Thanksgiving in Arizona

The thanksgiving table

Let me start by saying a few things about Arizona, or at least the part where Kris is living in Gilbert, AZ. ...

1. it is DRY. Oh man it is DRY. DRY. DRY. I drank so much water the first several days. I couldn't get enough. My lips needed constant chap stick. I didn't think about the boys needing some, and Matthew's lips got pretty raw actually (bad mom) and we needed to keep Vaseline on his round the clock pretty much.

2. There are roosters. At first I was pretty cool with the roosters wild walking around wherever they pleased. Awww, look, roosters! NOPE! No one tells you the truth about roosters. You're made to believe that the nice birds wake up with the sun and cock-a-doodle-do at the sun when it rises to let the farmers know it's time to get up. YAH RIGHT. Those dang stupid birds hoot and holler and cock-a-doodle their dang heads off. If my dad would have had a shot gun or a bee-bee gun (however you spell that), there'd be some free dead roosters for the taking. OH MY WORD. They were so annoying, so loud, so everywhere and so so so all the time making noise. It often sounded like they were yelling at each other, trying to see which dumb bird was louder. Matthew at one point, while playing a game shouted "Enough with the crowing!" LOL it was great.

3. Speaking of game playing... in a week's time I have the final score sheet. 27 games of Train were played (the game is called Ticket to Ride, check it out!) and of those 27 games: Dad won the most at 8 wins, Jamie and I tied for second at 6 wins, Kris and Brian each tied at 3 wins and Mom won once. There were 6 rounds of Yahtzee played with Dad winning twice and Kris winning twice, Brian and I with a win each. Matthew played two games of Yahtzee with us and did fairly well. It's neat that he can start to be included on things like that. There isn't much to do without TV. As much as I think the boys were craving football and the kids missed Blue's Clues, it was also really nice. We were forced to read (gasp!) and play games and talk and take walks and do things that don't involve 23 hours of the day in front of the tube.

4. To speak of the actual holiday though, the getting ready, cooking, setting the table, inviting friends over and being surrounded with loved ones... it really doesn't get any better. I love cooking. As I mentioned in the previous post. I love getting it all ready and being in charge. With the turkey under a bucket (thank you Brian) and not in my oven, it really is awesome to get the sides all ready without the bird in the way. This year I also tried the stuffing in the crockpot to clear out one more item from the oven rotation. I was pleased with the taste but not the final outcome with the stuffing, it was too wet. But it was my fault, I added more liquid than it called for be/c it didn't seem enough. I will try this again, without straying from the recipe. I love everyone oo'ing and ahh'ing over the sweet potato souffle. I never in my life thought I'd like sweet potatoes (and outside of this recipe I really don't) but it is so cool to have everyone think the stuff is the bee's knees. Jamie likes having added such a winner to our traditional meal. ... Anyhow the meal itself food wise was wonderful. Dad did an awesome job on the gravy and Brian's bucket turkey was yet again amazing. He'll be in charge of the turkey forever be/c it rocks. But the real memories in the day come from not the food...

Before the meal started, everyone read their place setting, which was different printed verses of thanksgiving or thankfulness. Then Kris also asked that everyone say what they were thankful for. I started. I knew I was going to cry so I kept it really simple and held off the tears. We got around to Dad though, and he couldn't even get through his verse. He got choked up and cried which sent Mom, Kris and I into tears. I'm so thankful for my dad. I'm so blessed that he is a fighter and is still with us. I pray daily for the gift of life that God has given us and ask that he be allowed to stay with us longer each day. The reading and thankfulness continued around the table to Jamie who read his, said his and then closed us in our blessing so we could eat. During the blessing the sweet little child next to me, holding my hand who is normally so very good when it's time to pray, utters "I TOOOTED!" I heard muffled chokes and stiffed giggles all around the table as Jamie tried to continue his blessing. To be truthful, I heard not a word past that announcement from Mark. Oh God is funny.

