Just Another Normal Sunday Afternoon

I found these pictures on my camera today...



...and fell in love with my kids all over again.

School Picture Day

School picture day was here.

I like to let the kids get crazy for these pictures because we don't buy them. So really, why not?

Princess informed me right off that "I am not really too much of a weird person most of the time so I want to just, um, look mostly just normal in my school picture even though our family is kind of more weird."

I was fine with that.

Hubba recently had a haircut so there wasn't much to work with.

But Cowgirl? She had a plan.


My favorite part is the 'beard'. Apparently the school photographer was not a big fan of this genius idea and told her, "I'm going to have to have you take that ponytail out from under your chin."

It's a good thing I can appreciate her awesome sense of humor and already got a picture before she left for school.

We Are Family

We finally got some new family pictures taken by our awesome friend Jason (who also happens to be an awesome photographer).

If you want to see the individual pictures of the kids, take a look in the sidebar. ------>

I love this shot of Allen and I:

And here are my favorite outtakes:








Here's what happens to a couple after 19 years of marriage and 10 kids...

They get a little psycho-crazy.

And that's just the way we like it.

Train Town Break Down

We made our way back home from Texas in a marathon two day trip. One small town we had noticed on our way to Texas (can't remember the name of it, but I'm sure Allen can tell me. I think it was near the border of Colorado?) was some sort of historical train stop - so, with train lovers in our family, we decided to make it a quick pit-stop on our way back.

At this point in the trip, we had already driven for one day straight, stopped at a hotel overnight, done some more marathon driving (stopping only for gas) and were still not very close to home. You know the drill - fussy baby wants out of his carseat, cries of how much longer? and he's breathing my air! and can I eat something? and I'm bored! Let's just say this - patience was not my strong suit.


I just wanted a dang picture of my smiling family. NORMAL SMILES. Was that too much to ask?


As I continued to snap photos of my family I became increasingly frustrated that they would not JUST SMILE NORMAL ALREADY!


I believe I may have even told one of my children *cough* ElemenoB *cough* that someday I hoped she would look back on all the pictures I have of her over the last two years or so and wish she had not made THOSE RIDICULOUS FACES!!


They seemed to feed on my frustration.


And then... FINALLY! they realized that I was not kidding. I was annoyed. So I got a good shot! No goofy faces.


And then I looked closer as I scrolled through my pictures and noticed that Cowgirl was plugging her nose in my one 'normal shot'.

That was it. The last straw.

I could feel the emotion rising as my mouth started to twitch. NO! I thought to myself. For some reason, when I am in an awkward or uncomfortable situation where I want to cry or scream, my emotions play tricks on me. I don't get why I do this, but it happens every time.

So I did what I had to do.

I turned around and covered my mouth as the laughter escaped me, hoping that none of them would see or hear it. (They totally heard it. I could see it in their smug faces as we all climbed back into our van for the remainder of our long drive home.)

But you know what's really funny? As I was creating this post and looking at these snapshots, I was totally laughing. These pictures are a perfect portrayal of my crazy family. I think it's even funnier that I was so mad at them for not being NORMAL. When have I ever been normal?

Exactly.

The Real Me

I don't have a lot of pictures of myself. This, of course, is because I am usually the one taking the pictures.

When we were in Texas the first week of June we headed to the beach for a day. I was snapping pictures of everyone and my sister-in-law Stephenie said, "Let me get a picture of you. You look really good."

I smiled and let her take a picture with the thought that I could always delete it later. Why? Because I was almost positive that I didn't look anything close to really good. I had spent half of the day out in the ocean. I was tired and my hair was damp and salty. I had no make-up on and I was wearing a swimsuit. None of that sounded really good to me. But then I saw the picture and was surprised that I liked it. I mean, I really liked it.

I think this picture captures the essence of me at heart. In real life, whenever I'm all made up with my hair curled in place - like I am when we have our family photos taken - that's not the me I'm most familiar with. I like the person I see in this picture because I'm tired and happy from a well-spent day with family. I'm vulnerable (meaning: in a swimsuit for the first time in years) because I'm with people I trust and love. I'm reminded of the girl who practically grew up on the beaches in southern California and reveled in the warm sand between her toes and the sounds of the ocean.

An added bonus of this picture is my handsome Baby X on my lap, exposing all of his chubby goodness. I am totally in my element. To me, this picture exudes my blissful life.

You're right, Steph. This picture is really good. Thanks for taking it.

The Big One-Eight

Tonight, on 6/28 at 6:28 p.m., eighteen years will have passed since the day I first became a mother.


Has the age for a child to become an adult changed? Because I swear this 6'3" kid is still my baby boy. (Yeah, moms see things in a warped reality sometimes.)


Happy 18th birthday to my oldest child, my biggest little boy. I can't wait to see what adventures the next 18 years have in store, Coolister. I am so proud of who you are.

(All photos taken by Jason of Backroads Photography)

Picture This

(This picture might work... it is only a year old and somewhat festive.)

(I have also debated just sending this picture out because almost all of us are in it, it is current and mostly not blurry.)

