It's just a day at the beach

So we are in Houston this weekend for a showcase tournament and we've had some extra time on our hands in between our first and second games. So we decided to head to Galveston to spend the day at the beach. We went with another soccer family and her family that lives in the area.

We rode the ferry over to a less populated beach and if you've never done this before, then it's quite fun. We had a loaf of bread that we used to feed the seagulls and then we spotted dolphins jumping about behind the ferry.

My friend's cousin's car had a bit of trouble once we crossed to the other side and so we left the car parked near a school to let it cool off and assess the situation later.

We continued in my car to the beach where we enjoyed the sun, hermit crabs and playing in the sand.

As for the car trouble, after a call to AAA and an hour of waiting for a tow, we found out the car only needed fuel.

Alan

Cody, who is 10 years old, went with me to the store and on the way home we were talking.


Cody: "When I grow up I want to be like Alan."

Me: "What is it about Alan that makes you want to be like him?"

Cody: "He's funny."

Me: "Well I think he's a good person to aspire to be like because he's always making people laugh, in a good mood and fun to be around."


That Tanya is a lucky woman and I can't help but be a little jealous.

You want some of this?

Do you want to know what takes place in between soccer games at the tournaments that we frequently travel to on weekends?

Wrestlemania!!

Four Foods on Friday

Barbecue is the topic for this week's Four Foods on Friday.

#1. What is your favorite food that is cooked on the barbeque?
I love smoked sausage the best. But everything is good cooked on a grill.

#2. What veggies, if any, do you cook on the barbeque?
The only time we barbecue vegetables is when I make shish-ka-bobs. I prefer squash, tomatoes, and onion.

#3. Tell us a little about your barbeque habits. Who grills, how often, what months, etc.
We grill about once a month and it's the hubby who does most of the cooking. Usually in the summer because it's just too darn cold in the winter.

#4. Share a barbeque recipe.
I'm stumped on this one. I have no barbecue recipes. But I did post a recipe for pulled pork on an earlier FFOF. You can check it out here.

State Champs!

Here are the state pictures from this past weekend. I posted these last year as well, so I thought I should continue the tradition.

Summer memories

During the last day of the Oklahoma State Cup, a friend and I sat in our chairs, in the shade that was provided by their portable awning, for hours watching soccer. In the midst of our small talk, we got on the topic of critters that we played with when we were wee little children. And when I say critters, I'm not talking about our cute pets we had when growing up that posed no threat. I'm talking about those that you find creeping and crawling around the outside of your house, or in a field, hiding in the dirt and under plants.

We probably happened onto this topic because our own children kept coming up to us with a new creature for us to observe and shoving it inches from our eyes, because children believe that their parents have reached that hard of seeing stage straight out of the womb.

So we shared stories of how we played with insects, toads or whatever we could find to entertain us during our summers as children. And then how we stopped playing with nature's little toys once we were bit, poked or spat at.

My memories of growing up in West Texas include playing with "horny toads" that we would round up from a nearby empty lot and place our findings in a shoe box so that we could determine which was the father, mother and the babies. We would mark the mother with a dab of nail polish (yes, I know this was wrong, but at the time, I was just too young to know better). And how did we know this was the mother, you ask? Simple, she was the medium sized one.

We always let our creatures go at the end of the day, but I'll never forget the time that I placed one of the horny toads on the ledge of a vent that went underneath a house and as soon as I let go of him he went into that vent through a hole that shouldn't have been there. He had no way out, at least as far as I knew. I worried about that little guy for a long time and as you can see, never forgot him. My days of playing with these toads came to an abrupt halt when one of them spat blood at me. This story consisted of a girl, her sister, her dog and an empty lot. A story to be told at another time, but an incident I'll never forget.

As for other creatures that entertained me as a child, who didn't love finding those small depressions in the dirt knowing it contained a doodle bug. We would squat down low and with our finger or a stick, move the dirt around and watch to see if the dirt would move on it's own. How exciting this was to watch intently and be rewarded by this movement. Can you believe we played near something so horrifyingly ugly?

And what about those noisy locust that sat up high in the trees and made that annoying screeching sound. We would catch them when they landed low on the bark of trees and hold them by their wings and watch them vibrate as they tried to fly away. I never played with locust after one tried to extract sap from my finger, but before that, finding the baby locust in the grass was amazingly fun!

What interesting critters did you enjoy as a child?

Ever consuming life of soccer

Ok, last week was a terrible week for blogging. But I'm going to do better this week. Things have been really busy and we've been out of town for the past two weekends. Caitlin and Hayden were in the Oklahoma State Cup and we finished that up today. Both of their teams won the State Championship. Caitlin's team will now head to Raleigh, North Carolina for Regionals in about 3 weeks. But next weekend we will be in Houston for the Texas Shootout Showcase. Once we get past June, things will calm down a bit.

For now, I need a shower and a good night's rest.

Four Foods on Friday

This week's Four Foods topic is about foods that are white. So here goes.

#1. What’s your favorite white beverage? If you don’t have one, what’s your favorite beverage with something white in it?
My favorite white beverage has white in it but isn't white... a chocolate shake.

#2. What’s your favorite white gravy, sauce, condiment, dressing or topping?
I love white gravy that's made from chicken fried steak. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

#3. What’s your favorite white item from the refrigerated section?
I've recently been eating cream cheese, like it's going out of style, with Red pepper jelly and wheat thins. Try it if you haven't.

#4. Share a recipe for something white.

Pop Corn Balls
1 C sugar
½ C water
1 t vinegar
¼ C karo syrup
½ t vanilla
popcorn

Cook about 3 minutes or until thickens. Pour over bowl of popcorn and stir around. With very well buttered hands, form into balls.

