Daddy's Home!

Nate decided the day before Thanksgiving to come home. We thought it would be a nice surprise so we didn't tell the kids. He left around 8:30 am on Wednesday morning and got home at 2 am on Thursday. When he got up later that morning the kids were so surprised. Meghan seemed shocked and thought she should have known he was coming. Kaden kept giggling, he was so happy. I think he missed his Daddy a lot! He would walk up and put his hand on my arm and then the other hand on Nate's arm and just smile. So cute. Ellie just stared at him for a while and then laughed when he played with her.

Later that day we went to Josh and Teresa's for lunch. We had a nice meal and then came home so everyone could nap, (except Meghan of course). We had a nice relaxed day. Nathan suggested we make our own Thanksgiving dinner also since he is home and we like to cook it and have our own. So that evening we went into town and shopped for a few things we needed to make dinner the next day. On Friday we cooked and made dinner. It was sooo good! We are still eating leftovers although I think they are about gone, we'll be done with them tomorrow.

We have had a nice long weekend! As for updates... Ellie is still cutting the two bottom teeth and now has a top one coming in also. I see a white bud to the left of one of the bottom ones but it's not popping through yet. She is taking good naps and for the last 3 or 4 nights she is sleeping all night except waking around 1 for a bottle! I am so excited!! It has taken her the longest of all the kids to sleep all night. I am sure it is because she hasn't had her own room. We rearranged some things and now she is in the bedroom by herself and sleeping all night. She is getting all over, walking along furniture, sometimes letting go and eating wonderfully!
Kaden has been having issues using the bathroom. He is holding it which is never good. We have been working on getting him to eat and drink more and started giving him some medicine to help yesterday. We are also trying to get him to drink rice milk instead of regular milk. He hadn't been really drinking either but that is ok also. We want him to just drink more of whatever it is. He has had a few days of eating a little more though which is good. Meghan had the week off from school and enjoyed that. She has been helping out a lot and likes to read to the little ones. She is looking forward to helping make some candies for a craft fair we are going to this weekend. I have been making gift items to sell and plan to make some candy type items to package as gifts and sell too. I thought it would be something fun to do and a bonus if we sell some things.

Not a lot of pictures to share right now but here is a couple of Ellie. She fell asleep like this. :)

Thankful for Family

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends and family! Even though we are far from most we will be thinking of you all today and wishing you many blessings and a great holiday! I thought I would talk about how thankful I am for my own little family here.

Nathan, he is my rock. I don't know that he realizes how grounded he keeps me. He helps me not only in every day life tasks but also just not to be stressed out. He is always calm and doesn't worry the way I do. If I am worried about something I talk to him about it. Him telling me that everything is going to be ok calms my nerves. He is a wonderful dad and the kids love to play with him and help him. He loves me, all of us, and shows it and is always protective. He is my best friend.

Meghan is such a sweet girl. She loves to help out, she will see things that need to be done and just do it. She loves to help out and play with her younger siblings. I am so proud of her and how well she does with her schoolwork.  She is so outgoing, she keeps me from being too shy. She is very caring and thinks of others.

Kaden is such a funny little guy. He loves to be outside and playing with his sister Meghan. He amazes me with what he picks up, says and understands. He is serious and particular and very loving. I love watching him.

Ellie is my baby and it seems like she knows. She is the most snuggly baby I have had. She loves to be rocked and lay her head on my shoulder when she wants to snuggle or if she gets shy. She is a happy baby who will soon be walking!

I hope we can all remember to be thankful for those closest to us. May God Bless you this Thanksgiving and always.

All That Fun

Here are the kids finished salt dough leaves. Can you tell which two Kaden did and which two Meghan did? They both did a great job!

Here is Kaden playing with one of his new activity bags. (more about that later)

The kids were painting paper bags to make leaf decorations.

Kaden painted a circle and called me to tell me and have me look at it. Of course I had to take a picture. I have never tried to get him to draw a circle before he just did it all on his own. I am so proud! Later that night I let him pick his book to read and he picked a letter book, as we call them. I asked him what letter was on the front of the book and he told me L and he was right!!

Outside time, we take as much as we can get.

Here is Ellie watching the other two play outside.

Ellie playing in the toy tub.

I wanted to introduce the kids to the ice cream float. :) They have never had or seen one. I don't like root beer so we used Dr Pepper.

Side note- I found these old fashioned bottles at a local grocery store. They are made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. Kinda cool!

