Bown Family

Crock Pot Recipe Day 13

2012-01-22T15:31:00.004-07:00

Ok. I decided I need to explain why today is only day 13 despite being January 22nd. With Travis being gone most of the time I end up with a lot of left overs (especially if the kids don't like what I've made). So, we've eaten left overs on more than one occasion. Also, we have eaten at Travis's parents house once or twice. Only once have I ordered pizza (Sam was having a sleepover over here)! I haven't had any recipes turn out bad enough that we had to scrap it and start over (shocker).

Ham-Broccoli Casserole
From Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook
Page 451
Makes 4 servings
Prep time 20 minutes
Cooking time 4-5 hours
Ideal slow cooker size 4-5 qt

16 oz pkg frozen broccoli cuts, thawed & drained I used a 14 oz bag and I didn't thaw or drain it.
2-3 cups cubed, cooked ham I had about 2 1/2 cups. I used the left over ham from when I made Ham in Foil.
10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup I used cream of chicken
4 oz of your favorite mild cheese, cubed I used mild cheddar & I grated it, not cubed it
1 cup milk
1 cup instant rice, uncooked
1 rib celery, chopped I just used celery salt because no one here likes celery
1 small onion, chopped I used about 3/4 cup white onion

1. combine broccoli and ham in slow cooker.
2. Combine soup, cheese, milk, rice, celery, and onion. Stir into broccoli. My cheese grater was in the dishwasher so I didn't add the cheese until it had been cooking for about an hour.
3. Cover. Cook on low 4-5 hours.

Ramblings

2012-01-22T01:10:00.001-07:00

I realized today that I've only done one post that wasn't recipe related since the beginning of the month. Oops. Things have been busy around here I guess!

Nash started piano at the beginning of January. Now I have 2 kids that have to practice! He's doing pretty good. Unfortunately, he wasn't born with the innate rhythm like his older sister was. I told Travis I think it's because he didn't play his guitar much while I was pregnant with Nash or for about the first 2 years after he was born (we lived on the third floor of an apt). He seems to be enjoying it though, which is what I was hoping for!

Samantha is getting quite good with her piano. I'm impressed with how much she's learned in just under a year. My thanks to her piano teacher! I have taught her very little - what do I know? I'm just the mom! She's still enjoying dance too. I did have to tell her today that if she didn't start listening better I'd tell her dance teacher she wouldn't be able to go to Disneyland. Not sure if she believes I'll do it or not. Hmmm...better figure something out there!

Caleb has been loving preschool. He's not quite so clingy when I drop him off. Don't get me wrong, he still has his days where he semi freaks out if I try to leave before he's ready. But, for the most part, drop off isn't too bad. I'm surprised by his growing vocabulary. Not sure if it's from preschool or listening to his older siblings. I realize it could be a combination of the two. Either way, the boys is getting a very LARGE vocabulary & it generally catches me off guard when he throws a big word out and uses it in context. Caleb is finally out of nursery and a Sunbeam. Should be interesting to see how that works out. He's quite particular about who he'll stay with and acknowledge!

Brookelyn is growing way too fast. She is still toothless - although, I think I can FINALLY see one of her bottom teeth & occasionally feel it. Perhaps before February she will have a tooth. She is so slow to get teeth compared to the other three. Maybe that means she will have better teeth than the older two? I had her in the dr.'s office the day after Christmas and she had an ear infection in her left ear. I took her back in almost 10 days ago because she had been pulling at her left ear for a week and a half. She had also had diarrhea for two weeks and had spent part of the week throwing up. Her left ear was infected (again or still?). The dr. at Instacare said, "She's had four prescriptions in about six weeks. She might end up needing tubes." Yes, yes I laughed at him. I then proceeded to tell him just how close of relationship I have with my favorite ENT. The first two prescriptions she had were for sinus infections (reminiscent of Samantha) and the second two were for ears. I think I'm seeing a familiar pattern here. They gave her an antibiotic she hadn't tried yet. She's quit pulling at her ear and I'm still crossing my fingers that she doesn't break out in hives any time soon. So far so good, but, I'm not holding my breath that I'll get a kid that's not allergic to penicillin! She is up to 20 lbs 9 oz and feels it! I told Travis we need to take her out of the infant seat & put her into the upright rear facing. Girlfriend is too heavy for me to pack around much longer! She isn't full on crawling yet, but she will be any day now. She gets up on all fours and she will move one knee forward before she plops down and army crawls. Not sure if she doesn't trust herself (yes, she has had her face meet my wood floor) or if she knows she's faster on her belly. We did buy another baby gate last time Travis was home and I did bust it out last night. Won't be too much longer before it becomes a permanent fixture around here.

I am loving my job more and more every week. The kids are fun to work with. The schools are all really good schools. The teachers and the principals have been really good to work with. Next week in parent teacher conferences (at least at one school). So, I've written up a short note for teachers to give the parents. All but one of my schools has done their presentations for their research projects. I can't believe the turn out we had. Parents showed up and every 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teacher brought their class to hear the presentations. The SEM kids were thrilled that their classmates could come and listen to their presentations. I was thrilled that the teachers would take the time out of their day to bring their whole class down to listen to and see what just a few kids in the class had been working on. Just about every kid had a parent there too. That was nice because I got parent emails so now I can email notes home. I also finally got my uen website modified for the SEM job and emailed parents the link to it. I think that will be very handy. Next week I am going to the UAGC conference in SLC all day. That should be interesting. I've never been to one of their conferences.

My poor kids can't decide whether to wear shorts or sweats lately! It has rained for days and days. I told Travis that the field next to us had quite a bit of water in it and I was hoping it wouldn't venture over to our property. So far, so good. Today after it finally decided to quit raining, the snow started. The kids were sooo excited to play in the snow. Brooke was a good sport (kinda) and let me put her in her walker all bundled up out in the garage while I shoveled snow. After I was done (and she had ventured out onto the wet driveway) I realized that her little shoes were getting quite small and are not the best for wet weather. So, sister got some stylin' new sneakers when we went to Walmart tonight. I wish they had them in my size!

Travis comes home tomorrow and we are all anxiously awaiting that. Monday is a short day at school and there's no school Tuesday. On Friday Travis and I are going to see (our favorite) Brad Paisley. I'm so excited! Sam's totally bummed we aren't taking her this time. It just so happens that the concert is the same day that I have to be in SLC all day for the UAGC conference so Travis is going to have to meet me there. Hope that works out ok and we don't end up late to the concert. And on a completely random note: I've become totally addicted to the game Words With Friends! I totally blame my husband! Now if I could just quit getting spanked on just about every game I play, I'd be happy! Guess I need Caleb's vocabulary!

Crock Pot Recipe Day 12

2012-01-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

Seasoned Pork Ribs
From Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook
Page 444

Makes 2-3 servings
Prep time 5-10 minute
Cooking time 4 hours
Ideal slow cooker size 4-5 qt

3 lbs pork shoulder ribs, cut in serving size pieces I used about 2.3 lbs country style ribs
2 tsp chipotle seasoning spice I used Southwestern Seasoning from Pampered Chef
1 tsp coarse black pepper, optional
1 TBSP prepared horseradish I used horseradish sauce
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. apricot jelly

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
2. Season pork with chipotle seasonings and then place in hot skillet, browning each piece on top and bottom. Do in batches so all the pieces brown well. I also browned the sides of the ribs.
3. As you finish browning ribs, place them in the slow cooker.
4. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.
5. Meanwhile, mix together pepper if you wish, horseradish, ketchup, and apricot jelly in a bowl. Spread over cooked pork.
6. Cover and cook on high 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.

These were really good. The kids even ate them!

