Snow!

My blog won't seem to let me upload any pictures lately! There are a bunch on facebook at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131045&id=555634238&l=cc8c467487

and here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128745&id=555634238&l=bfdfd74d60

Giving Thanks

OK, so I took a lot of pictures today and just had so many good ones that I needed to put them all up. This morning, yes before Thanksgiving dinner even happened, we put the tree up. The kids "helped." Levi had a picnic and he let Sadie have one too. He didn't want to share his picnic with her so he made her a "little picnic" with a dish towel.

Levi is always up as soon as Andy get out of bed in the morning. He follows him downstairs where they have cereal (Andy's in a bowl with milk and Levi's dry out of his tractor wagon.) Then Andy reads his bible. You can see that Levi is copying him here.

Thanksgiving dinner was in the dining hall since Pat and Kim had so many guests. They had anout 40 friends and family there.

Levi and Sheridan.

Levi with Savannah and Victoria.

The Fam
It was so nice today so we got some pictures outside.

Oh Those Kids

Andy got some good shots of the kids this morning.

Levi doing his "chores" aka putting the silverware away from the dishwasher. It keeps him busy while I am doing the other dishes. I figure we had might as well start him young, while he still thinks it is fun to help!

Easy as 123

I have to admit that when Levi started counting I was very surprised. He is 2 1/2 and very smart, but I just didn't think I ever really "taught" him to count. The other day he started a train of books on the kitchen floor and was counting them. He would count to 3, run and get another one and then count to 4 and so on. He got all the way to 11! He definitely gets his math/number concept skills from his Daddy!

I think we will start working on his ABC's next!

Cookie Time!

Andy took the day off today so for the afternoon he and Levi made chocolate chip cookies. Here Levi is testing the sugar.

After a cookie--this is his "say cheese" fake smile. Pretty terrible huh?And Sadie would be the Little Red Hen of the group. She did zero work and still got to eat the cookies!

Treat Please!

Hand Me Down

I am waiting for Sadie to waker from her nap so we can go shop at our favorite store. It is not what you think. No, it isn't Old Navy or Children's Place. It's Amanda's house!

A friend of ours has two boys who are a couple years older than Levi. She generously allows me to dig, and I mean DIG through her piles of outgrown clothes.

First, she has nice things that are adorable and in good shape. In addition, I get a ton of clothes for a great price and virtually no work of shopping and hunting for the right things. I usually even get a winter coat and some shoes in his current size.

For Sadie, many items come from her cousin Evie, who also has adorable clothes that Sadie can re-wear.

The benefits? Cheap. If you know me you know I am frugal and hardly ever buy something that doesn't come from Salvation Army or Fancy Pants Consignment store. I also love the way moms come together as a community to help each other out. We are all in this "mom thing" together so we had might as well enjoy it together.

But better than cheap is the fun it is to see my children in other kids' clothing. It brings back memories for their moms and it is nice to know things are being used again.

The full circle? Many of the items Levi and Sadie have worn I have passed on to other children. For some reason I love seeing Levi's little friend Zane wearing our old sneakers.

The cons? I suppose if you really want the top fashion for your child then hand-me-downs are not the way to go. Don't get me wrong, I like our kids to look nice and I still buy some new items for them (but that is mainly reserved for holiday outfits or professional picture occasions.)

So, thanks Amanda, for letting me shop at your store while the kids play all over and make a mess. I really do appreciate it and boy does Levi look cute in Liam and Jacob's clothes!

PaPa and Gramma

Gramma and PaPa came for a visit. We had a great time (and got a lot of applesauce made, too!)

Na Na in NY

Kisses for Na Na

Halupki Casserole (Unstuffed Cabbage)

1 1/2 lb cabbage (medium size)

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion chopped

1/3 c uncooked instant rice

1 can tomato soup

1 1/2 cups water

1 tsp salt

dash garlic powder

Chop cabbage up into small pieces. Place cabbage in bottom of baking dish. Brown meat and onion. Stir in rice. Pour over cabbage. Mix tomato soup and water. Pour over entire casserole. Bake covered at 350 degrees for one to one and a half hours until cabbage is done. When cooked, stir completely. Be sure cabbage is on the bottom of the casserole or it wont cook. I did this in the crock pot on high for 4 hours.

Fall Leaves

Porcupine Meatballs

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1 pound ground beef
1 cup uncooked instant rice
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
1 clove garlic, minced



DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix 1/4 cup of the tomato soup with the ground beef, rice, egg, onion and salt. Firmly shape into 16 meatballs.
In a small bowl, mix remaining tomato soup with a half soup can of water and the mustard.
Melt the shortening in a large skillet over medium heat. Place garlic and meatballs in the skillet. Cook, gently stirring, until evenly browned; drain. Pour tomato soup and mustard mixture over the meatballs and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through.

Farewell

In celebration of Matt Crane leaving for the Navy this week there was a party at Dan and Peggy Crane's house. (Mom and Dad, this is where we had that picnic on Mom's birthday. The Crane's live in an apartment at the Welch's house.) Andrew and Levi were feeding crackers to the fish. Check out the "collar hold." Levi would have been swimming if we let him!

and the bragging continues

If you have talked to Levi on the phone lately, you have heard about the silo, "Tower smash tractor pull." A leaning tower had to be pulled down before it fell down and of course we didn't want to miss a show like that! The kids playing on the stairs.

Sadie on Mommy's phone.

Who me?

Sweet heart!

All ready for church.

This little girl is growing up so fast. Can you believe this? She crawls up onto the counch now!

Sadie likes music and will dance too! I love this: she warms up and finds the beat, then she takes off!

A new little porch swing. Thanks Pam!

Bye bye Puggy party (pacifier) complete with ice cream, sprinkles and a candle.

Helping put together the new meat smoker.

Sadie is very good with a screwdriver :-)

What a peach!

We found a little toy golf set for Levi (it was leftover from a garage sale and was free by the road--my faovrite kind of shopping)

He was a little confused at first and tried to put it on the baseball tee.

Sadie's first tea party--and maybe Andy's too! It is hard to see and hear, but she is "pouring" into a cup and then slurping out of the cup-all imaginary of course.

The first swing.