~Our Menu~

I've missed having this on the site.  Can't tell you how many times a week I go fishing for my menu after someone decides it needs to be colored on :-)

I've been looking for a lot of crock pot meals (.... anyone want to share any family favorites?)   Like the whole meal in the pot, so at dinner time the prep work has been done hours earlier.  No make noddles or a veggie for the side.  Nada.  Dinner time can be kind of crazy as the girls (and Matt) get hungry and their worst starts to show.  3 days a week Miss Hensley is being picked up just before the crazy-ness starts (and some times right in it!). It's become a mad scramble to get dinner on the table before anyone dies of hunger, melts or goes off the deep end.  (So that's a little exaggerated, but you get the point.  Getting dinner in hungry bellies is critical.)

(Note: FM=Freezer meal *= double meal, one to eat, one to freeze for freezer meal, CP=Crockpot)

CP  Shepherds Pie.  Never made a Shepherds Pie in a crock pot, so we'll see how this goes.  I love making Shepherds Pie because it's a meal that we don't have to buy ANYTHING for.  We have all on hand thanks to our garden!

CP  Honey Sesame Chicken, can't wait to try this... this sounds so good!! Recipe found here!

thecomfortofcooking.com

CP  Pork Roast, Roasted Potatoes & Carrots

Taco Salad

Bacon Wrapped Chicken stuffed with Herbed Cheese, Baked Potato, Gr Beans

Shredded Pork Burritos

CP  Rubens!  Big time favorite of ours!!  With homemade Thousand Island Dressing... can't beat it!

Veggie Stir Fry

CP  White Chicken Chili & Tortilla Chips

Venison Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Veggie

Tacos

FM  Sloppy Joes, Baked Fries, Cottage Cheese & pears

Lasanaga & Toss Salad

CP  Meatballs... another new recipe... will serve over noodles

Lately Randoms & Crazy Confessions

I have NOT been on my computer much.  Not many creative juices flowing.  I have a lot of post that I've started and never finished or posted :-)  Hmmm.... add that to my to do list.

~We have started looking out to summer and scheduled some vacations!  Sounds like we'll be getting good use out of the camper we bought last summer!!  (Matt, who has been kind of negative about the whole camper thing, said that he's LOOKING FORWARD to getting it out and going camping!  Wow.)

Confession:  
Madison is at that yucky stage where she goes from 2 naps a day down to 1, but still kind of needs that am nap.  Nights have been not so fun as she is VERY angry.  As I was trying to do dishes the other night she was pulling at my leg, just wanting to be picked up.  I handed her her half eaten apple from lunch and she happily walked off with it.  I turned to see her sharing the apple with Ruger.  Each would take a bite.  I know totally gross... Totally.  But I got all the dishes done without her fussing and after many nights like that, you just gotta do what you gotta do.  Ruger politely took the apple from her and then came back to clean the juice off Madison's face.

~Matt and I started reading You and Me Forever, by Francis and Lisa Chan for our Sunday School.  Totally different perspective on marriage!  Matt is not a reader and has sat down with me to read it with me. Love that.

Confession: 
Had another birthday party for Makenzie this past weekend.  I hid some of the cupcakes so we would be guaranteed some left over!  Funny thing, I forgot about it tho.  And was pleasantly surprised when I opened the spice cabinet to see them.

~Madison's last one year molar is coming thru.  :-/  Teething does not go well for her.  

Having FUN on Laundry Day!

Confession:  
Anyone ever end up with a constant pile of laundry in their dryer?  Isn't that annoying!?!?!?  I did that last week.  Had the last load of laundry stay in the dryer ALL WEEK until I had to take it out for another load to go in on the next weeks laundry day.  I even kept grabbing stuff out of there.  

~Makenzie started another gymnastics class.  When Matt went to go pick her up the teacher caught him and said she is the funniest kid she's got!  LOL, not sure if that's a good thing or not... she's got a LOT of students.

Confession:  
I spent a bunch of time decluttering and clearing out a counter top that all our junk ends up on.  I made it look really nice.  Had only two things on there... our fish tank and a vase.  Looked AMAZING!  Love clear clean counter tops.  That lasted a half hour, tops.  

~We've got things rolling for Makenzie's preschool next year!

Confession: 
Makenzie's room has been a dump for weeks I let that fly.  It was BAD.  It is clean now... why are kids so messy?  

Last Confession:
We have a lot of little "to do" projects around here.  Many have been started and not finished.  (December was a busy month for all and was extremely busy at Matt's work.)  I have a project for him to do each night this week. Our house is an in progress house.  This past year we have done some good work.  But have lots more to go.  We do it all on our own and as the money comes in.  Patience :-)

Merry Christmas 2014

Christmas Eve was such a fun day.  The girls and I spent the morning making about 6 dozen more cookies then we packaged them up for Matt and Makenzie to go deliver!  We had a quick lunch, put Madison down for a nap and had a relaxing afternoon before we headed to my mom's for another gathering.

We had a COMPLETELY nontraditional meal and it was SOOO good!!  Grilled 1/2 pound (no we don't mess around) hamburgers along with some yummy sides.  That just may be a new tradition for us :-)  After dinner was cleaned up we settled down for some gifts.  We wrapped the evening up with some yummy apple pie Makenzie and I made.

My Mom reading The Christmas Story.

Family!

As usual we lose track of time and rushed home so the girls could open a new pair of matching Christmas jammies!  Madison wasn't feeling all that well and was really cranky at my parents so we put her right to bed while Makenzie and Daddy picked out a couple of special cookies to leave out for Santa.

Makenzie gave us a warning on the way home instructing us exactly what we needed to do when we got home!  Ha.  Get pj's on, go potty, go to sleep!!  Santa won't come unless we go to sleep!  After about 5 mins of her in bed she YELLED at Matt and I to go to bed.  :-)  Last year she was afraid to go to bed because Santa, a stranger, would be coming to our house.

