gritty farm girl?

Here is dinner. . . after an hour and a half of standing on the dock in line, three of the chitlins got a turn to catch a fish. Did I say it was very cold, and notice the light jackets. . . I was freezing! They refused to give up and go home (believe me I tried). They weren't leaving without their fish, or shall I say three fish. They cleaned them there for them, barely. . . I had to do it better when we got home. I was not meant to watch live fish get caught and eaten, I have to say I was slightly repulsed by the whole ordeal. But I tried to be a gritty farm girl and give them my grandpa's love of fishing, ha ha. Don't get me wrong I love seafood, and meat. . . I just like to be naive about the whole process.

random flashback

Growing up I was notorious for taking too long showers, and also randomly singing around the house to myself. . . I remember walking home from 4-H which was about a mile from our house in the country. The long gravel road that led to our house was lined with willow which we would on occasion flatten in areas and pretend they were rooms, and we would make halls to other rooms. On this day I was walking home belting out a song to myself on this middle of nowhere country road, when I hear hysterical laughing. I looked over to find my sisters sitting in a "room" in the willows getting a pretty big kick out of catching their sister singing loudly to herself. I was thoroughly embarrassed and went on home.

We would play outside all day making forts, trying to catch minnows in the irrigation canal, and attempting to tame the wild kittens that lived under a shed out back which we successfully caught one time. But bringing them in the house was a bad idea, we were all pretty scratched up. I have fond memories of growing up in the country, and wish my kids could have the same experience.
Thinking back I wonder if my parents ever knew where we were when we were out playing. It sure is a different day and time now.

22 gifts?

Sid blowing out the candles on the giraffe cake which I thought looked like a dinosaur. I started to do yellow with brown spots. . . when she declared that her cake needed pink and purple. . and it was her birthday so purple it became. She had some serious preconceived notions about what was going down on her bday. Unfortunately she was somewhat disappointed. . . she let me know the week before that she was having a giraffe cake. . . check. She also gave me her bday list, and she did pretty well on gifts showered on her throughout the day. . . but apparently she was suppose to have 22 gifts??? We fell a little short . . . and she thought all her friends were coming. . . it was a family party this year. Who would know she had so many plans. . . she is my silly little girl.

look at him go. .

Kayzer wanted to roller blade with the big kids, and insisted on putting the fisher price skates on, and to my surprise he could actually do it all on his own. I am completely amazed sometimes at his ability to do things, mainly because I still think he is a baby. Isn't he cute?

Lunch anyone?

Mckay wasn't held very long with coloring eggs, lunch was definitely more interesting. We had a busy weekend with everything, but Easter. So we worked in coloring eggs after the primary song practice. I actually bought a ham this year. It has been a few years since I actually bought a ham for anything. It was easy and yummy, and I am glad we did it. It probably helped that it was free with a deal at albertson's, I saw it on couponandsave.blogspot.coms
Gotta love FREE and YUMMY, right?

These two were having fun, and making a good mess in the process. Ethan was way more interested in other things this year. I am guessing I am not the worlds best Easter egg coordinator. . . hmmmm. The kids have eaten alot of eggs in the past few days, and potato salad is probably on the menu for tonight. . . I have passed on a bad habit to the kids. I always toss the egg yolk out of the boiled egg, and just eat the whites. . . I now have kids that do the same. I always ate them as a kid. . . I think I convinced myself that they were fattening until I just didn't like them anymore.

Flashback Roller Derby. . .

this is my rollerblader, he insisted I take a picture of him in his roller blades, good thing he was smiling. . . ha ha. Our friends from Canada are total hockey lovers, and so my kids are trying to keep up and learning to roller blade. The boys are getting pretty good, with their occasional fall on the rump. H asked me why they don't make a pad for your butt like knee pads, and elbow pads. I didn't have an answer other that "that would be a great idea".

Easy Freezer Meal. . .

Warning this is not your average cream O' chicken freezer meal . . . it has serious taste.

Ritz Chicken has been a favorite of ours ever since I learned it in a freezer meal class in our last ward, we had it for dinner tonight so I thought I would share. I should also add that I made one for dinner, and put two other casserole dishes of it in the freezer.

1. So to start, Lay out three medium size casserole dishes
2. Lay frozen chicken tenders on the bottom of the pan. (I cube chicken breast when I don't have tenders.
3. I sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken.
4. I then mix the following in a bowl:

• 4 cans of cream of chicken
• 2 c. sour cream
• 4 tsp. garlic powder (fresh finely chopped garlic can be substituted)
• 1/2 pound of cooked chopped bacon (precooked bacon bits work great)
• 2 Tbs. melted butter (at our house the butter is usually omitted)

Divide over the three pans and spread to cover chicken, then sprinkle 1 1/2 packages crushed Ritz crackers or Saltines mixed with 6Tbs. of Parmesan cheese over the top of the all three pans. Throw one in the oven at 350 degrees for 35 min. , and cover the other two with tin foil and freeze until the next time.

* serve over rice or noodles.

*note that it takes more time to cook when frozen solid.

Prep time is less than 20 min., and you made three instead of one!

This is the transportation train apparently. . . matt pulling the girlies in the trailer, and our little friend Evan(who was having a hard time keeping up on his roller blades) tagging along on the back. Cruising around the neighborhood.

this mug is bigger than my mug. . .

Color is a big concern at our house. Notice the ikea kids plates. . . and if you don't get a matching cup, then life is not complete. Eth had taken the cup that sid felt was hers. . . so to squash the squabble I gave her the Nintendo Mug, hubby brought home from his last trip. The boys were severely envious, but the part I liked was that "the Mug" was bigger that her face. . .

Glorious Sunshine!

This is squid and her friend, on the first photo I took of them they were closing their eyes. . . so here we have sid physically keeping her eyes open. Too Funny.The hubby and I both agree that Kayzer was looking like he could go change water in the irrigation canal with those boots on. They totally reminded me of the farmers and their boys riding around on their motorbikes with a shovel hanging off the back on route to change irrigation water. Maybe you had to grow up in a farming community to understand. . .

The past two days have been like summer, I absolutely LOOOOOVVE it! It has been over a month since we have seen the sun. The kids were wearing shorts in 60 degree weather. It makes me more anxious for summer more than ever.