kids update

i am always amazed at how brilliant my son is, its almost scary. he just gets stuff. i was complaining about what blake was watching on television the other day i.e. mma for a week in a row and he didn't want to watch "bones" (can you believe that?), so avery said that we could just both watch his show and that would be fair i.e. back at the barnyard. he was particular about which one he wanted to watch and there were 10 recorded. he was explaining to his dad how to get to the 8th one so he says, "go to the last one and then go back 3." what 6-year-old explains how to get to 8 in a sequence of 10 like that? it always makes us laugh too when we hear anna from the other room say, "avery we've watched this show 100 times." i don't think she's figured out that she's the oldest yet and that she should essentially have the remote and not him. avery's been reading "the magic tree house" books. we started in order and he is on the 9th one. after the first 2 he asked, "are they all about the magic tree house?" i explained that they were and he has been so excited about each new story that he wants to read a whole one every night, this takes at least an hour, and sometimes i try to talk him into cutting it short (what mother does that?). i was talking to megan on the phone the other day when he came in and wanted to read, i told him that he had read an hour the night before, so he was good. he then continued to whine that he wanted to read. i didn't think much about it until megan said, "your kids are so weird." i of course got defensive immediately until i realized that she meant most kids are whining because they don't want to read and avery was whining because he wanted to. they are a little weird i guess, but i wouldn't change them for the world.

anna has been obsessed with the baby, asking constantly if she's moving. i don't know why but i have a hard time sharing those little moments with anyone. its something i really have to work at. it has gotten a little easier with each pregnancy to share little things with blake that i am thinking or feeling and the changes happening to my body. it has been kind of weird to me to have a 10-year-old that wants in on the intimacy of it all. i think it has brought us closer together because i am not always able to connect with her. she is so different than me and has always been comfortable in her own skin that it is almost feels like she doesn't need me most of the time and i have to take a step back and realize that she does and its my responsibility to be there when i'm needed.

pomegranate salad

i have been a little worried about thanksgiving this year because since being pregnant i have had to avoid any sort of high fat dairy products and most other dairy products too (thank goodness i can still eat frozen yogurt). i really won't miss the pies too much, but the pomegranate salad is one of my favorites. we don't make it in our family with raisins and nuts, its just fruit, pomegranates, and heavy whipping cream with sugar. anyway, i found on the simply, healthy, tasty blog a recipe for whipping cream made out of coconut milk. i know i have seen this before but was a little leary because i can be a little picky when it comes to alternatives to what i'm used to, but after trying this whipping cream today on my peeled pomegranates, bananas, and apples, i'm sold. thanksgiving will not be ruined!!

on a lighter note....two new additions

we finally got something to put our tv in. i hate shopping for furniture and worst yet is actually having to spend money on it. our tv has been sitting on our coffee table for over ayear now and i decided that i wanted to get something up a little higher so i started shopping craigslist (because i can do this at home and find great deals). i finally found something that i liked that wasn't too big for the spot i had. anna had the best time organizing all the movies alphabetically into the dvd holders (she has a little ocd). it has been nice to have the tv up out of the reach of all the toddlers that toddle through our living room and the kids have to sit back a little farther from it because if they lay down too close they can't see it. hopefully, this will save their eyes. you would think with a 52" tv that they would be able to sit back a little bit, nope!!

blake got sick of having our shoes strung all over by the back door and so he had ben learned build us this handy dandy shoe rack. the kids made a quick habit of putting their shoes in it while their mother's were still thrown in the laundry room. just a funny little story: the other day i looked high and low for my shoes in the usual places first i.e. the bathroom, on the treadmill, in the laundry room, by my side of the bed, wherever is the most convenient. determining that they were lost for good and that the dogs must have taken off with them, i walked by this handy dandy little shoe rack on my way to look outside and guess what was in it, my shoes. someone had put them away for me in the most inconvenient of places.

