Pictures of Joe on Air Soft Night

In full gear Wounded-the visor to his mask broke off

They've decided to play once a month. I'm stayin' inside!

Visiting with Family!

Yesterday my sister-in-law, two nieces, three great-nieces and my new great-nephew came over to visit! It was the first time I met Dylan. He's a little cutie-pie, three months old and only three pounds lighter than Adah.

Vikki & Dylan
Dylan & Adah. Finally someone smaller than her!
Brooke, Kailey, Joni, Dylan & Lexi

Beautiful Knit Nativity Set

Check out this beautiful knitted nativity set by an online acquaintance. http://www.beartoes.com/


I ordered both Christmas knitting books by the author. Since the girls have been home I have kept my knitting to one stitch which is a knit stitch because it's easy & I tend to forget where I'm at since I constantly have to put my projects down. I made one scarf for my sister-in-law for her birthday and now I'm working on a cotton candy pink scarf for Sarah.

I would love to be able to make heirloom Christmas items. Steve's grandmother made us a snow couple a long, long time ago and I treasure those each year when they come out of the box.

Red Beans & Rice

2 lbs dried red beans, rinsed and sorted over

Place the beans in a large pot, and cover with water by 2 inches or 12-16 cups of water. Boil 3 minutes, cover and soak 1-4 hours, adding water as needed to keep beans covered.

Drain off soak water and rinse and set aside.

Heat 6 Tablespoons of bacon grease, oil, or shortening over medium-high heat in frying pan.

To hot grease add:

3 cups chopped yellow onions
1-1/2 cups chopped celery

Saute a bit

To onions & celery add:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 sprinkles of cayenne pepper
6 bay leaves
4 tablespoons parsley
4 teaspoons thyme
6 tablespoons chopped garlic

After a few minutes of sauteeing the seasonings & onion/celery mixture put the beans back into a big, big pot and all of the above ingredients. To this you will add 20 cups of chicken stock or water (for quick chicken stock, just add 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon for each cup of water)

Add a nice big ham bone or several ham hocks to the beans, seasonings, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, about two hours. If the beans become thick and dry, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time.

When the beans are tender and the ham is falling off the bone, take the bone out and go through your beans (I use a strainer with a pot underneath to make sure to catch my liquid) to make sure there aren't any small bones are pieces of fat in your meal. When you're satisfied you can add everything back into the pot and continue heating.

Serve with white rice. I made 12 cups of rice and have used it all even making rice as needed. This lasted us for dinner and several lunches. All my children enjoy it!

Busy Times

Life has been going by at a furious pace. I can hardly hold on sometimes!

This past weekend John & Joe had a soccer tournament. Each game was about twenty minutes in length, but we had four-to-five games each day. Joe's team ended up winning the tournament for their division. This next weekend we have the start of the All-Star games. I know if it rains I will stay home!

Joel is sick and hopefully doesn't turn into the mono that James has. He snuggled into bed with us last night, but I ended up sleeping on the couch because I can't stand to be in the middle; it makes me claustrophobic.

I've started making lifebooks for the girls. I'm using pretty binders with report covers. A place for them to have all their paperwork together. It will actually help me in the long run. You can imagine all the paper I deal with for four adoptions. I'll work on the pretty & decorative aspects of them later. Right now it's all about getting the paperwork in its proper place.

Adah is now walking along the furniture and behind something she can push. She started standing by herself for about fifteen seconds yesterday! Hard to believe her legs have come such a long way in just four months!

I have two New Year Resolutions. One is to cook dinner at least five nights a week if not six. Steve and I usually go out at least one night a week. I've done good so far! Red Beans & Rice with cast-iron skillet cornbread on New Years and Potato Soup with homemade yeast rolls yesterday. Today we'll have Carne Asada Tacos. Yum! The other is to read my Bible every day. Good intentions don't always bring forth fruit so now I have to tell myself that I need to read my Bible each day, every day.

I have been taping Adoption Stories, Multiple Birth Stories, Quints, John & Kate Plus 8, etc... There was a couple from Australia on the Multiple Birth Story show that I watched. You think you're busy? They have eight children 3 1/2 and younger! Their oldest is 3 1/2, the quads are thirteen months, then they had quads again, but one was still born, so she had three babies from that pregnancy. They want more children as soon as they can get them! Wow! They even hang their laundry each day. I think of them and have little reason to be tired! :0)

Charles Spurgeon quote

"God save us all from wives who are angels in the streets, saints in the church, and devils at home."