Sunday, November 30, 2008
Ouch!
This is not what I wanted to see this morning when I came downstairs to get ready for church! Especially knowing that in a few hours Alyssa was going to be driving back to State College! It apparently had just happened, because Kurt had just been outside getting the paper and there were no vehicles in our field across the street at that point! I guess the driver took the curve a bit too fast and wasn't aware the roads were a bit slippery. The township truck (who was out cindering BTW...LOL!) pulled the truck out with a chain without difficulty.
(Oh, and BTW, Alyssa and her two passengers got back to college safely this evening!)
(Oh, and BTW, Alyssa and her two passengers got back to college safely this evening!)
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Oh Beautiful.....
For Spacious skies,
For Amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.
For Amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.
Ahhh....Now I Remember
I'm too freakin' old for this stayin' up all night stuff....
Time for the younger moms to step up to the plate and take their turn....LOL!!
(And she's thinking about doing this again over winter break....NOT.)
OK, so I could have gotten a few hours of sleep, but the one couch available was taken by one of the kids...which left me the floor...if I would have been able to get up off the floor in the morning, I wouldn't have been able to walk the rest of the day!
Thank God Alyssa brought her computer and the church has wireless...it has been my saving grace! Oops, gotta go....POGO is calling me....
Oh, and please don't call me today...I'll be busy....SLEEPING.
Time for the younger moms to step up to the plate and take their turn....LOL!!
(And she's thinking about doing this again over winter break....NOT.)
OK, so I could have gotten a few hours of sleep, but the one couch available was taken by one of the kids...which left me the floor...if I would have been able to get up off the floor in the morning, I wouldn't have been able to walk the rest of the day!
Thank God Alyssa brought her computer and the church has wireless...it has been my saving grace! Oops, gotta go....POGO is calling me....
Oh, and please don't call me today...I'll be busy....SLEEPING.
Youth Lock In
Alyssa needs 80 hours of volunteer time for her major. Her hours must involve youth of secondary age level and half must be with students who are of a different background than her, either ethnically, socially, economically or physically. She has been tutoring a high school student at State College High School in geometry and next month will begin tutoring two students in Spanish 2, both of which count towards her hours.
She decided to do a youth lock-in at church which would give her 12-14 hours. This was the first she's been home since the semester started, so this was the first opportunity she had to hold the lock-in. As I write this, it is 3 am and I am here with her (yawn....). There are nine youth here from 8th and 9th grade (I'm soooo glad my children are beyond that...LOL!!).
It's been an exciting night...Alyssa showed Chronicles of Narnia and after the movie they discussed the biblical references in the movie. We then made cut-out Christmas cookies and decorated them. In between they played Apples to Apples, Mad Gab and Charades. Currently there's a group of them playing Truth or Dare (which makes me a bit nervous!!) in the hallway....and they are wide awake...woohoo!!
We made a combination of cut-outs, oatmeal chocolate chips and peanut butter chip cookies. We made enough to 'sell' after our three services on Sunday morning. We are packaging one of each type of cookie in a small ziploc bag and asking people to make a donation towards our national youth gathering which about a dozen of our teenagers are going to in New Orleans next summer. They are trying to raise about $13,000...this won't be much towards that, but I suppose any little bit will help!
As I finish this post, they are finally winding down, and have all laid down in their sleeping bags on the floor in our downstairs parlor. My mom who is here with me, has just laid her head down on the table and should be out momentarily...and here I sit! It is now almost 3:30 in the morning....I guess I'll lay my head down, too.....zzzzzzzzzzzz.......
She decided to do a youth lock-in at church which would give her 12-14 hours. This was the first she's been home since the semester started, so this was the first opportunity she had to hold the lock-in. As I write this, it is 3 am and I am here with her (yawn....). There are nine youth here from 8th and 9th grade (I'm soooo glad my children are beyond that...LOL!!).
It's been an exciting night...Alyssa showed Chronicles of Narnia and after the movie they discussed the biblical references in the movie. We then made cut-out Christmas cookies and decorated them. In between they played Apples to Apples, Mad Gab and Charades. Currently there's a group of them playing Truth or Dare (which makes me a bit nervous!!) in the hallway....and they are wide awake...woohoo!!
We made a combination of cut-outs, oatmeal chocolate chips and peanut butter chip cookies. We made enough to 'sell' after our three services on Sunday morning. We are packaging one of each type of cookie in a small ziploc bag and asking people to make a donation towards our national youth gathering which about a dozen of our teenagers are going to in New Orleans next summer. They are trying to raise about $13,000...this won't be much towards that, but I suppose any little bit will help!
As I finish this post, they are finally winding down, and have all laid down in their sleeping bags on the floor in our downstairs parlor. My mom who is here with me, has just laid her head down on the table and should be out momentarily...and here I sit! It is now almost 3:30 in the morning....I guess I'll lay my head down, too.....zzzzzzzzzzzz.......
Feline Assistance
Alyssa and I had some fine help this afternoon putting up the Christmas decorations!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
New Phones
We re-upped our contract with ATT last evening and got new phones. Alyssa and I got the Samsung Propel (they were buy one, get one free), and I needed a tutorial from her on how to use the silly thing!! They had different color phones, but we both liked the same color. Kurt seemed to be worried that we both had the same exact phone, but it's not like we are around each other a whole lot any more! Adam opted to waste his money on a more expensive phone...hopefully he doesn't ruin it or lose it!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
We had a wonderful time this evening at Chris and Fiona's. She made a terrific dinner that included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, mashed parsnips/carrots, steamed cauliflower with cheese sauce, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, and a wonderful cream of butternut squash soup to start.
