All the Pics in a Slideshow!!

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see all the latest kids pics in a slideshow. It's small here but I think if you click on it you'll go to Picasa where it will be bigger.

Home!

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

What makes this our home? It’s not that it was built with our own sweat and struggle, though that is a miracle in itself. This is the place where we will take our refuge from the world and knit ourselves closely together as family, deliberately purposing to follow Christ.

The Lastest Pictures from Target

Wolfie and Mattie had so much fun at their photoshoot at Target. I wish I had as much fun trying to decide which pics to buy! E-mail me or leave a comment for a link to the full set. >^.^<

Sharp Dressed Man

I'm so thrilled with my children today. They are turning out so wonderfully no matter what my consuming worries are. Wolf asked Grama for some ‘gentlemen clothes’ meaning a suit and tie. He wore it to church on Sunday and everyone thought he was going to a wedding. Mattie put on one of her new dresses from Auntie Rose to match. We decided that he needed to wear his suit to the Manor to visit Grandma Olga because she would love it. We actually cut our annual Stades Pumpkin Farm and visit with the O’Neill’s short a bit to get home to change. Mrs. O’Neill gave us some flowers from her garden for Granny.

When Wolf walked into the manor in his suit with those flowers in his hand, every head turned. Every single lady he walked past made a comment about how handsome or sweet he was – you could tell they were secretly wishing he was coming to see them. It’s too bad that Granny was facing away from us as we walked down her hall. When he got to her though, she was thrilled speechless to see him and know he was there for her. She sputtered out, “Oh! I love you!”Everyone loved Mattie too and said she was adorable in her dress, but Wolfie was the show-stopper. Grama told me Grandma Olga had bought Uncle Michael a suit every year when he was a kid. No wonder she loved it so much. We sat in the activity room which has windows onto the hallway and all the ladies kept walking by and peeking in at Wolfie. At bedtime, I told him he made everyone’s day very special today and he was genuinely happy with himself. It felt so good to me to finally see him satisfied. I just hope it’s not all tied up in the suit.

Our Favorite Recipie

I took the kids into Jewel with me and in the canned veggie aisle, I noticed our favorite tomatoes were buy one get one free. They’re Red Gold brand petite diced olive oil and garlic flavor and we call them ‘magic tomatoes’ because whatever we add them to seems to taste incredible (even salad!). These tomatoes created the Tiki Taco base dish and I said we should make it for dinner. Mattie and Wolfie started chanting, ‘Tiki Taco Dilla, Tiki Taco Dilla’ to the conga line beat like we usually do at home when we're making it. All the ladies in the aisle were laughing, but quietly and to themselves. Funny that no one asked me for the recipe though. Here it is for you:

Tiki Taco Dilla Mix
1 pound ground beef
1/2 packet Taco seasoning mix
1 can Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes, Olive Oil & Garlic

Brown ground beef and drain. Sprinkle Taco seasoning liberally and stir to coat beef evenly. Stir in tomatoes and heat about five more minutes.

The Options:
Make Nachos with it (tortilla chips, cheese & sour cream)
Make a "Pie" by layering with cheese and flour tortillas
Make a casserole with mix on the bottom, then some cheese and cornbread mix
Make Quesadillas
Make 'hamburger helper' by adding cooked pasta

If you think of some more, let me know.