Steak and Potato Soup

Today is Ethiopian Christmas!!! 

I had a couple pounds of stew beef to use, so I thought it would be great to make Siga Wat  or another Ethiopian dish.  However, I didn't plan ahead, so I didn't have all the ingredients I needed.  So...I made steak and potato soup.  I couldn't find a recipe online that I liked, so I threw together what I could remember from our regular baked potato soup--well, based on what we had in the house.  We all thought it came out pretty well.  So I'm posting it so I remember what went into it.

2.3 lbs. Stew beef.  (It was a lot of meat for the recipe.  1.5 or even just 1 lb. would probably be plenty.)
2.5 lbs. cubed potatoes.  We had red-skinned yellow potatoes
4 cups (one carton) broth
dehydrated minced onions --yeah, it's what I had on hand
2 Tbsp. McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning*
8 oz. cream cheese

Pan-sear the outside of the beef, just to seal in the flavor.  To the crock-pot add beef, potatoes, broth, seasonings, and sprinkle onions across the top of the broth.  (Sorry, I didn't measure how much I used.)  Stir together.  Cover.  I cooked on high for about 4 hours then reduced to low for about two.  About half an hour before ready to eat, smash some of the potatoes in the crock-pot.  Add cream cheese and stir occasionally until melted.

Yum!

*Contains: COARSE SALT, SPICES (INCLUDING BLACK PEPPER, AND RED PEPPER), GARLIC, SUNFLOWER OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, AND EXTRACTIVES OF PAPRIKA

Snow Days

Yesterday and today have been snow days.  We got maybe three inches of snow yesterday, but it came down pretty quickly in the beginning.  I felt kind of bad.  We never made it out to play in the snow yesterday.  David was home, but he put in a full day of work and took two finals for his classes.  I just didn't have the energy to take the three kids outside while it was 20 degrees and below.  We did finally get our Christmas tree decorated.  Elizabeth and Josiah were very excited to go through our huge tote of ornaments and see which ones they recognized.  I think Josiah was a bit disappointed that he didn't have as many ornaments as Elizabeth.  Isaac got in on the action, trying to put ornaments on the tree.  Unfortunately, I was just trying to manage chaos, so I didn't get any pictures.  Elizabeth made some cards and wrapped presents for her school teachers.  We started working on some pipe cleaner and bead ornaments, and we still need to complete those.

Today, Elizabeth was disappointed that school was closed again.  It would have been her last day before Christmas break, so she missed her party and giving presents to her teachers.  But she and Josiah have been doing a good job playing.  We made it outside today!  Elizabeth, Josiah, and I went out while Isaac was napping.  It was helpful that the temperature was up to almost 40 degrees.  :-)  We haven't managed to get a good sled yet, so the kids tried sledding on a cardboard box.  It was pretty funny.  At some point, Josiah just decided it was easier to go down on his bottom.

Notice the pink mittens?  Guess we still need to get him new snow gloves, too :-)

Wipe out!

I think we're going to need to go to the store in a bit.  We're low on a lot of foods, and we still have a few gifts we need to pick up for this weekend.  Tomorrow, we'll celebrate Christmas a little bit early with some of David's family. 

Happy Snow Day! :-)

Christmas Ornaments

Warning:  Grandma Baber and A.J. don't read this post...at least not until after Christmas :-)

Each year we try to get the kids ornaments to add to the tree.  This year, Elizabeth and Josiah decided they wanted to make their own.  I had found a Shrinky Dink kit a few weeks ago and thought that would make some neat ornaments.  The kids were intrigued!  Josiah quickly decided he wanted a Rescue Pack ornament--big surprise, right? ;-)  Elizabeth took a little more time to choose, but decided she wanted to make a star.  We chose a few other patterns to make as gifts.

I printed out the images we needed to trace.  I traced the Rescue Pack onto the plastic for Josiah and then he colored it.

Elizabeth traced her star shape onto the plastic and then colored it in.  She said she chose a Christmas star and wanted to hang it near the top of the tree because as star is what pointed the Wise Men to Jesus.  She decided to add words to her star, so I had her use marker to write the words on a piece of paper.  Then we flipped the paper over, and she could trace the words backward on her plastic. 

The kids chose a candy cane shape as a gift for Grandma Baber and a Mario for cousin A.J.  I traced the images.  Both kids colored the candy cane.  Elizabeth colored the Mario as Josiah was working on another gift for A.J.  Then into the toaster oven they went.  I forgot how quickly it works and how much they shrink!

Both Josiah and Elizabeth did a great job!  I like the idea of making a yearly tradition out of making their ornaments.  (We do still have to figure out what to make for Isaac this year!)

