Valentine's Day

Valentine's day was fantastically fun! Ben had a 4 day weekend, and so after I was done at James' school Friday morning we took Harrison and Sophie and went to Kneaders for the most delicious (and probably fattening) french toast ever! Harrison and Soph liked it too. Then we got stuff for the kids and picked up James from school. We then were off to Gmas for a little Valentine party with all the cousins. The kids had a super fun time decorating bags and cookies and exchanging valentine's. When James got home from school he was so excited to show us his big box of candy he had gotten. We had spent the day before covering and decorating a box for his Valentine's and I had told him it was going to be filled with stuff at school. And it surely was. He then dumped it all out and gladly shared with Harrison and Sophie.

Anyways, Saturday was a super great day. We once again didn't have a babysitter so we just did things as a family (yeah we are in some real need of a date, it has been weeks!) We took the kids to Boondocks for the day and seriously had the funnest time. They played in the Kiddie Cove for forever ( I think they could live there and be perfectly happy) Then played some lazer tag with Ben. Then we just played arcade games for forever. James amazed us all at his driving talent there. He was REALLY good. It made me a little nervous for when he actually does get behind the wheel of a car. Harrison, of course, just wanted to play the Basketball games, and he was in heaven. But after it all, we gathered up our tickets and the boys picked out some prizes.

Then we went on home where we built a fire in the backyard and roasted Marshmallows, & hot dogs. We had a fantastically fun day. Oh and we watched the Olympics with all that. Then of course we got the kids to bed and I got the house cleaned up and put out some Valentine's we had made for the kids. The next day they loved their little bags of treats (James actually helped me pick out some suckers for Harrison...so sweet!)

After church we were going to make a big breakfast, but we were all way too tired and just plain lazy. Plus there was a nice dinner already cooking for us, so we just snacked and watched the Olympics, played some memory with the kids, ate candy, and just took it easy. An excellent day. Plus, Ben wrote me the sweetest card (it made me cry!) and got me new running shoes. YES! And we got each other the exact same candies. So funny. So, yes, we had a very great Valentine's day.

Delicious Potato Soup

So a couple weeks ago I bought a Ham on sale for about $7. I love ham. Seriously, I love to just sit and tear off a slice here and there and just eat it. Yum. We were having Ben's parents over for dinner one night and so I cooked up the Ham and ate it. We had Sandwiches. Very tasty. But after dinner we had tons of ham left so I cut it all up and put it in different containers and such to save for other meals later one. Wow. I got about 8 different meals with that stuff. It was great! So I think $7 for 8 meals isn't bad. I guess i had to buy stuff still for the rest of the meal, but it still seemed good to me.

Anyways, by far the best meal we had with the Ham was surprisingly the Potato soup I randomly decided to make. I have never made it before so I just googled it, found a high rated recipe and cooked some up hoping it would turn out well (especially since I was taking half to a family for dinner!) I am so happy to say that it was SO delicious! Ben and I couldn't stop eating it! The boys even loved it, and our neighbor liked it too. So it is definitely a winner recipe and will probably be one our regulars from now own. As you know, when I find something I really like I love to share it and let people know about it, so I am posting the recipe so if you ever have leftover ham and some potatoes...here is a very tasty meal! Enjoy

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup!

Ingredients

3 1/2 Cups Peeled and Diced Potatoes

1/3 cup diced celery

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

3/4 cup diced cooked ham

3 1/4 cups water

2 Tablespoons chicken bouillon granules

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon pepper

5 Tablespoons butter

5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 Cups milk

Directions:

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham, and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the Chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whick in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until think, about 1 min. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick. 4-5 minutes.

3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately, and Enjoy!

What I did Different:

I used red potatoes, and did not peel them. I didn't have granules, so I just used bouillon cubes instead. I don't even know how many I put it, just until it tasted right. And when I mixd the milk into the butter/flour mix. It didn't get all that thick so I finally just threw it in the soup and called it good.

Okay that is all, and I hope you try this out!