our dogs maliciously killed

on saturday, October 3rd 2009 right after our soccer games, my dad was out front working on the tractor tires when he came in and said the neighbor came by and said that he saw 2 dead dogs that looked like ours down by the road (1 was his, 1 was mine). i jumped in the truck with him and sure enough cam and sissy were lying dead on the side of the road 20 feet off of henrie road. he was airing up the tire on his tractor so he missed the whole thing. an emu was running around the neighborhood and they had chased it off, being herding dogs, they were just herding it. they were not in the road mind you, they were in the dirt and you you could see the tire tracks of someone that intentionally drove off of henrie road 100 feet from where they lie to hit them and then drove back onto it. they were killed immediately, you could even see where they rolled for a second when hit. this was all within a 5 minute window from the time my dad said they chased the emu off until the time that the neighbor came over to tell us that they were dead. we were all so upset, we raised cam from a puppy and have had sissy since before avery was born. you have never seen anything so sad as your little 6-year-old boy digging a hole with the backhoe, helping his grandpa put the dogs in it, and with tears streaming down his eyes in the wind, sit on the tractor and fill the hole back in. the kids cried, i cried, and my dad cried for these animals that we had grown attached to. i wanted to find the person who did this and show them what they had done. i can't believe how malicious some people can be. avery wanted them thrown in jail and it is hard to explain to a 6-year-old that in the eyes of the law the value of an animals life is not held as high as that of a humans, but to my little boy, there is no difference. he says that he saw a black van hit them, but it could have been a blazer or a tahoe or something too. he is quite sure that it had some sort of lights on the top of it. i just want somebody to take responsibility for this and to apologize to my kids. for the life of me, i can't think of one person that i know that would kill a dog so maliciously without a second thought to the consequences. any ideas?

school and life update

well, life has been pretty crazy lately with school, soccer, music lessons, and just the everyday chores that never seem to end. avery has had 2 soccer games and made 2 goals the first one and 3 the second game with the score being only 3 to 1. he has turned into quite the little hustler which has been kind of expensive because last year we told him if he made a goal we would pay him $20 and our money was as safe as in the bank, but this year, before the first game thank goodness, i could tell that he had really improved and revised that to $20 for the first goal and only $5 for all subsequent goals. it still has cost me $40 so far and the season has just started for him. they made all girls and all boys teams this year and it has really stepped up anna's playing. i am her coach again and have always been since kindergarten so i guess i really notice what a difference it has made for all the girls not to be competing with the boys for the ball. it has been hot during their 11 o'clock and 12 o'clock games and i just keep pouring water over their heads and sending them back out to run. blake says that it is my job to get them in shape, but its kind of impossible with once a week practices, but i did check out some books and dvds from the library to improve my coaching skills. i absolutely enjoy the kids and my only complaint ever with coaching is the parents and their typical complaints of "she never takes her kid out" and "why isn't she doing this." my answer to them always is "here's the whistle." no one wants to do it, but they always will critique what you are doing.

blake is putting in another 18 acres and has spent every spare minute out in the dirt, this is bad first: because he isn't babying me and second: because it also means a lot more laundry; he doesn't get this dirty at work, what is up with that?

the kids are doing great in school and the very first week avery got the student of the week award and by the third week of school anna had already reached her 100 point reading goal. she is amazing!

i am getting huge, but my midwife says that i measure right where i am supposed to (not in my butt, but in my stomach). we are still trying to decide on a name, this is difficut for me and blake because we like such different names. she is starting to be a lot more active which puts my mind at ease, that and reading "childbirth without fear" has helped too. i can't seem to read enough lately, you name it, i've read it, the good with the bad. i have been sick twice now this pregnancy where i thought i was going to die, which is really rare for me. in fact, i have never had the flu until this week when i got every symptom. i need more sun i guess and blake says "water" because i always tell him that water cures everything, i might be wrong.

first grade friends

i was picking up the kids the other day from school when i ran into lily medina who i went to school with picking up her kids. i had forgotten that she moved back here and she said that her little boy was in the first grade also, same as avery, but in the other class (there are 2 first grade classes). she said to tell avery to play with him because he has no friends and is really shy. so when we came home i asked avery if he knew a new boy named tyler and he said that he had seen him on the playground and such. i told him to play with him because he doesn't have any friends here because he is new. avery must have really been thinking about this because an hour or so later he said, "i'm going to make kolby and fox play with him too and then he'll have 3 friends." that is just how my boy is, he is always thinking of everyone else around him. in relating this story to blake, he told me that when he was in the first grade he remembers telling his mom to make sure that she cut his sandwich in half because he would give the other half away to kids who forgot their lunch or whatnot. i thought this was really sweet and am proud of my 2 first graders.

