Friday Food Day

I recently participated in an email recipe exchange. I normally don't do those type of things but I thought, why not?!?!

I did my part and sent a recipe to the first perosn on the list and then forwarded the email to friends. I think I was supposed to send it to 20, but I only did 15. It didn't take long for the recipes to come rollin' in. I'll share them with you over the next few weeks in my repeating post- Friday Food Day. I think I'll use this time to toot some of my own recipes and food websites I visit.

Happy Food Day!



Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 cans (10 oz) Hormel chunck breast of Chicken, drained
2 pkgs (8 oz) cream cheese
1 cup ranch dressing
1/3 cup pepper sauce
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Place cream cheese in shallow casserole. Microwave on 50% power until cheese is softened (2-3 min). Stir in drained chicken, ranch dressing, pepper sauce and 1 cup of cheese. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese. Microwave on 100% 2-4 min, until hot and bubbly. Serve with crackers, tortilla chips and celery sticks. Makes 6 cups, 20-24 servings.



Jenn's Light Chicken Salad:

1lb of boneless skinless chicken, cooked and shredded (or you can use low fat canned chicken)
1/2 jar of Fat Free Mayo
Green (or red) grapes, halved
1 cup (or more if you like) almond slivers
Fresh squeezed lemon juice
A few sprinkles of season all
Croissants (or whatever kind of bread you like)

Mix up ingredients and spread on bread (or crackers or by itself) to enjoy!

15 months

Our precious boy turned 15 months last Thursday. He weighs 24 lbs and is 32 1/2 inches long. He has darling curls in the back of his hair and an impish grin with lopsided teeth. Adorable! Here he is over the past week. Eating is his favorite hobby followed by playing outside. I think he would sleep out there if we would let him!

Such a little man!

Lucas @ 15 months:

-drinks from a straw

-likes sidewalk chalk

-has called 911 (by accident)

-says "hi, dada", "no-no", "shoes"

-has a mouthful of teeth

-tried asparagus and didn't spit it out

-sz 5 shoes, 12-18 month clothes

Bloggy Problems

I need help with my post spacing. When I type a post and hit enter several times to create appropriate visual spacing, it doesn't save that way when the post is posted to my blog. I've tried different things and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Any ideas? You can look at my last post to see what I mean. I typed to scroll down for answers then hit enter several times but it doesn't look like that now. I need help!

So Much Alike!

If I asked you to tell me which kid was in each picture, you could probably do it if you studied the details. But... when I caught Lucas in this pose last week, I had a flashback moment to another child looking exactly the same. I ran for my camera and snapped a shot. So... can you tell the difference? scroll down for the answer!

Lillian is in the top photo- circa January 2004- she was 4 months old.

Lucas is the bottom photo- circa last week- he is 15 months old.

My Collection

I've never been one to have a collection but I stumbled upon one without meaning to begin. Once I admitted that I had started collecting, I mentioned it to a few people and the collection grew quickly.

I collect cookie cutters. There. I said it. I have a collection. Let me share it with you!

This picture shows all of my cookie creations. Each one has a story and a memory. Is it like that with all people who collect items?

The red arrow points to a spring set by Martha Stewart. My mom bought these for my birthday this year. Directly behind the arrow is a set of circus animal cutters with a mix to make animal crackers. I am looking forward to trying this with my kids. Again, this was a gift from Mom. The cutters are darling ! Moving clockwise, the green arrow points to a set of 18 fall shapes. I bought this for 75% off after Halloween. The set includes a bat, a coffin, leaves, an apple, and many others related to autumn.

The Christmas shapes were a gift from a former student. The clover and rabbit were in Mom's birthday gift this year. The red bunny was found in an antique store in Guthrie on July 4th 2 years ago. It is made by Tupperware. I intend to find more like this because it reminds me of making cookies with my mom as a child. She had several red cutters in different shapes. Does anyone else remember doing that? Finally, the turkey was attached to a Thanksgiving towel my SIL, Sarah, gave me a year ago. She's always doing nice things like that!

Close up of the Martha Stewart cutters.

One problem...how do I store/display/organize these? Any ideas?

Dinosaurs Unearthed

We joined the masses of people at the OKC Zoo this week. The key? In by 9am, out by noon. The new dinosaur exhibit was a big hit. My camera died after a few shots so this doesn't do it justice. Lillian had her hands over her ears; Lucas wanted to touch them all and kept calling everything "dog."

Weekend Visit

Last weekend, Lillian and Lucas had the chance to spend a few days with Grammy and Granddad. We had planned this for several weeks and, of course, the weather didn't cooperate. The 3 days they were there it was cold and wet. Finally, Saturday brought nice temperatures.

Lucas and Nathan spent quality time together. It was mostly Lucas "patting" Nathan on the head.

