Have Family will travel

I have been out of touch due to a family trip to Arizona. My goodness it takes alot to get us all packed up, plus plenty to do on the long drive. We left on Friday morning and returned Sunday night. Yes, we did drive. We have taken a few major driving trips with all the kiddos. This trip was only about 7 hours each way. It defiantly felt short compared to the yearly trips we have begun taking to Lake Tahoe, which is a 10 hour trip. The girls did great. I am wondering if it was because they are getting older, more mature. Or if it felt short to them too compared to Lake Tahoe.

My sister Joy also drove out with baby Addison, but she went on her own since she was able to stay a few days longer. My mom also flew out to Arizona on Saturday. She was staying the week on business. We all decided to go and meet up for a cousins baby shower. We LOVE our cousins and have fond memories of driving out to see them every Thanksgiving and just randomly through out the year. We also treasured the special occasion when we would get to fly out by our selves and spend a good week or more with them. Can you imagine that a ticket was only $60 back then. Boy that makes me feel old! They have seven kids in the family and our other local cousins are a family of 5. As you can imagine there was always something fun going on! So when we had an excuse to come out we jumped at it, eager for our kids to have these same cousin experiences with our cousins kids. We all had such a blast. Poor Cameron cried when it was time to go and McKenna quickly announced that if we ever move that this is where we will go. It brought back alot of great memories.

I am Bananas

OK, I know that was super cheesy but I could not resist. I love getting the most use out of EVERYTHING. And that includes those old brown bananas that did not get eaten. It is a great excuse to make my favorite Banana Nut Bread. It is so cute when McKenna sees the old bananas and instead of yelling "Oh Gross" she announces excitedly that it is time to make the Banana Nut Bread. We all love it and it even passes as desert at our house and a convented snack for school lunch. I thought it was time to share the recipe. Enjoy!!!

1 stick of soft butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 medium bananas mashed (we stick them in a zip lock and take turns mushing)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mini choc chips (I am to thrifty to buy so I chop up whole ones)

1/2 cup walnuts

Mix butter and sugar, then add bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients together. Then add to wet mixture. Next mix in sour cream, choc chips, and walnuts. We always use a fun bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 45 min. I used to make this in the mixer but I have gone to mixing it all by hand and I do think it comes out better.

Christmas Cards

I love all the family pictures that we receive with our Christmas cards. It is a wonderful chance to see how our friends families have grown. As we receive Christmas cards we tape the on the inside of our front door so that we can see them daily and our friends and family that visit can see them also. I always get a warm feeling when I happen upon the girls studying the pictures while on their knees, or on their tippy toes trying to see those we love. It was with equally sad feelings that I un-taped these cards at the end of our holiday season. This year after we took the cards down they sat on our kitchen table for a couple of weeks. It was just so sad to see them go. Then I got the bright idea of turning them into place mats for the girls. I had the three older girls place the pictures on their own large piece of construction paper and then we laminated them. I can not believe how well they turned out. I will admit that I was uncertain the girls would be able to lay them all out. I have to say that they turned out cuter than I could have done. Already the girls are entranced with the pictures as they wait for their meal. They know exactly how many girls or boys are on each one, how many dogs. I have even seen them playing a round rosy game with them. Now I can't wait till we can make them again next year!

Changes

Last night I attended Kindergarten information night for our third daughter Reagan. I had gone for Cameron but had skipped it for McKenna thinking that I had all the info still. Although McKenna's year was wonderful, I had always worried that I had missed something at the meeting. I had not, but it is defiantly my personality to worry that I had. Therefore I was going to go this year. It was nothing new, nothing ground shaking. As I sat there listening to the information that I did in fact already know, I began to think about Reagan, and how I cant believe that after summer (which feels like just around the corner) she will be in kindergarten. Gone from me everyday. Thankfully only till 11:30 but still, EVERYDAY. Since Reagan is number 3 on this road I am also wiser and know how quickly that will turn into first grade. She is my angel, my little princess. How can she and I survive everyday. Now of course there are days where everyday sounds great, but those are far and few between. Reagan is my firecracker. The spitfire of the group. A HUGE ball of energy. With all that energy comes the tightest hugs and a smile that will light a room. I hope the teacher is ready for everyday! I am very sad to even think of the day. The first day of forever school. She is so smart, I know she is ready. I don't think I am ready.