update: he came home and reported that they all played with tyler at lunch. it makes me smile thinking that he has probably made a friend for life all because he isn't afraid to step out of his comfort zone and embrace others that he thinks might be struggling. he is my little leader and i just hope that he leads his friends in the right places.

first week of school 2009

everything went off this week without a hitch. i have to say i love to see the progression of my kids year after year and am so proud of them. it doesn't make me sad to watch them grow up and become more responsible, it makes me very happy. i am enjoying every stage of their childhood. as avery was getting on the bus the first day of school, i noticed that he was wearing his old shoes from last year (they are in pretty poor shape), i said avery where are your new shoes and he just looked at me and smiled and said, "sorry." he likes to put the old ones on better because they are "broke" in and easier to get on. my dad was hopeful that he might receive free lunch that day and we had a good laugh about that even though i had packed their home lunches that morning because my kids refuse to eat school lunch. when i got home from my bike ride the first day of school around 7:30, anna had done the dishes, made avery scrambled eggs and toast, got him up and made sure he practiced his violin, and practiced all of her own instruments (3 in all). lets just say she was up before the rooster because she was so excited about school. i have to tell her sometimes that i'm the mom and she does not want to be in charge of avery, it is a lot of work. cassey says that i am spoiled and hopes the next one is rotten. i explained to her that that wouldn't be fair because now that i am spoiled it would be even worse, plus who cares "i have anna." she is such a delight. avery is embracing his life as a 1st grader. the whole concept of homework has not sunk in yet and its usually time for bed when i ask to see his folder and he says, "oh, i fogot." i am going to put stop to that really fast because i am a firm believer that it is not the parent's responsibility to make sure that he does his homework everynight. i think it needs to be the first thing done as soon as he walks in the door and then he has the rest of the evening to do whatever he wants. i have already explained to him that i don't get bad grades when he doesn't turn in his homework, that he does. i have no problem helping him with it or listening to him read for 15 minutes, but he needs to take the initiative to bring it to me. okay, enough with my ranting. i hope everyone else's first week of school went well. have a great weekend.

2009-10 school year and homeschool

i always give my kids the option of homeschool. ever since the 1st grade i haven't been able to talk anna into it again. so this year avery says to me, "i haven't made up my mind whether or not to go to school or do homeschool." i was a little taken aback because he is my social child and loves friends and people. i always inform them that they need to make a decision and stick with it, there won't be any bouncing back and forth between home and school but avery being the kid who always comes up with the 3rd choice then asks me, "mom, is it really against the law not to do any school?" i just had to laugh because he is a thinker and he is thinking that staying home and having summer year-round sounds like a good idea to him.

what if?

avery is my what if? boy. he is always asking what if? i find it very amusing because it is always the most off-the-wall ideas. i'll have to start posting some of his what ifs? today he asked me what if someone tripped over that tire and did flips all the way to the next tire and then tripped over that one and did front flips all the way to the next one (the tires are in the road because blake cut around the valves and they were around the valves). i just have to tell him, "that would be crazy," a hundred times a day.

