Busy, busy, busy....

The boys and I have been very busy this last week. With the beautiful weather, we have been outside as much as possible. Last week, we hung out w/the new baby and cousins too! Next week is busy w/school activities. I can't believe it is nearly summer! Time flies!
Tovi gets a little worn out and likes to chill in his bed!

The boys had a half day tues, so we took Tovi to the park. We picked up a couple extra kids during our nature walk.

Tovi hates to sit on the sidelines.

Let our nature walk begin. Tovi was ecstatic to be on the move!

A little play time before our walk!

The boys like playing cops and robbers at the town.

The younger boys outweigh the older boys.

Lucas needed a break from all his running.

Crazy boys!

Eli was swinging super high and wanted his pic taken.Can you guess where base is for the game of tag?

Eli and Scott were surprised that they are perfectly balanced!

Lucas is waiting to help Trevor at the top of the slide.

Trevor daring to climb up the ladder.

The boys enjoyed going down the slide w/Ty. But it didn't take long before Ty went down the slide by himself.

The girls got together and made invitations for the baby shower. It was a process, but they turned out great!

Had to cuddle our cute little girl!

Lucas enjoyed riding Jordan's bike even though it was a little big.

The boys enjoyed playing at the school park by Andrew's house.

The boys liked the teeter toters since they don't have them at their school park.

Hope your having a good week and staying dry. The rain has fallen upon us. I know the plants need it, but I hate mowing-so I could have done w/o it!

The boys meet their newest cousin . . . .

The boys and I went to Andrew and Jen's house for dinner and babytime! The boys were great holding their cousin and playing w/their older cousin's toys. But we won't tell Jordan and Scott that! The boys were not to happy to hear that they weren't going back to visit Victoria w/me tomorrow. They will be in school and I will be a baby hog!

Victoria appears to like to be held the same way I would hold Noah. She fell fast asleep.

Victoria begged for an outfit change into her new fav shirt from her favorite Aunt. And she LOVED laying on her new blanket made by that fav Aunt. [sorry Jules ;)] I look forward to going and hanging out w/Jen and the baby tomorrow while the boys are at school!

Come-Back-for-more-Barbecued Chicken and Chicken Tetrazzini

So this week's crock pot recipes are here:

Come-Back-for-Barbecued Chicken
makes 6-8 servings
cooking time:6-8hrs

6-8 chicken breast halves
1c ketchup
1/3c Worcestershire sauce
1/2c brown sugar
1tsp chili powder
1/2c water

1.Place chicken in slow cooker.
2.Whisk remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour sauce mixture over Chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low 6-8hrs, or until chicken is tender but not overcooked.

If the sauce begins to dry out, stir in another 1/2c water.

The boys loved this one! This will definately be a repeat dish at our house. 3 thumbs up!

I was at my Grandparents and put this in their crock pot for dinner. I am putting it on here for my fungus loving Bffs!

Chicken Tetrazzini

makes 4 servings
cooking time 6-8 hours

2-3c diced cooked chicken
2c chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped
1/4c sauterne, white wine, or milk
1/2c slivered almonds
2-4oz sliced mushrooms, drained
10 3/4 can cream of mushroom soup
1lb spaghetti, cooked
grated Parmesan cheese

1. Combine all ingredients except spaghetti and cheese in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low 6-8hrs.
3. Serve over buttered spaghetti. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

Variations:
1.Place spaghetti in large baking dish. Pour sauce in center. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese. Broil until lightly browned.
2. Add 10-oz pkg frozen peas to step 1.

I hope you have a good week!

She is a girl! I checked . . . . twice!

Well, Victoria Faith is finally here. And the first girl doesn't know what she has gotten into! But we love her! Love that wild hair!

The flashscrewed up her coloring but I couldn't resist taking a pic of her sucking on her finger. Which is what Eli did when he was a baby! Congrats Andrew, Jen, Jordan and Scott. She is a keeper!

Happy Birthday to you, Fred!

Fred, I want to wish you a Happy Birthday! You are an awesome brother, great dad, and a good husband! I love you. I hope you have a good day. I am glad that I have you that I can count one. You are always good for a laugh. It is impossible to get under you skin, but rest assured I will continue to try:)! As horrible as you and Andrew were to me growing up, I wouldn't change a minute of it. I am glad that you live so close and I can see you and your family so often. I am thankful our boys will grow up together! And just this once, I am proud of you Dr Fred!

An Easter weekend . . . .

So, we had the family Easter yesterday and our Easter today! It is nice to spend time w/the whole family and hopefully soon, we will be adding a new member into the mix. She has no idea what she is getting into! LOL! Here are some pics of this weekend.
All the boys were excited to find some eggs this morning! Even Tovi, although he wasn't as interested in finding them as just running around.

The boys' Easter baskets.

