another recipe if i may and a cute beckam story

and i may since it is my blog. i like to share these because i'm always looking for new fast, healthy and most importantly delicious dinner ideas. it's not a real recipe it's more of a meal idea:

meatball sandwich
focaccia rolls (SO GOOD, trader joes), toasted

italian style (or turkey) frozen meatballs (trader joes), cooked

provolone cheese, melted on top

marinara sauce
(i just throw these ingredients in the blender and then heat on the stove: 2 T extra virgin olive oil, 1 small onion, 4 cloves garlic, 28 oz can stewed tomatoes, ½ t salt, ½ t black pepper and 10 fresh basil leaves (or dried or if you're my husband, you use cilantro instead of basil (on accident)--same difference, right? it still tasted great. i tell you he teaches me time and again that there really IS more than one right way to do things!)

cute beckam story
sometimes as a mother i wonder if my boys are learning anything i'm trying to teach them. and then there is a moment like this and i realize the answer is YES! asher can now reach the doors to the armoire, which houses the tv and he loves to exercise his new found skill of shutting the doors whenever they are open. unfortunately for him, they are only open when the tv is on and more unfortunately, his brothers do not appreciate him closing them while they are watching a show. so the other day, this very scene played out while i listened from the dining room. i hear the armoire door shut and turn my head to see what the repercussions will be. beckam walks over to asher, gently puts his hand on asher's cheek and quietly says, "asher...please don't shut the doors again, brother is trying to watch star wars." and best of all, asher listened!!
glory, glory hallelujah maybe they are learning something!

excuse me while i play on facebook

i won't be long and when i return:

i'll tell you about beckam turning 4 (two weeks ago)
i'll show you my new bangs and pictures of asher w/ an allergic reaction (to what? i don't know but he looked f-u-n-n-y. kinda scary really.)

a recipe and more family photos

i hear some of you actually use the recipes i post so here's one of our favorite fast and easy "regulars":

abc chicken soup
(i just make up the amounts every time so this is what i did tonight)

boil 3 large chicken breasts in chicken broth (3 boxes of pacific from costco) for 10 min. or until chicken is cooked through. chop 3 potatoes, 3 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 1 parsnip, 2 zucchini and 1 cup of mushroom. remove chicken, shred and set aside. add veggies to boiling broth, except for zucchini and mushroom. let boil a few minutes before adding bag ABC pastsa (trader joes). cook 8 min. or so and then add remaining veggies and chicken. salt and pepper. serve w/ trader joe's most delicious corn bread!!

for beckam it's the lettuce wraps but this is jaden's fav. tonight he had two full bowls and was ready for "third 2nds."

and today in the mail i got the cd of our family photo shoot that melissa did (header photo)! wanna see some of our favorites?! (they're not blurry if you click on the image)
and there's a few more that will be featured in our header at some point. because any good photographer includes personalized blog header photos don't they? she's in san luis obispo so look her up if you want some great pictures at a great price!! she's super cute and nice, too!

maybe men don't belong in the kitchen.

i was talking to micah on the phone last night while shopping at target when he says, "oh, that's why there's bubbles all over the floor. that wasn't the soap for the dishwasher." so today we ran the rinse cycle to see if we could get rid of the lingering suds. when micah opened the dishwasher, all that could be heard from the kitchen over and over was, "wow, these soap suds are fantastic. these suds are really fantastic." then, "come here, you've got to experience this."
micah's notorious for these kind of accidents. this is perhaps his best:

when we were very newly married, we were doing laundry late one night and since the laundry room was outside and around the corner from our apt., i sent him out to change the clothes from the washer to the dryer and bring in the clothes from the dryer. then i waited for him to come back. and waited and waited and waited. and waited. then finally the front door opened and in steps micah laundry basket in hand. check. i look at him confused. he smiles. (this story i cannot retell without laughing my head off as i type it) and says, "the dryer is broke. there's water pouring into it!" i'm still confused. water? really? he goes on: "yeah, it's the funniest thing. i opened the dryer and the clothes were still really wet. so i put more quarters in and WATER starting pouring into the dryer!" of course i was hysterical and surely wet my pants and probably did each time i retold it to every member of our family. he went on to tell me how baffled he was about water in the dryer until it occurred to him that it must be the washer! but why in the world, he wondered, would the washer be on the right side?! the washer goes on the left. it's always supposed to be on the left! he then resorted to taking each piece of clothing out one by one and wringing it out before tossing it into the dryer. "spin cycle? what's a spin cycle?" he wondered. (he still didn't know tonight about the spin cycle when i stopped at this point while reading him this post and said he would probably do the exact same thing today should the dryer ever malfunction like that again).

i teased him about his great ploy to get out of laundry duty for the rest of his life. and it actually kind of worked. i'm happy for him to fold but i'd rather man the machines. and fold he does. you should see his skills! he's learned from the pro (apparently that's me. just ask his mom and dad. they marvel at my folding and have been known to just sit and watch me. really! no talents. who am i kidding?) so it all works out. and the dishes got clean. and the clothes did, too. so i'm not complaining. really.