Okay, I am a day late because I just forgot. But this is a meal that Clayton made for us yesterday (which speaks to its simplicity), and I wanted to share it because it was decreed a 'Winner Dinner' in our home. Clay was drawn to trying it because it has poppyseeds and those are his favorite ingredient.
Poppyseed Chicken
4 chicken breasts (he used 5, cut in half)
1 can mushroom soup
1 c. sour cream
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers (i only had sociables, just use what you've got)
1 Tblsp. poppyseeds
1/3 c. melted margarine
Put chicken breasts in casserole dish. Mix soup and sour cream and pour over chicken. Mix cracker crumbs and seeds, add melted butter and mix. Sprinkle crumbs over chicken. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve with rice.
Super yummy, and, like we love, so easy!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Picture Updates
Dan bowled a perfect 300 for the first time a couple of weeks ago...
He had to take a goofy picture of himself for the kids (and now everyone else who looks, hee hee)
Grandma and Grandpa, we miss you! Yesterday they were so desperate for roasting marshmallows over a fire that they resorted to forks over the bbq...
But they still tasted great, as far as roasted marshmallows go.
And finally, sometime living on the West Coast is a beautiful thing. We woke up this morning to this in our patio. The most snow we've seen since we lived here, and while we contemplated whether risking our live on the most-defnitely unplowed, unsanded hill going to and from our house in order to get to church, we received a text: No church today. All meetings cancelled. Wimpy winter drivers are a blessing sometimes. Now we get to just relax at home and enjoy watching the big flakes fall!
A great birthday surprise for Spencer. He loves this, and they spent 2 hours outside this morning playing in all the glorious white powder.
Happy Birthday Spencer!
We can hardly believe our littlest one has just turned 4. He will be old enough for preschool in the fall, but he seems so much younger than I remember Clayton being when he went. I guess it's 7 months away, so he'll change before then, but maybe we all underestimate and coddle our babies. Here's a little tribute to our showboat at the bottom:
Silly
Playful
Entertaining
Never a dull moment
Cuddly
Enthusiastic
Ridiculously funny
Happy Birthday, Spencey. We couldn't imagine life without you!
Silly
Playful
Entertaining
Never a dull moment
Cuddly
Enthusiastic
Ridiculously funny
Happy Birthday, Spencey. We couldn't imagine life without you!
All he wanted was firetrucks, so this is what we came up with.
When the candles were lit it was supposed to be the building on fire.
The happy birthday boy - Quote: "This is the best birthday ever!" Ah, it's nice when going to Mcdonald's for lunch and a few toys make their whole day. Can he stay this age forever?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Speaking of Multiculturalism...
A couple of days ago I blogged about multiculturalism. Here's a link to a great video of the Kyiv Ukraine temple dedication and the testimonies of youth from the many nations it will serve. As one girls says, "This is truly a gathering of Israel."
https://lds.org/youth/video/kyiv-ukraine-temple-cultural-celebration?lang=eng
https://lds.org/youth/video/kyiv-ukraine-temple-cultural-celebration?lang=eng
Like Clockwork
Why is it that some things come every year just like clockwork? One in particular that I do not look forward to is every February without fail we have vehicle maintenance issues. This year I thought we might escape it, but no luck. My van has a few little issues that, I have to admit, we've been putting off a little bit, and last week Dan came home and informed me that his brakes were grinding, plus his driver's side window wouldn't go up. So, into the shop it went as the pressing issue since he needs to commute to work.
Too much money later and this morning my van chugged out and died on my way to drop kids at school. It started again, but that means it's time to call the tow truck and take it in as well. The price you pay when you don't drive new vehicles.
But, I have to make my list of positives in all this chaos:
-the van acted up in our parking lot and I had the presence of mind to park it at the abandoned school, backed in and waiting for my BCAA tow. We were not in the middle of a busy Coquitlam street.
-Dan has been very fortunate with that little car we got for cheap from the Calgary mission. It's been a great little commuter without any major issues, and with this last bit of work it should be good for a while, which we will need when we try to re-register in Alberta and he needs a car to get to and from his placement.
-We held onto a student loan cheque all year knowing that there might be a rainy day and tried our best to do without digging into it. Mind you, I had hoped it would be our moving fund, but using it to repair used vehicles is a pretty close second
-We do not have a new vehicle, so no huge monthly payments. So far, the dreaded maintenance has still not equalled what a car payment would be over the course of a year.
In the past I would have been panicking a little, gasping for breath and spending all day (and night) trying to crunch numbers and figure out how to make this work. But this time I feel a little more calm. Changing my outlook in the past few months and trying to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in everything has helped me see that there is always a plan and a way, and everything always works out.
