g is for greta

Tony and I are wanting to eat more soup as the weather gets colder.  Last night I merged two recipes together and created a fantastic chicken tortilla soup.  I have to share the recipe.

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 T veg oil

2 cans chicken broth

1 can beef broth

2 cans cream of chicken soup (undiluted)

1 C water

2 10 oz cans of chicken (drained)

1 tomato, diced

1 can corn (drained)

2 t Worchestershire sauce

1 t cumin

1 t chili powder

1/8 t black pepper

1 4 oz can diced green chilis (undrained)

12 oz Velveeta cheese

Saute onion and garlic in hot oil in a large saucepan.  Combine water, broth, corn, tomato, and cream of chicken soup.  Bring to a boil.  Add chicken and spices.  Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes.  Add Velveeta.  Simmer uncovered until cheese melts.  Serve with any of the following: tortilla chips, avocado, cilantro, lime wedges, and/or shredded cheese.

It was delicious.  Even as leftovers (which I normally do not eat)!

-g.

For those of you out there who are unaware of our family’s history, Tony stayed home with Corinne the first year of her life while I worked and he wrote his Master’s thesis.  He would entertain himself during the day at her expense thinking that she was a baby and wouldn’t be affected by it in the long run.  Here’s an example:

Well, it’s four years later, and she still loves to put boxes on her head.  She’s handing it down to Mason now.  They were pretty proud of themselves.  I don’t think they played with the toy inside for more than 10 seconds, but they wore those Happy Meal boxes for a LONG time!

It’s only a matter of time until Ethan is initiated into the gang.

-g.

Where do I start? So much has happened. We left for Cleveland on Wednesday morning so that Tony’s mom could help me take care of Tony post-surgery and keep the kids entertained. Tony felt every bump in the road on the way there which made for a grumpy passenger. Once the Percocet hit his system, he was much more friendly.

Dinner was at the Rices and was delicious. Yum! I love Thanksgiving food. All of it. Ethan rolled over for the first time that morning. Corinne sure thought that was fun. By the time we left Friday morning, there was about 4 inches of snow.

Friday we went to Hartford to see my folks. The kids were so excited that Papa Bill had put up the Christmas tree. They baked gingerbread cookies, made carmel corn, played games, and had a good time with the grandparents. I took the kids with Papa Bill to Kraynak’s. It is an old-school (by that I mean OLD) toy store that has a lane of Christmas trees to look at (and purchase) and animated kids’ characters. The kids really liked it. The line was the longest I have ever seen it. It wound outside and across the entire length of the store. I tried to convince the kids that it would be a long, cold wait and probably wasn’t worth it (call me The Grinch), but they wouldn’t hear it. Oh well. Good thing they enjoyed it. Then we played with all the toy trains at the display tables.

Now we are home and settling in. Today was full of laundry and grocery shopping with a tad of Christmas shopping mixed in. Tonight we put up our Christmas tree and got out the decorations for the house to put up tomorrow. It’s beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Tony goes back to the surgeon tomorrow to have the dressing removed and his incision site evaluated. He is excited for the few minutes of freedom that his fingers will enjoy.

Time for bed. It’s only 9:20 pm, but I’m still behind on sleep.

-g.

Tony is home post-surgery.  Sounds like everything went well.  He now has a permanent plate and 6 screws in his hand.  Recovery is expected to take 4 weeks.

 The kids are all sick.  Corinne stayed home from school yesterday and today.  I think she had the easiest of it and was nice enough to pass it on to Mason.  Mason threw up a few times this morning and seems all the better for it.  His nose is running like a faucet so I have to hunt him down every few minutes and give it a wipe.  Ethan, the kiss magnet, got whatever it is they have next.  That’s the saddest part.  Poor kid can barely breath.  Mason’s kisses are so wet that it looks like we washed Ethan’s hair everytime Mason plants one on his head.  Yuck!

 Should be a Thanksgiving for the memory books!

-g.

I’d like to have a clip of the week.  However, it is highly likely that I will forget to do this.  Anyway, here’s one for this week.  A friend forwarded it to me, and I found it funny.  Sorry if you’ve seen it already.  Enjoy!

 -g.

