Spring Break

This was Spring Break week for my boys!  Yippee!!!!  My niece, Sidney, was visiting this week, so she got to come along and join in the fun with us! We had a great time doing a wide variety of things, but I thought I would post a few highlights.

We got to spend an afternoon riding horses with a friend of mine.  She did a great job showing all the kids the basics.  The kids got to do everything on their own.  They cleaned the horse, saddled it, and rode in the arena.  It was great!  Gabe loved it so much that he wants to do her summer camp. Should be fun!

Notice Cole's concentration...he was trying to figure out how to make his horse go FAST!!!

Gabe LOVED this!

We also spent the day at the zoo yesterday.  This was the girls' first trip.  They were busy watching the other children and took everything in as we passed.  I think the monkeys were their favorite!  It was hot and perfect weather for a picnic and adventure at the zoo.

 The girls are beginning to figure out what it is like to have an older brother! :)

We had a great time this week and plan to enjoy a nice, warm weekend in the south.  Now the countdown begins to Summer!

OUCH !

In case you didn't know..... Joey and I are adopting twin girls!!!!  YEA!!!!!

We are nearing the end of the process, so the family had to complete our final physicals this week. 

I went last week to have my TB test and cholesterol screening finished.  When I entered the office, they sent me right back to have my blood drawn for the tests. Ok, any of you that really know me KNOW I do not like needles.  Yes, I have birthed two children.  I have sat through multiple immunizations with ease.  BUT, I do not like blood coming out of my own body through a needle !!

So, when I got to the office, I felt great!  I had on my running clothes and was ready to go!  When the nurse came in she brought a helper......a student nurse.  First of all, I don't have anything against student nurses.  I am in the same boat right now as a student teacher, so I feel her pain!  But, I did not need a student nurse prodding around in my veins that morning!  I needed a professional to do the job.

Anyway, the student nurse got all her materials ready and stuck me.  About five minutes later (literally about 2 mins)  she had no blood in the tube.  I have arm veins that are very juicy and never seem to pose a problem with releasing blood, so I was a little puzzled by my situation.  I asked the nurse..."having a problem?".  She admitted she was, and now attempted to stick me in the other arm. At this point, I was still calm and collected.  I was actually quite proud of myself!  And then it happened....

She stuck me!  This one was painful.  After the initial stick, she moved the needle around in my arm the entire time it was in there.  I guess she thought if she just jabbed me a couple of times she would get something!  Anyway, all the prodding made me weak...really weak!  I warned her of my weakness several minutes into the process and the next thing I know I was waking up!!  I had passed out!  There were four nurses / doctors standing over me.  They were wiping my face, giving me water, and saying "we didn't think you would ever come back".   Uh.....I did, but not all the way.  I had to sit there for another twenty minutes to regain normal color.  AND.... I had to be stuck again.  The nurse still didn't have enough blood for the test.  I think next time I will just draw my own blood before I get to the office! :) 

Yesterday was the boys and Joey's turn.  Joey did great!  He got stuck with the needle and didn't even cry!  He didn't even seem to mind me taking his picture to prove he was part of the process.  See his handsome face.....

The boys were pretty excited about participating, too.  I checked them out of school early!  That is always a happy day at our house! 

When we arrived at the office to get their physicals Gabe began to get a little nervous.  Poor thing...he had to strip down to his undies. He can be quite shy, so this was not fun for him.

Cole, on the other hand, was not bothered by anything!  He stripped down, layed on the table, and was more than excited to see the doctor come in.  He begged to be first!

Until...we got the news that both boys had to have a vaccination!  This was not the best part of of their day.  Poor things!  Both of them thought we were about to head to YoGos and it got ruined by a darned ole shot!  Cole did great!  He always just sticks his arm out and takes it.  Gabe hated it!  He is just like me in that sense.  Thank goodness he didn't pass out!

