Richardson Report

So I now get to say I am 12 weeks along.  This is the first time ever that a dating sonogram has worked in my favor and moved my due date UP.  Thrilling.  We definitely have a little peanut kicking around inside.  S/He was quite active during the sonogram and it was fun to see two little legs and two little arms tumbling around with a big head and a beating heart.  All the important things! However, I got to thinking - even though our car has seats for 8, we are going to be squished!  I can fit three kids in back, but if I put a carseat back there, it gets VERY squishy.  If I don't, the three kids in back have to learn to fly over the middle row in order to get out.  My kids are talented - but Hannah is taller than I am, so that seems a little much to ask!  Not to mention we are already finding it hard to pack everything we need for our long trips.  Soooo much as I hated the idea, it seemed like it might behoove us to look at upgrading...

A few years ago, my friend and sister-in-law Jelaire pointed me in the direction of a Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup recipe from the blog 365 days of slowcooking .  The link takes you to her recipe. It's a really great soup - especially nice when you want a meatless meal.  I've come up with a version that our family likes even better - and it's FAST. Basically it works like this: Using the same ingredients, I make the roux in my soup pot.  Then in the blender I combine half of the tomatoes, carrots, celery, chicken broth, and seasonings.  Blend thoroughly.  Toss in with roux.  Do again with second half of veggies, then add with roux.    Warm soup in pot.  Add half and half (or milk) and parmesan cheese.  Let simmer until ready to eat.  Done.  It's great when I need dinner on the table in 15 minutes.  The key for us is blending the veggies - we prefer creamy soups over chunky usually.  Oh, and this recipe feeds...

Yesterday was a busy day. Josh and I had made plans for him to take the day off work so that we could conquer Costco (since we were already out of town for the weekend).  Due to unforeseen difficulties at work, we were a little late getting out the door, but it worked out.  The kids stayed at Grandpa's house and kept him company. So while I'm wandering around Costco I come across a chicken coop that they have for sale.  I knew immediately that it was the very coop that we had ordered for our chickens (which was backordered).  What was also immediately apparent was that it was going to be TOO SMALL once our chickens finished growing.  Grrrrr.  The label on it says 2-4 chickens can happily live there, but I think they must mean 2 regular chickens or 4 bantams.  Of course, Costco was selling it for a bit cheaper (mean, a lot cheaper) than our local feed store.  But they weren't carrying the bigger size, didn't offer anything online, and we didn't...

In spite of bouts of morning sickness, we've had a full week!  I usually have a couple really good days followed by some not-so-good ones.  But you take what you can get. I've overheard some interesting things from Kenna lately. Said to a younger sibling who was not cooperating, apparently: "if. you. don't. give. that. to. me. I. will. punch. you. in. the. eye. ball."  Whoops!  Time for a break. "I like getting the cereal crumbs because then I get all the sugar".    Sigh.  Our house as been a bastion of unhealthy eating since I've been sick.  Someday I'll cook again. I've been trying out camera batteries to see which ones don't work any longer, so I had to take LOADS of pictures to give them a thorough testing.  Every time I try to sort through the batteries, I stick a charged one in and then promptly forget about it.  So this week I carried the camera around a bit more, and here is the proof! The doorbell rang on Easter...

 So this is a day in the life of Kenna and Natalie (above).  They are into "doing hair" these days. Our chickens have grown quite a bit in the past few weeks.  They spend every day outside and love it. Today is Logan's 10th Birthday!  Wow!    It's just crazy how fast time flies.  For his birthday celebration, Josh is taking off work early and taking Logan to a movie, and then we'll have gifts and dessert later tonight. Here are some fun Logan facts: He's super strong!  He's one of the strongest kids his age in every competition.  The only time he gets beat is running - can't quite compete with the longer legs of a good friend of his.  He can do hundreds of jumping jacks without stopping, over perfect 70 pushups in a row, and puts up a good fight when he arm wrestles Josh.  All this solid muscle has made it extremely difficult for him to learn to swim (he has almost 0 fat, it seems like), but he's been working hard...