More Snow Pictures

After I wrote my last post about our winter blizzard, it stopped snowing. At about 5 pm. So I laced up my boots and ran outside to take a few more pictures. I loved the natural light! While I loved the ones I took through the glass, I especially liked these! It really is cold here so needless to say, I didn't stay out that long! That and the snow was almost up to my knees and warm homemade chili was calling my name for dinner!

My sweet little girls surprised me and didn't want to go outside and play in the snow. This storm seemed to be a bit too much for them! Neighbor girl came over to ask Aubrey if she wanted to play. "Nope." The neighbor kids were building a snowman. "Who cares." It cracked me up a little to see how they were so content being locked into their own warm environment playing and reading books galore. Andrew may be another story when he's their age. He loves to go outside any chance he can get - warm OR cold - it doesn't matter! And he's only ONE! I think when the next snow storm comes around (because there WILL be another one come next week!) the kids will be going outside just a tad bit more. It'll be good for them to get a bit more familiar with a different climate. And it will be good for me to get a few minutes, bless their hearts, of some peace and quiet. xo :)

This Week In Pictures (1/31 - 2/6)

This week:
*we had a lot more snow come our way leading us to being snowed in AGAIN
*we got creative and found some fun indoor activities like board games and hide and go seek
*a lot of planned events were cancelled due to the snow blizzard: church, Aubrey's piano recital, SCHOOL, and my hair cut.
*we stocked up and got enough groceries to last us a week
*Andrew had fun pushing the laundry basket around the house and would get really mad when it would get stuck on the rug or against a wall.
*lots of coloring and making (Valentine) cards for military servicemen overseas
*finished my project of getting all the picture files onto one computer - now on to the back-up process
*we had a LOT of time to play, do arts & crafts & naps

Snowed In....Again

This year so far, our area has already been hit with a few snow storms. (As well as receiving a normal year's worth of snow in a little over a month's time!!} The most snow we've received at one time has been about 6-8 inches. Last weekend to be exact. Church was cancelled. We were snowed in all weekend and school was closed Mon-Wed. School reopened on Thursday but we were gearing up for our next huge storm - starting Friday and lasting well into Saturday late evening with snow accumulation expected between 20 and 30 inches! It wasn't a matter of "if" it was going to snow; it was a matter of "when!" With the expected severe storm, school was cancelled for Friday. John only worked half a day and then our family snuck out before the weather got too bad and took the kids to a quick trip to Borders to get a few books. (Library was closed!) Grocery shopping had been done on Wednesday and Thursday-preparing us with at least a week's worth of meals. We were prepared for what was to come. But weren't excited in the least to be stuck inside yet another weekend! Until the snow fall stops, we're hunkered down with many games and movies and books to entertain.

Here is a picture of our backyard as the snow storm started around 10 am Friday (with some snow from earlier in the week):

And here are some pictures that followed throughout the day yesterday:

{backyard}

{backyard}

{front bushes}

{front walkway}
{front tree branches}

{front yard}

{front walkway after a bit of snow fall}

{night picture of the backyard}

About 6 inches of snow fell through the night while we slept. It was so pretty to wake up with so much snow out our windows. And that's as far as my camera went. I wanted to go out but wasn't too motivated to take the camera out and get wet. So I just settled on taking window shots and will go outside tomorrow to take more when the snow fall has stopped. The snow will continue coming down until at least 9-10 pm tonight. Presently, at 4 pm, we have already had well over a foot of snow hit with more on the way. People are saying this has been the biggest snow storm in the area since the 90's...maybe even earlier.

Here are some pictures from today:

{picnic table}

{community playground}

{backyard fence}

{backyard}

{tree branches with snow & ice}

{looking out the window to the front yard}

{our street}

{neighbor's tree}

{snow built up outside our front door}

{front door}

February Menu #1

Thursday 4~Spaghetti, salad, bread sticks
Friday 5~Chef's salad, dinner rolls
Saturday 6~*Chili, cornbread
Sunday 7~*Pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, salad
Monday 8~Chicken stir fry, rice
Tuesday 9~Toasted tuna sandwich, soup
Wednesday 10~Breakfast: waffles, bacon, eggs, hash browns
Thursday 11~*Chicken broccoli biscuits
Friday 12~Dinner out
Saturday 13~*Enchiladas, rice, chips
Sunday 14~*Chicken pot pie
Monday 15~Salmon, red potatoes, veggie, bread
Tuesday 16~Baked potatoes w. all the works

*Indicates the meals with recipes:

Mom's Chili
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
2 (15 oz) cans Mexican chili beans - pinto & kidney work great!
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/2 cup salsa
(shredded cheddar cheese & chopped onion - optional for topping)

