Party Potatoes, AKA Heart Attack Casserole

I called my Grandma Lu in Kansas today and asked her for her famous party potatoes recipe. She makes it so often she just started firing off the ingredients while I scrambled for a pen.
For New Year's Eve dinner here at my Mom's, we have prepared a ham, black-eyed peas ( I have to have these; it's good luck), pasta salad, broccoli slaw, and angel food cake with fresh strawberries. It could be better healthwise, I guess, but it could be a lot worse.
But then there's the party potatoes. I tried to double the recipe, but could not quite deal with the results (I could not bring myself to add 4 cups of sour cream, 4 cups of cheese, 2 sticks of butter...) so I just doubled the potatoes and added slightly more of the other ingredients.

1 large package frozen hashbrowns (32 ounce size or 2 lb bag)
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 16 oz container of sour cream
1 stick melted butter

Mix together, bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Let the New Year's weight loss resolution start tomorrow!

Magic Goats

Last year we started a new Christmas Eve tradition at our house. We sprinkle "magic oats" on the front yard so the reindeer will be able to see our house (the glitter) and so that they will have something to munch on (the oats) while waiting for Santa. We also put carrots out for them on Santa's cookie plate.
The kids never eat oatmeal, and they have no idea what oats are, so when I kept telling them that it was time to sprinkle the bags of magic oats, the closest word in their vocabulary was "goats." I handed Anna the bag and she looked perplexed for a second and then said, oh, goats. Jonathan also called them magic goats and did not seem upset at all at the idea of Mama grinding up goats to put in little Ziploc snack bags. Whatever gets those presents under the tree, I guess!

Anna Banana's Happy # 2!

Today was Anna Banana's happy birthday! She had a great birthday. I made her a two layer banana cake with cream cheese frosting (all from scratch! I am very proud of myself!). It had two layers and I tinted the frosting soft pink and then decorated it with purple and pink icing. Anna had been requesting a "cat" cake since Jonathan's birthday in October, so I bought some Hello Kitty stuff to put on top. It was really very yummy! And very suitable for our Princess Banana. For her birthday lunch, I made chicken enchiladas. Last year, Aunt Erin's Mom and Dad spent Christmas with our family and her mom made these fabulous enchiladas. So, I thought I would make it a tradition. Gosh, I guess I am really focused on food right now, huh? Anna had her cousins and her brother there, and Poppa Ed did lots of balloons for her birthday. Justine decorated, as she always does. We just had a very relaxing and laid back time.
Anna was so adorable while opening gifts, but she did have a case of the Mines! Justine tried to look at one of Anna's presents and I thought Anna was going to slug her one! She got everything she wanted, including a Disney princess cash register from Justine and Trystan, which she had just been begging for at Target this week! She got a really special baby doll from Papa Larry and Nana Jo, which she has been alternately nurturing and beating on the floor since we got home tonight. She stole Jonathan's "boo (pacifier)" and gave it to the baby.

While at the party, Anna went in my Mom's purse, pulled out a twenty, and stuffed it down her shirt, into her "bra." Those of you that know my Mom will understand where she got this behavior from!!!! Sometimes my Mom keeps an entire cell phone in there.
I can't believe it's been two years... it seems like she was just born. I remember how beautiful she was as a newborn. She had the softest hair ever. Dave said it felt like feathers and he was exactly right. And I remember her first birthday party like it was, well, yesterday. Being Anna's mother has been such a sweet, sweet time in my life. I love having a daughter so much. And not for the reasons that people usually name, like wanting to buy and dress them in fancy clothes, or wanting to do their hair. Anna is not having any of that! She has a certain sense of fashion. She likes to dress a certain way and I have given up for now with doing her hair. It is so pretty just hanging all around her face. Maybe I am just smitten with her, but as far as I am concerned the child needs no embellishment!
She reminds me so much of myself, and of my niece Justine, and even of my Mom's baby pictures at this age. She's a little like me, only better. She's fiesty and fearless and bold and brave and I hope she stays this way. I have so much hope for her and so much confidence in her future. Happy Birthday, Sweetest Girl!
PS.
She is so smart, too! She can recognize and name the letters, A, B, J, P, M, N, O, T and D! Now, I think that is pretty friggin' spectacular!

An Update to "He Pinched Me and Fixed My Boo-boos

Jonathan has been going to get adjustments for about a month now. I was very skeptical at first but I am very pleased with the results so far. He has much better energy now. Last week he rode his bike for a total of two and a half hours in just one day, and he never complained the next morning about his legs hurting. He wakes up in the morning and just walks normally, no more limping and holding onto the wall. He is much less stiff. I have not had to give him any Motrin for his leg pains. He has not been laid up on the couch after a trip to the park. I have seen an incredible difference in his activity level. He is much more active, and seems to be in far less discomfort. He still turns his left foot out when he walks but I don't mind that as long as he is energetic and pain-free.

Jonathan Quotes

One day Jonathan saw Anna put a small part from her My Little Pony in her mouth. He raced over and grabbed it from her, and said, "No, no, Anna! Don't put stuff in your mouth. I don't want you to choke cuz your my girl!"

I saw Jonathan on the couch a couple of weeks ago smelling his feet. We have a longstanding joke in our family. We smell each other's feet and name foods that they smell like. The most popular toe scent is chicken nuggets, and then invariably, the other foot smells like french fries.
I asked him what his feet smelled like. I was expecting him to make a joke, like they smell like hot dogs or something. He said very seriously: My feet smell like roast beef.

Yesterday I was in the car driving down Wickham. The left lane was blocked and I needed to get over, but I couldn't see out the rear window because it was all foggy. I was talking to Dave om the phone, and I said, "Oh, I can't see!"Jonathan immediately said in this kind of weary tone, "Then take off your glasses, Mama."
I wear these really big and really dark sunglasses. I took them off and it did help. Sometimes I can't get over how wise Jonathan can be. I think he was just sitting in the backseat, thinking, well of course you can't see with those black lenses on!

On Sunday morning before church, the kids and I were saying goodbye to Grandma Jane, who had been here for the week. He asked if she was leaving, and she said, "No, I am going to take a shower first and then I am going to leave." I prompted Jonathan to give her a hug, and he looked at her and then said, "I'll give her a hug after she takes a shower."


This morning Jonathan was trying to transform one of his Transformers from vehicle mode to robot mode. He was talking to himself out loud, and he said, "Oh, how do I robot this one? I can't remember how to robot this one." I love it when he turns a noun into a verb like this.