easy crockpot dinner

got this recipe from another blog a while back...doesn't get much easier than this!

Cranberry Crockpot Chicken

2 lbs of chicken breasts or however much you need (pork chops would work great as well)
1 can of whole berry cranberry sauce
1 packet of dry french onion soup mix

You just have to let it simmer on low for 4 or 5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through. I served it with long grain wild rice and sliced apples. Perfect for fall!

a celebration for caroline

first day of no thumb - august 9, 2009

made it through the first day!!

daddy surprised her with beautiful, PINK roses!

she LOVED them!!!

she asked me to take this pic :)

she wanted them in her room

the toy she picked out

so proud of my girl!!

the completed chart - we will be saving this!!

showing off her teeth after 6 weeks of no thumb!

last week was a big one in the fortney household!! caroline completed 6 weeks of not sucking her thumb last monday and we had a celebration!! we had been talking about quitting for a while, but she was scared. we took the plunge, prayed and painted STOP stuff on her thumb and went for it. she helped me make a chart marking off each successful day with a sticker. she did so great!!!! i am incredibly proud of her and i know this was a big faith and confidence builder for her. the big prize if she made it 6 weeks was that she could pick out any toy from the store that she wanted. thank goodness there isn't an american girl store close by or we would have been out some serious cash!! we started on sunday, august 9 and she marked off her last day on the chart on sunday, spetember 20.
monday, september 21 daddy came home with 2 dozen hot pink roses for caroline...she was floored and her face could have lit up the darkest night. she couldn't believe it! she got to pick her dinner of choice and thankfully, she picked mexcian! mommy and daddy were happy about that :) after dinner, we headed to toys r us. caroline didn't know what to do. we have never let her pick out any toy she wanted so it took her a while. she walked up and down the aisles about twenty times before she picked out a barbie pet toy. she is most definitely my child, though...she narrowed it down to 2 toys and wanted me to tell her which was cheaper :) ahhh, be still my heart!

catching up

this is what happens when susanna gets too quiet :)

happy sisters dancing together in their dress up clothes

chowing down on daddy's orange slice post race

wearing daddy's medal

daddy and his adoring fans

susanna bothering the fish - rainbow (pink/purple) is our new one

baby #3 - 22 weeks, 1 day

waving "hi"!

loving on papa when he spent the night

we've had a great few weeks! john ran a 5K and placed 26th out of 199 runners...pretty awesome! we cheered him on from the sidelines. the girls loved it! one of our fish, jonathan, died and caroline was upset to say the least. so, the next day off we went to replace him with rainbow! we'll see how long she lasts :) we had another ultrasound with baby #3 to double check the heart and everything looked great. for once, the baby's weight is good and my weight is good. that's a first for me. thank you Lord! we loved having papa for a night when he came through town on business. the girls were so pumped and didn't leave him alone for a minute, except to sleep :)

labor day in raleigh

awesome park in raleigh

waiting to ride the almost 100 yr old carousel

feeding the ducks

waiting for the train ride

enjoying the picnic we brought

LOVING dessert!

the park is exhausting!

sister time! we escaped and saw the movie "julie and julia"

susanna wishing she could go

off they go...canoeing on the neuse river

dinner outside on a beautiful night

time to play some basketball

and get filthy with sidewalk chalk

concentrating on our cutthroat game of HORSE

our version of the slam dunk contest

last lunch at a pizzeria before we head out of town

dave opening his b'day present - wii ski game

adorable ice cream place downtown for dessert

how cute are those saddles?

holding the shaw's hamster, sunny

sleeping on the way back to charleston

my sister and her fam moved to raleigh (actually wake forest, right outside of raleigh) in late june and we got to make our first trip there this past weekend for labor day! it is a short 4 1/2 hr drive. we had such a wonderful weekend!! their house is absolutely gorgeous with an awesome backyard and amazing screened porch. we played like crazy the whole time we were there. we went to pullen park in raleigh on sat and spent the day enjoying the carousel, train ride, playgrounds, feeding the ducks and finished it off with a picnic in the shade. that night, we had mexcian and then my sis and i got to have some sister time and went to see the movie "julie and julia", which was soooo good. i laughed like crazy. thank you to dave and john for taking care of the kids so we could do that! on sunday, we got up and went to early church so the big kids and daddies could get to the the river on time for their canoe trip. we had delicious north carolina bbq from a shack by the river before they left. we grilled steaks for dinner and enjoyed eating outside on a beautiful night. after dinner, the adults had a competitive game of HORSE (i went out first) and then a slam dunk contest for the boys. we watched a movie after all the kids went to sleep. our version of a double date when you have 5 kids :) we woke up to rain monday so we went to their little downtown and had a delicious lunch at a pizzeria and then went to "a la mode" ice cream shop for ice cream and gelato. we then had to say our goodbyes and head back to charleston :( we made lots of sweet memories and can't wait to come back again very soon!!!