they want to play in the fire. This was all happening before our "camp out." Brendan, Aaron, and I slept in the tent in our backyard this weekend. It was fun and we slept great until the dogs woke me up at midnight. They were wrestling around the outside of the tent. After I shooed them away, we slept pretty good. They loved it so much that they slept in it by themselves Saturday night too! I can't believe they stayed by themselves. Go Boys!












Love this picture of Aaron. He wouldn't stop waving his marshmallow!













Lauren was so proud that she could roast her own too! We really love this fire pit that my sis-n-law gave us. It is perfect for our back porch.



Brendan's new braces!!! Now that I think about it; marshmallows are probably not on the list of acceptable foods for braces. Don't you just love the burnt marshmallow all in his teeth??!!

Mexican for Michawn

My friend in Brazil is terribly missing her Mexican food so this post is dedicated to her. I decided to post it because maybe some of you would be interested in these ideas too.I know she is limited to certain ingredients. I tried my best to use those that are available to her. I have been researching some ways for her to cook her own Mexican food so here goes:

Tostados
Cut tortillas into quarters and deep fry in 350-degree oil until crisp.

Guacamole
1 medium avocado, peeled & mashed
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic
2 tsp chopped cilantro

Mix well. I keep the middle of the avocado in the dip. It is supposed to make it keep it fresh longer.

Quesadillas
flour tortillas
cheese
desired fillings--onions, peppers, tomatoes, chicken

Saute desired fillings (except tomatos) in butter. Put fillings on each tortilla. Add cheese. Add tortilla on top. Brown in skillet.

Mexican Fruit Punch

1 papaya
3 bananas
3 apples, peeled
1 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 quart ice water

Combine all in blender until smooth and creamy.

Taco Bowls

Make taco bowls by placing flour tortillas over inverted oven proof bowls on a baking sheet. Brush the tortillas with melted butter, shape gently over bowls and bake until crisp. Let stand until cool and fill bowls with lettuce, grilled chicken or ground beef, tomato, quacamole etc.

****I love the stuff Elaine made!! All the chopped up vegetables would be great on these or any Mexican dish!*****
or here's another recipe

Fresh Salsa
3 tomatoes, chopped
3 fresh jalepeno peppers, chopped
3 Tsp onions chopped
1 Tsp parsely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 T cider vinegar
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp sugar

Combine all in bowl. Process a small amount of time in food processor, pulsing at low speed. pour into serving bowl. Yields 3 cups. I would add cilantro to this because I add it to everything.

Flour tortillas
2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup water

Sift flours, baking powder and salt into bowl. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Add enough water to make medium dough. Knead for 5 minutes. Let stand, covered, for 30 minutes. Divide into 10 -12 portions; shape into balls. Roll each into 1/8 inch thick circle. Bakd 1 at a time on both sides on hot griddle, pressing lightly to collapse bubbles and flatten tortillas. STack tortillas in cloth towel to keep warm. May use all unbleached flour if desired. Makes 10 -12 tortillas


or the one i would choose---(easier)

3 cups flour
salt to taste
5 Tsp shortening
1 cup warm water

Process flour, salt, shortening in food processor until crumbly. Add the water gradually, processing constantly until smooth. Shape into balls; flatten into circles. Cook on medium hot griddle until dry.


My Fajitas
chicken, bell peppers, onions
flour tortillas
toppings: cheese ,(Eliane special) onions, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro
ranch

I saute the chicken until done then remove and cut into strips. Saute bell pepper and onion in butter until soft. Add chicken back to veggies and season with salt, pepper- whatever you like. Warm flour tortillas in microwave. Roll as desired!


You could use ground beef and turn this recipe into tacos!!


I have not tried all of these recipes, only some. I hope these will be useful. You may have a better way to make these things or some better recipes. If you do, please share!!! Michawn, if you are out of chili powder or cumin, let me know!!!!!

A Day in the Life of..........