I don't deserve these kids

Today was one of those days.  It was a bad mommy day.  I was grumpy.  I had no reason to be grumpy.  But all I did was snip at the kids a l l  d a y  l o n g.  Elizabeth, after getting up and ready on her own, came in this morning wearing a pair of pants she knows she is not supposed to wear to school.  The first words out of my mouth let her know just how displeased I was with her choice.  And the day just seemed to go downhill from there.  Isaac spilled milk all over the kitchen.  Josiah made the choice to clean it up without even asking for help.  Instead of telling him how proud I was, I complained at him for his excessive use of paper towels.  Even though I was telling myself how mean I was being to my kids, it didn't change the negative words coming out of my mouth. 

So, instead of letting the kids choose where to have dinner, I  decided my rough day meant I deserved to have my choice.  HA!  The kids weren't happy, and they complained for a moment, but they came into the restaurant and were angels.  They had been promised playtime at the mall, and instead they were stuck in seats at a sit down restaurant.  They sat well and used their manners.  They did a fabulous job eating.  As the group at the next table was leaving, they gushed about our kids--everything from how cute they all are to how well-behaved they were.  I didn't need them to tell me those things, but it was reinforcement of how very blessed I am to be able to parent these three.  And how very blessed I am that they are amazing, despite me parenting them.

Thank you, God, for these blessings...and for reminders from others that they truly are blessings!

13

On November 23rd, Isaac celebrated turning 13 months old by getting his 13th tooth!  His first eye tooth popped in.  (His fourth molar came through sometime while I was recovering.)

Lost Teeth

After losing tooth number five last week!

Elizabeth lost tooth number five one week ago, and tooth number six today!  Mommy helped number five come out, although it was barely hanging on.  Elizabeth may or may not have given the sixth tooth a little extra encouragement to come out during lunch.  ;-)  She was thrilled, and came off the bus today wearing a big smile and a tooth necklace.  Last week she told me that she hoped to lose the next one at school so she could earn the prized necklace.  There was a close call with the Tooth Fairy a little earlier this evening involving the exchange of said necklace for coins.  We'll see what she remembers in the morning.

When I Grow Up...

One of Elizabeth's writing assignments at school was choose something she might like to be when she grows up and to give her reason.  This is what she wrote on September 28th:

When I grow up I will work in an orphanage.  Thar [there] are lots of chigrin [children] in a orphanage.  You need food, watrr [water], lots of beds and clos [clothes].  I tiech [teach] English in the orphanage.

Her teacher wrote a comment at the top:

Elizabeth, you will take very good care of the children!  Super details!

I'm proud of my baby girl!  God, please keep her heart close to You!

Trick or Treat!

(Don't mind that they were ringing the doorbell when there is a bucket of candy by the door.  They were posing in front of our house. ;-))

It's the Baber kids!

Elizabeth the Pink Rock Star! 

Everything she wore was something already in our house except a $2 can of pink hair spray.

Josiah and Isaac: Diego and Baby Jaguar from Go, Diego, Go!

I did buy the shirt for Josiah, but it's one he can wear again.  We  had the vest, and we printed and added an iron-on patch.  I made Rescue Pack.

Isaac is wearing a costume that both Elizabeth and Josiah wore.  I love that they all got to wear it!

Rescue Pack!  My first real sewing project without adult supervision ;-)  I'm relieved with how it turned out.  I used a towel, figuring it'd be sturdy and cheap.  I forgot how thick it would be as I was finishing edges and such.  The face was made with printable iron-ons.  Josiah wanted to add a zipper after most of the bag was already put together, so it's not so pretty, but it works.  Josiah loves it and wants to play with it all the time.  That makes it worth it!

Snitching candy!

Josiah and Elizabeth were as excited about handing out candy to others as they were going around to get their own. :-D



We had a fun evening.  Now Mommy and Daddy need to assess the safety of the candy.  I have a feeling most of the chocolate is going to need to be confiscated.

More pictures

Some pics of the kids playing today :-) 

Isaac was given a tent with a tunnel for his birthday, and the kids have had a lot of fun with it.

Elizabeth in the tunnel

 Isaac looking out the door

 

Sometimes Daddy's just a big kid, too!

Daddy, Isaac, and Elizabeth in the tent.

Kisses!

Hmmm....

Three kids coming down the slide with scary glowing eyes

Some pictures from the week :-)

Sunday:  Trying to get pictures of the boys in their matching outfits.  They wore these for Easter, but they work well now, too. 

Isaac looks like such a big boy!

 Handsome Josiah

Our "trunk" for our church's Trunk N Treat.  Gotta find some use for the giant airplane pool float ;-)

Beautiful pink rock star!

Josiah and Isaac were there, but we didn't get picture of them until it was late and the lighting wasn't so good.

 Friday:  Elizabeth dressed up for her school costume parade--she didn't decide what to wear until she saw the headband at Target yesterday.  She is a snow fairy/princess.  Oops, I didn't even get pictures of the cool hair that made us late for school.

Isaac watching the parade.  He's Baby Jaguar to go with Josiah's Diego costume.

Stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast after watching the school parade.  Josiah's in partial costume.

Aren't God's creations amazing?