yep. it's edible.

recipe found here

linking up here

Happy Monday to all!

happy birthday caleb

Dear Caleb

happy 5th birthday

we thank the Lord for the gift of you

and celebrate the joy you bring to this family

we love you so incredibly much!



following the rules, people

Rules were made to be broken
My GIVEAWAY Wednesday commenters need to all go out and buy themselves some bumper stickers with this sentiment.
You guys are hilarious.  Seriously hilarious and seriously bad rule followers. 
But I love you all anyways.
Alisa B, you are the GIVEAWAY Wednesday winner of the week.
Well, yay for you!  (insert excited fist pump in your honor)
Now you'll be smiling in this winter weather as your flower dances in the window
Because....yeah...it has that effect on most people

Of course, how can a picture of a cute baby not make you smile. 

See, now we're all smiling to start the weekend off right!

A fun find for a tired mama

Tired.  Mommy. 
I took a nap yesterday the whole time my kiddos were down for one.
(you know, during that time when you actually can get stuff done?!)
Mercy. 
So I was considering not even posting today, but then I found this super sweet looking blog which I haven't had much time to perusal (sp?!) around yet....but HELLO she's doing a GIVEAWAY and there is this SUPER WONDERFUL pillow to win! 
Go check her out here and show her some comment love to try and win the pillow. 
But don't really win because I plan on it, k?
Now.  Back to mixing more of this here stuff below.....because apparently this is the magical potion that makes my little guy's mouth feel better. 

Poor, poor little guy.  Couldn't even snap a pic to show you.  Too sad to capture.
But I have, in tough love, gotten him to eat a poptart and drink some sips of chocolate milk.
So I'm thinking we're going to be good any day now.....
Please, dear Jesus, please.  That's all I have the energy to pray.
Keepin it real.
Have a super day, All!
 p.s. don't forget to enter my giveaway from yesterday if you haven't yet!

James fam loves Cross fam (GW !!)



We spent the weekend in Bear Country

With Bears fans

It's ok--we love em

 And I'm pretty sure they love us, too

Cause they broke out the sacred Pub Snack Mix

And that is some amazing stuff

And they introduced me to this magical machine

Nespresso.  It had me at presso

Cause that's all you had to do to get an a-mazing cup of espresso

with the wonderful wonderfulness on top

presso a button (get it?)

after long, fun days and sleepless nights with a teething baby...

I may have had a cup or two enough nespresso for an extra  person or two

some hangin with good friends saturday night

wish I had gotten pics of playing Gnip Gnop

Happy 3rd Birthday, Laynie!

Caleb was not at 100%, poor thang

Such a trooper though

WAIT

Is that an Illini blanket wrapped around my son?!

 There was a lot of interest in the ipad. 

Even Charity was entranced by this modern technology

There was some serious Catan competition

Grudges were held and kept for unbiblical amounts of time

But in the end there was love so that's all that matters, right?!

There may have been a little Bears V. Packers in the house

Even discord among the M&Ms

Even if I was into beer brats there's no way you'd see me out freezing for food

But Justin was all about it

Even though the house was divided, there was fun to be had

And the better team won, so all was good in the end

What?!  Come on, I had to put that in there.

Well, you should be glad that you're all readin up on the James fam in the
Justin & Laurie Story

Cause by Super Bowl Sunday I'm going to find the picture of the two of us back in 1998

13 years ago, people....at the last Packer Super Bowl Party. 

Yeah I'll post it. Yeah you'll laugh a little. 

But at least by '98 the bangs on my forehead had calmed down a bit from the earlier 90's version

Just a little something to look forward to....

(these guys played A LOT of video games.  can you tell?  a boys dream weekend was had)

You know what else you can look forward to?

That's right.  GIVEAWAY WEDNESDAY

And what I have this week for you all is at the heart of why I do giveaway wed's in the first place

To give you all a reason to smile

And if a solar-powered dancing flower doesn't make you smile

Nothing will 

I'm going to change things up a little this

GIVEAWAY WEDNESDAY

I'm going to give you the chance for 2 entries to win one of these fun flowers

Comment #1--tell me why you are smiling today (even without a solar-powered dancing flower)

Comment #2--tell me "Packers Rule"

No snide comments or remarks or additions to the statement

 (alright, if you want to add "Bears drool" I'm not going to stop you, k?) 

Have a super GIVEAWAY WEDNESDAY

 that's an order straight from the author of this blog

I'll announce the winner on friday so you all have 2 days

to figure out what window's going to be rockin when you win



TT Rock the Crock

Hey Blogger Buddies

Happy (Tutorial) Tuesday to you all!

Because I've begun a New Years Resolution

to meal plan more and

serve last minute spaghetti less...

I bring you another Rock the Crock

Because that's what I've been up to

(except last night when I changed things up

And served the fam last minute ravioli)

But anyway....

This was a hit, and can the original can be found here

But I followed adapted the recipe from her book,

Make it Fast, Cook it Slow

 (thanks, Becky)

The recipe calls for 1/2 lb ground beef which you need to brown first (ewww.....I hate doing this)

But I used a whole pound. 

