Lots of fails

As everyone knows I love pinterest.  And I get most my recopies from there.  But since anyone can pin whatever they want not all recipes are tested by the food network kitchens, hardly any at all.  The babies and I have been having a lot of fun making new meals for lunch but not everything is turning out very good.  We have had more than are fair share off misses this past week.

We tried making Outback's potato soup and.... yuck!





It got such rave reviews I was about to make double but it would not fit in my crock pot  glad I didn't.  I even tried to make it better with diced ham and just feel I wasted a lot of money.

I made another chicken crock pot dish and it was not bad but it was not good.  It was so bland.  And it was so thick.  It was the consistency of a sloppy Joe what do you do with that?  Eat it like a soup?  Use it like a dip.  Well I froze it.  I am going to try to revamp it and use it in enchiladas which I think it will be great for but should have been labeled something like that in the beginning.



I even added green peppers in hopes that would help.  It didn't.





But like I said this was the most salvageable out of all of them.

I have made the world's best taco soup, that was far from it.

I made an old comfort favorite crock pot creamy chicken noodle soup that was thick, creamy and so filling,  You eat it then an hour later you are starving.  To starchy to eat a bowl at a time all night long but it was decent.

So now tonight I am trying another.  Another comfort food for this rainy Sunday.  However I pinned it from Paula Deen's sites.  She is never a miss.  She is perfect.  I hope to one day be a fat silver not gray
(and with my mom just starting to silver at least that part is  long ways off) old southern lady who smiles, makes the BEST food, dazzles in diamond that are worth more than my house, spends time with her kids and grand kids at her beautiful house on the water.  Fingers crossed I could use a winner.  Look forward to her hot chicken salad review this week.

something of a super hero

This week the crazy child award goes to.....



Our Smiley!



Never under estimate the super hero potential you have when you put a glow dome on your head.

A new fishtank

Sometimes good things do comes to those who wait.  On Monday I saw a fishtank for sale that I wanted to get for my son but I could not afford it.  Both my big boys love fish tanks.  They both but especially my oldest loves fish shows.  We watch tanked and fish tank kings over and over.

This particular glow in the dark tank that supports glow in the dark fish we saw a few Saturdays ago when we had to replace Evan's recently departed fish from a fall fair.  Since then the other two boys goldfish have died as well.

It has rained hard yesterday and today leaving us unable to spend a family picnic night at the park like I had planned.  Today is also payday.  So I went back to that add thinking I would just see if it is still available, hoping it was.  And yes!  it was!!  The add had a price on it but also said make an offer.  I contacted the seller and made and made an offer of $40.  She said yes!

It worked out wonderful.  It glows and is just perfect for their room.



It is not the best picture.  It does not capture it glowing.  But inside there are 2 glow fish and 1 beta.  They made it through the night and hopefully for a while.

Picnic at the park

The kids are working so hard in school.  Then they come home and help me out.  I appreciate them so much.    On Fridays I don't have school.  I look forward to them coming home even more on Fridays than any other day.  I know the  weekend is about to start and they get to stay with me.  So Fridays we have started doing something a bit special.  We go out grab dinner and head to the park.  The kids love it!



No waiting around for coals to warm up, no stupid steak that no one likes, but delicious dinner we can just eat and then spend more time playing.

The kids eat a little and run off to play.



They keep coming back to grab another bite then off they go again.





Up and down the slide they go.  She won't go down unless me or a brother is there to catch her.  We always will we LOVE her!!



Our crazy girl...



So darling, so crazy and so cute.



My big ones climb, play games and imagine.  They love to go out to the park.  This Friday we are planning another super special one with lots of playgrounds and beautiful views.

Old McDonald's Farm

Over the weekend we headed south to West Virginia to go to Old McDonald's farm.  It was there opening fall weekend and the pumpkins were plentiful.  The kids loved it, everyone had a great time.  The weather was nice and warm this weekend.  We kept watching for rain but luckily it blew by.



The had all sorts of activities there.  More barrel racing.





These were much larger and more pipes than barrels.   I was surprised how easily the rolled around.

They had a petting zoo too.  Faithy was not sure of what to think of the animals at first the were so much bigger than her cat.



But they were soft and eventually she was all cuddles and kisses with them.



They got to milk a cow,



Well sorta.

But the had two favorite activities that stood out.  One was playing in the corn.



They burred each other, jumped and threw it.  They were so filthy!  There clothes were covered in a smelly dust.  it made my car stink the whole way home too.

Even Grace got to play in the corn.  She did not care for it. She just wanted to be held, and she was the whole time.

