Yummy Hot Soup

My long awaited for week off from work has consisted of:

1. Cleaning up the Christmas "stuff" - my house has never (and I repeat NEVER) been this much of a disaster before. Toys everywhere . . . bed parts laying all over son #1's bedroom floor . . . piles of stuff on every flat surface . . . food (and by that I mean sweets) on every counter in the kitchen . . . Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love putting up all the Christmas decorations and the tree and the lights and all of it! But it's a relief when it all comes down and gets put away for the year!

2. Gutting out two boy's bedrooms - It's time, finally, to take down the crib and haul it out. No more babies in this house. It was actually a little sad! So the crib came out, the changing table went out with it - to a new little couple who will hopefully add a new baby to our extended family down the road. Son #1 got a new (well, new to us) log bed that I picked up really cheap from the online classifieds. Add a new mattress, sheets, comforter, wall decoration (only one so far - maybe I'll post about that fun crafty item), etc and he has a new "big boy" room. Son #2 got the toddler bed and all the car/truck decorations that son #1 is now done with. But all of this moving meant two complete days worth of cleaning and organizing and throwing away (while the boys weren't looking!) and donating. I'm exhausted!

We've had a nice big and very cold snowstorm on top of us for the last two days - we haven't left the house in more than a few days (and to be honest, showering is optional on days like these!). So I decided that rather than finishing up the leftovers, it was time for a nice piping hot pot of soup. I had seen this yummy Harvest Soup with Sweet Potatoes recipe over at The Mother Huddle's blog and decided to try it out. Husband isn't especially fond of meatless meals (especially when I make the mistake of telling him that it will be meatless as I'm making it). So I added some diced chicken breasts to "beef it up". I didn't have barley on hand either, but the veggies were amazing. The boys didn't even complain - they dove right in and ate it up. I'm sure the chicken helped with that too. Nothing better than a bowl of yummy hot soup on a cold winter's day. Now that's really M-M-M-good!