Green Bean Casserole

Before I married my husband, I had never tried green bean casserole. The commercials made it look gross and I didn't want to even try it. My first Christmas with my new family included green bean casserole. I was hesitant at first but didn't want to be rude so I took some. It was weird at first but not bad... and I eventually grew to really enjoy it. Chris's family recipe is a little different than normal but good.

Here we go.

For a large family you will need:
1/2 pound of bacon, cut into bite sized pieces and cooked into bits
1 can of fried onions.
6 cans of french cut green beans(and don't try and serve Chris whole ones.. he needs his french cut!)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of mushrooms (I dice them a little more so they aren't huge chunks)
2 jars of old english cheese

I put the green beans and diced mushrooms into a colander for at least an hour to get rid of any liquid. I will even squeeze the juice out because it is not good if it is watery!
In a small sauce pan mix the soup and cheese until creamy and mixed well. Mix well with your drained green beans and mushrooms in a large pammed Cassandre dish. Add bacon on top then the fried onions. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 25 mins or until it is all hot and bubbly!

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Halloween preview!!

I got the kids all decked out in their costumes today for their Halloween parties at school!!

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The big day.

My kids, both of them, have gone off in to the big world of primary learning. ABC's, 123's, shapes and colours for Christopher. Adding, subtracting and reading for Elizabeth. Today starts a new life for both of them.

Elizabeth is an old hand at school now but still 1st grade is a new big adventure. She will be playing on the big kids playground now! She went off to school with her head held high, eyes full of excitement and a huge smile on her face.

Christopher has no idea what he is in for. I'm sure he expects it to be a day of playing and meeting new friends. In part, he will be right but also a day of learning, sharing and listening. Raising his hand to speak, sitting still and listening without interruption is all new to him. He is good with listening but like all 3-4 yr olds, fidgets a lot. He will also be learning how to write his name better, have good pencil control and I think a few starter sight words.

All in all, they will both have a great year coming up. They will be challenged, make new friends and have a lot of fun.

I, on the other hand, only cried for 10 minutes. I'm good now. Time to do laundry.

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Almost time!!

Two weeks from now, I will be home alone. *sniff*

My lil man will be starting pre-k on Sept 8th as Elizabeth is off to the 1st Grade. We have done the supply shopping, the new shoes and clothes and even the new fancy lunch box for Elizabeth.

I don't really know what I'm going to do with the 3 hours Christopher will be gone. I'm sure the first few days... I will cry in the corner until he gets home.

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Toof-less

The wiggler has been set free!!! It was was super wiggly last night. Chris was teasing her about hooking it up with dental floss to pull it out. This morning she was playing in Christopher's room and she came out yelling "Mom Mom" mouth bloody with this big toothless grin. She had been wiggling it and it just popped out into her hand! The Tooth Fairy brought her $3, which was all that the Tooth Fairy had in her purse :) Tooth Fairy's husband forgot to get cash from the mystical fairyland ATM.

Elizabeth was very happy with that and has already mentioned going to Walmart. She is saving for a new pair of earrings but she did mention something today about going to get some ice cream with her new money. She even asked me if I could call a cab to take her to the store. Yeah. Sure.

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Spirit Day!!

We had SUCH a great day, I know this post will probably ramble a bit so be forewarned!


We all got up at 7 to start our day. Eli was sent off to school and Christopher powered through some cereal and out the door we went. We went to Christopher's new school. We filled out paperwork for his busing and his medical information while he went with one of the teachers to do a basic screening test. When we were done, he was also done. They did give us a paper for speech therapy, but we were expecting that a little. He often does say words wrong/different. Buppons instead of buttons, for example.

We looked around his school, which is very small of course but very nice. There are 3 pre-k classes and 1 class for 2-3 yr olds(they only go 2 days a week for 2's and 3 days for 3's). We are confident in this school.

After that, it was still a bit early to go to Elizabeth's school so we drove up to walmart and did a very needed grocery shop. Of course the one thing I needed the most, dishwasher tabs, I totally forgot to put on my list and there for forgot to buy. Luckily I found a stash of 6 tabs this morning under my sink!

We rushed home to put away our groceries then drove over to Elizabeth's school. We met up with her class just as they were going to the water balloon game. It was so nice that, in the few times I've been to her school and Elizabeth's birthday, we knew all the moms that were there! I did come out of my shell a little and talked to them :) Go me!

After water balloons, we headed to lunch. Typical school lunch.. hot dog, plain chips, salad, apple, chocolate milk and a little ice cream cup for dessert. It was.. umm worth the 1.75 but it did the job of filling us up.

