Here's the rest of our vacation...
We went to the outback for FREE! What a nice place! We really liked it.
We went Christmas shopping on Black Friday! What a cute little guy we found for sale! 
We tuckered the little one out several times on the trip...:)
This is more of our Fort Myers excursion.
And this is our package from Grandma!!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We are having a wonderful week just relaxing, taking naps, sight seeing, and enjoying Naples. We have been saving our pennies to have a semi-vacation while Jim is off from school for a couple days. Here are some of the things we have done:
We drove up to Fort Myers to do some sight seeing. 
This is Ruger trying to feed the birds a piece of apple.
We put up our little Christmas tree that I found at a Goodwill store for $7 including all the decorations. It's perfect! I even made a star for it with popsicle sticks, fingernail polish, paper, hot glue, and tiny garland from the tree. It looks pretty great, I think. :)
I'll have to make another post for the rest of the pictures...
On our way home from the store, I rolled down the window to entertain Ruger. He could reach just far enough up from his seat to have his fingers a centimeter over the edge of the window. Then while we were driving along, Ruger begins, "Shoe? Shoe? Shoe?" I turned around to see what was the matter. We now have one less pair of shoes for the little man.
I certainly didn't want anything else to go out that window, so I quickly rolled it back up. When we got back home and out of the car, Ruger walked around the entire car calling, "Shoooe? Shooooe?" He has no idea what just happened.
I bought a new 3-in-1 crock pot a little while ago so these are some of the recipes I've tried out. I love the crock pot! It makes dinner SO easy!
Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese
2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked, drained, rinsed with hot water (about 3 cups cooked macaroni)
2 tablespoons real bacon bits
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded mild Cheddar cheese
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery
DIRECTIONS
In a slow cooker, combine macaroni, bacon bits, onion, undrained diced tomatoes, and Cheddar cheese. Pour mushroom soup over top. Mix well to combine. Cover and cook on high 2 hours or less. Doesn't need to be in there long since noodles are already cooked. Just cook it long enough to blend flavors and so the soup sinks into the noodles. Mix well before serving.
BBQ Beef Sandwiches
INGREDIENTS
4 lbs. beef round steak
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 cup chicken broth
6 oz. can tomato paste
20 Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns
DIRECTIONS
Trim excess fat off round steak and cut into 1" pieces. Combine with remaining ingredients except rolls in 4-6 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours, until beef is very tender. Remove cooked beef from mixture in crock pot. Coarsely shred beef using two forks and place in large sauce pan. Add 2 cups of sauce from crock pot to meat and stir to blend well. Keep warm over low heat while serving into sandwich buns. Makes 20 sandwiches.
Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore
INGREDIENTS
3 lbs. Boneless skinless chicken
14 oz. can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1/8 teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS
Place all ingredients in 3-4 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours until chicken is thoroughly cooked and tender. Serve with hot cooked pasta, if desired. Makes 6 servings. Or cook on high for 3-4 hours.
Pork Chop Suey
INGREDIENTS
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons molasses, preferably blackstrap
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
1 medium onion, slivered
1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 cups mung bean sprouts (see Note)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
PREPARATION
Combine broth, soy sauce, molasses and pepper in a medium bowl. Transfer 2 tablespoons of the mixture to a small bowl; stir in cornstarch until combined. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pork and cook, stirring frequently, until most of the pink is gone, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Increase heat to medium-high. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion, bell pepper, sprouts and ginger and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the broth mixture and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add the reserved cornstarch mixture and pork (and any accumulated juice) and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
TIPS & NOTES
Note: Mung bean sprouts (germinated mung beans), often simply labeled “bean sprouts,” are white with a light yellow tip and are thicker than more common alfalfa sprouts.
NUTRITION
Per serving: 280 calories; 10 g fat (1 g sat, 5 g mono); 74 mg cholesterol; 21 g carbohydrates; 7 g added sugars; 28 g protein; 3 g fiber; 504 mg sodium; 957 mg potassium.
