Our Family Project

This child never ceases to amaze me. I think I posted on my old blog a video of Andrew opening his birthday cards when he turned 4. (See video .) My favorite part was when he opened the card from my mom (which accompanied his presents that she sent him) and exclaimed, "Hey, there's no money!" Well, at lunch we had kind of a similar thing happen. He asked for a peanut butter and cinnamon-sugar sandwich. So, that's what I made him. He took one bite then said, "Hey, I said I wanted cinnamon!" I told him that I put it on there and to open up his sandwich and he will see it. He opened his sandwich and giggled then said, "Oh, there it is." Then, he hugged my legs (I was standing beside him) and said, "Mom, you're the best." I could hear that over and over again everyday until I die and be blissfully happy.

Yesterday as I was driving Andrew to his parent/teacher conference he was talking to me about a knight costume we have. He was pretty concerned because we couldn't find the helmet or the sword. I told him that I thought I'd thrown the sword away because he kept stabbing his siblings with it, but that I didn't know what happened to the helmet. Andrew told me that we should "frow" out the rest of the costume because we don't have the helmet or sword anymore. I almost immediately commenced in teaching him the right pronunciation of the word "throw." For the first three attempts he still said "frow," then he very slowly said, "th-row." I praised him and told him that he was right in the way he said the word. His response to that was, "You know, maybe we should just toss it."

Okay, so I've been a little bit distracted. Alright, A LOT distracted! But, I have all my material cut out for my various projects; so, at least I won't have to worry about that. I do, however, need to get sewing! Anyway, I've been planning on added a list on the side of all my projects ... and what their status is. Hopefully, I'll be able to look at the list and glean some satisfaction and motivation as I'm able to cross things off!

I started a tradition last Christmas to print out my blog (or select entries with pictures) for my in-laws who aren't so computer savvy. This was one of the other reasons that I switched over to Blogger: because it's easier to upload my entire blog to make a photo book. For the last book I made, I had to spend a ton of time formatting the pages according to the templates I was given. It was rather annoying trying to fit all of my ramblings on a page with minimal text space. But, because of my blog switch, this year was a little different. I wasn't sure what I was going to do since half of this year was blogged on a different blog that I couldn't upload from. So, I decided to just cut out all of my writing and just do pictures with short captions. And, this year, I was inspired by a digital scrapbook my friend made of her family. It was an ABCs book. So, I thought I'd just take the pictures from this year and put them in an ABC book for my in-laws. I got online and f...

We recently have had a hard time getting the boys to go to sleep at night. So, in my mind, the solution was to totally skip naptime! Well, I don't think this little boy likes this idea too much. The last two days, he's put himself down for a nap ... granted, it's on the couch (or the laundry), but it's still a nap. Do you remember this picture? Yeah, I guess he can fall asleep anywhere. That's something he got from his dad.

Last year around this time (I think) we had a talent show for a church activity. I decided to sign a song that I did in high school with a couple of friends. I hope we do another talent show so I can sign another song ... it seemed to be something that touched everyone there. It's been a long time since I've signed with anyone, and I know I don't remember as much as I used to. Anyway, as I was looking through all of my old files and found this video, I thought I'd share it with everyone! (Anyone from hs remember this? We actually did it in the dark, dressed in black clothing, with white gloves, and a black light was in front of us. It was kind of cool then. Jon said I shouldn't do it like that when I did it for the talent show because he thought that my facial expressions would get lost.) (Hmm, for some reason the video is not showing. If you want to see it, click here .)

My friend asked about freezer meals, which reminded me that I am planning on freezing a lot of the dinners that I'll be making in the next few weeks. So, I'm going to try to feature those as often as possible. In the meantime, I've updated my Recipes entry with all of my old recipes (thanks goes to my little sis for saving my old blog: it made bringing back the old recipes a lot more efficient). I've also added astericks to the recipes that I've frozen before. Here are some tips I learned for the recipes I've listed that I've frozen: Let the dinner/bread thaw completely before warming it up. You can do this in the microwave, otherwise let it thaw completely in the fridge (which may mean taking it out of the freezer the morning of the day before you are going to eat it for dinner, make sense?). When freezing a casserole, line the casserole dish with foil. After the casserole has cooled partly, place the dish in the freezer. When the casserole is frozen, lift ...

Last night Jon took Kate with him to the church for the youth activities. Usually he goes by himself so he can help, but Kate was having an especially hard day, so he took her with him to get some one-on-one time. When he came home he said, "Kate broke my heart tonight." I wondered what he meant by that; then he explained that she was telling him all about the times when she plays with her friends, including recess time at school. She said that she always wants to play with a particular friend, and then after they play for a little bit that friend goes off to play with someone else and Kate just stands there. Then, she'll go ask another friend to play with her and that friend tells her "no." Jon asked her what she does then, and she said that she just walks around being sad because none of her friends will play with her. It was surprising to hear all of this because last year it seemed like Kate was good friends with everyone in her kindergarten class. Seemed li...

So, on Sunday it was our turn to feed our missionaries. And, for some reason I hate having them come for dinner and not serving them some form of a dessert. The best part about dessert on this particular Sunday was that I had a craving ... and was able to follow through, even if I had to make a substitution. I was craving my grandmother's fudge sauce on ice cream. Occasionally when we'd visit with my grandmother Werner (the " White Grandma ") she would give us ice cream (in some glass dishes that I inherited from her when she moved), then drizzle on her homemade fudge sauce. It seriously is the best fudge sauce, ever! (It even makes great chocolate milk!) GRANDMA’S FUDGE SAUCE What you need: 1 large can evaporated milk 2 cups sugar 3 squares unsweetened chocolate 1 tsp. vanilla How to do it: Bring to boil over medium heat milk, sugar, and chocolate. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring vigorously. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary type beater for 1 minute. Add a...