Then obviously you drain it.  Could you imagine if you didn't?!  Double ewww

 So add your browned ground beef to the crock and then add: 
4 cups chicken broth (it's the whole container)
1 T dried onion flakes
1 tsp minced garlic (hello jar that stays in your fridge of already-minced-for-you garlic.  love. it.)
13.5 oz can coconut milk (because that's what I had in my pantry) 
      *original calls for 1 c. milk
16 oz easy melt cheese (think Velveeta gone generic) 
     *it's half the container.  notice the use of PNS and be amazed. 
     cling wrap would need some help to hug the cut end of that cheese so closely
      you know it

Cut up 1 pepper and 3 potatoes and add to your crock

Cover and cook for on LOW  4-6 hrs 

You're supposed to add the melted cheese at the end but I'm not sure why.  I'm not the best at following directions and added it before I even bothered to read,

"Stir in milk and Velveeta 20-30 minutes before serving." 
I say.....isn't the point of the crock to not worry about dinner 20-30 minutes before the meal?! 

But who am I to argue with the FOUNDER of  A Year of Slow Cooking. 

Seriously.  (but you really don't need to wait until the end...)

 

 Remember this was my day with teething baby attached to hip

This soup was a hit in the James fam.  Well, maybe except for Caleb who is not much of an eater.

And he's been a little under the weather these past few days, poor kiddo.

Have a super day, All!

Love, Laurie for the fam

p.s. today I'm linking up here.  take a peek.....tons of recipe ideas!

all is made beautiful

Now isn't that a lovely thought?
linking up to Blessed Little Nest Life Made Lovely Monday



cold night for cocoa and company

It may have been a cold, cold night. 13 fun-lovin degrees to be exact.But I had a date that I wasn't about to break. Another "Hot Cocoa Date with Mom," this time with this cool kid...

Jon picked a coffee shop (with little to no prompting from me?!) with a decent selection of goodies and any kind of java a mama could want. He was pretty stoked about the chocolate croissant.

I was pretty stoked to be out with just him.

He is a joy to hang out with and a blast to talk to.

And because he is so much like his Daddy he did crazy things when I went to snap a pic.

Like pretending to be terrified of his chocolate croissant.

Or peering deep into his cup of cocoa.

What a nut. I love him.

And he still let me kiss him in public. My days are numbered

So I'm taking total advantage of the ones I've got left.

It was such a fun time out with my oldest son.

We laughed, told stories, shared memories, and touched on some deep issues of life

The white chocolate mocha was good-- but my company was way better.

So in my Real Simple mag, they share some ideas about sprucing up hot chocolate.

Not like hot chocolate isn't good all on it's own.

But I guess if you drink as much as my fam this chilly time of year you could use a little variety to spice things up.

Care if I share?

Option #1: add marshmallows and 3 T malted milk powder (they say to broil mallows for 30 sec?!) I say over. rated. But that could be just me...

Option #2: top hot cocoa with 1/4 cup mint chocolate ice cream and 1 sprig fresh mint (got any fresh mint in your house?! me neither...) Well, they had me at mint chocolate ice cream at least

Option #3: mix cocoa with 1 pinch chili pepper and 1 pinch cinnamon and top with 2 T whipped cream and 1 more pinch of both chili pepper and cinnamon.

That's definitey intriguing, don't you think?!

Well....there you go, Blogger B's. A little challenge set before you as you begin the weekend:

Just say "no" to boring hot cocoa

Have a great weekend, All!


p.s. the winner of GIVEAWAY Wednesday is: (do I hear a drumroll?!)

HOLLY (comment #12) Yay for you! Some Press N' Seal will be rolling your way soon....

Thanks to everyone who participated. You guys are so much fun!

baby on board

Ever vacuum with a fussy baby on your hip?
Yeah.....you rock.
It's no easy task, people.
Can I (please) get some Mom Points for carrying around my poor (teething) baby
ALL. AFTERNOON.?!
Love her. LOVE. HER.
But it adds a whole new dimension to easy tasks like stirring the soup in the crock.
If you can't tell...the vertical space between Char's hand and the pot is like 2.5 inches, k?
You've been there. You know. That soup's lucky it got stirred.
(a-mazing soup, by the way........tune in next tuesday for the deets)
Ahhh, baby. I'll take you anywhere.

But do you see this?!

Not the pic of the cute couple on the wall (awwwww......)

No-- the piles (and piles) of unfolded laundry on the bed.

Which can't really be done with this (cute and sweet and cute) baby on my hip.

Hey,wait.....what is that extra lump in the mix?!

Peek-a-boo!

Nice try, Buddy.

Nope. She's not amused. But nice try.

Hey now

I'll just pay the bills sitting on the couch, then. On my lap.

That's almost (not really) as easy as at the table.

But I can sit next to the (precious) fussy baby this way....and that just might work, right?!

Yeah.....that didn't last long.

But the camera was amusing for a (brief) moment in time.

And so was this. Remember this?! I'm going to start referring to it as the

"FussyBaby YouTube Phenomenon."

So yesterday afternoon went....not quite as planned.

I got (almost) nothing done.

But I did have a super snuggly (slightly fussy) baby to hold.

All the snuggles I wanted. And more.

Well, when you recap it that way....why did my heart sing the "Hallelujah Chorus" when Justin came walking through the door from work?!

I'm pretty sure Charity was just as happy to see this special guy who makes both of us smile.

Awwwwwww.....

Here's to a super Thursday

(fussy babies unfussed)

to all stopping by my little space on this world wide web today.

If you haven't entered GIVEAWAY WEDNESDAY you've still got a chance!

Click HERE to check it out....