Yummy, Yummy Soup

I don't have any pictures, but this is one of the best soups I have ever eaten! This recipe can very easily be halved! Enjoy!!

Spicy Cheeseburger Soup

3 c. water
4-5 lg. potaotoes, cubed (can peel or leave on)
4 sm. grated carrots
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1-2 jalapenos (optional)
2 T. beef base
2 lb. hamburger
1 lg. onion, chopped

Brown hamburger and onion. Drain. Add all other ingredients and cook until potatoes are tender. Put 5 c. milk and 6 T. flour in a microwaveable bowl and heat until slightly think. (I just heated it, it wasn't thick!) Add to soup mixture. Add 2 c. cheddar cheese (shredded) and cayenne pepper to taste (optional) Heat through, I let it simmer for about 1 hour.
Serve with cooked, crumbled bacon and more cheese!

It could be a long afternoon

At least they're all clean, but I HATE folding and putting away clothes!! Plus there are still 2 more loads to come!!

13 Weeks

Yesterday was our first actual prenatal appointment. It, of course, included all the fun blood work and initial exams. We got to hear the baby's heart beat right away. Right at 160 beats per minute. When Dr. Hines went to measure, she thought I was feeling smaller than 13 weeks, so she called for an ultrasound. That was a nice unexpected surprise. Baby measured right on track, so that was great to hear.

One thing I don't have of my other two pregnancies, are pictures of me all through the pregnancy. So, my goal is to take one before each appointment. Maybe then I'll be able to see a change from start to finish.

The kids are already figuring out what their jobs will be. Rylie wants to change the baby's diapers and Walker wants to take care of the baby. As long as they want to help, they are more than welcome! They're also fighting over who's room the baby will sleep in and who gets to feed it in the middle of the night. I don't think that will last long though!!

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday Gone By

For various reasons, Walker's birthday pictures never got posted on here! I picked a few of my favorites! It was a cool evening for September, but family and friends made it a very enjoyable evening. It's hard to believe that Walker is already 4. He has changed so much in the past year. We love watching him mature and learn and love that he is all boy!! He definitely brings joy to our lives! We love you Walker Man!!

Wordless Wednesday

Home Sweet Home

We had a wonderful weekend. So wonderful, that I forgot to take my camera with me whenever we did something fun!! The memories we made will stay with us though, I'm sure! Our trip to Hwy 20 was interesting to say the least. We ramped some drifts and ruined our license plate, but God kept us safe and we made it without incident.
Friday was spent mostly in the car and checking out a few things up North! By late afternoon, we were in our hotel. Thumper Pond Resort is a beautiful place. We spent the whole weekend in the pool, in the restaurants and hitting up some of our favorite places. This was the first time we have taken the kids with us, so it was fun to show them places that we love! We came home Sunday afternoon and were all glad to be back in our own beds.

We're off...

As of 3 o'clock this morning, we're headed north for the weekend!! A weekend of fun, food, swimming, an all around great time of family togetherness! I promise new posts and new pictures when we return. The road conditions may be interesting, but we're going to take our time! We figure the further north we go, the better they'll be!!

See you all when we get back!

ETA: The alarm was supposed to go off at 2 so we could get up an ready. The kids were up at 1:50 ready to go. Oh Boy, they are excited!

52 things about me...

1. Do you like blue cheese dressing? No way

2. Favorite County group? I love Brooks and Dunn! Classic but trendy

3. Do you own a gun? not other than a pellet gun

4. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee shop? I'm not much of a coffee drinker, so I usually end up with an Italian Cream Soda

5. What do you think of hot dogs? I LOVE hot dogs

6. Favorite Christmas movie? Polar Express

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Hansen's Dairy Whole milk

8. Can you do push ups? yes

9. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? my wedding ring

10. Favorite hobbies? read

11. Do you have A.D.D.? I think I may!!!

12. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? Putting on the happy face for everyone