After lunch the real fun started. Christopher was included in all the games and Elizabeth's little friend Hanna was playing mother hen to him.

We went to play a hula hoop contest. 4 rows of 4 kids. Front kid in each row goes up, hula's(?) until it falls, passes to next in line and goes to the back of the row for another turn. Christopher was in Hanna's group with two other boys. Since he couldn't do the hoop, Hanna and the boys picked it up, and started circling HIM with it!! It was hilarious!

The next game was octopus freeze tag were the tagger has a ball and throws it at the kids to freeze them, they become octopuses and use their arms out to also grab kids. The kids run from one side to the other in a line. Christopher won one round! He was so excited, hands up in the air cheering for himself as he took a victory lap around the kids!

After that, they did duck duck goose, the parachute and then class vs class tug of war(Christopher did not participate in that one!!) Elizabeth's class took on another K class and won! As the winners, they took on the other class but lost. lol They had such fun.

We went back to Elizabeth's class room for cake and juice then we signed Elizabeth out early and took the kids for ice cream(yes after cake)

We stopped at another store for some chicken(we don't eat walmart meat), came home to play in the sprinkler and Chris BBQ'ed a whole chicken and some corn on the cob. It was delicious!

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Our Graduate

Taking to some of my friends about their Kindergartner's graduation I noticed quite the difference in the degree of celebrations. Some as far as little caps and gowns with a whole production to similar as Elizabeth with a small ceremony for parents only.

I was very happy with Elizabeth's ceremony. There was 4 classes with 15-18 kids per class. They got up and sang us a few songs then received their little certificates announcing they were moving up to First Grade. It was small, short and just right.

Elizabeth was very happy to see Mommy and Christopher. She did a great job with her 3 songs, which she has been practicing for days!

After the ceremony, the kids went to a near by park for an end of the year picnic. Christopher and I stayed for a very short time but there was just way to many kids. I was starting to lose track of him in the sea of small children.

It was a great day and we are very proud of our little Graduate!

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Milestone

One of the most important learning years of Elizabeth's life is coming to an end. Her first full year at school. This is the final full week of Kindergarten. Her school is having a Spirit Day next Monday at the local park where families are encouraged to come and spend the day with their kids, then two small half days and she is done with this school year.

Friday, her class as well as the other two K classes will be having a small moving up ceremony then they are having their own little picnic in the park. She is very excited but I think she is going to be a little sad to see the year come to an end. Elizabeth loves school, loves learning, loves her friends and just enjoys her time away from home. It will be a very bittersweet day when she comes home on the bus for the last time this year.

It has been such an amazing year with her. This year she learned how to read, how to tie her shoe laces and met some very good friends. She has already asked to have a couple girls over during the summer and we will definitely be scheduling some play dates. The summer is not a total loss for her though. We do have plans for mini golf, perhaps go karts and I'm sure a few visits to the park and the beach.

By Friday afternoon, I will have an official 1st Grader! By Monday, Christopher will be registered for pre-k! When did they get so big? I missed that memo.

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3rd term report card.

Elizabeth's teacher called me today for our phone parent/teacher conference. Mrs. Johnson was very happy with Elizabeth's progress, especially with her reading.

As a recap, from my previous post in February Second Term Report

They have 3 Scales.

Achievement scale which ranges 1- little understanding doesn't meet grade expectations, 2- Limited understanding, 3- General Understanding, 4- Thorough understanding always meets grade expectations

Effort Scale N- Needs improvement, P- making progress, G- Good, O- Outstanding

Skills Code- NA- Not assessed, X- Progress Needed, I- Improving, Blank- Acceptable.

Elizabeth's marks were

Kindergarten Readiness Skills- Achievement- 3, Effort G

Writing, Speaking Listening- Achievement- 3, Effort- O

Technology- Effort G

Reading Readiness Achievement- 4, Effort- G

Math Readiness- Achievement-3, Effort-O

Social Studies/Science- Effort-G



This report has following improvements or has stayed the same.

Kindergarten Readiness Skills- Achievement- 3, Effort- O <- effort improved

Writing, Speaking Listening- Achievement- 3, Effort- O <- stayed same
with the added improvement of her retelling a story.

Technology- Effort G <- Same

Reading Readiness Achievement- 4, Effort- G <- Same

Math Readiness- Achievement-4, Effort- G <- Her achievement has improved but her effort decreased a little, simply because she knows it and gets a little bored.

Social Studies/Science- Effort-G <- Same

She is improving with talking in class but still needs a gentle reminder now and then.