I am reminded of something my mom used to tell me: If you pay your tithing you might never be rich, but somehow things will always turn out. And they do.
I have to wonder, though, if Canadian Tire has a "frequent fixer" plan? hee hee.
Too much money later and this morning my van chugged out and died on my way to drop kids at school. It started again, but that means it's time to call the tow truck and take it in as well. The price you pay when you don't drive new vehicles.
But, I have to make my list of positives in all this chaos:
-the van acted up in our parking lot and I had the presence of mind to park it at the abandoned school, backed in and waiting for my BCAA tow. We were not in the middle of a busy Coquitlam street.
-Dan has been very fortunate with that little car we got for cheap from the Calgary mission. It's been a great little commuter without any major issues, and with this last bit of work it should be good for a while, which we will need when we try to re-register in Alberta and he needs a car to get to and from his placement.
-We held onto a student loan cheque all year knowing that there might be a rainy day and tried our best to do without digging into it. Mind you, I had hoped it would be our moving fund, but using it to repair used vehicles is a pretty close second
-We do not have a new vehicle, so no huge monthly payments. So far, the dreaded maintenance has still not equalled what a car payment would be over the course of a year.
In the past I would have been panicking a little, gasping for breath and spending all day (and night) trying to crunch numbers and figure out how to make this work. But this time I feel a little more calm. Changing my outlook in the past few months and trying to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in everything has helped me see that there is always a plan and a way, and everything always works out.
I am reminded of something my mom used to tell me: If you pay your tithing you might never be rich, but somehow things will always turn out. And they do.
I have to wonder, though, if Canadian Tire has a "frequent fixer" plan? hee hee.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
When you get a little too complacent in your corner of the world....
Dr. Floyd Shoemaker described the world as it would look if it were reduced to a village of only 100 people with the existing human ratios still existing. This is what it would be like:
This was taken from an article on Multicultaral Diversity and Competence in Therapeutic Recreation that I was reading through last night so I could understand what Dan was referring to in the assignment I was editing/typing. I was also reading it for interest sake, since in my own profession understanding various cultures is a huge benefit to reaching my clients. Depending on where I am working at any given time, I have had patients from all over the globe and from all walks of life. Like the stats above suggest, it would be fairly narrow minded of me to assume that they are all just like me. Because I fit into a very slim category of people who would be in that village - from the Western hemisphere, Caucasian, Christian, literate, and I have a university education - it's so easy to sink into my little corner of the world and forget about the rest.
I have to take a minute today and consider all of our many blessings as children of God living with a knowledge of the gospel in a free, industrialized country. We could have gone so many other places and I take it for granted and complain about small inconveniences all the time. Shame on me!
- 57 Asians
- 21 Europeans
- 14 from the Western hemisphere
- 8 Africans
- 50% of the entire world's wealth would be in tha hands of only 6 people, all of whom would be from the United States
- 70 people would be people of color
- 30 would be white
- 30 would be Christian
- 70 would be from other faiths
- 70 would not be able to read
- 50 would suffer malnutrition
- 80 would live in substandard housing
- only one would have a university education
This was taken from an article on Multicultaral Diversity and Competence in Therapeutic Recreation that I was reading through last night so I could understand what Dan was referring to in the assignment I was editing/typing. I was also reading it for interest sake, since in my own profession understanding various cultures is a huge benefit to reaching my clients. Depending on where I am working at any given time, I have had patients from all over the globe and from all walks of life. Like the stats above suggest, it would be fairly narrow minded of me to assume that they are all just like me. Because I fit into a very slim category of people who would be in that village - from the Western hemisphere, Caucasian, Christian, literate, and I have a university education - it's so easy to sink into my little corner of the world and forget about the rest.
I have to take a minute today and consider all of our many blessings as children of God living with a knowledge of the gospel in a free, industrialized country. We could have gone so many other places and I take it for granted and complain about small inconveniences all the time. Shame on me!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Vacation from home
Madi is learning all about structures in her science class right now. A link they gave her was to this website:
http://panoramas.dk/7-wonders/index.html
Go on and visit the whole world, from your living room! It's kind of fun to see a 360 degree panorama view from the top of Mt. Everest or inside the Roman Colisseum or the palace of Versailles. For now it will have to do as our trip around the world! Have fun.
http://panoramas.dk/7-wonders/index.html
Go on and visit the whole world, from your living room! It's kind of fun to see a 360 degree panorama view from the top of Mt. Everest or inside the Roman Colisseum or the palace of Versailles. For now it will have to do as our trip around the world! Have fun.
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