5. Tiny OT update: Matthew did awesome this past week. I couldn't be more proud of him. Sure we had our moments of whining, fussing, unwillingness... but overall, he was so so good. He is eating a chicken nugget with peanut butter without much complaint or stalling at all now. We're working on tiny bits of tomatoes slowly as well. However the thing that surprised me and makes me proud is that he was willing to TRY new things while we were gone. He had a lick of a bite of ham, a tiny bird bite of turkey, licked a lemon, tried-liked and gobbled pumpkin pie, tried a berry smoothie, tried clementine juice, ate an almond, tried and liked crunchy peanut butter when we ran out of creamy kind. I'm just so so proud of him! We're making real forward motion steps now.

Thank you God for Matthew's progress thus far, help us to continue helping him. Thank you also for humor. Thank you for blessing us with love and family and laughter this Thanksgiving holiday. Thank you that we could all be together and celebrate what we're thankful for most together. Thank you for your Son. That you'd send Him down to earth and save us all. As we enter the Christmas season now, let us never forget that nor fail to be thankful for that most important gift. Amen.

Pictures, of course:

cute boys

Grammy and Mark

Grandpa and his boys

playing by the pool

Splashing

Daddy reading

Jamie's place setting

all five pies: pumpkin, chocolate, pumpkin, apple with top crust, apple without top crust

Matthew's first pumpkin pie, and loving it.

Mark's first pumpkin pie

Matthew eating another piece the next day

Mark's more pumpkin pie, the next day, he loves it too!

Kris and Brian

Matthew playing Yahtzee for the first time!

us girls with Dad

my men, at the park.

Kris taking the boys on a walk to see the horses

What it's all about: family.
Brian, Kris, Dad, Mom, Matthew, Me, Mark, Jamie

Food Glorious Food

I never remember JUST how much I love cooking for a crowd until I get to again. My roll this thanksgiving week is to be the cook. We're visiting my sister in AZ, while she's stuck here on her internship. It's awesome being all together: Dad, Mom, Kris, Brian, Jamie, Me, Matthew and Markie all together for a whole week! It's wonderful. Before coming down here, Kris requested items and approved a menu for me to put into motion once we got here.

So far I've made:
-crockpot apple pie,
-my friend Trela's breakfast casserole,
-crockpot barbecue chicken with homemade fries and broc and peach cobbler
-stew (with separate pots for the meat, peas and onions to please everyone) with wanna-be apple pie muffins (which were a huge hit!)
-tonight will be red pasta bake that I invented last week
-tomorrow is ham and homemade mac-cheese
-thursday is our Thanksgiving spread of course with me handling everything besides the turkey. Brian takes care of this. Then there will be stuffing, rolls, three kinds of green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato souffle, pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate pie.... and hopefully I'm not forgetting anything, though I do have the approved menu across the room.
-Friday and Saturday I'll be off duty as we manage with a fridge full of leftovers.

I love pleasing everyone. I love that last night's dinner was PERFECT be/c everyone got exactly what they wanted: Mom didn't have peas, I didn't have meat, Jamie didn't have onions and anyone who wanted it all could scoop it up! Same as how I love that there will be three kinds of green beans to please everyone's desires. I've got desserts to make everyone happy, though apparently next year I need to add a pecan pie to the menu for Brian and my mom.

I guess it really is true that the way to a man (or anyone's) heart is through the stomach, as we all seem to be in really pleasing and happy moods so far... oh.... well that might have something to do with how we haven't stopped laughing since we got here and the boys are so dang cute, no one can stand it. But of course, I'm a little biased!

I hope everyone has a happy happy Thanksgiving.

