I Want SMORE!

I just had to post this picture of Tina eating her burnt graham cracker. She wanted to melt the chocolate so she put it over the flame. We got an indoor smore maker from a family that was moving out of the ward. It toasts them pretty well. The kids had fun, although they seem to care more for the marshmallow and chocolate than the graham cracker.

Is the warm weather here to stay?

I'm ready for warm weather, yesterday was soooooo nice. I took this picture a week or so ago when it had warmed up a little, the kids enjoy playing in the sand box.They especially like going over to the neighbors to jump on the tramp. We went out yesterday and played with finger paint I bought at the dollar store. They put it all over their feet and ran all over the sidewalk, it said it was washable but it stained Danikas leg blue. They wanted to wash it off with the sprinkler, but settled for the hose. I hope it keeps getting warmer, they have been asking constantly if they can get their swimming suits on and run through the sprinklers.

FOOD FRENZY FRIDAY

Before I post a recipe I wanted to share a sad photo. Jacob doesn't look sad but his poor nose does. I'm not even sure what happened. I just heard a cry from the bathroom when all the kids were brushing their teeth. Ya try to keep a band aid on a one year olds nose! Welp I guess we wont be getting family pictures just yet....but knowing our family next week Andrew will have a gash on his forehead. Hope your all having a great Friday!
CREAMY BEEF WITH BISCUITS

2 lbs ground beef- (That's too much meat for us so I use 1)
1 med onion, chopped
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup undiluted
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tube (12 oz) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

In large skillet cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add cream cheese, stirring until melted. Add the soup, milk, ketchup, salt and pepper; mix well. Transfer to a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Cover and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Uncover; arrange biscuits over top. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until biscuits are golden brown. Happy eating!

PUDDING PAINT

My kids really enjoy doing this. I used to be uptight and worry about the mess but it's more fun to make a mess and have fun! As you can see Jacob was the messiest!Luke wasn't as bad but still messyYou probably can't tell but Danika drew a Kangaroo with her puddingAnd of course Andrew....he insisted that the ball be in the picture. His pudding painting was of a light sabor.

TAGS

I was tagged by two people so I thought I would get them both done in one post. The Memoir tag from Emily to write a memoir in six words. Emily I thought yours was very good...I can't top it but here is my try

A mother who "tried" her best.

He he I have no idea, I thought tried my patience or actually trying to be a good mother. Little thought given there sorry.... Okay for the next one from Christa

6 Random things about me:

1. I love to dance...Christa I too would love to have a dance studio. Who knows when I'll get my body back to dancing shape though. I miss dancing with ya!

2. I like to use the kids bathroom crayons to write my own messages in the tub :)

3. I actually enjoy changing diapers (given that the kids cooperates and isn't wiggling). Okay this may sound weird but I do....but not other peoples kids. Maybe its to tickle their chubby tummy's

4. This isn't a shocker but I probably spend too much time on the computer

5. I LOVE TOO Eat! That's no shocker either. My favorites are french fries and ice cream

6. I'm taking a Spanish class on Thursdays. I would love to speak fluently! There are many here who speak Spanish and to communicate with them would be awesome.

There you go....now I tag.....ummm anyone who wants to do it!

You Girls Rock!

Today I went to lunch with some friends. We take one another out for our birthdays. Well since we were gone last weekend my birthday lunch was today. We went to Chilies and had a great time. Thanks girls you ROCK! I had an excellent or should I say "Explosive" time he he!