Our beautiful place settings
The yummy desserts
Alyssa (being silly) and Kieran
Erika, Adam and Kurt
Too funny...Adam and Erika dual texting!
Beth giving Colm lessons on using a digital camera
Our beautiful place settings
The yummy desserts
Alyssa (being silly) and Kieran
Erika, Adam and Kurt
Too funny...Adam and Erika dual texting!
Beth giving Colm lessons on using a digital cameraTuesday, November 25, 2008
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
This is a favorite dish of ours. Jamie introduced me to the recipe; I have made a few subtle changes to it and also have doubled most everything, as we tend to need it to be in a 9x13 pan. It's not a quick dish to make, but it sure is yummy! I wish it were quicker to put together, as we would have it more often.
This recipe is doubled, which as I mentioned, does make a 9x13. It does well as leftovers (although it's rare we have any...LOL!!)
2 cups vegetable broth (and 2 cups for later....one of those cardboard boxes works well)
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
1 small chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. minced garlic
4 oz. can chopped green chilies (use mild, medium or hot to taste. A single recipe actually calls for 4 oz, so technically it should be doubled to 8 oz, but instead I use only 4 oz and use the HOT)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (Cream of chicken works just as well)
10 large soft flour tortillas (cut into quarters)
8-16 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese (Again, the single recipe calls for 8 oz, so technically doubling the recipe would call for 16 oz. We are fine with just 8 oz. for the whole 9x13 pan, but you could certainly use a larger amount)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a shallow pan, bring broth to a boil and add chicken. Cook chicken til done. Cool chicken in broth (if you have ample time); otherwise just remove chicken from broth and cut into bite size pieces. Rinse skillet; spray with Pam and heat to medium.
Add remaining vegetable broth to skillet (should be about 2 cups if you have used the cardboard container). Add onion, garlic and chilies and cook for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally, put in chicken and both cans of cream soup; mix all well. Cook until heated throughout.
In a 9x13 pan, coated with Pam, layer with half chicken mixture, tortillas and cheese; repeat layers. Cover and bake about 40 minutes or until heated throughout. I let it then sit about 10 minutes before cutting it. Even with using the hot chilies, it isn't too spicy.
Delicious!!
This recipe is doubled, which as I mentioned, does make a 9x13. It does well as leftovers (although it's rare we have any...LOL!!)
2 cups vegetable broth (and 2 cups for later....one of those cardboard boxes works well)
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
1 small chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. minced garlic
4 oz. can chopped green chilies (use mild, medium or hot to taste. A single recipe actually calls for 4 oz, so technically it should be doubled to 8 oz, but instead I use only 4 oz and use the HOT)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (Cream of chicken works just as well)
10 large soft flour tortillas (cut into quarters)
8-16 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese (Again, the single recipe calls for 8 oz, so technically doubling the recipe would call for 16 oz. We are fine with just 8 oz. for the whole 9x13 pan, but you could certainly use a larger amount)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a shallow pan, bring broth to a boil and add chicken. Cook chicken til done. Cool chicken in broth (if you have ample time); otherwise just remove chicken from broth and cut into bite size pieces. Rinse skillet; spray with Pam and heat to medium.
Add remaining vegetable broth to skillet (should be about 2 cups if you have used the cardboard container). Add onion, garlic and chilies and cook for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally, put in chicken and both cans of cream soup; mix all well. Cook until heated throughout.
In a 9x13 pan, coated with Pam, layer with half chicken mixture, tortillas and cheese; repeat layers. Cover and bake about 40 minutes or until heated throughout. I let it then sit about 10 minutes before cutting it. Even with using the hot chilies, it isn't too spicy.
Delicious!!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Cuteness Part Two
Our two Liberace's....Colm and Kieran
Kieran and Conor being silly in their cool PJ's
Nice pic in their PJ's
Colm standing by himself
Colm falling by himself...LOL!
Colm enjoying one of peanut butter cup cookies his mommy just made (Alyssa praying he doesn't wanna kiss her!!) Cuteness
Colm is our nephew who was adopted from China earlier this year. He was born with cerebral palsy and unable to walk or stand by himself when he joined our family. He has been regularly having physical therapy and is making great strides! This video shows how he has developed muscle strength in his legs and is now able to get from a sitting to standing position all by himself. In addition (and I don't have a video of this), he recently started standing by himself unsupported for up to over a half a minute! You rock, Colm!!
(Colm was confused with me holding my camera videotaping him; he thought I was trying to take his picture...that's why he was smiling and saying Cheese!!)
(Colm was confused with me holding my camera videotaping him; he thought I was trying to take his picture...that's why he was smiling and saying Cheese!!)
Re-Take Anyone?!?!?
On his own, Adam decided to have his pictures re-taken since his 'hair wasn't laying the right way'....and it 'might have been a bit too long.' These are the old ones, the re-takes are this week. Interestingly, however, he's now decided he's not too sure that he wants to get his hair trimmed prior to the new pics. Go figure.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Amazing
July 7,2008
November 9, 2008
(Two different gas stations, however; one in Easton, one in Northampton)
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)