Family Portraits - Long Overdue

24 rolls of toilet paper on the laundry room floor.  This little booger had to open two packages of this while I was making a meal.  The laundry room is close to his bedroom, so I thought he was playing in his room.   He was pouting when he got in trouble.

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

This soup is so good!  I was worried I had lost the recipe from last year.  Looked online and couldn't seem to find the right one.   Enjoy!
1 1/2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 med. onion, finely chopped
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz. can black beans, drained
30 oz. pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 c light cream (I used skim milk)
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
coarse salt - to taste
fresh chives for garnish

Saute' onion in oil for 5 min.  Add broth, tomatoes, beans, and pumpkin.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium - low and stir in cream, curry, cumin, cayenne and salt.  Simmer 5 min.    The kids may not enjoy this (mine didn't).  I loved it and my husband said it was pretty good.

Been busy

Hello.  I haven't forgotten about my little blog.  I have been very busy w/ life in general.  Homeschooling is taking a lot more of my time than I expected for my oldest only being in Kindergarten.  She is very strong-willed, so sometimes it takes awhile to get the lessons in.  Some days I just give up.  I get right back on it the next day & do a little more informal learning often, but do not call it school. 

I have also been doing my own version of Becky Higgins' Project Life.  I did buy the journaling cards & special sheet protectors w/ the pockets in them.  I love this idea.  I was once the kind of scrapper that only scrapped for the birthdays, holidays, and big events.  I tended to not take pics of just the little things.  Once I started doing Muffin Tin Meals, I started taking pics of more things.  Of course, I took pics of the kids often when they were doing something cute or wearing a sweet little outfit I wanted to remember.

I have been on the computer much less lately - trying to keep a better home.  Don't know if I'm succeeding at that, but I am keeping caught up with dishes and laundry, taking more time to read (trying to read my Bible every day), taking more time to play with the kids, etc. 

I do plan to share some fun crafty things I have made as well as more muffin tin & bento lunches (we just made our first ones the other day).    So, please don't drop my blog  - more to come very soon.