Waiting...

We've now been waiting 60 days for our LOA or RA as some would call it. We are praying we will hear something next month.

Tasty Tuesday

CHICKEN RIGGIES

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter or margarine
1/2 pint heavy cream
2 cups chicken broth
2 to 3 red and/or green bell peppers, cut into strips
1 to 2 medium onions, diced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil (as needed)
3/4 cups plain tomato sauce (I use one LARGE can of Hunts sauce)
Hot Cherry peppers (to taste)
1 cup GOOD grated cheese
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup GOOD white wine
2 pounds rigatoni, uncooked

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large pan, melt butter and saute peppers and onions until soft and onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute more. Remove and put aside.

Step 2: Put chicken in pan and cook until lightly brown. You may have to add some olive oil, as there may not be enough butter. Add peppers and all other ingredients (except macaroni) and simmer about 1 hour.

Step 3: Cook rigatoni according to package directions.

Step 4: Pour chicken mixture over cooked pasta and toss.

Happy Birthday Dash!

Happy 11th Birthday to our Dash! What a handsome, sweet young man you are becoming. Keep up the great job at school, we are so proud of you!

Pneumonia

Took Spitfire into the doctor yet again yesterday and he sent us for a chest x-ray. Her lungs sounded fine but he said sometimes it is hard to hear pneumonia in children. Better safe than sorry. Sure enough, he was spot on! I'm glad we didn't wait the weekend to see how she did. She will have to go back in 6 wks for a re-check as the area where the pneumonia is tends to come back.

Thank you for your prayers!

Fall Sports End

Jewel had her last field hockey game last week. Unfortunately her team lost all of their games. They had a very new team with only three girls returning from last year. Most of the girls were not motivated to move and Jewel became very frustrated with her team. She worked very hard and scored two of the three goals of the season. That is right, their team only scored three goals the whole season.

She has been asked by the JV coach to play summer ball and to talk to the varsity coach (her math teacher) about the details. The JV coach told Taylor that she like her "game". Jewel had wished she tried out for JV but I do think this year allowed for her to grow and gave her a lot of playing time. Something she may not have had on the JV team this year. She has turned into a great field hockey player.

Spitfire will be done with soccer next weekend. Last weekend she scored her first two goals of the season! We were so excited. She has really grown this soccer season. Unfortunately she will not be able to play in her game this Saturday as she is actually doing worse. Her fever is getting higher not lower and her cough is non-stop. We are going into the doctor AGAIN today. PTL, no one else seems to be sick in the family.

Sick Kiddo's

I know I've been around much these days but half of my crew has been sick. They all went to school on Monday but Spitfire came home from school that afternoon and you could just tell she did not feel well. One look at her eyes and I knew she was running a fever. Sure enough she was 102.2 and all she wanted to do was go to bed. Jewel complained her throat was hurting and she ran a temp of 100.5.

Our schools have been hit HARD with H1N1, strep and the stomach bug. The school nurses office should have had a revolving door from what I heard. The student parking lot at the high school looked like it does after school with just a few stray cars. Jewel is back at school today and Spitfire is still out and probably will be tomorrow as well. She is still running a fever.

She was just sick a couple of weeks ago with fevers as well as was Twink. Many of you know how nervous we become when Twink has a fever. We were very blessed the last time as she did not have an seizures with her high temps. Normally that would have sent her into one. It seems the medication is working. We are praying that this flu season is easy on her little body and the rest of the children. No more sickness!

Hope the rest of you are staying healthy!

Tasty Tuesday

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

For glaze:

2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan.

Step 2: Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Step 3: Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Step 4: Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then turn cake over and let cake cool on rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

Step 5: To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.

Side note - Cream Cheese Frosting is a great choice as well!

Where's Autumn?

Can someone please tell me where the Autumn weather is? I know it is not here because it is 11:00am and it is 35*F. Too bad the weather forecaster say it feels like 31* outside. The cold weather reeks havoc on body and I am feeling it too early in the season this year. Since my neck surgery in 2007 the winter months are hard for me at times.

Snow is in the forecast the next couple of days! Can you believe it. Brrr!!! Hope all of you are staying warm and enjoying Autumn.

Tasty Tuesday

Spaghetti Pie

Ingredients:

6 oz. spaghetti, cooked and still warm
2 tbsp. butter
1 well beaten egg
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. cottage cheese
1 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 (28 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Combine hot cooked spaghetti with butter until butter is melted. Add egg and Parmesan cheese. Place in pie dish and form a "crust".
Step 2: Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti in pie dish.
Step 3: Cover with spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Step 4: Bake 30 minutes at 350*F or until bubbly. Let set, then cut into slices and serve.

(Makes 9 servings)

Babies!

Over the weekend we went to visit my sister and my niece. Look how much she has grown! Is she just not the happiest baby from just getting her nap cut in half. Her mommy woke her up way too early so we could see her. Not to mention take a couple of cute pictures. I'm thinking she is going to have red hair like her mom and hazel eyes (a mix of mom and dad). They could still turn brown but we will see.



After we visited with my sister we went over to my IL's to visit. My SIL and BIL were in town and we were going to meet the newest family member. He is the sweetest little guy. Twink was very interested in watching him lay on the ground. She would not touch him but she loved to look at him. She found it interesting when he had his diaper changed.