FOOD FRENZY FRIDAY

It's around 6:45 in the morning and I should be out walking but Tina ditched me. Whats up with that Tina, you better have a good excuse he he. Well a couple items of business before I post a recipe. Next Tuesday I'll have an American Idol party. I think I'll save having a dinner till the finale. If your interested email me, post a comment or call to let me know if you can come. Hopefully the weather is nice so the kids can play in the backyard. Plan on food(snacks), friends and of course Idol :)
Okay second....the ward activity is tonight so be sure to come it's at 6:30. It's going to be a lot of fun and their will be refreshments!
Here is my recipe for today

FOLD-OVER TORTILLA BAKE
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 lg onion
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes
1 cup enchilada sauce
1-2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
12 flour tortillas
2 pkgs (3 oz each) cream cheese softened
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Cook beef and onion, drain. Stir in tomatoes, enchilada sauce, cumin, salt and pepper. Simmer for five minutes. Pour half into a greased 13x9x2 baking dish; set aside. Wrap tortillas in foil and warm at 350 for 8-10 min. Spread warm tortillas with cream cheese and top with chilies; fold in half. Arrange folded tortillas over meat sauce; pour remaining sauce over top. Cover and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let me know what you think of it!!!

DON'T SEND THEM!

I'm going to get on a soap box today because....well I can he he. I received five or six emails yesterday, some repeats but all doing the same thing. If you do not send this to five people in the next five minutes your five fingers will fall off. Okay so they didn't say that but I was going to have a year of ill health and I could loose someone special to me. I'm sick of emails that say you will loose your hair if you do not forward or if you delete it you'll have gas for a week or something ridiculous like that. One email said that you must fully read it and proceeded to mention that a girl didn't send it to the required five only to four people and her fiance died that day....GIVE ME A BREAK! Okay I'm done. But first you have to copy this and send it to everyone in your address book within the next few hours. If you don't you will start to grow back hair. HA HA HA

A FUN WEEKEND!

We had a great time this last weekend. It was Danikas Spring Break and we wanted to do something before she had to go back to school. We went to Baby Animal Day on Friday. The kids liked petting the animals and getting to ride the ponies. I think the bunnies were the cutest! And of course as always the candy cannon was a hit. After that we went to the Bee's game in Salt Lake. Kevin had received an email for free tickets.We got hot dogs of course and sang along to "Take me out to the ball game". We left at around 9:00 because 1. The baby was stinky and like the prepared mom I am forgot the diaper in the car. 2. It was getting really cold and 3. They were loosing pretty bad. Sad since it was their opening game. Then we went to the hotel. I think this was the kids favorite part. After a yummy continental Breakfast in the morning we went swimming in their indoor pool. Our last stop was at my Grandma Argyles this is when things went downhill. When we got there Danika said she wasn't feeling good. I thought she was just hungry since she didn't eat much breakfast or she swallowed to much pool water. But she was really not feeling good and threw up. Thankfully in the toilet but we decided to go. We grabbed a bunch of bags and came home. It must have been the same bug Andrew had because all she had to do was get everything out of her system and then it was over. By that night she was drinking water and keeping it down. Anyway I just wanted to share our fun weekend. I wish we could have fun weekends like that more often, well without the puking!

Crazy Jakers

I didn't have to take Danika or Andrew to school this morning so I slept in. I usually get up early to get ready before the kids get up so today Jacob played in the bathroom as you can see.He is starting to climb everthing.I guess he can wash his own mouth out :)
I thought this was funny, he kept slobbering over the screen door and squishing his face....silly silly Jakers.

THE DAY I WAS BORN

What a wonderful day it has been! Everything has been perfect....well except that it was snowing earlier. Danika came in this morning and this was the conversation we had
Danika: Happy Birthday Mom
Me: Thanks sweetheart, do you know how old mom is?
Danika: No
Me: I'm 28
Danika: Wow so your close to 30 like Daddys age
Me: Yes sweetheart thanks for pointing that out.
I have a wonderful hubby, he made breakfast and spent way to much on me! Thanks for everything...I LOVE YOU!
Here is a little about the year I was born
1980Prices
Bread: $0.51/loaf
Milk: $1.60/gal
Eggs: $1.33/doz
Car: $7,574
Gas: $1.22/gal
House: $76,400
Stamp: $0.15/ea
Avg Income: $23,974/yr
Min Wage: $3.10/hr
US President- Jimmy Carter
Top Songs for 1980
Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen
Upside Down by Diana Ross
Another Brick In the Wall by Pink Floyd
Magic by Olivia Newton-John
Lady by Kenny Rogers
Funkytown by Lipps, Inc.
Call Me by Blondie
Starting Over by John Lennon
Rock with You by Michael Jackson
Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
Hot New Toys in 1980
Magna doodle
On TV in 1980
Three's Company Soap
WKRP in Cincinnati
Dallas Taxi CHiPs
Laverne & Shirley
Magnum P.I.
Charlie's Angels