The best part...when we started to leave, Cole made a friend with one of the check-out ladies. Cole makes friends everywhere he goes.  He loves to talk to people and will talk to anyone that will listen.  The lady he befriended was not my check-out lady, but the one next door.  He introduced himself and proceeded to fill her in on his toughness and ability to withstand any shot.  He talked to her the entire time I was standing in line and checking out.  When I informed him we were leaving, he winked at her and told her he would see her when he turned 11!  (That is when his next shots are due!)  That child is a mess!  I think he knows everyone in town! Maybe he will introduce me to a few people....

So, after all that!  We went to YoGos to celebrate!  Yogurt for everyone!  It was over and we had a pretty good day!

Adoption takes a lot of patience, time, and commitment.   It is not something for every family, but our family sure has been blessed by it!  We are now one step closer to completing the process and can't wait to have the girls forever!

Sunday Lunch

I tried a new recipe today for our Sunday lunch.  This was a little different for us because we usually have Subway footlongs on Sunday. It has become quite a tradition.  I have discovered the joy of coming home from church, feeding starving children quickly, and not having to clean up the kitchen. It is great!  But, today I returned to our old Sunday lunch tradition and made a recipe worth remembering.  I thought I would type it here so I can reference it later.  Here is a picture.....

Okay, so it wasn't beautiful, but the taste was wonderful!  I don't pride myself in making food look beautiful, just making it extremely edible!  I used this recipe, from The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook as my guide and changed it up a bit....

First Thing:  Make the Pie Crust!

I used this recipe.  It literally took me less than 10 mins and it was Deeeee-Licious!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/p-p-p-pie_crust_and_its_p-p-p-perfect/

Second:  Make the Filling

Ingredients:

3 celery stalks, chopped fine

1 regular bag of frozen mixed veggies

  (mine had carrots, green beans, peas, and corn)

1 large onion, chopped

4 Tbsp. real butter

2 cups cooked chicken

1/4 cup AP Flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. salt

Coarse black pepper

Ok, after you have all the ingredients layed out.  Start putting together.....

Combine celery, mixed veggies, and onion in a large bowl.  It should look nice and chunky like this....

While this is waiting to be cooked, :)  Melt the butter in a nice, big pan.  I use real butter.  It really does make it taste better. Plus, my cholesterol was down and I need to do something about that! :)

Saute all vegetables in the pan until translucent.  This will take about 5 minutes.  Next, add the chicken....
(I used 4 bone-in, skinless chicken breasts for this.  I deboned and shredded with my fingers.  This always seems to make it better!) 
Add the flour and let cook for a few minutes before adding the chicken broth.  This will make a very yummy sauce!

The last steps involve adding the cream and seasonings. The recipe called for specific amounts of seasoning, but I added a little more.  I like LOTS of pepper in mine!  This is what the finished filling looks like.

Step 3:  Assemble and Cook!

I chose to refrigerate both of these until the next day.  It just seems to allow the flavors to develop!

This can also be completely assembled and frozen until ready to use.  This is great for busy moms like me!!

Assembly is simple!  Just remove the prepared crust from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface.  Dump the filling ingredients into two pie pans or one large casserole dish.  (I used 2 pie pans so any leftovers can be used later!)  Top the filling with pie crust.  The crust should completely cover the filling and be sealed off.  Next, make a few slits in the top for the heat to escape.  That's it!  Just cook at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.  The family will love it!!!

 

Toes and TO-MA-TOES

The boys had a day off of school Friday, so we tried to enjoy it with lots of fun activities.  Because I am THAT mom, we started out by going to the library and catching up on school work.  I know....What mom makes their kids do school work on a day off?  ME!  I am a mom in graduate school, so it was a good time for me to get some much needed stuff done and for them to do some review.  It only lasted about an hour, so it wasn't too bad....right?