Prepositions

My birthday was last week and Tanya sent me a birthday card that we all enjoyed. She and I were talking not long ago about sentences that end in a preposition. Sometimes it's hard to say what you want to say any other way.

State Cup in Edmond

We had fun this weekend in Edmond, OK at the Oklahoma State Cup. Both of the kids' soccer teams won all their games and will be in playing in the finals next weekend.

Our hotel had an interesting feature that we couldn't quite figure out, so we had fun taking pictures of this mysterious door.

Not for sensitive stomachs

Earlier this week, I was taking the kids to school. Hayden was sitting in the front and Cody was obliviously playing his Nintendo DS in the back. As we drove down the road, Hayden and I silently noticed that we were approaching a buzzard in the middle of the road eating a fresh road kill. This was nothing new but the next few seconds made us squeal a bit.

As my car approached the bird, he started to take flight as all birds usually do in the presence of oncoming traffic. This bird however was not willing to leave his breakfast behind so had grabbed a hold of it and flew up giving Hayden and I a view of a 2 foot long stringy "somethin' another" with a wad of a "thingy majig" dangling at the end of it. As it dangled over the hood of my car, I watched to see if this mass of guts was going to plop onto my bright shiny white car.

We made it past this horrific scene without incident but couldn't believe what we had just witnessed, and so early after breakfast. Hayden and I had been shreaking "ewwwws" as this took place, but after it had passed and I looked over at Hayden in that "Can you believe that just happened?" kind of way, he held his hand in the air in a way to ask for that congratulatory high five. He thought that was way cool! Cody missed it all.

Four Foods on Friday

I know it's not usually Friday when I post this because I've become a procrastinator as of late. If you want to join in and participate on this Friday activity, go visit Fun, Crafts and Recipes. Val will post a new recipe almost everyday if not everyday.

#1. What’s your favorite beverage containing chocolate or chocolate flavoring?
I don't usually drink a chocolate beverage but I have to say that good ole chocolate milk is the best. Although I've also recently discovered a chocolate chip ice cream type drink at Starbucks which is quite delicious.

#2. What’s your favorite chocolate bar? OR Share a pic of your favorite candy, chocolate or otherwise.
I love Dove dark chocolate. It's scrumptious!

#3. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten that had chocolate in it?
I don't recall anything that I've eaten as unusual, much less with chocolate. But I find chocolate cereal a little unusual.

#4. Share a recipe using chocolate.
Who doesn't love "Puppy Chow" or as I've also heard it called... "white trash"?

Puppy Chow

9 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
1 t. vanilla
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
½ c. peanut butter
¼ c. butter or margarine
1 ½ c. powdered sugar

Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, stir together chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

I love my kids!

My Mother's Day was nice this year. It started off when I was in the kitchen getting myself some coffee and Caitlin came in bearing a rose and my favorite chocolate. She's so thoughtful and just the best daughter that I could imagine having. Probably because her and I share the same positive outlook on life and she's incredibly funny.

Next came Cody with a hug, card and a chocolate donut on a plate. He loves to bring me things or take things from me to go put away. I would hope he would always be this helpful, but from my experience, kids lose those wonderful traits as they become teenagers. I don't expect this child to be any different, but for now, I love how helpful he is.

Hayden was next with a hug and a Mother's Day wish. The card that Cody brought in was also from Hayden so that was covered earlier. Hayden is a bit of an entertainer and always has been, even though he never really meant it to be that way. He tells stories about school and friends in such way that it will make you laugh.

Later, we all headed out to a soccer game of our friend's youngest son. It was the Championship game in a local tournament and it was worth being there. The game was very exciting and it was fun being there to support such a cute kid. We always have a good time with this family and today was no exception.

I didn't talk to Dylan until after we left the soccer fields, when I called to see if he wanted to join us for dinner out. He immediately wished me "Happy Mother's Day" but declined the invitation since he had to work later. He keeps to himself for the most part but if you catch him on a good day, he's very talkative. He's signing up to go into the Air Force this summer so I spend much of my time worrying about where his life is taking him and hoping that this will make him happy. I've spent a lot of my online time looking up as much information on basic training and what to expect as a parent.

Except for the fact that I had to make a grocery store run, Mother's Day was pretty good.

And today.... well today is my birthday.

Can Drive

The annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive is taking place this Saturday so I've filled my sack with non-perishables, some of which is pictured here. Anything that I had multiple items of was placed in the sack and will be left by my mailbox on May 1oth.

Saturday, I'll be a giver.

Beef and Broccoli

I bought about 28 packs of assorted cuts of meat not too long ago from Reasors when they were having their big meat sale that they have only twice a year. Tonight I made stir fry and I'll probably be making this dish quite a bit in the next couple of months.

Not seen too often if ever

This is something you don't see everyday. An uneaten banana on the road.

Not only do you NOT see an uneaten banana in the road everyday, you don't see a banana lying face up.

Coffee and Rain....priceless

It's a beautiful morning here in Oklahoma. I realize that storms should not be considered a good thing, but when the temps are moderate, it's overcast, rainy, and you have a great cup of coffee to top it off.. what could be better?

What would Friday be without Four Foods on Friday

I love this meme. Every week is a different set of questions and anyone can participate in Four Foods on Friday. This week is no different.

#1. How do you make chicken salad?
I love my chicken salad if I can say so. It's made with green onions, eggs, mayo, almonds and plenty of seasoned pepper.

#2. Fast food chicken. What fast food restaurant makes the best chicken?
Chick-fil-A. Duh!!