Crock Pot Recipe Day 11

2012-01-16T22:15:00.002-07:00

Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole

From Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook

Page 344

Makes 8 servings

Prep time 10 minutes

Cooking time 3-7 hours

Ideal slow cooker size 6 qt

1 c. long grain rice, uncooked All I had was minute rice or Rice a Roni. So, I found a long grain & wild rice rice a roni & used that. It wasn't quite a full cup, so I pulled Spanish Rice Rice A Roni to fill the remainder of the cup. I think it would have turned out better had I used either all long grain & wild rice Rice a Roni or regular long grain rice.

3 cups water I feel like this was a smidge too much. I'd go 2 3/4 next time

2 tsp low sodium chicken boullion granules

10 3/4 oz can fat free, low sodium cream of chicken soup Pretty sure you could substitute cream of mushroom if you wanted too

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and it was approximately 2 medium and 1 small piece of chicken. I cooked them and then cut them into about 1 inch pieces and threw them back in the pan until I could no longer see any pink.

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion salt I didn't have onion salt so I just threw in some dried onion flakes

1 c. shredded, fat free cheddar cheese I was worried about putting this in at the beginning like it says to. It turned out fine. However, if you want to know the cheese is in there and have it be cheesy, don't put it in until about the same time as the broccoli.

16 oz bag frozen broccoli, thawed I used a 12 oz bag and I threw it in frozen. I'm pretty sure that it would be fine to substitute another vegetable if you don't like broccoli.

1. Combine all ingredients except broccoli in slow cooker.

2. One hour before end of cooking time, stir in broccoli.

3. Cook on high for a total of 3-4 hours or on low for a total of 6-7 hours. I did low for about 3-4 hours.

The only thing I wasn't happy about is how the rice turned out. It was cooked, it just seemed a little mushy almost. Not sure if it's because it was too much water or from the vermacilli in the Rice a Roni. It was edible and tasted fine, but I'd do something different with the rice next time. This time I just used what I had on hand though. My husband makes a dish very similar to this in the dutch oven. What he does different however is that there is no cheese and he leaves the chicken in whole pieces (the entire breast). He also uses cream of mushroom instead of cream of chicken. Pretty good though and the kids DID eat it.

Crock Pot Recipe Day 10

2012-01-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

Ham In Foil
From Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook
P. 446

Makes 6 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 7 hrs
Ideal slow cooker size: 5 qt

1/2 c. water
3-4 lb precooked ham I could only find either a 2.5 lb or a 5 lb so I went with 2.5
liquid smoke

1. Pour water into slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle ham with liquid smoke. Wrap in foil. Place in slow cooker. I sat my ham on the foil and folded the sides up. Then I sprinkled with liquid smoke. This way I didn't get the liquid smoke all over or lose any by moving the ham after I sprinkled it with the liquid smoke.
3. Cover. Cook on high 1 hour, then on low 6 hours. I cooked mine on low for about 3 hours.
4. Cut into thick chunks or 1/2 inch slices and serve.

A snow fort

2012-01-11T19:52:00.002-07:00

Last week we managed to get five inches of snow (surprisingly, it's still here too). When Travis went out to shovel the driveway I conned the kids into going outside to play in it. Their dad can usually get them to build a snowman (mom's kinda lame and won't go out because she doesn't have boots or warm enough clothes). He got them started on a snowman. They rolled balls all over the front yard, through the driveway....

and even into the backyard. Eventually they abandoned the idea of a snowman. They had started to pile up their giant snowballs, but for some reason or another Sam turned them into her throne.

Next thing I know, I look out back and I see Travis shoveling the grass. I'm thinking "What the heck?" I figured he was building them a sledding hill. Nope. He showed them how to carve it out into the shape of a fort. Before long Sam came in asking for bread pans. Dad was showing them how to make bricks for the fort.

Even Caleb got into packing the bread pans (I mean brick pans).

I had Sam stand up inside the fort so I could see how tall it was getting. They did a few rows of bricks around the top and then gave up (Dad had come inside). So, every time I look out back I can see a half finished fort. Now they need to half finish another one across the yard so they can have a snowball war!

This little girl sure loves her big brother Nash. In fact, I'm quite certain she ADORES him. She lights up whenever he walks into the room. She gets the biggest grin and just loves to sit by him and hang out. I think they are going to be the best of buddies.

I saw this one night not long after Christmas. My mom had given Sam and my niece matching nightgowns and these fleece hats. I told her the hats were not intended as a night cap, but rather for outside. Apparently, she doesn't care. She has slept with it on almost every night since she got it on Christmas Eve!

I believe I failed to mention that Nash lost a tooth on Christmas Eve. I felt bad after I pulled it because there was actually more root to it than I had anticipated. I felt really bad because I had to yank pretty dang hard to get it out. He was a trooper though. He let me yank it and didn't yell or scream nearly as much as his big sister did! Since he was so tough he got a whole $1 from grandma. Then, the Tooth Fairy left him another $2! Santa AND the Tooth Fairy in the same night - what a lucky kiddo!

Welcome to Social Spark

2012-01-10T22:30:00.003-07:00

So a few months ago, my sister told me she had signed up for this thing called Social Spark. I decided I'd give it a try. It's basically a way for bloggers to try and make a little money. I figured "What the heck?" So, I'm giving it a try. I thought this looked like fun. I wish they would have sent it to me a little closer to Christmas, but I think it might be a fun thing to get and mail to the house as a "Holy Cow! Guess what Santa sent us!"

Here's another one I thought some of you might be interested in. Those that know my family, know that my mom has unofficially published 4 family cookbooks (2 versions of 1, 1 version of another and a partial version of the 1st one as a completely different 3rd book - clear as mud, right?). Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in this one because if you're like us, you have lots of family recipes that you'd love to have all in one spot. I've been trying to put one together for the Bown family, but I'm the biggest contributor of recipes and I think that just makes me look like a nerd so I haven't published it yet! We got a recipe book that was put together with copies of hand written recipes that were Trav's great grandma's that I've been meaning to type up into another book so that it was a bit more organized (and I won't be devastated when Travis dumps a pot of coffee all over it like he did on one of my other cook books) BUT, I digress!

Anyway. I hope no one is annoyed by my periodic posting of some deals that are sent my way. I'm posting them of FB too if you're interested. I have pictures on my camera that I need to upload, but my computer seems to get slower and slower every day so I've been putting it off. If I can survive until the weekend, I might just attempt it!

Happy Tuesday!

Crock Pot Recipe Day 9

2012-01-09T19:26:00.003-07:00

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bundles
From Fix It and Forget It Big Cookbook
Page 340

Makes 6 servings
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 4-5 hours
Ideal slow cooker size 4 qt

3 whole chicken breasts, split and deboned I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 pieces thinly sliced ham I used deli sliced ham and it was so thin it was kinda hard to tell it was there. I'd suggest using a slice thickness that isn't paper thin.
6 slices Swiss cheese All my cheese oozed out so I'd suggest putting 2 slices per piece of chicken instead of one.
salt to taste
pepper to taste
6 slices of bacon
1/4 cup water
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1/2 cup white cooking wine I substituted 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

1. Flatten chicken to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness. Place a slice of ham and a slice of cheese on top of each flattened breast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. I'd suggest you salt and pepper the chicken and then place the ham and then the cheese. Roll up and wrap with a strip of bacon. Secure with toothpick. Place in slow cooker. If you don't have a meat tenderizer you can use a rolling pin. However, it doesn't get your chicken as thin as a meat tenderizer would. It can sort of mutilate your chicken too. I would also suggest using a bacon that has some fat to it, but not a lot.

