Avery Taylor

I seriously am so in love with this girl! She is such a sweetheart! We took this picture today for a birthday invitation she is sending out this week. As I was looking at it tears filled my eyes. She is growing up so quickly and so beautifully! I can't believe she will be 8 in only one month from today! I'm not going to mention that the baby will be 3 on the same day because then I might fall apart. Can time stop now, please?

Stayin' Alive

Just wanted to let it be known that we are alive and well. With 9 people living under one roof I have been more aware of my weaknesses lately and more focused on managing my home in a God honoring way. We have been trying to put a new schedule into practice that doesn't leave much time for blogging. But it does leave time for a few cute pictures of random moments in our crazy but wonderful life.

Adison was playing a game on the computer and when we came to check on her she was dead asleep in this position

The class I teach at our Friday co-op. Adia assists me in there sometimes and Adison is in it.

There is always time for cookies!

Kaden fell asleep like this while watching his FAVORITE movie - Toy Story.

What do you do with annoying little brothers???

Daddy leading the family time devotions at co-op.

It snowed for like 5 minutes and then hailed like crazy!

Of course school was cancelled for 15 minutes to enjoy the weather.

Adison's drawing of Jesse riding Bullseye (the girl and horse from Toy Story).

Kaden has a bad habbit of taking all of the pillows off of the couch.

Of course, if he falls asleep on the job he avoids a punishment.

And there is always time for dinner around here.

This was a hit among the 6 and over crowd!

Here is the recipe - thank you Stacey!

I used the romaine hearts and added purple cabbage for looks.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil (optional)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 (8 ounce) package dry chow mein noodles
• 1 head iceberg lettuce - rinsed, dried, and chopped
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

1. Prepare the dressing 30 minutes ahead of time by combining the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salad oil, and rice vinegar in a salad dressing carafe.
2. To prepare the Chinese rice noodles, heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of oil and break off a little bit of the noodles and add them to the skillet and fry them. They will puff up in the skillet, so only add a few at a time. As they begin to puff up, remove and drain them on paper towels. Be sure to cook long enough as the under cooked noodles will be like eating needles. Once cooked, add them to the salad mixture.
3. In a large bowl combine the iceberg lettuce, cooked and shredded chicken, green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Let chill about 10 minutes, and just before serving add the cooked rice noodles. Serve in salad bowls and offer the dressing in a pourable container so your family can add as much dressing as they want. You can also pour the dressing over the top of the salad, toss, and serve immediately.