Call us CrAzY?

We have a new addition!!

Barnum and Bailey's Grammy & Papa stumbled upon a "good deal at Academy." The boys couldn't be happier!!

Bailey likes to roam the tramp solo while chanting, "Boun, boun, boun." Barnum likes to have a captive audience while he acquires new tricks.

My favorite part of breaking in the new was when The Strong Man journeyed up to "Show the boys how it is done." Needless to say, we've been nursing a back injury for the past week!!!

Barnum is CONSUMED with his new toy!! When The Strong Man was putting him to bed the night we got it he said, "Daddy! I can't go to sleep because someone will jump on my trampoline!!" He was assured and assured that no one would be jumping on his trampoline. Five minutes later he is loudly beckoning, "DADDY, DADDY. DAAAAAADDDDDYYYYYY! Will you put a sign on my trampoline so no one will jump on it?" "Of course I will. Now off to sleep."

Three minutes later, "DADDDDDDDYYYYYYY!! DAD. DAAAAAADDDDDDDYYYYY! Will you make it look like a Stop Sign?? A Stop Sign with stripes?"

Water Animals

These pics were taken a week or two back while Barnum and Bailey were splashing around in their "pool."

Bailey was pretty excited about his outdoor circus rehearsals!!

Barnum wrestled and wrestled with Bailey trying to get him to perform the way he thought he should perform!!

Barnum finally gave up. Disgusted with the results!!!

JUST MARRIED!!!

I just returned home from the SWEETEST wedding!!! It was just toooooo much fun and the bride was just beautiful in a dress that was made for her!!

The super fun reception included: Mr. and Mrs. PEZ dispensers, California rolls, shrimp cocktail, fruit and cheese kabobs, E.L. Fudge, gummy worms, rock candy, peanut butter balls, Oreo truffles and yummy drinks like peacock punch, limeade spritzers, coffee punch and mock champagne. My favorite featured item was the AWESOME photo booth with dress up clothes!!!

The wedding cake:

The bridesmaids and bridal bouquet before walking down the aisle!!

A white hydrangea and peacock feather centerpiece from the reception:

A boutonniere:

The Getaway Car

The New Mr. and Mrs. Foster before jetting off to their Honeymoon!!

MOT and I were lucky enough to get to drive the Getaway car home. Before we headed home, we decided we MUST cruise through Sonic for a night cap reminiscent of our high school days.

It is insane to think about all that has transpired in our lives since we began these very loyal Sonic runs at least 12 years ago!!

While sitting on the "COOL SIDE" MOT tells me she has discovered the most disgustingly delicious snack. I wasn't buying it! (After all, she also told me that about Whataburger's taquitos...barf city!!!) However, she peels out and heads 2 blocks south to Taco Bell.

There, she orders 2 Crunchy Cheesy Gorditas. The verdict is in......she is right.....they are disgustingly delicious. I am now forever mad at her for introducing them to me!! She has created a HUGE conundrum for me when I am at the combo Taco Bell/Long John Silver's!!

Will I betray my chicken planks for a Crunchy Cheesy Gordita??

Gratituesday

Today, I am grateful for the fountains and splash pads in our area!! They are an AWESOME way to beat the heat!!!

Photos courtesy of The Tattooed Lady!!

For more "Gratituesday" head on over to The Heavenly Homemakers!!

Wrath

I woke up very optimistic this morning. I had my game face on for the week. My goals were set, mapped out and I was ready to attack. Boom, boom, boom. I was going to get it all done and the kids.... The kids were going to be great. I just knew it. I had a feeling.


If I've said it once, I've said it a THOUSAND times....NEVER TRUST YOUR FEELINGS!!!!!


I was 1/4 of the way done at WalMarket (It will forever be known as Walmarket to me!!! I had a dear friend who shopped, cooked and cleaned for me endlessly when I was sick. She would always call and ask what we would be needing from The WalMarket!) ANYWAY....


