What fun we had....

Spending the evening on Thursday with our favorite little Nephew (who will be a BIG BROTHER in February - CONGRATS again Amy & Andy!) We just heard the exciting baby news today!
He and Uncle Glen must have coordinated their outfits! Colin even had on his Hot Dog t-shirt, one of Uncle Glen's favorite foods!

We played Uno Attack (okay, well didn't play, but pushed the button, had cards shoot out and laughed so hard we drooled......okay, maybe it was Colin that was laughing so hard he was drooling, but Uncle Glen and I sure were laughing!)This photo had the boys concentrating and discussing the colors of the cards.

We also got to play 3 little pigs and Colin was blowing down the house (tent), hence the pile on Aunt Min.We had such a fun night with Colin, we're looking forward to the next time he gets to come and play!
We hope you're having a great weekend!
Min & Glen

I Scream, You Scream....

We all scream when there's a tree frog in the living room!!So, today we celebrated my birthday. Nice, relaxed, tinkering around the house. Glen surprised me with a gravity recliner for the deck and a new iced tea maker - both are absolutely awesome, I now make the bestest Iced Tea EVER!!!! We've been trying to stain the deck since May, but haven't had enough dry days in a row, so because the weather is supposed to be good until Friday, we worked on getting the deck stained - we got it all sanded and even started staining. It was a productive day. We'll wrap it up tomorrow.

We heard from several special people and had four versions of Happy Birthday sung. The cutest, my favorite little nephew singing his Aunt Min Happy Birthday! Thanks for my singing telegram Amy! It was too cute.
Of course, a birthday wouldn't be complete without a dinner at the Olive Garden. So, of course when we came home - both WAY TOO FULL from dinner, Glen was closing the sliding glass door for the night, and we realized our tree frog had decided to take up residence in our living room. So, as we're tried to keep him from going into the heat register, trying to manuver him onto a paper towel to transfer him outside, he jumped in my direction, I screamed, he jumped on Glen, Glen scared the cat trying to get the frog off him. Too funny - what a way to wrap up the day! Too bad we didn't have this all on video! We're both still laughing!!
We hope you have a little humor in your day!
Min & Glen

A Purple Penguin

So I uploaded my photos from this weekend and here's my favorite Purple Penguin Toddler. Isn't he just adorable?

This was right before he went into his little kitchen to 'cook' me nachos.

So Aim - have his penguins found warmer places to live than out on the deck? I'll dig through a few of the Christmas boxes tonight and see if I can find them some 'inside snow'.

Happy Snow - I sure hope we don't get the 2-5" they're talking about tonight.

Is it summer yet?

Min & Glen

Our Favorite Toddler

This evening, Uncle Glen and Aunt Min got to spend some time with Colin. Amy had choir practice while Andy was out of town and asked us if we would mind a visitor.

Of course not! We love the chance to spend time with our favorite toddler!

Over the summer my mom picked up a 2 step wooden step stool (mostly to keep me from crawling on the counters to get items from the top shelf of the cupboards.....a short person super human ability). Needless to say, my step-stool is Colin's 'help to cook' stool when he comes to visit Aunt Min & Uncle Glen.

Tonight was no exception!

We made Santa Fe Chicken Tortellini for dinner (one of my favorite pasta dishes). He's such a good helper. He helped crunch up the tortilla chips on top. Watch out Bobby Flay!

Here's the recipe I thought I'd share - just in case you want to give it a try!

Santa Fe Chicken Tortellini Casserole

Recipe as is makes 8 servings (or so they say)

9 oz. Cheese Tortellini

1 TBSP Olive Oil

2 c. Broccoli Flowerets

1/2 c. Onion, chopped

1 c. Red Bell Pepper

3 TBSP Flour

2 TBSP Olive Oil

3/4 c. Chicken Broth

3/4 c. Milk

1 tea. Ground Cumin

1/4 tea. Cayenne pepper

4 c. Cooked chicken, cut up

(I've used canned chicken a few times as well if you don't want to mess around w/cooking chicken)

