Saturday PhotoHunt: Fresh

The fresh veges we bought from the Green Gate Farms over Spring Break! We made an awesome Irish Stew for St Paddy's Day and the radishes were great for snacking! :)

Hope you all enjoy and have an awesome weekend!

For more photos and this weeks PhotoHunt check out The Saturday PhotoHunt.

Black and White Wednesday #2

The kids enjoying a nice, cool windy day at the park! :)

To participate in the Black & White Wednesday photo contest, please visit Like Christmas Everyday!

Wordless Wednesday

Here we go again with a Not So Wordless Wednesday! Last week we went to Lick it, Bite it, or both (a local cupcake shop) for the first time and loved it!

One of the cupcake wrapper walls!

Spunky's decorated cupcake wrapper!

Princesses decorated cupcake wrapper!

And of course the cupcakes! :)

Click photos to enlarge

For more Wordless Wednesday participants check out these wonderful ladies: For The Love of Baby, Frugality Is Free, Clairejustineoxox, Living At The Whitehead's Zoo and 5 Minutes for Mom!

Meet me on Monday

Here are today's Questions:

1. What movie or movies do you have to watch when they are on TV?
Clash of the Titans (old style), All of the Indiana Jones movies, Princess Bride, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I could go on, but I will stop there! lol

2. When you have out of town visitors, what fun places do you take them to in your town? (Or where do you play tourist in your own town?)
We love visiting several "touristy" spots in our town at least every few months. We don't have visitors often, but when we do we take them there as well.

Zilker Botanical Gardens is usually our first choice (although now that they charge admission not sure..), Mayfield Park is gorgeous and full of Peacocks so we definitely go there and Mt Bonnell is great for an awesome view of Lake Austin and downtown! :)

3. What was the first album, CD, Download you ever bought?
First album was Cyndi Lauper. I loved her music sooo much! First CD was Mazzy Star.. I think. lol As far as download gosh I am not sure so let's go with Pink's Funhouse! :)

4. Do you speak more than one language and which ones? If not, what language would you like to know?
Nope I just speak English and a tiny bit of Spanish. I would love to speak Spanish fluently and Italian!

5. What is your dream job?

My dream job would be owning an organizational business that went into peoples homes or offices and decluttered it for them. Either their filing, closets, kitchen etc anything that needs help. I love to organize and declutter things for others, not so much myself... lol

To participate in the Meet me on Monday Meme please visit Acting Balanced.

Saturday PhotoHunt: Spicy

A few years ago Cameron and I were at the store when he decided that he wanted to try a Habanero pepper. He LOVES hot stuff so I was not terribly worried, but at the same time I had heard of the potency of Habanero peppers so yea. He begged me to eat it on the way home in the car, but there was no way I was going to let him!

The Offending Habanero, that he picked out!

Cameron taking the second bite!

Here he is after taking two bites, he never even broke a sweat!

Here is the pepper after he took his two bites. He of course managed to miss most of the seeds. He knows better after years of eating jalapenos and other peppers! lol

Hope you all enjoy and have an awesome weekend!

For more photos and this weeks PhotoHunt check out The Saturday PhotoHunt.

Friday Fill-Ins

Hi all, another week is almost over and it is time for yet another weekly installment of Friday Fill-Ins! Janet asks the questions and my answers are underlined.

1. Spring brings warmth, colorful flowers and BUGS!

2. I have a strong craving for Asparagus! Yes I know I am weird! lol

3. I forgot to pick up trash bags the other day and wow what a epic mistake! Do you know how much trash 5 people generate everyday!

4. Baked Blueberry French Toast is delicious!

5. Heads, shoulders, knees and OMG what's that!?

6. Swimming is my favorite form of exercise when it's warm enough out not to wear a coat!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to making Sweet and Sour Chicken (I have a non pork eating child) for the first time, recipe of course to follow, tomorrow my plans include dropping the kids off at their dads and enjoying my night off and Sunday, I want to air up the kids bike tires and do some riding!

