Good Things

I have been so enjoying my kitchen lately. I worked so much during the school year, that I seemed to never have the kind of time that I like to prepare our meals. I was pleased that even though I was gone most days, we still ate at home and mostly together. I learned new and different things about home management skills this past year. I love to make freezer meals, so that we can still have satisfying and yummy dinners when we are all so busy. Life can definately throw us some curve balls, and these meals sure help on those days that don't turn out like you hoped. I will post my favorite frozen dinners later, but for now I want to post some of the recipes that we have enjoyed lately. I don't think I have had any more time to prepare them, but I have had more time to put some thought into our meals. So here goes:
Breakfasts: Usually around here it is a help yourself kitchen. However, I do try to keep these kinds of things available for the kids. We also do smoothies, toast, cereal, etc.
Chocolate Chip Muffins (I double the recipe and put half in the freezer for more hectic mornings)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cp sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
chocolate chips and nuts if you like. (I always add some carob chips to cut down on the chocolate intake around here)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease 12 muffin cups. Stir together first 5 ingredients. In another bowl stir together next 4 ingredients. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Put into muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes.


Strawberry French Toast (I have been using this recipe for myself as I am trying to be more health conscious. The kids don't mind it either, but I usually make theirs a little more traditionally.)
Mix together
2 egg whites
1 Tbsp. Orange Juice
1 Tbsp. Milk
2 tsp. vanilla protein powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Soak a slice of rye bread in the mixture. Fry in safflower or canola oil until cooked through. Serve with sliced strawberries.

I also need to add that I try to make things that are yummy as well as cost effective. With 4 growing kids and lots of friends always around, that can be quite a challenge.

Dinners for this week:
Grilled Tomato Bruschetta and Creamy Garlic Pasta
Barbecued boneless ribs in Red, Hot and Blue barbecue sauce and Baked Potato Salad and homemade cornbread
Pasta Salad (using whatever vggies I have on hand) with THIS dressing and homemade french bread
Spaghetti, green beans, and homemade breadsticks
We leave on our trip on Saturday, and so I will be packing picnic lunches and dinners for our travel day. If you have any recies up your sleeve, let me know. I am thinking about some spicy beef roll ups and homemade strawberry pies for dinner. I am open to your suggestions though!

last days of school

The end of the school year has come and gone. What a year it has been. Audrey and Maddie enjoyed field trips, projects, great teachers, and great friends. We wrapped up the year with field day activities and pizza parties. Enjoy these cute pics!

Dallas Zoo

I was able to go with Madison and her second grade class to the Dallas Zoo on a field trip. We had such a good time seeing all the animals. Maddie's favorite was feeding the giraffes!

Hippity Hop

I know I am so far behind on our blog, but better late than never. We had a nice Easter Sunday at Dad's house with Jayne and her family. Jayne, Kevin, and Dad did a great job hiding the Easter eggs, so much so that even Whitney was stumped.

Backtracking...

With all our recent events, I failed to write about our Valentine's trip to Disneyworld. We went just the two of us with my sister and her husband. It was a ton of fun. I hadn't realized that most of our favorite rides we had never even ridden together. I guess that happens when you go there with your kids. Kevin and Jonathan spent many hours trying to get the highest score on the new Toy Story Mania. They had a blast, and actually got a score of 470,000. That's pretty incredible! My mom stayed at our house with the kids and managed all their comings, goings, homework and music practice. I hope I told her how grateful we were for that. I am sure she is grateful for that alone time with the grandkids.

The Blue Angels

The boys had a great day at the Naval Air Force base in Fort Worth to see the Bllue Angels. Brandon was definately in his element. Jenn and the girls stayed at her sister's house to watch the kids so Jayne could participate in the Warrior Dash. We all had a fun day!

It's great to be 8!

Madison got baptized at the beginning of April. It was a special day. So many people were there to show their love for her. The Krueger's came over from Justin, The Klingler's came over from Keller, Grandpa Moorman, and Grandma Beech were all there. Of course, many of our ward family were there too! Thanks to everyone who made this day extra special for us.

cute cousins

These pictures would have made my mom so happy! A couple of friends of mine put their heads and talents together and decided to come take all the kids away for a little while and do a photo shoot. Some of them were displayed at the funeral, and a big one was given to Grandpa to hang in his family room. The cousins all had fun being together, and look forward to seeing each other again soon!

