Sausage, Pepper, Pasta...........

This is one of my all time favorite recipes. The original recipe appeared in a William Sonoma Catalog in 2000. It is one of our family favorites, even more special today because I used peppers and tomatoes from our garden.

4 red bell peppers

olive oil as needed

2 red onions(I use 1) peeled and cut in eights

1&1/2 lb. Italian sausage (casing removed)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary

one 14oz can of diced tomatoes(I use 2)

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. rigatoni

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange peppers on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, roast until blackened and blistered (35-40 min).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and cool. Remove skins, core, and seeds, slice into 1/2 inch wide strips.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, warm 1 tbs of olive oil. Saute onions for 8-10 minutes until tender, transfer to a plate.

Saute sausage for 8-10 minutes until crumbled and browned. Add garlic and rosemary and saute 1-2 minutes more.

Add tomatoes, onions, peppers, and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking for 6-8 minutes and serve over cooked rigatoni, add Parm to taste!

I actually add double peppers and tomatoes because we like those the best. When we have company I actually make this in advance and reheat it to serve over the pasta and it still tastes delicious.

Enjoy!

Update on June

I received word today that the results from June's EEG were normal, no siezures. I am so thankful! Now we just need to make it through the breath holding until she out grows it. All the literature I have read says that by three most children have out grown it and even today when I was talking to the nurse she asked when June would be three. I am hopeful that one day I will realize it has been over a year since her last episode!

A week in review....

I just finished putting June to bed and I must say I am tired of reading "Oli*ia" books. Each week when we go to the library I check out a different one, however, all June wants to read is "Oli*ia". We have plenty of other books that I am willing to read, but this is her passion right now, a phase I am hoping ends soon:) June is keeping me on my toes with her spicy sense of humor and her sweet personality. TJ has been teaching her brotherly potty humor lately, something that must come to an end.

June: "Mom, guess what?"

Mom: "What Junie?"

June: pause "POOP!" laugh, laugh, giggle, laugh

TJ, I hope someone, someday, teaches your sweet little girl some good, naughty, potty talk!

Overall the week went by quickly, mostly because I felt like a chauffeur this week. We had lots of after school activities, Dr's appointments, and Russ was out of town (one less driver). I have decided to home school the little boys in religious education to keep our after school schedule a little more bearable. I have never done this before so wish me luck, I am hoping this will give us some good family time as well as help the kids learn more on a one on one basis. We were soccer free this weekend but filled our time with Birthday Parties, fall decorating, and the last of the vegetable harvest. Russ picked the remaining tomatoes, carrots, and red peppers....I have some work ahead of me this week to get all of the goodies in the freezer for winter.

Hope all of you have a good week and thank you for all the prayers for Junie, they are much appreciated!

Update...

Thank you for your prayers.....June woke up this morning at 2:00am and said, "I'm done". I was greatful she woke up easily. We played for about 7 hours until her test time, she did great! We will have results on Monday or Tuesday and are hopeful they are normal.....leaving her with only Breath Holding Spells that she will eventually grow out of.

Prayer request............

Please pray for June (and me) she has an EEG scheduled for tomorrow and she must be sleep deprived for the test.....Ouch! Please pray for normal results and smooth testing.

Completely Candid.....I Heart Faces

I was not going to participate this Monday....but I just can't stay away:) June enjoyed "Dunkin' Donuts" this past weekend, many would have run for the paper towel, I ran for my camera!




Check out all of the other Candid shots at..................

A week in review...............

So another week passes.....this was a big week for us. A week filled with many memories of our travels to China to bring home our daughter. What a journey it was, one we will be forever grateful for, every part of it. As I get older God's providence amazes me more and more; He continues to lead, comfort, surprise, and love me through situations I know I could not handle alone and I am thankful He continues to call me on His journey. Two years after our journey in China we have answered prayers(Gracie) and a baby on the way.....Amazing!

We had a typical week around here, busy with sports, guitar lessons, religious ed, homework, library time etc.

Jake ran Varsity for the first time and did a great job, we are so proud of him. I think he finally found a sport he enjoys.....and he's tried them all:) Max is taking guitar lessons and playing golf. He enjoys golfing, although, I think his favorite time is dinner in the club house. No matter how much money I give him, he never gives me any change:) TJ is playing soccer and had his second game today, the game ended in a tie.

If you scroll down to the next two posts you will see the highlight of our week Kiddieland! We spent Saturday at Kiddieland and then spent the evening at my parent's house. June had an absolute blast....it was worth braving the crowds to give her one chance to experience Kiddieland.

We went to church this morning where Russ and I were married. I love going there with the kids, thinking of the first day of our lives together and where we are now, how time flies! After church we stopped by "Dunkin' Donuts" for breakfast.....June enjoyed that too!

Have a great week!

Kiddieland................