#3. What’s your favorite way to eat chicken?
Everything taste good fried, right? But I also love baked chicken because it's so tender and delicious. Not to mention, it's a healthier version but doesn't taste like it.

#4. Share a recipe using chicken or take a picture of a chicken dish.
I like this recipe because it's so easy and taste great. Hope you enjoy

Chicken and Pasta Dish
1 lg pkg. Extra wide egg noodles
1 can cr. of chicken
1 can cr. of mushroom
1 can bnls chicken
english peas and carrots (cook until soft)
celery
onion
1 ½ can small carnation milk
velveeta cheese slices

Saute celery and onion. Mix all ingredients and lay cheese on top. Cover and bake @ 350 degrees for 20 – 30 minutes.

Done with planting... for now.

I went shopping for a tropical palm this week and also found this Tiny Ghost Asiatic Lily. I think it also looks tropical and the red color is beautiful.


Before the most "hell-atious" wind arrived to ruin what could have been two beautiful days, I was able to finish up my landscaping project this week. I took a lot of time deciding exactly where each plant belonged so I hope I haven't made any mistakes. I hate when I do that. Notice the "joysticks" up front and center. It was a roundabout recommendation from Tanya. And once she mentioned it was an evergreen, I was sold.

I was able to plant the last azalea that I've had waiting patiently while I worked up some "want to".

I'm finished landscaping around the pool. Now all that is left is to keep it alive.

Fun Foods on Friday!

It's that time again... Fun Foods on Friday!

#1. What brand of frozen dinners do you think are the best and why?
I think Stouffers does a good job with the meals they make that are family size. Especially the chicken enchiladas.. yumm.

#2. What is your favorite frozen waffle or breakfast food?
We eat Eggos waffles and have for years. I should probably try something less expensive and see if it can match up.

#3. Frozen appetizers. Which one is your favorite?
I like TGIF's selection of appetizers. The potato skins, fried cheese and buffalo wings are pretty good.

#4. Share a recipe or meal made from at least one frozen food.

Broccoli and Rice casserole
Frozen broccoli
8oz. Cheese whiz (mild)
2 c. cooked rice
1 can cr. of mushroom soup
¼ c. celery
¼ c. onion
3 T. butter

Saute celery and onions in butter. Mix all ingredients and cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes uncovered.

Pingin' and Pongin'

We've added another feature to the backyard pool area. Ping Pong! We've had this table folded up and out of the way in the garage. But when Hayden had asked if we could move the table to the back porch, to an area that we had no other use for, I thought, "why not?". It was perfect.

And oh how I loved the way the boys played against each other without one fight. In fact they worked as a team to see how long they could rally back and forth. I've been informed that "74" is their record so far.

Four Foods on Friday

Here's this week's Four Foods on Friday that is brought to all of us at Fun, Crafts and Recipes. Everyone should join in on the meme... it's very enjoyable.

#1. When going out to dinner what items do your order? Appetizers, soup, salad, dinner, dessert. Sometimes I'll have an appetizer, if I'm really starving. But for the most part the only thing I order is dinner.

#2. How predictable are you when eating out? Do you usually order a meal that you’ve had before or do you like to try new things?
I am sooo predictable. I have favorite things at each restaurant and tend to order the same thing. Occasionally I'll have a hankerin' for something different.

#3. When eating at a restaurant, what beverage do you like to order with your meal?
I prefer ice tea because it's refreshing and no calories. My other drink of choice would be diet sprite or 7up. Again.. no calories.

#4. Name a meal that you ate at a restaurant that you liked so much you tried to recreate it, as well as the name of the restaurant and the recipe.
I once made Oriental Chicken Salad that is served at Applebees. I found the recipe in a cookbook that clones restaurant favorites but I made some small changes. It was delicious.

Oriental Chicken Salad

Salad Dressing:
3 T. honey
¼ c. mayonnaise
1 ½ T. rice wine vinegar
1 t. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1/8 t. sesame oil

Blend together all ingredients and chill while preparing salad.

Tyson chicken tenders, warmed in the oven; cut in bite size pieces
3c. chopped romaine lettuce
1 c. chopped red cabbage
½ carrot, shredded
1 T. sliced almonds
1/3 c. crispy chow mein noodles

Mix lettuce, cabbage and carrots. Toast almonds over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until light brown. Sprinkle almonds over salad and add the chow mein noodles. Lay chicken on top of salad and serve with salad dressing.

Should I be worried?

Cody and I were driving down the road when he spotted a group of cattle huddled together in a pasture.

Cody: What are they doing?

me: Having a meeting.

Cody: (giggles out loud)

Cody: Killed the farmer

Might have been a bit premature

We opened our pool this weekend and I think it might have been a bit early. Only because our Oak tree hasn't produced all of its leaves so for now it has these fuzzy looking blooms on it and the wind decided today was a perfect day to blow again. This resulted in lots of little bloom tidbits floating around in the pool. Yea!!!

Too much wind ruins my day

The wind here today is horrible. The wind was blowing yesterday and I knew it would be more of the same today, but I wasn't expecting it to be worse. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And that's what I did. I went out and took pictures of wind. Oh yeah... you heard me! I'm cool like that.

Somehow I thought this would be easier. I had to wait for wind because it tried to hide from me several times. I peered through the camera at my target and "wind" became "breeze". But my sheer determination and stubbornness would prevail. Good thing I'm a Taurus; us bulls are known to be stubborn.

Here is the first thing I spotted across the way. The "way" being the road in front of my house. Or if you 're from the south like me, you might know it as over "yonder". My mom has a room in her house called "the yonder". This is because my nieces thought that was the name of the room since my mother was always pointing off in that direction and telling them that things were "in yonder". Ok, back to my spectacular photography. See how you can tell this is the American flag instead of a piece of fabric wrapped around a pole? This is called "wind".

