Black and White Wednesday

This is a sweet picture I found, as I was looking through our photos yesterday. What a sweet moment captured.

Jadyn had been home with us for about 9 months at this time and was nearing 2 years old.

I'm so grateful for the gift of photos. What a blessing to be able to take a look back at special moments in the past.

Daddy and Jadyn

For more black and white photos, please go to Lisa's blog and you'll find lots of wonderful entries.

Ah, Sugar Sugar

Back in the day, there was a song called Sugar, Sugar. I've decided it's a good description for what's been happening around our house in the last week or two. Give this song a listen. :)

Oh the influx of s.u.g.a.r!

•It all started when Bryan had surgery and needed lots of ice cream in the house. Well how could we let him eat ice cream alone?

•Then, my birthday came last Thursday. Let there be cake AND more ice cream!

•Then, there were some overripe bananas in the kitchen. That called for banana bread. I really needed to try out a new recipe. Good news is that I liked it better than my old one!

•Then there was the friend who found it necessary to send brownies home with us.

•Plus, there was Jadyn who had a gingerbread house she made a couple of weeks ago. I promise I didn't eat any of it. She ate about 1/2 of it. Then we threw it out.

WHY do sugary treats have to be so GOOD?

"I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you!" "Pour a little sugar on me honey!" "You have made my life so sweet!"

There's a dad whose son is in Jadyn's preschool class. He does not like and does not eat sugary treats. Oh, how I wish I could be that way too.

Really, does this need any explanation?

On my birthday, two daughters with me, and one on the phone. Sweet! We did invite the guys to the party. They're just not in this picture. Alan was very sweet, to take the day off for my birthday. He ordered pizza, got a cake AND ice cream, and invited our kids over.

Sweet times!

Celebrating 4 Years Together

Look who has been home for 4 years! Oh, where does the time go? ♥Four years blessed♥ Happy Gotcha Day, Jadyn.

Saturday Snapshots

I really love this time of year. We celebrate 7 birthdays in our family, in the space of about 1 1/2 weeks time and it's fun to share in all of those as much as we can.

Today's my dad's birthday. We spoke to him for a while today and he said that he heard yesterday that all states in America have snow right now, except Hawaii. How amazing is that?

Since tomorrow is both Valentines Day and Chinese New Year, it will be doubly festive! Our family will celebrate at our favorite Chinese buffet place.

We've had a great week here at our house, and I thought I'd share some snapshots.

We had a beautiful Jack Frost morning today. This is my very favorite thing to see in winter. Love, love this type of morning. I hope you can see a little of how beautiful it was from this photo. This is what we see out our kitchen window.
Bryan had surgery to remove his wisdom teeth on Thursday. He has been doing really well and I've been happy that he's been such an easy patient. :) Oh man, this boy was something else when he began to wake up from the anesthesia. He was absolutely hilarious for about an hour. There was no filter, and he said anything and everything that came to mind. He has no memory of any of it, and for a while, he did not believe me when I told him about everything he said and did.

Preschool Valentine's party

Getting her "vowentines" ready for her school friends. Jadyn was so excited to get valentines ready for friends and family. She's been making some sort of valentine for someone every day. :) I remember last year, when she kept making "bowentines" for months.

We had fresh snow early in the week. Jadyn had a great time playing.

Snow sweet!

Leaning on a bench near our front porch.

Have a very wonderful Valentine's day and Chinese New Year.

Case of the Missing Mascara

It is true! I lost my mascara. That's just a scary thought isn't it?

My mascara has left the face of the earth, which is what I say when I totally can't find something. A true emergency! If you are a woman, you probably understand just what I mean.

My mascara is the one kind of makeup that I try to never leave the house without. I have very blonde eyelashes, and I just prefer to have mascara on them when I go out. Call it vanity if you like. I call it necessity. :)

Some ladies never like to be without lipstick. I'm a mascara girl myself.

All 3 of my girls have dark eyelashes and I have always told them that they are so blessed to have them. If you have dark eyelashes, feel blessed.

When I was looking for my mascara, I asked Jadyn if she had seen it. I actually asked her more than once. Though she's never taken anything of mine, I thought it was possible that her little girl self may have wanted to try it out. On the second time I asked her she said, "I don't know where it is. It doesn't have legs, so it probably didn't walk off." LOL!