She has also read 25 more books this term.

They also did the AIMSweb test which is a requirement in our district.
The outcome measure is based on the following:
Letter Naming Fluency
Letter Sound Fluency
Phoneme Segmentation Fluency
and Nonsense Word Fluency.

She score above average in all areas.

Mrs. Johnson commented on how much she has improved with reading in such a short time. We also noticed reading "click" in just a week or so. She is doing well with sounding words out and she is writing stories now without help, writing her words phonically. Elizabeth is a little big of a teacher pet, from what I gather.

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Best. Easter. EVER!

We celebrated Easter yesterday. Don't confused that with celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Chris, we celebrated the Easter Bunny and Chocolate. I am really big on holidays, the non-religious side. They are fun, I love watching my kids enjoy the magic of it all. Christmas, Halloween, and of course, EASTER!

Yesterday, we started the day with the kids digging into their Easter baskets. We didn't do a lot for their baskets but they loved them.

Christopher received a Black n Decker tool set which included a tool belt full of the tools he needs to do his important work, a vest so we can see him at all times, a hard hat and safety goggles because we all know how dangerous pretend carpentry is. He also received a sticker book just for BOYS. Full of fun stuff like bugs, trucks and spaceships.

Please excuse the Peter Griffin stroke eye.



Elizabeth received some sidewalk chalk, hairclips, a new ubber cool alarm clock and a new Melissa and Doug magnet calender.




After a very delicious breakfast of pancake and bacon (which was amazing btw, see my previous post MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT) I went out to scatter the eggs for the egg hunt. 250 filled eggs. Yeah, what was I thinking?

The hunt was soon on. We have a huge yard so it took some time for the two kids to gather all the eggs. We gave them two boxes to unload their full baskets into. The final count: Elizabeth- 139 Christopher-111. Math don't add up to 250? Yeah, we had to return and find the missing eggs.






After the eggs were gathered, we took a small trip to the grocery store for some hot dogs and the fixin's to rub on our beautiful ribs we had for dinner. We had the choice of a turkey or ham but with the day being a beautiful 75 degrees, We just needed to BBQ! Chris rubbed the ribs with some amazing spices, added some pepsi and wrapped those bad boys up in tinfoil for a low and slow bbq. We added some hot dogs for a quick lunch before decorating the real eggs. What is it about a hot dog cooked on the grill or over a campfire? To me it, they taste like childhood. Memories of camping with my parents all over BC and Alberta. After our perfectly cooked dogs, the kids and I sat down at the table for some serious egg decorating. 20 eggs to be exact. Why? No will eat them. Just because we can I guess.

The ziplock baggie method. Way less mess to deal with. Add your colour and some vinegar, drop in the eggs and let them sit for 10 mins or so. Swish the bags now and then to make sure they are evenly coloured.
Tinted gold paint makes a huge mess but the kids had fun so C'est la vie!

Our beautifully bright dyed eggs.
Elizabeth putting the final touches on the dyed eggs with glitter and stamps and stickers.

I would like you all to take a minute to bow your heads in honor of my next photo. Breath it in, can't you taste the bbq goodness? No of course you can. Trust me, they were heavenly! Sweet and tender. Mouthwatering. And I get leftovers for lunch!


Of course, a nice garden salad. The perfect side dish to our 'Summer in April' Easter Dinner!

Did I mention the ribs were mouthwatering... and I get some for lunch? Don't hate!

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The jewels of my life

After almost a year, I decided to drag out the backdrop and take a few photos of the kids. We haven't been able to get all my photoshop goodies off my old computer yet so I didn't play around with these.

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Kindergarten second report.

We received Elizabeth's second term report card today. She is doing really well.

They have 3 Scales.

Achievement scale which ranges 1- little understanding doesn't meet grade expectations, 2- Limited understanding, 3- General Understanding, 4- Thorough understanding always meets grade expectations

Effort Scale N- Needs improvement, P- making progress, G- Good, O- Outstanding

Skills Code- NA- Not assessed, X- Progress Needed, I- Improving, Blank- Acceptable.

Elizabeth's marks were

Kindergarten Readiness Skills- Achievement- 3, Effort G
Everything acceptable except:
She had a P for her phone number but that is our fault I think. I teach her my cell number since its my go-to always on phone and they have been asking her her home number and I think she is getting the two numbers confused. I wrote a note to her teacher about that.
She also had an I for dress herself (ie, tie shoes) which is up from P from last term. She can now tie her shoes but its loose and needs practice.

