Returning With Honor

As I make a come back to my blog after nearly a month, I'd like to do it with a little dignity...

By way of a really BIG post!!

The Jonas family would like to announce that we are...

excitedly


expecting


BABY #4


Due in



JULY

Baptism Day

My sweet Austin chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.It was a such a special day for our family. It's always tender as a mom to watch the man you love in these special rolls as father and worthy priesthood holder.
It's always tender as a mom to watch your son take these big steps in life. Steps you know will lead him to happiness and eternal life.
This is part one of what we are working towards with our little family here.
I may become a crier after all as these parts continue to unfold.

How Have I Never Seen This?

(Another thing I can blame on my mom...)

I can't believe I have never seen this classic Christmas movieI watched it tonight with my kids and it is my new favorite Christmas movie. It's such a darling story about how Santa Claus became Santa Claus.

It is a MUST SEE this Christmas
(and every Christmas from now on!)

(Mom, you can come over and watch it. It's on my DVR)

Conversations with Adeline

How I love my Addie Girl. She is 5 going on 16. Allow me to prove this point with a few stories...
(Waking her up on Saturday morning for dance dress rehearsal. She usually sleeps until 10am)
Me "Addie it's time to wake up"
A "No. I want to sleep longer"
Me "You need to go to your dance class"
A "What I need is more sleep!!" (and dramatically throwing her covers over her head)
My first thought was "How unfair that I am dealing with this now. I thought I had 10 more years"

Adeline can have quite the sassy mouth and is no stranger to soap in it. One day I was wandering the house cleaning up and she was on my heels, sassing every other word. I finally got tired of listening to it and turned on her
Me "Addie I'm sick of you acting like a snot. I'm sick of you saying mean things to your sister. I'm sick of you sassing. I'm sick of..."
(interrupting me with her hand on her hip and her eyes rolling)
"Well, I'm sick of you saying sick"

Recently I bought "The Sound of Music" and we watched it 3 times in 3 days. On the third day I walked in on her watching Liesl and Rolfe singing '16 going on 17' and she said to me longingly
"She's so lucky. She has a boyfriend"

Just getting home from kindergarten one day she says to me
"Mom, someone at my table at school is going to marry Taylor AAAND Sam."
Me "Really? Who?"
A "ME!!!"

Another day just home from school
A "Mom, you should've seen Taylor today. He was dressed soooo cute. I'm in love with him."

What's a mom supposed to do?

It's Great to be 8!

My little dude, Austin turned 8 this past Friday Nov.12, 2010.

We had a BYU party! (Duh!)
Pizza
PresentsCake
Then we loaded all 10 kids into the car and went to the BYU basketball game
(the only girls braving the chaos)
Dad and birthday boy
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FIRST BORN!

(ps...Did anyone noticed that my Halloween decor is down and Christmas is up? I think my goal each year now is to have Christmas up by Austin's birthday. I don't even care if you think I'm crazy)

Have you ever...

• Used dish detergent in the washing machine? (it was just for my rugs, ok)
• Made dinner. Thrown it out. Made dinner again. Had your husband try it. Took one look at his face, threw your arms in the air and called for everyone to get in the car? (Kid's eat free on Tuesdays at Denny's)
• Laid down in bed mid-morning "just to warm up" and got woken up by the phone 30 minutes later? (in my defense, I ran 4 miles in the cold and my hot shower didn't quite do it for me)
• Wondered how far into November you can keep your Halloween decorations up before being considered WT? (I really would like the answer to that)
• Ignored your cell phone because it's new and you don't want to learn the system? (I miss my Iphone)
• Spent a day running errands and visiting other public places, then catching a glimpse of yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and realized that you never put on make up?
• Gotten up every 30 minutes through the night with a puking child?
• Went the next morning to buy ginger ale and Toy Story 3 to honker down for the day?

WHAT A WEEK!

Kim's Award Winning Cheesy Corn Chili

This recipe wins me every chili cook off I've ever entered. To really test it, I gave the recipe to my sister to take to her ward's chili cook off and guess what?

You got it!!

She won!!

booyah

And since I'm totally against "secret recipes," let me share the love

1 lb ground sausage
1 can tomato paste
2 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans chili beans
1 package chili seasoning
2 cups frozen corn or 2 cans of corn
16 oz Velveeta cheese
(pictured is Italian sausage because that's all I had, but you can use regular or hot or whatever is to your liking)

1. Brown sausage in skillet
2. While that's cooking, whisk tomato paste and water in a large pot until smooth on high heat
3. Add seasoning, beans (I like to leave them in their juices), and drained corn and tomatoes
4. Stir in browned sausage
5. Add Velveeta (I only use half of the block pictured)
6. Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally

VOILA!
It's seriously the easiest thing on earth, so no need to be impressed.

If you really want to knock their socks off, serve with scones or corn bread and
Kim's Magical Honey Butter:
Honey
Butter (the real stuff)
Marshmallow cream (this should be a stable in your pantry from now on. Sound advice from an expert! It's really sweetens up fruit dips, frostings, cookies, fresh whipped cream, or anything else your sweet tooth craves)

Try it and let me know what you think. I'm open for improvement (ALWAYS)