Happy Birthday to me!!

I had a great time celebrating my 33rd Birthday! Thanks to everyone who joined me!!

YEAH! I got my new Camera!!

Just a little Camera fun!!

Never Forget

There are no words, just prayer.

So it was my turn for a dinner suprise!

I had mentioned the Tator Tot Casserole before to hubby, but he didnt seem interested. So in our quest to change up dinner, I suggested it again. And again, he was not excited about it, but agreed to try it. AND he loved it. And so did the kids. My picky 11 year old decided that its a new favorite, and agrees, you cant go wrong with Tator Tots and Cheese!

So here is the tator tots!!

And here is the Cheese!!

I saw many recipes for this online, but Overall.. I just went for what we wanted to eat.. and topped it with Tator tots and cheese!! Again, how can you go wrong.

2 lbs Hamburger meat

2 cans Cream of Mushroom

1 bag Broccoli chucks

1 bag Tator tots (thawed)

And we didnt measure the cheese, we just poured it on!

Very easy, Very Yummy and its going on our menu!!

(Edited to add.. How to make it.. hahaha.. Well Brown meat, Drain, add soup, add veggies, put into pan, top with Tator tots and then cheese!! And cook for like 20 min on 350. Yes, I know I forgot to put the directions on!!)

Hubby Suprised me with Dinner!

After a long day, there is nothing better than Not having to cook! Well Hubby decided to cook us dinner.. And boy was it great.

Oh man it was good. Brown Rice, Veggies and Bacon covered Shrimp!!

(Side note, I caught hubby taking pictures of his dinner. I think Im rubbing off on him!)

Getting so big!!

My girls are getting so big!!

Say "Princess"!!

Boy Scouts

We just put our son in Boy Scouts. He has asked and asked about joining, and going on 8 years old, we feel now is the best time for him to start. So, We enrolled him! One if the first things he is being asked to do is cook a meal by himself. Im very nervous about this.. Kids, in the kitchen, with heat.. UM.. Panic Mode!! But we chose something easy to make, and quick. He cooked up and served out Macaroni and Cheese with Fish Sticks. I know, nothing fancy. But he did a great job. And we can check that off our list.

Adding the Cheese to the Macaroni.

Serving the plates of food.

Counting out Fish Sticks for everyone.

Serving his sisters!

I think I could get used to having my kids do all the cooking. Now, I didnt let him wash the dishes. Water and soap everywhere.. I could just see it!

Zucchini Pancakes

At the doctors office the other day.. I was going thru a magazine, and came accross this recipe. Sounds easy, and Yummy. So I snapped the picture!

Turns out.. It was easy! And Oh so yummy!!

First day of School 09

On our Way to the First day of School!!

Larissa in 5th grade!

Joshua my 2nd grader!

Kaelani in 3rd grade!

Ants, Ants, Ants Everywhere!!

This is what happens when you are eating a cookie, and set it down.

And this is what happens, when you go back after a couple of hours and try to eat the cookie you set down.

Yes, she went and picked up the cookie and started to eat it. It was in her room, and the lights were off in there. She went back in and only had the light of the TV in the room, so she didnt see that it was covered in Ants. By the time she came crying to me, the ants were crawling out of her mouth. It looked like a bad horror movie. Right away her lips swelled up and her cheeks turned pink. I called the doctor and they suggested I give her benadryl. It helped her and she was able to get to sleep. Poor baby!! Now everything is.. Does it have Ants. My poor child is scared for life of Ants!

Daycare Talent Show

In school, I never had the guts to get up and do anything for a talent show. And Ive lived my life believing that I do not have any kind of talent. So, when my kids came to me and said they wanted to be in the talent show for thier daycare. I was pretty proud. Thinking back now, I will try to help them more to work at it. They did a great job, but maybe they needed a little bit more confidence. But so proud watching them up there.

My Oldest daughter sang with a friend of hers. They sang "You belong to me" by Taylor Swift.

Next up, My son. He Danced (yes, Danced) to Thriller. He did very good, especially for someone who has never shown much interest in dancing.

My niece even got in on the talent and sand "Take a Bow" by Rihanna.

Snickerdoodle Mess

Ok, I tried to make my favorite cookie, and well. It did not come out as I expected. Im gonna blame the recipe I got off the internet. And soon, I will try them again!

What the...

Nice to come in to work on a Monday morning.. to a man hanging out side your window, On the second floor!

Such a Big Girl!

Bianca is such a big girl!! She is already practicing her writting skills!

Happy Birthday Johnny, Larissa, & Bianca!

That first week of August will always be very hectic! I have 3 lions after all.. Bianca' Second birthday was on July 30, and then we celebrate Johnny's 32 and Larissa's 11th birthday on August 3rd. So we usually set one day and celebrate Johnny and Larissa, and since Bianca is still small, we roll hers into the day as well. We had a Pool party for the girls, and a get together at our house. Nothing too big. But we had a great time.

Larissa wanted a Skull cake. So I did my best at freehand! Not too bad.

And for Bianca we decided on Hello Kitty.

Larissa got some pretty nice gifts. Including these text messengers.

