Fun with Spunky

I love cooking with my kids, it's a great learning experience and we all (usually) have a really good time. Tonight we had biscuits, gravy, sausage and duros for dinner, so it was a great time to teach Spunky how to make biscuits. She is not always able to stay still long enough to help so it was really nice to be able to spend the time with her on her terms. :)

Teaching her how to roll out the dough.

She had a blast getting all covered in flour, she loves anything that requires getting dirty! lol She also did a really good job cutting them out and then separating them to put them on the baking sheet.Concentrating oh so hard to separate them out!

Now on to the Duros, the kids LOVE these and I know they are not the healthiest being fried and all, but once in a while it's all good! As I always say everything in moderation. I find that if you forbid certain foods that kids will only crave them more. IMO it's better to just serve those things as a "special" treat every once and a while. Most people serve them as a dipper instead of chips, but we like them just the way they are.

Here is what they look like before they are cooked.

Being fried

and here they are after being cooked. Light and crispy! :)

Remember you can click on any of the photos to enlarge.

What did you say?

Day 11-Favorite TV shows

At the moment TV is the last thing on my mind, but when I am able to watch I like a wide variety of different shows from comedy and drama to crime/mystery.

My new favorite TV show right now would have to be The Big Bang Theory! The funny part is I just started watching it this year. I had no idea what I had been missing the past few years. I still have not been able to catch up on the past few years that I missed, but I am trying. :)

I would have to say my oldest and most watched favorite would be all the CSI's especially the original CSI.

Criminal Minds is another one that I really hate to miss. It's always full of really interesting and crazy things. It really makes you wonder about people...

Mike and Molly would have to be another one of the shows that came out this year that I REALLY enjoy! I really applaud CBS for keeping it real!!

Now when it comes family programming my favorites would be Wipeout and No Ordinary Family (although it's kinda losing my interest).

What are your favorites?

Silly little bugs!

Spunky and a butterfly she caught over the summer, on one of our trips to Boggy Creek Farms. I love the expression on her face, it's priceless! :)

(Click photo to enlarge)

Day 10-Something you're afraid of

Butterflies..... yes you read that right. I said Butterflies or really any creature be it insect, arachnid etc that swings, flies or comes anywhere near my face!!! It completely freaks me out! Funny thing is I have been struggling with this fear since I was a small child. Most kids have fun playing outside and may come in crying about fire ants(I grew up in Texas) or wasps, but me.. no, I came screaming into the house because there was a Butterfly outside by the swing set.... Pretty sad I know, but I still have issues with them.

The past few summers, I have tried to conquer my fear through photography. I love, I mean LOVE taking pictures! Since we frequent the Zilker Botanical Gardens here in Austin at least 4 times a month in the summer. I have used that opportunity to spend lots of time in the Butterfly garden they have set up. I sit really really still and let them come close up to me and instead of focusing on how close they are to me and how it freaks me out. I try to take a deep breath and focus on getting a really awesome close up shot of one. It has helped a bit, but I still need more practice.

Well I hope you had fun laughing at me, I know I did. lol Thanks for reading and have a great afternoon!! :)

Oldies but goodies

Day 9-A picture of your friends

(Click photo to enlarge)

This is a picture of Jeremy and I with our nearest and dearest friends since High School. This photo was taken back in 2000 at my mother's wedding. I was pregnant with Samantha and was visiting Austin at the time this was taken. I was really happy to be able to see all the guys, I had not seen them in a few years! :)

Hawaii

Day 8-A place you've traveled to..

When I was 13 my Grandparents took me to Hawaii. My cousins also got to travel to Hawaii the summer after they turned 13, it was a tradition in our family. I had a blast and got to see some really neat things I would have never gotten to see back in the states plus I got to take my Grandparents to McDonald's for their first time there EVER which I remember thinking was SO cool!

Below are some photos I took while we were there. Sorry about the quality they were taken 21 years ago.... Also remember you can click on any photo to enlarge. :)

When we arrived in Hawaii the volcano Kilauea was erupting and so we were able to see the lava flowing down the streets like in the photo below.

This church was put up on stilts to avoid the lava flow......although I am not sure how that is going to help!
Random picture of a Pineapple plant we saw at the Dole Pineapple farm.

The USS Arizona, we toured the wreckage while we were there.

Our submarine trip! I was soooooo cool, we were able to see all kinds of different types of fish and the Tuna were HUGE!!

The Polynesian Cultural Center, was really pretty neat.

(Click to enlarge any of the photos)