2. Combine 1/4 cup water, granules, and wine (or 1/2 cup chicken broth). Pour into slow cooker. You could probably use the chicken bouillon that comes in the cubes. However, you would need to dissolve it in the water first.

3. Cover. Cook on High 4 hours. Ok, so I put mine in on low for 6 1/2 hours. I figured it would be fine since my chicken wasn't completely thawed (yeah, try smashing that). Much of my cheese oozed out of the center. I actually think I'd recommend putting 2 slices of cheese inside instead of one.

4. Combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Add to slow cooker. Cook until sauce thickens. Because I had my chicken in the crock pot for so long (ended up having a detour tonight before I got home), the kids were starving so I skipped this step. Even though there was still liquid in the bottom of the crock pot (part bacon drippings, part juice I put in there) the chicken was a smidge dry and I think it probably did need this sauce. I wouldn't recommend skipping this step.

Crock Pot Recipes Days 7-8

2012-01-08T16:59:00.001-07:00

Mexican Pork Chops

From Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two

P 142

Cooker 1 1/2 - 3 qt

Setting & Cook Time High 3-4 hours

2 tsp olive oil I didn't use this

Two 1 inch thick boneless center cut pork chops I did 8 chops

2/3 cup chunky tomato salsa, fresh or jarred I used an entire qt

1 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice I used 3 small limes

1 TBSP freshly squeezed orange juice I used 1 medium orange

Squeeze of fresh grapefruit I used 1/2 of a grapefruit

1. In a heavy skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil and quickly sear and brown the pork chops on both sides. Place the pork chops in the slow cooker. I don't use the olive oil because I use a non stick pan. I seared the pork chops until I couldn't see any pink on either side. I could still see pink on the edges of the chops, but not the top or bottom.

2. In a small bowl, combine the salsa and juices, and pour over the pork. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours, until the meat is tender. Serve immediately.

These turned out spicier than I had anticipated. Not so spicy that we couldn't eat it, just spicy enough that the kids were a bit hesitant. I did use homemade salsa too so you could possibly control the spice by which kind of salsa you use. My husband didn't like the pork chops because they had a sweet taste to them. I could taste the grapefruit stronger than I thought I would. I would only use 1/4 of a grapefruit if I did it in this quantity again.

Barbecue Beef on Rolls

From Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook

P. 319

Makes 12 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 6.5-8.5 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 4 qt

3 lb boneless chuck roast

1 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1/2 cup chopped green peppers

1 small onion, chopped I used 1/2 cup white onion

1 TBSP Dijon mustard I used a Honey Dijon mustard

2 tsp. brown sugar

1. Cut roast into quarters. Place in greased slow cooker. I didn't grease my crock pot. I also didn't cut my roast into quarters because there were bones in the way.

2. Combine barbecue sauce, preserves, green peppers, onion, mustard, and brown sugar. Pour over roast.

3. Cover. Cook on Low 6-8 hours. Remove roast and slice thinly. Return to slow cooker. Stir gently.

4. Cover. Cook 20-30 minutes.

5. Serve beef and sauce on rolls.

Crock Pot Recipe Day 6

2012-01-06T18:03:00.001-07:00

Today I actually made 2 new recipes. Only 1 was in the crock pot. But, they both turned out really good!

The first recipe I made wasWhite Chicken Chili (pictured above)
From 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics
Page 160
Works best in a large (minimum 5 qt) slow cooker
1 TBSP olive oil I didn't use this
2 onions, finely chopped I used 1/2 of 1 white onion
4 cloves garlic, minced I did use 4, but 2 were super tiny. I was worried there would be a heavy garlic taste, but I couldn't taste it at all.
1 TBSP cumin seeds, toasted and ground I just used ground cumin because I figured it was tons easier and faster!
2 tsp dried oregano leaves, crumbled I just used dried oregano that was already crushed
1 cinnamon stick piece (2 inches) So, 1 bottle of cinnamon sticks costs $5.36 at WalMart. I was worried that there would be a really strong cinnamon flavor, but it was actually quite subtle.
1 tsp cracked black peppercorns I just used black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, quartered (about 12 thighs) I used boneless, skinless chicken breast. I had 3 small and 1 large chicken breast. I read ahead in the directions thinking at some point I'd have to take the chicken out and cut it up. It never says to do that. My chicken was partially frozen still when I put it in the crock pot, otherwise I would have probably cut it into pieces beforehand. I'd suggest cutting the fat off and into pieces before it goes in the crock pot if you can.
2 cups cooked dried or canned white kidney beans, drained and rinsed I used canned white kidney beans. They were a little tricky to find because they weren't right next to the red kidney beans. They were actually by the great white northern beans (they're white too). 1 15 oz can is about 1 1/4 cups. I ended up using 2 15 oz cans so it was probably closer to 2 1/2 cups than 2.
2 tsp dried ancho or New Mexico chile powder, dissolved in 1 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice So I couldn't find either of these ingredients. I ended up using regular chile powder, which does not dissolve. 1 small lime was a little more than 1 TBSP so I just used the juice from 1 whole lime.
2 green bell peppers, finely chopped I used about 1/2 of one
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped I left this out because my kids don't like spicy
1 can (4 1/2 oz) diced mild green chiles, drained
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Finely chopped cilantro
Lime wedges (optional)

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, toasted cumin, oregano, cinnamon stick and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add stock and bring to a boil. I put the garlic in right away with the onions. I think that's why I couldn't taste the garlic I pulled the pan off the heat to add all the spices because I didn't want the onions to burn. After I had added all the spices, it wasn't very easy to stir because it kinda all just stuck to the onions and turned into a glob. So, I just added the chicken stock rather than cook for 1 min.
2. Transfer to slow cooker stonewar. Add chicken and beans and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork. I put the chicken stock mix in and then the beans. I ended up laying the chicken on top. My crock pot is a super crock pot because I had it on low and it only took about 2 1/2 hours before I was able to cut up my cooked chicken. The chicken stayed really moist and tender. I think it might be because it was still slightly frozen when I put it in the crock pot so it added a little more juice to the mixture. You can't tell from the picture, but there isn't a ton of juice to this chile. I ended up taking out the cinnamon stick when I cut up the chicken. I think it would have been fine to leave it in, but I didn't want to forget about it and have it end up in one of the kids' bowls.
3. Stir in chili powder solution. Add bell peppers, jalapeno pepper and green chiles and stir well. Cover and cook on high for 20 - 30 minutes, until peppers are tender. Add cheese and cook, stirring, until melted, about 1 minute. Ladle into bowls and garnish with cilantro. Pass lime wedges at the table, if using. I didn't mix the cheese in and melt it in the crock pot because Sam doesn't like cheese. So, we cheesed our own. I also didn't put the cilantro on as a garnish.

The juice does look a bit funky and it smells rather "interesting" when you transfer it to the crock pot. I was worried the kids would be like "EWWW" because it looked funny. I think part of it was that I used regular chile powder. Even with leaving out the jalapeno and only using about 1/2 of 1 green pepper, it seemed like there were a ton of peppers in here. If you aren't a big pepper fan, I'd suggest just using the diced green chiles. Nash ate the chicken and really liked it. I was worried it would be quite spicey, but it really wasn't. He wasn't a big fan of the kidney beans though. Samantha didn't like it at all, even the chicken. Travis and I thought it turned out good though. Caleb still hasn't even tried his.

Make ahead:
THis dish can be partially prepared before it is cooked. Complete step 1. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. When you're ready to cook, continue with the recipe. I think you could also cut up your chicken ahead of time.