It's official: I am a total Christmas card slacker this year.

I can't even blame it on the fact that we don't have a picture (although we don't) since our amazing picture-taking friend has mentioned more than once that he's ready and willing to do a photo shoot.

I had completely decided to bypass the whole tradition this year but the guilt (and inquiring children: When are we getting family pictures done, Mom?) is making me do it anyway.

I think I have come up with something of a solution.

I am going to call our amazing picture-taking friend and ask when (or, at this point: if?) he's available for a photo shoot.

I am not going to try to coordinate outfits. I am going to either:

a) tell each of the kids to wear whatever they want, including princess crowns, jedi robes, velvety elf pants and superman capes if they so desire

b) have everyone wear something resembling a sweater

or

c) just put winter coats and beanies on everyone (no hair to do! GENIUS!).

As for the letter, I am thinking of just inserting a little card with the photo which reads:

Our theme for this year was SIMPLIFY. It was awesome. Merry Christmas!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Picture Day

It's picture day at the elementary school today.

I used to dread this day... having to wake up early enough to get the girls' hair just so, making sure that everyone's clothes were acceptable and their milk-mustaches from breakfast were washed away.

Well, we stopped ordering school pictures a few years back so now I allow the kids a bit of creative license. Two of the elementary schoolers are sickies today, but here's what the other two came up with...
Now? I LOVE picture day.

I just hope their teachers have a good sense of humor.

Missing Family

This family picture is proudly displayed in the hallway of our home. It is the one we get the most comments and questions on, which always leads us to do a count of who is missing since this photo was taken.

Allen came up with the idea of just placing a sticky note in the corner so that we wouldn't have to do the count every time. Brilliant.

The people you see here are our immediate family on Allen's side. I have written before about his parents, the best in-laws a person could ask for. (Go ahead and read that post so you can understand what amazing people they are. Seriously.)

Most people who see this picture are amazed that it only contains the children, children's spouses and grandchildren of the same two parents. Apparently the size of our group is unbelievable - and then we tell them how many are missing. This picture was taken in the end of 2004. Almost six years later and we're already missing 25 people.

You would think that the solution is simple, right? Just get another picture taken.

We wish it were that easy. With so many people involved it is inevitable that someone will be on a mission, out of state and not able to make it, having a baby, or even stationed far away with the military.

So not only are people missing from the photo, they are missing from our lives much too often as well.

Until the time that we are all able to gather for another group shot we will continue to count how many are missing from the photo - as well as the number our hearts are missing.

The Best Tortellini Soup

Yesterday I made tortellini soup. As I started to gather the ingredients, some conversations from last Saturday night came to mind.

You see, I was invited to attend a gathering with these women:

who are, incidentally, some of my favorite people. We all talked about our favorite things from last year and more than once The Pioneer Woman was mentioned. Like, at least 20 times. It was all gushing and complimenting and praising of this Pioneer Woman. Some of these ladies even stood in an endless line to meet her at a cookbook signing and they were so star-struck that they could not think of anything intelligent to say once they were standing in front of her.

And I thought, I could go for that kind of admiration.

They mentioned that one of the things that they just love about her is that she makes food and uses roughly 75 pictures per recipe to show you how the food looks every step of the way - plus it always tastes amazing.

And I thought, I can take pictures... and my Tortellini Soup tastes amazing.

Plus, that whole admiration thing.

So, this is for you, Pioneer Woman fans. Except that I promise you will never have to stand in a 3-hour line to talk to me.

This recipe is from my pal Marci and if you ever let anyone else taste it you will win friends instantly. You don't even have to read that book by Dale Carnegie. It's seriously that good.

Just so you know before we start, I make a double batch of this stuff. So the recipe I'm going to give you at the end is for half the amount you see here. Of everything. Are you confused already? See, that's why Pioneer Woman has so many fans. She's not confusing. But I think you're smart enough to follow me here. No, I KNOW you're smart enough. (That's called a compliment. You're welcome.)

The recipe calls for a pound of Italian sausage but I am not a spicy kind of gal. Well, not when it comes to food. (That's called a joke. Get it? I'm spicy? But the real joke is that I'm actually not spicy at all. Anyway...) So I just use pork sausage.

Once it's cooked, it looks like this. Drain off the grease and then set the sausage aside.

This is my cooked sausage being set aside. It's in the sink in case any more grease drains off of it. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to put grease down the drain but it's a minuscule amount and I'm a total rule-breaking rebel.

Hey... maybe I am spicy!

These are carrots. They need to be diced. You can dice your carrots however you want to, but I'll tell you right now that I slice mine in half lengthwise. Twice. Meaning you will have 4 long pieces from one carrot. But I didn't take a picture of that because Little O was having an issue with his toy gun and I got distracted and forgot.

This is what carrots look like when they are diced. They are carrots and they are cut into little pieces, which is what we cooking-types call diced.

Next you'll need sliced mushrooms. I usually get them already sliced because I'm lazy like that, but these were a much better price, so I bought them whole. And look how dirty they are!