Because we got the serious stuff done early, we now had time to get outside and enjoy the great weather!  Every year we plant a small garden behind our house.  I say small, but last year we planted.......  tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos, onions, green beans, cucumbers, squash, okra, pumpkins, and watermelons.  Oh, we also have a fig and apple tree.  This year we will not plant as much.... for now!

The boys and I headed to Lowe's to pick out seeds.  Each of them were told to pick three seed packets each.  While I was busy looking for special varieties of tomatoes, the boys managed to pick out about 1063 varieties of flowers, cacti, green beans, and any other vegetable available.  Needless to say, we spent several minutes weeding out the packets to a manageable number.  We ended up getting cactus seeds, tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos, green beans, watermelon, lettuce, cucumber, green onion, and several flower packets.  They seemed to be most proud of the cactus seeds.

Gabe and Cole's cactus seeds

When we got home, it was officially nap time for the girls and seed starting time for the boys and I.  While the boys and I began the process of getting the seeds started in peat pots, Nora found it fun to pull back her blinds and make us laugh.  She spent about an hour peeking from behind the blinds while the boys jumped around and made faces at her from the outside.  After a while, the boys and I moved to the other side of the yard to finish our project.  This allowed her to finally go to sleep.  A few minutes later, Lucy, who had slept through the entire thing, woke up.  She was able to join us in the last few minutes of our cleaning up process.  Meanwhile, Nora continued to sleep the afternoon away.

While the boys were running wild in the back, Lucy and I painted our toenails.  I SO love getting to do girly things with them!  Both of the girls love having their nails painted and will stare at them and show us their toes for days afterward.

We had a great day at home!  I love days like this and can't wait until Summer arrives.  Not long now.....

Barber Betsy

Last night was official "Summer Cut" night at the Hallmark House!  Every male in the family received their summer hair cut.  I transform into Barber Betsy when it is time for hair cuts around here.  It seems to make the process a little more fun when MOM isn't doing the cuts and Barber Betsy takes over. Although, Joey had to start Gabe's haircut because I chickened out.  His hair had gotten long and a Mom just can't do that drastic of a cut!  Here is a shot of the boys with their new do.....

They were acting silly as ever in the pictures this morning, but I thought they looked so cute in their new hair.  Lucy didn't even recognize Gabe.   She just continued to stare at him during breakfast.  I am sure she will be back to loving on him by this afternoon.  Life is always changing around our house...keeps things interesting!

Roller Coaster Ride

While reading another bloggers post today, I realized....it has been quite a long time since I looked at my blog. So, I took a little peak at the last few posts. I thought I might cry.....

My boys were so little....the girls were not born yet......we didn't even know the girls were about to be a part of our lives.......my boys were so little.... waaaaaaaaaaa!

I could not believe how much life has changed in the past year and a half. So, time to update!

At the time of my last blog, our family looked like this.....

And today we look like this.....

What is the big difference, you say?!

Well, lots has happened over the past years, let me catch you up!

In September 2009, DSS called us about twin girls to be born in 2 weeks. They asked if we would take them. Wow! Identical twin girls!!!!! This was something to ponder! After thinking and praying about this for a short period of time (we didn't have very long!) , we decided the answer was YES! We would give it the old college try.....

The next few months were definitely a roller coaster ride. Who would have thought two adorable little babies could change the family so much?!

The next year was crazy at our house.... mega crazy! Not only were we learning to deal with two new additions, but also juggling my graduate school schedule, the boys' sports teams, school for the kiddos, DSS visits / paperwork / phone calls / inspections........ while trying to stay sane. I might have lost my sanity during that time, but I sure have learned a lot about me, my marriage, my children, and life!

These little angels have taught our entire family so much! First of all, we have learned that our strength can only come from God...not ourselves, or others. I tend to take on tons of tasks and never ask for help. I usually think I can handle everything on my own. Our new family situation forced me to ask for help from my husband, children, and anyone else that could help at the time. I have learned to lean on God during emotional / crazy times with our adoption and give him control of every aspect of the process. This is the only thing that kept me going! It has allowed me to find a calm amidst the craziness.

