Gram's Place

Tonight I was so excited... I tried a new recipe... and it's fun to say! Taco Fiesta Chicken Bake. Say it. Really. Okay... Taco Fiesta Chicken Bake. Now, say it with a Mexican accent... out loud... again... Taco Fiesta Chicken Bake.... ole! It was easy.... good... and did I mention easy? The best part... you can make it the night before and put it in the refrigerator so all you have to do is pop it in the oven and bake it! Here's the recipe... try it... you'll like it. 2 cans diced tomatoes with zesty mild green chilis, undrained ( I used 2 cans of tomatoes and 1 can of green chilis) 1/4 cup taco sauce - I forgot this but it needed it so I don't recommend skipping 3 cups cubed cooked chicken 1 16oz can refried beans 1/2 cup sour cream 12 uncooked lasagna noodles 3 cups shredded cheese 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1/4 cup sliced ripe olives 1. spray 13x9 glass baking dish with spray. In large bowl, combine tomatoes and taco sauce, mix well. stir in chicken. In med bowl,

For a mom, each of your child's birthday's bring a whole host of memories along with it. You seem to remember strange things though.... and each child is different. This morning, Shawn and I were reminiscing about 8 years ago today, when Emily was born. He remembers watching the Howie Mandell Show in the hospital room. The first and only time he had seen the show.... and I remember having small, irritating, sometimes strong, contractions while he was watching television. Emily was induced. I had pneumonia for two weeks prior and I had to have weighed about a million pounds and I was sooooo ready to have her. I was excited to be induced, but nervous about the pain! I remember having had a conversation with my doctor a few weeks prior. I told him that I didn't have any drugs with the other kids, did it all natural. But, that was years ago, I was older now, it had been 7 years since I had a child, and didn't care about being tough, I wanted all the drugs possible! We also

Shawn's bro Shelly was in the hospital. He has pneumonia. But, he's home now (and I hear he has a bunch of "STUFF") and doin much better. Say a little prayer for him as he continues to get better. Here's a photo of him and the dog we got him...hey! every guy needs a dog in the hospital!

I found this I AM at another blog and thought I'd do it. Everyone does the "I AM FROM" one and I really liked this one a lot... so here you go. I Am I am the baby born in San Jose to Jim Senior with a love for cool stereos, good music, and fast cars and Charlotte who drinks black coffee and has roses in the backyard where lizards climb the wall, who had three other children together and one other already and plenty of room for more love. I was born with my two front teeth popping out already. The baby of the family, and the spoiled one, says my siblings. I am the child who played Barbies and hopscotch and neighborhood hide and seek yelling “Olly Olly Oxen Free” Who loved Cinderella and daydreaming and riding bike and chasing the ice cream truck every Saturday afternoon while dad washed the car. Who stored mom’s leftover makeup in my treasure box and pretended to be a teenager in the old abandoned car in the backyard. Who dreamed of being the princess in a fairy tale and b

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God

Happy Day After Your Birthday Haleigh! I can't believe you AREN'T a TEENAGER anymore! Monet's Garden Christmas Mexico Omaha Beach Kitties Kitties Kitties... Check out Haleigh's blog here. Leave a comment...maybe it will encourage her to POST SOMETHING NEW!

You can read here about some of her story. In honor of Haleigh's 20th Birthday, I share 20 memories I have of Haleigh... 1. colic.... what mother LIKES that word? I was a new mom and hadn't ever even really babysat much as a teenager. She cried and cried and cried. If it wasn't for Gramma Marge, I'd never have made it... 2. baby babble with cousin Jenna..... they are about a year apart, and even at 2 and 1, they talked and talked and talked. I remember the two girls babbling together just as if it were yesterday. 3. drawing. She was the only one in her pre-school class at age 3 that could draw every detail of her self-portrait. Should we have known then she would be an art major? 4. the ponytail on the top of her head. That thing drove me crazy. When she started school, she insisted on doing her own hair....and for at least an entire year, it was that ponytail on top of her head. 5. frogs. I don't remember how old they were... somewhere between K-3 grade, she and P

Just so I can say I did, I'm blogging a quick note. Just as the posts before say, this is our birthday season. Shawn's day on the 5th, sister Tammy on the 6th, Haleigh on the 12th, Emily the 24th,...then March... Lindsey the 3rd, Aunt Shera the 14th,... April... Gramma Marge the 7th, Abbie the 24th ...May... Shell Bell the 16th, me and Uncle Todd in June... it's like every week or two weeks we have a bday to celebrate. Whew! So, I'm planning and organizing and budgeting (who am I kidding?)... Em is the only one right now who has a "kid Birthday". She has been talking for about a year (since Aunt Shera gave her the DRESS) that she wants to have a Chinese Birthday Party. I have learned a lot getting ready for this party... for starters, the Chinese New Year is a week Before, so I can get major clearance items for the party. :) Tomorrow night we have gourmet club. A group of friends and us get together and eat basically. We started it several years ago.... like i