Now here's the net on our basketball goal. Normally this hangs below and looks like a funnel. But not today. This is also called "wind".

Dear Rain, Can you pace yourself, please?

All the rain that we recently received has washed out the road we take to Tulsa. Now it takes 10 minutes on top of our already 40 minute trip to soccer practice. Repairs are expected to take up to a month. You might not know this but.. it sucks.

Four Foods on Friday

Here we go again with my new Friday obsession of Four Foods on Friday. If your interested in taking part, go to this site, copy the questions and write your answers. Dont forget to leave a comment at Fun, Crafts and Recipes.

#1. Cottage cheese. Small curd, large curd, chunk or whipped?
I love small curd cottage cheese with saltine crackers. Sometimes I even crave it.

#2. Burgers. Made fresh, preformed fresh or preformed frozen?
The only way to go with burgers is "fresh"!! Add some mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and when I'm in the mood for a little punch... jalopenos too! MMmmmm.

#3. If you could only buy one kind of salad dressing what would it be?
If I could only buy one then it would have to be Ranch Dressing because it not only taste good on salads, it's good for dipping with pizza, vegetables and crackers. No other dressing matches up.

#4. Share a crockpot or slow cooker recipe.

Pulled Pork
1 Pork Shoulder/Butt Roast
1 can beef broth
2 T. worcestorshire
½ T. liquid smoke

Place in crockpot and cook overnight on low for 8-10 hours. Remove pork from crockpot and pull the meat apart, using forks, one in each hand. Add barbecue sauce of your choice and enjoy as is or plop some on a hamburger bun, maybe with some coleslaw, and eat up.

I have to force this issue

Since Spring refuses to show itself just yet, I'm bringing Spring to me and you, of course, dear internet. I've recently added some new plants to the flowerbed out back and I'm posting pics to add that Spring feeling.

This is a Japanese Maple. A small tree that fits perfectly up next to the house.









I like this next one because of how the leaves look like flowers. It's called a Stonecrop. It should produce pink blooms in late summer, but I like it just the way it is.


Ok, so there you go... enjoy the Spring!

A Must Read!

Today, Pioneer Woman recalls her night without electricity. Boy, do I remember a day we had recently where we had no electricity for 12 hours. It was cold and so boring!! I understand exactly what she's talking about and where she's coming from.

If you want to laugh at least once a day... you must read Pioneer Woman.

She never disappoints.

Shoe or Achoo?

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I've been helping my neighbors out by tending to their female schnauzers needs during the day while the neighbors are off slumming earning those paychecks.

So yesterday, as I was waiting on the two females to finish up doing their outside business, I was on my cell phone with my mother while I stood watching out the back window. As I listened to her tell me some story about "who did what to whom", the girls came to the door begging for me to let them escape from all the coldness that has enveloped Oklahoma and into the warmth where I currently stood. But some tasks cannot be ignored so that all remains right in their small doggy world. Diva must retrieve her "shoe" (which isn't a shoe at all). So while my mother talks, I pull the phone away just far enough so that I can still hear the conversation and then I tell Diva, "Go get your shoe, go get your shoe!"

At which my mothers replies: "Oh.. bless you, bless you!"

Me: "Did you just bless me?"

Green House

I've never been into recycling but I'm finding lately that I'm much more interested in conserving energy and living on natural sources. Probably what motivates me is the rising price of gas and the high cost of heat and cooling. So this article on Green Homes was one that I found interesting and I've seen other programs on HGTV on the same topic that grab my interest. I wish I were able to start incorporating this type of life but for now, I'll just keep changing out our light bulbs until we are free of those old energy burning bulbs and strictly using the more efficient "green" bulbs.

Four Foods and Fun!

I've really been enjoying Four Foods on Friday. Just something I participate that allows readers to learn more about the blogger.

#1. What’s your favorite food smell?
I love the smell of roast in the morning after it's been cooking in the crockpot overnight.

#2. What’s your favorite kind of apple?
Granny Smith is my favorite because I like the tangyness.

#3. What veggies do you like in your salad?
The ulitmate veggie in a salad is tomatoes. I love tomatoes so much that I eat them by themselves, sliced with salt and pepper. I also love bell peppers and cucumbers in my salad.

#4. Share a recipe that uses beef.

Easy Swedish Meatballs
2 lb ground beef
1 can cr. of mushroom soup
¼ c. cracker crumbs
2 can cream of celery
¼ c. minced onion
2 can of water
1 slightly beat egg
2 T. parsley
cooked rice

Mix beef, crumbs, onion, egg and parsley. Shape into 24 meatballs. Brown meat in skillet. Stir in soup and water. Cover; Cook over low heat 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice.

Frownies for me!!

Yes, I'm a bit excited to have won this giveaway.

I won "Frownies" from Welcome to the Motherhood. Just what a mom in her 40's needs!! Yahoo! Thanks Lesha!!

Official language of Dallas?

Ok. So we are in Dallas this weekend. Or are we? Why do I feel as though I have traveled too far, say.. oh .. like to Mexico. Every place we shopped, every place we ate... I did not understand what was being said and it was obvious a few times that they did not quite understand us either. Even on the elevator of our hotel, Caitlin turned to the woman who had entered with us and asked what floor while pointing toward the buttons. The woman put on that funny little smile that means "I don't know what you're talking about" and stepped past Caitlin to push her own button. Obviously didn't understand that she was offering to do this task for her had she just said the magic number.

And as for the male counterparts, not one time did any of them ever... and I mean EVER... hold the door for us or allow us to enter a door or elevator before them. I was so appalled at the manners. Politeness comes in all languages... doesn't it??

