Sharing some artwork

Here's some artwork created by Brooks...
I'm going to try to scan in all his artwork so we don't have piles of it around the house.

Brooks has had some separation anxiety issues this past week. He doesn't want me to leave him anywhere and I have to have someone take him or else he will run after me. It's been hard on all of us. He did pretty well today, so I'm hoping that he is coming around.

Hudson has learned how to high 5 and has some new word..boat. He will stand by himself but hasn't started walking yet.

We have a big snow storm heading out way. Ryan already has a 2 hour delay for tomorrow and it hasn't even started snowing yet! Brooks is excited about the snow and keeps asking me if it's going to be icy. I know he will be happy to have Ryan home in the morning. I'll have to make some Belgian waffles with Ryan's new waffle maker.

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, I'll try to work on that this weekend. Oh, and anyone should be able to comment now, so please comment away!

Recipe of the week

Here's a couple recipes for you. We had this for dinner tonight and it's great. The Jambalaya makes a huge amount, so there's lots of leftovers for later.

Easy Cajun Jambalaya from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons olive oil 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces 8 ounces kielbasa, diced 1 onion, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder salt and ground black pepper to taste 2 cups uncooked white rice 4 cups chicken stock 1 can diced tomatoes 3 bay leaves 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Saute chicken and kielbasa until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Season with cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, or until onion is tender and translucent. Add rice, then stir in chicken stock, diced tomatoes and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce.

Company Corn Bread

1 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

Preheat oven to 400.

1. Stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. Add butter to 10" cast-iron skillet, place in oven for about 3 minutes or until butter is melted. Remove from oven and swirl butter in pan to coat bottom and sides of pan.
3. In another bowl, combine eggs, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour batter into hot skillet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes until light brown.

Wordless Wednesday

Update on the boys

Brooks is feeling better, not totally, but well on his way. Hudson was having problems breathing yesterday and was just really tired so I took him back to the Dr. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday evening.

He does not have pneumonia. They have been giving him breathing treatments and an iv for hydration and an antibiotic. His oxygen level dropped when he feel asleep last night, so they put him on oxygen. I stayed here with him last night, and he is currently still asleep. We're not sure when he'll be coming home, have to wait and see how he is doing. His breathing needs to get better before we can leave. Please keep us all in your prayers.

Yummy recipe

So, I thought I'd start a new "feature" to the blog. You all know that I like to cook, so I'm going to start sharing some recipes. Tonight I tried a new crockpot recipe:

Salsa Chicken w/black beans and corn
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
15 oz jar salsa
1 can corn (or I used frozen)
1 can black beans, rinsed
8 oz cream cheese

Add everything to the crockpot, except the cream cheese. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 45 minutes before serving plop the block of cream cheese on top. Before serving, mix all together.

Here are my notes:
I added some garlic powder and cayenne.
I used chipotle salsa.

When I mixed it all up before serving, the chicken fell apart into shreds. We ate this over rice and it was really yummy. Brooks liked it. There is a lot left over, probably enough for another 3 meals. It would be good over pasta or even wrapped up in tortillas.

Sick kiddos

Both the boys are sick...we took them both to the Dr this morning, I was expecting Hudson to have an ear infection and for Brooks just to have a cold, but it didn't quite turn out that way. The Dr was concerned with their labored breathing so she checked their oxygen levels, which was a little low and she was concerned about pneumonia. She then ordered blood tests and chest xrays. We had to take them to the lab, have blood drawn, then take them to get their chest xrays and then back to the Dr for a diagnosis. Both the boys kept falling asleep in our laps while we were waiting for things to be done. They both look (and sound) pitiful.

So the diagnosis is: Hudson has an ear infection (again) and a virus and Brooks has Pneumonia, but not bacterial. We'll find out more when the rest of the bloodwork comes back. They gave Hudson an antibiotic shot and Brooks is taking a antibiotic. We're hoping and praying that they feel better tomorrow.

1st Day of School

Sorry I'm just now getting around to posting this. Brooks had his first day of preschool on Wednesday. He's attending the Purdue Child Development Lab School. He's in a mixed age class (ages 2-5), half girls and half boys. He will be attending 4 afternoons a week. When we got there on Wednesday the first thing he wanted to do was play in the indoor sandbox. He took off his socks and shoes and hopped right in!
He enjoyed his first day and was eager to go back again. We think he's going to enjoy it and hopefully learn a lot too!

Back to the grind

Ryan's back at work today. It was nice having him home! He repainted our foyer this past weekend, it looks really nice. We used some paint from our "inventory". Now we just need to get a new light for in there.

The boys are heading back to Maggie's house today. They are excited about going. They have all missed each other. I'm trying to get Brooks to take a morning nap since he starts preschool on Wednesday afternoon. I'm bribing him with fresh baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and tattoos. He's been in there an hour talking, but it's quiet right now. I hope he is sleeping.

Here's some pictures I took this morning of the boys on their horse. It's a great example of Hudson's "hippie" hair. Brooks' name for Hudson now is Hud-e (Ryan thinks it's short for Hudson Elijah ;)

So, I guess I spoke too soon about Brooks being asleep. As soon as I started uploading the pictures I heard him saying he had to pee. At least he stayed dry....