6 months!

Maybe if I don't post these he'll stop growing up, right? So I'm a little behind.  Not behind on the pictures, but on the posting....so only three months late (yes, Colt is actually 9 months old already!!) are Colt's 6 month pictures:

Colt was 17 pounds at 6 months.  Big, strong, healthy boy! 



Was hoping he would get up and rock on his knees for his picture but he was a bit distracted...

Distracted by his paparazzi....

real life.

Declan is holding a little toy camera! haha

 

Recipe: One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta

Smoked sausage was on sale last week and I had a buy one get one free coupon (YIPPIE!) so that was on the menu for this week.
 Lately, though, I have been tired of making the same rotations over again so I set out to pinterest for a new sausage recipe.  Usually I always make 'red beans and rice' with my sausage which is a recipe I got from e-mealz when I was a member a few years ago.  We really like that one too, so I'll have to post that recipe!

One pot meals are pretty much my favorite! This one called for pretty much everything I had on hand, so it was the one I chose.  It was a winner!!!  10 thumbs up here...we finished the pot.  In fact, I commented to Brent after dinner "What are we going to do when Colt starts eating more?" His reply was that the days of leftovers are pretty much over for us.  :)



I found the original recipe on Yellow Bliss Road, but I of course tweaked it a bit.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 package smoked sausage

1 cup diced onion

1 T minced garlic

1 cup chicken broth

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomato

1/2 cup heavy cream or milk

1 can of corn, undrained

12 oz dry pasta

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1 cup shredded cheese

 

**If you go to the original recipe, you will notice there are differences! I had chicken broth saved from when I made chicken in the crock pot the day before, but it was only 1 cup.  Original recipe calls for 2 cups.  To make up for the extra liquid needed (so noodles cook) I added the liquid from the can of corn and a 14.5 oz can of tomatoes.  Original recipe doesn't call for corn and only a 10 oz can of tomatoes.  I also added more noodles in mine. But what I did worked perfect and I plan to do the same thing again next time!

 

Directions:

 

1. heat olive oil in pan. 

 

2. add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned. 

 

3. add garlic and cook 30 seconds.  drain grease as needed.

4. add chicken broth, tomatoes, milk, pasta, and seasonings.

5. boil then cover and simmer 15 min or until pasta is tender

 

6. turn off heat and stir in  1/2 of the cheese. 

 

7. sprinkle remaining cheese on top and cover for about 5 min to melt.

 

8. serve and enjoy!! :)  It's a little runny, but the cheese makes it thicker.  We thought it was fantastic and it will be going in the rotation!

 

My Mommy Minute: September 5

 Hi friends,

 

This is the second Mommy Minute coming to you this week because there are just so many good reads out there! Keeping the list short again.  All of these are good and worth the read. 

 

I hope you are encouraged and filled with joy.  Press on, mama.  Work out your salvation with fear and trembling and do not forget that Christ is our rock and our hiding place.  In Him and Him alone is our righteousness found.  Our lives are in His hand. From the smiles to the tears. God is always good.  All the time. To God be the glory. Have a great weekend!



 

 

"I'll referee another squabble and pick up disparate shoes and coats and happily clean food wrappers from under the seats of our suburban for the God who whispers 'I love it when you serve them and no one knows.'"

-Sara Hagerty

I Forgive You Mom by Natalie Falls at The Better Mom
Wow.  It is like she reads my journal. So true and so beautiful. If we fail to glorify God in our actions toward our children, we can glorify Him as we reconcile with them, repent, and ask for forgiveness. 

 

Is Being a Stay At Home Mom Enough? by Abbie at Unsteady Saint
We are enough when we are in Jesus.

Are You Tired of Waiting on the Lord? by Colleen Chao at True Woman

We are all waiting on something it seems.  If we aren't, then we probably know someone who is and could use encouragement.

5 Ways to Move from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed by Rachel Wojnarowski

I agree with these five points.  I also think it's helpful to step back and look at my schedule. Am I too busy? If I'm always carting my kids around then we don't have time to work on training them at home. It is much harder to train in public. Also recognizing what triggers me helps a lot.  Knowing my points of weakness has helped me grow in this area. Trying to get somewhere on time early in the morning is just one example:)  What about you? Do you have any to add?