A whole new world

Well folks, that is the truth. It is a whole new world for me. Yesterday I picked up my hearing aid. I was at the audiologist's for nearly 2 hours learning how to use my new device. If anyone is interested, I googled it and found a link for the type I got. You can go here to see it. It has an accurate picture on the very top of what it looks like. In the picture the one the hand is holding is white while mine is brown. A pretty close match to my hair color and blends in well with my glasses frame. Yesterday was crazy. I stepped out of the office and stood in the parking lot and just listened. I could hear leaves rustling. Birds singing. Cars vrooming. I drove home with the radio off (gasp!) just to listen to the car noises. When I got out of my car at home, I stood in the driveway a moment be/c I could hear chirping, I'm guessing cricket or some kind of bug. Inside my house... wow. The microwave actually made me jump. When I closed (slammed) it, it banged in my ear and echoed a little. The buttons are noisy! The cabinet that creaks was really loud. I didn't realize it was that loud of a creak. The children... oh my the children. I had to take the hearing aid OUT of my ear one time when Mark was crying. It hurt my ear a little. Then later the boys were playing and the squealing was painful. I took it out again until they calmed down. Hey, at least I'm getting good at putting it in and out. The doctor said to take it out the first few days any time I felt overwhelmed with sound or I was getting headaches because of all the new sounds. It's kind of like getting contacts for the first time. He said wear it 4-5 hours the first day and then build up each day a little longer. This really is amazing. I can't believe I can hear now. I can really hear. After the boys went to bed, I wanted Jamie to talk to me. He hid his mouth behind his hands, and I heard every word!!! Before, if he wasn't looking directly at me, and I was reading his mouth, I couldn't make out his words some of the time. It was so cool. We also watched Glen Beck last night and I didn't need captions nor did I lose interest be/c I could hear him the whole time! This is really a whole new world.

Top Ten Predictions

This came by email... and I thought it worthy to be blogged...

Top Ten Predictions for 2011

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still be the most powerful thing on Earth.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still honor the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

Mega Event again

I just got back from running my errands tonight. I stopped in Kohls and used their ten dollar gift card that came in the mail. LOVE IT! Thank you Kohls. I paid 3 bucks there and got four items, NONE are for me! Love love love it!

After Kohls then it was down to business... serious coupon shopping, folks... Honestly, I should take pictures, but Jamie is a little afraid that we're starting to look like a bomb shelter center or something... so I wont ... this time... Hello stocking up! Kroger rocked this week with the Mega Event Deals! Allow me to break down some of the highlights from today:

8 four packs of stick butter
6 cans of evaporated milk
2 cans of Swanson broth
2 boxes of Bisquick (i wish I would have had more coupons, this is such a staple here)
4 more boxes of cereal
2 FREE sour creams
FREE Advil
2 boxes of nearly free cake mix with frosting (who can say, more cake balls?)
almost free shredded cheese
5 shampoos for under 5 bucks
5 bags of chocolate chips
baby jar food for 12 cents each (I wont say how many, I'm actually embarrassed about that one, but seriously the stuff doesn't go bad until Feb of 2013 and when it's normally 87 cents each.... cough)

I went to two stores:
The first was Publix and the totals there were
$19.37 SPENT and $36.20 SAVED! (65% savings!)
The second was Kroger and the totals there were
$144.42 SPENT with $72.12 SAVED! (33% savings)

All in all I'm very pleased! Over all total was $163 at both stores (which is pretty much where I was two weeks ago! Last week spent the same amount but saved $99, this week saved $108!)

thinking

Just thought I'd babble on about some things. ...
these are in no particular order, just wanted to clear my head...

1. I went today and got fitted for my hearing aid. I'm choosing to move forward in this direction even though the ENT wanted me to be seen by some other kind of specialist and further investigate surgery. Because of the pregnancy and then wedding plans, I couldn't look at surgery until August and frankly, I'm really not wanting to do elective surgery that may or may not fix the problem. I was at the audiologist at length today, trying on kinds, figuring out the differences of the devices and making sure we selected the best for my particular hearing loss needs. According to the audiologist, I have a very unique hearing loss. Both ears match in certain frequencies (the lower tones) and then as the frequency increases, my left ear is well within normal range but the right ear tapers down below normal. Don't know why specifically and apparently without going to the neo-otologist, we wont be able to be told the cause without more specific testing that again right now, we're just not in a place to be able to do. They wont do the testing or surgery be/c I'm pg... so either we wait and I continue my life in frustration day in and day out for not being able to clearly hear and understand Matthew or we move forward... so we're moving forward.

