TASTY TUESDAY

CHICKEN TACOS!
6 or 7 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package taco seasoning
1 can Rotel
1/2 cup water

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix water and seasoning; pour over chicken. Pour Rotel over chicken. Place lid on crock pot and let cook 7-8 hours on low! When cook time is up, remove chicken and shred it, using 2 forks. Be sure to spoon the juice and rotels over the shredded chicken. Make your chicken tacos with all the toppings (shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, salsa). Use hard tacos or tortillas; put it in quesadillas or on salad and add corn, black beans and salsa. Yum! This is so easy and I love the smell of Mexican food and trust me, your house will smell like Ted's Mexican Escandido when dinner time rolls around! Enjoy!

(Thank you to my friend Julie for this recipe, I have made it many times!)

Farewell winter weather!

Well, I think Oklahoma might actually be the only state where you can experience all four seasons in just one week! As much as I was enjoying the wonderful warm weather, I have to admit I was glad to have an official last hoo-rah with winter. I am not a big fan of cold weather, but as my precious friend put it "it is easier to deal with the snow when we can be pretty sure this will be the last of it until next year." So, we did it up right. We used the last of our firewood, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows, and spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking up some "tummy yummies" as Price calls it.

Friday, just as the air got really cold and the rain came down, Nana (my mom's mom) came over to make homemade play dough. This was something that we used to do at her house during our summer visits, so I invited her to oversee our project to ensure quality play dough! She is an expert, let me tell you! The play dough turned out great! We had a movie marathon (Cars, Kung Fu Panda and Nemo) goldfish and grape kool-aid! Yeah! Of course the OU game was on for the evening hours. Go Sooners!

Saturday morning, we made homemade blueberry waffles and bacon! Jon was a champ at keeping the fire going and I think I drank crazy amounts of coffee. We went to Spring Fest out at our local fairgrounds. Kind of ironic, huh, with the ground covered in snow? We returned home and our whole family took a nap for about 1.5 hours! Yeah! I made a yummy pasta casserole for dinner, and Jon and Price baked a chocolate cake that Price decorated. We made a special delivery to YaYa and Poppy's house to share some cake with them. What a great weekend. So much special family time. I am thankful for the last snowflakes of the year. Farewell Winter!

Click on the link to see the slideshow from our weekend.

http://www.slide.com/r/IM5lVhPCsD8zJxKp255ndwHfq69PbDuJ?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

No Hurry. No worry.

If you are familiar with the drill of getting in and out of the car with a three year old, it has a tendency to get kind of frustrating. Price will pick up a toy from the floorboard and want to have a discussion about it before he takes a seat. Or he will grab his cup from the cup holder and want to take a long drink before he climbs into his seat to get buckled up. He will sometimes point out the scenery around him or simply have nothing to observe, but take FOREVER to finally park it! I say "come on, buddy", "hop in, lets go", "come on bud, we have other places to go", "move faster please" or "come on Price!" quite a bit. After a few errands, I can feel myself longing to be home bound...no more in and out of the car!
Yesterday, we had a few errands to run. Knowing the possibility that I might get frazzled, I decided there was absolutely no rush. We would take our time. I walked around to his side of the car to let him out, knowing it might take a good 3 minutes for him to find a creative way to exit the car. I stood back watching him, smiling and holding the door open. I watched him slide out of the car and we made our way into the store. He was very good and helpful in the store (as he usually is). When it was time to get back in the car, I opened the door and he took his sweet time getting in the car. I stood and watched patiently waiting for him to sit. I buckled him in, gave him kisses and shut the door.
My point is, why the hurry? I know there is often a time and a place to move more quickly, but a lot of the time, there is normally nothing pressing on the agenda when we get home. Why not take more time? Why rush? I don't know if Price noticed my efforts to move in low gear, but I noticed my patience only grew the slower WE moved. I have committed myself to evaluating the moment and deciding if there really is a need to hurry. Doesn't life move fast enough without encouraging it to do so?

TASTY TUESDAY

SPAGHETTI BAKE
1 lb hamburger meat
1 package spaghetti pasta
1 can Del Monte diced tomatoes, green onions and peppers (all in one can)
1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup (all in one can)
1 package shredded cheese
1/2 cup milk
grated parmesan cheese (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 F. Boil 2/3 package spaghetti. Brown hamburger meat and drain. Add tomato, onion and pepper into meat. Simmer. Drain pasta. In a 9x13 in dish, put 1/2 of spaghetti. Next, put 1/2 hamburger mixture on top. Sprinkle 1/2 pkg cheese on top of meat. Repeat. Spaghetti, meat mixture, then cheese. Mix soup with enough milk to make it the consistency of gravy or thick dressing. It may not take all 1/2 cup of milk or it may take a little more. Whisk until smooth. Pour soup mixture on top. Do not mix. Cover with grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
This dish is so yummy. It is tasty with garlic bread and/or salad. It also makes delicious leftovers. I hope you enjoy it.
If you have questions or feedback, email me at whitney4ou@hotmail.com

Snap!

