Perfect Day for a Bowl of Soup

It's a cool, rainy day, which I've been hoping for. Perfect for some Josh Groban, good books, and soup. I grew up on homemade bread and soup, and it's one of my favorite things to eat and make. It's also one of the things I miss during the summer. We decided it sounded good for lunch, so I thought I'd share one of our new favorites:

Tomato, Cheese and Bread Soup

8 ounces crusty Sourdough croutons
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
9 garlic cloves, minced
3 large onions, finely chopped
8 cups chicken stock or low-salt chicken broth
2 28oz cans peeled plum tomatoes, drained and crushed
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Parmesan Reggiano rind (optional)
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves (for garnish)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shavings
1/4 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese

Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until very tender, about 25 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute. Add chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, cheeses and cheese rind. Simmer soup uncovered 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. For smoother texture, puree in blender or food processor before serving.

Ladle soup into bowls. Add croutons, torn basil, and Parmesan cheese shavings just before serving.

I use whatever cheese I have on hand and make my own croutons with whatever leftover bread I have in the fridge. Just cut it up, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and spices if you want, and bake at 350 until they're golden and crunchy, 25 minutes or so.

Yum! Sorry, no pictures. We ate it before we could get the camera out! :)

Special Chats

So on Wednesday night the boys and I went over and invaded Auntie Sue's quiet little evening. We were there till the daddys got home from work, so Shiloh didn't get to bed until about 10:30. Izaak was tucking him in and they started talking about Judas and the Last Supper and Jesus' death. Izaak talked about how Jesus didn't stay dead, but rose again and now he's in heaven building a big house for us, so they started talking about heaven. Shiloh said, "Daddy, I want to go to heaven." So Izaak started asking him all those important questions about why Jesus had to die, and Shiloh knew all the answers. Then they prayed.

I'm honestly not really sure exactly how much Shiloh understands - he still seems so young to me, although I remember vividly having the same talk with my Mom at 3 1/2. But it was such an encouragement to us to know he's learning and at least beginning to understand a little bit about salvation. Now I'm just waiting to see the fruit... :)

Then last night I had this conversation with Shiloh that ended with a funny comment about our baby. We were talking about how Grandmama went to pick up Grandma-Great and bring her back to her house.
Shi: "Where's Grandma-Great's daddy?"
Me: "Well, he's probably in heaven."
Shi: "Why?"
Me: "Well he passed away a while ago."
Shi: "Passed away? Why?"
Me: "Well, when we get old, we die."
Shi: "Am I getting old?"
Me: "Well, we're growing older, but we're still pretty young. You're still a little boy."
Shi: "Yeah, but I'm getting bigger. And when I get big I'm gonna sleep somewhere else."
Me: "Oh? Where?"
Shi: "Outside."
Me: "Really? What about up in the top bunk so Eli can sleep down in this one."
Shi: "Oh right. That's a good idea. Who's going to sleep in Eli's crib?"
Me: "Who do you think?"
Shi: "The new baby." (with a big grin)
Me: "That's right. Are you excited?"
Shi: "Man, we still have to wait a really long time for the baby."
Me: "Yeah, we do."
Shi: "Mom, when the baby gets big, is it gonna just pop right out?"

Um...well, I wish it was that simple... :)

Shi-Man's 3rd Birthday (better later then never, right?)

Our big boy turned 3 on July 12, and I'm just now getting around to posting something. We had the usual aunts and uncles over, as well as "uncle" Chris. Shiloh asked for a football cake, so that's what he got. His big gift from us was a scooter (which I have zero pics of); I can't believe he's so grown up!





Cool rollerskates from Chris & Kristen





He thought his pool was a box full of kids... Ha!



Testing out his car from Seth & Bethany

Newsy News

Well, OK. Probably not really. I am finally getting around to making my official blog announcement that baby number three is well on it's way! I still think to myself "are you kidding me?" at least a few times a week, or whenever I actually remember that I'm pregnant (which usually happens when I'm choosing an outfit since my rear-end is suddenly existent rather than non). I'm almost 16 weeks, and feeling fine, other than the usual passing out problem that I'm used to by now since I'm on #3 (I know, WHAT?!?) :) This time around is so different, probably because I already have two little rugrats running around, but I'm not nearly as conscious of this pregnancy as I have been in the past. I'm sure once I start showing and he starts kicking around I'll be more aware. And yes, I said "he." I'm convinced it's another boy, and honestly don't care either way. I would love to have a girl someday, but I also LOVE being a mommy to boys, so I'll be happy no matter what the little munchkin turns out to be. So far I've been able to be a normal preggie - no bedrest - and Lord willing, that won't change. "Chances" are good everything will be fine this time around, and I'm anxious to get to my 20 week ultrasound to find out; that's when they found the problems with Eli. Anyway, we're excited and looking forward to meeting the little peanut sometime around 2/2/10. Now, to start shopping for a bigger car...

future firemen

I am attempting to update my poor deprived blog with our happenings from the past couple months (which I began with my last post) but it's been pretty low on the priority list. Mostly because ever since we got our computer back from the computer hospital (after being out of the loop for 3 WEEKS!!!) I could only get online in Eli's room because our wireless connection also decided to get sick. But as of this morning we are back in business. Ahhh.

So...I had all these wonderful plans to post about all the fun things we've been doing the past several months, and I'm still going to try. I'll try to skip over the cute everyday stuff and just hit the hightlights. :) Here goes...

The last weekend in June we drove down to Raleigh to visit my best friend from college, Melanie, and her husband Chad. It was SO good to see them. Chad's a firefighter, and he took us down to the fire station and gave the boys free reign of one of the big ladder trucks and answered all of the 2 million questions Shiloh asked. It was a good time. Thanks, Chad & Mel!