Project 52: August 24-30

Sunday Snapshot:

 

The kids have loved this water table this summer! We borrowed it from cousins Jackson and Harper while they were on vacation.  Most kids like to 'dump, pour, and transfer' the water creating such a lovely sensory experience.  Ha ha.  My kids like to dump on their siblings heads, gargle, spit and swallow the water. :)

Playdough!

Caught Colt trying to pull himself up...getting closer!

Raelynn loves jigsaw puzzles lately.  It's fun to see her enjoy something so much.  She also loves mazes and tracing letters.  She has always been my child who had to have mama right there watching what she was doing.  She wasn't too interested in activities I would give her and I think now I realize it is because they weren't challenging her.  She is so into jigsaws right now because she is a bit challenged. She is going into the cupboard on her own to get the puzzles and will go to the table all alone and complete them...totally not like her! I love watching her figure them out and how excited she is when she completes it.  I love jigsaws too, so I can just imagine us sitting at the table as she gets older having great conversations about over jigsaws. 

 

Some entertainment I had while cleaning up dinner one evening....

Thursday was ASU's first game of the season!  Brent took the three bigs!

 

He said they did great!! Declan and Elliana both gave Sparky a high five!  Declan kept saying "uh-oh" when the guys would fall down--he was actually paying attention!

So fun to see these two develop more of a friendship lately now that Declan can talk more and they are interested in the same things.

Someone wants to be just like his big sister....so he attempts the jigsaws and she ends up helping him:)
This week they wanted to sit on the landing of the stairs so Colt couldn't get their pieces. 

Saturday we celebrated Aunt Marissa's 25th birthday!! Marissa is such a blessing to everyone in our family and is such a great aunt.  The kids LOVE her!!

Elliana loves taking care of Colt.  I gave him some water in a bottle this week and she found it and wanted to feed him:)

Saturday night Daddy had a fantasy football draft so mama and the kids went to the park! So excited for cooler weather so we can make this a daily activity again:)  It was Colt's first wagon ride!

Project 52: august 31-September 5

Sunday snapshot:

Raelynn's knees have been hitting the handlebars on her tricycle for a little while. Now that we are taking more regular walks (and rides) we knew it was time to get her a new bike! We found this nice bike at a consignment shop. 

Cousin Adele let Declan borrow her tricycle while we were camping and it was neat because there was a handle for pushing. Since he can't quite pedal but loves to ride the bike, we made our own contraption....swiffer to the rescue!

It took Declan a while to figure out how to steer, as e was going into bushes left to right. Raelynn needs some practice on braking so we have been practicing every day this week.

Happy Labor Day! Always nice to have Daddy home from work for a long weekend. We had friends over to Grandma and Tank's house for a BBQ and swimming. Fun times! There were  seven kids between us and our friends the Lamberts!

Our play spot group is back. The first and third Tuesday of the month there is a group that meets at our community center. Everything is free and SO nice. They have stations set up with activities and a snack. They have us pudding to take home and make. The kids were excited because it was "s'mores" flavored and they remembered having those while we were camping.

A trip to the library! There is a perfect little  nook I have the kids sit in while I check out:)

Caught them all reading so nicely together...but don't worry, it didn't last long. Soon someone snagged the Frozen book from someone else and then someone fell off the bench...

We had a tea party this week:)

We did face time with Mimi so she could join in the fun.

Amazing how the presentation of water can make such a difference! 

Isn't she a beauty? She is getting her flip flops on all by herself now!!

 

We played ants in the pants...funny how that game actually makes them focus and sit still:)  

Saturday mommy and Declan had a special date and ran some errands. Love special one on one time with my children:)

My Mommy Minute: September 1

Hello friends,

Happy September! I bet for many of you it's a bitter sweet time....good bye summer, right?  But for me it's hello cooler weather!! So I'm very excited for fall:)

Good reads here.  Some have been linked up already in a past post, but I wanted to include them here as well.  Kept the list short because they are all SO worth reading.  Such good stuff here.

"God works through faithful parents who,

 in spite of dark and difficult days,

walk obediently to him."

-Elizabeth George

Joy Can't Die by Rachel Jankovic at Femina

When School Starts by Kristin Chesemore at GirlTalk

It's Their Day, Too by Katie Blackburn at Coffee + Crumbs

 

The Hidden Years of Being a Stay at Home Mom by Emily Wierenga at The Better Mom