I was 1/4 of the way done at WalMarket with Barnum and Bailey in tow. It hit me like a TON of BRICKS!!!! The....oh no I have to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW or I WILL DIE!! Anyone who knows me knows that I would rather DIE than go to a public restroom. They are just something I can't get past. Today, I had no choice. It was get past the public restroom or borrow a diaper from Bailey. I left the diaper bag in the car so off the the front of the store to visit the public restrooms! I had to park the cart, remove the children, drag Barnum away from the shooting game in the arcade, usher them both into the restroom, lock them in the stall with me and use the public restroom!


It only gets worse!!!


Bailey was more than annoyed that he had to get back into the cart. He let me and everyone else know that he was not going to have it. He unleashed a merciless wrath on his mommy and everyone else in the store! However, we had NO ESSENTIALS!! NONE. I had no choice but to power through the storm. I was throwing milk, bread, cheese and frozen pizza on top of Barnum in the cart and tearing open all the normally forbidden boxes of Fruit Roll-ups, Granola bars and M & M's as fast as possible.


Bailey didn't care. It didn't phase him. He simultaneously ate the junk and continued to scream. THROUGHOUT the entire WalMarket and the entire ride home!!!







The evidence of my worthless bribes are all over his face!!!

W-O-W...he is starting to look exactly like his DADDY!! Now that he has gone blond I can't lay claim to either one of them!!!

Tomorrow, you better have something better for me!!!!

Adding Insult to Injury

My sweet Aunt Jeanne courageously lost her battle with cancer. Sadly, I was not able to attend the service and therefore planned to honor her with an incredible floral arrangement. When remembering my Aunt, I see visions of bright flowers, various textures and a lot of interest.

Therefore, this was the arrangement I chose:

I located this arrangement on the 1-800 Flowers.com website and felt it represented my Aunt perfectly.


This is what arrived at the funeral home:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Barnum and Bailey have made sandcastles with more architectural interest than this pot full of mismatched weeds!!! Flowerwrecks.com anyone?

I understand how teleflora works. I understand they contract out with a local florist. I understand it is a bit of a gamble. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND how in this day and age of iphones and blackberry that ANYONE would try and pull this off as acceptable!!!

I also do not understand how the situation was not able to be remedied. SO WHAT if I got my money back. I don't care about the money. I care about being able to honor my aunt.

Flowers are my love language. More importantly, flowers were my Aunt Jeanne's love language.

Bureaucracy and local incompetence turned them into sadness.

Friendship

John 15: 13-17

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.

May you sweet, sweet boys always be GREAT friends.

Let's go to the MOVIES!!!

We just celebrated an I-N-C-R-E-D-U-L-O-U-S landmark!!! Barnum's first movie at a REAL movie theatre!! UP


Not only did I cry and cry and cry because my baby is so BIG but also because the movie is so GREAT!! Barnum loved every minute of it!! He loved getting his ticket, picking his concessions, eating his concessions and watching the movie!!! He sat through every minute!!! (Including the credits which is actually his favorite part!! He has to see them on every video he watches!! He will cry if you try to skip them.)


I think that Barnum was able to channel the main character, Mr. Fredrickson, amazingly well!! Compare the photos!! (Barnum has been dubbed a dramatic genius since the ripe old age of FOUR months!!! Remember Annabelle??








Three tickets, please!!! Thankfully, The Tattooed Lady was in town to watch Bailey!!






Considering the racket on movie stand concessions, Barnum was the only lucky recipient. The Strong Man made the mistake of trying to snag a bite of his popcorn and was quickly told, "Get your own popcorn!!"


Thank you Strong Man and Barnum for one of the BESTEST days ever!! What a treasured memory it will be for me!! I love you!

Tagged!!

Thank you, Katie, for my first official TAG!!!

