Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my family!! We love you so much and miss you terribly. This was Bailey Elizabeth Angelina Spiess the night I took her to see the Nutcracker. Isn't she just precious? OH yeah, she knows it too. Little sassy britch, but you wouldn't know it from this pic. I wonder where she gets it from? LOL!!

All I Want for Christmas

All Jonathan wants for christmas

is his 2 front teeth!! He was so excited

for the tooth fairy to come that he

actually lost it in the middle of the night!!

Happy Halloween!!

Here are some Halloween pics!!

Jonathan was batman, Maddie moo

called herself the white princess (winter wonderland princess) and William was Aniken Skywalker.

It was cold and rainy here in Michigan but the kids

had a blast!! And of course they got a ton of candy!!

My Cheerleader

My little Angel, Bailey, at her Homecoming with her
daddy, Billy. She didn't want to walk with a boy this
year except her Daddy. This is her 4th year cheering
and she just loves it. She cheers for the Bill Arp Falcons
for the 7&8 year old teams.

tortilla soup (Aunt Frances)

Tortilla SoupA colorful, hearty soup with chicken and vegetables
topped with tortilla chips
Hands On:20 minutes Total:30 minutes Makes:10 servings (1 cup each)
Ingredients
* 2 tablespoons Pure Wesson Vegetable Oil
* 1 large onion, chopped (1 large = 1 cup)
* 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
* 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 3 cans (14 oz each) chicken broth
* 1 can (14.5 oz each) Hunt's Petite DicedTomatoes with Mild Green Chilies, undrained
* 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
* 1 cup whole kernel corn
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 2 cups tortilla chips, broken (2 cups = 4 oz)
* Shredded Cheddar cheese, sliced green onions,cilantro sprigs and diced avocado, optional
Directions
1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat1 minute. Add onions, bell peppers and garlic; cook 5minutes, or until vegetables are crisp-tender,stirring frequently.
2. Add broth and tomatoes with their liquid. Bringto a boil; reduce heat to low. Stir in chicken, corn,cumin, salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.
3. Ladle hot soup into serving bowls. Top withtortilla chips. Add cheese, onions, cilantro andavocado, if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories 137
Sugars 3 g
Total fat 6 g
Protein 11 g
Saturated fat 1 g
Vitamin A 10%
Cholesterol 24 mg
Vitamin C 36%
Sodium 740 mg
Calcium 4%
Carbohydrate 11 g
Iron 5%
Dietary fiber 2 g

Joshua and the Superdragons

Joshua's soccer team has been playing together for almost a month now. They are still undefeated!! He plays every Saturday and I get nervous throughout the whole game because I want them to stay #1!!! I think I take it more serious than the kids do. You can tell that in the picture of him with his friend at the end of the game.

Laura C.

Big Day

Nathaniel
is in 7th grade now and just got his braces off earlier this month. He just had his first football game the other day he didn't get to play a whole lot but his team did win. He will be 13 in April and loves to remind me how he is going to be a teenager.

And then we have miss Madelyn. She is the princess in the house and boy does she know it. These are from her first day in preschool. She was pretty excited if you can't tell.
She will be 4 in May. I'll be sure to post some pics up of William and Jonathan but I couldn't find any recent ones. Hope everything is well for everyone!!