And Bianca got some cool Walkie Talkies to share with Cordelia!

Then we had some good food..

And some good friends over to the house!

Suffering Succotash!!

From Urban Dictionary - suffering succotash
An exclamation of annoyance and surprise, made famous by the cartoon character Sylvester the cat. its a "euphemism" for the curse phrase "suffering saviour"
Suffering succotash!

From Wikipedia - Succotash is a food dish consisting primarily of corn and lima beans or other shell beans.

Recipe for Succotash from All Recipes

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, divided
2 cups fresh lima beans
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons white sugar
4 ears fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob

DIRECTIONS
Melt 1/2 cup butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in lima beans and salt, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan heat tomatoes, sugar and remaining 1/2 cup butter. Cook until tomatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
Stir tomatoes into lima beans and add corn; cook 10 minutes more.

Just thought Id Share, cause will on my weekend in Houston, we stopped in a small town, and saw a very nice buffet, and imagine my surprise when I see this..

I was so amused, and scared at the same time.. I never even knew it was a dish. But after researching it, it doesnt sound half bad! So I just wanted to let you know.. If you ever see Succotash.. Try it!! Now you know what it is!

Our Weekend with the Tree.. Oh and NKOTB!!

That Saturday started like any other Road Trip. We picked up the girls, and headed out to Houston Tx. We were on our way to the New Kids on the Block concert!

We got in right on time and went to rest and get ready at the hotel. We were going to be meeting a couple of girls for some drinks and food before the concert.

Then we were on our way. Making sure our directions were correct, we got to the place, and began looking for parking. Then we saw it.. a great spot, right near the venue, and we wouldnt have to pay for parking, which was like 12 bucks. So we pulled right in. Everyone got out, and we started to head to the resturant.. and thats when it happend!!

A Tree fell on the car, right as we got out. Not but 20 seconds after we walked away. And not just a branch, the whole tree fell on the car. Good thing it was one of those smaller trees, but it was so long, it crossed the sidewalk, the car, and one lane of traffic.

And smashed into the front windshield.

Needless to say, we were all so shaken. And being out of town, we had no idea what to do. We were only about 2 hours from the concert and a tree was stuck in the car. So, we decided to head over to the restraunt and have a few drinks anyways. We really couldnt do anything about it. Hope, stayed on the phone with the insurance to clear it up. But there wasnt much good news. We met up with the other ladies at the resturant, but by that time, we were not in the mood to eat. Just round up the Margaritas!

We finally made it to the concert, and despite the beginning of the evening, we really had a great time.
The Opening Act were the Jabbawokees. They were alright, but we only made it in to see the end of thier set.

Then on to The New Kids on the Block. Yes, sitting there, I realized, man.. Im old. But not as old as they are. And they are still bringing in the crowds.

When they came out, it got crazy loud. I can only imagine what it sounded like in the near by mall. Im sure if the wind hadnt knocked down that tree, the sound of so many women screaming all at once, would have done the job!

The show was awesome. They did all thier old hits, and some newer ones. I was so amazed by the large amount of fans. And there were older women, young women, kids, and even men there. It was such a diverse crowd.
When we got to the van, we walked up on people taking pictures next to it. It was quite disturbing, but then we decided to try it, and you know what... it was quite fun. And it cheered us up a bit, while we looked for a way back to the hotel and back Home!!

The next day, we were able to get a ride home!! It turned out to be a great trip, and one we all will never forget. I was very happy to have shared that with some great women!! Till next time ladies!!

4th of July

This year, we decide to take the kids on a trip to Belton, Texas. Its where I have family from. And my mother was going to be going for thier annual 4th of July Parade. In years past, she has always tried to get us to go. And I haven't been since I was a little girl. So we went ahead and joined them. Besides, I had never taken the kids to a parade. They were due one.

We started the weekend off at Lake Belton. Very nice. I was a litte weirded about going into the lake. I am not a lake person. I like to see my feet. But had to take the kids in.

We made a picnic while out there and enjoyed the sunset.

Me and Johnny

Sunset at Lake Belton

The next morning we got up bright and early and went to get our space at the Parade. Friday night, I started to not feel too well, so that morning, I had a fever. I was so upset that I was feeling that sick, while out of town on a great little vacation with the family. But I got thru. And we had a great time at the Parade.

There were so many entries in the Parade. It lasted quite a while.

Joshua at the Parade

Larissa at the Parade

Bianca at the Parade
Even Cordelia had an ok time, but after a while she was bored.

After the Parade, we went to visit some family and got to eat and enjoy some very good food.

Johnny loved the awesome sausage wraps!!

And Bianca loved the watermelon!!

By the evening, I had completely gone from bad to worse.. I was so sick. I had fever, chills, sore throat and a terrible headache. So we made it to the fireworks, but I had forgotten the batteries to my camera. So unfortunately we didnt get any pictures of the fireworks and the kids. But they loved it. We drove out to Temple, TX to see the fireworks and they were beautiful. We are even considering going again, next year. Hopefully this time, I wont get sick. Which by the way, ended up being tonsillitis. So that was a lot of fun!!