Competitions

Cody will be traveling to another city in Oklahoma today to compete in the "Battle of the Brains". His competition will be in mathematics. I hope he does well and I can't wait to hear from him.

I'm heading to Dallas today for a one night stayover and a couple of soccer games. This is the last part of the National League and we are playing teams from California. We need this to go well so hopefully the girls come ready to play.

Ugh!

I'm in a funk of sorts. The weather has turned cold again and that doesn't help matters. Nothing much going on around here anyway.

I'm going to Dallas on Friday, for the night, and I'm really looking forward to this trip. The 4 hour drive sounds so appealing.

It can't hurt

Finish this line:

Money does not make you happy but......

Enjoy more like this at "Michelle"

Four Foods on Friday

Here we go with this week's "Four Foods on Friday" questions.

#1. American cheese. Sliced fresh or prepackaged processed cheese product?
I prefer sliced fresh although I'm not much of a cheese lover and the added calories is something I tend to stray away from. Unless of course I need a dairy serving added to my diet. I do however love shredded cheese... on nachos and those baked potatoes that I mentioned last week

#2. What is your favorite cracker?
"Chicken in a Biscuit" brand crackers have a delighful flavor. It taste good on it's own and doesn't necessarily need a topping like cheese, although this does taste good as well.

#3. What hot breakfast cereal do you like? Think oatmeal, farina, grits, etc.
Malt o' Meal with sugar and butter is a great warm breakfast meal and a favorite of mine. In my house we refer to it as Cream of Wheat. Although I don't care for the actual brand "Cream of Wheat". The taste is not the same. My sister serves it to her kids when they are sick and this keeps their tummys full without any adverse affects.

#4. Share a recipe that uses corn.

Tortilla Soup

1 can Hatch green enchilada sauce
1-4oz. Can green chilis
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans (or kidney)
1 c. frozen corn
1 can chicken broth
1 can cooked chicken (optional)
1 t. red pepper (cayenne)

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for 2-3 hours on high. Serve with tortilla chips, broken up on top of soup.

Optional toppings: sour cream, cheese, chives.

Out of this World

We seem to hear more and more these days about alien abductions, life after death experiences, etc. My thoughts on the subject are not to judge what you can't verify.

I believe that these people truly believe these things have happened to them and who am I to decide that they are confused or just imagined this event or had a dream that seemed very real. Who are we to say that just because we haven't experienced the same spectacular occurence, that these people are strongly mistaken in what they believe they experienced?

I never want to be a person that makes a judgment about someone else's life and spreads my own beliefs to try and prove them inaccurate or wrong when I could quite possibly be the one who is mislead or mistaken.

We should all keep an open mind to all things uncertain.

See more "Out of this World" topics at Sunday Scribblings

It's the Weekend!

You would think I worked a 9 to 5, Monday thru Friday job. No, my schedule is "always on call". I take breaks when I want to because I might be working the night shift, graveyard or whenever it hits me to get something done. In other words, I pace myself. And I get what needs to be done... done! My excitement for the weekend is due to how relaxed the schedule tends to be. So, although I still have work to do, its just nice to chill... a little bit.

And to start my weekend, I had lunch today with my friend, Chris, whom I haven't seen in a couple of months. We talk once every few weeks or so just to stay close. We had a good time and covered the usual topics of children, sex, college, soccer... whatever was worth talking about. And then shared a delicious desert. I love my friend time.

Feed Flare Contest

Collin James De Ruyck at "Feed Flare" has a website with topics that include social marketing and networking, blogging topics, making money online, as well as how to set up and promote your RSS feeds and start enjoying your blogging time.

His site has been live for just over a month and he's kicking off this site with the biggest blog contest so far this year. Only 5 days left to enter into the Feed Flare Grand Opening $500 giveaway!

Not yet!

We had a very warm day yesterday and I spent part of it sitting outside reading a book. The sun felt so good and the vitamin D that I absorbed was a bonus.

After Cody got home from school, he went outside to play with one of the neighbors. After a bit of jumping on the trampoline, he came in and asked if it were warm enough to go swimming.

Did he not see the cover over the pool? Clueless.

Let Us Grow Lettuce

Yesterday I went and bought a few plants to add to my plant containers. I decided to try growing lettuce because I thought it would feel so "countryish" to walk out back and pick leaves to make a salad or add to a sandwich. I've never grown lettuce, only tomatoes, so this is a first for me.

The trouble with growing lettuce around here is that I'm afraid my cat will eat it. Especially if I grow them in a beautiful container and I fertilize, water and talk to it in my most attentive voice. If I pay too much attention to any plant that I care about, then a cat is surely going to destroy it. And this particular cat has been known to destroy things!

So I've opted to plant the lettuce in a container that hangs on the fence, up high, out of reach of the "destroyer". Maybe I'll actually get to enjoy the lettuce that I grow in my own backyard. And since Cody has already asked to sample the lettuce, maybe all my kids will become interested in adding lettuce to their diet.

Naaaahh! What was I thinking?

Four Foods on Friday

I'm late in participating in Four Foods on Friday, but I didn't want to wait to get started.

#1. What’s your favorite form of potatoes?
I love baked potatoes best because of the yummy ingredients that you can add. There are so many choices to pep up a baked potato, but my favorite is sour cream and chives. Although I've had stew on my baked potato and that was scrumptious also.

#2. Pie crust. Premade or from scratch?
I used to religiously make it from scratch and it was quite delicious, but these days it takes too much time so I buy premade and even though there is a difference, it works for me.

#3. Vegetables. Fresh, frozen or canned?
Fresh would be great, but I buy frozen because I'm not rushed to use it.

