whatever

crescent chicken

this recipe has 5 ingredients.
that's it.
it's so easy....and i bet your kids will eat it.
and maybe you even have the ingredients in your cupboard right now.

you will need about 2 cups of cooked chopped up chicken (ingredient #1)
put the chicken into a mixing bowl
then add 1 cup of shredded cheese. (ingredient #2)
 

(sometimes i add some minced garlic into this)

ingredient #3 is a can (or two) of refrigertor cresent rolls.

not even the fancy kind.
we have seven mouths to feed remember?  you are free to use pillsbury...but these were on sale.
so i got them.
(and i used 2 cans to make a bigger amount)

open each triangle...

place about a 1/3 cup of the chicken/chesse mixture to the center of the triangle.


 
then you pull on the dough till it closes...kind of.  it doesn't have to look pretty.
the dough is wrapped around your chicken and cheese.

this evening at our house it was silent.
it was kind of weird.
i had christmas music on pandora...talby was reading, annie and sean were painting, the older two were gone....it was oddly quiet for about an hour.  BLESSINGS.
 


ingredient #4 is cream of chicken soup...whatever brand you want.
this is what we had.  
  

   
 mix it with 1 cup of milk with a whisk.

pour it over your chicken/dough bundles....

then bake it for about 30 minutes at 350.  
you want it to be really done so the dough is all baked.


it's really good.
i served it for dinner and literally 10 minutes later...


GONE.

hope this helps make your dinner planning a bit easier this week.
and i hope you don't like left overs...because you won't have any.     

the recipe in the sidebar on the left at the very bottom of the list.
and lots of other yummy, easy, kid friendly recipes too.

christmas gift?

you could ask for this for christmas....a gift certificate for pictures!

OR you could give it for christmas.

it would be loved by everyone.  
grandmas could give the gift and make their kids happy 
AND themselves by getting pictures for their wall.  

we can get creative....it could be a newborn baby shoot...
or an engagement shoot.
a maternity photo session
senior pictures....
an anniversary gift.
a birthday gift ...40? 60? 99?

anything you can think up....we can probably make it work. 

 
 ha ha ha ha ha

contact me with my email link at the top left to buy yours. 

EXCITING!!!!!

i have been waiting a month to share julie's idea with you.
i have been so excited about it.
i cry everytime i have to talk out loud about it.
i think it an amazing way for the blogging community to Glorify God.

go check out PROJECT 320.

it.

is.

AWESOME.
 

******************************************************************************

thanks for the ideas yesterday!  
why didn't i just ask you all sooner?  could've saved some stress.
i know where to turn for any other questions i have.  :)
and i can't tell you what we picked because sometimes my kids read the blog.
but we did get a couple of your ideas!  THANK YOU.

i need some help.

what would YOU get a 9 year old boy for christmas?

we are clueless.

he doesn't want legos anymore...thank goodness because we probably have 10,000.

HELP ME.

christmas finds

about two weeks ago i scored big at the thrift shop.
it was so fun to find my favorite things...for about half the price!
 

 
vintage ornaments...with the boxes.
a santa.
a vintage christmas dish towel.
old silver garland.


antique ornaments with sweet little details.
and my santa mugs...for 50cents each! 
they are always over $4.
and there were 6 of them....oh happiness.
  


inside that little clear bell is a tiny plastic deer...with snow....sweet.

having gotten a cold (that i think is nearly gone) and leaving town for thanksgiving
AND having started a new business this year....
christmas is feeling a little less fancy this year.
but i hope that changes.

i am getting so close to finishing up with my picture editing.
that is so exciting to me.
because when i am done...i can make christmas crafts...and a gingerbread house...and wrap presents
and make cookies...and put glitter on stuff.
almost there.
 

ku basketball and a cold

after my black friday shopping...10 stores in five hours...2 coffees.
good times.  
no crazy waiting at 4 AM or anything.

we rested in the afternoon and after dinner craig took me, scott and lauren to the KU basketball game.

SO MUCH FUN.

  

scott was pumped up.  
he got high fives from all the players.
in the car on the way to the game i asked scott to tell me who the players were because i didn't know anybody this year. (bad fan)
he immediately rattled off every player and their number.
he is obsessed with sports.
 
  

(in a comment left by my sister...a BIG KU fan)..."they pretend to read the paper when the visiting team roster is announced, because they are so lame they are not even worth listening to. Then, while the announcer prepares to say "Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009 Kansas Jayhawks" the kids are rapidly tearing the newspapers into little bits of confetti to throw when the players come on the court."

the opening announcement was AWESOME!! it would make ANYONE a jayhawk fan.
 
  



scott leaned over and whispered in my ear "tell dad i am loving this!"
later i said "ok scott...i have them all memorized...quiz me."
he did and i got them all right and he was shocked.
see....moms can be cool sometimes.
 

i think this would be scott's dream...

