Tale of a blanket

I made a rag quilt for Kate when she was born. Well, I actually had some help finishing it (thanks Jess and Jodi). Kate has been VERY attached to froggie blankie. A couple weeks ago, froggie blankie went missing. This is very strange, because there really aren't many places it could hide. But I couldn't find it anywhere. I was secretly happy, because the poor blanket was getting really tattered and faded. And I secretly hoped I could find it first, so I could "accidentally" throw it away. Kind of like I'm sure my dad "accidentally" threw away my bikini as a teenager. It took a few days, but Kate eventually stopped asking for her favorite blanket. Bryan and I went to the store tonight, and left the kids instructions to clean up the basement. When we got home, Kate was standing at the door, hugging her favorite froggie blankie. NOOOOO!!!!! The kids had found it in the Christmas Tree box in the basement. I had to act fast, so the previous blankie attachment would not reattach. I showed Kate this picture:



We talked about how nice and bright her blankie used to be. And now it's not looking so good. So we decided to take a picture of her with her blankie one more time:



Then we hung the blankie in her closet "so it won't get more worn out." We'll see how long this arrangement lasts!

Chicken Soup - Christensen Style

The boys spent some quality time sledding...



...and warmed up with some hot chocolate. Even Joey, who doesn't like chocolate (he got that from me, I guess), slurped it down.



While they were sledding, I whipped up a batch of our family favorite: chicken noodle soup. I love two things about this recipe. 1) it's so easy to make, and hard to mess up; and 2) everyone loves it!



The recipe was originally based on the Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe found in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

Chicken Noodle Soup - Christensen Style
3 1/2 qts chicken broth (or 3 1/2 qts water and 5 chicken bullion cubes)
1/2 cup onion
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp dried crushed oregano (I use whatever spices I have on hand, and I'm not exact with the measurements)
1/2 tsp dried crushed basil
1/2 lb fresh or frozen sliced carrots
1 bay leaf
salt
pepper
1 lb chicken
5-6 handfuls dry noodles

In a large pot: combine water, bullion cubes, onion, garlic, spices, carrots. Add a few shakes of salt and pepper. Add bay leaf. Bring to boil.

In a medium pot: fill 2/3 full with water, add some salt and pepper, add the chicken, and bring to boil. Let the chicken boil while the soup is cooking.

Be sure to watch both pots, or they will boil over.

Fast method: Once the large pot is boiling, add the dry noodles. Cook according to the noodle package directions.

Longer method: If you have extra time, let the large pot boil for 15 minutes or so before adding the noodles. Then add the dry noodles. Cook according to the noodle package directions.

Once noodles are cooked, remove chicken from medium pot, chop up, and add to the soup. Salt and pepper to taste, and you're done!

Additional note: The water the chicken cooked in is a good chicken broth now. I usually strain some of it and add it to the soup at the end.

The noodles I use are the Country Pasta Homemade Style Egg Pasta. You can find them at Walmart or Costco.

Nativities

Kate has inherited my love of nativities. She has a plastic Precious Moments one (gma Jodi gave it to us when Josh was little) that she plays with all of the time. My Willow Tree nativity is on the entry table. Kate can't help herself. She is constantly moving the pieces around. Here's a picture of her playing with the Willow Tree nativity. She added some black chess pieces, because I guess they needed to be part of the nativity too. And the little white sheep are from her Precious Moments nativity.



I just started busting up. I realized that Kate looks so cute and well-behaved in this picture. On the Sunday this picture was taken, I wasn't feeling well, so I was going to stay home from church. A few minutes after this picture was taken, it was time for everyone to go to church. Kate threw a major, monumental tantrum about something and had to stay home from church with me. She was not happy about that. But it's still a cute picture.