Geez & random stuff

I'm back y'all!
We were gone an extra day due to having to replace the water pump in my van but home safe and sound now. I thought gas would be the most expensive thing on the trip - HA! But thankfully our taxes came through so we actually had the money for it - A very novel event for the Michels family.
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Mom & Dad took us out to see Horton hears a Who. It was a great movie & the first time the kids went to a theatre. We were a little apprehensive, you never know how they'll react to that huge screen & the volume & all, but they did great & loved it. I was glad that I had checked out the movie on pluggedin a couple of weeks ago & didn't have to worry about the content.
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Every time I visit my parents I remember why we moved away from the Pacific NW. (And no, it has nothing to do with my parents :).) We moved because of the horrendous traffic, condos everywhere, cost of living, and just too many dang people. Did I mention horrendous traffic? It's funny, when Chris & I got married I used to laugh at his driving. He came from a rural area in OR & had such a hard time driving in Seattle with all the crazy & rude drivers - if you don't shove your way in you won't get anywhere there, you must be aggressive. Now we've come full circle & I'm the one who's freaked about it. I'm so used to rural driving, I hate traffic & cannot believe I used to drive in that mess every day.
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Geez! I started this post on the 4th but have not had any time until today to finish it. And it's not actually finished cos there was a whole nother topic I wanted to blog about but NO TIME to do it ... girrrr!
Chris hogs the 'puter evenings & weekends so updating last weekend was out. Believe me I tried & was dE-nied time & again. This week I have been busy all week. I have a goal in life people, a goal to not be busy but it fell apart on me this week (sigh). I hate being busy, I mean I've always got the kids to run around after & the house to take care of, yada yada yada, but I'm talking go there, get this, drive here, bla bla bla stuff. I hate being on the run & avoid it like the plague. So far this week I've had to drive into either Spokane or Cheney on 3 different days. 3 DAYS! That's like, half a week I was draggin around the big city - not fun for this small town girl! I usually plan so I only drive that far once a week - otherwise it just wastes too much dang gas - but I had SO much to do that I didn't have a choice. Oh well, this too shall pass & all that jazz.
Hopefully I'll be back to my normal blogging schedule now. Didn't realize that 4 days out of town would throw me this much out of whack!
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I missed y'all while I was gone. No time for blogging means no time for blog reading & I'm jonesin bigtime. MUST.READ.BLOGS.NOW!!!

Have a dandy day everybody :)

Parties, fits & visits, Oh My!

I took my 3 kids to a birthday party on Saturday - those are always a fun filled experience, aren't they? No, really it was fun, just in a insane-sugar-high-lots-of-noisy-kids way.
There were 19 people in a small-ish house, 7 adults & 12 kids, with the kids ranging in age from 9-ish to 10 mo. The kids (mostly boys) ran crazy through the house, playing with cool toy guns that make shooting noises. I was killed many times over by the oldest birthday boy, that lil stinker! I'm sure you can imagine the noise. Then add the tons of sugar from cake & ice cream - wowza!


The kids did very well, right up until the end...we were there for almost 4 hours & I paid the price. You know how it is, the kids have a blast the whole time but really they need to leave after about 2 hours. Anything past that & they just get overstimulated & crazy.
So I gave them 10, 5 & 1 minute warnings that we were leaving but oh boy, when I announced it was time to get coats on I became the worst person in the universe. Sam & Eli completely freaked out, screaming at me & the whole works. Oh yes, every parents dream, my 5yo & one of my 4yo's acting just like 2yo's. SUCH a proud moment!! Eli finally calmed down, still mad, but listening to me at least. Sam was another story entirely. I had to manhandle him all the way to the car (over a sheet of ice) & wrestle him in there. He then screamed until we got home. I was just a teensy bit angry - why do I take them to parties??? Oh yeah, cos I'm a mom & therefore insane.

My parents came for a short visit on Sunday. My Mom is having surgery on her foot Friday & wanted to see the kids before she's off her feet for weeks. It was nice, no projects to do this time, just hanging out & playing with the kids. They took us out to lunch at the 4 star greasy spoon in town. Then I made Kelly's Herbed Lentils & Rice Casserole (see below) & served it with homeade baking powder biscutis & mixed veggies - yum!

We went over our budget with Mom & Dad after the kids went to bed. We have had major financial issues since we moved in Sept. Chris is in an apprenticeship program & I don't work - trying to make ends meet with our astounding wealth meager paycheck can be mighty interesting. Anyway, I just gatta brag on my mommy & daddy cos they help us out a lot & are super smart about money issues. Yes they annoy me sometimes, they are my parents for goodness sake, but they are really great people & have gone WAY beyond the call of duty the past several months. They are totally working with us to get a budget in place so we can get beyond living paycheck to paycheck after Chris hits journey level.

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Kelly's Herbed Lentils & Rice Casserole

2 2/3 Cups chicken broth

3/4 cup lentils, sorted & rinsed

3/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup raw brown rice

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (divided)



In a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish add the chicken broth, lentils, onions, brown rice, water, spices and 1/4 cup cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 for 2 hours, adding more broth if casserole seems dry.

Top with remaining cheese and bake another 2 or 3 minutes until all the cheese is melted.



That is the basic recipe - I do make some changes. I double the recipe. I use bullion for the broth, also works well using veggie broth if you are so inclined. I throw in extra spices (I love to use LOTS of spices). And I use more cheese cos, well cheese is just yummy!



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This is something goofy that I love, a blast from the past that the kids like too :)

Have a great day y'all!