8 things I am looking forward to (in no particular order):

1. Brother and Sister-in-law moving to town!

2. Father and Mother-in-law moving to town!

3. Barnum's swimming lessons

4. Trash Day (The diaper genie is overflowing!!!)

5. Free Iced Latte @ McDonald's on Wednesday

6. A shower

7. Naptime!

8. Bedtime!

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Cooked Blueberry Streusel Muffins

2. Took Barnum and Bailey to splash in the fountains

3. Had a picnic with friends

4. Dyed my hair (no one has yet to notice!!!)

5. Ate at a new restaurant...Peli Peli. L-O-V-E-D it. Portuguese.

6. Had Freshberry for dessert!!

7. Painted my toenails....Make Mine Mango!!

8. Watched Marley & Me

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Run like I used to prior to children and paralysis

2. Have my hair professionally dyed

3. See family and friends more often

4. TRAVEL

5. Sew

6. Keep my cool

7. Stay up late

8. Throw a football

8 Shows I watch:

I TRY to watch the following!! I record them all and then get frustrated b/c I am so far behind and I end up deleting them!!

1. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!! Best show on TV EVER, EVER, EVER!!! I DO NOT MISS THIS ONE.....EVER!!!

2. Dancing with the Stars

3. Garage Mahal

4. 18 Kids and counting

5. The Office

6. The Amazing Race

7. The Bachelor/Bachelorette

8. The SOUP!! Holla Back, Joel McHale!!!!

8 Favorite Fruits:

1. Apples (ANY kind!! I'm loving Honey Crisp right now!)

2. Cherries

3. Strawberries

4. Oranges

5. Peaches

6. Pears

7. Pineapple

8. Watermelon

8 Places I would like to travel:

1. Italy

2. France

3. Australia

4. Costa Rica

5. Hawaii

6. New York (I have been trying for 3 YEARS!!)

7. GREECE

8. Scotland

8 place I have lived:

1. Pampa, Texas

2. Stillwater, Oklahoma

3. New Orleans, Louisiana

4. Tulsa, Oklahoma

5. Houston, Texas

8 tags:

You are tagged! Leave a comment with a link to your post!!!

Progress Report

See how our garden grows!!!








Barnum and Bailey love to check out their plants and Mommy and Daddy are laughing at how badly they underestimated the growth potential of their plants!!


Fresh Vegetables, anyone??

Google Reader

Today, I am thankful for.....

GOOGLE Reader!!!

Google Reader will allow you to have any RSS Feed (Really Simple Syndication) delivered straight to one place!!! Google Reader is an insanely awesome timesaver!! It updates automatically!! It means no more clicking from here to there to here!

You choose what comes in and how it is organized. You can choose from blogs, Twitter, Diggs, Facebook, Fox News, etc!!

There is also a mobile app!! Google Reader Mobile was my lifeline to the outside world why I was away for the past 16 days!!!

There are a bevy of RSS Channels and RSS readers but I love the user ease and mobile app of Google!!

Visit Heavenly Homemakers to connect with other grateful bloggers!!

Circus Fare--Asparagus Risotto

We're BACK!!! In order to avoid the five overflowing baskets of laundry, phone calls, and daily grind, I decided to cook! There is nothing like busying yourself to distract from your reality.

The recipe I tried was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I loved it!! My inspiration came from all of the fresh, home-grown asparagus we encountered up north. (North for us but really just mid-America).

The recipe is a simple and Y-U-M-M-Y Asparagus Risotto!! BTW....don't be fooled into thinking you HAVE to HAVE arborio rice. I used simple long grain white rice and it turned out magnificently!! The key to this recipe is stirring, stirring, stirring, and more stirring!!

Spring Asparagus Risotto

Yield

8 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups risotto and 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese)

Ingredients

• 4 cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 1/2 pounds), divided
• 3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
• 2 cups uncooked Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Place 1 cup asparagus and 1 cup broth in a blender; puree until smooth. Combine puree, remaining 2 cups broth, and 1 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

2. Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in rice; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1/2 cup broth mixture; cook 2 minutes or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining puree mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 30 minutes total). Stir in remaining 3 cups asparagus; cook 2 minutes.

3. Stir in 3/4 cup cheese, cream, salt, and pepper. Transfer risotto to a bowl. Serve with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

283

Fat:

7.7g (sat 4.4g,mono 2g,poly 0.3g)

Protein:

10.5g

Carbohydrate:

44g

Fiber:

4.1g

Cholesterol:

23mg

Iron:

2.2mg

Sodium:

634mg

Calcium:

144mg

Clif Holt, Clif Holt, Cooking Light, APRIL 2009