Happy 75th Birthday Mom!

The day started with a brunch for about 150 people in the party room of my parent's building.

Then we went out for dinner at Jax.  Blossom #1 with my mom.

My dad planned and paid for everything.  And, he gave my mom a beautiful gold necklace too!

Me with my dad's sister Anna Marie.

My sister, Julie, her husband, Peter, and my cousin Ann.

My mom's sister, Margaret, and her husband Al. 
(Ann's parents.)

My mom's brother, John, and his wife Cindy.

Blossom #2 and my cousin Chris.  (Anna Marie's daughter.)

My cousin, Ann, with her precious family.

Blossom #4 with my uncle John.

Blossom #4 with one of my sister's sons.

Ann's daughter and my sister's other son.

Blossom #3.  He loves onion rings.  He saw one last onion ring on my uncle John's plate and said "say, John, are you going to eat that last onion ring?"  John laughed and gave it to him.

May your days be filled with celebrations!

Karin



Feed My Family Friday

An easy meal that the whole family will eat!

4 - Chicken Breasts

1 - Package Zesty Italian Dressing

1 - 8 oz. Package Cream Cheese

2 - Cans Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup

Put chicken in crock pot.  Sprinkle with dry dressing.  Add soup and cream cheese.  Cook for 4 hours on low.  (If chicken is frozen, cook about an hour longer.)  When ready, whisk the cream cheese and soup together.  Use 2 forks to break chicken into smaller chunks.

Serve over noodles or rice.

Enjoy!

Have a great week-end!

Karin

Keeping It Real

This is what my dining room looks like right now... getting ready for my mom's birthday party in Minneapolis, Blossom #3's science project and art projects from last week-end.  

Have a great day!

Karin

Rachel's Hot Chocolate Recipe

It's beginning to look like winter!



So, come on in and

have a cup of hot chocolate!  Or, my favorite, equal parts coffee and hot chocolate mixed together.

Here's Rachel's Hot Chocolate Recipe:

1 - 8 quart box powder milk

1 - 1lb. container of hot chocolate mix

1 - 6 oz. Original Coffee Mate

1/2 - cup powder sugar

Mix and store in covered container. 

Combine 1/3 cup of mixture with 1 cup hot water.

Enjoy!

Have a warm and cozy week-end!

Karin

Angie's Bean Soup

I do a lot of cooking with 4 children and a husband that works out of our home, so I love trying new recipes.  Not too long ago I made my friend Angie's bean soup recipe.  Here's how I decide whether to make a recipe again... if my husband doesn't say anything about it, that means it's good and will be made again.  If he complains, I throw the recipe away.  When I made this recipe, he said it's the best bean soup he's ever had, and so  I thought I better document this rare occassion!  And, oops, I can tell by my ham picture that I didn't follow the directions very well! 

Here's the recipe:

2    cups chopped carrots
1    cup chopped onion
1.5 cups mixed beans
5    cups water
1.5 lbs ham hock/bone with meat
2    cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Place uncooked beans on bottom of crock pot, cover with veggies and water.  Then add seasoning and ham.  Cover and cook on high for 6 - 7 hours or until beans are tender.  After cooking, pull the ham bone out and, when cool enough to handle, add the meat back into the soup. 

Notes:  I didn't add the seasoning, because I had extra juice from the ham.  And, the soup is thinner on the day you make it (this is the way my husband likes it) and  then the leftovers thicken after being refrigerated (this is the way I like it).

Enjoy!

Karin

Another Birthday Celebration!

Blossom #3 turned eleven on Sunday!

We decorated his door with his favorite treats: hot Cheetos, spray candy, Sour Patch Kids and a huge Butterfinger candy bar.  He opened one gift right away in the morning... trading cards that he picked out.  He couldn't wait to see what was in the package.

After church and a quick lunch, we met my sister and her 2 boys at the nearby ski resort for snow tubing.  These cousins are Blossom #3's favorite friends in the whole world, so we were so glad they drove an hour and a half to meet us.  You can tell by Blossom #3's face that he was sad when our time together was over.

After tubing, we came home and had Blossom #3's scavenger for 11 one dollar bills.  Then we had one of his favorite suppers:  Salmon, rice and peas.

Presents, of course!

The day before our birthday celebration, I was gone for 12 hours at Blossom #2's basketball tournament.  I took the birthday boy with me to the tournament and while we were gone, Blossoms #1 and #4 were very busy!  They made the above tie blanket, baked and decorated the birthday cake, made birthday signs, decorated the house with balloons and streamers and, then, on top of all of that, they made french puffs for the birthday boy's breakfast... Blossom #1 got up early and made eggs to go with the french puff on Sunday morning.  Blossom #3 sure felt loved.

Kids always say the funniest things.  Blossom #3 said "I sure hope I make it to my next birthday" and I said "well, you've made it this far, I'm sure you can make it to your next birthday!" 

Hoping you always feel loved!
Karin

Not As Planned!

Do you ever have those days that go Not As Planned!?  Today is one of those days for me!  First of all, my beloved cat is laying (or lying) in front of my table for folding laundry, so my clean dry clothes are stacking up because who would want to disturb him?

(The kid's colorful tree.)

I was planning on getting supper ready and then heading to our basement to clean up my work table area.

Instead, I've been making travel plans for my husband to go to Texas next week, cleaning out my front entry buffet that had an amazing rock collection in it (now located in the basement), looking for invitations for my mom's 75th birthday party at the end of the month, mailing thank you notes from Christmas and going through miscellaneous pictures that have accumulated!  Oh well, the day's not over yet!

Happy New Year!
Karin