To go with the chili, I made Simply Corn Muffins
From The Cornbread Gospels
Page 119

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, preferably unrefined I used 1/4 because I was worried that it would be too sweet if I used more. Nope, 1/3 would have been just fine.
1/3 cup melted butter or mild vegetable oil I used butter

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with oil or line with muffin papers. I ended up getting 19 muffins out of this recipe.
2. Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl, stirring well. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the buttermilk and baking soda in a medium bowl until the baking soda is dissolved. Whisk in the eggs, sugar, and melted butter or oil. The batter was quite "poofy". I think it was from the baking soda. It reminded me of when I've made the Jiffy boxed cornbread muffins and I let the batter sit for awhile and it has risen.
4. Stir the combined wet ingredients into the dry until the mixture is just barely combined. Spoon into prepared muffin tin.
5. Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Serve warm. Mine only took 12 minutes.

My kids love cornbread and this was no exception. I didn't have regular honey and none of them wanted the creamed honey so they were a little bland with just butter on them. But, they were still really good.

Crock Pot Recipe Day 5

2012-01-04T21:08:00.002-07:00

Honey Barbecue Pork Ribs
From: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two
Page 155

Cooker: 3 qt
Setting and cook time: Low for 7-9 hours

2 lbs pork loin back ribs, baby back ribs, or country style pork spareribs, cut into serving pieces of 3-4 ribs
I used spare ribs
1 small yellow onion, sliced I used dried onion flakes because it's what I had
1 c. store bought or homemade barbecue sauce of your choice I used Kraft Original because I had one already open
1/3 c. mild flavored honey I didn't have quite 1/3 cup so I ended up using whipped honey to make up the difference. Might have been easier to mix it up if I had melted the whipped honey first.
A few splashes Sriracha hot sauce, or other favorite hot sauce I used a green tabasco sauce - maybe a tsp. I couldn't really taste the hot sauce. If you like it spicy I'd add at least 1 TBSP.

1. Arrange the rib portions in the slow cooker, layering them with the onion slices. Because my slow cooker is bigger than 3 quarts, I didn't have layers. I laid the ribs in the bottom of the cooker and sprinkled dried onion on top of them.
2. Combine the barbecue sauce, honey, and hot sauce in a small bowl until smooth; spoon over the ribs. If you have a round cooker, stack the ribs with sauce in between. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours, until the meat is tender and starts to separate from the bone.
3. Serve immediately. If there is extra sauce on the bottom of the cooker, transfer to a bowl and serve on the side.

These were really tasty. There wasn't a strong honey flavor. If you like them with a strong honey flavor, I'd suggest using a honey flavored barbecue sauce.

New Year's Eve & WOW! My baby is HUGE

2012-01-03T21:44:00.003-07:00

Only in UT, on New Year's Eve can a person find her children playing in a giant pile of leaves while her husband mows the lawn. Yep. This is what I saw as I looked out my back window on New Year's Eve:

To celebrate New Year's Eve we went out to Trav's parents' house. It was just us, Trav's parents & his sister's family. The kids had a ton of fun playing together. We had lots of yummy food and the big boys played their guitars. Later, we watched The Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The movie was ok, but I'm glad I didn't pay $6 to see it!

Yesterday I went out to Paradise to visit my cousin (Ashlee). She's visiting from Oregon with her new baby. Her kids are super cute. Her older one is only a month younger than Caleb and her new one was just born the day before Thanksgiving. Ash's sister, Natalee, was there with her little boy too. He is about 3 or 4 weeks younger than Brooke (and 6 lbs lighter). Look at the difference!:

Little sister looks like a small buffalo for sure now! My mom told me to check my baby book to see how old I was when I hit 20 lbs. I was 8 months. Brooke was about 7 months when she hit that mile marker. I'm curious to see how old my other kids were when they hit that pound mark. I think Sam was about 9 months because that's when we turned her car seat around. It's crazy to think she's only gained 10 lbs in 7 months (she eats like a starving horse). She looks so HUGE next to the boys though! I'm pretty sure she out weighs my niece who's 2 months older than her too! How sad. I can't believe how fast they grow up!

Crock Pot Recipe Day 4

2012-01-03T13:10:00.001-07:00

Travis really liked yesterday's recipe. The kids, however, were not such big fans. I noticed that since it tells you to put the peppers in at the end, they stay crisp and maintain a stronger pepper smell. I don't think that's why the kids didn't like it. I think it was just a smidge of the fear of the new and untried.

Here is today's recipe:

Slow Cooked Pulled Barbecue Chicken
From Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two
page 108

Cooker size: 1 1/2-3 qt
Setting and Cooking time: Low for 7-8 hours

1 small white or yellow onion, chopped I used dried onion flakes because it's what I had
1 small clove garlic, minced I used 2 because I put them in my garlic press & increased the recipe
4 boneless, skinless chicken THIGHS I used 4 boneless, skinless breasts
1/2 cup ketchup
2 TBSP cider vinegar I used regular white vinegar because it's what I had
2 TBSP light brown sugar
1 TBSP olive oil I used vegetable oil because it's what I had
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder I used a Mexican seasoning because it's what I had
1/4 tsp salt
Hamburger buns

1. Sprinkle the onion and garlic over the bottom of the crock and arrange the chicken thighs on top. I threw in some chopped green bell peppers too.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, oil, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, chipotle chile powder and salt; pour over the thighs. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours, until the chicken is fork tender and pulls apart easily.
3. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker. With two forks, pull apart the meat into shredded chunks; return to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and leave on the KEEP WARM setting until ready to serve. Serve spooned onto warmed hamburger buns.

Because I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs, I increased the garlic. I'm thinking I should have doubled the sauce as well. There was enough sauce to cover the chicken breasts (I spooned it on top of them). There was also a little bit of sauce that went down under the chicken. I'm thinking I would have liked to have put sauce on the chicken breasts, flipped them over and sauced the other side as well.
When I've done pulled pork, I've melted cheese on the hamburger buns in the oven. That's probably how I'll toast the hamburger buns this time too.

Crock Pot Recipe Day 3

2012-01-02T15:15:00.001-07:00

The slow cooker enchiladas I made turned out awesome. My husband said they were good warmed up as left overs too.

This recipe comes from 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics p. 107

My notes are in bold again.

Beef & Rigatoni Bake

2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided didn't use this

2 lbs lean ground beef

2 onions I only used about 1/4 of one because it's all I had

4 stalks celery left this out

4 cloves garlic, minced I used 2 & I put them through my garlic press

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves I didn't have thyme so I used oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns I just used regular black pepper

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed tomato soup

1 cup tomato juice, beef stock or water I used tomato juice because I had some open from a recipe I made the other day

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

4 cups rigatoni, cooked until barely tender (about 7 minutes) and drained I used Penne Rotini because it's what I had

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped, optional I only used about 1/2 of one

1 fresh hot chile pepper, minced, optional I'm leaving this out

1. In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Drain liquid from pan. I cooked 3 lbs ground beef so I have some cooked on hand for next time. I ended up putting all my meat in a bowl to let it cool while I got other stuff going. So, technically, if you use a large enough pan, you'll only dirty the one pan for the meat & sauce & 1 pan for the noodles.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining oil to pan. Add onions and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, salt and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in tomato soup, juice and Worcestershire sauce. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware. It's kind of a "duh" thing to say, but be careful, it splatters A LOT.

3. Add cooked rigatoni and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours, until hot and bubbly. Stir in cheese, green pepper and chile pepper, if using. Coer and cook on high for 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and pepper is heated through.

Once I got going on this recipe, I started to think it would be similar to the beef and noodle casserole one I did the other day. We'll see how it turns out though.

