Monday, February 24, 2014
Homemade Pork Dumplings
For those of you that don't know us as much we LOVE Chinese food! We are willing to get anything into our stomachs from dumplings to noodles, to chicken, to EVERYTHING! We absolutely loved the food in China and some of us still begging to re-live the moments. Don't these look so good?? If you want the recipe for the dumplings click here! If you want the recipe to the dipping sauce (not pictured below) click here! We chose not to use the dumpling recipe that came with the sauce because it looked like a lot more work but you are welcome to use whichever. Just a side note: The dumplings make a BIG batch, I'd say about 65 at the least. Don't fill them too full or else they won't close and will rip. We chose just to lightly fry the dumplings in some oil and not have them steam because they stuck to the pan and they didn't taste as good. If you want to go with the more traditional way of dumplings than just fry them. If you are wondering if they taste good yes, they taste amazing! Just like the real things! All 130 were gone in less than 2 days. (we made dumplings 2 days in a row last week)
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Weekend in Kansas City
Since my dad's birthday was Monday we wanted to do something fun with him as a family. We didn't know if we should go somewhere or just hang out. He didn't really NEED any presents and didn't ask for any so my parents discussed either us going to Omaha, NE or KC, Missouri for the weekend just to goof around! We decided on Kansas City since it was closer and there wasn't as much to do in the wintertime. We quickly packed on Friday and headed out around 10:30 on Saturday. We originally wanted to leave at 9:30 but in our house leaving at a certain time when we want to never happens. So we got to the hotel around 12:30. We ate before we got to the hotel at Culver's, our favorite restaurant in KC because we don't have it in Manhattan. After we got done packing we went swimming and hung out in our room, snacked, and watched some Olympics and Food Network (my favorite;). Then we went downstairs for the evening reception and filled our lovely stomachs with snack mix, cheesy popcorn, soda, pizza, and some chips n' dip. It was pretty fun! After dinner our stomachs were on the verge of blowing up. We went back up to our room and watched some more TV and laughed and laughed. We went to bed listening to Isaiah cough (which sounded like a walrus) and talking and crying little kids. We woke up Sunday morning with our feet freezing. We went down to eat then went swimming again. After that we cleaned our room, checked out, and then headed to a store. After that we went to Sam's Club (our family's favorite bulk store) and then ate at Jack in the Box. The food wasn't horrible but definitely not worthy of "I'm going to come back and eat here type of food". We wanted to try something different but it sorta was a flop.
It was a nice time away and Happy 45th Birthday Dad!!
It was a nice time away and Happy 45th Birthday Dad!!
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Sibling Fun & This Week
Hi, guys; Jerica here! My mom wanted me to write a blog post so that's what I'm going to do.
This week we got snow. Not just an inch that lasted only a single day. 11.75 inches the weather guy said. To think that God just poured a HUGE bucket of snow on us in one single day. Wow, it's unbelievable. Thanks Jesus for all the snow so we don't have to go anywhere but the shoveling really stunk...BAD. The past 3 days we have had to shovel 6 times. The most times we shoveled in one day was 3 and that was enough for our poor backs and arms. I was telling everyone I haven't been so sore since volleyball season. :) I'm sure a whole lot of you guys can relate...
Ariana
Something she is good at: Math, art/drawing, and building (she might be an engineer like our dad ;)
Something she loves to do: She loves to play with her Legos all afternoon and draw. You should see some of the stuff she draws. She always teases me that my drawings look like a 6 year old drew it. I have to admit it's true. :) Drawing definitely isn't my forte.
Personality traits: She's such a hard worker. She does her chores without being told, cleans the entire basement even if it looks like a tornado went through, and she helps out by watching her little siblings. Ariana is pretty quiet and shy when she doesn't know someone very well. But when she is at home its a different story. She totally is a different person.
Favorite food: She likes pretty much any type of food. She definitely loves dessert (what's not to love?!), and bread. She doesn't like vegetables but will eat some occasionally.
Something bad that has happened to her: She has gotten overheated on Fourth of July while we were in the Wamego Parade.
A fun fact about her: She is a panda lover all the way.
Alexa
Something she is good at: Singing. She sings nonstop from the time she wakes up till the time she goes to bed. Our house is never quiet. Unless its 11 at night while I'm studying biology. Then everyone is sound asleep including my parents. :)
Something she loves to do: Sing (which is very obvious) and dance and gymnastics.
Personality traits: She does chores when she has to, and occasionally will clean the basement if she gets paid. She is very spunky, loud, and a people person. Alexa can definitely get pretty impatient after a while.
Favorite food: She likes pretty much anything but fish.
Something bad that has happened to her: When she was little she slipped on her tights while getting off her chair and cut open the edge of her eyelid near her eye. She had a couple stitches. Then about 2 years ago she slipped in the pool while getting in and gashed her chin open and had stitches yet again.
A fun fact about her: She loves anything girly, makeup, doing hair, doing her nails, and the color pink.