#4. What one dish do you wish you could prepare better?
I wish I understood how to buy and cook meat so that it never ended up tough like jerky. Sometimes, I have a problem with this.

Killdeer

I wanted you to see this video of a Killdeer (we call them Killdees) that has layed 4 eggs in our front yard in the last couple of days. When we first spotted the nest there were only 3 eggs but yesterday, she added another. They typically lay the eggs where they will be camoflauged like in a dirt patch with rocks. The bird prefers newly plowed fields or the banks of clear rivers, sometimes along the roadside. Their nests are usually in the open on the bare ground. The eggs typically are speckled and tend to blend into their surroundings.

We had some work done at our house this past winter and the lawn has been torn up, so where there was grass it is now bare dirt. This has now become an ideal location for this nest of eggs. I didn't get the eggs in this video but I'm standing about 6 feet from them. Watch how this bird tries to distract me away from the nest by playing "injured" so that it might be a bigger target than her precious eggs. So cute.



Although these birds are fun to see in action, they are very noisy and their chirp is not the most pleasant to hear when you are trying to enjoy a peaceful day outside. The killdeer is known for its piercing chirps that sound like "kildee, kildee." It's annoyiiiing, annoyiiiing!

So I had this dream

I was standing with some friends in this place that appeared to be like a diner, but no food was being served. There were only some tables, chairs and booths. In walked a Country Western singing star and that brought on "oooohs" and "aaaahs" from the crowd. I wasn't sure who it was because I'm out of the loop as far as country music goes right now. He had a reddish beard and mustache and was wearing a light colored cowboy hat. Not bad looking but nothing that would normally turn my head.

He stood on a platform and gave a quick speech but I don't remember hearing anything that he said. Next thing I recall, he is sitting next to me with his arm around my waist (I do recall being bothered that he had his hands on my waist. I'm not happy with my weight right now.) Then he turns to me and says, ....

"Would you like to go get an egg?".

???

Maybe it had something to do with Easter.

What??

This happened just 10 feet from where I sat, yet I didn't even notice what was going on. I must have been blogging doing laundry.

This had to be Mojo's doing.










from left to right: Brandi, Mojo, Mia

And just seconds after this shot was taken, Brandi noticed what had taken place and left for a more suitable napping place. Mia continued to sleep without realizing who that "someone" is that is lying on her butt.

It's ugly, but in a good way.

Let's face it. Pool equipment is ugly. Which is why those who have these oversized, bulbous or square monstrosities that keep our pools looking clean and beautiful, attempt to hide it with plants, fountains, fences, or whatever else we can find to tuck away it's ugliness. And my equipment is no different (I say "my" because I'm in charge of pool duties so I claim ownership).

I have our equipment hidden by a small fenced area so that no one is expected to admire it while sunning by the pool. But we have been admiring this area the past couple of days because, once again, we hauled gravel into the backyard and added it around the equipment area. And what it did was made it look neat and tidy. I think we are addicted to gravel and it's pleasing-ness (if this isn't a word, it should be) to the eye. Ray is coming up with other areas to cover in gravel and I'm sure I'll be right there cheering him on.

I just don't get it

I don't understand why losing weight has to be so incredibly hard when putting the weight on is so deliciously easy. Why can some people eat whatever they want and never gain an ounce while others must battle with their weight on an hourly basis? And if you've ever been on a serious diet, you know what I mean by "hourly".

Back in 1990, I went on my first very serious diet and lost about 25 pounds. Since that time, I've always said that losing weight is the most challenging thing I've ever done in my life. And because of it's difficulty, the pride you feel within is amazing. But getting a ticket on the "diet ride" is very difficult. It takes lots of motivation, support and sheer determination... all of this before you even begin.

Why does it need to be that challenging? I just don't get it.

Green thumb at work

I dug, I digged and I dug some more. I planted about 11 plants in the backyard today. Things are starting to take shape. Now if I can just keep these plants alive. I'm told that I'm not very successful with plants. I think it's just bad luck... a lot of bad luck, because I've never had so much trouble until recently.

Here's one of the Euonymus that was so gingerly placed in just the right spot.

After all the gardening was done and things started to cool off, we decided to enjoy our firepit. It was great for keeping those toesies warm.

Dishwashing Soap

I don't know if anyone does this but I discovered not long ago while cleaning my kitchen that using a rag that is sudsy with dishwashing liquid is great for cleaning grimy kitchen cabinets and the stovetop. Everything cleans up fast and easy. I now clean everything in my kitchen this way and I like that I don't have to get out another cleaning product and waste paper towels. Plus many of the dishwashing soaps are now antibacterial. From dishes to cleaning the kitchen top to bottom... all in one step.

More work on the pool

Ray added the check valve to the pool pipes today. This was a must have for the swimming pool heater in order to prevent highly chlorinated water from entering the heater and harming the "heater parts". That's some very technical talk on my part. Tomorrow he will be adding the chlorinator so that when I open the pool in April, I will have everything to get things moving.

The only other thing that was going on today was the taxes that I worked on. I hate our tax system. We were so screwed this year in a couple of different areas that I did not see coming. Oh well. What can you do?

Guess what I saw today?

The first signs of Spring. I was on my way to pick up Cody's glasses when I looked up from the road and spotted those little white flowers that are the first to appear on a Pear tree. I love those flowers because once they have sprouted, the newness and freshness of Spring follows. And as I continued to drive I noticed that it wasn't only the Pear trees that were waking from the winter slumber, but other trees had also sprouted small green leaves. I love-love Spring!

It's a rainy dreary day today but seeing this miracle of nature makes it so much easier to endure. Did I say that I love Spring?

What happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay in Vegas

Las Vegas had to be one of the funnest places to travel for a soccer tournament. Another fun place would be somewhere near a beach if you actually had the time to enjoy laying in the sun on a lounge chair with sunglasses and a good book to read. Oh, and don't forget the margarita in hand.

But this wasn't the beach, this was Las Vegas and it definitely had it's perks. After Caitlin and I arrived in Vegas, we stopped to have lunch before checking into our hotel room (which wasn't on the strip but was a very nice casino hotel). We had a show to see our first night before starting the soccer portion of the trip. We saw David Copperfield at the MGM Casino and had front row seats. I'm still amazed at some of the tricks he pulls off. This was the second time I've seen his show and I remember being more amazed the first time I saw it, over 15 years ago. Maybe it's my age.

A lion laying on a glass floor that we viewed from below

Our first soccer game was good the first half and the second half was a completely different game from the one we had just watched 10 minutes earlier. Funny how fast things can change with this game. We tied 2-2 on a game that we should have won easily.

Most of the team went to the Las Vegas strip that night. We spent most of our time in New York, New York. The girls rode the roller coaster and we ate in the Rainforest Cafe. So much walking!
Daytime picture of New York, New York


Evening picture of New York, New York

Saturday was dedicated to soccer games. In between games, the girls were taken by limosine to the Pink Taco in the Hard Rock Casino as a treat for one of the girls who turned 16 on this day. At the end of the evening, I played a slot machine and then turned in for the evening.

All of us parents had thought we had escaped the wintry weather for the warm desert air in Vegas. But that was not to be. We were all bundled up for out last two games of the tournament and the wind and cold air just about froze us to death.


Excalibur

But after our near miss of frost bite earlier in the day, we moved to the Excalibur hotel on the strip and attended the Tournament of the Kings which is a dinner and show. We devoured our meals with our hands, because they don't provide utensils so that you may fully experience this time when kings ruled and knights jousted. This was such a fun show with lots of audience participation. Afterwards, we enjoyed the different casinos and the sites they had to offer. Again with the walking!! Which explains why I slept for fifteen hours (mentioned in earlier post) after returning home.

I won! I won!

I won in the drawing for the assortment of chocolates from "Signs, Miracles, and Wonders" blog party. The party was fun and I look forward to next time!

Oh yeah... and I'm back from Las Vegas. I'll be blogging about it later but I'm still in re-cooperation mode. I slept almost 15 straight hours when I got home and collapsed into bed.

Sudz and Bubbles

A cowboy's wife is having a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to "Sudz N Bubbles", where a soap is a form of art! All of you bloggers, run over there and get all the details.

Viva Las Vegas!

We leave tomorrow morning and will be gone until Monday. Should be a pretty fun weekend with the soccer team.

University of Oklahoma soccer coaches are coming to watch the team play while we are in Vegas, along with other college coaches. When the team gets back to Oklahoma, the coaches will be attending our next practice session to get a good look at the girls. We've also been invited to go to OU to visit the campus and meet the soccer team.

Soccer coaches from almost every state are attending this tournament, so it will be interesting to see how many are watching our games. It's exciting to get this kind of exposure for college.

I don't know if I'll have an internet connection in Vegas so if you don't hear from me, I'll be "tripping, stumbling, flipping, fumbling"...(sorry, throwing a little Fergie in there).. anyway no worries.

I hear you

You remember all that work I did yesterday (firepit)? Ouchie WAWA! I have the sorest butt muscles that I think I have ever had. I didn't even know that I had those muscles there. But they are screaming at me today and I hear them loud and clear.

Fire Pit

I'm so exhausted right now that this was almost going to be one of those "picture" postings. But then you wouldn't know what was going on so I felt the need to explain.

Ray took a day off from work today or should I say, he took a day off from sitting at his desk with his feet propped up on the desk (and yes, I have proof of this). Anyway, he has a day off from relaxing in his office to do some hard labor in our backyard. I sort of imagined myself handing him a tool here and there or fetching some water, but somehow it didn't work out that way. I must have lugged 20 bags of gravel to the backyard while Ray lugged 40. I was tired after that and we hadn't even began the project and the answer to your questions is "yes, the thought of quitting did pop into my head a few times". But Ray would get out that darn whip and I was back to work.

After recently having a pool added to our backyard, that left us with a few flower bed areas to finish up. In the corner of the yard we decided to make it a firepit area so that's where the need for all of this gravel comes in. I also had to put in some edging to separate the areas where I plan to add some plants later this Spring. Ray did most of the gravel work and then we worked together adding the mulch into the other areas. I don't have pictures of the other areas because there is nothing to see but mulch and I thought that was too boring.


The finished product...minus some much needed plants.

Ultimate Party 2008!

It’s The Ultimate Blog Party 2008! The Ultimate Blog Party starts today and ends on the 14th. Head over to 5 Minutes for Mom to join the fun and meet new blogging friends.

Here in my happy blog home, you'll find quips about my family, friends and the family pets. We are heavily involved in soccer in this family and I'll be posting updates to scores or the outcome of tournaments. If I find a good recipe or hear about a helpful tip, I won't waste anytime posting it here. Sometimes I write about events that I found amusing and wanted to share. Hopefully you find my blog home interesting and visit again.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and hopefully I'll see you again soon.

Don't forget to head over to the party where prizes will be given out.
I hope to win the following gifts:

• #82- Custom made pillowcase
• #100- 3 books set
• #116- Autographed book by Nicholas Sparks

And if those prizes aren't available, I would be happy to get the following listed in preference order.
20, 94, 39, 60, 68

Have fun at the party!!