The book also said you can make this ahead:

This dish can be partially prepared before it is cooked. Complete steps 1 and 2. Cover and refrigerate meat and vegetable mixtures separately for up to 2 days. When you're ready to cook, combine in slow cooker stoneware and continue with the recipe.

Crock Pot Recipes Day 1 & 2

2011-12-29T15:35:00.002-07:00

Here's the first recipe in my month long attempt at a new crock pot recipe every day ( except days we have left overs). Tomorrow I am attempting Slow Cooker Enchiladas.

Beef Noodle Casserole

Comes from 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics p. 101

*Notes in bold.

Large (minimum 5 qt) oval slow cooker

Lightly greased slow cooker stoneware

2 TBSP vegetable oil, divided Didn't use this

1 lb lean ground beef I used about a pound and a half

2 onions finely chopped I used much less

4 stalks celery thinly sliced I left this out

4 cloves garlic minced I only used 2

2 tsp dried oregano leaves I used dried oregano but it wasn't the leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black peppercorns I just used regular black pepper

1 c. beef stock I used chicken stock because it's what I had

1 c. tomato sauce

4 oz cream cheese softened and cubed

8 oz egg noodles cooked and drained Pretty sure I used more than that

Cheddar Crumb topping

1 c dry bread crumbs I used crushed Ritz crackers

2 tbsp melted better I just cubed the butter and put it on top

1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In a skillet, heat 1 TBSP of the oil over medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook, stirring and breaking up with the back of a spoon until no longer pink, about five minutes. Removed with a slotted spoon and set aside. Drain off liquid in pan.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining oil to pan. Add onions and celery and cook, stirring until softened, about five minutes. Add garlic, oregano, salt and peppercorns and cook stirring, for 1 minute. Add stock, tomato sauce and cream cheese and cook, stirring until cheese is melted. It takes longer for the cream cheese to melt than I thought it would. Make sure you already have the onions cut up because I just cut them into the pan and I think I ended up cooking them a little too long.

3. To assemble casserole spoon 1/2 c. tomato sauce mixture in bottom of slow cooker stoneware. Cover with half of the meat then half of the noodles. Repeat layers of meat and noodles. Finish with a layer of sauce. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until mixture is hot and bubbly. I did more than 2 layers, hence using a pound and a half of ground beef. I cooked it on high and it was done after an hour so that's when I did the topping. It would have gone mushy if I would have cooked it longer than that. Once I put the topping on, I turned it down to low for about 30 minutes. My casserole never got bubbly. I don't know if it's because I did more layers so there wasn't as much sauce in one area as there would have been with just two layers. I also ended up stirring my casserole after it had been cooking for a bit because it looked like some of the noodles were starting to dry out a bit.

4. Cheddar Crumb Topping: In a bowl, combine bread crumbs and butter. Add cheese and stir well. Spread over casserole and cook on high for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and top is bubbly. Again, mine never got bubbly. I just crushed Ritz crackers on top of the casserole & the chunked the 2 TBSP of butter over the crackers and then covered with Cheddar.

I was worried it was going to taste funky because the smell of the tomato sauce wasn't too great. The sauce does turn a slightly different color after the cream cheese melts too. It ended up looking a bit like Hamburger Helper and tasting a little like Goolash. Nash really liked it and the other two weren't big fans. I thought it was ok. I would probably make it again if I could get the other two to try it.

The book says you can partially prepare the dish before it's cooked. Complete steps 1 and 2, chilling cooked meat and onion mixture separately. refrigerate for up to 2 days. When you're ready to cook, continue cooking as directed in the recipe. If the tomato mixture has thickened with chilling, heat it gently until it is a spreadable consistency. To facilitate preparation, the night before you plan to cook the casserole, shred Cheddar cheese, cover and refrigerate.

Here's today's recipe.

Slow Cooker Enchiladas

Comes from Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook p. 285

*My notes are in bold again.

1 lb lean ground beef I used about a pound and a half

1 c. onion, chopped

1/2 c. green bell pepper, chopped

16 oz can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed & drained I used pinto b/c that's what I had

10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies I used a 14 oz can

1 c water

1 tsp chili pwd

16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

dash of dried red pepper flakes and/or several drops Tabasco sauce, if you like

1 c. shredded low fat sharp cheddar cheese

1 c shredded low fat Monterey Jack cheese I used Motzerella & mild Cheddar

6 flour tortillas 6 or 7 inches

1. In a nonstick skillet, brown beef, onions, and green pepper. I started with a skillet, but ended up having to switch to a big pot like what I'd boil spaghetti noodles in. I'd start with a bigger pot so you don't have to dirty two pots.

2. Add remaining ingredients, except cheeses and tortillas. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Combine cheeses in a bowl.

5. In a slow cooker, layer about 3/4 c. beef mixture, one tortilla, and about 1/4 c. cheese. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used. I didn't measure beef, etc. I put enough beef to cover the bottom and then put a tortilla on top. It didn't cover all the meat, so I put a second tortilla on and there was a little overlap. I continued to layer. However, on the other layers, I only did 1 tortilla and centered it. On the last layer (the top) I did use 2 tortillas with an overlap again. I finished with the double tortilla and a good amount of cheese.

6. Cover. Cook on low 5-7 hours.

It looks and smells tasty! I'm excited to try this tonight!

Brooke's first Christmas!

2011-12-29T15:20:00.003-07:00

Apparently my pictures uploaded in a totally random order! On Christmas Eve we went to my mom's house. We had dinner and opened presents. The kids had lots of fun. I was just glad that both my sister & I weren't pregnant this Christmas!

On Christmas Day we woke up at home and opened presents from Santa and from each other before we went out to Grandpa Scott & Grandma Kris's house. We got to Grandpa and Grandma's house around noon. We had brunch and then opened presents again!

Christmas Day night we went out to my aunt's house for my Grandpa and Grandma's Christmas party. We got to open presents AGAIN out there! Man, we are spoiled!

Sunny & Brooke playing in a box at my aunt's house. My sister was driving it around and they absolutely loved it!

My mom made most of the presents she gave the kids this year. Brooke and Sunny got these hats. I think they are awesome! So nice and soft! (Fleece) Doesn't hurt that Brooke looks so stinkin' cute in it either!

Sam & Jade got matching nightgowns again this year (and matching hats). Sam has worn her hat to bed with her nightgown at LEAST two nights this week!

As I expected, Brooke was more interested in the paper than anything else. By the time we were all done with presents though she had a good idea of what to do!

Christmas morning

Travis & I gave Nash a skateboard. He's been asking for one for like 2 years now. I think he was a bit excited!

Santa brought Nash this gigantic Nerf gun. He really wanted one. It runs on batteries and shoots automatically when you hold the trigger. There's like 20 or 30 bullets in it too!

Nash or Sam gave Caleb the little Nerf guns. Yes, there has been a Nerf war going on ever since Christmas Day at our house!

Travis & I got Sam an American Girl doll. Sister was THRILLED! She kept shouting, "I KNEW IT!" She hasn't let it out of her sight since she opened it. It's gone everywhere, helped open presents and been slept with!

Little sister got a bunch of new dollies this year. Of course, she preferred chewing on their tags!

My boys and their deadly marshmallow guns. Trav got Caleb in the butt with a marshmallow from across the house. Caleb was headed for the shower and only had socks on. It left a perfectly sized marshmallow welt on his bum. He did it right after I finished telling them not to shoot each other in the face either! Such a good influence that dad!

Brooke & Olivia got Cabbage Patch Kid dolls that are dressed in costumes. I can't believe how much bigger Brooke looks than Olivia!