Isaiah
Something he is good at: Wrestling and being extremely loud when you are literally 1 foot away from him. We always have to tell him to use his "Inside voice". Which pretty much never gets to that volume level. He has been doing so well at wrestling. He has been to 3 wrestling tournaments and has gotten a medal for each one. He's definitely improving everyday considering it's his 1st year. The only downside of a boy wrestling in our family is that usually his siblings or his parents is his opponent. Dad is the only one who actually knows what to do and doesn't let him get beat by a 6 year old little boy. :)
Something he loves to do: He loves building with his Legos. He likes to talk and loves to make everyone laugh.
Personality traits: He is a people person and isn't one bit afraid of making new friends at parks and other places. He's a comedian, and a very talkative, LOUD person.
Favorite food: Raw vegetables, definitely not cooked. He likes pretty much anything mom cooks!
Something bad that has happened to him: When he was little he was trying to get out of the bathtub but slipped and fell and half his front tooth broke off.
A fun fact about him: He likes to make his little brothers mad.
Josiah
Something he is good at: He is getting better at communicating and understanding things we say. He is definitely better at climbing up the stairs.
Something he loves to do: He likes to play with his toys and read books.
Personality traits: If he doesn't know who you are he doesn't really talk and is very shy. At home he is very loud and acts like any other boy his age. Reminds you of Ariana, doesn't it?
Favorite food: He loves Chinese food, considering he was from China it makes sense. He loves dessert like Ariana and will gulf down his food when there is dessert in front of him. When there isn't dessert he is a slow eater like Ariana. Josiah and Ariana are so similar!
Something bad that has happened to him: He stuck a tissue up his nose that rotted. 'Nuf said...
A fun fact about him: He likes to ride his bike outside. Because of his club feet we thought it would be very hard to do active sports and things but he does it like any average kid. He may not use the same method but he sure rides his bike!
Elijah
Something he is good at: Screaming and throwing fits. And getting into fights with his brothers and taking toys away from them. Brothers...I tell ya...
Something he loves to do: He loves to play and pretend to be a violinist or conductor.
Personality traits: Very outgoing, loud, and makes you laugh.
Favorite food: Chinese and breakfast food. He's a pretty picky eater...plus he is dairy free so that doesn't help.
Something bad that has happened to him: I don't recall anything bad that has happened to him.
A fun fact about him: Absolutely loves to make people laugh. He has such the cutest little accent. It's just adorable.
Kendra
Something she is good at: Singing, throwing fits, and screaming. She's very good at being "Cute" and likes to show off. When you see her throw fits you might reconsider what you said about her being "Cute." ;p
Something she loves to do: She loves to sing. She sings in church and sings around the house. Even though we can't understand the words that she says we can still hear the tune of the song she is singing.
Personality traits: Very energetic, outgoing, brave, loud, and loves to talk. Even though half the time we can't understand a word she says. We always say she is our spunky girl number 2. She's pretty sassy sometimes. What kid isn't?! ;p
Favorite food: Chinese food. She loves ANYTHING! She's just like me. She even looks like me when I was her age.
Something bad that has happened to her: Her mouth started bleeding shortly after her cleft palate surgery and thought she popped her stitches. She tripped and fell on the floor and hit her mouth. Apparently the doctor said it was normal.
A fun fact about her: She loves men. I know, it's kinda weird but when there is a man/boy in the room she wants to be picked up by him. Weird right?!? And it's not like she was exposed to them in the orphanage because there weren't men nannies.
And here's a few little tidbits about me:
Jerica
Something I'm good at: Violin, piano, volleyball, cooking/baking, and biology
Something I love to do: Play volleyball and study biology
Personality traits: Once I get to know someone for a while I become really good friends with them. It takes me a while to get warmed up. I'm a jokester, I'm athletic, energetic, adventurous, and I love to talk.
Favorite food: I LOVE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING
Something bad that has happened to me: I cried so hard when I was little that I fainted.
A fun fact about me: I want to be a biologist when I'm older!
This week we got snow. Not just an inch that lasted only a single day. 11.75 inches the weather guy said. To think that God just poured a HUGE bucket of snow on us in one single day. Wow, it's unbelievable. Thanks Jesus for all the snow so we don't have to go anywhere but the shoveling really stunk...BAD. The past 3 days we have had to shovel 6 times. The most times we shoveled in one day was 3 and that was enough for our poor backs and arms. I was telling everyone I haven't been so sore since volleyball season. :) I'm sure a whole lot of you guys can relate...
Ariana
Something she is good at: Math, art/drawing, and building (she might be an engineer like our dad ;)
Something she loves to do: She loves to play with her Legos all afternoon and draw. You should see some of the stuff she draws. She always teases me that my drawings look like a 6 year old drew it. I have to admit it's true. :) Drawing definitely isn't my forte.
Personality traits: She's such a hard worker. She does her chores without being told, cleans the entire basement even if it looks like a tornado went through, and she helps out by watching her little siblings. Ariana is pretty quiet and shy when she doesn't know someone very well. But when she is at home its a different story. She totally is a different person.
Favorite food: She likes pretty much any type of food. She definitely loves dessert (what's not to love?!), and bread. She doesn't like vegetables but will eat some occasionally.
