Soup

This is an easy, filling soup to warm you up:
Chicken & Tortellini Soup:

3 T Olive oil

2 Garlic cloves, minced

1 Onion, diced

8 oz. sliced white mushrooms

32 oz. Chicken broth

29 oz. Diced tomatoes

16 oz. Chopped Spinach, frozen

20 oz. pkg cheese Tortellini

2 1/2 c. Chicken, cooked and diced

Oregano and salt to taste Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large pot, add onions and garlic. Cook slowly until translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add mushrooms and cook until tender.

Slowly pour in broth and diced tomatoes with liquid. Cover and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Add frozen Spinach to soup. Cook 5 minutes. Add tortellini, cook 5 more minutes. Stir in diced chicken.

Add any seasonings and top with shredded Parmesan cheese.

School decision for 2011

Well, after a couple months of Rod and i taking a break from discussion of deciding on a school, we finally have an answer. Even though we weren't discussing it, there was still a lot of prayer and thought going into it. And i had really felt a tug toward Dayspring Christian. I was afraid to tell Rod though because i knew all along he felt like Farmdale (public school) was "just fine", although he was very open to learning more about Dayspring. SO, when i told him i really want our boys at Dayspring, he said "they are going to Farmdale". Don't i know my husband so well? :) I spent a couple days in fear. Most of my thoughts were something to the affect of "I spent all these years working so hard at training these boys in Christ, and now it's all for nothing". Now that was a little dramatic, i know. But maybe a typical response for a first-time school mom. I wasn't mad mind you, but i was fearful, knowing that they will be in public school.

After those first couple days of adjusting to this reality, i really started getting excited. I understand Rod's thinking and i trust his judgement that this is a good fit. He wants to connect the boys in with the community. Rod is well known around here (i'm just rod's wife to most people :) and a lot of it is from him going to Farmdale school. He has fond memories. He also knows there are plenty of Christian families who go to this school and he is right. I've already spoken w/ people we know in the area and they have stressed that point. Also many of the teachers are Christians.

Adam is excited! that makes me excited. Our neighbor Meg will be going on the bus with Adam in the morning and she is so excited to have Adam at her school. She said she will take Adam to class in the morning after they get off the bus. That makes me feel good. Meg told Adam the feild trips she had taken in Kindergarten and he can't wait for that. K at this school is only a couple hours in the morning. I will pick him up before lunch. And Rod said if i want to go somewhere for a day once in a while, then just don't send him that day. no big deal. It's just Kindergarten.

Starting next month we will be going to a preschool thing they do once a month for the future kindergartener's, to get them acquainted with the school and the teachers and future classmates. I'm excited to go to this each month. There's also a mom's prayer group that takes place at the school regularly that i may get to participate in next year.

Eventually they probably will end up at Dayspring, as 6th grade is the highest grade at Farmdale. We plan to send them to private school after that.

A quote i've seen a couple months ago, that "hits home" :: "We go to great lengths to make sure the culture doesn't transform our children - instead of preparing our children to transform the culture."

Rod and i will continue doing what we're doing, believing that we are preparing them to make a difference at Farmdale, and beyond.

thanks for reading.

Farm show and snow pictures

The farm show was fun on tues night. The nice thing was that it was not crowded at all since the snow had started that afternoon.

The animals were a hit:

John Deere was also a hit:

Hopefully i don't ruin the butter sculpture surprise for anyone planning to go:Next day there was snow play to be had:

Brad...

Ben and meg:

Adam..

COMING SOON: Our school decision for next year........

Creations

Some things that we created this past week....

I've been wanting to crochet this tic-tac-toe game since last winter, when i discovered the pattern online. I got around to it this winter and finished it! We'll see how much the boys like to use it. Adam likes the game, haven't taught the twins yet. It's hard to tell the size from a picture, but it's about 7" x 7".

The pattern should be here, if you want to try it. It's easy, but takes a little while.

Adam has been begging and begging to learn to crochet. So i finally said i'd try to teach him. I taught him the chain stitch so he could make braclets and necklaces. Apparently he realized it's pretty boring because he hasn't mentioned anything since the lesson! I guess sometimes they just want to know what something is like and they are satisfied.


The boys like Dr. Suess books. Brad keeps asking Daddy to make green eggs and ham. So would you believe on Sunday Daddy DID makes green eggs and ham (or bacon, actually). He's a clever guy!

I tried out a Duggar recipe, that was printed in their book. We only got 6 casseroles out of this regular sized Duggar meal!

Tuna Noodle Casserole: i love cooking big so this was right up my alley. Ben was my helper and probably thought it would never end!I should stop before you start thinking we're too weird.

But this is too cute not to share. Our friend who lives downstairs received this for Christmas. It's a homemade cookie manger scene, very detailed and impressive. Also very tasty. Her sister-in-law made it and it took her 3 days!

Tomorrow we go to the Farm show! We haven't gone since Adam was a baby. I think Rod picked to go tomorrow night because he wants to drive in the snow!

9 Months

It was "warm" today. Decided to shoot some fun pics of Clay. He'll be 9 months in a couple days...

