Beck's Chimichangas - A Family Favorite

Caleb makes these almost every Saturday night for supper.  They are a real family favorite and I wanted to share the recipe with you... cause I'm just nice like that!

3-ish pound beef roast (cheapest cut with as little marbling as you can get...it will shrink)
an onion, quartered
about 2 cups beef broth (or 2 c water + 2 t bouillion)
Cook above in crock pot for about 6 hours on high. You really want this to fall apart.

Gather:
8-10 10-inch flour tortillas (burrito size)
1 small can plain tomato sauce
chili powder/taco seasoning
shredded colby jack or cheddar cheese (about 10 oz?)
about 1/3-1/2 cup oil and a pastry brush

When roast is done, take out of broth (save for another use...great for the beginning of french onion soup!), and let cool enough to handle. In a large bowl, shred beef well with two forks. Pour on tomato sauce, however much is needed (this keeps it moist...you WANT this. My tomato-hating children hate these without it!) and sprinkle on a good amount of chili powder/taco seasoning. Blend well.

Heat tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds, IN THEIR BAG to make them pliable and moist. I work one tortilla at a time, keeping the others in the bag.

Lightly grease a baking sheet, either with PAM or oil, or whatever you use.

Lay out tortilla, sprinkle some cheese on the center, where you're going to lay your meat. Maybe 1/4 cup or less? Lay the meat on top of the cheese. Picture this as if it's divided vertically into thirds. You want to fill the center third, and leave about 2 1/2 inches at either end. You are making the size of your chimi here. Fold in the ends, and then one side. Tightly roll the chimi into the final side, and lay onto baking sheet, seam side down. The weight of the chimi will hold itself together, and the cheese is now on "top" of the meat, to ooze down into it, yummy-like.

Keep rollin'. When you're out of meat, you're done. I find that a 3 lb roast gives me a good 8-10 chimis (but I often make more roast and freeze some for omelets later! )

Brush the chimis with oil, and bake 10-15 minutes or until golden in a 375 degree oven. We serve with sour cream, black olives and sprinkling more of cheese.
 
Holler if you give these a try.  We really love them :)

Our Children

from 2004

from 2006



2007



The Pool Yard Fence

Another project finished!!

A Quilt for Ivy Jewel

oops... can't show a picture of this one...

Oh, Mandy... I need your address please!!

Joey's Birthday Quilt: Brown Bear, Brown Bear...

Joseph loved this book when he was younger (and he still likes it now).  I bought this fabric, I think, two year ago.  I scrambled and scrambled trying to think of ways to use it.  Finally I had an idea!

And the finished product.  Oh, I need to take a picture of the back too!  It's so cute!

UFO: Baby Quilt

This is a quilt I started a few years ago.  I was trying a new technique.  It was all done except for the sashing.  Now it just needs to be sandwiched and quilted :)

Finishing UFOs: Quilting

So making Avery's quilt inspired me to finish some UnFinishedObjects :)

This is a quilt top I started making for my Great Aunt Louise.  I hadn't finished it yet when Aunt Louise's health started rapidly failing.  I just put it aside knowing that I would know when I was ready to finish it. 

She was so very special to me and I loved her a lot.  I will finish this quilt and always think of her -- especially when I use it.

A "My Favorite Things" quilt for my nephew...

The last time we were visiting with Tony's sister Anitra and her son she was telling me some of Avery's favorite things.  I made a mental note and then had this smashing idea:  I would make him a fun quilt using fabrics of his "favorite things"!

Most of the fabrics are self-explanatory except maybe the gold and black border.  You see, Avery is a Vandy fan!  LOL

...and the back:

I can't wait to see his face -- I hope he loves it!!

Click each photo to enlarge. 

This was all machine pieced and quilted.  I used two layers of Killington flannel instead of traditional batting.

Summertime Updates

So we decided to put up a pool this year.  But you know us... nothing is ever simple or easy, right?  LOL  The children have been saving for the past year and bought this pool with their very own money <3.  The pool is up and we are enjoying it.  We are also fencing in the pool area -- that is still a 'work in progress'.  I will get some photos up soon to share with you.

The spot where we decided to put the pool was off level by 11 inches.  That may not seem like a lot but if you've never leveled a 17 foot diameter circle that is 11 inches off in 100+ degree weather in clay-y ground that hasn't seen much rain all summer... well, let me tell you... it's a tough job.  I'm proud of my guys!

The "Pool Yard" not only houses the big pool (15 foot x 4 foot) but the kiddie pool also.  There's room for Sam's new aviary and a deck around part of the big pool.  Tony ran electricity and water out there so we have lights too!  We have big plans for the pool yard and I'm excited to see it all coming together.

I am also happy to report that swimming lessons are coming along great!  The Lord is so good to us. 

