Monday Morning Packing Reflections

It's been a fairly sentimental time for me this weekend. We have officially given our notice to move out of our rental. I have lived in this house longer than I've lived in any home, my entire life. See this beautiful doe? She is getting ready to have a baby. Its that time of year around here, and for seven years we've welcomed lots of tiny, baby, spotted fawns at our house....and little baby turkeys and bear cubs. We wake up to deer in our yard almost every morning, and go to bed with them in our yard almost every night.

Idaho Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Around here, I work overtime to keep tummies full…and I count on recipes like Idaho Loaded Baked Potato Soup. Now this recipe won’t win any health food awards. It is more of a Paula Dean kind of fare, but it does fill up tummies. I found this recipe on a post card years ago when I was visiting Idaho and living elsewhere. It’s been a regular at our house for years now and has brought smiles to dinner guests from Arizona to Florida and back to Idaho.

Here’s what you need:

2/3 c. butter

2/3 c. flour

Salt and pepper to taste

7 c. milk

4 large Idaho bakers  (or 8 normal size potatoes)

8 slices bacon

8 slices green onions

1 c. shredded cheese

1 c. sour cream

Here’s how I make it:

First, I bake the potatoes ahead of time…like the morning of or even a day or two before. I also use pre-cooked bacon because I’m lazy, and I hate bacon grease. But I you like to cook it yourself, you can do that ahead of time too. When ready to make the soup, Melt the butter in your soup pot and whisk in the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking the mixture until completely smooth before adding more milk. While the mixture is beginning to heat up, peel the cooled potatoes and dice. Add the potatoes and onions to the soup and bring it all just to a boil. Stir in the bacon, cheese, and sour cream and serve! It is delish!....and very filling. You can serve it totally alone and no one will complain.

Flag Page - Personality Test for Kids!

A couple of months ago, Superman and I had a chance to be a part of a Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage conference with Mark Gungor. It was great!

One of the things we came away with was the Flag Page to help us understand each others' personalities. Bill and I have done lots of these kinds of tests, but I've never seen one for kids. We went ahead and picked up this "Flag Page" for kids kit. It was quite an investment, honestly, but when we divided the price by four (for Eeny, Meeny, Miny, an Mo), we decided it was worth it. It is intended for kids age 3-12. It is recommended that kids 13 and over use the online test adults do. However, since Aspies understand pictures better than emotional definitions, we decided this would work fine for all of our kiddos.

Pinterest Paranoia

Are you on Pinterest yet? I just joined, myself, and am getting comfortably addicted. Comment with your user name, if I can follow you. You can find me here.

We're quite possibly moving soon, and I've begun to pack the less essential things around here. I've been going through craft supplies I've totally forgotten about. Perfect timing! One of the things I'm loving the most is coming up with fun snack ideas and craft projects kids can do. My kids have five days left of school, and I'm frantically working to have a good "attack" plan for their next three months at home, while I work.

Do you have a good plan? Daily schedule? I'd love to hear. I was thinking of having a different craft prepared every day, required reading time, chores (need to get a better organized system), etc.

504 and IEP - What's the diff?

As this year comes to a close, we have began navigating the process of a 504 and an IEP with two of our children.

What is a 504? or an IEP?  you ask?

Family Friendly Audio Tracks

From the Dove Foundation

We recently rented "We Bought A Zoo" for a family movie night. It looked like an adorable story, and it was rated PG. I may not have investigated enough. Sometimes I'm just too trusting. It WAS an adorable story. However, I was floored at the language. It was prolific for a "family movie", and I just couldn't see how it got a PG rating.

Let's Do This!

Howdy, All!!

So sorry for my very long "vacation" - which really was no vacation at all. Where have I been? Well...I've been right here - just not blogging so much for Let's Talk About Boys. I've had a couple of new irons in the fire, that are kind of like having a newborn!

Stoplight Day

My son's high school had spirit week this week in honor of an upcoming rival basketball game. I personally was super disturbed by the theme on Wednesday. It was called Stoplight Day.  In other words, wear green if you are available, yellow if "its complicated" and red if you're taken.

The Mom Cave

I’ve heard that some homes have a “man cave.”…you know that place where the man can go to escape  with his remote, his recliner, and whatever else he thinks he needs.

Well, at my house, we don’t need a man cave. The whole house is a man cave. For goodness sake, even our dog and our lizard are boys.

Pedro

I think I've forgotten to introduce you to our newest family member. Meet Pedro, our bearded dragon....and of course it's a boy!