Fun to Come Tonight

Happy New Year to Everyone!

We have some fun plans to join Chris and Melanie for Breakfast & Pajamas tonight.  We are excited for this because we haven't gotten to spend much time with Chris and Melanie lately.  And tonight we get 5 hours!

Caleb's giraffe birthday party is coming up on Saturday and I have been thinking about it for a while, but all of a sudden, it's almost here!  I hope I can get it all together by Saturday!

Mexican Chicken and Rice Recipe

Modified from "Mimi's Mexican Chicken Soup" located here.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

8 quart of chicken broth

1/3 cup lime juice

3 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 pkg Uncle Ben's Mexican Fiesta Rice, prepared

1 cup fresh, chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh, chopped cilantro

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil and saute onion and garlic until tender.
   
2. Transfer the onion and garlic into a large pot (capable of holding the entire ingredients lineup), then pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
   
3. Add chicken, prepared rice, ground cumin, chili powder, pepper and lime juice and return to a boil.
   
4. Add tomatoes and cilantro and then turn off heat immediately.
   
5. Serve with grated Colby Jack cheese and tortilla chips, if desired.

This one was a hit with the 3 year old and the selective eater in our family!

The Money Shots

Baylor Christmas Tree Lighting

Actually, the title is misleading.  We did not capture the actual lighting of the Christmas tree.  We did, however, take some other fun shots of ourselves.

Here is Caleb, me, and Kristin under a tree lit up with Christmas lights.

Here is the crowd we stuck with for most of the evening.  Julia, Maria, Melissa, Kristin, Caleb, and me.  

Although these pictures are sufficiently blurred, you can still get the idea.  In one, Caleb seems to be the only still object, while in the second, the camera focused on me.

Here Caleb is waiting patiently in line to see Santa Claus, whom Caleb is terrified of every time he sees Santa in person.  Caleb never made it that far that night.

This is the bear that our crowd was trying to "dance" with.  Notice the floodlight in the lower left corner of this photo.  Caleb touched the scorching hot bulb and fried his tiny little fingers.  He just now has broken blisters that no longer hurt.  That was a traumatic experience.  And that's just how I describe it in terms of how I was dealing.  

And here is the santa shot that Caleb and I were not a part of.  We had made our way downstairs for some first aid and a phone call to daddy so Caleb would stop screaming at the top of his lungs.

Events of Yesteryear

Or a few weeks ago that I forgot to post!

Here is my ONE attempt to scale the first level and join Judge Baylor in freezing my tail off on this marble platform!

Here is Kristin's first attempt!

And attempt number two!

And here is the fruits of our labor, a priceless photograph of my sister and I with the subzero bronze statue of Judge Baylor (whom someone had adorned with a giant Judge Baylor sized crochet cap and scarf).  The photo of a lifetime!  And yes, that is Caleb's tiny little red hat you see in the bottom of the picture!

Expecting Something Soon

I've only known for three days, but I can't hold it in any longer!  We are PREGNANT!  Baby #2 should arrive sometime in August.  We are excited as we've been trying since April.  I think I'll go read "What to Expect When You're Expecting" again since I've forgotten nearly everything!

Praise God for every blessing in our lives: Our home, our friends, our family, our churches, and so many other things!

For Your Listening Pleasure

Gingerbread House

Today at BSF, we taught the story of how God gave Moses the instructions for how to build the tabernacle and all of its furnishings.  We had our class make "boxes" out of graham crackers, icing, chocolate chips, lemon drops, and white Life Savers Peppermints (we have a child in our class who is allergic to red dyes).  The point was that they were to follow my instructions for how to build this "box" just as the Israelites were to follow God's instructions for building the tabernacle.

Anyway, we had some leftover supplies and so Caleb and I made a "gingerbread" house this evening for his dessert.  He was proud of it and couldn't wait to devour it!

A Test of Patience

This morning we took our car in to the dealership for them to replace the emissions converter (the second of two that are on the car).  Earlier this month, they replaced the front emissions converter and today was to be the second.  I requested to be dropped off at the mall since it was to take about 3 hours or so.  I thought it would be perfect since we'd have access to food, a play area, and shopping for Christmas gifts.  So we wouldn't have to switch out the car seat, they dropped us off at the mall in our own car and would pick us up again in our car.  

Around noon, the dealership called to tell me that they'd finished the repairs, but when they restarted the car, the engine light was still on.  They hooked up the diagnostics machine and sure enough, something else was wrong.  This time a sensor needed to be replaced!  And of course they did not have the part.  

So the dealership, knowing that I was tired to bringing the car in so many times, offered to pay for a rental car until they could get the part in and get it installed.  They said I'd get a comparable vehicle or better.  And that they'd have the Enterprise driver go pick up Caleb's car seat before going to the mall to pick us up.  

An hour and a half went by.  No rental car.  Apparently, there had been a miscommunication and they thought someone had left to pick me up, but no one had.  Caleb and I waited at the mall entrance for twenty more minutes.  Finally the rental arrived.  It was a lovely two-door Pontiac without Caleb's car seat!  

We stayed behind until the driver could drive to Saturn for the car seat and return to pick us up.  We finally got home at about 3:15.  And thankfully Caleb is still taking a nap.  

The lesson I learned through this:  Since I was waiting...and waiting...and waiting, I had plenty of time to think about this entire situation.  My attitude could not change any of the logistics of the situation.  But my attitude of acceptance and thankfulness could impact the attitude of others.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, I chose to remain positive through it.  And I received the blessing of getting to visit with 3 sets of friends:  A mom I know from MOPS, a couple from church with a brand new baby, and a friend from my MOPS group last year (who I haven't seen since May).  There is always a bright side, you just have to look for it!

Thanks Sister!

You provided some much needed motivation for a blog facelift!  I like it and I hope you all do too!

Big Talk

On the way home from BSF meeting this morning, I asked Caleb if he'd like to help with the noodles for our spaghetti dinner tonight.  I told him that he could put the noodles in the pot.

A few moments later, he piped up, "Me put noodles in pot.  Me handle that."  

Well, alrighty then!