Mom

Many of you know already that my mom passed away suddenly last Saturday. She was at home with dad when she had an unforeseen heart attack. We are all very saddened by these events. It was a tough yet spiritual week as we served and loved each other. We all continue to come to grips with our new reality, and definately have weak knees at this time. Helene was able to come down from Idaho and spend some time with us. Oh how I miss her already. I know mom loved seeing all the cousins playing together. Helene gave the eulogy, and I will copy it below if you want to read it. Just wanted to remind you to hug your mothers, never leave without an "I love you," and don't be too distracted to spend precious time with your family.



Well, do you ever sit and wonder “Gosh, life goes by so fast. When you are young, you just wish that it would go faster but now here in the chapel many of us in this room would like to go back and slow time down a notch.” Well, I will not be able to change time but I know that today we can celebrate our wife, sister, mom, grandma, and friend.
Jeanene was born in Oakland California in 1951to Meredith and Helen Camplin. My mother grew up in Anaheim, California 3 miles away from Disneyland. She would tell stories that when the fireworks would go off every night, she better be heading home… because it was curfew. She lived here until her Senior year when her family moved to Newhall, California. Like most teenage girls this was a scary time for her. She was able to get through this time because of her dear friend Nancy.
Mom had an amazing relationship with her mother. This kind of relationship was so much enjoyed by mom. They were close. It was so fun to sit at the kitchen table and listen to them laugh about the past. The one I remember the best was when my mother was young, her brother Mike would say “Jeanene, set the table”. Mom would routinely run out the front door, down the drive way and through the streets with her brother hot on her trail. When he caught up to her, they would laugh and walk back to the house arm in arm. This would happen nightly.
Mom met the love of her life, her best friend, her true companion: Robert Moorman. They were both working at a Bank in California. The rule was clear that an employee could not date another employee. So Dad worked up the courage to asked mom out on a date.
Let me read from a journal that we found regarding this hot date:
Well they were married. From what I can read in the journal Johnny Cash was assisting with his recording, “We got married in a fever”.
Their honeymoon trip was to Tennessee to meet dad’s family. Now dad likes to play up that he has hill-billy ancestors. Mom, from the city, was taking in the details about my Father’s family. Dad explained to her that: “When we get to my Dad’s house he will expect you to help out with the chores. He will need you to help feed the chickens, collect the eggs, feed the hogs and Milk the cows.” Dad continued to explain that his father liked to kid around with the city folk, so be prepared because he could throw in a bull. Like I said, Mom was taking in the details and she asked the question: Yep, you guessed it. “How can you tell the difference between a cow and a bull”.
Soon after Mom and Dad were married, mom experienced the death of her father. Her brother Greg made mentioned that it was his sister that comforted him and encouraged him to move forward. She encouraged him to go to college to obtain an education. He also told me that it was mom, once again that offered that same comfort and continuous phone calls after the death of her mom.
To many of us in this room, we found that Jeanene was a very genuine. She was caring and when you spoke to her you knew that she was really listening. Last night, the viewing was reassuring with the many comments made to our family regarding my mother. The theme was similar throughout the evening. “Your mother loved you girls and the grandkids. She talked about you guys all the time.” My mother does love us very much.
In preparation for today, I asked my sister’s to give me their favorite memory of MOM.
Jennifer: I remember when Dad was staying at our house and he received a phone call from mom. Mom was in a state of panic, the little dog was barking like crazy in the house near a table. When Mom went to see what the matter was, she discovered a little Texas Treat. A LARGE SNAKE somehow was in the house. She ran to the car and called Dad crying and scared. She begged Dad to come home and kill the snake. Some friends of the ward were able to come over and dispatch the untamed, live, dangerous animal. Jennifer reports that this was not funny to mom but the grandkids still enjoy this story.
Jayne: I grew up with my sisters who were already married and on-their-own. Mom and I would go on road trips. On one road trip we decided to travel to St George, Utah to see Helene then to the West coast and peak in on Greg (mom’s brother) then return to Helene’s home to rest for the next leg of the journey. We then continued to Michigan to visit with Jennifer. After visiting with Jennifer and her family, we decided to travel to Tennessee to see Dad’s family. I enjoyed it when she would sing “LOW RIDE ER”. This road trip was not only fun but will be remember able as we spent many hours together.
For me: Mom was just like what we said above. She was a friend, a teacher, and loved to support the many activities with her children. She went on Girl Scout camp outs. And One time the church rented a camp trailer for the Young Women’s Camp Trip, which was amazing because we cooked a roast in the ground for 24 hours. It was so great because it was raining so hard and the other wards were suffering. Not that I am competitive at all, but they were not prepared. While they were trying to figure out how to cook their dinner, our team was pulling the roast from the ground, hot and delicious.
In conclusion, Jeanene Marie Camplin Moorman loved her family, From her loving husband, to THE GIRLS (as she would call us) to the Grand Kids. She enjoyed learning and was able to earn a degree at Texas Women’s University after her children were married. She loved teaching, whether it be in a class room as a helping hand or holding her grand-kids, reading to them and teaching arts and crafts. She Loved her family and her family enjoyed every minute of it.
Dear Mom, We send you off with our hearts full of Love and the memories to carry us through the days ahead.

