A quick and easy hotdish recipe

1 pkg of ground turkey

2 small onions

1 box of Uncle Bens rice (whatever flavor you like)

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

1 can of cream of celery soup

1 box of stuffing mix (whatever brand you like)

Butter as directed on rice and stuffing

Brown ground turkey with chopped onions.

Add box of rice mix and seasoning.

Add chicken broth and stir until blended. 

Add butter and the can of cream of celery soup.  Stir until sauce thickens.  Don’t cook the rice to much or it will get soggy.

Poor mixture into a glass cake pan or casarole.

Prepare the stuffing as directed on the box.

Sprinkle the stuffing on top of the hotdish mixture.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Rice will firm and stuffing will be a little crunchy. 

Toss a garden salad with your favorite dressing and dinner is done! 

I made it tonight and it was delightful!  Everyone ate and no one complained!

Happy New Year!

Today is the day!  I am really going to try to keep up with my resolutions and my 20 wishes.  Unfortunately once I started thinking about my resolutions the list kept growing and growing!  Oh well.  I just have to stop thinking about myself so much and focus on others.  Not so hard right? HA!

Anyway, the baby still has not graced us with his presence, so now I am thinking he may never want to come out and play:-) 

I was in bed last night by 10pm, but I did get up at midnight and tell Mitch Happy New Year!  I didn’t watch any of the New Year’s shows this year and actually we didn’t have any company this year.  First time for both of those.  We usually have a card party with Mitch’s family.  I didn’t think I could make it staying up all night, so it was just us.  It was nice.

Ben and Mitch went sledding for the first time yesterday.  They had a blast while I watched from the truck:(  One thing this pregnancy has done to me is make me lazy!  I am usually the one rolling down the hill, strapping on the skates and running here and there.  Not so much late in this pregnancy and it is really getting sickening.  But they had fun and they are looking forward to going again.  Maybe next time I will be able to join them. 

The hill and skating rink at Malung is ready for the season.  I am so thankfull to be able to share those experiences with my son.  I grew up on that hill.  The rink is in a different spot, but I certainly remember skating a lot when I was a kid.  I love running into people I went to grade school with there.  It’s such a trip back to my childhood.  What fun memories!

Opening weekend!

Opening weekend of white tail deer season is over.  Most wives dread deer season, because their husbands become obsessed with it and pay no attention to the needs and duties at home. 

Other wives love the break and like when their husbands leave for a week. It give them a break from the “Big Kid” in her brood. 

And then there is me!  I am the hunter in our family, most years anyway.  This year Ben really wanted to go to, but I am 8 months pregnant and could not participate this year.  We still went to deer camp and shot the breeze with the boys and cut up deer and all of that fun stuff, but I have to tell you not participating this year was not fun!

I love the feeling of refreshment when you sit in the deer stand all morning.  The air is clean, your mind is clean and of course your soul is clean.  Sitting still in peace and quiet is just what a person needs to re-energize.  Until, of course, that monster steps out and the commotion starts.  Scramble to get your gun up, scramble to find the site, remember that the safety is on.  Oh yeah then there’s either my dad or brother saying, “If you don’t take it right now I am going to shoot!”  So much for the peace and quiet.  But at that point the adrenalin starts to kick in and that’s even better! 

So this year we missed all of the excitement and adrenalin.  Next year though Ben and I will have to make sure we take some extra time off of work and stay out at camp.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This week has certainly tested my parental ability!  A few weeks ago Devi talked about how important it is to stay home in the evening and eat dinner with your family.  She said kids don’t really want to be toted around to every activity available and they usually would much rather stay home and play a game!  Well I can sympathize with that this week. 

Tuesday we had cub scouts, Wed we had Royal Rangers/Missionettes and last night he had a birthday party.  Whew!  I don’t know if I can survive this if he decides to take on a sport as well! 

Mitch and I have spent the last three nights in passing and I don’t like it!  But luckily it’s not like this every week.  Cub Scouts is only every other week.  Although Ben brought home a paper last night for Basketball.  Lukily that is not during the week.  It will be primarily Saturdays and only a handful of them. 

I feel torn, because on one hand I have been waiting for this time to see him in all of these activities and on the other hand I am 8 months pregnant and very tired!  Yikes! 

