A Special Call

This moment must be documented into the annals of my personal history.

For the first time in my life, my little sister Catye called me. No lo creo! I know, it is quite unbelievable. But she really did call me.

I feel special.


Catye is the girl on the left...fyi.

My Gorgeous Babies

Thanks a million trillion Corrinne. These turned out so beautifully. I am very grateful. I am so lucky that I have such talented friends.

Happy Halloween!

Ward Harvest Festival and Chili Recipe

Yesterday was our annual ward Harvest Festival. It is a lot of fun for everyone and the kids have been looking forward to it all week. We got all dressed up in our costumes and headed out to the festivities.


Eli is in the middle with his friends Braden and Alex. They are all very close in age. Braden was a monster too.


Here is my little clan. The babies had on some Halloween orange, but nothing clever. Hey, I have 5 kids now...


Me and my little monster. Eli was diggin' the whole Halloween thing. There was lots of candy and he was happy. He walked around a bit glassy-eyed with all of the commotion.

I decided to enter the chili cook-off competition, even though many of my church friends were "shocked" that I would dare do such a thing, since I just gave birth a few weeks ago. Come on people! It takes about 20 minutes to whip up chili, the easiest thing in the world. Anyhow, there were loads of entries for the little competition and guess who won first place? No, it wasn't the Missy-otties!

IT WAS ME!!! Ha Ha....

It couldn't have happened to a more humble entrant. Plus, my awesomeness cannot be contained. **See, all those tv watching hours when I was heavily-laden with pregnancy has really paid off, hasn't it?

Here is my trophy chili, resting proudly on my junk shelf in the kitchen.

So, I have had many requests for my "secret" recipe. I don't do exact measurements, so I am going to try to tell everyone how I made it as best as I can.

Chili

**Beans**

Dried red kidney

Dried white cannelli

Dried pinto

1 can black beans (I didn't have any dried available) ***add this with everything else, liquid included***

I pressure cooked all of my dried beans in an 8 quart pressure cooker. It was equal parts beans that filled the pot almost half full. However, I only used half of that, so fill beans to about 1/4 of the way full. Fill the pot with water, almost all the way to the top. I threw in about 4 beef bouillon cubes to season the beans. It took about 90-120 minutes to cook and then they were nice and soft.

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 cups cooked sirloin beef, cubed
2 small onions
2 anaheim peppers (use any pepper you like)
2 large cans tomato sauce
1 large can stewed tomato
1 large can diced tomato
2 cans diced green chilies
Red Chili Powder (I have no idea how much...but I will guess about 1/4 cup)
Ground cumin (same with this. but I will guess at least a tablespoon)
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Once the beans are cooked, brown the hamburger, diced onions and peppers at the bottom of the stew pot. Add everything else. Bring it to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Enjoy the yummy goodness.

These amounts were for a large pot of chili. Portion sizes depend on you and what you like. Just add and adjust as needed, but don't forget the diced green chilies because that is the best part.

A Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids on Thursday to a local pumpkin patch. It was lots of fun. There was a little petting zoo there and Eli had a blast hanging out with the goats, rabbits, and chickens. He didn't want to leave. It didn't hurt that there were fun haystacks to climb on as well. However, he was not too keen on the pony. It was the first animal we saw and I asked him if he wanted to pet the pony. He vigorously shook his head, like he was saying "No Way!" But he did warm up to the pony eventually. It was just a little too big for him.





Raef and Zach went on a trampoline slingshot thing. It was a long wait to get a turn but I think it was worth it. They had a ball. Raef was cautious at first but as he got more comfortable the worker sent him higher and higher into the air. We had a lot of fun!

A Thump and a Wail

Rinar worked in Albuquerque yesterday and today so I was on my own for the middle of the night feedings. After a while, it all becomes a blur so I really can't remember what happened specifically. I know I woke up many times and that is about it.

So, this morning I was wiped out and trying to sleep as much as possible while I had the chance. However, I jumped out of bed when I heard a big thump followed by lots of crying.

I ran into Eli's room and sure enough, he was on the floor. My little baby boy crawled and then fell out of his crib. Times are changing. He cried a little bit and then he was on his way to a new day. What will this mean for me? I am kind of scared to think about the possiblities, but I will hope for the best.

Five Is Very Real Now

This has been a nice week for me. Rinar's mom came and stayed while Rinar took a business trip to Boston. It was great. She cooked and cleaned and helped me out a lot. It was fun to hang out with her and get to know her better. Grandma also had fun playing games with Raef and Zach and also accompanying them on the piano when they practiced the violin. I was able to enjoy this week without the stress. But now it is time for my reality check...tomorrow is my first real day as a mother of FIVE children.

Holy cow, I can't believe I have 5 kids. At the beginning of last year I had 2 kids and one on the way. Now I have five. This just goes to show you that things can change quickly. It becomes very real when I load up my car and all of the seats are taken. This mothering thing is for real now. There is no turning back.

I am very blessed that Raef and Zach are such a big help for me. For example, a few days ago I asked them if one of them would like to give Eli a bath. Zach exuberantly volunteered. He took him up there and was gone for at least 30 minutes. I have not taught Zach how to put a diaper on a baby, and especially a 20 month-old baby. But sure enough, Zach and Eli came downstairs and Eli was fully dressed, diaper and all. I was amazed at what Zach did all by himself. He was beaming with pride. Then after a few minutes I looked closer at how Zach had dressed Eli. He had put both of Eli's legs in one of the shorts sides. Hence two legs in one hole. It was hilarious. Eli looked like he was wearing a mini-skirt. I was laughing hysterically. Plus, the diaper was loosely wrapped around his belly so when he would squat down, you could see major butt-crackage. I was loving it.

You see...my oldest boys are very helpful. I am very blessed.

I also caught Eli giving Harry a couple of kisses. He decided to do this all on his own. Isn't it so precious?

Rinar's birthday was yesterday so he treated himself and all of us to some Krispie Kreme donuts. All of the kids walked through the door with hats on their heads. Eli kept his on the longest.

I went to church today and so it was the babies first day of church also. Julia was all decked out in her cute stuff from Corinne, the baby-bling specialist. Corinne makes head bands and removable flowers for the head bands. In addition, she made me a binkie holder that says "Julia" on it. The binkie is also specialized with her name on it as well. The original headband had a hot pink bow to go with it but it was so huge for her little head that I switched it out for the smaller red flower. The proportions were a lot more manageable.

She is just so little that the dress kind of swallows her up a bit. But she really looked adorable in this outfit.