Spinach Artichoke Dip with a twist

This has been a huge hit over the last few months, and I never end up with leftovers from it.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (12 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped jalapeno peppers, seeded and deveined
• 1/2 bag of 10 oz fresh spinach, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix together the cream cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the green chiles, Parmesan cheese, artichokes, peppers, and spinach. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until slightly browned, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Hoping for a white Christmas!

Christmas plans have changed, and we are going to Texas for Christmas! It was quite a surprise, but we are very happy with the change!  It will make the time go by faster and help the hole in our hearts.  Chief is still doing fantastic, but his days are getting long. He just updated his blog today as well. www.livingthechieflife.blogspot.com We are in to our routine, and we have all adjusted quite well.  It has been a busy 2 weeks, and it is hard to believe it is mid December!  The kids have numerous activities going on at school....plays, speeches, school parties, birthday parties, winter concerts, etc.  I have been trying to get Christmas shopping completed, shopping for winter clothes, getting us packed, taking down our Christmas stuff, cleaning house, cooking, baking, laundry, wrapping presents, and taking care of the animals of course!  I am not sleeping well, so I take an occasional Advil PM to help me sleep at night.  I can't seem to turn off my brain because I have too much on my mind. 

We had exchanged Christmas presents this week with our Hawaii Ohana, and the kids also opened up their presents from my parents and a few from us.  Both kids got electric scooters and Nintendo DSi's.  They are over the moon about those! Monkey Doodle has already perfected his scooter skills, but Miss Priss is still working on balancing when it is going fast.  Here is a video of Monkey Doodle on his scooter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcskIz_3SE8

Don't ya just love the Hawaii weather in mid December?  I think I could stay here another 3 years!

Monkey Doodle also got a Paper Jam's Guitar and Miss Priss got a La La Loopsie Doll.  They love them as well! 

I just finished taking down all of our Christmas Decorations, and the house looks so bare now.  It was a lot of work (10 big boxes worth plus tree and decorations), and I sure missed Chief's help!  I did it though, and I feel very accomplished!  Ha! Well, I better get back to cleaning house because we leave tomorrow!

Dreaded Deployment

Well, Chief left almost 1 week ago.  Our lives have been turned completely upside down, but we are doing pretty good!  The first day was so hard, and I cannot remember the last time that I had a bad day like that.  I came home and did what I do best when I am upset.....I cleaned house.  Yep, I don't eat, but I vacuum, mop, change sheets, do laundry, make beds, and clean toilets. 

 

Chief and I took the kids to school that morning, and he said his goodbyes to them before school.  I am so glad that we made the decision to not take them to watch Chief get on the bus.  I was a wreck, my friends were crying, other wives were crying, and of course soldiers were upset.  Monkey Doodle is so sensitive , and his heart hurts whenever someone else's heart hurts. Anything we can do to protect their little hearts, we are going to do!

I couldn't take my hands off of him and just wanted to hold his hand and hold on for dear life!  After many kisses, hugs, and goodbyes, I watched him leave on the bus for the air terminal after about 2 1/2 hours of waiting.   My heart was in pieces, and I was barely holding it together. 

Thank goodness that our amazing friends asked us over for dinner that night to take our minds off of it.  I know it helped me and the kids.  The next day was a whole new day, and we had a really good one!  I am trying to keep the kids in a routine with a lot of structure, and it is working.  They truly have been angels, but Monkey Doodle is taking it the hardest.  He didn't get to say goodnight to Chief on Thursday night, and he cried himself to sleep that night.  I snuggled him and tucked him in, but I couldn't do anything to mend his heart that night.  He told me that he got up and turned on his air conditioner so I could not hear him crying because he didn't want me to cry too.  Bless his little heart!  Miss Priss misses Daddy mostly at night too because he was 90% in charge of their nightly rituals.  

 

Chief made it to Camp Liberty in about 30 hours, and he got settled in to his chu "trailer" pretty quick.  Being a CW5 has some major perks, and he has his own bathroom, cable, WIFI, and doesn't have to share a room with anyone.  He is right on "Z" lake and can even go fishing!  It is amazing how much has changed over the last few years and how many more luxuries they have now.  The guys that he is replacing left him with a refrigerator, microwave, TV, a wing back chair, and he is even getting a full size bed soon! We also set him up with Magic Jack, and I can call his room whenever I want!  It is a U.S. phone number, and it is only $20 a year. 

 

I talked Chief in to blogging about his adventure in Iraq over the next year, so here is the link www.livingthechieflife.blogspot.com if you would like to follow his story.

Finally, a promotion post!

 

After Chief coming up on the Chief Warrant Officer 5 list back in April, he finally got promoted on November 1st!  We had the ceremony at the Schofield Barracks Museum, and it was a complete downpour! 

It never rains that hard here in Hawaii, except for on that day! Thank goodness we had a canopy to put up! Chief has worked so hard during his 23 years in the Army and 15 years as a warrant officer to get to this moment. Not many see CW5, and he deserved every dot!

 

As soon as it was over the sun came out, and it was beautiful! Standing in the rain did wreck my hair and makeup.

 

  We had about 75 people show up, and 50 came down to the house for the reception afterward.  

 

The big party was a few days later, and it was CRAZY fun!  Everyone had way too much fun, believe me! I made 40 lbs of Kalua Pork & Cabbage, 5 lbs of Macaroni Salad, 10 Chocolate Haupia Pies, and lots of appetizers as well.  We also had friends bring sides and appetizers as well, so we had lots of food.  We had quite of bit of spirits to keep the night going as well, and that made for an interesting night!   I think I will save those pictures for a different time!  

We are all so proud of our Chief for his last promotion that he will ever have.  We are also enjoying the preferred parking at the PX and Commissary!  :)

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

even if it is 80 degrees outside!  It is so hard to get in to the spirit with it being 80 degrees everyday and wearing slippers and shorts!  I am very envious of my friends that are experiencing cold weather and snow, but then they are envious of me because I live in paradise! 

The deployment is nearing way to fast, and Chief will be leaving us a few days after Turkey day.  It hit me like a ton of bricks this week, and I became completely overwhelmed.  I swear I have become his 3rd arm this week because I don't want to leave his side, but we are enjoying every second we can together.  It is so much harder this time because not only do I have to mend my broken heart, but I also have to mend Miss Priss and Monkey Doodle's hearts too.  At dinner this week, Monkey Doodle asked Chief is he was going to be gone a long time.  When Chief told him, "yes," Monkey got huge crocodile tears in his eyes and could barely finish his dinner.  My heart broke in to a million pieces!  Many tears have been shed by all of us this week, and we are having a our bad days and good days.

Today was a great day since we decorated for Christmas!  We wanted Chief to be able to enjoy the decorations and also decorate the tree as a family.  It was so much fun, and we made amazing memories tonight.  The kids really enjoyed decorating their trees that go in their room and also the main tree.  We did have a mishap while the kids were wrestling today, and Monkey Doodle ended up with 2 staples in his head.  This is the 2nd time he had to be sewn up in his short little life, and he never has shed a tear either.  The Dr. that did the staples today did not even give him any numbing medication and stapled straight in to his head without it!  Monkey Doodle has such a high pain tolerance and never even flinched.  He is such a tough 6 year old!

Well, here are the pictures of the inside Christmas decorations.  Hope you like them as much as we do!

Halloween

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!  I have been super super busy with family here, Halloween, Chief's Promotion ceremony, reception, and party! I will do a separate post for the promotion, but here are some Halloween pictures.