Price learned to snap about a week ago. I was so proud of him because he had been wanting to snap for a long time; he kept trying and last Sunday he got it. Now it has turned into something that makes me smile several times a day.

Price snaps all the time! He snaps when he sings. He snaps when walking up the stairs....and back down. Each step gets a coordinating snap. He snaps to the syllables in his sentence, which makes him intentionally talk more slowly (it is so funny!). He snaps when he is watching TV and he uses snaps to point at things! I am getting the biggest laughs out of his new trick. The problem is keeping it bottled up behind my smiling face so he won't think I am laughing AT him. He is so stink'n cute! Well, I am off to go get my little "Snappy Snapperton" from preschool!

"Rocky Rocky" Blessings

When Price was a baby he used to say "unna rocky rocky" when he wanted me to rock him. It has always been my greatest pleasure to cuddle my boy. I would drop everything and make my way to the rocking chair. Price would follow me with his blankie, buzz, and bear (all made of the same soft material that he loves). He used to crawl into my lap and I would sing to him.
Well, yesterday I was emptying the dishwasher and Price was rolling around on the kitchen floor. He made his way over to where I was standing and laid still for a moment. He was tickling his lip with his finger, which is what I do when I am tired. When he caught me looking at him, he asked "Momma, you wanna rocky rocky?" OMG! "Yes! Of course I do!" I replied. Price made his way upstairs, and I knew he was going to get his rocking paraphernalia. I put emptying the dishwasher into high gear and was sitting in the rocking chair when he came back downstairs. He slowly crawled into my lap and I snuggled my almost 4 year old boy. He said "will you sing to me?" I sang some hymns and when I stopped Price said "again." I sang some more. His eyes were getting heavy and his body limp. After a few moments, he fell asleep. I stayed there and rocked my preschooler for nearly 45 minutes. As I did, I studied his perfect complexion, LONG eyelashes, his full lips, dark eyebrows, precious hands and his hairline that is just like Jon's. Price's legs were curled up and filled my entire lap. His hands held onto his blankie and buzz; his arm was wrapped around his bear. I remembered a book I checked out at the library. I think the title is "If I had Known It Were Your Last." It is all about a mother recalling her son's lasts, saying she would have held on longer if she had known it were the last time she would rock her son or the last time she would carry him to his bed. She would cherish the times he wanted to crawl into bed with his parents, not knowing when it would be the last time that he would want to. A child grows so fast! I could not remember the last time Price had asked me to "rocky rocky," the last time he had requested to find comfort in my arms and find rest enough to fall asleep. I tried so hard to burn that moment into my memory. I feel so grateful and blessed to have had that moment with my son yesterday. It could have been the last.

Its that time of year!

Price and I left early Tuesday morning for a quick and fun packed trip to Gore Oklahoma. My parents have a pretty spiffy fifth wheel camper at an RV resort called MarVal. It is on the lower Illinois river and is about 7 miles from Lake Tenkiller. They leave their camper there year round, but from March until October they are there nearly every weekend and for 2 weeks straight in July! Their love for all things outdoors and their investment to enjoy it has been a huge blessing to our entire family.
My parents are there all this week, taking a little vacation. They asked us to come visit. My hardworking hubs could not take off on short notice, but he encouraged Price and I to go. Price has been raised on the water, so he is our little "River Rat." He could hardly get to sleep the night before we left. He was so excited! This would be our first trip there since November.
When we arrived after a 2.5 hour trip (Price is so awesome riding long distances in the car), he was ready to play! We hit the playground first. Then went on a bike ride. We threw rocks in the river and took a go on my parents golf cart. After lunch we got our "Billy boots" on (the name comes from the movie The Polar Express). We walked down stream for nearly 3 hours just fishing and throwing rocks in the water. The landscape is so beautiful. The water is clear and cold. We love it!

When we returned to the camp, we flew kites, which was so fun! After another bike ride, a tail hike, a trip to the grocery store, dinner and a shower we were ready for the highly anticipated sunset activity....making a campfire!!! We roasted marshmellows and made smores. We sat around the fire with lap blankets. I love looking at peoples' faces in firelight. Telling stories, laughing and the distinct smell of a campfire are a big part of making such precious memories. Price went to sleep with great ease and slept hard. We woke up in the morning and did it all over again! It is always hard to leave. The one thing that makes it easier is knowing we will be back soon. We had so much fun! Click on the link below to see a slideshow of our fun filled two day get away!

http://www.slide.com/r/_d4g5qxo4T8LcoIQhco2F62aE6abr6sQ?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original