For more Friday Fill-Ins participants click here!

Black and White Wednesday #1

I was invited to join a weekly Black & White photo contest today. I am so excited cause it gives me more of a reason to play with my photos! As if I need anymore reasons! lol Thanks for the invite Mrs Claus! :)

Here is my first entry!

Princess and one of the horses from Green Gate Farms this weekend!

To participate in the Black & White Wednesday photo contest, please visit Like Christmas Everyday!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy St Patrick's Day! A few pics from our fun day! :)

Click photos to enlarge

For more Wordless Wednesday participants check out this wonderful blog, 5 Minutes for Mom.

Glow in the Dark Jars

Finished project! Spunky just had to pose with them and honestly it was a good thing. This was one of the only photos I got that was in focus!

Supplies:
Scissors
Glow Sticks
Safety Goggles (this is optional)
Plastic gloves (this is optional)
Any old glass jar you have lying around the house. We reuse our old Spaghetti sauce jars for glasses so we just used a few of those we had in the cabinet.

**This project is NOT to be done by children, there are chemicals and glass inside the Glow Sticks!**

You simply break the glow stick and shake as you normally would to activate it. Then place one end in the jar and cut off the tip. Shake the glow stick around and gently tap on the side of the jar until all the contents spill out.

Once you have emptied the glow sticks you want to try and get as much glass out of the jar as possible. So hold the jar upside down over your trash can, gently shake and tap on the side to loosen the glass. I had a hard time getting the glass to loosen and after while just dealt with the extra pieces.

Swirl the glow in the dark liquid around the sides of the jar and watch it glow!!

I want to give special thanks to Intimate Weddings! I found this DIY project on Pinterest which lead me to their original idea! If you are planning a wedding they have an awesome site, go check it out! :)

Meet me on Monday

Here are today's Questions:

1. How do you like your eggs?
I like mine fried, on toast with a little butter.

2. Who is the last person you spoke to on the phone?
Mark, the kids dad...

3. Do you have a place you keep 'junk' in your home?
Yes we do several actually.. We have a bookshelf next to the front door, a few shelves on it are for junk. Then in our room there is a nice little pile building up..

4. What is on your 'spring cleaning' list?
Up first would be cleaning out the laundry room and my closet! Then I need to tackle the rest of the boxes that have lined the entry way since we moved in... I made great progress last week, but I still have quite a few boxes to unpack.

5. What blog post have you written recently that you'd like more people to know about?
I have two and mine are both recipes of course! ;) First is the Corn Chowder I made a few weeks ago at Jeremy's request. He loved it and so did the kids!

Second would have to be the Soft Pretzel Bites I made with the kids. It was fun to make them and they were delicious! Thanks to Jamie Cooks It Up!

To participate in the Meet me on Monday Meme please visit Acting Balanced.

Saturday PhotoHunt: Play

The kiddos playing around at Mt Bonnell during Spring Break! :)

Hope you all enjoy and have an awesome weekend!

For more photos and this weeks PhotoHunt check out The Saturday PhotoHunt.

Friday Fill-Ins

Hi all, another week is almost over and it is time for yet another weekly installment of Friday Fill-Ins! Janet asks the questions and my answers are underlined.

1. Welcome friends! Glad you have stopped by! Make yourself comfortable and enjoy your stay!

2. Coffee and a Pumpernickel bagel make me jump for joy.

3. "There's a long, long night of waiting
Until my dreams all come true,
Til the day when I'll be going down that long, long trail with you.

There's a long, long trail a-winding
Into the land of my dreams,
Where the nightingales are singing and a white moon beams.

There's a long, long night of waiting
Until my dreams all come true,
Til the day when I'll be coming down that long, long trail with you."

**This song reminds me of camp. I love it!**

4. Friendship, humor and passion are just some of the things I love most about my relationship with my husband!

5. Eyes can tell you everything!

6. Big things are what I'm eagerly awaiting. :)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to recovering from a long day at Boggy Creek and Green Gate Farms plus an additional hike through Mayfield Park :), tomorrow my plans include lots of St Patrick's Day crafts and cooking and Sunday, I want to just enjoy the last few hours we have with T-man before he goes home. :(

For more Friday Fill-Ins participants click here!

