Team Impact

Yes, I am still

INSANELY behind,

but I just can't find time to sit

and blog lately.

The events in this post took place back in February.

I had been doing pretty good

and only running 3 months behind...

yes, now I am 6 months behind!

Sigh...

We finished up our basketball season.

The church had a little 

end of season

event.

We had some scrumptious bbq,

then were presented with a show

by 

Jeff Neal

from

Team Impact.

He was there to weave 

the concept of 

feats of strength

with 

spiritual strength.

The first thing he did was blow up one of these

hot water bottles, with his mouth!,

 to the point that it popped

(source)

I *had* to snap this picture -

Rico was so scared it was going to pop...

and I guess blow up the room...

it popped

and didn't blow up the room!

Then he ripped a phone book in half...

Then folding a frying pan like this...

Like a burrito!

Then he bent an aluminum bat...

Finally,

he bent this steel rod....

Into a pretzel!

The big boys 

(and mom & dad) 

were quite impressed..

Rico was beside himself

to learn that Mr. Neal had played for 

the Houston Oilers...

Rico met a real life NFL football player!

Recipe Corner: Swiss Chicken Florentine Casserole

My crew is not much of a 

casserole type of family.

A few of my children like to see

clearly what I am trying to feed them.

They are GREAT eaters,

they truly love a variety of fruits and veggies.

One of the casseroles we do actually eat,

is Swiss Chicken Casserole.

And to me, recipes are just 

ideas, suggestions or guidelines.

I will try a recipe to the letter

the first time...

then I get to modifying.

Swiss Chicken Casserole 

calls for 

chicken breasts,

cream of mushroom soup, 

sour cream,

swiss cheese,

stuffing mix

and butter.

It is pretty yummy as is...

But here is my latest edition,

that was pretty stinking good!

1) Chicken:

The original recipe tells you just to place

3-4 chicken breasts in the bottom of a greased dish...

I take it one step further,

to speed up the cooking process (maybe)

and dice it the chicken breasts up

into bite sized pieces.

Then I layer it on the bottom of the greased pan.

2) Spinach!

I thawed 1/2 a bag (or 1 full box)

of chopped spinach,

then pressed out most of the water.

I sprinkled that on top of the chicken.

3)  Swiss Cheese Layer:

Original recipe called for 

"one slice of cheese per chicken breast"

I took it a step further and sprinkled a whole bag of shredded swiss on!

4)  Cream Mixture Layer:

Mix one can of cream of mushroom, with one cup of sour cream.

Then I had a small package of white mushrooms that needed to be used,

so I chopped those up and threw them in.

Then spread on top of the cheese layer.

5)  Stuffing layer

I would recommend paying the extra money

and getting the "real" Stove Top Stuffing mix here,

I have tried the store brand and the brand in the bag...

but Stove Top has more flavor, 

so I stick with it.

Sprinkle the entire box on top

evenly over the creamy mushroom mixture.

Finally,

pour a stick of melted butter over the top.

Bake at 350 for about 30-40 min.

I keep a thermometer handy and stick it in,

but since I cut up my chicken,

it is usually done pretty quickly.

This is the only 

"after" picture I got...

it was devoured 

before I knew what happened!

Enjoy!!

Daddy Bootcamp

Due to the events of the previous 24 hours:

Valentine's Day

sleepover

basketball games

and

just all around fun

these guys were just little 

handfuls!

Daddy and I had had enough.

The main offender

was the oldest

as the norm

I am sure.

So daddy decided to put him

through a little tough love...

in the form of 

jumping jacks

 leg lifts

flutter kicks

then the unpictured

wall chair thing...

It didn't help much,

but the intended punishment,

turned into a game

when his younger siblings 

all decided to join in...

and he is the one complaining.

My Kinda Valentine's Day!

Whoa!  

Halfway through February in ONE POST!

And its only JUNE!

Oh well...

A few days before Valentine's Day

a friend and I sat down and 

cut out TONS

of paper hearts

for a little project.

Then the night before Valentine's Day,

I finished up...

Then when my kids woke up 

the next morning,

they were each greeted with this:

Rico's Door

 Lex's Door

Jackson & Tony's Door

Then these little goodie bags on the table.

Then the kids and I made and decorated 

Valentine Mail Boxes.

We had a Valentine Exchange at our co-op.

And let me tell you how excited I was this year

to have 2 additional writers!

I think we had about 45 Valentine's to write out....

times 4!!!

I am SOOOOOOOO

thankful the older boys could help

and Lex could write her own name!

Mercy!!!

The boys totally decorated their own boxes.

I had to help Lex and really did Tony's for him.

I didn't realize that I had not taken pictures of 

all of them!

But I did get a couple of pictures of Tony's

I used a cereal box and turned it into a rocket!

Then decorated it...

wait maybe Tony did help!

We did the decorating while we were sitting

at basketball practice the night before the exchange.

But I think it turned out cute.

Jackson's was Minecraft related

Rico's was football related

and 

Lex's was a bunny!

Then...

then...

then....

above said "friend" 

that helped cut out TONS of paper hearts...

offered to add my 4 to her 4

and wrangle 8 kids for the night

so the hubs and I could go out on 

Valentine's Day!

I almost didn't take her up on it...