2. I keep praying daily for news to come in about something that I can't post on here be/c I don't know who all reads this. Ha, sorry how's that for informative, huh?

3. I got the envelopes in the mail from Kris and Brian this week and can't wait to start working on those... I was just staring at my new calligraphy pen, which is what prompted this particular thought.

4. I can not WAIT to see my whole family soon. a week from today I will be out of my skin, as I try to pack for four people for a week away. I can't wait to spend a full week with my parents and my sister and future BIL! My boys are going to go nuts. They miss them all so much. Not a day goes by Mark doesn't ask about someone who's too far away.

5. Speaking of too far away... dang it all hawaii. ... pout... I miss my best friend so much. And I realize that we don't live in the same state normally. But I'd gladly take a one hour time difference as opposed to five or six hours apart. It sucks so badly and I can not WAIT for her to get back to the mainland.

6. I got no shopping done today. This upsets me. Friday is supposed to be my errand day... especially a pay day Friday... sigh. I am hoping to have enough energy to go tonight otherwise, it's going to have to get done tomorrow. Boooo. I have places to go and coupons to use, dangit!

7. OT update: We are now able to eat half of a peanut butter sandwich! That's right folks, we've added BREAD!!!!!! Oh I thought this day would never come! He's doing great with it though. Stalling... oh the stalling... he's turning into the king of stalling... but he's doing well when it gets in his mouth. We're still eating a carrot at each lunch and dinner. This pleases me. And we've added bread. Bread! Can you believe it, bread?! (can you believe someone is that excited about bread?)!

8. Well... I was trying to come up with enough to change this to a 10 on Friday post... but I think I'm out of rambling thoughts... so that's all. Thanks for tuning in for some updates on life at the Hobbs...

Things to be reminded of...

On Sunday, our former church pastor came to preach and I soaked up every word of his sermon. I thought I'd put the notes here so that others could also be reminded. I don't know where your walk in life is right now, but these things I think are applicable no matter what.

We need to be REMINDED:

1. God is SOVERN.

He is the creator, He is the only God, He is in control. We must remember to trust him at all times. And to only trust him.

Isaiah 45

³ I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.

⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
⁶ That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other;

¹⁸ For thus says the LORD,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain,
Who formed it to be inhabited:

“ I am the LORD, and there is no other.

2. God is AT WORK.

He is working in 1000 different ways all at the same time for His will and to bring you good if you love him and are faithful to him.

God never wastes pain. (big breath)

Romans 5

Faith Triumphs in Trouble

¹ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have^[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Butch said we don’t glory in our tribulations often at the time we are feeling attacked or at our lowly places. He said first there will be a time of whining and crying. But… when we do remember to PRAISE GOD through the rough places, He will be faithful to use those to our good.

He said again “GOD NEVER WASTES PAIN”. He said that oculd be physical pain, but also it very much can be emotional pain and internal strife. God wont waste that pain, he will use it. He will bring us up from our dark places. Because we HAVE HOPE because we HAVE CHRIST. He said “God does the best work during our trials and tribulations.”

Romans 8

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us^[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

3. The enemy is NOT FLESH AND BLOOD.

Eph 6

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Relationship have the ability to cause us pain. And the stronger the relationship, the greater the capacity for pain. Think about your marriage. Where else can God work better to strength and grow you in a relationship? Where else can God refine who you are as a part of a relationship than in your marriage? Your spouse should be like Heavenly sandpaper, God using them to help rough out the edges of your abilities in a relationship.

Eph 6

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

So be strong in your relationships. And be secure in your marriages.

The enemy is not people. The church has a enemy. And that is the Devil. And he has come to kill, steal and destroy. Don’t let him in. Stay strong and firm. And remember that people are not the enemy. … So we need to pray. You need to trust that he is what he says he is. And trust that the enemy is not physically among you.