So you know your past the baby stage when all you really care to do is hold them and have no longing to have one of your own! That's me! :) I'm even past the toddler stage. LOL

Oh and go check out Bebos blog for an update! ;)

Spicy Vegetable Lo Mein

Every Tuesday I will be posting a new recipe. My post titles will read Tasty Tuesdays. Today I am posting one that we tried just this past week. I must say it was awesome. I tad bit spicy but very good! I'm not sure where I stumbled upon this recipe but I thank the person put it out there for the world to have!

For those of you who are not familiar with Lo Mein, Lo Mein is a Chinese noodle dish. The noodles are first cooked and then mixed with a brown sauce and an assortment of vegetables. This dish uses quite a few vegetables and no actual meat. If you would prefer to add a little meat putting in some cooked chicken, pork, or shrimp would be great as well. Vegetable Lo Mein could be a main course or even go great as a side dish with your favorite Chinese chicken recipe. For the noodles, I used linguini but spaghetti or vermicelli will work just as good. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

8 ounces linguini, spaghetti or vermicelli noodles (cooked until al dente)
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 cups fresh mushrooms (sliced)1 carrot (peeled and sliced into thin strips)
1 red bell pepper (sliced)
1 onion (sliced)2 tablespoons garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons ginger (minced)1 green onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth¼ cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon curry powder salt and pepper (to taste)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a small bowl mix together chicken broth and cornstarch. Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the red pepper flakes and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, carrots, onion, red pepper, garlic and ginger. Stir fry until tender. Add in green onion and stir fry for 1 minute.
Step 2: Add in the chicken broth/ cornstarch mixture along with the hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce, and curry powder. Stirring until sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3: Mix sauce with cooked noodles tossing to coat and serve.

(Makes 4 servings)

Could One of These Be Your Child?

My agency is returning the files of four children next Tuesday. There is a 13 1/2 yr old who's file is one of the four. Please help us try to find her forever family. AWAA has these four files. If you think you'd like to view one of them please call America World.

-5 ½ year old girl who is easy to get along with. She has cerebral palsy but receives therapy and can walk. Her caretakers describe her as outgoing. She loves to listen to music and dance. Her favorite activities are playing with balls and playing games with friends.

-Extroverted 9 year old boy. He is always ready to help others. He is a Hepatitis B carrier. He is an above-average student who listens well to his teachers and obeys the rules. He is well-mannered and polite, and is popular among his peers at school and among those in the institute.

The next sweetheart ages out very soon! She has to be adopted before she turns 14 or she will have to remain in China. Lets try to find her a family!

**An active and clever 13 ½ year old girl. She enjoys singing and does well in school. She has a hand and foot deformity. She also enjoys playing outside, dancing, and listening to music. She gets along well with the other children and is described as having a ready smile.**

-A happy 10 ½ year old boy. He is outgoing and loves to play with other children. He has a deformity of both feet that has been corrected. His caretakers describe him as a good helper and state that he gets along well with others. He enjoys playing sports and is actively involved in sports meetings.

Leave me a comment or shoot me an email if you have any questions.

Life is BUSY!

Wow, are we busy people! LOL First of all our children have been sick off and on for the last week. Twink of course the worst. She has had a fever now since Friday. Thank the good Lord that her medication to prevent seizures actually works. She has been as high as 102.5 and that would usually send her into a seizure. That tells us her medication is working. Doctor said her ear is red but she has been on her medication now for 24 hrs. and it does not seem to be helping the fever.

An update with our adoption. We have now been waiting 30+ days for our LOA. It honestly does not feel like that long. I'm sure as the time goes on it will start to feel longer. We are busy with our sign language class. It is very intense but we are learning many signs. For those of you who would like to build your vocabulary we have found a great DVD called Sign Language for Everyone by Dr. Cathy Rice. Now I must tell you that it is an older DVD but it is a great way to learn quite a bit of sign language. We are also adding another sign language class to our schedules LOL! This one will be less intense but will be at the new church we go to. Not only a great way to get involved but also to meet some new people.

Jewel is finishing up field hockey for the year. Next week is her last game. I must brag and say she has turned into one fine field hockey player! :) Her team has a new coach this year and the girls have yet to win a game. Jewel in fact is the only one to have made a goal all season so far.

Spitfire will finish up soccer later this month. Her attention span has really increased since the summer. She really loves to play. She will play again in the spring. Dash may be playing basketball this winter but he is still up in the air about it.

As for Twink, what can I say? She is going to school and loving it. They work her hard and she comes home very tired. She has gained a lot in the two months that she attended her new school.

I am looking forward to November when we are only running two nights a week instead of three to four. I'm not sure how other families do it. I'm just glad we don't have to! LOL

Referral Anniversary

Two years ago we received our referral phone call. Although it was some what not what we expected Twink is more than we could have ever hoped for. She has brought such joy into our family and we thank God for her everyday. For without our faith we would not have accepted her referral and would have missed out on the most beautiful, smart, determined, spunky, strong, funny, and loving child we have ever met!

We are so thankful Twink is part of our family! We love you Twink!! :)