A Griswold Christmas - Part 1

Jim and I had a brilliant idea this year to take the kids and get a real Christmas tree. Well actually I'm blaming Brian and Alisha for doing it with their family first, which put the great idea in our heads.We went to a local tree farm about 30 minutes from our house. All their trees over 10ft where $25.00 so of course that's what where looking for.

Who knew finding a 10ft tree that everyone liked was going to be so hard. Tears were shed, tantrums where thrown, and arguments pursued on which tree was perfect.

After an hour of searching ..Ta-Da,, this was our tree. At least it was going to be whether everyone liked it or not.

We gave each kid a turn at sawing down the tree.

Well what a time we had. Even with all the crying and arguing I do think the kids had a lot of fun. Who knows maybe we'll do this every year or every 10 years.

Abby's People

Abby has just started to draw people. I love this stage! I think these pictures are so cute, the people are all head and no body just two little stick legs. It's so much fun to watch them develop from scribbles to this. Did I say I love this stage, because I really do love this stage. It's so cute!

Goofballs

I think these pictures speak for themselves

Okay maybe a small explanations. My kids are so silly, especially Christopher. I bought these masks for Abby at IKEA, and my older kids thought they were cool. So Christopher put the chicken mask on and went around the house clucking then Rachel chimed in with the cat mask. What a bunch of GOOFBALLS.

Ramblings of a Housewife - Poem

You know that poem "There was an old Women" I'm always repeating that to my kids. So I decided to come up with my own version.

There was a young mother
who lived in the burbs.
She had four children
who got on her nerves.
She drove them to soccer
and football and dance.
Then she yelled at them sternly
to pick up their pants.
She gave them all baths
without any bubbles.
Then she ate some more chocolate
to relieve all her troubles.
She read them all stories
and tucked them in bed.
Then she whispered “I love you”
and kissed each head.
Now the kids are all sleeping
and the house is all quiet.
So now’s the perfect time
to go blow her diet.

This is dedicated to all the moms out there - Ann

30 minute Alfredo

This is really a quick and easy sauce to make. Not low calorie, but what good Alfredo sauce is. I like to add lots of meat and veggies to my sauce. You can substitute shrimp or scallops for the chicken, I bet it would even be good with artichokes or tomatoes, or you can just leave it plan. Your options are endless. Once you have a good sauce you can always get creative with your add-ins. I even like to use different noodles. WOW the possibilities.

Sauce:
1/4 c. butter
2 cups cream
1 tsp. garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Tonights add-ins:
1 Tbsp oil
8oz sliced mushrooms
2 small chicken breast - cut into pieces
8oz uncooked noodles

In a large skillet heat oil

Add chicken and cook for 7-9 minutes or until no longer pink. When chicken is cooked, remove from pan.

Add butter to skillet

Add mushrooms and saute until brown

Reduce heat to medium-low and add cream. You can use half and half instead of cream, but add a little extra cheese if you do.

I like to use fresh parmesan for this sauce, but you are more then welcome to use the stuff in the can.

Add Cheese and stir.

Add pepper. Fresh ground is nice, but not necessary. Let simmer for 10 -20 minutes, making sure to stir every little bit so it doesn't burn.

While the sauce is simmering cook your noodles. I used these curly noodles tonight, they were what I had in my cupboard and my kids aren't picky on what type of noodles they eat. However I will say this, macaroni noodles DO NOT work well with this dish.

Cook noodles according to package directions. If your sauce starts to thicken to much while your noodles are cooking, just add some pasta water to the sauce to get it to the right consistency that you like.

A few minutes before your noodles are done add your chicken back into the sauce and stir. Now you have just created a great dish in 30 minutes. I love those kinds of meals!

• Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Destructo Boy

Isn't this a nice picture. It's Christopher's old ipod that wasn't working. He was so proud of himself for smashing it all up. He even took this picture himself so he could remember what it looked like when he destroyed it. He has even kept a small little piece to remind him of his most awesomest total destruction ever. OH well, I guess boys will be boys.

Funny Smile

Sariah lost her tooth last night and she was so excited. She placed her tooth in the tooth fairy box and went to bed. When she woke up this morning she ran into my room to show me her dollar she received from the tooth fairy. She was so excited until she looked into the mirror and smiled, then her smile changed "Mom, my smile looks funny now."

Quick and Easy Stir Fry with Noodles

I came up with this recipe one night when I was in a pinch to get something on the table quickly. I didn't want to have pancakes and I wasn't in the mood to go out (okay so I was being cheap and didn't want to pay to go out). So I checked my cupboards and came up with this. It's not even really a recipe. You just throw everything in a pan in the amounts that look good, but for the sake of writing a recipe I came up with measurements that seem good. If you like more or less of anything, then you can change it. Isn't that what recipes are about anyway?


dried egg noodles (from your asian market)
2 c. frozen stir fry vegetable
1 large chicken breast (cut into pieces)
3-4 Tbsp Teriyaki sauce, or more if you like
1 Tbsp oil

In a large skillet heat oil. While oil is heating, heat some water in a large pot for the noodles.

Place chicken in skillet and cook for 8-9 minutes or until no longer pinkWhen chicken is completely cooked remove from skillet

I got this vegetable blend at costco, but any blend of vegetables will do.

Add vegetables to skillet and cook until desired crunchiness. While your vegetables are cooking, start on your noodles.

I used 3 bundles out of this packet of noodles

place noodles into boiling water and cook according to package directions

After your vegetable are cooked add your chicken back in and stir slightly

Add your noodles and stir. I guess I shouldn't say stir because it is really hard to just stir noodles, so toss your noodles
This is my favorite Teriyaki sauce right now, but you can use what ever you like.Add in your sauce and toss until fully incorporated

Now serve. See wasn't that easy.

• Click here for a printable version of this recipe.
  
  

Halloween

If you can't guess what we are Sariah is Hannah Montana or a Cheetah Girl (I'm not sure which one she decided on) Rachel is Cruella Devil, Abby is a kitty cat, I'm a stressed out mom (Jim thought a Porn star would be better, but I'm not sure that costume is kid appropriate) and Coco is a pig.



For the first year ever our Halloween picture is without Christopher. I was lucky to even get this shot. He took off trick or treating with his friends as soon as he could and only popped in a couple times to get a drink. Oh, by the way he is Zorro

Pumpkins and Mazes

A couples days before Halloween we decided to go to one of our local pumpkin patches to get some pumpkins and go through their corn maze.

The kids love it every year when we do this. Last year we went on a hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

Christopher thinks he found the perfect pumpkin for me, little and perfectly round.

Sariah was a little scared about going into the maze. I think she thought we where going to get lost forever.Sariah might have been right about someone getting lost forever if they don't stay close to Jim and I.

Woo-Hoo, we found the first out of six punch station and we are all still together, and it only took us 30minutes. We are awesome.

Just as the kids where sitting down to take this picture a girl went and threw-up behind these hay barrels. As you can see nothing fazes my girls from posing for a picture, but Christopher wanted to get away from there as fast as he could.