The other favorite was the slides.  They spent the majority of the time on them.  They rode on feed sacks and on each other.  Poor Evan still has carpet burns from it.



Faith would ride down with Mema and then do a little dance at the end.  It was so cute, she love slides.



The adventurous boys and I made our way through the huge corm maze.  We made a few wrong turns but got out without to much trouble.





Evan found this purple corn stock he just loved which now sits in our kitchen.  It is our only Halloween decoration so far probably all we will get too.  One day there will be time to decorate but for now lets just pretend the cobwebs are there on purpose and the dust is for a spooky effect.



Me and my little girls they are so tiny.  I love having them.



Even if our smallest can't always keep up.

Mums

 Fall is so much fun and leads to many, many pictures.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Boy was this ever good.  I saw the recipe on pinterest and it was an immediate make.  After sending Jay to the store I had everything I needed for it.  After forgetting to put the cream cheese away it had to be made the next day.  Faithy and I got to it.

First gather up all  you need.



And quickly before little hands start stealing.

6-8 slices of bacon, diced and cooked crispy

1 8-oz packages of cream cheese, soft

3/4 cup of mayonnaise

3 jalapeno's, chopped and deseeded.  The seeds will make it fiery hot.

1+ cup of cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2+ cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup diced green onion

Topping:

1 cup of crushed crackers ( I used Ritz)

1/2+ cup parmesan cheese

1/2 stick of butter, melted

My version is slightly different from Simply Gourmet where I originally pinned it from.  I would suggest follow one or the other, mine was awesome just saying.

Chop bacon, jalapenos and shred cheese.  I add the plus because my family is cheezy, hahaha.  We like cheese so I would eye ball a little more, to what looked good.  Also my daughter is my very own jalapeno popper but I tone things down for her, that is why I only used 3 jalapenos.  My husbands only complaint it was not hot enough.  So pepper to your taste.

I had forgot to include the mayonnaise in the first picture, but don't forget in in the recipe. And don't cheap out and use fake stuff.  Real mayo, real calories, real good.

Transfer all delicious ingredients to an appropriate dish.  

I used a pie dish it worked fine.  No need to oil or grease it before hand.  And stop sampling!

like mother like daughter...

Then cover with the topping.

Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes, give or take, at 350 and you have the most delicious dip!

We could not stop eating it.  I nibbled with tortilla chips, Jay used the left over Ritz crackers both were great.  It is a perfect football did.  Heck it is a perfect anything did.  I will be making this one again!

Bunny Ears

He thinks I never see him...



The truth is I move the camera to take the picture of him.

The past couple days

We have been a little busy, HA very busy.  This are in full swing around here.  Kids are growing, Jay is working, I am studying, normal things but times them by 7 and there is never enough time in the day.  We even made it to church this weekend!  We made it one other time a month ago to family night, so much fun they have lots of food, great ice cream, bouncy houses, barrel rides, hay rides, balloons, I wish every time we went to church was like that.  But we had never made it to a Sunday service since baby was born.  We all have been missing our church family, even though they (the church) understand.  So we tried it.  AGH!!! It went about that well.  We will keep on trying, it only gets easier.  Right ??!

And again fall festivals are everywhere around here.  We sadly missed one of our favorite ones this past weekend, the Franklin County Fall Farm Fun Fest.  And joyfully missed the Hispanic heritage one.  Not joyfully because we don't like them or would not have wanted to go but joyfully because soccer season is going on again and last year they fell on the same day, same place and it was CROWDED CRAZY!  This year we had soccer on Saturday and that festival was on Sunday and I did not know about it till it was over, and we missed it.  We missed the Franklin County Fall Farm Fun Fest because of soccer and I have been ever so busy planning a wedding.  Not mine, sorry to all my family, but for a friend.  She is renewing her vowels next September and we have been busy pinning everything!

But for the fun pictures of my crazy kids....Faithy takes it this week she is a hoot!

This morning she decided to have hot dog and cereal.



YUCK!!!!!



No I did not give it to her that way this is her creation.  I better patent it before General Mills does.

She also managed the double binky.



Of course she stole the second one from her sister.  Who loves her Mommy, I know because it says so on her shirt. :)





I also got new shoes!  Well sorta new.  I bought them new when I was pregnant but my feet were so swollen they would not fit.  This week is a bit cooler and my school is always cold so I dug them out of the closet to give them a try and now they fit!!  Yay!



They have been comfortable and fun to wear.



They do take a little work to get on and driving well it IS like driving barefoot.



So far I like them!!