Me, a Michelle Duggar Wannabe???

Heehee, I figured after my post the other day about 20 Kids & Counting and now this... the title seemed appropriate ;)

Yep. I am STILL telling about our cross country vacation (partly because I'm not blogging as much and partly because I'm only doing a vacation post once a week. - I'm thinking I'll be done telling about the trip by Christmas. LOL)

After we had spent back to back days visiting Arches Nat'l Park, The Painted Desert and then the Grand Canyon we woke up that last morning in Arizona sad to be saying goodbye to my brother and his family, but happy to have a couple days of "nothingness" ahead of us.

We said our "goodbyes", which is always hard, especially since my brother Scott ALWAYS makes me cry.



Then, after shedding some tears and being sure we hadn't left anything behind at the campsite (we did), we packed up in the van and headed for New Mexico.

Our plan was to make it as close to the Texas border as possible, find a hotel for the night, celebrate Stephanie's SIXTEENTH birthday by having a nice breakfast out the next morning, and then driving on into Amarillo for a 2 day stay.
We stuck to the plan, but New Mexico proved to definitely be one of the hardest states to find a hotel room on a whim when you need two adjoining rooms and we settled on a remote town in the middle of NOTHING for the night. And finding a restaurant that served breakfast proved to be an even bigger challenge. (thank God for our GPS or we wouldn't have found anything!)

Finally, we arrived at Denny's.
Although it's not my favorite restaurant, we were excited to find out that Steph's breakfast was free because it was her birthday. So, we let her choose a fancy schmancy drink from the menu as well :)



(we always know we can count on both Keith and Emma for some slightly inappropriate dining entertainment ;)

From breakfast, we head out for the Texas border.
I have to admit, most people thought we were crazy for being excited about going to Texas, but for a very conservative, Christian family, Texas is like Disneyland to us and we couldn't wait to cross the border into a state where the Constitution is more than just a piece of paper.

My first impression of Texas may not have lived up to my expectations....

It was so HOT and dry and dusty and not that I didn't expect it, but I guess I was expecting to see ranches right away.....
And then.... we did!

In the distance, I saw this formation on the side of the road and as we got closer I started to yell and tell Russ to pull over.
"I know what that is! We HAVE to go there!"
The Cadillac Ranch!
I had first heard about the Cadillac Ranch on a TLC special about the Duggars traveling cross country (on a trip very similar to ours) and they had stopped at the ranch and decorated the Cadillacs and as soon as I saw it, I knew we needed to stop too :)




We finally found some spray paint that worked (there were bottles all over the ground. Kind-of sad really.) and we left our mark on Amarillo, Texas ;)

After baking in the sun for a bit, we piled back into the van for our short ride to our hotel room (aka our home for 2 days).
While Russ checked in, the older kids unloaded their things from the van and I took Emma and Will out and let them "play" in the shade...




Yeah, and it's a good thing we decided to stop for a few days, because I think all the stopping & going was beginning to get to us all and we needed a break.

(stay tuned...)

Playing along with 7 Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday & Twinfatuation for Way Back Whens-day

Also playing along with Spotlight Thursdays at:




Vacation:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
Part 9 , Part 10 , Part 11
Part 12 , Part 13

How I Feed My Army with Left-Overs

I am asked all the time how much food it takes to feed our family and what our monthly bill looks like (it's not as bad as you might guess).
One of the things I like to do when I am planning our menu each week is to be sure I come up with ingredients that I can find many uses for. And one of those ingredients is ham.
Quite frankly, I am NOT a fan of ham. I don't like the taste and I definitely don't like the texture, but ALL of my kids do and so does Russ.... so, it's just a small price this mama must pay to keep the family happy.
And, ham is so versatile....
it's perfect for breakfasts in eggs, sliced thin for sandwiches for lunch or diced up and thrown in for yummy dinner casseroles.
So, when I buy a ham, I buy a ham.
30 pounds at a time!
Yes, THIRTY POUNDS!
And, last week, I made it for a nice ham dinner and during the week we've enjoyed ham & cheese omelets and tonite.... my friend Lise's Ham & Cheese Bake. (the best part of this recipe...proportions are all up to you!)

Lise's HC Bake
You want to start with some cooked ham, chopped coarsely into bite size pieces.
(about 2 cups, more or less, depending on your taste)

Cook Elbow pasta according to box directions and combine them with the ham.
Pour half of the mixture into a 13x9 pan

Cover the pasta & ham with a layer of American cheese (you could use cheddar also, but the recipe calls for deli American, which makes it really creamy. I used both.)
*Important: NOT processed American cheese! The American cheese in this recipe is only found at the deli counter.