13. Middle name? Rae

14. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
(1) I need to go wake up Matt
(2) My water glass is empty
(3) I need more peanut butter

15. 3 drinks I drink most often? Water, Milk, Caffeine Free Mountain Dew

16. Current worry right now? the year ahead

17. Current hate(s) right now? can't think of any

18. Favorite place to be? Home with my family

19. How did you ring in the New Year? At home with Joe and Janell and their boys

20. Like to Travel? I love to travel, just wish we could do more of it

21. Name three people who will complete this? good question

22. Do you own slippers? I LOVE my slippers!!

23. What color shirt are you wearing? Gray

24. Could you ever make it 39 days on the show Survivor? I think I could

25. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't normally sing out loud in the shower!

26. Favorite girl names? Not spilling it just yet!

27. Favorite boy names? Same as above!

28. What's in your pocket right now? no pockets

29. Last thing that made you laugh? Walker's laughing upstairs

30. Worst injury you've ever had? Ankle sprain

31. Do you love where you live? I do but may be ready for a change!

32. How many TV's do you have in your house? 2

33. Who is your loudest friend? I can't really think of one!

34. Does someone have a crush on you? My hubby does!!

35. What is your favorite candy? anything fruity

36. Favorite Sports Team? Cyclones

37. What were you doing 12 AM last night? sleeping

38. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up today? How can something so small take up so much room? Walker is a bed hog!!!

39. What is your favorite Holiday? Christmas

40. What are your plans for tomorrow? back to work

41. Real Christmas tree or artificial? Artificial

42. Your greatest fear? something happening to my family

43. Favorite TV show(s)? Chopped, True Blood, Iron Chef America, Two and a Half Men

44. Biggest Pet Peeve? bad grammar

45. Do you snore? nope, Matt snores enough for the both of us

46. Do you like scary movies? no

47. Do you have a pet? yep, two cats, Cole and Crosley

48. Favorite artist? don't have one

49. Favorite cereal? Frosted Flakes

50. Last movie seen in the theater? Sherlock Holmes last weekend

51. What are you most looking forward to in 2010? too many to count!!!

52. What is your New Year's Resolution? to make it all worth while!

Peaks and Valleys

Our life has been full of peaks and valleys since I last blogged. But, we are finding a new normal and making it all work for US!!

Here's a link to our new family pictures. My sister took them in early November! We love them just as much as we love her! Thanks Andrea!!

I am working on getting back to the blog! It will be a process I'm sure!!

http://joyfulfive.blogspot.com/2009/11/sis-pix.html

Double Incentive

Today's blog comes with double incentive. I had incentive to get back to the blog and make a new entry and Rylie had the incentive to pull that tooth out!! Yup, Rylie had this tooth that was WAY ready to come out. So loose that it was hanging but almost nothing and it was more than her dad could handle. So, I made a deal with her. If she pulled that tooth and we took a picture, we could put it on the blog tonight!! Sounds great and not 2 minutes later, the tooth was out!!

Now this tooth falling out has been a long time coming. The dentist told her over a year ago that she would lose her first tooth by LAST Christmas. Almost 10 months later, it finally happened. She was the last one in her class to lose one and she was very ready!! Plus, now she finally gets to use the wonderfully adorable tooth pillow that Grandma Tamma made for her!! It's been sitting in her room just waiting for the opportunity to be used!!

So now she has a gappy smile, that is absolutely adorable, and I will have to get back into the blogging! I have lots of things we've skipped, including Walker turning 4. OOPS, that makes me feel like the worst mother ever!! Lots of more pics to come!!

WOW!!

9 years ago I married my best friend!!

Quiet House

My house is quiet this morning. I dropped Rylie off at the bus and then took Walker to his first day of Preschool. He was so excited and couldn't wait to get there. He didn't even want me to go in with him, but I told him that I had to. I have to sign him in each morning. He was a little hesitant for me to leave, so I took the opportunity to leave when Miss Karen told him he needed to go wash his hands! I can't wait to hear all about how it went!!