3/4 c. Monetary Jack Cheese, shredded

1/2 c. Colby Cheese, shredded

1/2 c. Tortilla chips, crushed

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Cook & Drain tortellini as directed on the package. While tortellini is cooking, grease 3 quart casserole dish. Heat 1 TBSP of oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook broccoli, onion & bell pepper in oil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender. Remove Broccoli mixture from skillet. Cook flour and 2 TBSP oil in same skillet over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Stir in milk, broth & cumin. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in chicken, monetary Jack Cheese & the tortellini & broccoli mixture. Spoon tortellini mixture into casserole dish. Bake uncovered 25 to 35 minutes or until bubbly. During the last 5 minutes of baking, sprinkle Cayenne pepper, Colby cheese and tortilla chips over the top. Bake until cheese is melted. Left overs are AWESOME and this freezes GREAT!!!

We also got to do some finger painting for a special project! I think we're looking at the next Picasso if he decides to not give Bobby Flay & the Iron Chefs a run for their money
This is the piece of artwork that went home for mommy & daddy!

And of course, we had to play in the neat-o tent that Grandma Linda picked up for Colin. Of course, I couldn't get a great pic as he didn't want to have his photo taken while he was out in his tent!! We had too much fun! You'd never believe just how much STUFF you can get inside one of these little tents - 7 pillows, Uno Attack, blocks, a flash light, a pot, wooden spoon, Colin and 1/2 of Aunt Min!

Well, off to move some furniture and other items around as we have the furnace man coming early tomorrow morning to clean the furnace and duct work and the carpet cleaners coming after the furnace man to clean all the carpets and upholstery of the couch, love seat and recliner.

Hmmm, may have to move the Wii to the basement as that maybe where we spend tomorrow evening waiting for the furniture and carpets to dry.

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend!!!

Min & Glen

All Dressed Up.....

And boy did we have fun!

Just a few photos from Our 3rd Birthday Celebration in honor of Chef Colin.

Chef Colin with his P'za Birthday Cake

The P'za Birthday Cake

Believe it or not, this WAS a cake MADE by my talented friend Amy to resemble a Pizza.

Way to Go Amy!

Proud Parents of the Chef

Amy & Andy, er, Mr. Hot Sauce & Ms. Roni Cheese

Proud Aunt & Uncle of The Chef

The Herb Man (3 time costume winner) & Menu Min

Proud Aunt of The Chef

Suz - Ms. Pineapple

Happy Birthday Colin!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY COLIN!
We hope you have a WONDERFULLY SPOOKY Birthday!!

Hugs & Love -

Aunt Min & Uncle Glen

(AKA: Granny with the missin' dog and The Hot Dog Man!)

(This was Glen and I for Colin's 1st HOWL-ween Birthday PAW-ty!)

Cooking Invites & A New Recipe

So last night, Amy came over to cut and assemble Colin's 3rd Birthday invitations. The theme this year is cooking (I may have already told you all that....). So, my wonderfully Creative friend has come up with the cutest birthday invitations. Of course, I didn't take a photo, but will post once I get one. THANK GOD for the cricut!!!

Sue was going to join us too but with the crummy weather and TERRIBLE traffic, we let her go home instead of getting to the Kantina at midnight. Poor Sue! We missed you!!!

So, with the crafty evening, we tried a new recipe. Chicken & Dumplings - with a few Kantia modifications of course.....

4 Chicken Breasts

2-10.75 Cans of Cream of 'something' soup (I used a Cream of Chicken and Cream of Potato - Cream of Onion soup would be AWESOME too!)

2 TBSP Butter

1 Bag of Frozen Veggies (I used 3/4 of a family size frozen veggie combo)

Pepper & Garlic Powder to season chicken breasts

2-10 oz. packages of biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Mix Butter, Cream soups and a little water in bottom of crock. Add Frozen Veggies, mix with soup & butter. Last, add chicken breats on top. Add more water to cover all contents in crock.

Drop into Crock Pot and cook on high for 5-6 hours. 30 or 45 minutes before dinner should be done, toss the torn pieces of biscuit dough into the crock pot. Cover and cook until done. Salt & Pepper to taste.

Thanks to Ash for this yummy recipe!

It was so good, we're bothing having 'tovers for lunch today! YUMM-O!!

Let's Go Blue!

Min & Glen