Backyard Nature Study

John found this little guy when he was mowing the lawn. Doesn't he look just like the GEICO gecko?

My Ellie

Little Ellie, who is turning seven next month, has been assigned to give a talk in Primary on Sunday. This will be her third talk this year, so she's getting quite good at it. Usually I write it and pick out the pictures for her and then practice with her so she knows what to say. The topic is "Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He is a God of miracles." So I asked her what that means, and she decided to give her talk on some of the miracles that Jesus performed while He was on the earth. She listed five miracles that she remembered, asked me to find the scriptures for them, and then she found pictures to go with each one. She sat down on the couch and looked up each scripture all by herself and read it, matching the pictures to the scripture.

I will help her consolidate and get everything down on paper so she can give the talk, but I think this was a great exercise in helping her learn to do a talk all on her own. And the confidence she will gain through this--PRICELESS!

Mac & Cheddar Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli

So, I made this Rachael Ray recipe last night, and EVERYONE liked it!  Which means it is good enough to make again, and good enough to post.

Mac & Cheddar Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli


2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


1 pound chicken breast tenders, chopped


Salt and pepper


1 small onion, chopped


1 pound macaroni elbows or cavatappi corkscrew shaped pasta twists


2 1/2 cups raw broccoli florets, available packaged in produce department


3 tablespoons butter


3 tablespoons all-purpose flour


1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper


1 teaspoon paprika


3 cups milk


1 cup chicken stock


3 cups yellow sharp Cheddar


1 tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard


Directions


Place a pot of water on to boil for macaroni.


Heat a medium pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and chicken and season with salt and pepper. Saute a couple of minutes then add onion and cook another 5 to 7 minutes until onions are tender and chicken is cooked through. Turn off heat and reserve.


To boiling pasta water, add pasta and salt to season the cooking water. Cook 5 minutes, then add broccoli and cook 3 minutes more or until pasta is cooked to al dente and florets are just tender.


While pasta cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add butter and melt, then add flour, cayenne and paprika and whisk together over heat until roux bubbles then cook a minute more. Whisk in milk and stock and raise heat to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Simmer until the sauce thickens about 5 minutes.


Drain macaroni or pasta and broccoli florets. Add back to the pot and add chicken to the pasta and broccoli.


Add cheese to milk sauce and stir to melt it in, a minute or so. Stir in mustard and season sauce with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and broccoli and cooked pasta and stir to combine. Adjust seasonings and transfer to a large serving platter and serve.

Next time, I'll use more broccoli, but otherwise, this is great.  Enjoy!

Happy, and Not So Happy Helpers

The Texas sun is so intense that we already had to stain the cedar posts on our porch.  Our house faces south--in fact, all of our houses have faced south.  Hmmm.  The builder left them natural, and they were starting to fade.  (We've been in the house three months.)

The kids were so excited to help, until John told them they wouldn't be getting their brushes in the stain.

You can see that this one was particularly unhappy.

Maybe next year, kid, maybe next year.

I have deleted my Facebook account.  For many reasons that I will not bore you with. If you want to be my friend, read my blog.

Rain, Fireworks, and Family

Our 4th of July weekend was fun, but we got rained on multiple times.  Because of Hurricane Alex, which hit the Mexican coast, we were in the path of the rain storms.  One night we took the kids to the pool and it started to POUR!  My sister and I took cover under the pool house, but the kids stayed with John in the water.  We kept trying to wait it out, but ended up walking home in the rain.  We were soaked through when we got there. 

Seth getting a haircut at home.  John decided that paying money for someone to clipper him all over was a waste and wanted to try his hand at cutting Seth's hair.  He did a great job, and saved us a few bucks!  Seth doesn't care as long as he still gets a sucker at the end.

Our timid fireworks display.  There are MANY cities that ban fireworks completely, so we had to do a little research (like call the Sheriff's office) to find out that we live in the county, so fireworks are okay.  However, we saw LOTS of fireworks in the city limits as well, so I doubt they enforce the law much, especially when it's been raining so much and there is little risk of fire.  Next year we're getting the aerial stuff!

John took the kids to Dallas for his niece's baby blessing.  They had a great day with him and loved seeing their cousins, as you can tell.  I stayed home with my sister, taught my Sunbeams, and watched all six hours of "Pride and Prejudice" with Colin Firth.  We had a lovely day together.

Between rain storms, barely, we took my sister to visit the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, complete with a huge "lone star" out front, and then walked down to the State Capital building.  Seriously, we barely got back to the parking garage without getting soaked again!  She came from Washington, hoping for some sunshine, and got rained on.  At least it was a serious Texas rain, and not Washington drizzle.  And it was warm!