Once a year at church instead of speakers, the children present what they’ve been learning all year in their class (called Primary). Today was their presentation. All of the children got to say something in the microphone, plus each of the classes (classes are determined by age) got to sing either a song, or a verse of a song. Well, almost all of the classes. Andrew’s class and the 5yo class didn’t get to do a song. But, Andrew and one of the girls from the 5yo class sang a duet for a verse of a song. It was so cute. So many people came up to Jon and me afterward saying that they were adorable. I have to admit … they really were. I got to help my/Kate’s class (the 6yo class) learn their song. And, when we practiced yesterday we really had to practice the last verse of their song a lot because they couldn’t remember the words. Today, it was the best understood verse that they sang! Eliza’s class did a good job too. The funny thing there is that there are four children in her class, two ...

When my Grandma moved I inherited a couple of my Grandfather's old hats for my children to play with. Wearing this hat is one of Adam's newest obsessions. He wore it when we took Andrew to school yesterday, and of course we got many, many comments on the hat (just like when he wears his cape). Today, he put on the hat and started running around in the living room, chasing Andrew, and saying that he was Indiana Jones. Even Andrew played along and said that it was an Indiana Jones hat and that Adam was Indiana Jones. It's funny how they can come up with these things, and play pretend that they are people and characters that they've never seen before, nor do they know anything about them. Where do they come up with these things?

Okay, so I noticed that it's hard to filter through all my labels to get to the recipes you may want. So, I'm posting an entry that will list all my recipes, which I will keep updating. Then, I'll get rid of all the recipe labels except for "Recipes." Just to make it easier for anyone trying to find a certain recipe. Update: All of my "old" recipes are linked now! Yeah! Also, those recipes with an asterick (*) are recipes which I have tried freezing and they turn out okay. Just remember, use them within 1-2 months. For other tips, and instructions referring to freezing meals, check out this entry. BOSCHY ADVENTURES Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins BREADS Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins Dinner Rolls Ham & Cheddar Loaf Making Bread Video Rivka's Cinnamon Rolls BREAKFAST Banana Buttermilk Pancakes Buttermilk Syrup Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins Cream Cheese Clouds Crepes Oven-Baked Caramel French Toast Rivka's Cinnamon Rolls CASSEROLES Beef & C...

Okay, so I know I should probably wait until next Tuesday to post this recipe, but we had this tonight for dinner and it was so good I just couldn't wait to pass it along! You know when a recipe is good when your husband takes one bite and says, "Ooh, this is good." Anyway, enjoy! CHEESY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP What you need: 4 chicken breasts 2 celery stalks, sliced 1 onion, chopped 1 lb. carrots, sliced 2 cans cream of chicken soup 8-10 oz. Velveeta, cubed 16 oz. frozen peas 1 (12 oz.) bag Reemes frozen egg noodles (Optional: 1-2 cans chicken broth) How you do it: Cook chicken in boiling water for 30 minutes. Remove chicken and strain cooking water, replacing the water in the pot. Add celery, onion, and carrots to pot. Let cook until tender. Add cut-up chicken, cream of chicken soup, egg noodles and Velveeta. Let simmer until Velveeta is melted. Throw in the peas before serving. What I did differently than above: I used 2 cans chicken broth instead of the chicken water. I a...

I started a tradition a few years ago: chili for dinner on Halloween night. The first couple of times I did this, I tried two different recipes and we weren’t really keen on either. Then, I had this White Chili at my friend’s house during a card exchange. So, I got the recipe from my friend, Melissa , and the last couple of years this is what we’ve had for our traditional Halloween Chili Dinner. It’s super yummy … you just have to try it. WHITE CHILI What you need: 2 lbs. chicken, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces 1 onion, diced 1 lb. Velveeta, cubed ½ lb. Monterey Jack cheese, cubed 1 can white corn, or 1 cup frozen corn 1-3 cans tomatoes with green chilies, drained really well* 2 cans white beans (great northern) 2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 can chicken broth *This is what makes it spicy; the more cans you use, the spicier it will be. How you do it: Combine all ingredients. Let simmer until warmed through. Serve with tortilla chips. Semi-Step by Step: I’ve combined my steps. Th...

Just in case you're all curious (since most of you don't see me on a day-to-day basis). Here I am at 34 weeks pregnant. Okay, so I don't look that good ... but remember I've been sick; and this picture was taken at the end of the day. Anyway, I'll probably get a little bit bigger in the next few weeks ... so maybe I'll take another picture then to compare (I've never really compared before).

Okay, so since Jon accused me of “super-posting” (in essence, my entries seem to be a lot of rambling and much too long), here are two pictures from Halloween: Here are our pumpkins & jack-o-lanterns. From left to right: Eliza’s (bat on a pumpkin), Adam’s (bat), Andrew’s (ghost), mine (spider w/ web; btw, I LOVE white pumpkins), and Kate’s (cat). Jon’s was the big fat one that didn’t get carved because he was pretty busy this week. And, here’s the picture of our little trick-or-treaters. Adam (Batman), Eliza (witch), Andrew (Spiderman), and Kate (snow queen). Jon took the children out so I wouldn’t have to go outside (since I was still sick). This year the weather was perfect: just a little chilly, hardly cold at all; so they were gone for a long time, and when they came back I felt like I didn’t give out enough candy. I mean, isn’t it supposed to be like a trade? It’s a good thing I save half of their candy for their Christmas stockings. Happy Halloween!