I am sure it will work itself out just fine.  Tonight we are staying home and cuddling on the couch!  Then it’s off to deer camp to see how everyone is doing there!  I am sad I won’t get to hunt this year, but on the positive side I won’t be so tired and I can run around and visit everyone! 

Have a blessed day!

I guess we should learn not to plan our weekends out to the last second!  Ben woke up on Thursday morning with a fever and a terrible cough.  We have been resting and cuddling for two whole days.  Today he was finally feeling a little better. 

I went out and collect sticks and leaves so we could work on a project today.  He made Grandma Mary a picture with a letter on it and then made a frame around it with sticks and glue.  It turned out very nice and he earned an elective for Cub Scouts! 

Daddy surprised him by bringing home a Polaris jacket for him.  We were supposed to go shopping for a new winter jacket today too, but Ben was still feeling a little under the weather, so we decided to postpone it.  Then Mitch really came through by bringing one home for him.  He had asked for a Polaris jacket.  Ben says he will wear it all weekend.  I believe him as he hasn’t taken it off yet and Mitch has been home for two hours:-)

Well!

I wrote last time about being a red neck, because I wanted to go to the demolition derby.  Well then, since I completely enjoyed the lawn mower races they offered before the demo, what does that make me now?  They even had women racing the lawn mowers!  I tell you what if I hadn’t been pregnant I think I would have signed up for that challenge! 

The Roseau County Fair was a huge sucess!  There were so many people there it was unbelievable.  I wonder if that has to do with the economy being so bad.  I bet people stayed home this summer and decided to go to the smaller county fairs rather than the big super fairs.  It was great to see people sticking closer to home!

Hello there!

Let me start by saying I am not that afraid of snakes.  However when the joker of the Circus comes into the tent with an 8 foot python I tend to get the willies! 

Mitch wanted Ben to take a picutre with him and the snake.  Ben didn’t want anything to do with it, so I decided to hike my big girl panties up and take the picture so Ben wouldn’t be afraid.  I did and the picture pretty much speaks for itself.

Enjoy the day!

Benjamin!

We were riding in the car to summer school yesterday and Benjamin asked me why there is always a flower beside Marvin.  I told him that was Marvin’s trademark.  He said, “Hmmm…”.  Then he asked me what Polaris had for their picture.  I told him it was a star.  He told me that was soooo cool. 

Then he said, “Dad is way cooler than you mom.  He has a star!”

To this I replied, “Hey, I thought I was the coolest?”

He said, “Nope you are the prettiest.”

Well how could I argue with my most intelligent and wonderfully sensitive child at that point!  He is a genius and will have the girls eating out of his hands in no time!

Great News!

Well I guess it’s official now.  I had my ultra sound and there is a baby in my tummy!  I am so excited!  I can’t even believe it’s happening and until my ultrasound yesterday I have been hesitant to get too excited.  But now my baby is 2.26 cm long and has a heart beat of 167! 

I have been out of practice for so long I am going to have to read all of those baby books over again.  Benjamin just turned six years old!  He is more excited than I am I tell you!  That boy can’t wait for the baby to come. 

So now we have to shift gears from the adoption of a toddler or preschooler to diapers and formula.  Just what Mitch was excited about avoiding:)  Oh well – I will take the poopy, pukey, paranormal smells of a new born.  It will be an adventure!

Bible Camp Memories

I went to a concert at the Baptist Church a couple of Wednesdays ago.  The music was wonderful, but the message was even more great!  They were encouraging kids to sign up for summer camps.  Of course they mentioned Lake Bronson and that is where I used to go.  The whole evening brought me back to my childhood.  Seeing pictures of children and their antics at the camp.  I remember one time we pulled a prank on the pastor.  Every morning he would go and ring the bell to wake everyone for prayer.  Well one of our chaperons said we should put our socks on the bell, so when he rang it there would be no sound.  We were all up and waiting and sure enough there was no sound.  We laughed so hard!  He had to climb up the bell and take the socks off.  We had to finally admit who had done and I am sure we got in trouble, but I don’t remember the punishment – I just remember that pastor hanging from the bell tower trying to pull off all of those multi-colored socks!  What a riot!