hauling hay and gathering eggs

this summer has been filled with many hot days hauling hay (by hand). blake usually hires a couple local boys and they bring friends and we spend 3 hours babysitting more or less. avery loves to get right in the middle of "the boys" and feels like he is 14 already. i have been explaining to him when he tells me that he isn't strong enough to lift a bale yet that unless he continues to try he will never get any stronger. this has made him totally obsessed with muscles. i told him that you have to work your muscles for them to grow. this has motivated him and it is the cutest thing in the world watching my boy struggle to push the bale over to his dad so that blake can throw it on the trailer. he is always saying that his muscles are "teeny" and that his dad has mountains for muscles (again, he is blake's biggest fan). we had a couple of people come out from vegas this week to load hay and avery watched as they counted out $500 to pay for their truckload. he was determined to get his hands on a little big of that money explaining to his dad that he deserved at least $100 for moving each bale out from the one beside it because his hands were little enough to fit in the crack and grandpa pulsipher's and dad's hands were too big. i was convinced, his dad not so much, but he did end up talking him out of $8 which he took and added to his jar of money which was a pint jar, but after adding the $8 bucks he now needed a quart jar to fit all of his money. i tried to show him how you could roll all the dollar bills together but anybody who knows him knows that he is a negotiator and ended up with the quart jar filled with almost $52 (he made me count it). this is all he made this summer gathering eggs and hauling hay, but his interest has been piqued and his dad has already explained to him that if he keeps up the hard work he will continue to become more valuable and his hourly rate will go up.

anna is a saver and hoards everything so we won't have to worry about her blowing all of her money at the book fair like avery did last year. she is pretty smart and has figured out that if it isn't worth my money, it usually isn't worth her money either. i am proud of her frugality and her realization that material things have no real value. she will complain about gathering the eggs that blake then takes to work and sells, but she loves to deposit the money into her bank account. avery has decided that he is never putting any money into the bank again because you can't withdrawal it whenever you want. last time we were at the credit union i let him withdrawal $5 and he wanted to empty it, i am going to have to watch that one.

losing teeth

anna just lost her last 2 baby teeth. it is kind of sad to think that the tooth fairy rain on anna is over. she always lost them in pairs. the girl is so tough that after pulling out one on one side, the other side would usually be loose too, and she would just yank it out also. she told me that all it takes is a couple of rips and i remember those "rips" from when i was a kid.

avery on the other hand is a little bit different (a little more wimpy). he had his front tooth so loose that while he was sitting and watching tv with a piece of floss tied to it, blake walked by and pulled down and it came out. avery said ow, but then after looking down and realizing that his tooth was out, he was ok with it.

he is quite the character, he doesn't like giving his teeth to the tooth fairy, his primary motivation of getting his teeth out is not money. he came in and asked me after he lost his first tooth this year (he's lost 4 total, but if you ask him, he's lost 5, story to come later) "what if i don't want to give my tooth to the tooth fairy?" i just told him not to put it under his pillow and that he probably wouldn't get any money, but that he would be able to keep his tooth and seemed okay with that idea. i forgot to inform blake about the arrangement and so he got to keep his tooth and received a couple of dollars from the tooth fairy. a couple of days later when anna lost a tooth blake said, "what is up with not being able to find our kids teeth under their pillows?" i guess she also decided to hold onto her teeth long-term also, who in the heck knows why they want to keep them.

one last story: when anna lost her first 2 teeth avery was maybe 3 or so and again she lost both of them together and he wanted to lose one too. he brought me the scissors and wanted me to cut one out so that the tooth fairy would come to him too (he is totally over this part) so i asked anna if avery could have one of her teeth to put under his pillow but he was determined to lose one of his own teeth. sooo, i yanked hard on his front tooth and produced a tooth (pretty tricky, i thought so anyway) but immediately he wanted to see where he lost his tooth (anna had been examining her space for the last hour or so). while looking in the mirror, he determined that he had lost it in the middle and we never corrected him (he is still wondering why it hasn't grown back) so when you ask him how many teeth he has lost, he says 5, even though he really has only lost 4.

space

the big question is do we fix this beautiful space now while he is little? i personally think it gives him character, but i have never had one so i don't know if eventually one day he might hate me for not fixing it when he was young and i had the chance. let me know.

first official day of summer 2009

summer has officially arrived. i didn't count friday because it was way too cool. i lay in bed this morning until 8, just because i can and even though i can't sleep past 6 i just read my book, but i really have no impending reason to get out of bed before the sun comes up unless its to ride my bike or something. avery is sitting on the couch playing his gameboy (pokemon seems to be the flavor of the day for the past week) and i immediately have to rain on his parade because thats what parents do right? i inform him that he will not be spending the entire summer playing gameboy or watching tv constantly and usher him in to practice his violin. he has a little meltdown and decides that he wants to quit the violin but recovers quickly when i tell him that if he quits violin, i get his gameboy. i know, i know cruel huh? i toast some leftover waffles from a week ago and put strawberries on them and have to drag anna away from reading her book in her bed. if you ask her what she is going to do this summer, she'll say "read" very matter of fact. so, i am not real worried about her losing anything over the summer, but avery on the other hand can waste a whole day doing nothing productive (he gets that from his mother). so, i have decided we are doing homeschool everyday (just an hour or so, i'm not that mean). i just want to improve his math and reading skills this summer.