I let Ellie try it.. Ice cream face!

Aren't they cute! Kaden was in the mood for pictures so I went with it.

Some new recipes...

Today I made these pancakes for the 2nd time. They are really good! The kids love them too and I also made them into chocolate chip or blueberry just by throwing them on top before flipping. I had about 5 left to freeze so if they ask for pancakes tomorrow I am all set.
While I am talking about this recipe let me say check out the blog Homesick Texan. This is one of my newest finds. I have tried a few recipes from here and plan to try more. I love to search the site when I am looking for a recipe plus there are just so many recipes on there that I have always wanted to try. How about making your own sopapilla's?? YUM! I have made her flour tortillas several times and they are great!

I have also wanted to try a potato soup for a while. I finally decided yesterday to try one so I searched around the internet and looked through a bunch of recipes. I wanted to find something that had mostly natural ingredients, ie no bullion cubes or canned soups. So I found this recipe and made it yesterday. I halved it because it would have been way too much for just me and the kids. I still had a bit left over but thats ok because it is really good! The kids liked it even! Here is the recipe. Let me know if you try it.

POTATO CHEESE SOUP


6 to 8 large baking potatoes
2 cups milk
4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup butter
8-12 strips bacon, cooked
1 cup sour cream
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Bake potatoes until soft, then peel. Mash or cube the potatoes depending on the desired consistency for the soup.
In a large soup pot, combine butter and flour to make a roux. Cook for 1 minute, then slowly whisk in the liquids.
Add salt and pepper, potatoes, cooked bacon, and cheese. At the last minute, stir in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

Soup will be thick. Add milk to reheat.
Each time this soup is reheated, it gets better!
Submitted by: Candi R.

(My Notes: I diced for a chunky soup and I did not add the bacon. So good!)

A New Adventure

Nathan is off to look for work in Arizona. He left yesterday and everyone here is/was pretty sad. He made it there very early this morning and we are thankful for a safe trip! Hopefully, within a few months he will be able to have us follow. Until then we will carry on here with our normal activities and schooling with maybe a visit in between. :)

Remembering Our Veterans

Heroes

Edgar Guest

There are different kinds of heroes, there are some you hear about.

They get their pictures printed, and their names the newsboys shout;

There are heroes known to glory that were not afraid to die

In the service of their country and to keep the flag on high;

There are brave men in the trenches, there are brave men on the sea,

But the silent, quiet heroes also prove their bravery.

I am thinking of a hero that was never known to fame,

Just a manly little fellow with a very common name;

He was freckle-faced and ruddy, but his head was nobly shaped,

And he one day took the whipping that his comrades all escaped.

And he never made a murmur, never whimpered in reply;

He would rather take the censure than to stand and tell a lie.

And I'm thinking of another that had courage that was fine,

And I've often wished in moments that such strength of will were mine.

He stood against his comrades, and he left them then and there

When they wanted him to join them in a deed that wasn't fair.

He stood alone, undaunted, with his little head erect;

He would rather take the jeering than to lose his self-respect.

And I know a lot of others that have grown to manhood now,

Who have yet to wear the laurel that adorns the victor's brow.

They have plodded on in honor through the dusty, dreary ways,

They have hungered for life's comforts and the joys of easy days,

But they've chosen to be toilers, and in this their splendor's told:

They would rather never have it than to do some things for gold.

Check out this site for lots of veterans day activities and learning for your kids.
Love to Learn Place

Parent of the year award??

Do you think we should get one? Let me tell you this story and you let me know. Meghan sometimes gets up at night to use the bathroom. No big deal right? Well she gets up and goes to where ever she sees a light first. So tonight we are still awake and she comes into the living room. She kind of stumbles around and gets over to where we are. We are just watching to see what she is doing. She gets into the living room and picks up the tub of toys we keep here and starts to walk away (what was she going to do with that?). Nate grabbed the tub to make sure she doesn't hurt herself and asks her if she is looking for the bathroom. She moans something we can't understand and starts stumbling through the kitchen, running into a chair as she goes. She whines some more and keeps walking into the hall in search of the bathroom. The whole time we start cracking up because it is just so funny to watch her. We never know what she is going to do. She is our nightly entertainment. So does that make us bad parents because we laugh at our kids??? I assure you she has no recollection of it in the morning. Nate thinks we should take video of it. That might be pushing it. ;)Kids are so fun!