Children are funny

Last night for Family Home Evening Kevin taught the lesson on Noah. The activity was pulling animals out of a hat and acting them out. Danika cracked us up when she started buzzing all around and then walked up to someone pointed her butt to them and said "STING". She did the same thing when she got skunk except crawled on the floor and pointed her butt in the air and said "STINK STINK". Okay so maybe you had to be here for it to be so funny. Kevin got into it too, I have the bruise on my leg to prove it from him acting like a wild bore.

Japanese Binocular Soccer

What a great weekend! I love love love conference weekend! It was great to spend time with the family. Kevins brother Scott and his wife Stephanie came up on Sunday to spend the day which was fun. The kids love them, so much that they were mauled, thanks for putting up with our crazy household guys! The talk that stood out to me was Elder Ballards about Motherhood! It was a great booster talk. This is the video I was mentioning earlier, have a great Monday.

FOOD FRENZY FRIDAY

Sorry this is off the subject of food but I'm going to say it again! THE WORST RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING A MOTHER IS CLEANING UP THROW UP!!! Okay I'm done. Andrew had a little bug go through his system, but he seems to be doing good now. Okay onto food. I'll have to post the video next week that Kevin showed me. It was pretty funny. This recipe is so easy and my kids really enjoy it.

GOLDEN CHICKEN 'N' TATERS

1 can (10-3/4) ounce each cream of chicken and cream of celery soup undiluted
1/2 cup water
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1 pkg (32 oz) Frozen Tater Tots
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables (the one with cauliflower, carrots and broccoli)
2 cups cooked chicken
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine the soups,water and salt; mix well. In a greased 13x9x2 casserole dish, layer a third of the soup mixture, half the tater tots, half the vegetables and half of the chicken. Repeat layers. Top with remaining soup mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-10 min. longer or until golden brown.
Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Temple Plant

Yesterday was a nice day, still a little cold but not bad so I got to work. I got my flowerbeds cleaned out. How is it that weeds can grow so well even when it's cold? I gave Andrew some gloves and told him what to pick, most of the time he just searched for worms. I had to continue to remind them not to step on the tulips or strawberries. I think it was funner for them when I filled the water gun and let them squirt the box elder bugs off the house. I wasn't planning on posting anything, I've been waiting for a video that Kevin said was hilarious. Unfortunately he has it on his computer at work and he's been sick so he hasn't gone into work for a few days.Anyway, till I get the video I will share the story of our Temple Plants. They are the ones closest in the picture. We got married in May at the Jordan River Temple and the gardener was on the grounds the day we were married. Kevins Grandma and Grandpa Smith saw some flowers and asked what they were. After explaining the gardener gave them one to take home. Well when it got big they gave us some starts to it. They don't remember the name of it so we call it OUR TEMPLE PLANT. I like the reminder of our special day when I see them! So just as the plant continues to flourish and grow so does our love and our family. Hey, I didn't say it wouldn't be corny! They are beautiful bushy green plants that bloom pink flowers in the summer!

April Fools Day

I don't do pranks a ton, I try to do at least one on April fools. Last year for dinner I made meatloaf and covered it in mashed potatoes to make it look like frosting on a cake and then decorated it with ketchup. This year I got an idea from Rosanne down the street, she had done this to a co-worker. I got foam and cut it out into circles. Then I dipped it in chocolate. ummm... It was kinda sad to see the chocolate being used for something non edible. This was the end result.
The cost of the foam- about $4.00
The cost of Chocolate Chips- $1.25
Watching Kevin bite into chocolate covered foam- PRICELESS.