Posted below is a slideshow of our trip to Kiddieland this past weeken. Kiddieland has been in operations for over 80 years. My grandparents took my mother and aunt to Kiddieland when they were kids. My parents then brought Jason and I. For the past 13 years Russ and I have been taking our kids. The story is the same for many families in the Chicago area. It will be a sad day next weekend when they close their gates when the final crowd says goodbye. I know I will miss it.....I am so glad June had at least one trip to Kiddieland and from the pictures you can tell she is glad too! Rebecca sent me a link with a little story about Kiddieland that appeared on the Today Show......Kiddieland.

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PS. Dont' forget to visit our slideshow below

Gotcha Day.............

Two years ago today the dream of adding a daughter and a sister to our family became a reality. June has brought a joy to our lives and a love to our hearts that we did not know existed. Thank you June.....we love you more than you will ever know!

June's referral photo

June, myself, and Veronica our guide

June moments after we saw her for the first time.

Russ and his baby girl.

Fall 2007...Guangzhou

Fall 2008.....the cabin

Fall 2009.....home

June is truly a special gift to our family.

Contemplative......I Heart Faces

I love this picture. I do not often capture pictures of the boys, usually they run in the opposite direction or they act "goofy". I captured this picture of TJ this summer at my Mom's house. I think it captures the Contemplative theme perfectly. Don't forget to stop by I Heart Faces to see all the other entries.

A week in review....

Two years ago today we were on our way to China....amazing how the time flies by. If you would have told me two years ago I would have two more children I might not have believed you, but here I am today waiting for number 5. Later this week I post about our China trip and June's Gotcha day.

Our week was good, our schedule in the middle of the week is a little tight but it will work out okay. I have made to apple cakes with all the apples we picked and I have more to use up. Russ worked the the carrots today and I have a large bowl of tomatoes to work on tomorrow. We are close to completing this years harvest, only one batch of peppers and one more row of carrots. I will be glad when we are done!

The big boys started their weekend with a dodge ball tournament after school on Friday. TJ's team was eliminated in the first round and Jake's team made it through a few. Overall a fun afternoon for everyone, especially since we are enjoying our first summer like weather all summer. TJ had a soccer game this weekend and it was a win...way to go!

We also had a big medical week, June saw the neurologist for her breath holding, we have an appointment for an EEG in a week to make sure she is not having seizures, please keep her in your prayers. Jake had a possible stress fracture, the dog a trip to the emergency vet clinic, and me an ultrasound....luckily all we have this week is a dentist appointment:)

Hope you have a great week!

Are you ready for a surprise?.............

Remember a few crazy weeks ago, hospital visits, 911 call, Russ out of town? Well, we also received a little news flash......

Apparently God felt our house was not full enough and decided to give us one more blessing. Yes, one, I had an ultrasound today and one it is. You can follow my pregnancy journal at "Baby Makes Seven".

Apple Orchard Fun..............

Warning.....this post is picture heavy!

Today we went on our annual apple picking extravaganza. With it being a holiday we started our day early to avoid all the "city folk" coming out to the country:) It was a good thing too, because when we left the orchard it was really starting to get crazy! We picked Jonmac, Spurmac, and Redfree apples today. The weather was perfect, summer like actually, which was a nice change from the cool rainy summer we have endured.

I love this one, TJ and June holding hands on the hayride.

"Which one should I eat first?"

"yum"

What we picked.

"Get the one on the very top Max!"

"I love you TJ."

just a cool picture

Jake on the playground, don't you love his haircut!

We ended the day with lunch on the lake, we had a table lakeside and a spectacular lunch!

A week in review......

We had a busy week, but a nice week! June and I had a lot of one on one time and that was nice. We spent time in the garden,went to the park, cleaned house, and of course ran errands. We also had a few photo shoots:) The one below is of June in her new hat, much better than the baseball cap, don't you think?

When I said "we" cleaned, I meant that June slept and I cleaned. After her favorite chore of spraying the freshly cleaned windows and redoing them all by herself (now smudged and fingerprinted) she fell asleep in the chair while I finished up. What is sweeter than a sleeping baby, I just love her to pieces!

Jake had his first cross country meet this week and came in 5th in his group, he did a great job! We were all there, Russ was able to leave work a little early to see Jake run. The venue of this meet brought back a lot of memories for me. TJ ran cross country also, this meet for TJ occurred right before we left for China two years ago.....it is so amazing to me that we have been home for almost 2 years.

We have had a nice weekend so far. Yesterday we did a lot of work around the house and started to get caught up. We harvested some of the carrots in the garden and blanched and froze some tomatoes, and we have plenty of gardening left:) Today we went to church, out to breakfast, and shared the afternoon with family friends. Tomorrow, our annual trip to the apple orchard, stay tuned for pics.

I hope you all have a great week......check back often, because there will be some big changes coming our way in the next week!