Signs.......

We're tinkering away with Christmas Cards, Christmas decorations and just all around holiday stuff around our house right now.
But, I thought I'd share a silly sign for the day, because we could ALL use a chuckle (and I'm sure SOME of us can relate to this.......).

Happy Snow shoveling!
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

WHAT THE?! A Continuation of yesterday

What the heck was the situation this morning?! So when we went to bed last night, we didn't think anything of the LIGHT dusting of the white stuff. It was on the deck and the cars, just a little bit. There was no mention of 'WELCOME TO MONDAY MORNING crummy roads' on the news last night.

So imagine our surprise when we turned the news on this morning and there were about 18 accidents on the Traffic report, including south bound 75 being closed before Square Lake. UGH!

We are SO NOT READY for winter!!!

Tis' the Season!

Bundle Up as it's supposed to be 24 or less tonight!

Min & Glen

WHAT?!?!

SNOW?!

Yep, it's stickin (and I thought the weather forecasters said it wasn't supposed to STICK?!)

This was our first 'down' weekend in about a month and it was so nice to get stuff around here done!

I spent the better part of Saturday working on a new chipboard album for a scrapbook class I'm teaching either this month or next month in Oxford. Originally, the class was going to be November 22, but it may be rescheduled for December 13. So, working on the assumption that it was the November date, I ended up crankin' thru 12 album pages on Saturday.

Fastest I've ever finished one of these albums!

Isn't he cute?

You can check out the rest of him on my crafting site (didn't want to bore you with all the photos if you didn't want to see them. :o)

This weekend was also the perfect weekend for CHILI! We'd been looking forward to a good pot of Chili for quite sometime, so this weekend was the weekend for a BIG crock pot of chili! It was YUMMY!! We're looking forward to finishing it off tomorrow!

And to wrap up the weekend - we spent today doing some spring cleaning (yah, I know, a few months late for that.....).

Because we're having Turkey Day After Dinner, a Cookie Exchange and Christmas Eve Dinner here, we're getting ready for our month of entertaining.

Well, we're wrapping up a nice productive weekend - even after another Lions loss and a Pistons loss.

Wishing you all a productive Monday!

Drive safely if you've got the white stuff in your area!

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