If you want to know what everyone else was up to during the photo taking...here they have turned the walks into 'disaster zone'.

Totally worth it.

Fruit

This morning at breakfast i asked the boys to pick a Fruit of the Spirit that they'd like to work on today. To my surprise they were cooperative with this. Adam and Ben gave their Fruit w/out me reminding them of what they are. Brad needed help, then picked his Fruit. That got me thinking.....We should do a poster of fruits, with their name in a box and have them pick a fruit each day and put it their box. Yeah, that could work. So i wrote the fruits on foam, and taped them to the posterboard. A little decorating and there we go! Everone sitting underneath their name. Of course 1/2 hour after Adam picked Kindness, he hit his brother....I was inspired to do this after reading the Duggar family book, 20 and Counting. They haven't done this specifically. But they do creative things with their kids in teaching Biblical principles and good character.

I didn't even check to see if i listed all the Fruit. But i think i got them all!

Ice skating and year end thoughts

Cousin Dana got us into ice skating here of late. We've gone twice and are really liking it. I was able to borrow a pair of kids double bladed skates, which allowed all the boys to skate. It's like training wheels for ice skates! Having 2 blades helps them with their balance, even though the blades are pretty close together. It's been fun watching them do this and see their personalities come out. Brad, the more carefree one skated around, had fun, and showed off. The other 2 were more cautious but were still proud of their accomplishment.

Mel's pond:

Adam trying skates for the first time, before the double bladed ones:

Day 2 at a neighbor's pond, using the double blade skates.
By the way, Happy New Year! I'm in the midst of lots of reflecting on our family of 6. Some individual thoughts on this past year and the year ahead.

Clay: What a joy! He wasted no time fitting in to the older brother trio. A few days ago Clay and Adam did a sleepover in Adam's room. They were laughing and carrying on until 10:00, when Rod went up to settle them down. By listening to the 2 of them, you never would have known one of them was only 8 months old! We love his spunk, and his happy personality. He got his first tooth yesterday. Excited to see all the changes he'll make this year.

Brad:

He brings a little extra to our family w/ his sharp mind and endless chatter. Brad has learned his letters this year and began writing his name recently. His little notebook is full of funny comments he says. (i keep a mini notebook for each child to write their funny quotes) The other day he held up a paper and said "This is my facebook!" He loves to sing and pretend play police man, fireman, pilot etc.

Ben:

Ben is just as funny, with a slightly more laid back approach to life. Ben is so polite and loves to share and tell people I love you. Ben and Brad hold a special place in my heart because of all we've been through w/ them. Ben recently said out of the clear blue "I'm a mighty fine boy". He's our only boy who doesn't need a pull up on at night. He's totally diaper-less these days! We are proud.

Adam:

is Adam! He keeps us humble :) I've never seen someone so "all or nothing". One day he will not be into school at all, the next day he will want to write words like 'lightbulb' and 'monster truck'. It makes no sense! He's like this with everything! It's very challenging at times, and other times just plain funny. He has a lot of changes in store this year, as he will start kindergarten. We're hoping for a smooth adjustment for both him and me! I appreciate how helpful he has become with things around the house and just some ideas he gets. I never thought I'd take advise from a 4-5 year old, but i do! He wants to learn to ride bike w/out training wheels this year. We actually might tackle that this winter, so he can wear his snow pants and not get hurt when he falls!

Last week we saw a man wearing shorts in the store parking lot in 20 degree weather! we were in the car at the time and i said "Look at that guy wearing shorts!" Adam replies in a grown up tone: "Well.....boys do what they want to do." This is true.

(the individual pics of the boys were taken by cousin Rina!)

Rod:

He's had a hard year at the shop. He's been busier then ever, but finds his help to be a challenge. He's had to let a couple guys go this year, and just hasn't found a good employee to add. So he spent most of the year being short a guy or two. I told him this summer that it's just a tough season right now and will change. I hope i'm right. He's very grateful for the work though and never complains.
He loves his boys and looks forward to doing more things with them this year. Rod and i celebrate 10 years of marriage this year, on Dec 1. And we will probably go to Aruba again :)

Me:

I feel like 2010 has God's goodness written all over it. We've been so blessed and have seen countless things that make us grateful. I always have things i want to work on/change when a new year starts. One thing is, my computer time has to be decreased. After all, why does Brad know about facebook?? I tend to tell Rod different things that i find out on facebook. The one day he was like "why do you know what my 2nd cousin once removed is up to??" Good point. I don't need to follow it so closely, even though it's usually when the kids are resting. I still want to focus on other things. So I shall start after this incredibly long post!

Good things ahead this year...

*I'm excited to be involved with the March for Babies walk this year in May. Our whole family will be involved in this 3 mile walk to raise money for treatments for preemies. Want to sponser us?

*I got a call from the pastor at the Awana church the boys go to. And they needed another teacher for the remainder of the year and asked if i would do it. I always said i'd like to be a fly on the wall and see what goes on every Wed. at awanas. Now i get to find out! Apparently i start this Wednesday!

I told the boys our goal for this year is to make God happy with what we say and what we do!

Blessings to all of your new year, Happy 2011.