Have you met my teenage daughter? Me either, but she sure acts like one.

So, the first day of school has come and gone over two weeks ago.  janel has tried to wear this one particular dress like 3 times and I have told her no every time she put it on.  The straps are not wide enough for school.  So, Monday she walks into the kitchen wearing a really cute shirt, but it has a skull on it.  I told her that it was probably not ok to wear skulls to school so she better pack another shirt just in case.  on closer inspection I saw she had another shirt under the one she was wearing.  I asked her what is was and she said it was just an undershirt.  Me: Come closer and let me see.  Janel: (lifts up her shirt) Me:  (I see sh has her shorts unbuttoned and she is wearing the dress under her clothes and has it stuffed into her shorts. ) Janel, go change clothes right now and then throw the dress away. Janel: So not fair mom.  When she got home from school i asked her what her plans where and she told me they where to go to the bathroom and emove her top clothes so she could wear the dress.  Since then we argue every morning about the things she can wear, how to fix her hair, ect. ect.  I am really trying to pick my battles here but she is doing things most kids do not do till they are teenagers.  UGH  Someone commit me now.  I want my daughters to understand modesty and respect for dress codes.  So if you see my daughter at school in something innapropriate, she is probaby trying to pull a fast one on me.  CALL ME immediately. I worry all the time about my kids and the society they asre growing up in.  It is so easy to be lured into drugs and sex at such a young age.  8th graders are doing it and it is not just one or two.  This just freaks me out to think that she will be in junior high school in 3 years.  My daughters have met their match though.  I will be all up in their business as much as I can be.  LOL  Poor kids. 
On another note, I have had no sleep the past 3 nights because of a cricket in my bedrom wall.  It chirps ALL NIGHT long.  How long can a cricket live without food or water.  I am about to tear some walls apart.  Plus the dog is on his 4th opposum of the month.  The garbage men probably hate picking up my garbage.  YUCK!!! 
Yeah, these are just ramblings, but I am sure someone else is going thru this with their daughters.  We need to be tough on them now before they are too old for us to tell what to do. 

Sky Diving

So, many of you know how afraid I am of heights.  Many of you had bets on weather I would sky dive or not.  Well, as you can see, I did it!!!!  I myself had my doubts.  I was not nervous till we lft the house to head to the airport.  I was sick to my stomach.  I tried to puke but just could not make myself.  I think I went pee 5 times.  There was something wrong with the plane and they had to get it fixed before we could leave so it was gonna be at least an hour wait.  WHAT THE???  I am not getting on that pane.  But, I did.  We get back and get our geer on and head up in the plane.  I was shaking so bad and evey little jerk I would grab my tandem guy and he probably thought I was getting fresh with him or something.  He tells me to turn around so we can get strapped in and then it is time to open the door.  I begin yelling "NO, NO, NO".  Acordding to him, that sounds like go, go, go.  He tells me to stick my leg out of the plane onto the step and I was freaking out.  Finally I decide to just close my eyes and he places my foot outdie the plane at 10,000 feet in the air.  I coss my arms over my chest and before I knew what was going on, we where doing flips out the door.  We free fell till about 6,000 feet and my heart was racing waiting for the chute to come open.  Finally it did.  I had a death grip on the straps the whole time. Finally, we made it to the grouns.  I kissed the ground and then was excited that I actually did it.  I will admit to paying the Lords Prayer before getting out of the plane and also singing Our God is an Awesome God the whole time.  But, I really can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  And if I can sky dive, anyone can,  for real.  It was the most awesome thing I have ever done. 

Here is a recipe I will leave you with that I tried the other day and it was awesome!!!!

Captain crunch chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 cup captain crunch cereal
• 1 1/2 cup corn flakes, crushed
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 lb chicken breast- boneless skinless cut not strips
• Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

Beat egg with milk and set aside

Stir together flour, onion, garlic powders and pepper, set aside.

Dip chicken into flour, dip into egg, then dip into cereal mixture.

Heat oil to 325°

Fry 3-5 minutes and serve.

Recipes everyone has asked me for.

King ranch casserole

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/2 cup diced yellow onions
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 cup shredded cooked boneless chicken
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2 cup prepared tomatilla sauce (or a mild green salsa)
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup canned chopped green chills, drained (4 ounce can)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° . Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add onions and cook 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and heat through. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Combine cheeses in small bowl.
Spread 1 cup to stills sauce on bottom of an 8 inch square baking dish. Arrange 4 tortillas on top of sauce, overlapping if necessary. Spread 3/4 cup sou cream evenly over the top. Add 1/2 cup of the remaining to stills sauce, 1 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture, 1 cup of the cheeses, and 1/2 cup green chilis. Top with remaining 4 tortillas and the remaining 3/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup to atolls sauce, and chicken mixture. Follow with 1 cup cheese sprinkled on top. Bake about 25 minutes. Serve. Make 1-3 days ahead for more flavor.

Bacon water chestnuts

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp Worcester sauce
• 16 ounce sliced bacon
• 2 (8 ounce ) cans water chestnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

In a saucepan combine ketchup, brown sugar and worcestor sauce.

Heat just to boiling. Slice bacon into thirds and cut water chestnuts in half. Wrap bacon around chestnuts and then pour sauce over them. Bake 45-50 minutes.

 

Chili

Ingredients:

• 4 lb London broil
• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 lb hot Italian sausage
• 2 large sweet green peppers, seeded and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 10 ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 3 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
• 2 tsp chicken bullion
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 cans dark red kidney beans
• 2 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 5 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 4 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

In large stock pot add onions, green peppers and garlic and chop into small pieces. Use a food processor if you like. cut London broil into small bite size pieces, add to the pot. Break sausage into pot and turn the heat on high.
When meat is done turn to medium heat and add the next 6 ingredients. ( to kidney beans) bring to a slow boil. Stirring.
Add the 7 spices. Add the cheese and then the sugar, stirring the whole time. Slow cook at least 1 1/2 hour.