Something bad that has happened to her: She has gotten overheated on Fourth of July while we were in the Wamego Parade.
A fun fact about her: She is a panda lover all the way.
Alexa
Something she is good at: Singing. She sings nonstop from the time she wakes up till the time she goes to bed. Our house is never quiet. Unless its 11 at night while I'm studying biology. Then everyone is sound asleep including my parents. :)
Something she loves to do: Sing (which is very obvious) and dance and gymnastics.
Personality traits: She does chores when she has to, and occasionally will clean the basement if she gets paid. She is very spunky, loud, and a people person. Alexa can definitely get pretty impatient after a while.
Favorite food: She likes pretty much anything but fish.
Something bad that has happened to her: When she was little she slipped on her tights while getting off her chair and cut open the edge of her eyelid near her eye. She had a couple stitches. Then about 2 years ago she slipped in the pool while getting in and gashed her chin open and had stitches yet again.
A fun fact about her: She loves anything girly, makeup, doing hair, doing her nails, and the color pink.
Isaiah
Something he is good at: Wrestling and being extremely loud when you are literally 1 foot away from him. We always have to tell him to use his "Inside voice". Which pretty much never gets to that volume level. He has been doing so well at wrestling. He has been to 3 wrestling tournaments and has gotten a medal for each one. He's definitely improving everyday considering it's his 1st year. The only downside of a boy wrestling in our family is that usually his siblings or his parents is his opponent. Dad is the only one who actually knows what to do and doesn't let him get beat by a 6 year old little boy. :)
Something he loves to do: He loves building with his Legos. He likes to talk and loves to make everyone laugh.
Personality traits: He is a people person and isn't one bit afraid of making new friends at parks and other places. He's a comedian, and a very talkative, LOUD person.
Favorite food: Raw vegetables, definitely not cooked. He likes pretty much anything mom cooks!
Something bad that has happened to him: When he was little he was trying to get out of the bathtub but slipped and fell and half his front tooth broke off.
A fun fact about him: He likes to make his little brothers mad.
Josiah
Something he is good at: He is getting better at communicating and understanding things we say. He is definitely better at climbing up the stairs.
Something he loves to do: He likes to play with his toys and read books.
Personality traits: If he doesn't know who you are he doesn't really talk and is very shy. At home he is very loud and acts like any other boy his age. Reminds you of Ariana, doesn't it?
Favorite food: He loves Chinese food, considering he was from China it makes sense. He loves dessert like Ariana and will gulf down his food when there is dessert in front of him. When there isn't dessert he is a slow eater like Ariana. Josiah and Ariana are so similar!
Something bad that has happened to him: He stuck a tissue up his nose that rotted. 'Nuf said...
A fun fact about him: He likes to ride his bike outside. Because of his club feet we thought it would be very hard to do active sports and things but he does it like any average kid. He may not use the same method but he sure rides his bike!
Elijah
Something he is good at: Screaming and throwing fits. And getting into fights with his brothers and taking toys away from them. Brothers...I tell ya...
Something he loves to do: He loves to play and pretend to be a violinist or conductor.
Personality traits: Very outgoing, loud, and makes you laugh.
Favorite food: Chinese and breakfast food. He's a pretty picky eater...plus he is dairy free so that doesn't help.
Something bad that has happened to him: I don't recall anything bad that has happened to him.
A fun fact about him: Absolutely loves to make people laugh. He has such the cutest little accent. It's just adorable.
Kendra
Something she is good at: Singing, throwing fits, and screaming. She's very good at being "Cute" and likes to show off. When you see her throw fits you might reconsider what you said about her being "Cute." ;p
Something she loves to do: She loves to sing. She sings in church and sings around the house. Even though we can't understand the words that she says we can still hear the tune of the song she is singing.
Personality traits: Very energetic, outgoing, brave, loud, and loves to talk. Even though half the time we can't understand a word she says. We always say she is our spunky girl number 2. She's pretty sassy sometimes. What kid isn't?! ;p
Favorite food: Chinese food. She loves ANYTHING! She's just like me. She even looks like me when I was her age.
Something bad that has happened to her: Her mouth started bleeding shortly after her cleft palate surgery and thought she popped her stitches. She tripped and fell on the floor and hit her mouth. Apparently the doctor said it was normal.
A fun fact about her: She loves men. I know, it's kinda weird but when there is a man/boy in the room she wants to be picked up by him. Weird right?!? And it's not like she was exposed to them in the orphanage because there weren't men nannies.
And here's a few little tidbits about me:
Jerica
Something I'm good at: Violin, piano, volleyball, cooking/baking, and biology
Something I love to do: Play volleyball and study biology
Personality traits: Once I get to know someone for a while I become really good friends with them. It takes me a while to get warmed up. I'm a jokester, I'm athletic, energetic, adventurous, and I love to talk.
Favorite food: I LOVE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING
Something bad that has happened to me: I cried so hard when I was little that I fainted.
A fun fact about me: I want to be a biologist when I'm older!
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