Wax Lips

A couple days ago I was reminiscing on Halloweens we had as kids, and I asked Mike if he remembered having wax lips as a kid.  I was in the grocery store yesterday picking up some power aid for Ammon (he is sick yet again!) and I saw one of those cardboard stands they use for promos filled with wax lips...I didn't even think they made those any more!! Needless to say I had to pick some up, I thought Noah would have fun with them and Mike would get a kick out of them.  Last night we had a lot of fun with them, laughing and taking pictures, and even Ammon got in on the fun.

I wish I could sleep like a Kid

After school on Monday Noah was watching his 30 minutes of cartoons before we did his homework.  I looked up and saw him laying his head down on the counter and asked "Are you tired Noah?" to which I got no response, I walked around to look at his face, and this is what I saw:

He had fallen asleep sitting up on a stool.  Guess school wore him out.  I wish it was as easy for me to fall asleep anywhere!!

Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin

Last Thursday we had the missionaries over for dinner.  I wanted to do something fun and fall like, but also something that would be yummy.  I found this recipe online for Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin, and it looked really yummy to me.  Mike was skeptical, he said that pumpkin soup didn't even sound appealing at all, but I decided to be adventurous and try it anyway.  Luckily for me, (and the missionaries!) it turned out really yummy!!  I made some homemade crescent rolls to go with it, and pumpkin bars for dessert.  Everyone ended up eating way too much food because it was so good!!  Here are some pictures of how it turned out, and the recipe in case anyone is interested! :)

1 7-lb. Cinderella pumpkin, with a 2" stem

7 tbsp. butter
Salt
1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 1⁄2 cups fresh white bread crumbs, toasted
1⁄2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1⁄2 tsp. ground sage
Freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 cup grated Swiss cheese
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 bay leaves
1⁄2 cup heavy cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut a lid about 4" in diameter out of top of pumpkin and set lid aside. Remove and discard seeds and strings. Rub inside of pumpkin and lid with 1 tbsp. softened butter, season with salt, and place on a baking pan. Melt remaining 6 tbsp. butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs and cook for 2 minutes, then add nutmeg and sage and season generously with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, stir in cheese, then spoon mixture into pumpkin. Pour enough stock into pumpkin to come within 1⁄2" of the rim. Lay bay leaves on top, then fit lid onto pumpkin. Bake until pumpkin begins to soften and brown on the outside and the stock bubbles on the inside, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Carefully remove from oven and transfer to a serving platter. With a long-handled spoon, scrape flesh from bottom and sides of pumpkin and, just before serving, stir in heavy cream if using.

Trying to teach Ammon to self-feed with a spoon

As you can see it is not going so well. :)  Thank goodness for indoor plumbing and baths!! :)

Spicy Chicken, Rice and Beans Casserole

So I was talking to my mom last night about being wanting to be more "adventurous" and make new recipes, so I got a little adventurous today, took an idea from a couple different recipes and made my own recipe.  We had it for dinner tonight, and it actually turned out pretty tasty :)

1 can refried beans
1 C uncooked rice
2 C cooked chopped chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 7oz can El Pato tomato sauce
1 can Rotel
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Cook rice as directed.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9in glass casserole dish.  Spread refried beans in the bottom of casserole dish and top with cooked rice.  Sprinkle chicken on top of rice.  Mix together cream of mushroom and chicken soup, El Pato sauce and Rotel.  Spread over chicken and top with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Serve with Tortilla chips if desired.