So I washed them.

What? Oh, you noticed that the colander is the same one where the cooked sausage was hanging out. Good eye! Yeah, I actually put that picture in the wrong spot. Because in real life, the sausage was still in the pan at this point. Told you I was confusing.

Hey, want some pointers on mushrooms?

Thanks, mushroom packaging. I actually never knew about keeping mushrooms in paper bags.

Here's how I slice mushrooms. They are one of my favorite parts of this soup.

At this point I realized that I needed an onion but had forgotten to buy one. So, guess what? I improvised! I just got out my ginormous can of dried onion and estimated how much I'd need.

This should do it.

Now that everything is all chopped up, we need to put butter in the pot. This is what butter looks like. Does anyone else ever wonder why they bother to put 'START MEASURE HERE' on the wrapper? I mean, everyone just eyeballs it, right? Does anyone really start measuring there on the line and then.... what happens if you need more on the other end? You just stick the smidgen you cut off to the other side or what?

Melting butter. In the same pot I cooked the sausage in, thus the brown stuff on the bottom. I'm all about less dishes to wash afterward. Once the butter is all melty, you add the chopped carrots and mushrooms and onions (unless you had to improvise and use dry onions... then wait and add those with the broth).

Action shot! Check out those veggies free-fallin' it into the pot of sizzling butter!

Stir those veggies around and let them get all butter-coated.

When you're done, they'll look like this and you'll want to eat some of the mushrooms. Go ahead & indulge! It's not like anyone will know. Now let them cook for about 5 minutes. While they're cooking, get the next 3 ingredients ready...

Chicken broth. One of my favorite things to buy from the Dollar Store is chicken broth because, obviously, it's only a dollar per 32 ounce package. Plus it's a lot easier than making my own broth. But you do what you want... as long as it's chicken broth, it will work.

You will also need some Italian style diced tomatoes and...

Basil. This is a typical container of basil which you can find anywhere, but I am going to just brag on myself for a minute and tell you that this particular container holds within it the basil I grew and dried all by myself last fall. I only told you that because it makes me feel awesome.

I love basil.

(Am I using enough pictures?)

This is what the diced tomatoes look like when they are opened.

At this point, Little O was becoming increasingly frustrated that I was not paying attention to him.

So I gave him a hug and a graham cracker.

And all was well.

Oh. In case you were wondering, I don't always wear my hair back like Betty Crocker. Only when I am cooking something that requires more than 10 minutes. Why? Because I shed hair like a dog, that's why. And no one wants my hair in their food.

And yes, he's still in his pajamas. He likes it and it's cute. Who am I to argue?

5 minutes. The veggies are done.

Go ahead and eat another mushroom.

Add the chicken broth. (Action shot!)

That's looking good.

Invite the sausage which has been patiently resting in the sink to join the soup pot party.

Dump in the tomatoes. (Action shot!)

Add the basil (and dried onions if you forgot to buy a fresh one).

Stir the soup... stir the soup... (does that make anyone else want to dance?)

But we're not done yet. This concoction needs to simmer for 20 minutes or so. While it does that, get your spinach ready.

I buy the bagged stuff because it's what I'm used to.

This next step is a whole lot easier if you buy a bunch of spinach instead of a bag. You need to chop off the stems and you can just WHACK them off with your knife if they're all bunched together. I just pull mine out of the bag, a little at a time, and break off the obvious stems. If you leave some stems on it's not going to kill anybody.

And now I present the star of our show, TORTELLINI! (applause) I prefer the tri-colored stuff but our local grocery stores stopped selling it in a combined effort to frustrate me. This is just as tasty, just not as colorful.

Hello, tortellini. Want to go swimming?

Here you go! Let those swim for about 6 minutes.

You can chop your spinach before adding it but I prefer to just tear it up as I drop it in.

Hey soup, where'd you go? (Is where'd a real word? Either way, I like it.)

There you are. Stir the spinach in and it's ready to serve in a couple of minutes.

My whole family loves this stuff, but especially the teenagers. Seriously.

In fact, they got home from school just as I was finishing it up and asked, "What smells so GOOD?!" When I told them what we were having for dinner, they got almost giddy with
excitement. In fact, I was able to take this completely unposed snapshot of them when they discovered the pot of soup...

See what I'm saying? They can't get enough of it.

And once you make it, neither can you.





TORTELLINI SOUP

1 package (or bunch) fresh spinach
49 ounces chicken broth
16 ounces cheese tortellini
1 pound Italian sausage, cooked
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 can diced Italian tomatoes
2 teaspoons dry basil
3 Tablespoons butter

Cook and set aside sausage. In a large pot saute onion, mushrooms and carrots in butter for about 5 minutes. Add broth, meat, tomatoes and basil to vegetables and cook 20 minutes or so. While soup is cooking prepare spinach by removing stems and coarsely chopping. After 20 minutes, add tortellini and cook for 6-8 minutes. Add spinach just before serving and cook 2-3 minutes. Use more or less spinach depending on what you like. This makes a large pot of soup.