Fun at Grandma's

Out of the mouths of babes

I just found this post while cleaning out my archives, it's just a few quotes from the kiddos throughout the years, but I felt it needed to go into rotation so here it is! lol

Below you will find funny quotes that have come out of our children's mouths! lol

• "I hit it with my thumb toe!" said Spunky when she hit her big toe on the door.

• Princess used to say "Wanna piece of meat?" when she meant to say "Wanna piece of me?"

• I said "Spunky, are you licking your muddy knee?" she says "Well I don't wanna eat my boogers!"

• Today, while dancing with her balloon, Spunky (who is six mind you) said "You are my husband and you are just my type!"

• I asked the boy, who is twelve, to help me with dinner by opening a can of beans (the pop top kind) to which he replied "I don't want to, I might break a nail!" LOL!

• Jeremy was vacuuming, T-man jumps up and looks around the corner all crazy, so I ask "Are you afraid of the vacuum cleaner?" He says "Yes" I ask "Why baby?" and he says "My mom never vacuums unless we are having company!" LMAO!

• I was telling Bigfoot about how I was cheating to find out the end of a movie the other night by googling it and he tells me "So how'd that work out for ya?" lol smart ass!

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! :)

Our love story

While messing around on Twitter the other day I came across a neat idea posted by Tina at Life Without Pink called Project Marriage and immediately knew I had to join! You should join in too it's gonna be tons of fun you don't wanna miss!

(The high school gang way back in 2000 at my mom's wedding!)

So here is our story! :) I have been married once in this short life and "in love" several times, but I have only had one true love. I met Jeremy my Freshman year in high school and instantly knew this was someone that would be important in my life. We dated for awhile and he was "the one" who turned me from a girl to woman, if you know what I mean. So of course from that moment on he has held a special place in my heart.

(Us in 2005)

We remained friends throughout high school even though we moved forward with different romantic relationships, but always held the same social circles. We had a close group of friends that all hung out on a consistent basis so remained close through the years. As we grew into adults and I moved to New Mexico for several years and we lost touch, but every time I came back to Austin we would visit for at least a little while. It was easy to see that the chemistry never left us and during these visits it became harder and harder to ignore.

(This past September)

I watched him go through many relationships and wondered if he would ever find the right person. I had no idea at the time that person would be me. We had know each other and been such good friends for so long it was not something that crossed my mind. I had not even considered him as an option. He of course had his own issues medical etc as did I and things never did seem to fall into place.

(New Year 2010)

When I came back from New Mexico in 2004 as a free woman we met back up as friends and it was as if we had never parted. Things were complicated and difficult for both of us to say the least, but we made it work and I am so happy that we did! We love our blended family even with the trials and tribulations it comes with we would not trade it for anything!

I love him with all my heart, he is my soul mate, my one and only!!!

(and now)

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)

Those good ole picture shows

Day 7-Favorite Movies

Stripes is by far one of my all time favorite movies!! I love Bill Murray!Pulp Fiction is awesome and must be on this list!As well as American Beauty!Little Miss Sunshine makes the list cause it reminds me of my crazy family!! LOLand I am going to end this list with Juno cause of it's sheer awesomeness, plus I heart Ellen Page! :)

Happiness

Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy.

T-Man and his favorite present. :)Princess and her favorite present. :)

Spunky and her favorite present. :)

FOOD!!!

Day 5-Your favorite recipes

I have "most" of my favorite recipes already here, so I will post a few links to the recipes that come to mind first! :)

Grammy's Squash Casserole is the first recipe that comes to mind cause almost everyone loves it despite the Velveeta! lol

The Chile Rellenos recipe is another of the family's favorites and mine. It takes a lot of time and effort to make them, but it is SO worth it!

The Honey Garlic glazed Meatballs are one of the kids favorites so I am throwing them in there because how often can you make the kids and adults happy!? We serve this with rice and salad, it would be good with potatoes also.

Monkey Bread with Apple Butter. I make this every Christmas morning because the kids love it and honestly I am not a morning person, so it's one of the few breakfasts I am up to make...

These are just a few off the top of my head. There are tons more, so please feel free to search through my recipes by typing Recipe Rally into the search bar at the top left, then click on the words Recipe Rally under the first post and that will bring up all the recipes on my blog!

Merry Christmas and Happy cooking! :) :)

Family relationships

Day 4-Your parents

When I was younger my parents would always say that the world would end if they ever split up.. I guess because they felt like they were perfect for each other and that nothing could ever come in the way of that love.

In 1998ish my parents split up and the world of course kept turning, but now quite a bit differently. I was 20yrs old when my parents split up so it affected me a lot differently than it did my brother and sister who were much younger than me. I have nothing but fond memories of my parents being together, they were perfect. Although now I understand and did see the issues that were happening and vowed never to do those same things in my relationships.

My dad and my youngest brother Blake. :)

My mom got remarried in 2000 to a wonderful man who makes her very very happy. My father was remarried a few years ago. They are having a bit of a hard time right now, but I wish them the best of luck.Mom and Mike @ this year's Thanksgiving! :)

Love we all need it

(Mike, Me, Bryan, Jeremy and Warren back in 2000)

Day 3-Your first true love

I have been married once in this short life and "in love" several times, but I have only had one true love. I met Jeremy my Freshman year in high school and instantly knew this was someone that would be important in my life. We dated for awhile and he was "the one" who turned me from a girl to woman, if you know what I mean. So of course from that moment on he has held a special place in my heart.(Us in 2005)

We remained friends throughout high school even though we moved forward with different romantic relationships, but always held the same social circles. We had a close group of friends that all hung out on a consistent basis so remained close through the years. As we grew into adults and I moved to New Mexico for several years and we lost touch, but every time I came back to Austin we would visit for at least a little while.(This past September)

I watched him go through many relationships and wondered if he would ever find the right person. I had no idea at the time that person would be me. We had know each other and been such good friends for so long it was not something that crossed my mind. I had not even considered him as an option.(New Year 2010)

When I came back from New Mexico in 2004 as a free woman we met back up as friends and the chemistry etc was still there as if we had never parted. Things were complicated and difficult for both of us to say the least, but we made it work and I am so happy that we did! I love him with all my heart, he is my soul mate, my one and only!!!(and at Thanksgiving 2010)