Brooke's latest trick is this cheesy little grin. She usually does it when I'm in the middle of changing her. She scrunches up her little face and gives me a completely toothless grin. I absolutely love it and giggle every time. I think that's why she keeps doing it!

Four of the Five new great grandbabies for my Grandpa & Grandma Reeder in order from oldest (Sunny) to youngest (Rhett but he wasn't here, so Bryson).

More riding in the box/car at Aunt Nikki's on Sunday night.

We were completely spoiled as usual. Trav's parents gave us a really nice digital picture frame. It holds 5000 pictures, plays music, you can load recipes on it and it plays video. I have managed to fill all 5000 pictures slots (going back to 2003 when Sam was a baby). Now I just need to get rid of my Christmas decorations so I can have somewhere permanent to put it! His parents also gave us a dehydrator and a jerky making kit. Trav was excited about that because he gave me one of those vacuum packers! Travis was pretty excited to get a hard case for his Fender Telecaster from my mom. Mom gave me one of those mini donut makers. I busted it out yesterday & the kids and I made the applesauce donuts recipe. They ended up being more like bagels than donuts. This little sucker might get some serious use!

I was reading my sister's food blog the other day and she was talking about crock pot recipes. I decided I want to make a month of crock pot recipes that I haven't ever made before. I have like 4 or 5 crock pot recipe books. So, I busted out the books and made me a list of recipes to try. Today is day 2. So far, so good. I can email recipes to anyone that wants them, so let me know if you want a copy.

Our plans for New Year's Eve will have us out at Trav's parents' house. Pretty low key but should be fun. Next week we'll have to head back to reality. Not sure how excited I am about that!

Christmas Piano Recital + Christmas Dance Review = 1 Crazy Night

2011-12-22T12:12:00.003-07:00

Last night Samantha had her Christmas piano recital and her Christmas dance review. The poor boys were bored to death!

Luckily Caleb took a train & Nash took something to color so they were mildly entertained.

Brooke was just happy to be there & barely made a peep during either performance!

Amazingly enough, her dad was home for BOTH performances! He has yet to see a piano recital in person. He did go with to Festival of Trees so he got to see a few dances there.

We kinda had to book it to get to piano recital dressed and on time. The dance recital was at 5 at LaShars and the piano recital was at 7 at the Hyrum City Office. She was glad she didn't have to change in the truck (I did take her dress with just in case though!).

The boys were thrilled when it was all over AND they got a cookie!

I video taped all 4 dances she did and I only managed to video 1 piano song. I got her solo & then half way through her duet I realized I should have been filming! Duh! Since Blogger gives me grief, I'm posting them all on my fb instead.

Let the Christmas festivities begin!

2011-12-20T19:36:00.001-07:00

Friday, December 16th Samantha had a half time show for the Logan High School basketball game. I took a video so we'll see if I can get it to upload.

Saturday, December 17th Nash had his last basketball game. Apparently they lost...badly. After Nash & Travis got home from the basketball game, we headed for Manti. We had the Whitlock Christmas party on Saturday night. We definitely felt Grandpa Charlie's absence. It was a good, fun party though.
All 8 of the great grandsons got chaps. A bunch of leather and buckskin was found after the funeral that Grandpa Charlie had been holding onto. The leather was taken to my Grandpa Russ to make chaps out of. I didn't get Prestin, Kash or Talon in the picture. The boys LOVED their chaps. Especially my boys. My boys wore them the rest of the night and part of the day on Sunday. You should have heard all the boys change their voice, their vocabulary and their swagger. I think Caleb has the best swagger! They kept stealing Trav's cowboy hat to wear while they played with their chaps on!

All 9 great granddaughters got buckskin purses. I didn't get Kenzie, Peyton, Brookelyn, Olivia or Savara in the picture. The girls were thrilled with their purses. Especially Samantha. She had seen the purses as Grandpa Russ worked on them and kept telling him and me how much she wanted one. They wore them around the rest of the night as they played dress ups!

Olivia and Brookelyn sure played cute together. You'd never know these two were only 3 days apart and that Olivia was older. Brooke weighs more, sits up by herself and likes to stand on her legs. Not Liv! They played really cute together though.

On Sunday we had the Christmas party with the Bowns. Santa Clause came as we were finishing up dinner. Caleb was excited to see him. It was cute to watch him wait so patiently to get his turn.

Sam was a bit embarrassed to get on Santa's lap. Not sure why.

Nash was a little shy too. He got off as quick as he could! I was lucky to get a picture of him!

Brookelyn, as you can see, DID NOT like Santa. I didn't figure she'd have a problem because she did so well with the Santa at the mall. Boy was the a wrong assumption!

Despite not liking Santa too much, she did like her present. She was pretty content to just sit and play with it all wrapped up for awhile.

Nash got a Nerf gun from the cousin that had his name. (Yes, Samantha has been shot - it the face, by Caleb) with said gun since we got home.)

Caleb got some new Legos. He's already been building with them too!

Brooke loved this little camera. It talks, plays a bit of music and has blinking lights. She sits and plays with it in her walker for quite awhile.

Nash & Caleb also got little ATV's and a guy from Grandpa and Grandma Butter.

All the great granddaughters got new night gowns from Great Grandma Butter. They all look so cute! Sam LOVES these jammies from Grandma Bown. She has had several over her lifetime and she wears them until I take them away and put them in the too small box. Even then she gets a bit miffed if I put them away!

These last pictures were taken on Friday night. Trav's mom has a bear for every year since 1980-something. The collection takes over the entire front room. We have a picture of the other kids in with all the bears so I thought we'd better get at least one with Brooke!

Today was my last day of work until Jan. 3rd. Tomorrow I plan to get the house cleaned and then I can do all my baking done on Thursday & Friday so they can be delivered on Saturday. Got to finish the last little Christmas sewing too!

Phone Photo Dump

2011-12-19T22:42:00.003-07:00

Yesterday as we were on our way home from Manti, I realized I had about 60 photos on my phone. The more photos on my phone, the fewer text messages my phone can hold before I have to start erasing. So, I texted myself a bunch of pictures. I think I may have posted some of these before, but, oh well!

Little sister has recently discovered her tongue. It's pretty funny to watch her when she gets it going. Good, old fashioned, cheap entertainment!

Trav's mom sent this build a snowman thing home with us a week or so ago. It's like a window cling, but stickier. Yes, it's stuck to my door. No, it hasn't pulled paint off. No, Caleb hasn't torn it down since it went up. Yes, Caleb has rearranged the snow flakes. No, Samantha is not holding Brookelyn - it's a doll!

This is one from preschool from quite awhile ago. My mom picked Caleb up after preschool & sent me this picture. It's so cute. He still has the bandanna and eye patch and loves to go around saying, "Hey matie!" Cracks me up when he goes pirate!

Little sister with some more tongue action going on. She thinks it's quite hilarious when we all start laughing at her.

Just being extra happy in the tub. This was quite awhile ago too. I got rid of the sponge after Caleb saw it in the bathroom sink & decided he wanted to pee on it. Yes, it was in the sink & Caleb PEED on it.

I know I posted about Nash's staple incident.

Caleb got this hat when his preschool class went on a field trip to the fire station here in Hyrum. He wore that sucker around for like a week!

My sister in law crocheted this hat. I think it's adorable. Caleb was modeling it for us & whipped out this "scary face" for us.

Brookelyn's 7 month photos

2011-12-11T22:08:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I took Brookelyn with me to the boutique I was doing. Lucky I did. Everest Photography was there. They are based in Logan. I paid $5 for the sitting. He took TONS of pictures. I was able to jump online tonight & view all the pictures he took. I could buy whatever pictures I wanted for $6 each - that $6 releases the copyright so I can print them myself. I ended up buying 11 of them. They are all adorable. I saved all the pictures to a folder on the website & may go back & buy more. I didn't get Brookelyn's 6 month pictures done, so we did 7 month pictures instead! She was sooo happy the entire shoot too!

