Up late

So I am having trouble sleeping this week. I wake up around 3 because I have a teeny weeny bladder and then I can't go back to sleep. I just keep thinking about things. I stay awake for about an hour and then I finally get up and watch TV to get sleepy again. I keep looking over at Jonathan and I am so jealous that he is sleeping. He says that he does that to me all the time because I never have trouble falling asleep and he has a hard time getting to sleep initially. 10:30 rolls around and I am out!

So I thought that I would update my blog since I have some time on my hands. A whole lot has been going on around here, but not a whole lot that is interesting. We did carve our pumpkin on Thursday night and we had a good time. I got home in time to cook and we had chicken and pasta, crescent rolls and even a salad! After we ate both of the boys helped me clean up the kitchen and it was fun. I know you're probably thinking, how can washing dishes be fun? But everything is always more fun if people are helping.

So then we set out to carve the pumpkin. Jonathan and I haven't carved a pumpkin since we were kids and we never paid attention to the steps then, so we went on blindly. Luckily we have cutco knives and they did the job very well. Bryan loves those knives because he was here when we picked them out and I guess it feels like they are his too. We don't let him use any of them other than the spatula, but he loves to suggest that we use them for things.

Back to carving. Jonathan made the lid at the top just big enough for Bryan to stick his hands in the top, but then Bryan was scared to stick his hand in. We tried to coax him, but it was no use. So since my hand is smaller than Jonathans, I got to try. As I was sticking my hand in Bryan gave me a very wise warning, "Becca be careful in there, there are lots of weeds!" I think that he meant seeds and we had a good laugh.

Bryan did the artistic work on the pumpkin the night that we brought it home from Grandma's house (thanks for saving us a trip to Wal-Mart Mom!) We cooked the seeds and Bryan really liked them. Then we played this kid version of Crazy Eights. It was quite a hoot. It had picture cards and they were in categories, but we couldn't tell what the categories were so we would try to fit whatever card that we had. Like we would have a sock and it would need to match to a bird or something. We finally read the directions and it gave us the categories, but it was much more fun when we didn't know what we were doing. So that is really all for now. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Family update

Jonathan, Bryan and I went down to Pflugerville to watch Brandon's game. Brandon is very athletic and plays multiple sports. We knew that he had made some sort of special basketball league and we were pretty sure that it was going on throughout the year and not just in basketball season. So it didn't seem odd to us that we were going to see a basketball game in October. We found the gym and were hoping that the game was running late b/c we were running late. Inside the gym the only game that we see going on is a girls volleyball game. So we asked the lady taking money where we could find a basketball game. She looked at us a little weird and said that she didn't know anything about a basketball game.

So we called Grandma (Mom) and asked if she was sure that this game was a Pflugerville because we couldn't find it. She informed us that it was a football game. We said that we had noticed a football game that was just starting. So we headed over there, feeling a little dumb, but glad that we had not missed the game.

The game was good even though Brandon's team did not win. He had an awesome catch, I don't know the yardage, but he did catch it from a very long distance. Nat J was wearing his San Diego Chargers football uniform and he and Bryan had a lot of fun playing football. I don't know if they watched much of the game, but they did enjoy each other. We spent a lot of money at the snack bar and I think that we visited it 4 or 5 times. Of course no one knew exactly what they wanted the first time we went. It was good to see the Nystroms and Debi. Go Brandon for his awesome catch! Thanks for inviting us Brandon.

Netflix goodbye, Blockbuster hello

Well we really like Netflix.....for a while. but lately they have been taking a long time to send us our movies back and it has been frustrating. To give credit to Netflix, the nearest distribution center is in Austin. So I know that it takes a coupl of days to get there and back, but we just weren't satisfied.

So we are going to try Blockbuster. They have the same deal as Netflix, but we also get one free in-store rental a week. So if our movie hasn't come in, we can always rent one, which is nice. We will see if we made the right choice.

Laugh Out loud!!!

Friday nights are our family night. Jonathan and I haven't been feeling well this week so we needed a night on the couch. We rented "The RV." I had seen the previews when it came out and I did not want to see it at all. But it was highly recommended by a couple of people so I decided to give it a chance.

As we turned it on Bryan said, "Is he still a robot?" To Bryan, Robin Williams is the robot from Bicentinial Man. We explained that he was just a regular man in this movie. Its hard to imagine that someone doesn't know how funny he is.

So we laughed so hard during this movie as the "rolling terd" traveled through the US while the family inside tried very hard not to have a good time. Through the whole movie there is this hillarious music with a man humming and it just made the movie. If you haven't seen it, you HAVE TO RENT IT!

Oh and just to prove that Bryan has a toy that goes with every movie, he went into his room and got his RV when the movie was over so that he could act it out.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

So if anyone is still reading my blog, I wanted to share a new recipe with everyone. I made this for my fam the other night and they loved it. Plus it made a lot of leftovers to take to work.

