Blog-worthy...

I made "Healthy Cajun Jambalaya" last night and it was that good. Just in case you're interested...Healthy Cajun Jambalaya

This Cajun dish uses smoked turkey sausage instead of higher-fat sausage, plus plenty of vegetables, tomatoes, brown rice, shrimp & seasonings.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium sweet green pepper, diced
1 medium sweet red pepper, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 16-oz package turkey kielbasa, sliced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 10-oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp kosher or coarse salt
1 tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or to taste1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Method
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, peppers, celery and garlic and saute for 5 to 6 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add sausage and saute 2 to 3 minutes or until browned. Add remaining ingredients except shrimp and cook for 5 more minutes. Add uncooked shrimp and cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove from heat and serve warm with extra hot sauce.

Notes: This jambalaya is packed full of veggies, lean sausage, shrimp, and heart-healthy brown rice. The best part is that is tastes just as good as traditional jambalaya recipes

Christmas Celebrations

We had a couple Christmas celebrations this year. Wanting to start our own tradition, we spent an special evening together at home before heading out to Grandpa and Grandma's on Wednesday.

I made us all "special milk" (egg nog) which Eli LOVED and insisted on calling "fat juice." He likes to call all things to drink "juice" and apparently pronounces special as "fat." Either that or he was trying to guilt his mommy out of drinking calorie-laden beverages...


Checking out what their stockings. I'm sure Eli is thinking, "Wow, Daddy. That really stinks...I get candy and you get a toothbrush."
One of Eli's new gifts was a doctor kit from us. He insists on me being his patient many times a day-mostly so he can give me a shot. At least he kisses it better.
We headed over to the Peninsula to celebrate Christmas with Shane's family. These are the pictures teenagers hate to see...


All of his favorite things...crackers, cheese and meat!
Opening one of MANY presents!
After Eli opened this dump truck, we could not get him to open any of his other presents.
It's always so special to get to spend time with our dear Grandma Lillian! She is the dearest great granny!
Can you spot Eli? If there is a movie to be seen, you can bet he'll be there! The "older" kids had fun watching a new cartoon while the grown ups exchanged multiple jabs and laughs in our first annual White Elephant gift exchange.

December Happenings

December was a busy, fun month! Just a few pictures that capture what we (more like Eli) have been up to...

Jammies? Check! Coat? Check! Boots? Check! Eli has taken to getting ready to go "side" (outside) all by himself lately. It usually involves a backwards and shoes on the wrong feet.

The perfect little gift. Apparently, Eli has been paying attention to how Shane gets dressed and insisted that he should have a tie on last Sunday too. He even went a dredged up a ribbon and made Shane put it on!

Learning the finer points of making orange slice smiley-faces ( the lessons on posing for self-portraits were less successful)...

Saying hello to the snowman we built on our ONE snow day.

Is he not the cutest little guy ever?! We had a week of freezing weather, and Eli took to refusing to wear mittens. Instead he walked/rode around with his hands shoved in his pockets...silly boy!

"Sew-men" have been a big hit around our house. Bet you didn't know snowmen could ride horses!

We had a few guests this month, and since then, Eli has been pretty interested in the guest bedroom. Of course he likes to get all snuggled up right after I've put clean sheets on...I guess that's when it's coziest.

Decking the halls...

My Dad and Mom planted a Christmas tree "farm" a few years ago. Lucky us to get to have my Dad come spend a few days with us AND bring us a tree that he harvested just for Eli! Eli loved decorating it so much that I had to take off the ornaments over and over again so he could hang them back up. Too bad the thing fell over...twice! Note to self: rustic, charming crock does NOT make a sturdy tree stand.Hanging out with "Pop." The other kids in my family call granpa "Papa" but Eli seems to prefer just plain old "Pop." Dad had to work in Darrington and was able to stay with us for 4 nights. It was so much fun to get to spend some time with him! Eli adores his Pop and waited patiently every night for him to come home.

Ok, this isn't actually December, but who's counting? We had a blast hanging out with my family for Thanksgiving. Maddy, Kailer and Eli proved that three is not a crowd.

After we had our little family photo shoot, the kids exchanged Christmas gifts.

Let the games begin!

Ahhh!!! Welcome Christmas vacation! Today is my first day off and I am looking forward to catching up! Catching up on photo albums, messy closets, some very old painting projects, AND this blog! Look for photos soon! :-)

Poppe Family

We got to spend Thanksgiving break at my mom and dad's with ALL of my immediate family! My mom took the opportunity to schedule a family photo shoot. Take a peek at my crazy, wonderful, fun-loving, amazing family...

Just waiting patiently (at least that's what it looks like!)
Here are all of the cousins. From left to right; Kailer, Rylee, Madison, Lilly and Eli.
My wonderful parents.
My brother Dan, his wife Brynn and their daughter Rylee.
My sister Sara, her husband Luke and their daughter Madison.
Posing for photos can be perilous...Luke and Sara accidentally dropped Maddy (hence the muddy knee.) Luckily all involved thought it was hilarious!
Shane, Eli and me and baby hiding under the sweater.
My sister Heather, her husband Andy and their kids Lilly and Kailer.

Halloween!

Eli's costume that I sewed while he was napping on Halloween day. (I like last minute, apparently.) Unfortunately my rough measurements were, well rough, and I had to cut a big hole in the neck and waist for it to fit him! Oh, well, he still looked adorable!
We had A's and T's over for dinner on Halloween night. Tessa was a disco witch (I think.), Trevon was a Ninja, Kaylee made for an adorable cat, Eli was Eli Daniel "Boone" Kitchen for the night, and Braden was a cute little monkey. After dinner, we took the kids out for just a little trick-or-treating. Eli wasn't sure about the whole process, but quickly figured out that there would be candy waiting for him at every door (and it helped to have Tessa and Kaylee holding his hands!). When I tried to remind him to say "thank you" for his treat by asking him "what do you say?" he happily replied, "Mo, peas?" (more, please!) Yep, we're big on manners around here-ha!

Catching Up!

Eli's latest favorite is anything pumpkin. Here he is licking off the last of the pumpkin bars!
My uncle hand carved this rocking horse for Shane and I as a wedding gift. In the last few months, Eli has really been paying a lot more attention to it. Unfortunately, he thinks he is a trick rider and I often find him standing on the horse's back while rocking!
Eli's loves helping! He insists on assisting with loading and unloading the dishwasher, feeding Bailey, loading the clothes in the dryer, and just about every other job he sees us doing. He especially loves helping Shane. Here he is helping "wash" the kitchen!
And the now famous haircut! Shane decided to give Eli his first haircut at home last Saturday. Everything was going well until the clippers slipped. The only left to do was give him a buzz cut! Don't get me wrong...it's not a bad haircut. I just can't get used to seeing my baby in such a big boy haircut. He looks so much older!