Getting 7 boys to focus and together is quite a difficult task. Trevor wasn't very patient, he kept telling everyone that he was ready to find easter eggs. Noah was teamed up w/Trevor and Jordan w/Ty. Eli was finding frogs, Scott sport balls, Lucas carrots, Trevor elmo, and Ty chicks.

Trevor quickly finished his red vine to go on his hunt!

Lucas's first carrot!

Where oh, where did elmo go?

Where are my frogs?

Ty is getting the hang of it!

Oh, what a cute pic!

Trevor found all his elmo eggs, twice!

Scott needs to find 2 more!

Eli's last frog!

3 more carrots to go!

I was glad that the weather was nice for the weekend. Perfect for egg hunts. The boys spent most of yesterday playing outside. I am thankful for so much, my family and friends. But mostly for Christ dying for us, so that we may all go to heaven. Enjoy your holiday weekend and those that are most important! God Bless!

Honey-Baked Chicken

makes: 4 servings
cooking time: 3-6hrs
ideal slow cooker size: 5-quart

4 skinless breasts (bone-in)
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp honey
2tsp prepared mustard
2tsp curry powder
salt and pepper, optional

1. Spray slow cooker with non stick cooking spray and add chicken.

2. Mix butter, honey, mustard, and curry.

3. Cover and cook on High 3hrs, or on Low 5-6hrs.

I used boneless chicken, and paprika instead of curry and put in more mustard than 2 tsp. The boys gave it 3 thumbs up. We had the chicken w/cheese and bacon smashed potatos and steamed broccoli. It was yummy!

Random Pic . . .

Last week, I met a my sis at Michael's to pick out what we need to make baby shower invites for our other sis! Ty and I were waiting for Trevor to have some potty training success. Ty enjoyed this hat and he thought the Easter egg was a ball. He was easy to entertain. And Trevor was successful w/potty training!

I love my crock pot . . . .

With working nights, it is really nice to just throw things into my crock pot and then not really have to do anything else. For Christmas my mom gave all the girls a fix and forget bible. 1400 recipes-so I thought I would share some as I try them. The boys really enjoyed the Delicious Chicken recipe that I tried on Thursday. So here it is:

Delicious Chicken

makes 6 servings
cooks 8-10 hrs
ideal crock pot size: 4-5qt

3 whole chicken breast, skin removed and halved
10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
1/2c cooking sherry
4-oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried tarragon or dried rosemary
1/4 tsp garlic powder

1. Place chicken in slow cooker.
2. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken breasts, making sure all pieces are glazed with sauce.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hrs, or on high 4-5hrs.
4. Serve over mash potatos or noodles.

Now, anyone who know me well- knows that I am not really the follow the recipe exactly kinda girl. So, I tweaked it slightly. First no mushrooms in my crock pot! I didn't like the idea of rosemary/tarragon w/the cream of chicken soup. So, I did the basic salt, pepper, onion and a little more garlic. We had ours over noodles. Lucas who is a pretty slow eater had his bowl clean in less that 10min! Wow! But that might have had something to do w/the crescent rolls that were coming out of the oven. The boys gave this 3 thumbs up

This week I am gonna try a Honey "Baked" Chicken. Lucas is really wanting some pizza. Too bad I can't throw all the stuff for that into the crock pot!

Spring Break!

I didn't get the camera out a lot over spring break. I worked most of the first part of it. Must to Tovi's dismay. He was thrilled when I had my day's off. We had a bday party for my Grandpa's 83rd bday. My mom took the boys to see The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Which is based off a book that both the older boys have read. They really enjoyed it. Then we had a movie marathon and celebrated St. Pat's Day w/ green food while we watched the snow come down on the first day of spring. But on Monday- we ventured out and hung out at the mall. After a snack and a walk around-we spent a couple hours at Monkey Business. The boys were able to get rid of alot of energy. We had fun playing on the inflatables. They had a good spring break and were not quite ready to go back to school. But before you know it, summer will be here. Here are some pics from their fun at monkey business.

Have a great week! Hopefully, it won't take me so long to update the next time.

Have your cake and eat it too!

Trevor's bday was a couple weeks ago. I made the cake and Lucas helped decorate it. I always enjoy having a helper and all the boys are pretty good w/frosting!

The birthday boy was pretty happy w/his Thomas the Train cake.

Trevor opened his first present and then was done. Tyler, however, was all over the unwrapping. Luckily, he had some presents of his own to unwrap.

We got Trevor some books, one of which was an Elmo goes to outer space.

I got this cute pic of Ty trying to put on my shoes. The kids had a lot of fun. But they always love cousin time. And when the family gets together- its loud, messy, and absolutely the BEST!

New Camera pics . . .

I got a new camera since my old one was busted and here are some pics w/the new one.

My dad took a pic of his awesome camera.