as Jules is going - Page 144 of 154 - make disciples of all nations

$1.00 Zoo Day

July 9, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

My sweet Maggie has been asking to go to the Zoo for almost a year now. We read tons of books about animals and the Zoo. More recently she has watched "Little Bill" who gets to go to the Zoo as well as get a pet {Which she has already quoted from as well, "Mom...can I have a Pet?!?} We have been looking for a time to take our entire family and trying to decide which Zoo to go to. Matt and I met at the Memphis TN Zoo and then later got engaged there so that would have been cool to take our kids there...well, some day. The final kicker was when my friend let me know about the "$1.oo day" at the Little Rock AR Zoo! That is only ~45 minutes aways rather than hours AND I'd never checked into how much it cost for normal admission. $10.oo for adults and $8.00 for kids over a year. CRAZY! After going through Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University we are even more aware of how big a budget item that is, especially with 4 we would have to pay for. Needless to say, the Rothacher clan will be heading to dollar day with the thousands of other families every time they have it!

Bonus: grandparents and cousins were already headed down to see us for Maggie's belated 3rd birthday party are were able to meet us there for this cool adventure!

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Here are a few (hehehe) highlight pics:

The Line...yep, this is part of the wait. It went fast though. Just enough time to put on sunscreen, shades and make some new friends

This one reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom would dress me and my brother's in the same color
so if we got lost/separated she could find up easier. (note: this was not planned ;o)

My dad pushed the double stroller the entire day. THANKS!

LOVE stroll'n with my big girl!Lil Pinguins...they should've had a monkey one for our clan

Speaking of..."MONKEYS!!!!"

How cute! Dad showing Jamin the moneys.Alligators- my FL hubby was surprised to read the sign saying we have some in ARPenguins- smart lil guys- in the water the entire time, where we should have been
Anna got them to follow her finger in circles

Daddy and his Princess Magdalene. So sweet!Tiger
One of my FAVS!!!!Iz, rid'n daddyElephants...way back in thereCloser to the ElephantsGiraphas...hiding inside (animals are Smart!)

Rhinos

Lions

J did sooo good in the heat the entire day!Bear
(sorry, can't see it but they were too cute)Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?Sweaty, snuggly Izzie...and mammaMan, it was HOT!

Apes
"If doesn't have a tail it's not a monkey, even if it has a monkey kinda shape"Favorite Exhibit! We were allowed to go IN with the birds!
Anna was teaching Mags how to hold out your finger to get the birds to land on them, hehe

You were allowed to feed them nectar out of tiny cupShortly after this the bird snatched the entire cup out of her hand :O)I felt like a monkey in a cage, this was my parents with Iz outside the cage

We had a BLAST! All this kids did fabulous during the couple hour heat tour of amazing animal goodness!Thank you for taking our tour of the Little Rock Zoo with us!
The Rothacher's will DEfinately be back for next year's Dollar Day (there will be one right!?!)!!!

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Thanks to Leann Gabriel for letting me know about Dollar Day!!!

Have any deal days to share or links to your blog about family adventures?

Filed Under: The ones about the Rothacher Home

{Fry-less} Stir Fry

July 7, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

I love this meal because it is a 'well rounded meal': meat, veggies, rice! This is also a meal we as a family eat at least once a month. We chop everything small so it's a quick kid-friendly meal. They eat it up every time. It's also easy to let kids help: if little like mine they can scoop chopped items and put them in the pan (before heated) and if they are older they can use that knife themselves, stir, or even measure water and rice!

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~3 Boneless, Skinless Chx Breast
1 Red Pepper
1 Orange Pepper
1 Green Pepper
~1/2 Cup Baby Carrot
{We've also tried frozen bags of 'stir fry' veggies that had snow peas, or adding broccoli- yummy}
1 btl Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce
2 Cups Rice

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*Cook chx breast (I like to bake an entire bag of frozen chx breast all at once and then put them back- fridge/freezer- for later meals) and slice or cube
*Cook rice (we do ~2 cups which feeds our family of 2 adults, a preschooler, and toddler) and set aside
*Chop peppers, carrots, and any other veggies you enjoy
*Mix all meat and veggies in a large frying pan, coat with stir fry sauce and continually stir until everything is covered and heated well (I do ~5-10 minutes depending on how much time I have before the family naws off their own fingers)
*I serve a spoon full of the meat, veggie, and sauce mixture over a spoon full of rice. Salt and pepper to taste.

