baked potato chowder

Its been raining buckets here, as the fall chill moves in.  Weather like this makes me hungry for soup...nothing like a hearty bowl of hot soup on a chilly, damp night.  

I have quite a few soup recipes I like to make, but this one is a favorite.  And although its 'homemade', it cheats by using two cans of store bought potato soup to start it off.   I also like it because its quick...its not a soup that has to cook for hours and hours for the flavors to mix.   It makes a lot, so invite some friends over to share it with you, or plan on eating it for leftovers.

Loaded Baked Potato Chowder
2 cans cream of potato soup (Campbell's or store brand, it doesn't matter)

4 cups of nonfat or 1% milk

1 cup frozen corn

2 cups frozen southern style hash browns

2 cups of cubed ham

pepper to taste

Toppings:

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

bacon bits


Directions: Mix milk and soup in large pot. Stir in hash browns, corn and ham. Bring to boil on high heat stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer 10 minutes. (If you need to simmer longer, just turn it down to low). Ladle soup into bowls, top with green onions and cheddar cheese (and bacon bits if desired). Serve with a crusty bread, like ciabatta or baguette.

white belt!

Logan earned his first belt in Tae Kwon Do today - his white belt!  He was beyond excited and so proud.  Its all he's talked about for the last week.  It makes me so happy to see him really fall in love with this, and he's so good at it.  He's so full of energy, and this has given him a place to channel all that action, while learning more self discipline and focus.  I'm so glad we've found this for him! 

I'm pretty sure he'll ask to sleep in his uniform tonight.

I'm so proud of you, buddy!

weekend at the lake

We spent the weekend at the lake house.  My beloved Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill were in town from Arizona.  We hadn't seen them in three years, and the boys have changed so much during that time.  We stay in touch through phone calls and emails, and the blog of course.... But being together in person, laughing and playing.  Well, it was just priceless.  We all spent three wonderful days together.... us, Mom and Robby, Kathy and Bill, and Chris, Jessica and the twins. 

Its true.  Family is the most imporant thing.  I sure love my family.

happy little bushes

For too long now, our front garden area looked like this:

Sad little dried out bushes, pathetic looking mulch and a rickety old cracked border.

We knew we wanted a change, but didn't know exactly where to start.  So a couple of weekends ago, we set off to Blue Mount in search of some ideas.  We knew ripping everything out and starting all over would be a big job, and we probably wouldn't be able to walk for a couple of days.

But lets face it, that garden looked pathetic.  It was time to get to work.

Right away, we gravitated towards the Japanese Barberry bushes.  I loved the deep plum color of the leaves, and it also came in a yellow variety that provided nice contrast.  We found a guy at the nursery to help out sketch out a plan, alternating colors and sizes, and loaded up the car with bushes, stone and lots of mulch.

We got busy and in one weekend, completely changed the look of our front landscaping.  Andrew did most of the hard work, I was there to play DJ and order the pizza. 

I think it looks a million times better, and it actually makes me happy to walk past it everyday.

Yes, that is a ghost hanging on my front door.  The boys are so excited for Halloween already, so I've been busy decorating for fall, too.

jewel bears

I think I've solved the photo problem (for now).   Sheez.  Onto the next issue.

Coming off of summer and getting back into the school year routine, we've been having some issues with the boys listening and doing the right thing.   Logan always has ongoing issues about complying, being respectful, following the rules and being a good brother.  Dylan is much more compliant in those areas, but he's tired after school and it can take hours to get homework done with all the stalling, whining and dilly dallying.  Logan distracts Dylan from doing his homework and then a fight usually ensues.   Major headache by 5 pm everyday.

This past weekend, we got an idea from our good friends Micce and Maryann, so I told her I was going to steal it.  

It started Sunday morning with a family meeting.  Together, the four of us, came up with the Rules of Our House.  These are rules we all agreed on together to make our house a happy place to be.

I went to the craft store and bought little plastic bear jars...the kind you'd fill up to make sand art.  And plastic jewels.   Making sure all the jewels are the same size and color, so they can't argue over that.

Everytime they follow the rules, help above and beyond what we expect them to do in their normal chores, or do something really nice for us or for each other, they earn a jewel (or two).   Once their bear is full to the top, they earn $5.   We've done away with allowance.  We weren't doing a good job of keeping track of who was doing their chores, and it just seemed like a hand out every Friday. This is a great visual and get them competing with each other to race to the top of their bear.

Its only been a few days but they are both scrambling to earn jewels like crazy.  We're keeping it very positive...never taking jewels away for bad behavior.  If they misbehave, they just can't earn a jewel.  Its a missed opportunity. But once they start following the rules again and doing the right things, the chance to earn jewels returns.

issues, issues

Its been a little while since my last post, and I'm gonna tell you why.  Something is up with Blogger.  Ugh!!  I have been unable to post any photos at all.  At first I thought it was because I reached the limit on photo storage for this sucker.   So I upgraded my storage over the weekend and now I'm still having problemos.

Words only, until the photo issues gets resolved.  Grrrrr.

Preschool, Part Deux

Yesterday marked the first day of Logan's 2nd year of preschool.  He was pretty excited.   No apprehension or tears, just a big smile, backpack on and no looking back.  Way to go!  We marched in, put his backpack in his cubby, gave him a kiss and that was that.   Super easy.  I'm so thankful both of my boys love school, never complain or have anxiety about going.    Logan is a little more shy than Dylan about making new friends, but we're trying to give him some tips about introducing himself and getting the ball rolling. 

