Randon Things 2

I don't really have anything profound to share this time. I have been saving my next post to welcome little Emily Joy into the world...but she seems to be happy where she is right now, with no plans to move out any time soon! Val's mom is here, Val is starting to get miserable, Derek is anxious, Jeanne is primed and ready to run at the first hint of labor and my labor support bag and camera are packed and ready...now we all just wait!
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Tortilla Soup Recipe
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It's no secret I'm a big fan of good soup. Tortilla Soup is my favorite, but any kind will do. My favorites are soups I can dump in a crock pot in the morning & eat when I get home. Allyce brought a great tortilla soup over this weekend. I got her to give me the basic recipe & then of course I tweaked it. It's so easy I just had to share it.


3 or 4 raw trimmed chicken breasts
2 cans of black beans (juice and all)
1 can of refried beans
2 cans rotel (original)
1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 can corn (juice and all)
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/3 cup dried minced onions (if you want you can chop fresh ones & add as much as you want)
2 beef cubes
1 cup hot water (I add this to the refried beans first to make them easier to mix in)
Salt to taste (I did this as the end)
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Dump everything into a crock pot and cook it on low all day. About an hour or so before you eat just pull out the chicken breasts (they will be falling apart) and shred them. Dump them back in and allow to simmer a few more minutes before you serve it with grated cheese and crushed tortilla chips. SOOOOOOO GOOOOOD! I also made it on the stove yesterday with tenders & only simmered it for about 2 hours. They chicken fell apart & it was just as good.
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Family Night
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We try to have a special night now and then that we eat junk food and watch a movie together...just mom, dad and the boys. I wish we had time to do it more often, but life seems to get in the way most of time. This week we decided to watch Bedtime Stories. It was great. For dinner we had all kids of finger foods and Debbie Snacks for dessert. I know the boys look forward to those special nights, it's the first thing they mention when they get in the car after school. "Mom, don't forget it's family night!"
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I usually make everyone spend about 20 minutes picking up the house, we eat on plastic & everyone cleans up their own mess before we settle in for the movie. It's a special time I know the boys will remember forever.

This is everyone sacked out on mom and dad's bed ready for the movie. (of course I had to cover my comforter with a quilt...boys are filthy!)
My New Camera
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I finally got the camera I have been planning and saving for FOREVER! I was in Bedford's dreaming a few weeks ago when they told me that there was a great website where I could sell all my old 35mm stuff. I have collected a lot of stuff over the years & just didn't know were to get rid of it at. The website is keh.com for anyone who has high quality used equipment to sell. I made $37 more dollars than I needed to by my new camera & a 4G memory card. I would love to say that I went back to Bedford's to get my new camera, but I didn't. I used JerseyPhoto online. They were $350 cheaper! I almost caved and used the money I made on my old stuff and paid off a few more medical bills...but I didn't give in & now I have my beautiful camera to show for it.


LIVE LOVE...
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That was the theme of this years D-Now at out church. As most of you know, a big part of D-Now are the ministry projects. Last Saturday a big group of youth and several adults came to our house in the pelting rain and lived love in a beautiful way for us by finishing the HUGE job of cleaning up the rest of the brush in our back yards. What a sweet blessing is was to see all those people out in our yard... That was until we saw Darin hanging by a branch with one foot on the top of our storage building using a chainsaw! Thank you soo much to each and every person who lived love for use last Saturday!
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Well, that's about all I have for now. Due to a treatment reaction I didn't get to sleep until about 4:30 this morning, so I'm sure this will be the night Val has little Emily...no worries, I'm up for it...Bring it on Emily!