4. Jesus expects us to PRAY for, PROMOTE, and PROTECT the unity and harmony of the church.

John 17

Jesus Prays for Himself

¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ² as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should^[a] give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸ For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,^[b] that they may be one as We are. ¹² While I was with them in the world,^[c] I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept;^[d] and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will^[e] believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

If your FOCUS is on the Lord, then we should have no trouble, as a church body, keeping on keeping on. It is our job to do our job. We should not be battling each other or with each other, we must keep the unity in God’s house, in God’s church and with God’s people.

“It’s not about you. It’s not about me, It’s not about preferences and traditions. It’s about the Lord. It’s about KING JESUS. It’s about doing the work of the Lord and living for Jesus and keeping our eyes on Him and our focus on Him and not on people. We have no time for sulking, pouting or crying, because GOD is seeking people who SEEK HIM.

So, get on your knees and pay attention, because He should HAVE your attention.”

5. PRAY without ceasing and DO the great commission.

1 Thessalonians 5

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.

Blessing and Admonition

²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
²⁵ Brethren, pray for us.
²⁶ Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
²⁷ I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy^[a] brethren.
²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

The last thing he said was… “Obedience is evidence of faith and faithfulness.”

OT update

If you've been paying attention, those who read faithfully, Matthew has been in OT now for several weeks. I think we're on week 7 actually. He has been doing well, our therapist, Ms. Jennifer is awesome. I mean AWESOME. And I've agreed to do whatever she says, whatever she tells me to do with him. The hardest part is being firm. (Imagine that?) and not giving in to him... We have a chart with rules on it written by J each week. I like that I'm supposed to be enforcing HER rules. It's easier to enforce someone else's rules, don't you think? Her rules are simple. No whining, no fussing, no crying or no sticker. Each day has a box next to the day of the week and if he completes that day's "assignment" he earns a sticker in that box. The objective there is that if he brings HER back the chart, she gives him a prize. Last week, he had too many Xs and not enough stickers to earn a prize. BIG SAD DEAL. Last week was bad. Very very bad. Lots of attitude. We were recovering from a long weekend of late nights and were a very tired household. Sadly this resulted in lots of fussing which meant no stickers. It's a sad day if he doesn't get that sticker. Oh he hits the floor in a crying humpled mess and it's just bad. Very important to earn those stickers so he can get his prize from J. Anyhow, I sort of derailed.

Anyhow, I wanted to update with what he's done so far...
Reminder: PRE OT: he only ate bacon, peanut butter by the spoonfuls, yogurt, cereal, cereal bars, apples, grapes, banana, any kind of chips/crouton/cracker, and crispy (not squishy) french fries, and when given, cookies and ice cream. Again, Seriously. no pasta, no meat (aside bacon), no bread, no veggies....

I say that to say...
In the first two weeks, we were able to add fresh pears to his list. I was pleased with this, it happened fairly quickly, it was a struggle but not awful and added an additional option to the fruit list. Fruit hasn't been our problem, but we needed to start somewhere.

In the next three weeks, we added raw baby carrots! (A veggie!!!!) Now, the first week of that we were hiding a sliver of carrot in a goldfish cracker for him to eat a "sandwich" (I can't make this stuff up, people). That week was torture. Pure torture. After a week of that, we moved to a small tiny bite without the cracker and after a week of that, we moved to a length-wise cut half of carrot. Each lunch and dinner last week he got a half a raw baby carrot. So by the end of the day he had a whole one. Some days were great, some days were horrible... This week we're on to a whole one per lunch and dinner. The day I can throw 3 or 4 on his lunch plate without him crying will be a happy happy day! My kid is eating a vegetable!

Also in the past three weeks, she's been working with Matthew to be able to TOUCH a chicken nugget without crying. Oh mercy. The horror! Can you imagine it? Being forced to TOUCH chicken!? Well last week she succeeded, and we broke through! During session on Wed, he ate a WHOLE (over the course of 25 minutes) chicken nugget, bite by bite, dipped in peanut butter. (Say what?!) Yes, you heard me ... dipped in peanut butter. But you know what? I. don't. care. If he wants to dip the whole fridge in peanut butter to eat it, he can. Shoot, as a kid I COVERED everything with ketchup. Everything... mac and cheese, eggs, sandwiches, you name it and I dunked it in ketchup. Peanut butter is Matthew's ketchup.

