The Chou Life

It’s a snow day in Woodland Park!  I don’t know if we ever saw this much snow at one time last winter.  And it’s still coming down.

Anyway, enough about the white stuff.  This little boy went to bed last night with wet hair, and he was sporting some serious bedhead this morning…

I needed to see my babies’ sweet smiles today.  Yesterday, the engine in our (one and only) vehicle died.  So now instead of owning a nice 4×4 to get us through these crazy snow days, we own a huge pile of junk.  Yesterday was not a good day.

We know God has a plan in all of this, and we’re praying for the faith to truly trust Him.  Difficult situations like this make us even more thankful for what we do have…work, our health, our wonderful family–immediate and extended, our friends, a roof over our heads, and most of all, the hope of eternal life with our Savior.  We have absolutely no reason for grumbling and complaining.  Praise God!

-Abby

I procrastinated.  What else is new?

Last Thursday, October 22, was the last day for entries in the Gap Casting Call, and that was the day I entered both kiddos.  You can visit the website to see Hudson’s entry…

…and Calla’s entry…

…and vote if you’d like!

I’m a little biased, of course, but those are some cute kids.

-Abby

Winter seems to be here to stay!  We had several inches last week and more is expected in the next few days.

Calla had her first real snowball fight over the weekend.  I think there were more smiles than tears.  It ended happily anyway…all’s well that ends well, right?

Snow isn’t so bad.  As long as I’m watching it from the indoors with a hot beverage in my hand.

-Abby

We celebrated Mr. Tim’s birthday over the weekend with lots of friends and lots of food.  Cheesecake, particularly the strawberry variety, is a favorite of Tim’s…so that’s what I made!

I found a 5-star recipe on allrecipes.com and adapted it (I have problems following recipes exactly–maybe it’s my hidden creative side that’s never really found its way out)…

Strawberry Cheesecake (yields 9-inch cheesecake)

• 1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 c. butter, melted
  
• 2 T. sugar
• 16 oz. frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed
• 1 T. cornstarch
  
• 3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 eggs
• 3 T. lemon juice

Combine cracker crumbs, butter and sugar.  Press into an ungreased springform pan; refrigerate.  In blender or food processor, combine strawberries and cornstarch until smooth.  Pour into saucepan; bring to boil.  Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Set aside 1/2 cup of the strawberry sauce.  Refrigerate the remaining sauce (approximately 1 cup) for serving.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Add sweetened condensed milk, eggs and lemon juice; beat on low until combined.  Pour half the cream cheese mixture onto crust.  Drop 1/4 cup of the strawberry sauce by teaspoonfuls onto cream cheese mixture.  Spoon remaining cream cheese mixture over sauce.  Drop remaining sauce by teaspoonfuls on top.  With a knife, cut through top layer to swirl sauce.  Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until center is almost set.  Cool on wire rack 15 minutes; run knife around edge to loosen; cool an hour longer.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Remove sides of pan; serve with reserved strawberry sauce over individual pieces.

(He didn’t really turn 84, but it was a pretty fun joke)

Calla LOVES birthdays and nearly burst with excitement over the cakes and ice cream.

Happy birthday Mr. Tim!  You deserve it!

-Abby

Poor baby boy has a fever today {I’m thinking it’s a teething thing}.  He’s all about the cuddling–which I love!–and doesn’t feel much like eating.

But this was my green-eating machine a few days ago…

That’s asparagus he’s gnawing on…

He managed to put away four whole stalks of asparagus!

The nutritionist in me gets super excited when my kiddos eat green vegetables. 

-Abby

I spent some time this afternoon looking through photos of my kiddos.  These were from 10 months ago–Calla was 2 1/2 and Hud was 1 month old…

They have both changed SO MUCH in less than a year’s time.

I’ll never get those 10 months back.  Lord, help me to make the most of every day and set my priorities in the order that pleases You.  Thank You for these two precious gifts.

-Abby

When a house of eleven begins to show signs of sickness, some preventative and defensive measures are in order.  In addition to lots of liquids, oil of oregano, vitamin C and some herbal tinctures, we’ve been sipping on ginger-lemon tea for an extra immune system boost.

I grate a 2-inch piece of fresh ginger into a cup, add the juice of one small lemon, then pour in boiling water.  Just a tablespoon or two of honey makes the tea palatable and soothes the throat as well.

The warming effect of ginger combined with vitamin C-loaded lemon produces a powerful beverage for cold and flu season.  Honey has also been shown to have some anti-bacterial properties, so sweetening is a good thing in this case.

What do you do to boost your immune system during cold and flu seasons?

-Abby

Earl has a new friend.  They’re about the same size.  Friend purrs, hisses and meows, just like Earl.

They do everything together.

Earl doesn’t realize that Friend is a pretend kitty.  Or maybe he just doesn’t care.

-Abby