Uncle Ty spent some of his Spring Break hanging out with the kids.

*****************************************************************

Lillian met and helped with her new pony, Comanche. Lucas rode on a tractor with Brent. I didn't catch any pictures of those events; maybe Grammy will email some of hers.

Morning Serenade- Clothes Optional

All You

Over the years, I've subscribed to many magazines including Woman's Day, Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens, Redbook, and various parenting magazines. Before children, I bought Marie Claire and Glamour. My time is prioritized differently these days so I have limited my magazines to one that has it all (no pun intended). All You is for you!

The promise of coupons is no joke. I have more than paid for the magazine itself on more occasions than I can name. The sign of the times is that it has gone from $1.77 an issue to $2.49 an issue. Inflation- not just for groceries anymore!

*************************************************************************************

The recipes are family and kid friendly- no weird ingredients. I like the easy to read format with short articles (nothing that you have to skip to pg. 94 to finish reading!) and Tip Strips that can be cut off the side of the page for future reference. The clothing comes from stores like Target and JCPenney at affordable prices with several options to complete the same look. Common headings include Your Self, Your Health, Your World, and Your Home. Probably my favorite part (besides the coupons) is the puzzle section. Every issue has Sudoku, a crossword, and a Picture Puzzle. I don't subscribe to it; it's just my guilty pleasure when I buy groceries.

Jacket In The Morning, Sunburn By Afternoon

Guthrie has 2 great parks located on opposite ends of town. Lillian calls one "The Duck Park" and the other one "The Swimming Pool Park." We visited "Swimming Pool Park" this morning for a walk around the pond and time for our toes in the sand.

We needed jackets for most of the morning. As I type, I am feeling the start of a sunburn gained from the 3 hours we spent in the backyard this afternoon. After searching all the cabinets, I discovered I did, in fact, throw away all the old sunscreen. Vitamin D overload today!

Look What I Made!

I found the inspiration here.

Grace Violet has given me other ideas that I am trying out this week. The spring weather has made me motivated and inspired! I will show you my creations as they are finished. Some have to remain secret because I intend to give some as gifts.

**********************************************************************************

Seriously, this dress was easy, peasy! I bought smocked fabric at Hobby Lobby (hurry, it sells out fast), then chose a coordinating fabric to lengthen the dress to fit my young colt, and finally attached straps. This has so many options! I could have made it strapless but, hey, she's only 5. It could be a tunic with leggings underneath. I have a tiny bit left over to made a matching dress for one of her dolls.

Springtime Weather

Fire

Spring Planting Has Begun!

Carrots, potatoes, and onions are in the ground!

Lucas liked the dirt.

Look What I Made!

After seeing a friend's idea at church (thanks, Amber!), I decided to make something like it for Lillian. We started with a colorful paper folder. Then, I chose several sheets of felt in various colors.

I glued a black background to both sides using good ol' Elmer's. Next time, I think I'll use hot glue and I'll tell you why in a minute.



The last and best step was to design/create/cut out whatever Lillian wanted to "stick" to her felt background. If you've never played with felt, it is a wonderful thing that sticks to itself. I used no pattern (isn't it obvious!) and Lillian decorated the face. We cut clothes and decorated with sequins or made designs to glue to the front of shirts. I will use hot glue next time because Elmer's doesn't hold felt to felt very well.

We took our finished product to church last Sunday for a quiet time activity. I ended up doing a sun, clouds, grass, and flowers as an alternative to the doll and clothes. I store all the pieces in a Zip-loc bag inside the folder and it's ready to go!

I envisioned this turning out way cooler than it did, but Lillian helped with most of it and that made the project very fun no matter how it actually turned out!

Planes, Trains, and Automobilies

Last Saturday, we took Lillian and Lucas to visit the train museum in Guthrie. It was cold and windy outside, so we thought this would be a great inside activity. I was blown away by the detail in the train models!

Lucas liked watching the train go around and around.

There were at least 7 displays, each one different. The curator explained that many of the train cars were worth as much as $500 each. Some even had a Mercedes-Benz engine! We watched in fascination as the tiny treasures sped around the tracks, some going in tunnels and through towns.

This miniature house and SUV was perched on top of a "mountain."

The train designer had some fun portraying a "car wreck" on a bridge.

Toy Of The Year

"Of course you can play with the onions, sweetheart!"

A Boy And His Mess

The following events happened in a 30 minute period one afternoon this week:

Dumped out shells and then stepped on as many as possible to see if they would break.

(Yes, son, they do break...into a million pieces.)

Discovered flower pot with dirt inside

"Hmmmm... this dumps easily"

"I wonder how it tastes?"

"Not like I expected!"

Lillian was calmly washing the car while Lucas made a mess.