Smokey Daze er... Days

Yikes, it has been so smokey here in the Ellensburg valley that yesterday they actually deemed the air quality "hazardous"! So many forest fires were started from a lightening storm but they just haven't been able to contain them all. Luckily we are no where near danger from the fires, just the darn smoke. The elementary school has had indoor recess for about 8 days straight because of poor air quality but it is starting to get ridiculous! I've let the boys play out back a couple of days not really thinking of the consequences but slowly we Dylan complained of a sore throat a couple of times and Shane and I both kept getting head aches I realized how serious this could actually be. Luckily we have air conditioning so we don't have to open the windows (yes it is still getting in the upper 80+ this late into September which is unusual for us) but they boys are getting restless. So what's a mom to do when her boys are just dying of boredom? Why let them build an obstical course indoors! Several times Dylan asked for help because he thought he couldn't do it and several times I reminded him that this was his special project. Imagine his delight when he came up with the whole course himself and even let his brother run it too. Fortunately I did see some blue sky this morning before the smoke started to rise so hopefully we are out of this daze soon. I want to enjoy this warm weather before we are stuck inside again because of the cold temperatures.

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Belated Christmas Pics

Because I didn't download any pictures for a while, and then it was after Christmas and things got wild for a while I kind of skipped over the actual holiday so several weeks late, here is how we spent our Christmas. I didn't get any pictures when we were over at Shane's family's house but we spent lots of time over there too. All four kids in one picture together! Warner kind of blends into the tree skirt but his little baldish head stands out. Luckily the matching pajamas I bought for the boys last year still fit too. Head lamps for spying on Santa. Opening presents was a daunting task for Lincoln. I think this was when he realized asking only for a "princess and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich" wasn't the best of ideas. Don't worry he got plenty spoiled. The messy aftermath. Lincoln playing in his new tiny little kitchen. My brother and dad at our house. My mom and brother decorating a giant gingerbread...

Overnight Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

We love chicken in our house because it is yummy, very versatile and somewhat affordable. It is also Shane's meat of choice for his "tone and sculpt" plan. (ok so I just love how special he is and really I am not making fun of him) I generally try to find boneless, skinless chicken for less than $2 a pound. These days it is getting increasingly difficult, even looking into Zycon or Costco so when I found some for $2.30/lb I got all the had... two packages. I frozen one because Shane will BBQ that for lunches on the weekend. With the other package, which I think was about 3.5 pounds or 5/6 breasts, I was able to look on the monthly menu plan and figure out what chicken type dinners I had coming up and chop from there. Since the breasts are usually very thick I slice them in half, like a top and bottom part. Then I either chopped up into bite sized pieces or froze whole. For less than $9 in chicken I made four meals that will serve at least two adults and two children. ...

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