Snow Week of 2011

We were slammed with a huge ice storm earlier this week, that kept us all home from school, church activities, and work. Just when things were kind of getting better, we got about 5 inches of snow! Pretty incredible for Dallas. Not so great with the super bowl fans coming in to town! The kids have missed an unprecedented 4 days of school this week. Since it was mostly ice, we couldn't really play in it. We have watched lots of movies, made phone calls, played games, and sat by the fire with good books. The kids were excited to go outside today to play in the snow. I am sure just getting outside for a little while has done a lot to cure that bit of cabin fever we've been feeling. Kevin took these nice photos before the kids ran around and had a snowball fight. It sure looks pretty out there!

Hooray for Skype

Audrey's best friend moved to France just after Thanksgiving. This was the hardest thing I think Audrey has ever experienced. Sariah and Audrey were nearly literally attached at the hip. We loved having Sariah at our house. She just fit right in with the family. Audrey spent tons of time at their house as well just hanging out, playing games, and being creative. That was one of the best things about their friendship - they were so creative toghether! Before Sariah left, she went with us for a Saturday up to Grandma's house. The girls climbed trees, had adventures, made Christmas ornaments, and just had a great time together. I had forgotten my camera, so I have to thank my sister for taking these cute shots of the siamese twins! Skype isn't nearly as good as climbing trees and having grand adventures side by side, but I am grateful for it. It has been a great adventure in itself for Audrey to have a best friend in a foreign land where she can see her face to face, and talk to her lots and lots. Skype has been a big huge band aid for a little girl's broken heart, so I have to say thank you for that too. We sure can't wait til summer comes so that Audrey and Sariah can be side by side for a few weeks. Until then, they can Skpe!

While the boys were away

Since the boys were gone for a few days, we decided to spend some mother/daughters time together! We went ice skating, out for dinners, shopping, grandma's house, and friends over... The ice skating was a great outing except for the fact that the whole metroplex seemed to have the same idea. We waited in line at the Galleria Mall rink for over an hour just to pay to get in. Then another shorter line to get the skates. This was Maddie and Audrey's first time to try ice skating. Audrey took right to it, and Maddie eventually got the hang of it. I think we definately need to go again sometime...

Winter Camp

The boys in our ward went on a winter camp down in San Marcos, Texas. It was perfect camping weather with temps in the mid 60's during the day and good sleeping temps at night. The river is spring fed, so the water is about 72 degrees year round. They spent most of their time kayaking in the San Marcos river. I know - not much of a winter camp! But, we have to take advantage of the amazing winter weather we get here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had a wonderful Christmas season. We loved staying up late, sleeping in, serving our friends, Christmas parties, and dinners. Best of all, we loved having some much needed time together without the phone ringing or losing Daddy for an evening here and there. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas morning!