I considered bailing...

because,

that is EIGHT

kids.

And only half were hers!

But the kids all get along so great...

they really do!

Promise!

And it makes it so much easier when they do!

So the hubs and I went out!

To dinner

and

drinks

BY OURSELVES!

Whoa!

We had to make it somewhat special

since these types of things are few and far between

lately!

We decided on 

The Boiler Room Oyster Bar

in Kinston.

We grabbed a drink at the bar,

after we muscled our way up,

while we waited for our spot

at the oyster bar (my preferred seating).

We started out with 

an order of 

"Southern Poutine"

(pictured below)

 this dish was a pile of fries,

topped with southern chopped bbq

smothered with gravy

and it might have had some cheese on the side 

(I am guessing that is what the white stuff is)

This was not a fave of mine.

The hubs ate most of this.

Then the oysters started to arrive.

We ordered a peck of steamed.

I am picky...

I know I am,

I might even fit into the 

"high maintenance" 

category occasionally...

this night was one of those.

Typically,

the oysters are steamed in the back,

then shucked into a small metal bucket.

Then the shells are discarded

and you are served your shucked oysters 

in a small metal bucket.

Um, no thanks.

I requested that they shuck them

and leave them on the shells.

They graciously obliged.

These babies were served with 

HOMEMADE saltine!

What?

Those were INSANE!

They were quite oily and buttery,

but scrumptious!

 Here was our full spread...

After this spread,

I wasn't ready to go

so we ordered something else just as an excuse

to sit and enjoy being a couple

and not parents

for a bit longer.

I settled on the 

Fried Popcorn Oysters.

These were

hands down

without a doubt

ain't no comparison

the 

BEST

fried oysters

I have 

EVER

had 

in

my

LIFE!

I only wish I would have had them 

FIRST!

Because that is

ALL

I would have EATEN!

I asked what they were breaded in

and 

the only response I received

was

"cornmeal".

Sigh...

Oh well.

We walked around the booming 

town of 

Kinston for a few minutes,

stopped into a couple of places.

Then headed back to retrieve our 

brood.

The family watching our crew,

offered to keep them overnight!

What?

Kidless dinner

and 

house?

We graciously accepted their offer,

but did retrieve our littlest person

and brought him home with us.

We poked our head in and checked on each

of the others before we left.

A dark headed sleepy beauty

(er, Cousin It)

rose up from her spot in the 

twin bed with the other 2 little girls,

long enough to give us a kiss.

Then the 4 boys

(2 of mine, 2 of theirs)

THOUGHT

they were all going to sleep on a FUTON!

Yeah!

Or not!

They did NOT 

stay this way.

The next morning,

we had another day full of basketball...

and we had ONE kid to get ready

(along with snacks and lunches)

but our sweet friends had 7 kids

to get up and fed and ready...

and WE were late!

So when your mom & dad are running late

to pick you up from a sleep over...

and you have a basketball game

you have to brush your teeth in the 

gymnasium bathroom at church!

But because your friends' mom is 

the bomb!

She makes cool designs in your hair,

so you look freaking adorable

while you brush your teeth,

sitting on the counter,

in the gymnasium bathroom at church.

Then to round out our Valentine Day celebration,

we had an excuse to go to Krispy Kreme.

And a cool dozen works out great with this family.

Everyone gets to pick 2.

Then this mom of 4

pulls the permanent marker out of her purse

and proceeds to make a map

on the lid of the box.

Its amazing how easy 

and 

effective 

that is!

The First Half of February in review AND Let It Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (#3!!!)

February started of with one of "those" days.

Those days, 

as a family with 4 kids,

where you have to be in multiple places...

all at the same time.

The first Saturday of the month 

had 3 basketball games 

and a Pinewood Derby on the schedule!

First up was Ms. Priss' 

basketball game,

Then the boys each had a game,

but we missed those 

and 

ran to another church 

for our 

Cub Scout Pinewood Derby

Ms Priss and some scout little sisters

sat around and entertained themselves.

Mr. T was CRANKY

and whiny and being just aggravating...

I knew he was tired,

so meany mommy,

fought him to be still 

and stay in my lap

quite against his will.

He eventually quit fighting...

Our snow people were still standing...

I thought that was pretty neat.

Then daddy had school work to do,

so the kids and I vacated the premises

and went to visit friends.

That night Daddy and Lex

made her new Hello Kitty doll.

She got to stuff it,

And sew it together.

The next day was Super Bowl Sunday,

so Rico drew this for us.

Freehand!

I was quite impressed!

Then the next week we had to do a little school.

And basketball practice...

 Isn't this how every girl carries her basketball?

And we discovered books with CDs!

Then we made a trip to Cary for Papa's birthday...

Lex tested the cake for us.

Aunt Melanie got some niece and nephew time...

while the nieces were WAY more 

interested in the grapes!

Later in the week,
Lex showed daddy how well her reading 

was coming along.

He had not heard her read yet,

so he was pleasantly surprised!

The boys started cooking their own eggs!

(step #1 to them cooking dinner!)

Then we got MORE snow...

yep,

that is snow #3 

in a little ole town that usually gets hardly ANY!

We really enjoyed the icicles that came

with this snow/ice/freezing rain/sleet

episode.

I was ready for spring at this point!