We are experiencing technical difficulties

Sorry I haven't posted the rest of the pics from Colorado yet. I got the CD (thanks Ange!!), but I can't get it to open on my computer. I don't know what's going on b/c I can play music CD's and movies, but I'm not able to open the pics off the CD. Should've had Dad look at while he was here!

Yummy new recipe

We had some friends over for supper tonight and I thought I'd try a new recipe I found (of all places) on the back of the "crispy rice" box. It was so good! And it's incredibly easy to make and doesn't take very long.

Chinese Chicken Bake
2 Tbs butter, melted
1/4 tsp onion powder (I didn't have any so I used garlic powder instead)
2 1/2 c. crispy rice cereal
8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
2 c. chopped cooked chicken or turkey (I used chicken)
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 1/4 c. chopped celery
2 Tbs. chopped green onion
4 1/2 tsp soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Combine butter and onion (or garlic) powder. Gradually add cereal, stirring until all pieces are evenly coated. Set aside. Combine remaining ingredients. Stir in 1 c. cereal mixture. Pour into ungreased 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle top with remaining 1 1/2 c. cereal mixture. Bake 30 min. or until top is lightly browned. Makes 4-5 servings.

This fed 4 adults and 2 kids. So good!! :)

THE county fair :)

I had more pictures than I thought from Thursday night!

Anna got her face painted (it's a rose in case you can't tell...hey, it was a fund-raiser for the cheerleaders!)

She loved the swings. It was hilarious...as she would come around to where we were standing she just wiggled her eyebrows and looked out of the corner of her eye at us! It was comical!!

Jacob was enthralled with all the movement and lights. He had fun just riding around (either on Daddy's shoulders or in the stroller).

The train. And this was not a slow train! Seth and Addie graciously (really, I think they enjoyed it!!) agreed to take the kids. Jacob...he wasn't too sure about it. Anna LOVED it!

That would be a white-knuckled death grip Jacob has on Seth's shirt. He's not sure what to think about things.

See Jacob's hair? That's how fast that little train was going!!! And it went around like 20 times. It went around about 5 times too many for Jacob's liking!

Anna also rode these little cars. They had little bells on them and the people running the ride gave high fives as the kids came around.

Before we left, Jacob had fun pulling Seth's hat off and on. Over and over and over!

"Whatcha think Mama? Am I ready to work for KDOT??" :)

The kids weren't very cooperative with this picture, but oh well. Thanks Swiharts for the hospitality! We had so much fun!!! :)

We're back and we're still alive

We're back from Colorado. Please don't fall out of your chairs and hurt yourselves, but I don't have any pictures to post yet! I know, I know. What's wrong with me?! I'll tell you what's wrong. It's those stupid batteries! I think I got 2 pictures taken (the first day we were gone, of course) and then the batteries died. Did I take extras or the charger? NO. But hey, I remembered my pillow. Gravy. Anyway, my wonderful cousin (who has an AWESOME camera) is mailing me a CD with the hundreds of wonderful pics she took (maybe not hundreds, but close!). So now you'll just have to read my boring words with no pictures...for now.
We had a great time, even if it was fast and we were on the move! We spent Thursday night and most of the day Friday with the Swiharts in western Kansas. FUN TIMES! :) And they took us to the county fair!!! Anna has a blast...well okay, we all had a blast! It's been a very long time since I've been to a county fair. And the coolest thing was that all the rides were run by the local people...no scary carnies (no offense, but come on!). AND the tickets were a quarter a piece! A QUARTER!!! So thanks for the wonderful time, Swiharts! We loved it.
Friday found us driving to Denver to stay with my cousin and prepare for the big race :) Which consisted of grilling and playing one measly round of cards (I'm not telling who won!) and sending the racers off to bed fairly early (by Stinemetz standards, anyway). They were up before dawn (that should be illegal) and the rest of us left a lot later. We made good time and no kids threw up this time! (Last time we went up Anna got really sick, we think from the quickly changing altitude?). We found a good spot close to the finish line and waited for Uncle Bill and Daddy to round to corner. They finished! :) My hat's off to them...everyone knows (they should anyway!) that I'd never come close to running 13.1 miles!!!!! After cooling down, we headed out to eat with everyone (some college friends came to watch--Thanks guys!) and then back to Ange's for Aaron's famous year-long nap. Jacob enjoyed using their giant lab (a gentle giant) as an obstacle course and Anna had fun playing with Isabel (so sweet of her to play with Anna!) After supper we headed to Grandma J's for the night. It was wonderful to spend time with her (wish it could have been longer!!)--I think the kids did a sufficient job of entertaining her! They were in top form with their silliness. We took her to church Sunday morning and then headed home after lunch. I have to say I didn't enjoy driving the whole way back in one day! It was really nice to break the trip up on our way out (even if it is only 8 hrs all together!)
Okay, that's enough. I'm so tired it's not even funny. So WHY AM I NOT IN BED AT 1AM?!?!?!?!? B/c I am my father's daughter! :) Here's to an uninterrupted sleep and late risers come morning.....HA!

