Creamy Pork Chops & Rice

I only made 3 pork chops for this recipe, but make more of the chops & sauce as needed:

*Season the pork chops how ever you like but I used; salt, pepper, garlic powder & season salt.
*Put about 2 tbsp. olive oil in skillet & cook pork chops until done (about 5 min per side for 1/2 inch chop)
*Remove chops from pan and set aside
*Add about 1/3 -1/2 cup of Chicken broth to pan and stir with whisk to get all of the gunk off the bottom of the pan. This gunk is delicious and DO NOT waste it.
*Add 2 oz. cream cheese and 2-3 tbsp. butter to broth in pan. Whisk until smooth.
*Splash a couple of splashes of Worcestershire Sauce in there for some yummy flavor.
*Add salt & pepper to taste. Add more broth until the consistency that you prefer.
*Finally, pour the juice off the setting chops into cream sauce, whisk & serve over the chops & rice.

**I made a quick brown rice to serve with this and it was great together.

Be Prepared...This will take some time!

So, it has been awhile since I last updated this. We have been super busy. Trying to keep up with our kids, the other kids coming and going on a daily basis and trying to be Santa to two of the cutest kids on earth.

So here is what has happened in the last couple of months:

 I made this cute bow holder for a friends little girl. It has 2 long ribbons coming down off the bottom.

(These pictures take too long to upload, but I made a super cute, Pinterest inspired, yard-stick Christmas card holder too)




We have also had B's 4th birthday, which turned out to be a real success. I can't believe it has already been 4 years. My baby is really growing up on me and is such a good big brother, most of the time.

All 4 of us were in our local Christmas parade and we rode on the Santa Claus float at the end. Best of both worlds: going to get candy and then actually getting to be IN the parade. The boys loved it, but it was very windy that day.

We put our tree up 2 weeks ago, sans the ornaments. Between my grubby handed children and the other 6 grubby handed children running around at any given time, we are lucky that the tree has only fallen over once so far. (That was tonight actually, by L)

We had a choir cantata at our church last Sunday and J & I both sang in it. We sounded really good, if I must say so myself, and I do. We are also having our Christmas Program next weekend. For the kids program; B is the wiseman that brings gold and L is a dog. As for the adult program, J is Joseph and I am the angel. My dad is going to come (from Tulsa) and watch us perform as well as J's whole family. It will be great.

Finally, I have worked some real magic and gotten Christmas gifts for the whole family on a very tight budget. While B asked for a DS for Christmas, I have talked him into wanting a new stuffed puppy to sleep with. That's because we got both of the boys new Build-A-Bear's and some gift cards to get their own clothes for them. I was able to get some really good deals on things for the boys and our nieces and nephews on Black Friday (which was insane) and then decided to go INTO Bath & Body Works. That is the single, most stupid thing I have ever done in my life. Me and 300 of my closest Ozarkians crammed into a 1000 sq. foot store. DUMB!!!!
Oh well, I got what I went after and even scored a VIP bag with some awesome stuff in it. 

So to wrap up, I want to leave you with this thought:
Do you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?
I say Merry Christmas and firmly believe that is the ONLY way to go. Explanation; aside from the fact that I am a Christian who serves Jesus Christ, I know that saying Happy Holidays is null & void without him.
Example: Jesus was born on Christmas. Without his birth, there would be no holiday to celebrate. with out Christmas as one of the holidays, then it would in fact, just be, Happy New Year!

Think about it & MERRY CHRISTMAS!
MommyShelle C

Catching Up

So, for the last couple of weeks, I have been going crazy trying to watch myself coming & going. We have been super busy and it is only going to get worse between now and January 1st.

I have a couple of new recipes I need to post on here, but they will have to wait a couple of days. I also have some new craft projects that I have recently completed to post. I am thinking of selling one of them, because they are so stinkin' cute. (Hint: I can't use one in my house full of all boys)

So until next time, when I have more time,
MommyShelle C

Book Review: Love You More

I just read “Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting my Daughter” by Jennifer Grant. This was an excellent book about the insides and outs of adopting and the struggle involved in such a process. 

Jennifer Grant has a quirky writing style that is difficult to get used to at first, but once you get into it, she does an exceptional job of relaying the message intended in a way that anyone can relate to. The author takes you on a journey through being a newlywed with the desire to have children to being a new mom that has it all under control. Three kids and a talk with God later, Jennifer & her husband find themselves on the long road to adoption.  

While the author gives an enlightening story of the ups and downs of the entire adoption process and the emotional turmoil that a family goes through along the way, she has a way of sugar coating the process without taking away from the pain involved. I have several close friends who have also just gone through the process of international adoption, so it was really a nice insight to compare and contrast what the author went through versus what my friends went through, all in the same general process. 

She finishes the book with a glimpse into what life was like the first day, week, month, year and birthday after they brought their daughter home. She relayed what the trauma was like on the kids they already had and what it entailed to bring a child of a different race into a family. She gives some great advice from the hindsight point of view as to what worked and what didn’t and what, if you too are considering adoption, can do to try to ease into the transition.  

I highly recommend reading this book if you are considering adoption, in the process of, or even just know someone who is going through it. It was very insightful & witty.

I received this book from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.

MommyShelle C

'Fall'ing Into The New routine

It has been a little over two months since I started being a SAHM.

It has been exciting and exhausting, energetic and hard. As well as having my own two kids at home with me everyday, I have also been watching other kids. I have a little boy two days a week and two sisters three days a week. It is hard enough keeping my own two kids in line and on task, adding 3 more kids to the mix makes it impossible most times. (It does help that I love kids and had wanted to be a teacher at one time.)

But by far, the hardest part, is keeping all of the schedules on schedule. I have 2 calendars hanging in the same spot. One is for the everyday stuff; like who I am keeping that day, Dr. Appointments, school stuff, trash pick ups, etc... The other calendar has birthdays & anniversaries on it. Then just to make it worse, B's ACTUAL preschool calendar hangs next to them.

I knew this was going to be the hardest thing I had ever done, but that was an understatement by far.

The next 10 days of life will include:
Grandparent pictures with Granny & Pa
Grandpa Ray's birthday party
B is helper of the day at preschool
Fall Party at preschool
B's 4th birthday party
Church Hayride
Halloween/ B's 4th birthday

OMG!!!!!!!

Oh well. If we weren't busy, we would be bored. If we were bored, we would complain. If we complain, then we get busy. thus the cycle of life...

What does your Fall schedule look like??
MommyShelle C