Kids are Imaginative

My kids had a great time working on the cards that they gave me for my birthday. #2 spent time up on his computer in the paint program to make his card for me. I've attached 2 pictures of it because I'm hiding in there. #3 drew a picture of her, me and Grandmom. My hubby
bought me a new cook book and a new GPS so I don't have to keep taking his. Whatever the reason, I'm excited to have it! I had it tell me how to get to church yesterday (as if I don't know lol) and hooked it up to my phone via bluetooth and made a bunch of calls through it just because I could! I'm just a big kid! Also pictured are the flowers that my parents sent me for my birthday. Excuse the mess in the background, we're taking out all the wall paper on the first floor. Go here if you want to read all about it.

Updates

Well, Dad is home now and the kids and I are most happy. We've had him busy around the house doing things that I haven't been able to do while he was gone. Today he decided to fix the front porch step that was broken. Well, that turned into ripping out all the steps because the wood was all rotten. So right now we have no front steps and a living room full of wood. Hopefully my hubby will be able to fix them tomorrow.

The kids are doing well. They are both doing great in school. AWANA started this past Wednesday and the kids are looking forward to another year learning about God in this fun and rewarding setting.

First Day of Preschool

#3 had her first day of Preschool on Wednesday. She loves her new teacher Miss Mary and loves her new book bag and folder. She's learning about school rules, the letters A, B, & C, and the numbers 1 & 2 this month. She is also learning about who Jesus is this month. Her book bag hasn't been decorated at school yet so when they get that done we will post pictures of it. #3 even read the words "go, so, no" today! Then she went to the library and read "I love to take a bath. I love my tub." I'm so proud of her!

Friends at the Park

We were able to visit our friends who moved to Pittsburgh recently. Here are some pictures of all the kids playing at the park.

What you don't see is me.... I was a very brave soul and wore my Philadelphia Eagles shirt in Pittsburgh Steeler territory. I got a few looks from people but I just smiled and showed my team spirit!

Heavenly Chicken

I've gotten quite a few requests for the recipe to Heavenly Chicken. This is one of my "Once-a-Month" meals so at the bottom you can see immediate cooking instructions as well as freezing instructions. "Cooking Day" is the corporate cooking day at my house where we prepare all 30 meals. If you are making this for tonight, then just do all the steps today! This recipe is also part of Today's Housewife's Please Pass The Chicken Recipes.

Heavenly Chicken
1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach
½ cup sliced green onion
2 TBSP margarine
2 TBSP flour
1 cup milk
1 cup soda cracker crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 boneless chicken breast halves, skinned
1 cup cooked cubed ham

PREPRATION PRIOR TO COOKING DAY: Cook and squeeze spinach to drain well.

CORPORATE COOKING DAY INSTRUCTIONS: Make white sauce: sauté onion in margarine over low heat until tender. Stir in flour, add milk all at once. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until bubbly. Boil and stir 1 minute more until smooth and thickened. Combine cracker crumbs and cheese. Dip chicken breast halves in crumb mixture to coat lightly. Arrange breast halves in a 13x9 baker that has been treated with nonstick spray. Seal leftover crumb mixture in ziplock bag.
Stir spinach and ham into white sauce, spoon sauce over chicken breasts. Allow to cool and cover baking dish with foil, attaching bag of crumb mixture to side of dish. Label with name and cooking instructions. Freeze until serving day.

SERVING DAY INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw and preheat oven to 350. Cover and bake for 60 to 75 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle top with crumbs. Bake 10 minute more.

SERVING TODAY: Don't cool, don't attach bag of crumbs, and don't freeze. Immediately after preparing meal, preheat oven to 350, cover and bake for 60-75 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle top with crumbs and bake 10 minutes more.

Dinner with friends

We had dinner last night with some friends. It's nice to be friends with your pastor and his wife! Unfortunately I was so preoccupied with playing hostess that I forgot to take some pictures. Lucky for me, my guests brought their camera. Check out the pics over here.

Cooking Day Arrived

We had a few bumps trying to get us all here but we finally made it. This month went considerably better than our first try in June and we finished and cleaned up by 2:30 yesterday. 3 ladies came to my house and we had a great time making our meals. My freezer is completely full and I still have 7 more meals in my fridge. One of those we will eat tonight and the rest will move to the freezer tomorrow once some of the Ziploc bag meals freeze flat and I can stand them straight up. Once again I had to take out my ice maker to get most of the meals fit. 3 of the ladies were repeats this month and we had one new gal who already wants to take this program to her Sunday school class members. Overall it was a very successful day and now we have lots of choices for dinners. I'll post my menu for next month's cooking when I have it prepared.

Power Lab VBS

Hair Cuts

Today is an exciting day in the Benge home. #2 got his hair cut and #3 got her first hair cut. That's right, I said her first!
I know she is over 4 years old but I just couldn't bring myself to cut her hair before. It was such long pretty hair! Well, she saw a picture of #1 with short hair and bangs and decided she wanted her hair like that too. It's so cute! I did do the Mommy thing and put some hair in an envelope to put in her baby box and took pictures. #3 just loves Miss Amanda and was so very good while Miss Amanda cut her hair. #2 is happy with his cut as well because it means he can spike his hair again. Now if I would just buy some blue washable dye, he would be very happy.