With Miss Sunny June

Just look at her grin!

This hat was of of theirs:

The girls were too funny together. Sunny kept pulling the hats off. She was like, "Here. Let me help you. You've got a little somethin' on your head!"

I love the raised eyebrow:

Christmas Festival at AWHC

2011-12-10T22:48:00.001-07:00

About a week ago I got the Val Pak coupon package in the mail. There was a flyer announcing the American West Heritage Center's Christmas Festival. It had a bunch of things listed that would be going on. I thought it sounded fun so I saved the flyer thinking I might take the kids. Come Friday I decided we'd brave the weather and go check it out. Since I took my donation for the food pantry we each got in for $5.

In the mail building where we bought our tickets they had a chocolate tasting. It was kind of a goofy thing calling it that. For each wrist band you had (we had 4) you got to pick 1, yes 1, item on the table to have with some chocolate. I picked a 1x1 piece of fudge. Nash just wanted an Oreo without any chocolate. Sam picked an apple slice with caramel. Since Caleb was zonked out in the stroller we picked out 1/2 a chocolate chip cookie for him. Yes, I could have spent another $2 and gotten another 7 items from this fantastic "chocolate tasting", but I did just feed my kids and it did cost me $20 to get in. Now if it had been something awesome, like a chocolate fountain and strawberries, I might have given it a bit more serious consideration.

This picture was in the main building. Caleb was passed out COLD. He was so excited to go but he was pretty tired too. He fell asleep on our way there and didn't wake up until just before we were ready to leave. Brooke is bundled up pretty good -you can see some eyeballs- (and stayed under her blanket until we walked back to the Expedition).

You had to walk around the entire farm to get to the different buildings that had stuff going on. There was a wagon ride, but we couldn't ever manage to catch it when it was loading passengers. I was ok with that though because I didn't want to unload a sleeping Caleb & try to carry Brooke. I also didn't want to sit and wait in the cold with Brooke while Sam & Nash went for a spin.

We ventured out to the wood working building. You could purchase any of the things in there that were for sale. It was kinda cool to see inside that building because we hadn't ever been inside it before. As we were walking out Samantha realized the giant piece of wood by the door was actually a coffin. I think it creeped her out a bit!

We stopped in the barn for a gander at the live nativity scene. The kids could dress up like shepherds if they wanted to. Neither one wanted to though, so we were off again.

In the livery barn they had several vendors. We chatted with my friend Mandy (who does Make it with Mandy night through On the Avenue). The kids got to see Santa & Mrs. Claus while we were in here. This was a GOOD Santa. I was impressed.

After we were done at the livery barn, we went into the Mercantile. It was kinda cool to see what was in there as I hadn't been in that building before either. You could buy any of the stuff they had for sale in there too. But, much like the rest of AWHC, I felt like everything was over priced.

After we left the Mercantile, I was able to find my way to the 1917 farm. There was suppose to be candy cane making in here. I was excited to see that. In fact, that was the reason I decided to go! I thought it would be really cool to see. Once we got inside there were gingerbread cookies for the kids to decorate. Now, when I say gingerbread cookies, I'm not talking a decent size cookie here. I'm talking the size of a quarter....literally. This is when Caleb finally woke up. The little man had one cookie I helped him frost. Then, when we went in the other room and were waiting for Nash to finish stringing his popcorn & cranberries he decided he wanted another one so Sam went with him to get one. They came back & he ate it before he decided he wanted a third. So, I told Sam she could take him back in to get one more. A few seconds later the poor kid was crying. Apparently the girl in the kitchen told him he couldn't have another one. Now, I get why. But seriously? He's 3 and your cookies are the size of a quarter. Not to mention we only saw about a dozen people in the 2 hours we were there. It's not like they were going to run out of cookies. So, I was annoyed. I had to finally convince Nash that it was time to go (he was really into stringing that popcorn & cranberry string!). Caleb finally quit crying once we were out of the farm house and headed back to the Expedition. Poor kid. I think he was slightly traumatized. I don't think it helped that I made these cinnamon/apple sauce gingerbread men cutouts the other day that aren't cookies, but rather air fresheners. I keep telling him they aren't to eat but he does anyway! Guess I need to make some gingerbread cookies for the poor kid!

So, after about 2 hours, some freezing time outdoors, and traumatizing Caleb over quarter sized gingerbread cookies, we headed home. I think the kids had a good time. It was nice to get out and do something. Since there weren't a ton of people it wasn't crazy insane like I thought it might be either. I would have taken them today (during the day when it was warmer), but I was doing a boutique all day & knew Friday night would be our only chance! Today was the Hyrum Holiday at Hardware. I took the kids last year and they had a great time. I wish we could have made it today. Guess that will have to go on the list with go to SLC to see the lights on temple square when dad comes home!

Visit to the Principal's office

2011-12-09T12:55:00.001-07:00

This morning took much convincing to get Samantha out of bed, dressed and even a tiny bit motivated to go to school. She just kept telling me, "Mom. I don't want to go to school. Please don't make me go to school." How sad is that? That girl LOVES school! I finally told her that we were going to go talk to her principal and that we'd talk about staying at school after that. After I told her that she was a bit more cooperative. On the way out the door she said, "Mom. If I stay at school, please don't make me go to recess. I don't want to go to recess." It about broke my heart. I told her again that we'd go talk to the principal and then discuss it.
When we got to the school we walked Nash to his class before going to the office. When we got to the office the principal was able to take us right in. I asked him if he had a minute because we had an issue we needed to discuss with him.
Principal: "What's going on?"
Me: "Well, the 3rd grade girls that got called in here yesterday for bullying. One of them approached Samantha at recess and told her she got sent to the principal's office because she went home and tattled to her mom."
The principal looked at me with very big eyes and said, "Really?!" "Not only was her name NOT mentioned, but the last thing I said to them before they left my office was that they were NOT to discuss this with anyone. If anyone asked them why they were in the principal's office they were to say nothing or 'none of your business.' Which student was it?"
So, I told him which one and who's class she was in. He told me that he'd call her AND her mom into his office this morning. He told Samantha that she did do the right thing and she had the right to be at school without feeling scared or bullied. I told him that it had been quite a struggle to get her to school this morning because she didn't want to be there because she felt like all the kids knew who told and they all hated her now. I could tell he felt really bad about that. He told Samantha that if anyone said anything else or if anything else happened to let him know immediately.
I felt better after we left his office. Samantha still wanted me to walk her down to her class and tell her teacher to keep her inside for recess. I was willing because it was an improvement to not wanting to go to school. So, we walked down to her class. I asked her teacher if she got my email from last night - I sent her one telling her what happened and that we'd be in the principal's office in the morning. She said she did. Lucky for me two of the other 3rd grade teachers were in the room, one of which happens to be the teacher of the student that approached Sam. Sam's teacher asked which student it was so I told her. I told the teachers what the principal had said about calling her and her mother into his office this morning. Then I told Sam's teacher about the struggle I had getting her to come to school because she didn't want to be there or go to recess. I asked her teacher if she'd keep her in from recess because she really didn't want to go out because that's where all of this keeps happening. She was more than happy to let her stay inside. All three teachers again told Sam she did the right thing and that she shouldn't feel like she can't tell someone.
So, I'm a bit anxious to see how school went today. She's going home with her friend Samantha after school so I won't be able to talk to her until I pick her up at about 5. Hopefully today was a much better day for my girl.