i heard the baler going this morning at 5 a.m. (maybe that's why i couldn't sleep) and it brought back many summer mornings when we sat on the tractor with my dad while he baled hay early in the morning (it was him baling this morning too, but i didn't get up to sit on the tractor, i know i've grown up). blake had to work last night and didn't get home until 6:30 this morning and my dad had already baled half the field, it is kind of nice having him retired, he is a pretty good hand. my brothers have resorted to calling him "blake's boy." i told blake its just because they are jealous.

i write this to the sound of "perpetual motion" on the violin and the muffled sounds of anna's guitar coming from the other room. blake made a deal with them this summer that every morning that they get up and don't make their beds, they have to pay him a quarter and at the end of the summer if they never missed a day he'll give them 5 quarters (i didn't say anything as to the unfairness of the deal). so first thing this morning before blake has even graced us with his presence inside (he's too busy counting bales outside with my dad) i notice avery's bed isn't made and point it out to him, he returns with a quarter for the jar, i secretly tell him to just go make it and i won't tell dad this time because it is the first day of the deal. so when anna gets up to eat and runs to her room halfway through breakfast to make her bed, avery smiles covertly at his mom because we share a little secret. he dodged a bullet today.

coupons

ok, i will put a little bit about couponing here, but not much, because that would take way too much time. here are some of the useful websites that pretty much walk you through the process so that even people like me who are totally impatient can use coupons.

hip2save.com
moneysavingmom.com

printable coupon websites

smartsource.com
giantpa.com
coupons.com

i will try to update and let you know when things go on really good sales.

more of anna with her lambs

this was anna every afternoon working them on the lamb stand. she got sick of feeding and working them everyday and really talked tough about being glad when they were finally gone, but in all reality when we dropped stella off at lyn wren's house (she bought her alternate as a pet), anna cried all the way down to the fair grounds. it was pretty sad because i knew how it was kind of bittersweet for her because on one hand she was sick of feeding them and taking care of them, but on the other she had bonded with them because of all the work that they were. needless to say, she cried again on sunday when they put shep in the trailer headed to the butcher. the cutest thing ever was when they marked him with the pink stripe to indicate which trailer shep went in and she was extremely worried whether or not that spray paint would come off. i didn't have the heart to tell her that it really didn't matter, i just told her that it would.

easter 2009

easter morning was kind of rushed because we had to get down by 8 a.m. to the sheep shearing contest. anna did really well in it, but it was her first year, so we didn't expect huge things. maybe her mom should have let her hold the clippers a little while doing her own lambs. it was a learning experience if nothing else. the easter bunny hid the kids baskets, avery's was in the oven and anna's was in the garage by her baby chicks. i finally had to tell avery that it was in the kitchen and it still took him 10 minutes to find it because he was looking in the cupboards, even the top ones, but didn't even think about looking in the oven. it was pretty cute. overall, i think we had a pretty good fair experience, we were all exhausted by sunday night, but we all had fun.

more clark county fair 2009

i had to add some more just because she did so good and is so cute. no, i am not prejudice at all.

clark county fair 2009

i know, she is way too little to be showing in the fair already. my siblings were all teasing me that i might as well be showing because of how excited i got. i know that i was more nervous than her when she walked into the ring, i might as well have been walking in there. she handled it very "cool." she ended up getting 3rd overall in her market class and 3rd overall in her showmanship class. we were quite shocked, it just goes to show how much her mother doesn't know, she did well in spite of me. thanks to kristen (her club leader) for telling her to stare the judge down and intimidate him. it was funny because blake's mom said, "aren't you supposed to smile at the judge?" i told her that is what i always did and i never won and so i told her to listen to kristen.

