House on the Market

Our house is going on the market today. We've already received several phone calls about it without listing it so we're hopeful that it will sell quickly. Our next door neighbor's home sold in 3 days and the new homeowners moved in a week ago...three weeks after seeing it. Even with all the bad economic news of the housing market it seems that the Texas market is still thriving.

Click here to see our home on the market! Click on the photo in the corner to see more pictures. If you know of anyone looking for a nice home in a wonderful neighborhood with excellent schools feel free to give them my contact information.

In Red Chair 5 Months

Here's our Big Little Guy! Five months old and such a strong baby. He has started eating cereal and applesauce. He's tried apricots a few times and liked them. He rolls over and sometimes keeps rolling! Ben has started trying to push himself around with his toes and can move a few inches from where he was placed. I wouldn't really call this crawling yet so much as ooooching around. He likes to be coddled and played with and tickled. If you so much as look at him he melts into an ear to ear grin. He's becoming more intentional about what he does. He looks at an object, decides to go after it and gets it to go directly to his intended destination...his mouth. He likes to grab at noses and lips and eyes. He laughs out loud when Truffle licks his toes. He's such a bundle of joy and even though he was such a surprise we sure are glad for this little added blessing.

19 Months In Red Chair

Here's our Little Big Girl. She said a complete sentence yesterday. I am so proud. She pointed to a beetle in the backyard and very clearly said, "That is a bug." She even said each word individually instead of the usual 'thassa bug'. She knows most of her letters and numbers 1-10. She started giving us wet kisses and bear hugs with a growl.

She's too busy to sit down. I made the mistake of getting her farm animals out to play while taking pictures. I couldn't get a single one of her smiling because she was so interested in naming the animals and signing them. Below she is signing 'pig'.

Tickle Tickle

Ben loves to be tickled! Walker caught a video of me tickling him....this makes me smile!

Tandoori Turkey Kebabs

Another keeper recipe from Women's Health Magazine. This time with photos of the deliciousness.

Ingredients include:

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 Tablespoons curry seasoning
1 pound turkey tenderloin cut into 2" pieces
3/4 cup couscous, cooked
1/3 cup dried chopped fruit mix
2 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 tsp ground ginger (or fresh if you have it)

Soak 8 wooden skewers in water while you prep everything. Combine yogurt, curry powder, garlic and ginger with turkey pieces and let marinate for 10 minutes. Assemble turkey onto kebabs and place on grill.

Cook for 12-15 minutes until turkey is cooked through. I also added some veggies as a side dish.

Combine the dried fruit mix into the couscous and pile the goodness onto a plate.

Eat & enjoy.

Middle Eastern Stuffed Peppers

The following recipe is from Women's Health magazine. I made this a week or so ago and all three of us loved it.

4 red bell peppers
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/4 cup sliced green olives
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cumin
1 can chickpeas

The original recipe called for brown rice, but I had chickpeas on hand and thought it would blend nicely with the middle eastern flavors. Preheat oven to 4oo degrees. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Place in a baking dish. In a skillet cook beef, garlic, cinnamon and cumin until beef is almost finished. Add raisins and tomato sauce and cook until mixture is hot. Add in olives and chickpeas and remove from heat. Add to bell peppers and cover dish tightly with foil. Cook about 15 minutes until the peppers are tender.

Breckin's Salsa- modified

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before, but since I can't locate it I'm going to share it again.

1 large can tomatoes
2 serrano peppers seeded
2 jalapeno peppers seeded
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch of cilantro
salt to taste

Process all of the ingredients in a food processor. This is fresh, healthy and a great addition to any summertime spread. It takes less than five minutes to make. Sometimes I sprinkle in a little ground red pepper for added heat. This is also fantastic on breakfast tacos.

Infant Boy Gaining on Toddler Girl

We had checkups yesterday for Rémy's 18 month visit and Ben's 4 month visit. Ben is currently almost 16 pounds, Rémy weighs in at 20 lb 1 oz. And Ben just moved up to the same size diaper as Rémy. I'm thinking by the end of the year he'll weigh more than she does!! By the way, Ben is very average with his percentages right around 50-60th percentile. Rémy just made it back on the charts at the 2nd percentile (she had been off the chart completely for the last 9 months).

Answered Prayers

Not many of you know about the Plagge 10 year plan. That's because it's 10 years away. A couple of years ago we started saying we'd like to move out to the country, get some land, have some cows on it to mow the lawn, have a garden big enough to sustain us, etc. We talk about our ten year plan at least weekly and dream about the day we can actually move out to the country.

Fast forward to this week.

Walker had an interview on Monday in Wolfe City, TX. Yes, it's still TX. I know it sounds like Oklahoma or New Mexico or South America for that matter....but it's TX. He was hired on the spot. They were also interested in me even though they did not have an open position yet. I went in the very next day and interviewed and was hired on the spot.

The Principal asked if we felt comfortable working together.

Me thinking, um, hello, we're married.

After being introduced to the Superintendent and more formally being offered the job he informed me that I won't have to worry about Walker, he's putting him on the second floor! ;)

A whole lot has happened this week. We don't know what's going on or where we'll end up. We do know a few things:

1. God knows the plans He has for us and that gives us great comfort.
2. Our 10 year plan involved moving east, although now it's more like a 2 year plan.
3. We'll be working at the same school and teaching some of the same students, increasing our impact.
4. From our house it's an hour and a half drive one way.
5. We're planning to put the house on the market in the next month or so and see what happens.

We're very excited about these opportunities and can't wait to get started working with our students.