4 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes, diced
1 carton 1/2 & 1/2
Milk (1/2 & 1/2 carton full)
3 chicken breasts cooked & diced
1 small velveeta mexican cheese (I used half of a big regular flavor)
salt, pepper, chili powder (I left that out) to taste

Melt velveeta in microwave (I just got it a little soft, like 2 mintutes). Combine all ingredients and stif in velveeta. heat until hot, NOT boiling. Serve with tortilla chips. You can cook it all day on low, but I didn't have all day. I cooked it 2 hours on high and 1 1/2 hours on low.

I am always looking for easy new recipes. Let me know if any of you have some favorites!

Big Idea

I want to give a Wow! to the Big Idea Company who produces all of the Veggie Tales movies. We just recently rented the Jonah movie and it just reminded me how great these videos are. They have such great stories and they are so creative. This one reminded me how much we need to give people a second chance even when we know that they don't deserve it. It is so easy to use that as an excuse and hold it over other people's heads for weeks, months or even years. None of us are perfect and that is why we need God's mercy and compassion. The people who work for Big Idea have a real gift and I am thankful for their ministry both for me and my children.

Bug

We were home for most of the weekend because Bryan had a stomach bug. I felt really bad for him. He was not himself, he just kind of lounged around and didn't even want to play. He watched lots of movies and we played a couple games of dominos and cards. He was so cute Friday night, I took his temperature and when it beeped he said, "Becca how much do I weigh?" I tried to keep from laughing and told him what his temperature was.

We did leave the house on Saturday night and got to go out with Ruth Ann and Chris on a double date. We met them at the Olive Garden in Round Rock. Grandma was very sweet and kept sick Bryan for us. We started out our evening by ordering 4 different drinks from the bar. They were more like desserts because they had ice cream in them.

Then we all ate our pastas, or at least part of them and ended up at Star Bucks. We had to wait a while to order our coffee because we were so stuffed. It was very good. We had a blast talking with Ruth Ann and Chris. I don't think that I have ever gotten to spend time with them alone and we really enjoyed them. Some people from their church were sweet and offered to keep the kids so they could have a night out. We look forward to going out with them again some time.

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Jury Duty

I had another adult moment today when I went to report for jury duty. Lately I have been having more and more moments when I realized that I am really an adult even if there are times when I don't feel like it.

We all huddled into this big court room so that the judge could explain what our duties were and that he does not let people out of their duty for little reasons, not even his own mom. He even told us that he once had to serve on a jury after he was a judge, and while he considered exempting himself, he decided that it was his duty just as it was everyone else's. He said that Bush was called to serve while he was govenor and that he has now been called in his hometown of Crawford. So I kept the fact that it was the second week of school and I wanted to be excused to myself.

We were split up into four panels for jury selection and sent to different court rooms for different trials. We waited for a little over an hour and then the judge decided to break for lunch. So I went and ate with Jonathan and then came back and waited for 45 minutes to be called in to be questioned by the lawyers. They asked some general questions to everyone and I didn't give any strange answers, in fact I only spoke once, but I was not chosen.

I'm glad for two reasons, one I didn't want to miss more school and it was a custody suit and I think it would have been a very hard trial. I would have liked to see the whole trial process though, I think it would have been very educational.

Dessert

Well for those of you who have been waiting patiently for my new cookie recipe, here it is!

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

1 C. margarine
1 C. p.b.
1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 C. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl beat margarine, p.b., and sugars. Add eggs and beat again. In a small bowl, combine flour and soda, set aside. Gradually mix in dry ingredients and beat. Bake 15 minutes.

I made a half a batch yesterday because a whole batch makes about 5 dozen, depending on the size of the cookies. But I only got one out of the whole batch! And by the way, don't skimp on the chocolate chips, they won't be as good. Enjoy!

My Mom has joined

My mom announced a couple of days ago that she had a blog. I was at work when I recieved the email and I hadn't had time to announce it on my blog. Check her out. She is linked on the right.

I am ashamed, but I don't have a digital picture of her by herself. I am a bad daughter, I must take one the next time I see her.

Recipes

I am always looking for new recipes and the internet has become a wonderful resource. Here is one of my all time favorites:

Crockpot Lasagna
1 lb ground beef (I use chicken)
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced (I use garlic powder)
1 lg jar of favorite spaghetti sauce (1 lb 10oz.)
1/2 c shredded Parmesean/Ramono cheese
1 pkg. 8oz. no boil lasagna noodles
16 oz. shredded mozzerella
1 lb ricotta cheese
1/4 c milk
1 egg s & p to taste

Brown meat, onions and garlic in oil in frying pan. Drain off grease. Add spaghetti sauce into browned meat mixture. Mix well. In a seperate bowl, mix ricotta cheese, milk and egg. Beat until thouroughly mixed and smooth. Then mix in the mozzarella cheese and the grated cheese, so that all the cheeses are combined.

Grease the crockpot with some vegtable shortening on the bottom and sides. Put about 1/4 of the meat mixture in the bottom of the slow cooker. Layer noodles, cheese adn sauce mixture (about 3 layers). Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Tomorrow I will post my favorite dessert!