In addition to the nugget, which I thought was substantial enough on her own... we also tried nuts on Wed. And in the session he ate about ten peanuts and ten cashews, all dipped in peanut butter.

When J came out to tell me this, I about fell out the chair. She had to be joking! WHAT?! What did my kid do!? I really couldn't believe it!

So we have a chart this week for three things:
1 every day to eat his carrot.
2 three days to eat nuts and
3 three days to eat a chicken nugget dipped in peanut butter.

Thursday and Friday at lunch both, he ate the nuts, dipped in peanut butter. I was shocked and amazed. And he was very willing to do this. He apparently likes nuts! And last night, we did a chicken nugget. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. But he did it. I told him I'd make him his bacon if he ate his chicken. He seemed pleased with this agreement! It took about 15 minutes with four bites to eat the one small nugget and each bite was heaped with peanut butter but I was doing the happy dance! I could not believe it!

That's in addition to trying my new homemade bars yesterday!

Sooooo I got brave this morning...

I gave him his cereal like normal (cereal every single day for breakfast) and he was happily eating that while I started making Jamie, Mark and I pancakes... I made a small silver dollar size pancake and put it on a kiddo plate... and spread peanut butter on half of it... and put it on the table... AND the fussing started... but I talked to him, told him how proud I was that he'd eaten my new bars yesterday and how he was doing such a great job with his nuts and chicken and carrots and I wanted to just see if he could take ONE bite of this pancake. He challenged me immediately that THIS was NOT on Ms. Jennifer's chart! I had to think quickly and come up with a response. It took some encouraging and bribery. But he did it. He ate one bite of pancake this morning. My child just ate bread! Now, could I convince him to eat the rest of it? No. We made a deal for one bite-- smart little cookie, huh? But he did it...

This week he has added nuts and has tried chicken and a new bar and a bite of pancake. This is looking to be a very good week.

(proof)

giveaway

My friend Amy makes the most amazing cookies! She is doing a cool giveaway on her site. Go check it out and enter to win Bakerella's cookbook Cake Pops! I love Bakerella! She is where I got my cake balls recipe.

go here to see Amy's site and enter!

Thanks Amy for this awesome giveaway!

homemade granola bars

A friend (thanks UK!) gave me her recipe for homemade granola bars! I couldn't believe it! I've been shelling out cash for these things?!?! And I could be making them at home! You get 8 bars in a box. I just made a pan of these, cut into 14 bars! I wish I was smart enough to figure out the math on the ingredient costs.... but the cool part, is I had EVERYTHING on hand. Here's the how to: (original instructions in black, my modifications in purple)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 -2 cups Rice Krispies *I did 1.5 c of plain and then also added 1/2 c. of coco Krisipes and 1/3 c of multi grain cheerios
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed *I didn't pack it
  
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup or 1/2 cup light corn syrup or 1/2 cup honey *I used light be/c that's what I had the most of on hand
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup dark raisin (or can use either 1/2 cup chopped nuts or 1/2 cup seeds or 1/2 cup coconut) *I used 1/2 c of raisins and 1/2 c of walnuts
  
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chip (to prevent melting refrigerate or freeze the chocolate chips before mixing in)*I used about a 1/4 cup of regular size chips
  

Directions:

1. lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish
2. In a large bowl combine Rice Krispies cereal, oats and raisins. (and nuts)
   
   
   
3. In a saucepan stir the corn syrup or honey and brown sugar until just at a boil.
4. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
   
   
   
5. Pour over the dry ingredients in the bowl; mix to combine.
6. Mix in mini chocolate chips (if using) work fast the mixture hardens quickly.
   
   
   
7. Transfer the mixture into prepared baking dish, then using slightly wet hands push evenly down into the pan.
8. While the mixture is still soft, for easier slicing take a sharp knife and slice into desired size bars.
9. Chill until firm.

Matthew just inhaled this bar. So it is a WINNNNNER! I think they might be a little too thick for Mark, he's having a hard time-- or he's spoofing me, don't know which.