Mmmm Good

I love this soup exchange. Super Fun!!! I see that my fantastic sis already posted my Tomato Soup favorite. It really is fantastic and sooooo easy. If you did not check it out already you can get it on her blog at http://www.carterpeople.com/. That means that you will get my recipe for Turkey Chili. This is the first recipe that I make with all our yummy leftover Turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The whole family loves it. Yes, I am saying that all 4 of our girls love it just as much as we do.

1 Medium onion chopped

2 medium zucchini chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbl olive oil

3 14 1/2 oz cans black beans undrained

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 14 1/2 oz can tomato sauce

1 lb cooked turkey chopped or shredded

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/3 cup cilantro chopped

salt and pepper to taste

cheese to sprinkle on top but not a necessity

heat a 4-5 quart pot on medium heat then add olive oil. saute the onion, zucchini, and garlic till soft. Stir in all but the cilantro, salt, and pepper. Heat till hot then add rest.

HAPPY CHILI !!!!!!!!

Family night

Friday nights at our house are magical. We get all jammied up, make pizza, and watch a family movie together. The girls take turns getting to pick. It is a HUGE deal if it is your turn. They really do talk about it and discuss ALL week long who's pick it is and what they will choose. Tonight was Cameron's and she was very excited to pick a movie we got at the library earlier in the week. You would be very impressed to hear that is was Pippi Longstocking! We are under G rated at our home. I had no idea that they had put it to DVD. Quite a find I would say. It was wonderful to see the movie through the girls eyes. There were many times that they could not stop laughing. It really was wonderful. They were disappointed that daddy was not here to share but their smiles were huge when they suggested that we would just have to have a repeat of movie night tomorrow for daddy. They are very certain that he will love it as much as they do. I think I have found our first Christmas gift for the new year. I am Pippi Longstocking with a de de de de de.

Missing my Honey

So my Handsome Honey is away on business right now and I am missing him. He only travels twice a year so on one hand it is nice to have alittle break from cooking (yes I still feed the kids) and some extra reading time in bed at night. But it doesn't compare to the joy of having him home to snuggle and love on. The girls like it when daddy travels so they can have a chance to sleep in our bed with me. I have them take turns, one each night. This does make for some sad faces as they wait their turn but when their night arrives it is like Christmas for them. They are such sweet hearts. My man will be gone for a few more nights. I will try to do those odd jobs around the house like making a trip to drop of donations at the thrift store (I promise to try and stay out of the store so I don't buy anything), packing up all our 2008 files, yikes that means I will have to actually finish the filing. I will say that I did finish balancing the check book. This may not seem like a huge deal but I was behind one and a half years! I know, why go back. I think I must be a control freak. On that note my bed is calling me with one of my cheesy books waiting.

The first one

So I love the idea of blogging and getting out my thoughts. I have been told that it is the place to express myself, have free speech, be creative and yada yada yada. I have discovered though in starting out that I might have lost me somewhere along the way. I have decided that this will be about me finding me again. I feel like I have so much to write but don't know where to start. I think I will write as if I have always been blogging and that I am just updating things. Maybe that will help me.

Life is crazy with 4 girls but I truly love every minute of it and I have found out some helpful things along the way. I have never been a big journal er so maybe this could be that for me. Someplace where the girls can look back and see a glimpse of their mother. All my crazy ideas that they may forget as they grow up. I would like that. I am a very nostalgic person. The person that probably has too many traditions but loves all of them and is always looking to add another.