Wordless Wednesday

Click photos to enlarge

For more Wordless Wednesday participants check out this wonderful blog, 5 Minutes for Mom.

Meet me on Monday

Here are today's Questions:

1. What are your plans for St. Patrick's Day?
We will have all four kids this St Patrick's Day so I would like it to be especially awesome! We will of course wear green and be having one of our favorites for dinner Beef and Irish Stout Stew with Authentic Irish Soda Bread! I am sure we will do tons of crafts as well since my kiddos can never get enough of being crafty! :)

2. What is your favorite room in your house?
The living room because that is where all the chaos happens and I like to be in the middle of things!

3. What 'gadget' do you have that you can't live without?
I just got my first smartphone this past week! I can truly say I don't know how I lived without it!! The navigation app has already saved me twice! lol

4. What will your first thought be when you learn that you won a lottery?
If it is a million dollar jackpot it would be "OMFG I can breathe!"

5. Other than Acting Balanced and your own, what is your favorite blog to read?

Currently it would be Mommy Wants Vodka!

To participate in the Meet me on Monday Meme please visit Acting Balanced.

Saturday PhotoHunt: Symbolic

I was a bit stumped as to what to use for this week's photo. Finally I came across the idea to pull out some of our keepsakes. These are things that are Symbolic to me. :)

Hope you all enjoy and have an awesome weekend!

For more photos and this weeks PhotoHunt check out The Saturday PhotoHunt.

Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp yeast (I use active dry)
6 tbsps butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp salt
5 cups flour
12 cups water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten until frothy
Coarse Pretzel Salt


Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into your mixing bowl. Then add your 6 tbsp melted butter followed by 2 tbsps brown sugar and 1 tbsp yeast. Mix it together for about 30 seconds.

Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes to let the yeast begin to bubble.

Then add the 2 1/2 tsp salt and 2 cups flour to your wet ingredients. After you have these incorporated, add in the remaining cups of flour one at a time.


Knead dough for about 5 minutes to make sure it's nice and mixed.


Cover the dough mixture with a damp towel or if you prefer saran wrap and let it sit one hour. Gotta love that the only towel I had available was a Christmas one and it's now March...


The dough will rise to about double it's size.

Spray your cutting board with cooking spray and place the dough on top of it. Using a sharp knife cut the dough into eight equal pieces. Jamie over at Jamie Cooks It Up! where I found this recipe, says to make sure and let the dough rest for an additional five minutes after you cut it. That way it will be easier to roll out. I agree with her 100%! Do Not Skip This Step!

While the dough is resting start boiling the 12 cups water. As soon as it starts to boils add in the 3/4 cup Baking Soda, if it gets to frothy turn down the heat.

Then you roll out each of the eight pieces you cut earlier into long ropes about 2 inches thick. Cut the long pieces into about 2 inch wide chunks. This is where we messed up folks! I let the kids cut the pieces since they are all old enough now and so yea they were not all the same size! lol


My weird lefty! :)


Each of the kiddos cutting the dough up into smaller pieces.


Now drop the little dough pieces into the water to boil for about 1 minute, you can place about 15 at a time. They look like dumplings and I guess they really are! This is where things got a bit tricky for me, but I guess trying to do this for the first time and cook dinner may not have been my best idea! ;0)

Take the dough out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place in a strainer with a bowl underneath to catch the excess water. Do this only a few at a time. After they are drained, place on your greased cookie sheet or a 9x13 glass pan (which is what we used). Brush the beaten egg on top of each piece and sprinkle a bit of kosher salt on the tops.

