Turkey Chili Tuesday

It is pouring down rain here on the East Coast, and the leaves are all falling off the trees. SIGH!!! I am not a fan of winter or late fall for that matter, but I do LOVE the comfort foods of colder weather! Who doesn't???

Anyway, I tried the recipe for Turkey Chili in the October issue of Southern Living. It was very tasty!!! I served mine with shredded cheddar, sour cream and chopped cilantro! Yum!!!

The Staff Appreciation Committee at the boys' school is hosting a chili lunch on Thursday, and I'll be taking in a large crockpot full! The recipe is below! Enjoy!

Slow-cooker Turkey Chili

1 & 1/4 lb lean ground turkey

1 large onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (1.25 oz) envelope chili seasoning mix

1 (12 oz) can beer

1 & 1/2 cups frozen corn

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1. Cook first 4 ingredients in large skillet stirring often until turkey crumbles and is done. Stir in beer, and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes. Spoon mixture into a 5 1/2 quart slow cooker; stir in corn and next 6 ingredients until well blended. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours. Serve with desired toppings!

Magnificent Monday

Today we got the news that Emma's echocardiogram was completely normal! There are absolutely no signs that she had heart surgery in St. Petersburg!!!!

You know when you just "go on faith"??? Well, when we received Emma as our referral back in February, I was just so completely calm about her cardiac diagnosis. I didn't really ever question whether or not we should accept her as our baby. God is good! I just knew with all my heart and soul that she would be a healthy little girl! We are so very lucky and fortunate that she is ours. Because of her diagnosis and history of heart problems, she was passed up by other Russian families in the Baby Home. I wouldn't take her any other way, scar and all!!!

Prayer Request

Our neighbor and very good friend's brother was in a horrible accident last night and is on a ventilator and unconscious. Please please please lift him up in your prayers tonight and in the days to follow - that he may make a quick and complete recovery.

Snapshot Sunday

I have been wanting to get the following photos of the boys blown up for quite some time. I decided that I would need an equally cute one of Emma as well! JC helped me wrap Emma in my favorite V*ra Bradley beach towel today, and we snapped this shot of her. Emma was not so cooperative, but I think all three of these blown up to a 16" x 20" size will make quite an impact on a white wall!!!

The Office ROCKS

Nooooo, I am not talking about the one in Scranton, PA!!!

I am talking about JC's dental office! The ladies there hosted a "welcome home Emma" shower last night, and it was so wonderful!

Everything was in pink and green, and the dinner was so yummy! After working a full day, everyone was sweet enough to stay and shower us with gifts and dinner! JC's first assistant and her family all came as well to help us celebrate!

Of course, just yesterday morning I f*d exed my NEW camera (that won't turn on) back to Connecticut, and my old camera decided it was time for the flash to stop working AGAIN! I desperately wanted to capture the details of the night, but I only got about 6 decent photos. I borrowed a camera from one of the ladies, and I am waiting to get those downloaded as well.

Emma looked soooooo adorable! I dressed her in one of the G*p St. Petersburg Collection dresses and leggings and a HUGE red bow in her hair (which she kept on amazingly enough)! I tried so hard to take a photo of her before we left, and I even got my mom to take one of me holding her. Of course the flash wasn't working too well so here it is in black and white...

And once we arrived, I just started snapping away in hopes that a few would come through clearly...

My favorite detail of the shower was the pink and green cake...it was sooo cute, and it tasted pretty darn good too! Emma had her first piece of cake. She sat so still while one of the ladies fed her...she kept opening her mouth like a little baby bird and licking her lips in between bites. I wish I had that on video - it was so cute!!!!

After dinner, JC opened many many many wonderful gifts! Emma got so many new clothes and toys! It was better than Christmas! She really had a good time pulling the tissue out of the gift bags and then looking down in them!

Everyone was so generous, and we appreciate them so much! It was a great night!

Wordless Wednesday - THAT SMILE

One Month Home and Halloween

Emma Day was one month ago today!

In some ways this has been the longest month, but a lot of the time it seems that Emma has always been a part of our family. She really tries her hardest to mesh with whatever we might be doing, and apart from the sleeping, she is the easiest of all three of our children! Emma is such a loving child. She seeks out hugs and kisses, and we do feel that these are genuine and not like the transparent smiles she once gave us. Emma is such a sweetheart, and she is a beautiful little girl. We have been so blessed to have been chosen as her forever family!

In the first three weeks that Emma has been home, she was able to celebrate her first Halloween! As mentioned before, we were in Wilmington with friends. It was such a nice night there - temperatures in the 70s with no clouds in the skies...perfect for trick-or-treating. It was dark by the time we got everyone in costume and somewhat chaotic. I did not get one good photo of all three kids in costume. On top of that, my NEW camera stopped working Thursday night while taking the jack-o-lantern photos. Apparently it is part of a Nikon lot that needs to have a part replaced...that means I have to mail the camera in to have it fixed! At least it happened in time for JC to bring our old camera to the beach with him. The problem with that camera though is that the flash doesn't work half the time. It was VERY difficult to get good Halloween photos in the dark! Emma especially was hard because she would not keep her witch's hat on! But I did the best I could and just kept snapping photos.

Scary Skeleton Biker Boy, Witch and Cowboy

Fall Break

The boys' fall break started Thursday so I decided to load up all three minis and head to the beach for a long weekend. JC had to work Thursday and Friday since we had been in Russia for so long recently, but he'll be joining us tonight.

Yesterday afternoon the weather was perfect, sunny and about 75 degrees, so we decided to introduce Emma to the sand and the Atlantic Ocean. I did not plan very well because she has the exact same Halloween outfit on that she had in the pumpkin photos earlier.

Emma LOVES the sand. She just sat there for almost an hour playing. Not once did she try to eat it. The boys were busy playing with some huge rocks that they found on the beach, and I was just basking in the sunlight and enjoying hearing the waves crashing again! I have missed the beach and the ocean so much these past two months.

Last night I had promised Jackson that we would finally carve his pumpkin...yes, we brought it all the way to the beach, and he was very excited! I did not use any fancy tools or stencils...I just started cutting with a knife that I can assure you was not meant for carving pumpkins. Oh well...it is a beach pumpkin! :)

The boys favorite part:

And the final product:

Jackson really wanted the nose to be a "J"!!!

Tomorrow night we are driving up the coast to stay with some friends and letting the kids all trick-or-treat together. They cannot wait to dress up!

We hope you all have a very safe and fun Halloween!!!!