avery's debut in the moapa valley progress

avery was pictured in the moapa valley progress this week playing a violin solo at the OLSHACS openhouse. when i told him that he was in the paper, he said, "well i guess i'm famous." and then after a minute of thought, he said, "they should pay me." he is such an entrepreneur. he takes his violin very serious and has improved a lot since my last video of him, i need to post another one. if you get the moapa progress he is on page 4 or you can go to their website at http://www.mvprogress.com/2009/08/olshacs and take a look for yourself.

christmas picture

this is the latest picture i have of my family. everybody is doing great. i took the camera down to lamb practice the other day, but forgot to get it out of the truck. hopefully, i will get some pictures of the kids at their basketball games and anna at lamb practice before they both end.

nutrition books that have changed my whole life

if you haven't already read these books, i recommend them. the approach is a little radical, but is cracking your sternum to do a quadruple bypass surgery any less radical (a quote taken from one of them, but they have all kind of run together in my mind).

my beautiful sister-in-law

ok, i have always thought emily was just beautiful and now expecting her 3rd baby in just a few short weeks, she glows. i am excited for her. she is such a great mom and devoted wife. i found these pictures amongst some of my own and had to post them. anna took them and although blake was mad when i told him i let her be the photographer (she was 7 at the time), i explained to him that when a child takes the pictures, you get a totally new perspective. i think they are great.

fat pictures

these were taken 2 years ago at the fair and it wasn't too long after that, that i started exercising again. i have to say though, that this was kind of a stressful time in my life and i dealt with it the only way i knew how at the time, with food. ignorance is bliss, sometimes.



isn't kylie adorable. and yes, those are 2 chins.



seriously blake, could you have taken a worse picture? he thinks he's a photographer.




don't even tell me that there isn't some resemblance to my dad's little sister in this one. i definitely am pulsipher.

ok, i have been meaning to do this for a while, but have been extremely embarrased. but....after much deliberation (and 100 straight days of not missing a day of exercise), tada. now i need to take some afters.

"almost" tractor accident

i don't have a picture, but i actually have something exciting to write about. i was fertilizing the field today with the tractor and then i had to drive it over to my dads to do his fields. you would have had to see it to imagine the tractor being followed by this huge fertilizer spreader which had approximately 3500 pounds of fertilizer in it. on the way over to my dads, i took a short-cut which includes kind of large, downhill, rough slope. i didn't realize that i needed to go down it in first gear (i was in the highest gear that the tractor has) and i had the idea that i could just coast down it fairly easily. anyway, i totally lost control of the tractor and it was sliding uncontrollably toward the side of the mountain. the brakes weren't working because i had too heavy of a load on back and i just kept thinking that i would crash into the side of the hill and at least it would come to a stop. the wheels kind of got stuck sideways because the load was pushing it and the steering wheel wouldn't turn the opposite way. my life flashed before my eyes just before i plowed into the side of the hill and at the last minute i was able to correct the deathly slide. at the bottom of the hill, i had to stop and take a minute and breathe. i drove on to bonnie's house to calm down for a minute. the worst part about it (or the best) is that when i told blake about it, he put me on farm restriction and then he said, "and of course you weren't wearing you seatbelt (i had to explain to him that i wasn't aware that there even was a seatbelt, i later found it and strapped it down tight)." i then had to call my dad and explain to him that he slacked off in teaching me proper tractor handling and when the skills were needed, i absolutely did not possess them. i could tell from both his and blake's reaction that it was a really close call and that there was a very good possibility of rolling the tractor. blake said that he had to take a minute at work after i called him and think about the "could have beens." don't worry, he then went around work relating the story. i have to thank my many blessings that everything worked out in the end and my "almost" tractor accident didn't end poorly.

oatmeal bean cake

ok, i always make this cake and end up eating all the leftovers by myself so i decided to try a healthier version. caution: diabetics beware because it is not low in sugar.