  


rob riggle and jason sudeikis were there.  :)
 
  

that t-shirt cannon was the coolest thing!  
it could shoot like....10 shirts in 10 seconds.
and craig caught one.
lauren almost had it.
they are going to share the shirt.

it is a great atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse.
i wish we could go more often.
thanks for watching the 3 other kids mom and dad.

we came home from my parents' late that night and i felt a cold coming on.
i was hoping it would pass.
but it didn't.
i am feel cruddy.

but i hope some sleep will make a difference.  

i am off to bed.   

more water.

but this time....you could win something i really want.
since it's for clean water i will share it.
otherwise i would keep it a secret so i would have a better chance of winning.

tara whitney is giving away a photo shoot to one person who donates toward her family's well.
she has 2 days left to reach her goal of $10,000.

don't you want in on that?
i know you do.

it's for clean water...

for her.  

and her.

 

and them.

 

go here to tara's site to help her reach her $10,000.

and if you win her photo shoot and i don't....i will still be happy for you.  
i promise.
  
(ps: tara i love your blog so much....you are so talented....you are pure inspiration)

thankful

we went to my parents' house for this thanksgiving.
we arrived and everything was cooking and bubbling and boiling and steaming....busy kitchen.
i got right to my job of mashed potatoes.
there was some chaos of cooking the turkey upside down...and then dropping it...but it all worked out.
like we knew it would.
we knew it mom....you always do a great job.

i brought my mom a gift.  
you can go HERE to see pictures of it but i just got a picture of it on our car roof.
it was getting LOTS of attention on the drive.
everyone was smiling and pointing at our turkey.

 
 her table was set so fancy....it was a lovely site. 
 
 
 

  
 



we ate and talked and listened and ate some more.

my dad's side of the family is....quiet.
i used to think this was weird.  it's nothing like a family on tv...tv families are always loud.
there is always something going on and things get loud.
but my family is not. (except for my own children of course) (oh yeah...and ME).
i am grateful for it now.  
i am thankful for a quiet intellectual family who likes discuss everything(quietly)
from politics or history to art and music.
half the time i have no idea what they are talking about.
but i love to listen to my grandmother tell stories about having five children...or being a dr's daughter.

i am thankful.

i am going to sleep now and in 6.5 hours i will be shopping.
with messy bed head and no makeup and a starbucks in my hand.
can't wait!

i really hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving.

did you go black friday shopping?  what did you get?  :)  
 

feeling.....???

like there is so much to do and no time.  :)

we started thanksgiving on sunday at craig's mom's.
yummy stuff.
 

also at thanksgiving we take part in Operation Christmas Child.
we fill a shoebox with gifts for needy children and then the boxes are sent all of the world to children
who would not receive any gifts at all.
our family has been doing it 8 years now.  
the kids love to help with it.
this year i had them watch a video about it so they could put some faces to their project.

 



but this year i did the shopping alone while they were in school.
taking all of them to shop for four different boxes just was too crazy to do again.
i went with an art theme.
i trust God that HE will pick the exact children somewhere in the world that have a passion to create 
and they will get our special boxes.
we filled them with markers, crayons, paint, paper, pipe cleaners, colored pencils, glue, and glitter.
we filled two for boys so they got matchbox cars.
and two for girls and they got a baby doll.
then i had the kids make a card for their box and we included a family photo.

it's fun to do together...the kids take real pride in making their box special.
check it out here.  it's not too late!
 

 

i spent yesterday morning at school with talby helping them make a feast.
i don't know how teachers do it.
i was completely overstimulated when i left.
i'm like the grinch "oh the noise noise NOISE noise!" 




it surprised me that kids were actually eating this stew.
if i had made this for talby at home....she would have cried and refused to even try it.
but there...she ate it!
she admitted it wasn't very good but she still ate it.
funny kids.

we sat with these two goofballs...they were very entertaining. 
 
 
i let them hold my camera to take some pictures!


 
and now...back to my junk.
i took the kids for donuts...put away a bunch of laundry..changed my sheets...cleaned the kids' disgusting bathroom (it was beyond gross)...christmas shopped online...unpacked my suitcase from SB.

now i need a big cup of hot coffee and it's back to my pictures.

to my families from yesterday: i am behind already.
i blame a migraine and a feast with the second grade.  

ps:  annie is screaming in her room like a complete maniac about losing a barbie blanket.  
could be a long day. 

another big week

pictures up to my ears.

monday:

tuesday:

 
wednesday:
 

thursday:  (after turkey and a nap)
  


friday:  (after black friday shopping and some strong coffee)

saturday:
 

sunday:

 

if you see your family here...email me your address if you'd like them mailed to you.
i will email you the moment your pics are done and mailed.
OR when you can pick them up at my house.
(even late at night in the dark...you can still stop over and pick them up...i totally get that)

my computer and i are becoming ONE being.
i bet i need glasses by the end of the year.

********************************************************************************************************************
AND do remember the balance beam video from two weeks ago? 
you can listen to Francis Chan's podcasts too!
i subscribed to them all and now while i'm working on pictures i can listen to something challenging.
you will love him.