Did I mention two hours and forty five minutes of kid-free errand running FOUR mornings a week makes for one happy mama??

Here he is, in his first day glory.  Such a big boy all of the sudden!

physical fitness test

As predicted, Logan could NOT WAIT to go to Taekwondo today.  We may have just found his 'thing' very early, and I think he's going to excel at this.  Logan's teacher is a great match for him. He's young, energetic, stern but still keeps it fun for the boys by letting them sneak in some silliness.

I'm really proud of how Logan handles himself at class.  Self control isn't exactly always his strength, and yet at class he's so focused, compliant and respectful.  I hope I can learn some of their tricks to help us at home!



Today his instructor gave him a physical fitness test, which he passed and earned his first "tip".  The boys earn different color tips for different skills:  physical fitness, striking, blocking, knowledge and focus.  Today he proudly earned his yellow tip.  Once all five tips are earned, they can test for their first belt, the white belt.   He's already talking about earning his belt, so when that happens we'll have to plan a celebration for him.

He was beaming and now at home, he refuses to take off his uniform until Dylan and Daddy see it.  He's so proud of himself!

I couldn't help myself.  Again today, I was the only crazy mom taking videos of the class.  But its so cute to watch them in action!  I promise I won't video tape every class. 

Here he is doing shoulder touches:

And doing some high kicks...  Look at him go!

Logan is a Lucky Duck.

This morning, Logan and I got to spend a little time in his new classroom and meet his teachers for the upcoming preschool year.  Starting Monday, he'll be in the Lucky Duck classroom, attending preschool Monday - Thursday mornings.

How he progresses this preschool year will tell us if he's ready for kindergarten next fall (as a young 5 year old), or if he'll be in preschool one more year until he's a young 6 year old.

One thing's for sure... he is READY for preschool to start.  He loves staying busy, and following the routine of calendar, centers, crafts, writing, show and tell, reading, playtime and all of the other fun things they do at school.  His teachers today were impressed how quickly he spotted his name on the bulletin board.  It sounds like he'll get the chance to speak in front of the class quite a bit, work on  his handwriting, and be very helpful in the classroom.

Logan is a Lucky Duck.

Mrs. B and Mrs. H

His classroom is much bigger than last year, and has 12 total kids with the two teachers.

Its going to be a big year buddy, and you're going to do great!

dinner in a box

Every once in a while, I come across a product at the ole' supermarket that makes my life in the kitchen easier, and is worth spreading the word.   I saw this on the shelf a few weeks ago (not sure if its new, but it was new to me) and decided to give it a whirl. 

We usually like eating at Macaroni Grill, but we try not to eat out too much since a) its expensive and b) eating out with Logan is usually about as much fun as pouring rubbing alcohol into an open wound.  Sometimes we do torture ourselves, but for the most part I try to cook most meals at home.   I also try to find things the kids will like, so I'm not making the kids one entree, and us another entree.  I try to make things they'll at least eat part of, and maybe add some additional fruit, etc.  My kids are picky eaters, so I'm slowly trying to expand their tastes to new variations of things I know they like (i.e. chicken, pasta).

Everything you need to make this yummy meal comes in the box, except the chicken (tip: buy raw chicken tenders, and not split breasts, and you'll save yourself the step of cutting them up..even easier).  The two flavors we've tried so far (Chicken Marsala and Creamy Basil Chicken) also required a couple of TBSP's of butter and/or a small amount of milk.  The amount of dry pasta they give you isn't impressive and my boys are heavy pasta eaters, so just add another handful of dry pasta to what they give you.  It makes plenty of sauce and you'll be fine.

I think this runs about $5 a box, but if you click here you can get a coupon for $1 off.

In a word, we think they're delicious.  The Marsala sauce was awesome, really rich and flavorful.  And the creamy basil sauce was delicious too...full of flavor and tasted like a homemade sauce.  Didn't have a 'boxed' flavor at all.  If you wanted to cut a few fresh sprigs of basil and put on top, you could fool company!

My boys have eaten both flavors and liked them, and we'll be trying others.  I think there's a Chicken Picatta, Chicken Alfredo, and a Garlic and Herb Chicken Penne.

Don't get me wrong...we love good homemade food and making fresh food from scratch is first choice.
But when its a weeknight, and you need something quick and easy but still want it to be relatively nutritious and delicious, I'm all for dinner in a box.

tae kwon LO

Logan attended his first ever Taekwondo class this afternoon.  It was something he's been looking forward to, and it worked well that it happened to be on Dylan's first day of school (a great distraction from me having to hear "But when is Dylan coming home???" all day!). 

He did really well, and there were only four kids in his class (all little blond boys), so lots of personal attention from Instructor John.   This is the first real sports class/activity he's ever taken, other than some kiddie gym classes when he was much younger.

I think this is going to be a great activity for him in so many ways!  Its always amazing to me how obedient he is for other people outside the four walls of our home. 

He'll be going every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.  And by the end of class, he was sweaty and worn out.  He's currently laying on the couch in his underwear taking a breather.

Check out Logan's push ups!

off he goes...

...to his 2nd grade adventures.

So excited for a great year of school!  So proud of you, Dylan.