{The stir fry bottle also has a yummy sounding recipe on the back using beef!}

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Comment and let me know if you try this recipe or if you have a “tweaked” favorite recipe of your own!

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking

Crunchy Garlic Chicken

June 29, 2011 by Jules 9 Comments

Are you finding a trend? Original recipe, tweaked, kid-friendly...

2 tbs butter/marg. melted
2 tbs milk
1 tbs chopped chives or parsley (I use parsley flakes)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic pwd
2 cups cornflakes cereal= 1 cup crushed (I pre-crush and store in pantries)
3 tbs chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp paprika
6 boneless, skinless chx breast halves (1 3/4lbs) (I pre-cube and refrigerate after baking an entire bag)
2 tbs butter/margarine, melted

(original receipt found on page 291 of the Betty Crocker's Cookbook- The BIG RED Cookbook)

My tweaked version:

If serving/not freezing: Heat oven to 425'. Grease an 8x8ish glass casserole dish
Melt butter, stir in seasonings, add cereal, then add cubed/chopped chx, mix everything! If you mixed in a separate bowl (which I recommend so the stuff slopped up the sides doesn't burn and look gross when you're serving it), scoop everything into your casserole dish and freeze for later or bake for 20-30 min. (from freezer double baking time).

Love this meal! The tweaked version was an accident: I didn't read the recipe close enough when making it for the second time and added everything together before I remembered they were supposed to be in separate dished and i should be doing a coating method. Couldn't go back so I baked it like it was and everyone ate it up and for my preschooler and toddler it ended up being easier than trying to cut up their meat for them after served.

Comment and let me know if you try this recipe or if you have a "tweaked" favorite recipe of your own!

Birthdays: To Be Surprised or Not To Be Surprised?

June 28, 2011 by Jules 1 Comment

Sopping wet hair. Barely dressed for school. Ushered into the dinning room to eat a wholesome breakfast of adorable smiley face birthday cake accompanied by gifts wrapped in smiley face paper. Ugg! Camera snapping shots of the unprepared, make-upless high schooler during this 'party'. That evening, after a birthday full of school, she is greeted at home by her high school boyfriend, and a few girl friends for yet another surprise birthday party complete with Veggie Tale gift wrap and cake to be followed by a long-awaited trip to the 1st football game of the year.

When I was growing up, I never knew what kind of cake I was going to have for my birthday, what thoughtful gift my family had picked out for me based on random conversations before that day, or on some years, if and when there would be a celebration. My mom, especially, LOVED surprising me!

Years down the road that same Veggie Tale love'n girl has children of her own with the love of her life who grew up in a state miles away and in a totally different family (duh, other wise gross!). We are learning to melt and mold one another's family traditions and make some new ones of our own for our beautifully growing family.

Birthdays...?

Our eldest has just turned 3. As a youth pastoring family we skillfully planned her arrival to come in the middle of the annual mega summer camp, Super Summer AR. bahahaha Poor girl. Out of necessity, one of our yearly traditions has been to travel to see daddy at camp for Father's Day and then again for Maggie's birthday. We eat cupcakes in the cafeteria with our students and the past couple years we also celebrate with a dear family of friends who live in the same town the camp is hosted. The second part of her birthday tradition has been to have a party on the 4th of July weekend so family is able to be off work and able to come celebrate with us.

The past 2 years I've snuck around, according to my family custom, trying to hide cupcakes, cakes, decorations, gifts, and simple plans from our birthday girl (not hard seeing as she was only 1 and 2 years old). This years I went out on a limb and let my quickly maturing 3-year-old help make and decorate her own birthday cupcakes as well as point-blank ask her what 'kind' of party she'd like to have. She often helps me in the kitchen but icing in a new-found skill of hers. She has also changed her mind once over the past month but we have settled on...maybe you guessed it- Veggie Tales. YEP; Train up a child!

I haven't decided which tradition we'll stick with in years to come but both have their pros and cons. Whacha think?

Now, pics of the process, of course! More of the VT party to come in a future post

just a few of our creations

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What are your family customs you adhere to (maybe without even knowing it)? Do share; I love sifting through advise!
I avoided the endless Jesus jukes that where oh so readily available in this but those are welcome, too ;o)