Have a blessed Summer!

Children singing

Our New Roof

AND AFTER!

Isn't it pretty?!  Now I can't wait for the fascia and soffets to be all pretty and white!  I still can't decide on a door color.  Any ideas?

A few photos of the kids...

Duke & Duchess

Introducing.... We have new kids!!!

It was Tuesday afternoon...Imagine our surprise! We had friends over and one of their children said to one of our children "So, how many goats do y'all have?" To which our child began pointing and naming goats only to realize...

THERE ARE TWO BABIES IN THERE!

Lady and the kids

Appropriately named Duke and Duchess

Duchess!  Isn't she beautiful?!

Duke, he looks like his mother :)

By now we had figured out that our attempts to neuter Bucky must have failed (LOL) and that must mean that Lucy is pregnant too.  It's so hard to tell with goats, they are very round anyway.  Sure enough, Wednesday morning we awoke to:

Lucy and her new kids!

Now we need names for these, a boy and a girl.  :)

Life on the Lewis Farmette... never a dull moment!

The Friendship House

And for a little story about the name... the home we lived in when we lived in Mississippi was called The Friendship House.  It was built in the early 1930s and many homes in that area are named. It was also used as a restaurant in the mid 60s and again in the early 90s. It was a gorgeous house. Sigh. Anyway, when we moved we brought one of the signs with us.


We had this storage building, 20x24, right outside the sewing room door. (Which is relevant when you get to the bathroom part of the story. LOL)

Matt and Jennifer had lived with us off and on for two years. We decided to renovate it to make it a small 'guest house'. We did all the work ourselves and with some friends from church. (That is the reason is has a half bath and not a full bath. LOL.  It’s a short walk to the sewing room door and there’s a full bath just past the sewing room. :hn: ) The plan was for M&J to live there and save $$ so they could buy their own place. That happened sooner than we expected and we found ourselves with an empty FH. We talked about what would be the best use for the space and decided we wanted it not only for guests but that it needed to be a useful place for us too :hn:


The front half is living room/kitchen and the back is a large bedroom with half bath. We are going to put a full-sized stove in the kitchen and use it for a summer kitchen and for baking overflow! Molly and I are SO excited about this!!! The boys wanted a place to exercise and a ‘rec room’ so that’s what the back room is for. All these things can be pushed aside to make room for several air mattresses for when we have guests. The futon in the living room makes a nice bed space too.

From the front.

Looks like a harmless storage building, right?  hhmmm... let's look inside!

The living room/kitchen.  LR is to your right, kitchen to your left.

And the back room and half bath.

It was decorated to match their colors (notice the “accidental” Dr. Pepper kitchen colors ROFLOL ) Molly and I have decided we want to go with a beach theme color scheme in there. We can recover the futon easily and maybe I can beg a friend to help recover the loveseat.  That will be a project for later but it’s fun to plan it.

Now taking reservations for the Friendship House, The Lewis Family B&B! Come one, come all!  We love to have company!!!

Woohoo!!!! Movin' on up!

Remember that song on the Jefferson's?  I'm dating myself, aren't I?  lol

We now have DSL.  woohoo!!!!  Thank you to my sweet husband for his patience and diligence getting this all set up.  It's not only Faster than what we did have, it's CHEAPER too!  A win/win situation for us!

Maybe now I'll blog more regularly?  Well, we also got a new computer and all of the photos are on the old one so ... ;)  Tony got a transfer cable, I just have to ask him what goes where. 

Everything is good around here.  School is going well, everyone is healthy, life is good.  God is good!  (Well, He's good no matter how things are going around here, amen?!)

Caleb is a little lighter now... :)

He had all four wisdom teeth removed yesterday.  The surgery went well and he is healing nicely.  Thanks for praying :)

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Fri:
3 Canadian geese
2 pied-billed grebes
1 turkey vulture
2 red shouldered hawks
2 American coots
2 mourning doves
1 Eastern phoebe
1 brown headed nuthatch
1 Eastern bluebird
1 American robin
2 Northern mockingbirds
1 Eastern towhee
41 chipping sparrows
6 Northern cardinals
1 Red winged blackbird
2 Brewers blackbirds

Bird count:  69
Species count:  16

Sat:
8 Canadian geese
1 pied-billed grebe
2 turkey vultures
3 American coots
2 mourning doves
2 red-bellied woodpeckers
3 bluejays
1 Carolina chickadee
2 tufted titmouse
2 Eastern bluebirds
1 American robin
2 Northern mockingbirds
1 Blackpoll warbler
1 black and white warbler
1 Eastern towhee
27 chipping sparrows
10 Northern cardinals
1 redwinged blackbird

