Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Getting into the holiday spirit...

Sarah and Rachel decided to be funny and give Jingle Bells a new twist.



Monday, November 26, 2007

One man band

Hayden would sleep with the drumsticks if we'd let him. He wants to drum all day. We did have to tell him that he can only drum on cushions, carpeted floors and beds. Without limits, he would drum on everything! This tells you why he wants "Rock Band" for Christmas.




Elbow pads...

We had been talking about going to the basketball courts to practice bike riding. Hayden told me that he needed elbow and knee pads. I told him that if he practiced more, he would be more comfortable with riding his bike and wouldn't need elbow and knee pads. This was one of those 'I told you so' moments for Hayden. At the end of the video, Rachel rides up and says, "Um, Hayden, it's not going to look good on video if you're cryin'."



Saturday, November 24, 2007

Two Wheeler!

Okay, he recovered! That is one thing about boys that if different. He is determind to get 'er done. He doesn't want to be defeated by a bike. He is able to see that if he keeps on, that he'll get it. Girls, on the other hand usually fall into a puddle of tears and cry all the way home that they are NEVER going to ride a bike again. Here is Hayden's excitement in riding his two wheeler... At the end, Rachel is being silly. She says that she wants to win 200 bucks so she can buy a pony.





Thanksgiving 2007

The spread...

Desserts-Yum!


Aminda's new dance team


Getting ready for Black Friday!


I love Thanksgiving! When we get together with family for the holidays, we have a huge number of people. This year was no different. We hosted three other families for Thanksgiving and had a total of 15 people. We split the cooking and it made it so easy. I love getting together. We had our neighbors Ward and Dawn and their girls over. (Yes, Ward made another fried turkey) We had our friend Linda and her girls over. Linda's husband is currently deployed, so we were here adopt-a-family for the holiday. We also had some other friends Spencer and Aminda over. John and Spencer worked together in Albuquerque and now Spencer is here for AFIT. We love making a big deal out of Thanksgiving. We were invited to go to Centerville to have dessert with some other military friends, so we carpooled all 15 of us over to their house and they had some other friends join them as well. We had such a great time! I think there were close to 30 people in their home. We had several different desserts to choose from. We looked at Black Friday ads, watched football and Aminda entertained the kids by teaching them dances. Aminda is a dancer for the Indiana Pacers Pacemates. The girls thought it was so cool to have a real dancer/cheerleader teaching them stuff.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Freezer day for the Holidays...


Well, we did it again. Eight recipes(six servings each) + Ten ladies + five hours = 480 servings We tried all new recipes this time. I'll share a few.

Praline Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
6 pkgs. Biscuits

Topping:
½ cup chopped pecans
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup butter or margarine melted

Directions:
Sprinkle pecans into bottom of 9x13 pan (or 2 8x8 pans). In bowl, combine: brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, vanilla and salt; sprinkle over pecans. Drizzle butter over top. Cut biscuits in fourths and place on top of mixture. Bake at 375* for 30 min., or until golden brown. Let cool for 1 minute and invert onto a serving platter.

Freezer option:
Coffee cakes may be frozen before baking and thawed for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Place in a cold oven; set oven to 375* and bake for 35-40 minutes or until browned.

Nutritional Information: for each 8x8 pan
1/12 pan= 5 pts., 212 cal
1/8 pan= 7 pts., 318 cal

Lasagna In A Bun
Ingredients:
6 (3oz) French style rolls 1 egg white
½ lb. ground turkey ½ cup 2% Mozzarella cheese (divided in ½)
½ cup diced onion 1/3 cup part-skim Ricotta cheese
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce 3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

Directions:
Cut thin slices off tops of rolls. Hollow out centers, leaving ½-inch thick shells; set aside. Cook ground turkey until browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion, tomato sauce and salt. Cook over low heat for 5 min. stirring frequently.
Combine egg white, 1/4cup mozzarella cheese and remaining ingredients. Spoon ¼ cup meat mixture into bottom of each roll; top with cheese mixture. Layer another ¼ cup meat mixture, then sprinkle each sandwich with extra mozzarella cheese. Replace tops of rolls and wrap each sandwich in foil. Bake at 400* for 20-25 minutes.

Freezer Instructions:
Freeze after assembling and before baking. Just thaw 24 hours before serving and bake as directed. In a 400* oven for 20-25 minutes.

