Why, yes... it's STILL snowing!!!

My husband is giddy (and out shoveling). My kiddos can't wait to go out and play (AFTER church). I'm looking for a home in Western Washington... :)

King Ranch Casserole

I should have snapped a picture BEFORE we dug into dinner tonight. Regardless, the photo doesn't do it justice. I am not a casserole fan. You know, with all that food touching... So, this was not a natural fit in my monthly menus. However, being the amazing wife that I am, I'm always on the lookout for recipes that I think Jason would really really like, in spite of my personal preferences.

This was one. And, it was a hit! Everyone agreed it was very good- even George. That's quite an accomplishment around here!

King Ranch Casserole (from Cook's Country Magazine)

• 12 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 medium onions , chopped fine
• 2 jalapeno chiles, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 (10 ounce) cans Ro-Tel tomatoes
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 4 cups shredded Colby & Monterey Jack cheese
• salt & pepper
• 2 1/4 cups Fritos corn chips, crushed

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Lay tortillas on 2 baking sheets, coat lightly with cooking spray, and bake until slightly crisp (12 minutes). Cool slightly & break into bite sized pieces. Move top oven rack to middle position.
2. Heat butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook onions, chiles, and cumin until lightly brown (8 minutes). Add tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated (10 minutes). Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add cream & broth can cook until thickened (2-3 minutes). Stir in chicken and cook until no longer pink (4 minutes). Off heat, add cilantro and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Scatter half of tortilla pieces in 13 x 9 baking dish set on rimmed baking sheet. Spoon 1/2 filling over tortillas. Scatter remaining tortillas over filling and top with remaining filling.
4. Bake until filling is bubbling (15 minutes). Sprinkle Fritos evenly over top and bake until Fritos are lightly browned (10 minutes). Cool casserole 10 minutes. Serve.

Happy little boy...

Cael is playing with his new favorite toy, a very cute chunky puzzle from Melissa & Doug. My friend, Kim, ordered it for her store this summer at my prompting. Then I forgot all about it... Well, I discovered it on her shelves this week while I was browsing. Lucky Cael!

(And, Cael is wearing some PJs from Kim's boys as well. She sent over lots of very cute things that her boys, ages 5 & 11, outgrew long ago... Now, Bjorn, Amber's newest, and Cael have lots of new-to-us clothes! Thanks Kim!)

Like I need another hobby...

Well, I got a new hobby, needed or not. Here's the book that Jamie has been touting for months. Michelle sent me the book and, now, I think I must make homemade bread...

So, despite not owning a dough bucket or a pizza peel (yet), I jumped right in and made my first batch.

Now, it needs to rise for awhile... in the improvised dough bucket. To prevent an explosion of sorts, I did poke a few small holes in the lid. We'll try actually baking some tomorrow. (The book suggests letting it sit in the fridge over night~ especially on the first go of bread making...)

We're all rather optimistic. Stay tuned for a verdict...

Rhys is supposed to be cleaning out the garage...

Boy, my kids are happy!

It' s piling up at the back door...


It looks like January, doesn't it?



Good thing I can't really see out the windows. or I'd be really depressed!


My screens are on the inside. The stupid snow is sticking to the glass...


Lovely view, eh?

Cael (not-so) well baby check up...

Cael went to the doctor on Wednesday for his (month-late) 15 month check. So, here are the highlights:

• weight- 26 1/2 lbs (70th percentile)
• height- 32" (55th percentile)
• head- 19 1/4" (75th percentile)

All is well in Cael's world. Well, except he has croup. Go figure... Instead of immunizations, he got a steroid to help with the swelling in his throat.

Next week or the following week, I'm dragging the whole crew in. As long as Cael is there getting his shots, we may as well get our flu shots done too. Won't that make for a fun afternoon? :)

Snow...

Up to 14" of this stuff is forcasted for this weekend. Grrrr... Like Kjersten said earlier today, "I haven't had enough of summer yet!" Amen, sister, Amen!

George and the Harley...

Gordon bribed Brennen to eat all of his chicken pot pie by offering a ride to church on the Harley. Brennen hemmed and hawed and led us all to believe he would pass up a motorcycle ride rather than eat Amy's (awesome) pot pie. But, nearing the deadline, he kicked it into gear and finished just in time.

Good thing. With the snow today, it's going to be a while before he rides again!

Brennen's buddies...

Brennen hanging out with Zeb & Ethan. Can you tell they're trying to look around me at the TV?

Analise (Zeb's three year old sister). Isn't she sweet...

Whatcha doin'?

Looks like you're watching a movie while waiting in the van...


Looks like you're perturbed with whoever is behind the lens...


Looks like we found who entertained herself & baby Cael while mama was in the bank. (No worries- Uncle Eddy was supervising from the front seat. Okay... worry a bit! LOL!)

He loves his peaches...

That's a lot of leftovers for Cael eating a peach. Don't worry (like I did), the pit is under his bottom!

Mama did a bad bad thing...

I just don't remember what I did. But, as you can see... He's less than impressed with me!

Kids left to entertain the baby...

I had to make a quick phone call during our math lesson today. From the bedroom, I could hear Cael laughing. The other three were having a great time swinging their baby brother around in the blanket. I let them play for a bit (call it recess...) and now, we're off to finish our math!

More Good News... Bad News...

Good news: Apparently some time out for the computer caused it to rethink deleting my photos. This morning, they (re)appeared! (Yes, I am sure they weren't hiding somewhere... Remember, Jason just cleared my hard drive of files. There's precious little to search thru these days...) Don't know what happened, but they're here now!

Bad news: Now, once again... I am behind on blogging! (157 photos behind, to be exact...)

Rhys

Rhys' friend, Zack, was dissapointed that I have few photos of Rhys on the blog. So, here you go Zack!

Helping the mama...

Uncle Josh

Uncle Josh and Auntie Sara came to hang out with kiddos while Jason and I went to dinner and a movie with friends. (By the way, we went to Fireproof and highly recommend it despite a bit of cheesy acting!) So, the kids were fully entertained by Sara and Josh. Sara made fried chicken & mashed potatoes. They played Go Fish and watched movies. They played "pictionary" of sorts and Josh drew the kiddos a Jeep. In real life, Josh builds these things which means he has a shop full of neat car parts and big tools. Guess where Brennen likes to hang out? With his cool uncle, of course! Here's a link to Josh's business website.

The kids couldn't stand the thought of erasing Josh's drawing, so we've preserved it here.

Good News... Bad News...

good news: I had three hours to blog last night.

bad news: I had Jason's laptop with no SD card reader so I couldn't upload photos.

good news: The reason I didn't have my laptop is Jason was working on it. He upgraded the memory, got me an additional hard drive, and replaced my display housing including my wireless antenna. This means I can upload photos again without constant fear of catastrophic computer issues.

bad news: It was too late and I was too tired to fiddle with it last night.

good news: Jason and Rhys left early to spend the day painting and the other three slept in. Lots of time to blog...

bad news: An unprecedented operator error (mine) erased all but the "peach" photos from my SD card. I didn't really see what was on there, just that there were LOTS of photos for me to blog about. I'm trying not to cry.

good news: I am now officially caught up on blogging... unless some photos surface from last month begging to be commented on and preserved on the blog.

Peaches

We bought some enormous Washington peaches and have been enjoying them immensely. Of course, no one loves them as much as Cael. He helped himself to one a few days ago and since then we've discovered he needs no assistance in eating them. When he's done, only the pit remains and we have one very sticky happy boy!

Looking at this photo would lead one to believe eating a peach is actually hard work!