Bird count:  70
Species count:  18

Sun:
8 Canadian geese
2 pied-billed grebe
1 osprey
3 American coots
2 mourning doves
1 red-bellied woodpecker
1 downy woodpecker
1 Eastern phoebe
1 bluejay
1 American crow
1 Carolina chickadee
2 tufted titmouse
1 American robin
1 Eastern towhee
35 chipping sparrow
7 Northern cardinals
1 red-winged blackbird
9 Brewers blackbirds

Bird count:  78
Species count:  18

Mon:
(In our backyard - early morning)
6 Canadian geese
2 pied-billed grebe
2 mourning dove
1 red-bellied woodpecker
8 bluejay
3 Carolina chickadee
1 tufted titmouse
1 brownheaded nuthatch
1 American robin
1 Northern mockingbird
1 orange-crowned warbler
35 chipping sparrow
11 Northern cardinal
1 red-winged blackbird
6 Brewers blackbirds

Bird count:  80
Species count:  15

(at T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Penisula State Park, St. Joe, FL)
9 brown pelican
8 great egret
4 snowy egret
1 white ibis
1 Wilson's plover
8 willett
15 laughing gull
15 ring-billed gull
2 mourning dove
1 belted kingfisher
2 fish crow
1 American robin
1 Northern mockingbird
1 song sparrow
4 Brewer's blackbird

Bird count:  73
Species count:  15

TALLY:
Total Bird Count:  172 (most seen at one time per species)
Total Species Count:  36

Large Family Logistics... book giveaway

My friend Chautona did a book review of Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman.  Hop on over and read the review and you can get a chance at winning a copy of the book!

http://paradoxology.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/book-review-large-family-logistics/

It Is Done

Well, it's been eight days, I'm calling it done. 

It seemed to take forever with Nehemiah but I think that's because he's so much younger than our other sons were.  He's asking to go 90% of the time, no day time misses and dry overnight.

Seems wierd to close that chapter and pack up the diapers.  I've had a child in diapers for eighteen years and three months.  :)

... and so the Potty Journey begins...

Monday:
Nehemiah decided Saturday that he wanted to wear underwear and not a diaper. He said diapers hurt his tummy... lol

He had one pee miss Saturday. Wore unders all day Sunday (even at church, where he pooped in the potty once and in his unders once) and slept in unders.

I don't think he's really ready though. But if he wants to go potty I'm not gonna say no .

Tuesday: 
No misses, dry overnight

Wednesday:
Two pee misses and I told him he had to go back in a diaper. He just cried this sweet little pitiful cry... he wanted his underwear and not his green diaper. ;) Wore the diaper for a few hours and had a bm and then back into unders. Dry again last night.
 
Thursday:
I just don't think he's ready because he doesn't come and tell me when he needs to go.  if I ask him if he needs to go potty he will either say "yes", "no" or "not yet" LOL
 
I guess we'll just see how today goes...

No misses today, dry overnight as usual.

Friday:
Well, had a pee miss last evening and we put him back in a diaper.  He just cried and cried... he loves his unders.  He wore the diaper all evening and night and woke up dry again.  He's back in his beloved unders!

Saturday:
No misses, asked to go potty most times

Sunday:
One miss but Daddy takes the credit for it... lol, asked to go potty most times

Monday:
I guess this is it.  I sure didn't think he would be ready so young but he is. 

It.Is.Done.

On another note... we have one child who has secondary nighttime enuresis so we purchased a Malem Bedwetting Alarm.  I will post our journey here:
So we got the Malem bedwetting alarm recommended for our very deep sleeping son. Tony wanted to try this before trying the chiro and then the ped.

Sat night: he was dry


Sun night: alarm went off at 5:15 am. Woke us up but not son. That thing is LOUD. Tony finally got him awake but, of course, he was soaking wet.


Mon night: 2:15 alarm went off. Did not even phase son. Sound asleep and soaking wet.
Someone give me some hope that this will eventually wake him up


Tues night: 2:15 and 5:30, wet again and alarm did not wake him the first time but did the second time


Wed night: woke up at 5:30 when Tony's alarm clock went off, thought it was the Malem and went to the potty!


Thur night: woke up to his alarm by himself, small wet spot on unders but he stopped the flow and went to the bathroom himself.


Fri night: successful, woke up on his own to the alarm


Sat night: 2 am, half wet before Tony got him up.


Sun night: dry all night, no alarm


Mon night: got up to the alarm himself, still dry


Tues night: woke up to alarm, tiny drop of wetness, went potty


Wed night: wet, alarm went off


Thu night: stayed dry all night


Fri night: stayed dry all night


Sat night: alarm woke him up, already wet


Sun night: forgot the alarm, dry all night


Mon night: woke up on his own, no alarm, to go potty in the middle of the night


Tue/ Wed/Thu: Dry!!!


Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon: Dry!!!


DRY FOR NINE NIGHTS!!!