Nutritional Information: per sandwich
6points
272 cal

Pecan Pie
1 9-inch frozen pie crust
2 cups pecan pieces
½ cup corn syrup
1 cup dark brown sugar-packed
½ cup nonfat egg substitute
¼ cup low-fat yogurt based spread or butter-melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cocoa powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Spread pecan pieces into bottom of pie crust. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, or mixer, mix together corn syrup, brown sugar, egg substitute, spread, vanilla, salt and cocoa powder.
4. Pour the mixture over the pecans.
5. Bake for 30 minutes

Freezing Instructions:
Assemble as directed above. Cover with plastic wrap and foil. Thaw at room temperature before baking in a preheated oven at 350* for 30 minutes.

Nutritional information:
1/8= 10 points & 470 cal.
1/12= 7 points & 313 cal.

Friday night is Pizza night...




We love Fridays at our house because it is pizza night. John and Hayden decided to help this past Friday, so I grabbed my camera to share the moment. Hayden loves to help cook. We got this apron and chef's hat at Circuit City with the purchase of Ratatouille.

Rachel's Princess Skirt



Rachel came down stairs the other day and told me that she had designed her own Princess skirt. This is it! Who knows, maybe she'll be a fashion designer when she grows up. I just thought I'd share this with you. It gives a little insight to Rachel's sense of humor and creativity.

Mary, Mary quite contrary, how do your brussel sprouts grow?



On trees,of course! Today, I went to Jungle Jim's (Trader Joe's on steroids)and discovered this in the produce section. I was actually looking for brussel sprouts, and this is what I found. We all love brussel sprouts, so boy was I excited to find that they grow on trees-like money. I had no idea that this is how brussel sprouts grew. Did you?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Wish list x 4

Okay, I thought it might be fun to show you what my kids want for Christmas. It is funny to see their differences. I'd be curious to know if any of their items are on your children's lists. The items on their lists are in no certain order.

Hayden- age 5

1. Rock Band xbox 360 game ($200 incase you are wondering...I think John has been telling him what to put on his wishlist)
2. Hot Wheels Rumblers Thunder playset
3. Guitar (at Target for $10) He reminds me every day since he saw it.
4. DS game: Jam sessions
5. Webkinz little kinz lion
6. idog spiderman ($35 everywhere except Sam's and it is $7.81; I probably should have bought this already, but I haven't.)
7. Playmobil pirate corsair ship
8. Little Tikes Aircade Wall Court (Even I think this is cool. It hooks to your door, you shoot the ball and it returns it to you)

Rachel- age 7 (I keep forgeting and saying she is 8 and she just says, "mom, I'm 7".)

1. Disney Camcorder
2. Spotz maker (yes, it makes spots...kind of like little discs of paper?)
3. B Chic Nail Studio (Because painting her nails is a huge deal!)
4. dog
5. fishe
6. mukey (monkey)
7. horse
8. turtle
9. owl
10. duck
11. frog

Note: #'s 4-11 are real animals! She is too funny, maybe we'll get her a tour of a vet clinic, or a day at the zoo as a zoo keeper. She watches Animal planet every chance she gets and loves learning about animals.

Sarah- age 10
Okay, this girl has her list organized by categories:

American Girl Stuff ( she does have Samantha and Nellie)
1. Molly's 1944 swimsuit
2. Pup tent
3. Molly's dog Bennett or Emily's dog Yank or Both
4. Samantha's book strap & supplies
5. Samantha's party treats
6. Samantha's victorian lemonade set
7. Nellie's Holiday outfit or Nellie's spring party dress
8. Kaya's food

DS Games and other stuff:
9. Imagine Fashion designers
10. Imagine master chef
11. idog or ifish
12. Hannah Montana Music Jam
13. Yoshi's Island
14. Animal Crossing

Notes by Sarah: I also would like any girl DS covers, girl clothes, webkinz and a littlest pet shop and any books

Added at a later date:
Other American Girl stuff:
-really want with a big arrow to the side> 2-in-1 ballerina set + book
-sweet treats
-Wheelchair for dolls

DONE***! (She really wrote everything just like this. Ironically, she didn't include what she has been asking us for. A new ipod nano.)

Kate- age 12
Okay, she keeps it short and sweet!

1. Hero's season 1 DVD
2. Digital camera -pink (She does have guidelines though, she wants a very thin pink digital camera. She does not want the big fat ones that don't fit in your pocket.)
3. im me (We don't allow her to text on her cell phone, so she wants this to be able to instant message her friends. We said why don't you just call them, or email them?"

That's all for now from Kate. She may resume her list at a later date. If she does, I'll update you.