Bullying

2011-12-08T20:51:00.001-07:00

So yesterday after school Samantha got in the Expedition and turned to me and said, "Mom. Today at school, at recess, there were three girls picking on this boy."
Me: "What did they do?"
Sam: "They were teasing him about his dad being in jail. They kept asking him if his dad was in jail and his dad isn't in jail. But they wouldn't leave him alone and he felt really bad and was sad."
Me: "What did you do?"
Sam: "Well, me and Sammie (her friend) were there and they saw us and they walked over to us and said, 'What are you going to do? Are you going to go tell on us now?'"
Me: "So, what did you do?"
Sam: "We were like 'uhhhh' because we were scared and didn't know what to do. He was really sad all day. Sammie & I kept bugging him until he told us what happened. I felt bad because he was really sad. So, I colored him a picture and was nice to him."
Me: "That was nice of you. You didn't tell your teacher though?"
Sam: "No."
Me: "Sam, that's bullying and it's not ok. You should have told your teacher right after it happened."

I get why she didn't tell her teacher. She felt threatened and intimidated. I'm glad she told me. I told her that if she was to do anything different she should tell a teacher right away. I told her I was going to email her teacher and let her know what happened because it wasn't ok that the girls were doing that and it needed to be taken care of. So, last night I emailed her teacher and told her about what happened.

This morning when I dropped the kids off at school I told her to ask her teacher if she got my email. After school when Sam got in the Expedition I asked her if she had asked her teacher if she had gotten my email. She said she had and that her teacher had gotten it. I asked her if her teacher said anything else. She told me that her teacher had passed the information along to the 3rd grade teacher who's class the other girls were in. Sam left it at that so I left it alone.

After dance, Sam got in the Expedition and turned to me again.
Sam: "Mom. At first recess today this girl came up to me and said, 'I got sent to the principal's office today because you went home and told your mom."
Now what, as a mother, am I suppose to say? I'm mad. Really, really mad.
Me: "Which girl said this to you?"
Sam: "It was O*****."
Me: "But you didn't say anything to me about her yesterday and I certainly didn't say anything to your teacher about her. Why is she saying she got sent to the principal's office because of you?"
Sam: "Because she was part of it."
Now I'm even more mad. 1-The adults at the school SHOULD NOT have told the perpetrators who it was that turned them in. 2-Even if the adults did mention who turned them in, the students SHOULD NOT have been allowed to discuss it, let alone confront the person. We all know that as soon as you tell a kid "Don't discuss this." the first thing they're going to do is go out & discuss it!
Sam: "Now I don't want to go to school tomorrow because O***** made me feel bad. I feel like the whole school hates me now because I told about what happened."
Me: "Sam, you did the right thing and it takes a lot of courage to do the right thing. Doing the right thing isn't always the easy choice. I'm proud of you. I'm angry that that girl thinks she has the right to make you feel bad for doing the right thing. If she was being a bully she deserved to be sent to the principal's office."
Sam: "I know, but I just feel like everybody hates me now."

So, I ask myself: "Am I being an overprotective, over bearing mother? Or, am I doing the right thing?" I fully intend to go into the principal's office tomorrow morning and raise some hell. Bullying - whether it's my kid or someone else's is NEVER ok. I'm certainly not going to stand by and let it go with the shrug of my hat. I'm mad, rightfully so in my opinion. I was bullied myself in high school so I know how it feels to be on that end. I refuse to let some little 8 yr old girls think it's ok to start doing it to their classmates.

Santa & Our Most Recent ER Visit

2011-12-05T23:33:00.001-07:00

Tonight I left the 3 big kids with my mom while I went out to finish some Christmas shopping. I had all the shopping done, had dropped off a Christmas stocking order & unloaded gifts into this year's official hiding location & was almost back to my mom's house when my phone rang.

Mom: "How close are you?"

Me: "Down the street."

Mom: "I need you here IMMEDIATELY. Nash put a staple through his thumb and I can't get it out."

Great......Apparently Nash had been loading staples into the stapler & it snapped shut on him & caught his thumb in it. Both ends of the staple had gone through his thumb. Fortunately, the one end wasn't in very far & my mom & brother were able to get that end out. My mom was worried that the end of the other side had been folded over when it went in because it was in so deep. You can kinda see in the picture that there is an indent at the spot where the staple is in his thumb. I didn't dare try to pull it out because I was afraid it would break off. Thus, Nash & I ventured to the emergency room. Nash did really good. I had to talk him down all the way to the ER because he was a bit hysterical though. I got him talking and laughing and by the time we got to the ER he was fairly calm. The dr. was going to give him laughing gas so he could pull the staple out & then found out the gas was in the engineering dept. and not available. So, Nash held onto my hand and looked at me while the dr. used some small hand forceps to pull the staple out. He didn't fight the dr. on it at all. He did let out a yelp and he cried for a minute, but, he survived! I told him the stapler must have known he needed an adventure and that's why it bit him. After all, we haven't had a trip to the hospital since Brookelyn was born!

And, for the random photo of this post: While Travis was home we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. When I visited my sister's blog tonight & saw her Santa photo I realized I hadn't posted mine yet. Not the most fantastic photo, but with 4 kids I don't expect I'll ever get the "perfect" photo! Caleb looks goofy because we told him to smile & he started blinking his eyes like he was having some sort of spastic seizure. At least his eyes are open & no one is screaming!

Festival of Trees 2011

2011-12-04T11:38:00.001-07:00

Samantha got to dance at Festival of Trees again this year with LaShars. This year we went down on Friday and she actually danced quite a bit earlier than she did last year. I don't think Nash or Samantha was too upset about being checked out of school after only 2 hours!

The drive down wasn't bad at all. We took Travis's new truck (yes, his new truck - his recently died). We got there with just enough time to do a costume change and make up before Samantha had to check in.

Little sister was just as happy as could be the entire time. She didn't even nap the entire day! She was up at about 9 am and didn't go to sleep until we got home after 11 pm! She wasn't ornery at all, she just smiled and jabbered the whole entire time.

This is while we were waiting for Sam to start dancing. Apparently Nash found some googlie eyes on the floor & decided it would be a good idea to place them on his tongue....DISGUSTING!

After Sam was done dancing we walked around to see all the trees, center pieces, gingerbread houses, etc. I went through the gift center & found pvc pipe marshmallow guns for all 3 of my boys (yes, Travis too). Travis took the kids over to the kids corner while I went through the gift center so he doesn't even know about the pvc marshmallow guns....will be a fun Christmas surprise!

Once we left Festival of the Trees and headed home, we decided to stop & see Travis's sister and her family in Farr West. We had dinner and watched Water for Elephants while all the kids played. It was lots of fun. Of course, it's always fun to go see Aunt Jamie & her family though.

Travis left about 11 am this morning for his next 2 weeks on. It sounds like he'll only be in Pinedale for a few days and then have a bunch of shop days. That's too bad - shop days always make his weeks drag on for forever. I guess it will give him a chance to do a lot of homework though!

I did a boutique yesterday with my Usborne Books stuff. I made a whopping $9 for 5 hours of work. However, all my catalogs were taken & I might have a lead to sell my carseat canopys to some girls who would then turn around and do the selling at boutiques. Should be interesting to see their proposal anyway.

Last night I was multi tasking and wrapped a bunch of presents while talking on the phone. Maybe this year I won't be up until 2 am wrapping! We'll see! Today it's snowing and since Caleb woke up gasping for air with croup at about 1 am I'm not sure we'll be going anywhere. I do need to put together a power point presentation for school & Nash has a Christmas project to work on for school. So, if we don't venture out to church or insta care at least we will have something to do! Have a great week!