I mean this both literally and figuratively.  On Saturday, Bucks fans everywhere mourned the loss of the game against Illinois.  Tony, however, was in overdrive and on the first Illinois possession (which resulted in a bogus call by the referees and ultimately a touchdown) he punched the floor multiple times with his fist.  I know, right?  Pretty dumb.  Well, he told me he thought he broke something.  He iced it for awhile and then called a friend that is a doctor.  Tony took his advice and went to get an x-ray.  It was broken.   He ended up missing the rest of the depressing game since, horror of all horrors, it wasn’t on at the urgent care center.  Now we find out (after a CT scan) that the bone is crushed and will need surgery.  Tuesday is the big day so keep us in your prayers!

 -g.

If you know my kids, you can hear them singing the title as you read it.  Today is a holiday in our house because it is Tony’s mom’s birthday, and she is our hero.  (I have not, however, committed her birthday to memory and, therefore, am embarrassed we didn’t do more than this post.)  Let us count the ways we love her:

1.  Abuelita is always there when we’ve needed her and even when we don’t.  She loves to come see the kids whether I need her to watch them while I work or just because she missed them too much to stay away.  I love that she loves my kids so much!

 2.  I think, besides Tony and I or hospital staff, she is the one that has held my babies first.  She and Papa Tom rush to Columbus (a 2 hour drive) as soon as they get word that we are headed to the hospital.  Now that is love!  Then she stays at the house for days on end to take care of me and my family.  She even cleaned my oven!  Isn’t she great?

3.  Abuelita gets up with the kids when she is here to visit so that I can sleep in.  That is the best!  I hardly ever get to sleep in so it really means the world to me.

 4.  As mentioned in the #2 reason in reference to the oven cleaning, she is as much of a neat freak as me!  She is wonderful enough to bring her own towels when she visits so I won’t have to launder any and strips her bed before she leaves.  My house is cleaner after she leaves than it was when she got here.  I feel bad that she works harder as my houseguest than I work as her hostess.  She is amazing!  I took a nap once while she was visiting (which is great in and of itself).  When I woke up, the laundry was done and folded and the microwave had been cleaned.  Need I say more?

Actually, I could say lots more, but it would all add up to the many ways and reasons we love Abuelita.  She is the best mother-in-law I could have ever dreamed of.  She is the most loving grandma for my kids.  That’s why we hope today is a great day for her!  We love you!

 -g.

You can call me a bad parent for numerous reasons.  Here is a story that illustrates several examples:

 I usually let the kids watch a movie in the afternoon after Corinne gets home from school so that I can relax and/or cook dinner.  (Can you hear their brains rotting?)  While they watch the movie, I give them a small bowl with an assortment of treats.  (They brush their teeth regularly.)  Yesterday I gave them some Tootsie Rolls and candy corn.  I could hear Mason calling that he needed help.  (Yes, I was in another room and wasn’t directly monitoring them.)  He said he had chocolate stuck in his hair.  Upon inspection, there was indeed a Tootsie Roll lodged deep in his hair.  He had tried to take it out himself which caused it to soften and get wedged in there pretty good.  I worked at it until it was at the edge and then tugged it like a Band-Aid.  Not so smart, it turns out.  And here’s why:

Tony is now calling me various Indian names because he said I have scalped our son.  Like I need more guilt on top of a mother’s guilt.

-g. (aka Sacagawea)

I am in shock.  Crushed.  Ethan has discovered his thumb.  He seems to prefer his left.  Ugh.  Corinne is 4.5 and STILL SUCKS HER THUMB!!!!  We’ve tried painting her nails thinking she would find them too pretty to suck and then moved on to the big guns: humiliation, threatening to dip it in hot sauce, etc. with no success.  I don’t want to go through it all over again.  Although, on the flip side, Corinne is our best sleeper since she was able to calm herself.  No infinite number of trips into her room at night to plug the pacifier back in.  Anyway,  the proof is in the pudding:

And so it begins…

-g.

Corinne has been bugging us to take her bowling for a long time. We got a coupon in the mail for one free game for up to 10 people, and the wish came true. Mason enjoyed himself, too. I was a smidge worried about him putting on the bowling shoes, but he actually loved them and cried when it was time to take them off. Ethan slept through most of it but was concerned when he woke up to the crashing of the pins.

Corinne discovered that the bowling shoes and the floor made for a perfect dancing opportunity.

Unfortunately, bowling has become rather expensive. If we hadn’t had the coupon, our hour of fun would have set us back over $40. They gave us coupons for more free games on the way out. We may just do it again!

-g.