1st Day of School

As my friends and I were driving to school yesterday we were discussing how anxious the teachers are about the kids. The kids are always worried and nervous about the teachers, but they probably don't even realize (at least I hope) how nervous we are on the 1st day of school. I could hardly eat breakfast. I guess it was all of the unknowns. I don't know my kids, i don't know if my voice will make it all day because I haven't been teaching all summer, I don't know if they will like the songs I have picked, etc.

But all was well. Ft. Hood made a new ruling that anyone who was in the military and had PK age kids could enroll them in Killeen's Elementary Schools. Last year I had about 17 PK kiddos at a time in my class. This year I have 40! The first day was quite challenging. I gave up seating charts and just hoped that they would all sit somewhere on their bottoms.

I feel for the PK teachers that have them all day. They are just babies that don't even answer to their own names. I was talking to Jonathan about all of this at the dinner table and Bryan overheard us. He had some advice to offer. He said that I should just spell out their names so that they would know who I was talking to. I then told him that they don't know their letters yet. He exclaimed, "They don't know their letters, maybe they just shouldn't come to school!"

Today was much better and I'm sure that trend will continue. I love my new teaching partner and I think it is going to be a great year!

Bryan had a good first day too. He said he likes his teacher, keep him in your prayers, I hope he stays on level this year.

Carpooling

With the high gas prices, 2 of my coworkers and I decided to carpool this year. Three of us live within 5 miles of each other so it is very convenient. We have a 25 mile commute each way. I was buying 3 tanks every two weeks so I have been looking forward to this plan. This week I did not drive so my gas gage stayed at the same level all week. Very exciting! I will be driving next week and then every third week after that.

30th B-day

My friend Emily (her blog is linked on the right) is turning 30 today!! We are going over to her house to party tonight after church. I just wanted to wish her a very happy birthday!

My Nephew

My nephew has recently joined the blogging world. Welcome him if you get a chance. I linked his blog on the right.

We are glad to have you in our world Brandon.

I've been tagged.

My friend Sendy tagged me. I don't know how to link to her blog on my post, but her blog is linked to your right.

5 Things in my freezer:
1. Shredded cheese
2. Frozen bananas
3. Chicken nuggets
4. Hamburger patties (not for me)
5. Ice

5 Things in my closet:
1. Coats because we have no coat closet
2. Lots of bags to pack with
3. Belts
4. Lots of shoes
5. Jonathan's collections of caps

5 Things in my vehicle:
1. Cd's
2. Pen
3. Bryan's ballcap
4. Dish towels (I don't know where they came from)
5. Some trash that I need to clean out

5 Things in my purse:
1. Wallet
2. Cell phone
3. Hair clip
4. Pens
5. Makeup

5 Things on my desk:
1. A to-do list
2. A picture of Jonathan and I
3. Lots of pens and markers
4. Some foam
5. An apple for the teacher, don't worry its made of porcelain

5 Favorite movies:
1. How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days
2. Return to Me
3. While You Were Sleeping
4. Runaway Bride
5. Hitch

Ministry

Our church has a member who is a licensed psychologist and the church pays his salary. In turn members, you might not even have to be a member, can see him for free. Last night Jonathan and I had our first session with him. Don't worry Jonathan and I aren't are on the brink of seperation or anything, but we do need some help dealing with all of the changes that have gone on in our lives in the past 9 months.

We really like the counselor, he validated that we did have a lot going on and it was okay to have the feelings we were having. It was interesting how he didn't give direct advice, but often quoted others which served as advice. He gave us a book called "Boundaries." I know that my mom has read it and I think that Debi is reading it to. So maybe it is a good book for our whole family to read.

Our next appointment isn't until September because he is so booked, but it free and he's a Christian, beggers can't be picky. I am thankful for his ministry.

A new way to mail letters!

Last week Bryan wrote a letter to his mommy. It was very sweet. He asked Jonathan for an envelope to put it in. When he had it all sealed he said, "Becca can you mail this to my Mommy with your computer." I guess he thought that I could somehow insert it in my computer and it would become email.

Then yesterday we had a letter to mail and just for fun I asked Bryan to go and mail it for us at the post office. He took the letter ready to do the job. He walked into the living room and asked, "You mean Jonathan's office?" We laughed and agreed. Then he got in the office and said, "I don't know how to mail it."

Ruth

This morning I woke up very early and I decided that I would take advatage of my extra time by reading my Bible. I always have good intentions of reading the Bible, but somehow life always get in the way. So I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to study this morning, but I knew that I wanted to read about a woman of God. I opened my Bible to Ruth and began to read the story of an amazing woman committed to God and her family.

Ruth lost her husband and though it is not explained how, I'm sure that when it was time to leave her homeland, it had just happened. So here she is a grieving widow with no man to take care of her at all, her father-in-law had died too, and she chooses to take a journey with her mother-in-law back to her homeland. Ruth could have gone back to see her own family, but she told her mother-in-law that she wanted to stay with her.

So in the end God provided her with another husband and a son. Ruth never doubted that God would take care of her. What an example she is!!