Today is the Birthday of my awesome husband Shawn. Happy Birthday Shawn! In honor of his birthday, I give you this.... But, I haven't quite figured it out. Is he the lone ranger? Or a clown? Or a lone ranger clown? You gotta love Moms and Halloween costumes... Seriously, I have tried all day to make Shawn's birthday special. He is the hardest person in the entire world to buy a gift for, because he doesn't need anything. He is the man that has it all.... good looks, great wife, perfect kids... Yeah, I'm stretching it with the kids aren't I? In all honesty though... I have an incredible husband. He makes me laugh, he gets my jokes, and he loves God with all his heart. I appreciate him so much. He can fix anything like nobodys business, he doesn't mind living with 6 women and 2 female cats, he doesn't complain when our stuff takes up the whole house and he only gets a small spot to lay his briefcase. He does his own laundry, he lets me fall asleep before he st

My sister Tammy celebrated her birthday today! I won't tell how old she is... in case she actually reads my blog. (You know...after I email her a copy of it and tell her she has to!) Yes, Shawn's birthday yesterday ushers in a host of familial birthday celebrations around here. I see it this way... at least I have something to post! If I had a scanner I'd scan the old photos of Tammy in the dresses my mom made for us when we were kids. Purple material, white gogo boots and all. We were top notch California Girls. I have the most incredible memories of life with my sister. I remember sleeping with her when the "boogey man" was lurking around my dreams... and holding her hand tightly as she helped me get to sleep. I remember sharing secrets (shhhh! we still do.) and dreaming of our future together. I remember lots and lots of mischief as kids. Our teenage years brought lots and lots of fights. Tammy was a schoolyard scrapper. She was a dangerous fight...really. And

It's just fun to write oxymoron titles to my blog, that's all. It's freezing cold out here... like REALLY FREEZING cold. Let me just say I talked to a friend today in California. The weather in Redding is around 49 and they are cold. I also spoke to my mother in the Phoenix area and she is really having a hard time because it was so rainy last week and cold every day -- and she would come home from work to take a hot shower every day and warm up. You know, being 45 and 50 and all. Today, though she said it should get up to around 60, which is "bearable". The thermometer in my little corner of the world hasn't reached zero yet. And with the wind...it feels like about 26 below zero. So, yeah, it's COLD. FREEZING COLD. It's even don't-go-outside-unless-you-have-to cold. Even our cat who likes to escape to the outdoors at every chance she gets isn't going outside. She tried. She ran out and then right back in. I think she thought she was going into

Every evening I write the next day's menu on the board at home so the kids can see what's for lunch and make a "hot or cold" lunch decision before it's too late. (you know...as in... sorry we're walking out the door it's too late). The school lunch menu lately is a bit interesting. Yesterday they had "California Burgers". What exactly is a California Burger? Is it some sort of west coast thing I don't know about? My dad is in California visiting my sister right now. Maybe I should call him up and have him order a California Burger and see what they say it is. Cuz I asked the girls... "What was the California Burger". The answer? It was just a regular old hamburger. So, what makes it a California burger as opposed to a Midwestern Burger? We have good beef in the midwest... maybe the California burger is some kind of processed meat that isn't really meat at all because they don't have good beef. And maybe... just m

I just thought I'd update for a second. I have been a little sicky lately. But, am feeling much better today! Well, I oughta! After my sleep escapade yesterday! --- Is escapade a word? Hang on...let me look...yep. here it is. escapade: a reckless adventure or wild prank. an escape from confinement or restraint. so... a sleep escapade would be a reckless adventure of sleep or an escape from reality (confinement) into sleep. okay..yeah..that was me. I took my beloved Nyquil at 7pm on Tuesday night. I fell into an escapade of sleep at 8:15, which didn't end until 7am Wednesday. 11 hours of sleep STRAIGHT! Ah...but the escapade didn't end there. I got up... got the kids off to school... and went back to bed at 8:45am. Until 10am. Only an hour and 15 minutes but I thought it was enough. So, I got up... and decided to try to read. Only to find that I was sluggish still...you know after only 13 hours of sleep in the past 14 and a half hours, a person sometimes just feels