Bake them at 425' for approx 25 minutes. Since ours were larger they took about 35-40 minutes, so just keep an eye on them until they turn golden brown. Even though they were not pretty they were VERY tasty and the kids have already begged me to make them again! :)

I want to thank Jamie of over at Jamie Cooks It Up! for this awesome recipe! You should check out her site, lots of wonderful recipes! :)

Wordless Wednesday

I know it's supposed to be "Wordless" and all, but I am gonna break that rule again! lol :) Last night I started saving the old pictures I have on my Myspace account. That way I have them since I never go there anymore and I can't remember if I have them saved anywhere else.

While doing that I came across the awesome sequence of photos below from Summer 08'.... My little sister spent the night with us and so naturally I broke out the chocolate fountain so we could dip some pretzels, strawberries etc.

I thought they might have some great fun.. Little did I know that during the one potty break I took little miss Spunky was going to attack the chocolate! I should have known better than to leave her unattended! LOL!

Click photos to enlarge

For more Wordless Wednesday participants check out this wonderful blog, 5 Minutes for Mom.

The Queen's Meme

"The Perfect Totient Meme"
This meme is all about using your imagination. Free your inner blogginess. Step outside the proverbial blox (that's blog + box for all you non-blog speakers). Answer these ridiculous situational questions and post them on your own blog. Here's the situation for today. We won't tell a soul. And remember:Don't end up in the dungeon."

1. Name one thing you can't live without.
My family would definitely be the answer to this one. I am nothing and could do nothing without them!

2. Name 2 things you'd rather not do this week.
Make the meal plan for the next two weeks and finish purging the closets.

3. Tell me 3 reasons you need a vacation.
My children and husband are driving me nutty, cause I am mom and I said so AND
cause in the last year I have been through some of the biggest trials of my life and have made it to the other side a much better person!

4. It is the 11th hour of your life and you have one hour left on Earth. What do you do?
Find my love. Have booty one last time. Then get the kids and love on them till the end!

5. Name one thing you'd rather do alone than in a crowd.
Go grocery shopping!

6. One hundred (and) eleven is the natural number following 110 and preceding 112 AND a perfect totient number. A perfect totient number is an integer that is equal to the sum of its iterated totients. What makes the totients so iterated?
Uhm they don't feel they are getting equal treatment?

7. What is your emergency?
For the first time in a long time. I don't have an emergency! :)

For more participants of The Queen's Meme please visit here!

Sports, video games and everything in between!

Today has been a great day! First off, we had T-man this weekend and that means we have all four kids! YAY! We got our taxes back so that, of course, makes everything better right? Oh oh oh and I finally got my new phone and I am sooo beyond excited! :)

We were not able to attend Princess's Volleyball Workshop at UT this morning. Thanks to some awesome friends she got there on time and had a blast! We haven't developed the pictures (disposable camera) yet, but when we do you "know" I will post them.

Here is the picture I "forced" her to take before she left this morning.


T-man had his first T-ball game of the season. The whole family, minus Princess (since she had the Volleyball thingy) attended. This is one of those times I wish we were a two car family. :(


T-man in all his glory! Go Sand Gnats! :)


He was adorable as always. He tried his best and while he may not have hit the ball, we were very proud of him.


He got to play catcher for the first time and was very excited about it!


The other two hoodlums, Spunky and Cameron, doing what they do best. Trying to pretend to get along...


Spunky and I at the game. :)


After the game the boys bought a PS3, which they immediately brought home to hook up to the 40' LCD HD flat screen we received for Christmas! Thanks Mom and Dad!! They thought they were going to get to play before we went to dinner at Chuy's, but they were sadly mistaken! lol


Of course an evening out would not be complete in our family if there were not a mishap or four... While eating dinner Jeremy (dad, for those of you who don't know) proceeded to throw an ice cube at Princess.... To which she, OF COURSE, threw it right back at him. The problem you may ask? Well, she almost hit the lady sitting in the booth next to us. We had to apologize, thankfully, she was very nice!

The look Princess gave Jeremy when he threw the ice at her! LMAO! :)


All four kiddos! :)

All in all it was an awesome day! Best part was being able to hang out with our whole family and have a bit of fun time! I am so very thankful for everything I have! :)