Writing, Speaking Listening- Achievement- 3, Effort- O
Everything was acceptable except:
Retelling a story she got an I. I totally understand this because she tends to rattle on, (like me!!)

Technology- Effort G
Everything was acceptable

Books to Read- There is 25 for the year they are required to read, she did that last term and added 15 more.

Reading Readiness Achievement- 4, Effort- G
Everything was acceptable

Math Readiness- Achievement-3, Effort-O
Everything acceptable

Social Studies/Science- Effort-G
Everything acceptable


The last thing that needed improvement was limited talking in class!!!

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Today, 6 years ago...

I would like to bring these two posts to everyone's attention

The day is set!
Introducing Elizabeth Catherine Boggie

6 years ago tomorrow, on February 10 2004, my life changed forever.


Watching my daughter grown into a beautiful little girl has been such a joy. She is a wonderful big sister and loves everyone. We had Elizabeth's birthday party on Sunday. Her first REAL party with her friends from school. She had such an incredible time, I loved watching her play and giggle with her best girls.

Happy Birthday to my sweet angel.

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Christmas Time Christmas Time

I love Christmas. The excitement of watching my children open their gifts, the smell of the turkey roasting in the oven, the feeling of being with family is what makes Christmas so special to me. We've had a few hard years and the generosity of my online friends towards us just astounds me every year. I love Christmas.

Christmas is also the time of year that makes me a little more loonier then normal, if that is possible. There is stress that really isn't necessary but because I am the way I am, I stress out way to much over things that don't matter. This year I thought I would find a way to relieve my stress by writing everything down. The organization does help me keep my cool a little more. I wrote a note on facebook yesterday which started as a menu for the 3 days of Christmas (Eve, Day, Boxing Day) and turned into a shopping list as well as an itinerary for the activities. Realistically I know the itinerary is not as detailed as my mind wants it to be but you really can't PLAN Christmas. I thought I would share my organization on my blog. If you think I'm forgetting something or would like to share your own Christmas menu in the comments section, that would be wonderful! A few of the recipes are on my blog. I hope to add more in the coming days.



Christmas Eve:
Hot Spinach and Artichoke dip with Rye bread pieces
7 Layer Taco Dip with tortillas
Mushroom and Cheese Turnovers
Veggies and Dip

Dessert:
Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie

Christmas Brunch:
Bagels
Assorted flavored cream cheese
Blueberry muffins

Christmas Dinner:
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Steamed mixed veggies
Gravy
Cranberries
Crescent Rolls

Desserts:
Carrot Cake
Pumpkin Pie

Boxing Day Brunch
Leftovers from Christmas Eve
Turkey Sandwiches



Drinks:
Cranberry Gingerale
Pepsi and Coke
Sprite
Eggnog
Hot Chocolate



Itinerary

Christmas Eve:
Finger Foods
Scrabble
Watching A Christmas Carol
Wrapping presents and setting up for Santa

Christmas Morning:
Stockings
Presents
Brunch
Early Dinner
Watching A Christmas Story all day long on TBS(even if we have it on DVD) LOL

Boxing Day:
Grandparents Brunch


Shopping list:
(4)cream cheese
boursin garlic cheese
frozen spinach
(2)green onions
canned artichokes
refried beans
(3) avocado
(4) tomatoes
(2) cans olives
(2) cheddar cheese
pepper jack cheese
large sour cream
puffed pastry
4 cans mushrooms
swiss cheese
garlic
frozen veggies
half n half
coconut
chocolate shell
whipping cream
frozen mozza sticks
tortilla chips
rye bread
carrots (full and baby)
broccoli
turkey
potatoes
sausage
white bread
bagels
flavoured cream cheeses
crescent rolls
cranberry sauce
pumpkin
flour
shortening
eggs
Ziploc bags
roasting pan
tin foil
lettuce
cheese
sandwich rolls
french fried onions
bacon
(2)mushroom soup
(3)green beans
old english cheese
sugar
pie shells
soda
eggnog
coffee


Oh and my parents will be here in 9 sleeps!!

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Happy Halloween!

We had Halloween at home this year. It was raining very hard so the kids couldn't go Trick or Treating since they were just getting over the flu. Instead we let the kids dress up and took them to Walmart to pick out their own bag of candy, then grab a pizza and watch a movie with popcorn.

Elizabeth was ok with the plan but Christopher didn't understand and was very upset..at first. Once we finally got him calm, he understood the plan and was happy about it.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

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Jack

Chris and the kids carved our big pumpkin tonight. While Chris was busy working, the kids separated the seeds from the guts so we could make roasted pumpkin seeds!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Jack Skellington!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

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