Madison has been getting up between 5:30 and 6 not feeling well, so I expected a very early start to our Christmas morning.  Surprisingly Madison slept till almost 8... Makenzie didn't dare get out of bed until she heard us up and gave her the thumbs up!  LOL.

Makenzie and Daddy starting a fire.

Matt started a fire and then we watched the girls open their gifts from Santa and their stockings.  Madison wasn't really interested.  She just wanted to sit on our laps and cuddle!

Our little tree with Santa's gifts!

What a relaxing perfect morning!!

After the gifts opened Matt made some stellar omelets for breakfast and then we opened the gifts under the tree.  

Madison wanted a little playtime with Makenzie's "Ula Oop"
before we opened gifts!  Makenzie is eyeing another present.

To: Dad     From: MKZ

Not so happy on Christmas day... still just out of sorts.

Makenzie's very own Cd Player!  She was SOOO excited to get this and a mood ring!

Thank you Santa!

Christmas Evening we headed to Matt's parents for our gathering.  This party can get a little out of control with 7 little ones all wanting a gift!!  Haha!

Natalie, Makenzie & Claire Pile Up!!

All the grand GIRLS but Madison.
They are Happy Happy Happy!! 

Picture turned out so blurry but Caleb and Makenzie were having
a hoot doing whatever it is they were doing!  Ha!

 We had a yummy ham dinner and then started the gifts one by one.

This girl LOVES playing cars.  So... road rug and cars it was!

All eyes on Madison's new ride!

The family "babies" making sure each button works!

We certainly had a FUN night!

Here's the loot that the girls came home with over the past few days!!

Makenzie's stuff on the left, Madi on the right.

Thank you ALL so much!  Makenzie has been happily playing, Madison just started getting into it today.  Madison went back to the Dr yesterday for a little checkup on the ears and all is looking good.  She was still being very fussy and clingy, but today has gotten into the toys.

Elf Antics

We don't have pictures of every day and I forgot what Elf did a few days :-)  But here's the rest of Elf's Antics...

/Day 11/
Rollin' round in a roll a TP!  Between Elf and Makenzie we go thru LOTS of TP.

/Day 12/
Elf found some lipstick!  'Ho Ho Ho!  Merry Christmas!  Love, Elf '

/Day 13/
Our little Elf snuck into bed with Matt & I!  Makenzie found him curled up on Daddy's pillow!

/Day 14/
What a sweet little Elf we have, he wrote such nice letters to the girls!

/Day 15/
Elf was playing with the cat!  He was found seated on the top of the Christmas tree dangling Boogity's mouse from some yarn.

/Day 16/
Someone was playing hide and seek!!  And must have needed a little cooling off.  Elf was found sitting in our fridge.

/Day 17/
Elf visited our little North Pole Village!  He certainly didn't look like an elf in our mini village.

/Day 19/
All in for limbo under the snowman ladder!!  Elf and Cuddles (her birthday build a bear dog) joined in on the fun.

/Day 21/
Oh boy!!  Curiosity killed the cat, Elf!

/Day 23/
Swinging on the Potty Chain!  (Poop chain just doesn't sound nice, but really, that's what it is.  When we were potty training a year and a half- two years ago she wouldn't poo on the potty.  She got a loop to add to the chain each time she went and it's been in her room ever since!  She's proud!)

/Day 24/
Elf's last day here!!  Have to admit, it was a good idea for him to take a bubble bath and get nice and clean for his trip back to the North Pole.  I'm a little jealous of a bubble bath, good book and some cocoa.

Makenzie said her goodbye and set him down in a chair by the fireplace.  See you next year!!

Merry Christmas 2014

Another Christmas season has come and gone.  It goes so fast.  Every year I think of how I could have made it last longer with a little more relaxing and simplifying... so far I haven't figured that out yet.  Wisdom with age right ;-)

We had a fabulous Christmas!!  I am thrilled!!  After spending the last two Christmas' sick I was beyond excited to go thru the season healthy!!! I know that sounds kind of petty, but you have NO IDEA how happy I was!!  The past two years were honestly pretty un-enjoyable and it just sucks the fun out of the season.  Last year ALL of us were sick over Christmas... this year just Madison with a cold turned into an ear infection & bottom molars bursting thru.  SHE was not thrilled about anything.  Third Christmas is a charm for her right!!  Next year little Madison, next year is your year!

Our first party was a few weeks ago with Matt's Mom's side of the family.

Miss Makenzie hanging with cousin Joshua & Caleb!  She LOVES those boys!

As we listened to the Christmas Story, this little girl stole the attention
prancing around while everyone else was seated.
Little girls in Christmas Dresses.... L-O-V-E!

Cousin Jonathan checking on Miss Madison after a fall!

Our second party was at my parents house with my Mom's side of the family.  Yummy turkey dinner followed by gifts and finalied with Grandma's Famous Cake Roll, which Makenzie and I made.  (I just finished eating another slice!  Yum, yum! Very thankful we had leftovers.)

This is our second Christmas that we took up a collection for a local ministry that provides lunch/ breakfast/ dinner in backpacks for children over the weekends.  Love this ministry and was so happy to do it again this year.  Last year there were 17 children from a local elementary school that didn't have enough to eat over the weekend that this ministry fed.  This year it has grown to 3 local schools and 52 children!!

Fuzzy, but such a good pic!

Love Uncle Jim's face!

Auntie Kelli testing Madison's gifts!

Auntie Katie and Makenzie helping Madi open pj's!

We collected all of this food and $80 to donate (the $80 can cover 13 children's backpacks.)  So proud!

That's all for tonight!  More Christmas to come later.