1 cup steel cut oats

1 1/2 cup water

i just put these in the microwave for 2 minutes

1 1/2 cups cooked white beans blended in the vitamix until smooth

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 t baking soda

1 t salt

mix it all together with the oat mixture and cook for 30 minutes at 350

frosting

1 cup cooked white beans blended in the vitamix until smooth

1 pound of powdered sugar

1 T burnt butter (put it in the pan and boil until it turns golden brown)

1 t vanilla

i think it turned out better than the regular recipe, mostly because it is now virtually fat free and i can eat it without feeling guilty.

spraying the field for weeds

here is blake in his tyvek suit because my dad's old tractor doesn't have a cab and i told him that he shouldn't take the risk of damaging his dna if we are going to have more kids. stan hardy told him that he has sprayed a million times without a cab and nothing has ever happened to him.

chicken feeder

i had to post this picture because this is totally something my dad has thought of.

black bean enchilada recipe

ok sandra gave me this recipe and i have to admit i was a little apprehensive because my family are all meat eaters, but even avery ate it and didn't complain, so that is a good sign.

bag of black beans (just put them in the crockpot and keep them covered with water until they are cooked)
sautee an onion with green peppers and if you want it hot you could add jalapenos. i added a red pepper too because i had it and some cauliflower. i am going to make them again tonight with broccoli too and see how that goes.
i just put a few black beans in each tortilla with the sauteed vegetables and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and filled the pan up. then i poured rosaritas enchilada sauce over the top (you can use whatever enchilada sauce that you like. i also sprinkled the rest of the beans over the top which wasn't that many and put a little more cheese on top (i have been trying to use cheese sparingly because of its fat and calorie content and i find that my family doesn't complain as long as there is a little bit of cheese and they are getting about half the calories). bake in the oven on 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and then serve. it was a hit at our house. thanks sandra. enjoy.

update

ok, i guess i need to give everybody an update on what is going on in our lives. blake was off from thanksgiving to right after christmas. this was kind of hard for me because as you all know he works a weird schedule where he is gone a lot so for him to save all his time off for the end of the year and take it all at one time was pretty hard on my routine. i know your thinking, what did he interrupt, biking or running, but really just the everyday chores turn into work when you are having to report. he actually wasn't that bad. he roped a lot and spent a lot of time at cowboy christmas with my dad. brady and him took a trip to somewhere in utah to buy a sprayer for the field. we looked at a lot of old junky farm equipment (i'll come back to this). we played in the snow. we argued. we christmas shopped. anyway, for the most part, it was an eventful month and the kids enjoyed having their dad around more. he is constantly telling me that he has to retrain them every time he has some days off because i let them get away with too much stuff, but anyone who knows me knows that this is not the case, i just pick my battles. anna and avery got nintendo ds's for christmas and avery and blake just a few days ago stormed the castle in mario brothers. i don't know what their going to do at night now. anna hasn't really played hers that much, she would rather be absorbed in a book (she stayed home sick today and in fact right now is absorbed in "where the red fern grows"). she informed me that if i didn't cry when i read it, i think i was in the 6th grade, that my heart was made of stone. she is fun. i haven't been up to much besides the routine stuff. kolby said that i am going to be the aunt that everybody remembers as always being on a diet and into the newest exercise craze and as a whole i am ok with this. i don't know why i am constantly, "battling the bulge," but it seems to be one of my trials in this life. i will have to keep you informed as to how this is going. right now, i am on a healthy binge, but i am always waiting for the inevitable to creep back into my life and challenge my good options with the bad ones a.k.a. pepsi. this really isn't a healthy perspective, but thats another trial and another discussion. back to the junky farm equipment: we were looking at this old 1970s bailer with my dad when blake exclaims very excitedly, "clean 1-owner." i couldn't help but giggle even though i was trying my best to not enjoy myself. but that clean 1-owner bailer now sits in our back yard and you have never seen somebody so proud as blake when he brought it home. he actually pulled it right up to the back porch so that anybody who wanted to come take a peak wouldn't need a flashlight. his birthday was just a few days later and one by one the group of party-goers got paraded out to the backyard to ooh and aah over the new piece of john deere equipment. he says he is going to have it painted and detailed, i laughed at that too. anyway, things are going good and i will try to be better about updating this blog and posting some good recipes that i have tried and tested.