Happy Saturday

It's always so nice to receive very good news after hours of pacing the floor. My Papa went in for a routine MRI yesterday and afterward was told to go directly to the hospital, long story short he had surgery this morning, everything went really well and he is in ICU but doing great and and he is in very good spirits.

We also accepted an offer on our house. I'm sooo grateful but I thought it would feel different. It's an almost bittersweet feeling to let go of that house. It was our first home together as a family. Babies learned how to crawl, walk & talk in that house. Manuel and I spent our lives together in that home. It's almost like closing the book on a chapter in our lives, our kids are growing, we are older and it's hard saying goodbye to a place filled with wonderful memories. Ok ok enough mushy stuff, it's not like I never had a camera or anything.

Today I feel amazed at the power and faithfulness of The Lord, I know that through it all he is always faithful, always near ever present and stressful mornings remind me to look and lean in a little closer to Him, because without Him I'm lost. Happy Saturday everyone, have a fantastic weekend

Fun family recipe

You can't see them very well
but the kiddos have the chow mein
noodles hanging from their mouths
& you can see they loved the
recipe

rice first, layer on top

with chicken mixture

and top with desired toppings

I found myself in a huge rut with what to make for dinner the other night, so I hit up our local Sam's club in a desperate search for something new and delicious for dinner. I wound up in the magazine section when I noticed one in particular, it was a taste of home mag full of kid friendly recipes, I was excited because I have their cookbook and love it although some of their recipes are for more sophisticated palates. So if you are like me, making the same things over and over try this one out, it's yummy quick, kid friendly and with a few changes it's figure friendly as well.

Chicken in a haystack

1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
( I substituted the lower sodium, reduced fat kind)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken ( I cubed boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 4)
1/2 cup water
Hot cooked rice (I opted for brown rice here)

cook chicken, when thoroughly cooked add can of soup and water (or skim milk) then mix in veggies and cook through. Place cooked rice first then chicken mixture and top away.
You can top it with, cooked peas, raisins, pineapple tidbits, shredded cheddar cheese, chow mein noodles (you know the crunchy kind, Asian isle in the supermarket bottom shelf) or just about anything that's hanging out in your pantry ** I used 2% cheddar cheese, 1/2 bag frozen mixed veggies, and the chow mein noodles and brown rice, it was yummy I hope you enjoy it as well, have a wonderful thursday:)

Froggy days...

Isaac has to be the most adventurous little critter around, he has absolutely no fear, and trust me I have tried to teach him to be afraid of certain things or a least a little more cautious, but his carefree nature is so innate in him that it is almost impossible to change his mind about anything. I'm hoping this is a great quality to posses when he is older and will hopefully less susceptible to peer pressure...here is to hoping anyway.

He loves bugs, snakes, lizards and well just about anything that creeps, crawls or slithers on the ground but he especially loves the ones that ooze out yucky brightly colored substances. Right now is frog season in our area, and they are everywhere. Nathan screams at them every time we are on the street driving, he thinks that somehow I can avoid hitting them as we drive down the road, trust me that is impossible the street literally sometimes looks likes it's crawling along right beside me. Yesterday we, or should I say Isaac found a huge frog in the front yard and it provided him with about fifteen minutes of sheer joy, before I thought we should strop torturing the poor thing and let him go, so anyway here is my little curious cat chasing his hippity hoppity friend, have a wonderful day, may it be filled with many blessings and much joy!

Job 33:26

So much to say...

Nathan trying so smile

Isaac enjoying the warm summer

weather, and throwing all the

boys flippies in the pool

Isaac taking a quick pic in between
dance moves at the pool:) so cute!

Little Sophia catching
some sun

The boys enjoying a little

entertainment after a

long day of swimming

Nicolas & Nathan on their

first day of school YIPPEE! In the last couple of weeks our whole routine has changed, and for the better I must say. The kiddos excitedly returned to school, summer seemed unusually long this year so we were all ready to get a schedule going again. Nicolas (I can't believe it!) started the 4th grade, he is one of the older kids now, separate building and all, he is growing so fast. Nathan started the first grade, he is really excited that most of his friends are in the same class this year, I think it made the first day of school much easier.

I've decided to take it easy with extra curricular activities this fall, usually it seems we are running around like a bunch of crazies, it feels really nice to get to stay home after school. I feel so blessed that I am able to watch my children grow, sad that it seems to be going by so fast but lucky to get to be a part of their lives.

This last weekend we got to go to Phoenix with my wonderful and gracious cousin Michaelene. We stayed overnight so the kiddos could play in the water and drift along in the lazy river and ride the water slide, they had so much fun. So much fun in fact I found it a little difficult to have three children without my husband. I think that he does so little because he is at work so often but this weekend was a huge eye opener he does way more than I thought. I feel so blessed to be married to such an amazing man, thank you honey, I love you! Thanks again Sargent family it was soooo much fun.

After staying in the dark ages forever I finally have a new computer and a much faster connection making blogging much easier.

Things around here are going great, the kiddos are back in the routine that the new school year brings, I miss them but I like the routine myself. The peace and quiet is also priceless, it's just Isaac and I until we pick up all the boys from school. He misses them terribly I catch him all the time yelling down the stairs to the boys to see if they are there, it's sad but I think it's adorable all the same.

It would be close to perfect if when school started the hot summer weather would fade away just as fast, it seems that August is hotter than ever, I'm so ready for fall, I can't wait to bring out the boots and chunky sweaters. I'm ready for cool crisp mornings and beautiful gold leaves. So until next time I hope all is well wherever this may find you, Love, peace, and like a friend of mine said today always choose JOY!