It is late. I am awake. Doing what?? I really don't know but I am guessing that I am just soaking up the quiet in our house. I hear some heavy breathing from those bedrooms. Why are they so tired? Did they run the mom marathon today? Was my day tough? No, easier than most. I did manage to hand off some of my chores to my hubby today. He was in charge of taking Fudge to school this morning. He is wonderful about taking the kids to school most days but today the guinea pig had to return to the 4th grade. Fudge was probably in shock because they put him in the back of the truck to ride to school. I just said goodbye and prayed that he didnt blow out on the way. I had 30 seconds to fix my coffee and Lauren was awake. I bought a little time by turning on Dora so I could finish my coffee and get dressed. We headed to funroe to meet a friend for lunch but had a little time to kill so we went swimsuit shopping. After all I had Mother's Day $ burning a hole in my pocket. It was painful (Lauren cried the whole 20 minutes in the dressing room) but I left with a $19.99 swimsuit. That was cool! We had a great visit with my friend even had time for coffee before I picked up the boys from school. So when I got home I had to play catch up with all the things I should have been at home doing today. Loads of laundry, cleaning my floors, kitchen, potties etc. I delegated my authority and sent the boys to clean their rooms. Five minutes later, two of them are crying because they KNOW I don't like fighting and they WILL be punished. Aaron again stamped where he wasn't supposed to...on the bed this time. Last week, it was the light colored carpet. (I will post of picture of that soon) Lauren is running around naked because she couldn't decide which "princess" dress she wanted to wear. By the way, every dress is a "princess dress." I found her at the top of the third drawer taking all of these dresses off the hangers. I put back the dresses and removed the naked child from the drawers. Then hung up the clothes from the dryer, ironed the really wrinkled ones and started supper. The kids are finished with their rooms so I find a few more things to keep them busy. Ethan so kindly cut out my coupons, removing the expiration date from each one. Brendan took out the trash. Lauren used the chair as a potty. Fieldtrip permission slips, reading homework,computer time, take a shower, BRUSH YOUR TEETH, did we have our family time? My tummy hurts, can Brendan sleep with me? no sheets on my bed
I just wonder what I will do one day when they are grown and my house is clean all of the time. Its really hard to slow down at the end of the day but I have to go to bed if we are going to wake up on time tomorrow!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

I had such a great video to upload for this occasion BUT I am still learning about my video camera, uploads, and such and I uploaded it in the wrong format. One day I will work all of this out. Anyway, the video was part of Aaron's mother day program. They sang several songs about how much they love their mother then presented each mom with a single rose. It was a real tear jerker!! I managed to stay composed though. Aaron has been excited about this for some time and he wanted special clothes--he called them "handsome clothes." This is a picture of him before the program with his handsome clothes.







My boys did such a great job of making me feel special today. I hope all of you moms had a great one too!!!!



Lauren wanted her picture taken too! The older boys were not interested in pictures at all!

The Countdown

That's what it feels like. The kids are asking everyday, "How many more days left of school?" I am using every minute to get things done. I am cleaning up and cleaning out this week. I had a small garage sale the last two days and got rid of lots of stuff that we just didn't need or use anymore. I must say it is strange for the high chair to not be in its place in the kitchen. After 10 years, it is a little empty in that space. I do love the feeling of more room and more space especially in the closets and toy room. So back to the countdown, I am getting ready to have them full time again. I look forward to it but there are a few "me" things that I want to do while I just have one with me. Today, we are having birthday lunch with a friend. It will be nice to sit and talk as long as Lauren will let us. Thad has been flying everyday. He is going to be spraying this summer. He is excited about that and has been flying all of the ag planes. He will also get to teach out of the thrush and that is a big plus to him. I guess that is all that has been happening this week. I promise to post more often as we find the time. Here's a couple of pics from our fun day at the park.









Britni Ann and Lauren







The boys on the swinging bridge.

A little update

Ok, so now that I figured out how to post a video I will try to do more from our Ecuador trip. I thought I would tell a little about the video from the last post. That was one of Thad's first jungle flights when we arrived in Ecuador. He loved it but was amazed at how hard it was to see the strip until you got right on it. By the time I went with them into the jungle, it wasn't a big deal for him, but it was for me. I thought we may be lost a couple of times but our pilot knew just where he was going:)

All is good hear at home. The boys have 3 weeks of school left. They are excited about summer break. They are ready to start swimming everyday and sleeping a little later (I am at least) Lauren and I have been at school some this week taking the classes to lunch. She enjoys it quite a bit! She is much happier when her brothers are around to entertain her. Thad is still flight instructing close by. He is having a great time being in those planes all day! We are still praying about Ecuador. We really loved it and are asking for God's divine direction as we make a decision about going there.

Well, that's all for this update. Pray for our family to draw close to Him and have listening ears to hear when God speaks to us!