We'll see when that happens!

Vacation Bible School

Last week we had VBS at our church. The kids had a great time learning about God's Unshakeable Truth at Outrigger Island. They had a blast singing the songs, learning the verses, even playing games as part of the lessons. Here are a few pictures of the kids singing on stage.

Baseball

On one of our trips to visit Dad in Kentucky we were able to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum. We learned how to make baseball bats and saw the different designs that the major league players like. We each got a small bat to take home and took a round in the batting cage.

We went to a Baltimore Orioles game this week and saw them use the bats that we saw made at the museum. We even saw one bat break! We had a lot of fun and the kids got some neat facepainting. We had a friend join us for the game and she had a good time too.

Who has time to cook dinner?

Just because I'm an at-home mom doesn't mean I have all the time in the world. Until a month ago I would get busy playing with the kids, cleaning the house, or running errands and I would completely forget to cook dinner. I found myself taking the kids out to eat or resorting to frozen waffles more often than not.

I went on a ladies retreat in May and took a class on Once-A-Month Cooking. I was sitting with several ladies from my church and when the class was finished they all turned to me and said, "When are you scheduling the cooking day?". WHAT? When did I get elected to host? After a hysterically funny intervention from the teacher of the class, I agreed to be the hostess for our church. So on June 7th, I ventured into this new world.

The week prior to June 7th was crazy. Out of everything, this was the most difficult part. You have to buy 30 days worth of food and separate it into the 30 meals. You also have to pre-chop veggies, pre-cook some of the meat (others are left raw), and label everything. The prep-work sounds scary but really it's only scary the first time. But isn't everything?

Cooking day was a blast. 3 ladies came over and we started cooking. I only made 8 of the meals but I have 30 in my freezer. The plan is simple. I took a recipe, took every one's ingredients and made 4 pans of that meal. I sealed it up, labeled it with the serving day cooking instructions, and moved on to the next meal.

You may say, "I don't have room in my freezer" or "I can't afford buying 30 days of meals at once". I was shocked when all 30 meals fit in my freezer, I had to take the ice machine out to get them in but they fit. As for the 30 days of food, thankfully that first time for me I had just received my tax refund. But you don't have to cook all 30, maybe one week of food works for you or 2 weeks. Any way you choose to cook is saving you time. One Saturday of preparation for me has given me 30 days of meals that I just pop one out of the freezer, defrost it, and stick it in the oven or crock pot. It's so cool!

I'm never going back to cooking each day. Maybe once or twice I might make a special meal, but for everyday cooking, I'm sticking to this. In fact my next cooking day is coming up and I've included my meal list. If this sounds good to you and you would like more information, send me a note.

1. Baked Chicken Pecan
2. Dijon Pork Chops
3. Mexican Lasagna
4. Chicken Capri
5. Almond Chicken
6. Honey Pepper Pork
7. Orange Glazed Chicken
8. Pineapple Glazed Chicken
9. Teriyaki Chicken
10. Stromboli
11. Beef BBQ Sandwiches
12. Macaroni and Cheese
13. Pesto Chicken Packets
14. Goulash
15. Chicken Tucson
16. Roasted Turkey Breast
17. Turkey Meatloaf
18. Chicken Pie
19. Broccoli-Ham Bake
20. Black Beans and Rice
21. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Chicken
22. Marinated Flank Steak
23. Chili Hamburgers
24. Farmers Casserole
25. Crab Shells
26. Ham and Swiss Pastry Bake
27. Sausage and Rice
28. Lemon Chicken
29. Grilled Fish
30. Chicken Manicotti

Istanbul, Turkey

Dad came home from Istanbul, Turkey at 4:00 this morning. He was attending a NATO conference for military officers. Here are some pictures from his trip. Dad's spent the day working around the house and catching up on email. One thing we haven't done today is laundry. Dad made it on the plane but unfortunately his luggage didn't.

Spring Cleaning

As we were picking up kid #3 from preschool today, kid #2 says, "Mom your car is dusty. Can I dust it when we get home?" Woo hoo, Mom hit the jackpot! I had no idea that when he said he wanted to dust it, he really meant the whole thing. When I checked to see what was taking so long I found #2 working hard to dust the whole car.











Mom was busy today too. I taught myself how to use the weed whacker, and how not to use it as well! But at least my yard is mowed and the kids don't have to go through a jungle to get on and off the slide.

Mother's Day

Mother's day is here and the Benge kids have been busy. Mom has been treated all week to flowers, plants, cards and candy. Dad even sent Mom 30 tulips! Her favorite! This morning we went to church and tonight the kids are taking Mom and Grandma Karen out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. They also sent 3 cute flowers to Grandma Debra on Thursday. Happy day!

Kids and Cars

Wednesday night the kids participated in the AWANA Grand Prix at our church. Kid #2's car looks just like his Daddy's new mustang. Kid #3's car is an ocean scene with the Little Mermaid. They both painted their cars and kid 3 picked the seashells (or sheshells as she says) and the mermaid to go on her car. Neither won any prizes but they loved seeing their cars racing down the track. #2 is already planning out his car for next year. I have no idea how to make the Batmobile so Daddy better prepare for that one!

Notice #2 has no top front teeth. The tooth fairy was busy at the Benge house over the last week. At least she didn't forget like she did with the previous tooth!