Told ya

I told ya it'd be gone before the night was over...only the small jar left and Aaron's not asleep yet! ;-)

Yummy, fresh garden salsa!

What's better than some yummy, homemade, fresh garden salsa??? I'll tell ya what--nothing! :) My friend Kim invited me over to make salsa today since I had SO MANY tomatoes. Here is the wonderful result. It is so good. Aaron is going to be in hog heaven when he gets home. I'm betting there won't be any salsa left by the time we leave tomorrow afternoon...In the big jar, I used green onions (from my garden), red onion, garlic, cilantro, a little salt and a little lime juice. In the small jar, I didn't use the green onions (b/c they are all in the big jar!). It is sooo good! There's no recipe, she just throws it in and tastes it. It's super easy. No canning or cooking, just a lot of chopping. So thanks Kim! I had fun and we'll be enjoying some chips & salsa tonight! :)

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Anna found this little baby carrier yesterday amongst her millions of toys. I picked it up at a garage sale long ago. She was having so much fun carrying her little baby around :)

This is how our mornings go...Anna wakes up and comes to my bed. Sometimes she goes back to sleep, sometimes we cuddle and watch 'toons. She's told me over and over that cuddling in Mommy's bed is her favorite thing to do! :) Well, yesterday morning was no different. As I was trying to get Jacob down for a nap, she comes in and insists on getting her pillow and blanket (Joyce, if you're reading this-she refuses to sleep with any other blanket! Never mind that it's a million degrees outside! She'd rather get hot and sweaty than sleep with a different blanket!!) Anywho. I fail at getting Jacob asleep and walk by and see this...

She evidently wasn't satisfied with the quality of the pillows and blankets already on the bed...she had to have her own! What a kid.

And Jacob...the boy is in love with Dora! Jamie & Cassie got Anna this awesome little Dora "movie" player for Christmas. It's like a projector. He will sit there and watch that little movie over and over and over. He gets really excited when it turns on, and then he just sits really still and watches. It's very cute and quite humorous!

Oh yes...the other day we were at the store when the lady in front of us starts talking to the kids. She was w/ her 3 grandkids. She guessed Anna was about 3 (to which Anna said Yes!) and then she looked at Jacob and said "And I bet you're not quite 2." I kind of laughed and said "Actually, he not quite 1!" Ha! The kid is still growing at a ridiculous rate, I'm afraid.

Seriously? 105?!

With the heat index, it's 105 degrees today. OH MY GRACIOUS! We went to the store (didn't have a choice--out of juice and bread)...on the way home, the van's temp said 107! It's insanely hot and just plain miserable!! Evidently my garden isn't minding the heat. Anna and I went out and picked 13 tomatoes (2 were still a little green, but had fallen off so they're ripening up in a bag), a giant cucumber, a zucchini, and several green onions. Sweat was pouring down my face just standing there! Ick. But, whaddya know...
She's very proud of her garden. She had to carry a tomato inside (the bucket was too heavy for her to carry!)
Even the cucumber was getting a little heavy for her to hold..."Hurry up Mom! It's getting heavy!!"
We also did some baking today. I made banana bread last night and today Anna helped me make chocolate chip zucchini bread (if we're coming to see you this weekend, you just might be getting some...:D). We also made some rice crispy treats. So we spent the day INside in the kitchen. It was a good day. And it kept Anna awake for the afternoon! :) She loves helping me cook. She stirred up the dry ingredients and even poured them into the mixing bowl for me. And when she just has to watch, she constantly "praises" me--"Wow Mama! You're really good at that!" It's precious:)