Twilight

I recently finished reading the book, "Twilight". It was a recommendation on behalf of my daughter and was she ever right. I loved it. It was an Amazon's Best Book of the Decade..(so far) and it was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

If you like books with suspense and secret love then try this one on for size. It's a story about a 17 year old girl, Bella, who moves to Washington to live with her dad. She meets and falls in love with a boy at her new school. Or I should say they fall in love with each other. Problem is... he's a vampire and part of him thirsts for her and the other part of him would protect her at all cost. If you like love and suspense, then try this book on for size.

I'm reading the sequel to this book and it's hard to put down. "New Moon" continues the story of Bella and Edward. So good!! There are 4 books in this series. The 4th book is not due out until the end of the summer. "Twilight" is being made into a movie and production started in February. I can't wait to see these characters come to life.

If you read this book, let me know what you thought.

Tennis

Hayden participated in a school sponsored tennis tournament in Tulsa and I tagged along to watch. It wasn't as structured as I was expecting, but that seem to work just fine for this sport. Although it was a little chilly, it was fun to watch one of my kids play a sport other than soccer.


This is the bus that is used to transport the teens in Claremore to their school functions. I like how it screams Claremore pride and really...it's just cute. The kids are probably thinking, "omg, how gay!"

I had a good time watching and Hayden had a great time playing. I look forward to the next tournament.

Patience is a virtue, right?

Cody, my ten year old and my fourth child, is going through that clingy stage. He has been my shadow now for about a month or so. I've learned it won't last forever from raising my three other kids that are all older than him. Time passes quickly and one day you look around and they've become years older. So much older that they no longer want to spend their evenings hanging out with you. So I love the time he spends with me. I know that in a few short years, he won't be sharing his time with me and asking me five billion-trillion questions. And those questions, I'll just say right here, I'm not always able to answer. He will soon reach another stage where he thinks Mom is boring or stupid or just too old. And he'll find other things to fill his days.

This clingy stage is so sweet and so exhausting at the same time. After a day of questions like why the banana he's trying to peel won't open up the right way, or asking if I've ever had a pencil where the eraser doesn't erase good or aiming his nerf gun at me from around the corner, or sneaking into the room to pop up and surprise me; I begin to wish for a couple of hours of quiet time. And all of this attention he is handing out is reserved just for me. I certainly know that it's a compliment that he wants to play with me and spend time with me. I know this. So I put on my happy face and listen attentively to what he has to say, act surprised when he jumps at me and try to answer his many, many questions. And as his mom, it's my job to make sure he doesn't feel slighted in the least.

He can really make me tired. But I do love this attention he gives because I know it won't last forever. And I want him to grow up to be a man that will come home, walk through the door and give his mom a hug.

I can't be this stupid!

I was over at the neighbors today, letting their dogs out for their morning potty break, and I stepped out onto their back porch to watch and make sure they both went pee. After a bit of waiting and it was getting a little chilly outside, I turned to go back in and found out that I had locked myself out.

"Hmm, ok".

This is not a problem. I'll just go through the side gate and enter through the garage that I had left open. Only problem was that the side gate and back gate had pad locks on them so there was no escaping that way. I was not only locked out of the house but locked into the back yard. I started to assess my situation and I decided that I would be climbing over the fence with a little help of a patio chair. But then I thought of the pool house that had an entrance from the backyard and an exit through the storage area. Thank goodness that door was unlocked. I very coolly, made my way through the pool house and unlocked the overhead garage door in the storage area to make my escape and re-locked that door behind me.

Once I was back into the house I read a note that the neighbor had left me about giving the "girls" a treat before going back to their beds. I then walked to the backdoor to make sure they were doing ok but I couldn't see them anywhere. So I stepped out to the back porch again and shut the door. AND locked myself out AGAIN!!

Does it ever end?

It's Monday. It's cold. It's windy.

I had one thing that was a "must do" today. I did laundry. And I did laundry. And I did more laundry. And when I was done doing laundry, I found more laundry to do.

And that is something that can easily be done on a cold, windy Monday.

Give me strength

I've had three successful diet days that are now behind me. I tell myself to eat like the person you want to become... having small portions or next to nothing. I've walked the last two days. Not a long walk, but at least a mile or more. With the amounts that I'm eating, I don't need to walk much. I'm not doing anything that's unhealthy, but you do have to be a little hungry at times or it's not a diet. This is the part of my life that I hate, hate, hate.

I hope that what I saw during this morning's step on the scale moment is enough incentive to keep me going. The weekend is coming up and this really worries me. It's hard when Ray and the kids are home during the day and my schedule is not as structured as the weekdays. Plus, tomorrow is Hayden's birthday and we will be going out to eat. I'll have to be careful.

If I can make it through the weekend successfully, then next week will surely be exciting.

Doggy Sitting

My neighbors, Chuck and Jan, are going to be away from their house all day today, so they have asked me to babysit their dogs. Well sort of. The dogs stay at their house and I run over and let them outside, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. I'm also in charge of feeding them their evening meal.

Diva, who is a beautiful white schnauzer, is not at all happy about me entering her happy abode. She barks like mad when she sees me to let me know that she is going to tear me apart as soon as I release her from her crate. But then all she does is grab her shoe, which isn't a shoe at all..its a bone shaped stuffed toy, and runs out of her crate and waits to be let outside. She had a shoe shaped toy when she was a pup and so now her owners refer to her toy by the name "shoe". As in, "Get your shoe", "Where's your shoe?".

The other dog, Nikki, which is also a schnauzer, is just like my schnauzer Mia. Shy, cautious, nervous and the same coloring.

We had some good bonding time outside today. I think Diva was coming around by the end of our day.