Tostadas
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef, browned
2 cans refried beans
1 envelope dry taco seasoning mix
8-oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
10 tostada shells
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can sliced black olives
1 pint sour cream
guacamole
salsa
Directions:
1. combine ground beef, refried beans, taco seasoning mix, tomato sauce, and water in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours.
3. spread hot mixture on tostada shells. Top with remaining ingredients. (It's like an open-face taco.)
Pumpkin Pie Pudding
15-oz. can solid pack pumpkin
12-oz. can evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk baking mix
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbs. pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp. vanilla
whipped cream
1. Mix together all ingredients except whipped cream. Pour into gresed slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours, or high 3-3 1/2 hours. Serve in bowls topped with whipped cream.
Note: I used the pumpkin pie mix you buy in the store since I didn't have the spice. Could have probably omitted the sugar that way and it would have tasted great. Works either way.
San Antonio Taco Salad
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup salsa
1 (15.25 ounce) can kidney beans
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Optional garnish: sour cream, chopped tomato, sliced black olives and additional salsa
Directions
Brown ground meat and onion in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat; drain.
Add salsa, beans, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Divide lettuce equally between tortilla bowls. Top with meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Top with desired garnishes; serve.
Note: We just ate it like dry taco salad instead of in a taco shell. Was VERY good.
We attempted pre-made cookie dough. Hmmm. Maybe we'll rethink that one.
We are looking pretty goofy these days...
Our complex is so great. They hold a lot of parties and fun get togethers for the residents. This is Ruger painting a pumpkin at the Halloween party last night. They also had cupcakes, cookies, and juice for everyone. Ruger tried to eat the cupcake, but only got a mouthful of frosting that was piled about an inch thick. They looked great, but kinda a lot of frosting...Sorry no pic of that.
These are our new chairs! Kinda a crazy, but I totally love it!
They are a perfect size for Ruger. He has been pretty pleased with them.
This is our family pumpkin we carved for the holiday. Ruger wasn't so sure about the gunk inside. It was a little iffy.
What a nut. We are at the beach here waiting for the tram to pick us up.
And this is my handsome husband. He was trying to teach me how to use our little point and shoot camera and threw in a free pose for me to practice on.
Ruger outside the library. We go every Thursday for story time and them eat out lunch outside by the fountain.
The first video of Ruger playing at the beach, the second is of Ruger and a friend laughing at the missionaries' puppet skills, and the third is just of Ruger saying a lot of the words he knows.
We went to the beach!! The weather has been PERFECT lately and the ocean water is crystal clear. We are moving into winter, People!! Does anyone want to come visit? 
You might be getting tired of all the pics of Ruger, but we think he's just so especially cute, that we can't resist putting them up to share. :)
The pictures are in backwards order. The first happened last, and the last happened first.
Yesterday I took Ruger to the mall. He loves playing the toy cars and especially getting to ride in one of those car-like strollers. He just spins and spins the steering wheel!He's even getting pretty good at actually saying, "car" now. 
This is Ruger's devious face after climbing up into...
This all by himself. I was looking on the computer with my back turned to him, ignoring all the grunts and whines I heard coming from his direction. When I turned around, low and behold, my little man had climbed in to the high chair and was standing in it so he could reach the light switches.
We went to the zoo this week for free! Ruger was a little nervous of the tigers, but who wouldn't be considering how CLOSE he got to them!
Then we saw the LIONS! They were really neat this time! They were running, playing, and ROARING at us for a long time! Usually they are asleep when we see them, so it was pretty exciting to see. This one we took a picture of came right up next to the fence so we could see his face. His eyes were bright yellow. I always thought that was something they did in photographs to make them look cooler, but no, it's real. Even more real than in pictures. I mean they were REALLY yellow!
This is Ruger with a friend, Nathaniel Gardner. They were watching Toy Story all snuggled up together, so I thought it made for a good picture.
Ruger loves his grandparents...
These are all from the extended Phelps Family Reunion and some from the our short get-together with the Gregerson's and Grandma Hunsaker during the summer. What a fun family we have!