Walker ready for Open House. He got to take all of his supplies, so his backpack was too heavy for him to carry!

All ready to go the first day! He was all about the silly faces this morning!!

Rylie and Walker

Getting out of the van. This is where I had to leave the camera. He didn't want any more pictures! I was fine with that. I'll get more when they have their next Open House!

Addition: 12:00 PM - He LOVED it!! He can't wait to go back on Friday. And, his favorite part was outside play (typical boy). He talked about playing with Alex, Macy and Ava, but can't remember any of the other kids' names. He was super excited to see me, gave me a huge smile and wave when he saw me in the pick up line. It's great to be loved!!

She's a 1st Grader

Rylie started 1st grade today. I thought it'd be fun to show her progression from 3 year old preschool to now. Wow, she has changed. It's fun to think how much she's learned and developed since the beginning.


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Rylie refused to wear her backpack for her picture. Her's is actually in the process of being exchanged because of a rip, so she's using a red one to start off the year. I was informed that it did not match her outfit at all, so she's just have a picture without it!!

Farm boy??

Am I going to end up with a farm boy? One of Walker's favorite places to go is to the hog buildings my dad and mom run. He especially loves going when it's time to get the new babies in and his favorite driver, Brian, is coming. The kids and I spent Monday afternoon at the barns, moving, sorting, counting, feeding. I love that my kids get the hands on experience, but I would have never imagined they would love it quite so much. I took my camera on Monday and captured Walker's happiness!!

Girly Girl

Rylie is a girly girl. I've had to learn to play barbies, style hair, think pink, etc!! I wouldn't trade her for a second! For her birthday last month, Mom, Andrea and I all got her things to help make her bedroom girly. We rearranged bedrooms about 6 months ago and since she's not sharing with Walker anymore, we can go pink instead of neutral! Mom had asked Rylie what she would want in her room and the one thing she wanted was lots of pink. Well, I think between the three of us, we were able to accomplish that. Mom got her all the her bedding, Andrea picked up the fuzzy throw and pillow as well as the wall stickers and the great phone! Matt and I had gotten her a new lamp, curtains and tiebacks, which aren't in the pics. Then, she had a gift card to use and got he new fuzzy chair. She loves her room. The pink curtains give her room quite an interesting glow in the morning. She says she loves waking up to pink!!

Oh, the colors of summer

I love when all the greenness of spring brings on the colors of flower in summer. Here are just a few of the things blooming at our house right now!

Tiger Lillies

Mint

Basil

Hostas

Straw Flowers

Tomatoes

We Love a Parade

The kids and I hit the Gifford parade while Matt slept on the 4th. He had to work the night before and wanted to be able to go to Clear Lake with us, so he missed out on the parade this year. It was a rainy, cool morning, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They played tag while they waited and all stood so nicely and quiet while the flags passed by. We even got a picture of all five of the kids in their 4th of July ware from Grandma Tamma!!

Minnesota

Two weekends ago, Matt and I took a small weekend trip away. Just the two of us. We went to one of our favorite places of all time, Ottertail County Minnesota. Beautiful land that we both fell in love with and continue to greatly enjoy going back when we can. On Friday night we ate at one of our favorite resaurants, Zorbaz, home to the Macho Nachoz. That restaurant alone is worth the 7 hour drive! We then camped in the van which was an adventure in itself. Saturday we got up, went and saw his Uncle Randy and Aunt Lynn's new property they bought and will eventually build on, rented a jet ski and skiied for the first time in probably 7 years. That night we stayed at a resort and enjoyed an evening of swimming, great food and SLEEP!! Then on Sunday we found a new favorite bakery and headed home to the kids. It was great to be away and boy did we sleep well when we got home!! Thanks Mom for keeping the kids for us! They had a GREAT time!!

I didn't take many pics, but here are the few I did!