Cover the cheese layer with the additional pasta & ham and then repeat cheese layer on top of that.

In a sauce pan, melt 4 TBS of butter and add 2 TBS of flour to make a slurry.

Whisk in 1 1/2 c. milk and heat until almost boiling


Pour over top of the pasta.


Place into a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes


Enjoy!

Tip: Delicious served with stewed tomatoes!

ps If you are a crazy mama like me, you will triple this recipe and use a 5lb box of elbow pasta and 2lbs of ham and fill 2 HUGE lasagna pans which means.... LEFT-OVERS for lunch!

Playing along with:
Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table @ All the Small Stuff
Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed With Grace
and Delicious Dishes

20 Kids and Counting....

Two weeks ago some of my friends and I were exchanging emails, just basically complaining about the everyday hum drum that we have been dealing with and, on a whim, I suggested that everyone pack their kids into their minivans (because they ALL have one) and come to my house for a week.
And, wasn't I surprised (and beyond thrilled!) when one by one, they all told me they were coming! (of course, there were a bunch of my girlfriends who couldn't come, but believe me, they were absolutely with us in spirit)
These ladies are my life. They are the people I go to first when I have something exciting to share and the first people I go to when I need to talk about something that no one else will understand.
These are the women I went through my entire twin pregnancy with...


Me complaining about everything from pubic bone dysplasia, to the inability to sleep, to the horror of accidentally throwing up when I had no idea I needed to....and sharing my ultra sound pictures, the names I had chosen, and telling them before most everyone else that Emma & Will had arrived...
And all of them sharing those same details plus some with me about their pregnancies and births of their twins....
top to bottom: Tommy & Cate, Sean & Owen, Sofiya & Kalia, and Hunter & Nicholas

So, when these ladies arrived, it was like coming home.
And although it's been a while since all of our little ones have seen one another, it was as if no time had passed.
And we shared so many wonderful moments...

Fun in the pool.

A party just isn't a party without...
Margaritas!
(after the littles were in bed, of course)

The bigger kids went to the mall
(and yes, that is my son David and my friend Christy's son Cody checking out the storefront at Victoria's Secret. - God help us!)

We celebrated Keith's 9th birthday!
My baby is NINE!!!

Fun at the Park!

Lots of SILLY Moments!
and the big kids... well, one night they just decided to "dress up" and honestly, they had us laughing, crying and wondering what on earth they were thinking.... (don't they know I have a blog??? LOL)

And, of course, there were absolutely Sweet Sweet Moments
Steph with Emma, Sofiya & Kalia
Sweet Tommy giving Cello a hug.

Hunter & Nicholas asleep on the floor :)
Sleepy Owen
The girly girls: Sofiya, Emma, Cate & Kalia

This past week was one of the best weeks at home I have had in a long time. All of the kids were happy (within reason...there were 8 three year olds after all). Mama was happy. Food was DELICIOUS. And the company..... FABULOUS.

These kids, all of them, not only make my Monday, but they totally made my week :)

left to right: Teddy w/Will, Henry w/Kalia, Emma, Marcello, Sofiya, Delaney, Keith w/Cate & Tommy

left to right: David, Cody, Jessica, Gabi & Stephanie

left to right: Nicholas, Hunter, Emma, Will, Owen & Sean

Jen, Denise, Christy & Terri....
Thank you for coming to my house and helping to make it feel like a home that was busting at the seams.
I love you all!

Playing along with Twinfatuation for Makes My Monday.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week 36

I have been doing menu planning for a while now.
I started over on my recipe blog about a year ago and have now decided that I wanted to organize my entire life and not just my menus, so I am bringing my menu planning here :)
I used to just fly by the seat of my pants each day, which made dinner planning quite expensive, so after discovering Organizing Junkie I decided to make it a weekly plan for myself and I have never looked back.
I hope that by sharing my weekly menu with you, it might inspire you to plan more and be creative in your kitchens as well (and maybe, just maybe try some of my recipes as well).

Week 36

Sunday: sandwiches, chips & fresh fruit

Monday: Miss Lise's ham & cheese casserole (recipe to be posted)

Tuesday: meatloaf, stewed tomatoes, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob

Wednesday: homemade chicken nuggets (recipe to be posted), salsa & chips, fresh fruit salad

Thursday: (formal dinner) tilapia, crab stuffed mushrooms, garden salad, applesauce & ice cream sundaes for dessert

Friday: breakfast for dinner (pancakes, sausage & fresh berries)

Saturday: BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, tomato & cucumber salad, baked beans