I bought new mascara today, and I feel so much better. You know how it is though- Now that I've bought a new tube, the old one will probably turn up. I have looked all over the place.

Last Friday, we had an emergency at our house. We had a big leak in our basement equipment room. A pipe was leaking, near where our water comes in from the city, and my husband could not get the valve to shut the water off. We had to call the city to come shut off our water, and call a plumber to replace the valve and that portion of pipe. This was an emergency, a $400 emergency.

Now I ask you, was my missing mascara any less of an emergency? Again, if you are a woman you will know what I mean.

Recipe Monday

It's Monday, and a very snowy one here at our home. No one here really wants to see more snow, but it is kind of nice to have the snow make everything look all clean and white again. When we go out in it later for preschool and etc, I may not be as thrilled about it. :) Looking at it from inside our snug warm home and actually being out in it are two completely different things.

Today I'm sharing a recipe for Recipe Monday which Colleen hosts at her blog. Hop on over to Colleen's blog to see more recipes. Today, she has also shared a special story and prayer request. Please check it out.

Here's my recipe, for Tamale Casserole. It's a crock pot recipe and oh so easy. I used mild green chili peppers in mine. Choose hot ones if you prefer. I think I'll add at least 1/2 a can more peppers next time, since I love the flavor. I do like the heat of peppers, but I try to keep things mild for Jadyn's sake.

If you enjoy the flavor of tamales, you will like this easy casserole.

Tamale Casserole

1 pound lean ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

8 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas

2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Brown the ground beef and onion; drain. Add the tomatoes, green chilies, salt, and spices. Heat through.

Spray crock pot with cooking spray.

Tear 4 of the tortillas into bite-size pieces and place in a crock pot. Add half of the meat mixture, then sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat layers, ending with cheese. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until heated through. Makes 5-6 servings.

Our family enjoyed this recipe. Comfort food!

Brownies 101

We needed to bring treats for preschool this week. I decided to make bite-size brownies. Jadyn asked if she could help.

Many years ago, I used to always make brownies from scratch. On one occasion, I complimented a friend on the brownies she had made. They were delicious and much more chocolatey than my recipe. She said she always used a mix. Ever since then, I've bought brownie mix from the store and never looked back. ;)

Jadyn's EZ Bitesize Brownies

Empty your favorite brownie mix into a bowl.

Add water and any other needed ingredients. This mix only needed water.

Now mix it up! Ask for help if your arm gets tired.

Look at that chocolatey deliciousness!

Fill the pans and add some sprinkles if you like.

Now bake and enjoy!

Random Happiness

Random Happy Things

• I'm happy to be feeling much better today. I've got a spring in my step again.
• I'm happy to have attended our son's special concert last night, and dinner with family.
• I'm happy to have had coffee with friends today - an unexpected joy.
• I'm happy that LOST is back.
• I'm happy that I have a new washing machine. Washing clothes is fun! (until the new wears off)
• I'm happy about the Ginger Crinkle cookies that I made tonight, even if I did eat at least one too many.
• I'm happy that it's February!
• I'm happy that our little one fell asleep at 7:00 P.M. tonight. I cannot lie. Mommies enjoy a little break sometimes. Shhh! Don't tell her!

I'd been craving these cookies since fall. D-lish!

Not What I Expected

Our weekend began like many others. The 3 of us had dinner out and watched a movie when we came home. Alan made a fire in the fireplace. It was a good evening.

Saturday, I did a few chores around the house. I went to the post office and the store. I picked up ingredients for dinner and started the crock pot.

Out of the blue, it began to happen....that little sneaky feeling of..."Wow, could I be getting sick?" Surely not...

It was true though, and don't you HATE when that happens?

It's just some weird virus I picked up. :(

It made me miss church, lunch with the family, gathering with our Sunday night small group. It made me have a really boring day and a couple of restless nights.

I hope it's on it's way out.

I do always try to keep it in perspective. There are many people who are much sicker, or going through some really tough things. I'm thankful that my virus is but a blip on the screen.

Alan took a picture of me on the couch, in a blanket, remote control in hand. He just wanted a photo of it. This snippet is all I am willing to share, because I looked...Sick. Trust me.

Here is a photo from Saturday evening, during the time when I felt myself beginning to decline. Candy Land is one of my favorite games to play with Jadyn.

So that was my boring weekend, so not what I expected. Here's hoping that it's a much better week! :)