My family has also learned a lot! Joey and I have discovered the importance of weekly, CONSISTENT dates. When we first got the babies, our time together was zero. We were getting about one hour of sleep a night and passing each other as zombies the next day. We were so tired, we completely neglected each other. We figured this out when the girls started sleeping through the night and knew a plan had to take place! We HAD to schedule weekly dates or they would never happen. It could be a time to just stare at each other, eat, and talk! What fun, right? Now, it is a time I look forward to every week. We have a great time talking and spending uninterrupted time together. He is such a catch! Who wouldn't want to spend time with him?? We have also discovered some great babysitters for dates with our boys and help during our weekly activities. They are great and the kids adore them! These changes have made a huge difference in our quality family time!

My boys have also learned so much from their sisters. They spend time every day playing games and reading to the girls. The girls just adore them and get starry-eyed when the boys arrive from school! The boys always ask where they can find the girls and shower them with kisses! I think this journey is teaching them how to love unselfishly and care for those that need it most! I definitely believe God has blessed our family!

After eighteen months of loving on these sweet girls, we are finally on our way to being their forever family. Foster care was a wonderful situation for them, because it ensured they were never raised in a home without love and nurturing. These girls never had to feel the pain of being taken from their birth mom and dad. They sure are lucky! This isn't always the story of foster care. The girls have been such a blessing to our lives and we can't wait to see what the rest of their lives will bring. I feel these girls were placed with us for a reason and their life will be a reflection of that. Now that adoption is within reach, I feel our family is complete! Growing up, I always said I wanted five children. Two boys, two girls sounds pretty great to me!

So, that was my first attempt at blogging again. I am hoping this will be plenty of motivation to do this once a week. (at minimum) I need some way to keep up with our crazy life!!! :)

Summer Time

Isn't summer the best?!! We have had a great summer at the Hallmark House! The boys and I have managed to spend most of our days swimming and playing outside. I LOVE having time at home to do exactly what WE want to do. I think time at home being ourselves brings out the best in all of us!

Our neighbor has graciously allowed us to enjoy their pool again this summer. The house next door has been for sale for almost 2 years, and they need some happy little children to "mix the chlorine" in their pool. We can definitely take care of that! 2 boys + water = happiness

Speaking of water....we have LOVED going to the lake this summer. This has been the first full summer of using our boat, and we love it! We have spent almost every Saturday on the lake. We take a huge picnic, snacks, and lots of water toys...find an island...and RELAX. It is great for us and the kids wear themselves out swimming and playing in the water. I can't wait to see the fall leaves from the boat. I KNOW it will be beautiful near the mountains!

My poor hubby injured his foot during 4th of July festivities on the lake. This has left him unable to exercise, work in the yard, and participate in any physical activities. Bless his heart....he is so ready to get back to normal!! He looks so pitiful hobbling around here with one good foot. He is supposed to get a smaller cast in a few weeks, so hopefully he will be able to do more. I have had fun with all my new responsibilities, though.

I participated in a yard sale last weekend! Yes...no more junk around here! I cleaned out, threw away, and donated for two weeks straight!! I LOVED it! I absolutely love to organize. Our house feels so much cleaner. I think I will have a yard sale every year. NO....I didn't make a ton of money, but the cleanliness was definitely worth the work! Anyone need help????

We only have one week until we go to the beach. Praise the LORD!!! I love going to the beach. Our family enjoys spending HOURS snorkeling and looking for shells in the sand. Cole has joined in our family's love for a good pair of goggles and will probably be able to participate for the first time. The previous years were spent keeping him out of the waves and trying to keep his goggles on his head!!! This year should be a lot of fun. We are going with family this year, so it will be nice to have a little extra entertainment for the boys.

This was nice...maybe I will post a little sooner next time! :)