We had a wonderful weekend with Jordan's mom coming to visit and also celebrating Serenity's 2nd Birthday! I still can't believe my baby is TWO!!! It really does fly by...

Baked Potato Soup

I just made the most DELICIOUS recipe tonight for dinner!! So good in fact I NEED to share it with you!! It is called Baked Potato Soup... and it is a keeper for sure!

you will need: 4-6 large baked potatoes

2/3 cup of butter

2/3 cup of flour

6 cups of milk

3/4 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of pepper

4 green onions, chopped

12 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup of sour cream

To Do: 1. Bake your potatoes (remove skin)

2. In large pot- melt butter. add flour. gradually stir in milk until smooth, thick and

bubbly.

3. Stir in potatoes. salt. pepper. onions and bacon, and cheese.- cook until heated

4. Stir in sour cream

5. ENJOY!!!

SpRiNg.... come soon!!!!

I just got back from an hour long walk with the kids... the weather felt GLORIOUS!!! It was still pretty windy, but just to be able to get out and let Samuel ride his bike and for me to push Serenity in the stroller- and the SUNSHINE. the wonderful, glorious sunshine. I have never wanted SPRING like I do right now. Please come soon Spring!! PLEASE!!! Well, my windows are open and I am going to go and enjoy the FRESH AIR!!!

Spills

Today I woke up feeling sick... but I was still ready to have a good day... I thought hot chocolate for the kids would be a fun way to start the day. As I got their little mugs ready, the anticipation was growing by the second. "mommy!! Can we have a marshmallow too?!", "yeah! Mommy!" I got them all situated on our bar stools, place mats on the counter and their little mugs with fresh hot chocolate and of course a giant marshmallow to make it complete. They were using their new straws they just "won" at Chucky Cheese last night enjoying every gulp and slurp... Samuel, as usual, finished first and then jumped down and was off to play- happy and content as ever... Serenity however was taking her sweet time- slurping out of the straw, reaching in and getting the marshmallow, putting the marshmallow back, slurping again~and the process was repeated over and over again. At this point I decided it would be a good time to get some cleaning done... So I started to tackle the "junk drawer" in our kitchen. My backed turned away from serenity I started my project. Moments later that is when I heard it... CRASH!!! Being that my back was still turned away from the scene, I told myself to take a deep breath... as I slowly turned around, Serenity, wide eyed with wonder, looked at me and said, "spilled!?". I now walked quickly over to her spot and saw the hot chocolate that was once nicely in a little mug with a perfect marshmallow on top... was now ALL over my kitchen floor... and my kitchen table.... and my kitchen hutch...and my kitchen walls!! and of course all over wide-eyed Serenity. While I quickly sprung into action there was one reminder that was echoing through my mind.... "Never go without a sippy cup for children under the age of two!!!!!" Well, the mess is all cleaned up. The floors are mopped. Serenity is all cleaned up and they have already long forgotten about the mess... But these little messes remind me that in just a couple years, serenity will be Samuel's age- slurping down her hot chocolate no problem and the spills and messes will become less and less... and my need for cleaning up their "spills" will slowly but surely evaporate. So even though I woke up feeling sick, and the hot chocolate idea didn't exactly turn out how I imagined... I will choose to cherish every "spill" I am privileged to clean up in their little lives...

Potty-Training

The potty-training adventure continues on... I decided today I was sick of Serenity going once in her diaper and wanting a new one... So, no diapers today at all! Currently she is running around completely naked... After the first hour of putting on her big-girl underwear, pants and shirt then her running to the potty and taking it ALL off... over and over again.... naked it is! This is most definitely a FULL-TIME with a lot of OVER-TIME- job!!! I am sitting here, looking at toys strewn all over the floor, dishes in the sink, my children either in their pajamas (or in nothing at all) and suddenly I feel tired. The goal today is to do some organizing... in between running to and from the bathroom with serenity... I think we are all in for an adventure today!