 

Cube steak

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 pounds cube steak cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup all purpose flour for coating
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 envelopes dry onion soup mix
• 4 cups water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Garlic salt to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in skillet, coat cube steak pieces with flour. Fry pieces in oil till browned on each side. Stir together the onion soup mix and 1 tbsp flour. Sprinkle into skillet and stir till browned. Gradually mix in the water to make a gravy. Return cube steak to the pan and season with salt, pepper and garlic. Cover and simmer over low heat about 1 hour.

Wilderness Trip-Finale

Finally getting around to writing this blog.  Yeah!!!  Well, we made the long drive to the first camping spot for the night.  We hiked up hill for about 30 minutes to a spot on the top of a ridge and camped there for the night.  When we got set up, the kids and I layed on the ground and just looked up in the sky at all the stars.  It was tempting to sleep there all night but, I will admit, I was a little scared.  It stormed that night and was pretty windy.  I think I had a rock in my back the whole night, but we made it.  We got up early the next morning, ate, took down the tents, and headed back down the mountain.  (The kids had to do all of the work without help from us. EX: cooking, putting up tents, reading the map)  We drive to the area where we will be starting out journey.  It is a hill/mountain side and it is straight up.  It really does not seem THAT BIG when you are looking up, but once you start to climb with a 45 pound backpack strapped on you feel as thought you will tip over at any minute and go tumbling down the hill.  I was pretty scared, and yes, I cried half way up the hill.  Telling myself, don't look down, just don't look down.  As soon as we got up the hill the kids where supposed to go up and to the left.  Well, instead they go DOWN.  Really, down, NOOOOOOO.  But, JJ and I can not say a word, we just look at each other with tears in our eyes and head down.  It was very challenging for the kids to make decisions because they all ahd to agree on the direction we would go.  How often do we make things more challenging in our own lives than it has to be by just not following directions?  We went down the mountain on the other side for a ways before the kids decided we needed to walk back up the mountain.  We probably climed about 2000 feet up hill.  It was very challenging and I often wondered if I would be able to continue.  The point is to find the trail.  We make it to the top and it starts to sprinkle.  What a nice and welcome surprise as we are hot.  We are all almost out of water and we need to eat.  So at the top of the mountain we break for lunch and a rest and head back on our way.  After a few more wrong turns, we head UP HILL again.  Maybe another 500 feet?  felt like 5000 feet.  We are all out of water and I am dying....not really but was scared I might.  Terry and I find bear scat that is pretty fresh.  (Lord, please don't let a bear attack right now, I can not run)  We finally find the trail....Kiss the ground and head down hill to a river.  (We will have to go back UP the Trail tomorrow)  We get to water, pump water and set up camp.  I am so tired but it is so hard for me to sleep on the hard ground.  Tha nk God I brought my little pillow.  It was worth carrying.  For dinner we made roman noodles with canned chicken and potatoe flakes.  get up the next morning and pacl up only to head back UP HILL.  2 different teens where leaders each day but at least now we where on a trail with some guidance.  (the trail splits off at times and you have to make a decision which one to take.)  We hike all day till we get to the next camping spot.  We had times where we stoped to enjoy a little stream or a bathroom break in a sport there where nice big leaves.  The third day we are happy to be closer to our destination.  It is awesome that we can all be in the woods for that long, that close and we had no major arguments or dissagreaments.  I am amazed.  The kids did awesome and I was so proud of them.  I did well except the times the trail was a little thin and you could see straight down the mountain on the other side.  I walked really close to the mountain side and scrunched low.  LOL  The 4th ngiht we made it back to our original camping spot and it rained.  the girls tent had a hole in it and my sleeping bag got soaked.  So, like the girls we are, we went and slept in the van at the bottom of the mountain.  That next morning we went river rafting in Colorado Springs.  it was awesome and the water was perfect for a first time trip.  we hit a few 4's but mostly they where all 3's.  After this we went to town and JJ and I arranged for pizza at a place called Pizza Madness.  What a nice reward after all we accomplished. Pizza never tasted so good after all the things we had eaten.  We then drove to a camp ground and set up camp there.  The next morning we got up and went to repel.  I am so scared just thinking about it but I really want to do this.  I want this experience.  We head up the mountain and get to the top of the rocky ridge and I am scared.  I can't go any further, I am cryhing so i hang my head low and head back down the mountain. (I was the first person on this trip to not do it :(  But the day before we drove across the ridge in colorado Springs and I was a mess.  I think terry new I was not gonna make it.)  All the kids did it and I was so proud of them.  then they had to do solos.  This is where we take them to the woods and they have to spend 24 hours by themself, fasting and with nothing but their bibles, paper and a sleeping bag and water.  Most of them stayed till dark but then a uge storm came in and all but one kids ended up coming in.  I was worried about Aaron but he did awesome and made it thru the night.  I was soooo proud of him.  During the whole trip we went over Phillipians.  I have to say, I was very excited to get back home and see  my family.  I missed them terribly.  It was great to get in the driveway and hear my kids yelling Mommy.  Would I do it again?  I am not sure.  I want my kids to experience it some day and i would like to say I could do it, but I will be like 40 something.....I did lose 9 pounds!!!!  I have alrady gained back 4 of those pounds.  LOL  All in all, I am glad I went.  I got to have some quiet time with my father and it was an experience most people never get to have.  I am greatful I got to do it.  I know there is so much that happened I am not writing here but if you even made it this far, I m proud of you.  haha