Beef and Rice Casserole

This recipe is one of our favorite dinners.  Its pretty easy to throw together, I found it in one of my cookbooks, but I have made some changes to make it taste even better :)

1lb ground beef
2 medium celery stalks chopped
1/2 C chopped onion
1 C long grain rice
1 14 1/2oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 sliced black olives
1 4oz can diced green chilies
1 1/4 C beef broth (approx. 1 10 1/2oz can)
1 t chili powder
1 t garlic powder
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t pepper
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

In a large oven-proof skillet brown ground beef with onion celery, onion, garlic powder and salt to taste.  Drain fat, stir in uncooked rice and beef broth.  Add undrained tomatoes, chili peppers, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Sprinkle with cheese, cover and let stand for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Mike's Stitches

Saturday morning Mike was out splitting wood for the wood stove in preparation of winter.  His mom and I were talking in the kitchen when he came in looking like this:

Apparently he had put a piece of wood on the splitter that had a big knot, when the splitter got to the knot a piece of wood shot off and hit him in the face.  It knocked his glasses of, but it was lucky he was wearing them, because they probably saved his eye.  He asked if it looked like he needed stitches, to which his mom replied "Yes! That definitely needs stitches!"  He argued for a bit, saying he had had worse and super glued it and was fine, but in the end he lost the argument and we went to the ER.

When the doctor came in to exam him, he asked if he needed stitches or if there was anyway they could glue it.  The doctor said no, it needed to be stitched, and after removing a piece of wood from inside his head he got 7 stitches.

When we got home, Mike went over to the wood pile to see if he could find the piece of wood that had hit him in the head.  In my mind I was picturing a little wood chip, but this is what had hit him in the face:

What's new with Ammon

For the past week Ammon has been sick.  No fever, no ear infection, nothing other than some GI problems, which lead to a very nasty diaper rash.  We have restricted his diet, taken away dairy, tried every diaper rash remedy under the sun, with no avail...but today after being on some probiotics called Lactinex for a day, he is doing much better.  His doctor thinks he had some sort of stomach virus or it was caused from his teething (he has 2 teeth coming in on the bottom) at any rate, a full week of constant diarrhea was enough to drive both of us crazy.  Last Monday he finally had his one year check up with his pediatrician, but because of he was sick he was unable to get his shots.  We did find out that at 30 inches he is 95th percentile for height and since loosing some weight being sick he is 18 3/4lbs and 3rd percentile for weight.  His pediatrician is concerned about his weight, she says he is very light for a one year old, so we have to go back at the end of the month to get his shots and check his weight again.  Because he is not 20lbs yet, we are still keeping him rear facing in his car seat, hopefully he can get his weight up soon!!  Other than that he is running around being his usual crazy self, getting into everything he can, talking more and more (he now says Dodo for Dodger, Numma Numma for his cub/bottle, Doah for Noah) and even figured out how to push the buttons on the dishwasher now!!

Random Ramblings of a Three-year-old

They say "Kids say the darnedest things" and its true.  Some times I wish we had our life on video recorder so I could catch more of the funny things Noah says.  Lately Noah has been giving the excuse that he is "too little" to do anything I ask him to.  He is "too little" to look for his shoes, "too little" to do is homework, "too little" to eat his food.  The past few days he has been adding more excuses to his repertoire, he is now "too hot" to do his homework, or "too big" to color his picture, or he is "too slow" to hold my hand.  Yesterday he came up to me and out of the blue said he wanted to be a doctor.  I asked him what kind of doctor he wanted to be, and he replied "I am going to be a doctor by smarting."  I asked him if "smarting" meant "being smart" and he said, "of course mommy!"  Yesterday my mom sent me a picture of my brother David in his army uniform, I showed it to Noah, who said that uncle David was "a superhero!! He's going to save the day!!"  He has no idea how right he is!! :)

Lizard Stew

This is a recipe our family enjoys, and no it is not made out of real lizards!! :)  (Plus its easy and fast! Even Noah will eat it!)

1lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 15oz can of ranch style chili beans
1 26oz can of minestrone or vegetable soup
1 10oz can of rotel (tomatos and green chilies)
1lb of velveeta cut into cubes

Combine all ingredents except for velveeta in a large pot. Heat on medium high until hot and bubbly. Add velveeta heat and stir until melted. Serve over fritos.