Brown ground beef; drain any fat. Add onion and green pepper just until tender. Combine with tomato sauce and beans (drained). Season with spices and add salsa. Best if allowed to simmer for at least 1 hour. Serve topped with cheese and onion if desired.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
From: online
2 1/2 lbs pork roast
1 bottle (14 oz) of your favorite bbq sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 medium onion, chopped
8 hamburger buns or hard rolls

In the crockpot (spray first with nonstick cooking spray), add the pork roast. Cover and cook on LOW for 10-12 hours or on HIGH for 5-6 hours. Remove the pork roast from the slow cooker. Pull the meat into shredded pieces. Throw away any liquid in the slow cooker. Add the pulled pork with the bbq sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice and onion. Cook on HIGH in the crockpot for 2 hours. Serve the bbq pork on hamburger buns or hard rolls. Feeds a crowd!

Bean-Cheese Enchiladas
From: Rosarita Mexican Foods
1 dozen flour tortillas
2 cans vegitarian refried beans
1 cup shredded Monterray Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 can olives, sliced
1 can chopped green chiles
1-2 cans enchilada sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped onion
sour cream, guacamole and salsa to taste

Heat refried beans. Mix cheeses, olives, onions, and chiles together in a bowl. Pour enchilada sauce on a plate. Coat both sides of tortilla with sauce and then place on an empty plate to it. Put large spoonfuls of refried beans on tortilla, forming a line 1/3 in from the edge. Add same amount of cheese mixture and fold, first up from the bottom, then sideways across. Place in row in 9x13 baking pan. Repeat until pan is full. Should be able to get 6-8 enchiladas in one pan. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with left over cheese mixture. Bake in oven at 350 degrees until cheese melts. (20-30 minutes). Good served with tortilla chips and rice.

Chicken Broccoli Biscuits
From: Bisquick Baking Mix
1 -2 pkgs frozen chopped broccoli in cheese sauce (start off with one. two may be too much)
1/2 cup margarine or butter
2 Tbsp minced onion
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
paprika
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups cut up cooked chicken or 1 canned chicken (you may also substitute with 1 can tuna for chicken)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cook broccoli as directed on package. Mix margarine, onion, parsley and onion powder in sauce pan. Heat until margarine is melted. Spoon 1/2 into round pan. Sprinkle with paprika.

Mix baking mix, water and chicken until soft dough forms. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto pan. Drizzle with remaining margarine mixture over the top. Bake uncovered until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Spoon broccoli over each serving of biscuits.

Chicken Pot Pie
From: Our Best Bites: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/09/chicken-pot-pie.html

When The Going Gets Tough...

You just keep on moving, right? Or does it make you stronger? No need to whine or complain but in a nutshell, here's my not so fun day:

no school. again. computer kept freezing. call dell. found Trojan. nice. an hour on the phone with the guy. $245 later to get it fixed. not a fun way to start the day. trip to the grocery store with 3 kids. a potential meltdown was on the edge of it's seat with Jocelyn. over fruit snacks. she begged for strawberry. trying to hurry back to drop off something off to someone around the corner and then go home to feed Andrew and hurry back on the road to get Aubrey to piano. but hurry didn't happen. we pulled out of the grocery store parking lot and sat on the bridge (more like a parking lot) to get home (only a mile or so away) for 1 hour. found out that i accidentally left my cell phone and Andrew's paci at home. not comforting. looked in the rear view mirror to catch the guy behind us in a furniture truck banging his head on his steering wheel. looks like he was annoyed too. but i wasn't about to try it! an accident ahead. ambulances and fire trucks and police cars and animal control and tow trucks whizz by. looks like the jaws of life had to get them out of their recked car. hoped everyone was okay. got home an hour past the time to feed Andrew. missed Aubrey's piano lessons. got the groceries into the house. found out that his whole milk was leaking. everywhere. saved almost all of it into a pitcher. gave Jocelyn her prized possession - strawberry fruit snacks. Ate one and handed me the rest to say she didn't like them. what? :/ found ants roaming where some apple butter from previous night wasn't cleaned up. ugh. i hate ants. where do they come from? Jocelyn tripped on the highchair and bit her cheek and lip. hard. gave her ice to hold to her mouth. cleaned the kitchen. got the girls into bed. like my day wasn't going hard enough...Andrew threw up his last bottle all over his just dressed for bed clothes and all over his Daddy. Into the tub he went. Repeat the getting ready for bed part.

THE END.
(a few times within that mess I seriously wanted to cry! I know things could have been worse. but I'm thanking my lucky stars that they weren't!)

Baby Dance

I caught Andrew dancing to the song of one of his musical toys in our living room. It was so cute!!! I had to record it to share with you all!